Dangerous Games - Gold

by Adele Huxley

  Penny realized if he had a roll to play in anything, it would be minimal. Still, she could squeeze him for most of the information he had.

  “What did you do?” she demanded as she kicked his foot.

  He cried out as he startled awake. “Wha?”

  “Your role in all this. What did you have to do?”

  He blinked and rubbed his left eye, looking more like the boy he was than the man he pretended to be. “Nothing. Yet.”

  “Oh really? I figured someone as important as you would be moving flower arrangements and flicking light switches.”

  “If that’s what they asked of me, I’d gladly do it,” he replied, chin jutting proudly in the air.

  “And if they asked you to drive a van into a crowd of people?”

  “It’d be for the cause.” His voice didn’t waver, but she could hear the uncertainty.

  These were the clues she needed. There was an actual organization. There was a unifying belief system that tied them together. There were people calling the shots, designing the mayhem. Two little sentences told her more than she’d been able to uncover in countless hours of research.

  “If I were to say—”

  “Wakey wakey,” Claire declared as she abruptly pulled the makeshift tent apart.

  Penny whipped around to her smirking face beaming down at the two of them. She checked the time on her laptop and was shocked to see it was almost sunrise. The faint morning light hadn’t yet filtered through the dark material surrounding them.

  “How’s it going?” Claire asked with the same chipper tone.

  Penny glanced at Charlie who’s entire demeanor shifted. He sat up straight, defiantly. He seemed to take joy in taunting all of them, but Claire in particular. “We’re good.”

  “Good, good,” she replied. “Get anywhere with him?”

  The question put Penny in an impossible position. Say yes, and she lost any opportunity to get him to open up again. Say no, and it only strengthened his position over them. Claire interpreted her silence in her own way.

  “Well, doesn’t matter. I’m clocking in.” She clapped a hand on Penny’s shoulder, urging her to abandon her guard position. Despite the progress she’d made, hours of conversation and little rest had left her weary.

  Penny closed down her laptop, gave Charlie a silent last look, and relinquished her seat. She glanced at Phoenix’s stirring figure as she walked by and chose a seat on the opposite side. There was no way she would sleep, but resting her eyes while thinking everything through was the next best thing.

  No sooner did she settle in and get comfortable, did Claire let out a shout. “Have it your way!”

  Penny didn’t have enough time to react before Claire bodily pulled Charlie along the aisle and up to the front door.

  “I’m gonna ask you again. This counts as one,” she declared as she shoved him outside.

  Penny and Phoenix exchanged a worried look before sprinting out behind her.

  Charlie was on his back in the snow by the time they got there. Claire hovered over him, bitterly cursing.

  “Are you going to tell us anything?”

  Charlie laughed and didn’t reply.

  “Nothing? Not even a tiny hint? That’s all we’re asking for.”

  “Screw you,” he smirked.

  It all happened so fast, Penny didn’t have the opportunity to pull her away and clarify. It was like her tongue had completely frozen. All she could do was watch.

  Claire cocked her head to the side, one eye squinting just a touch. “Are you absolutely sure?”

  All humor drained from Charlie’s expression. “Go fuck yourself.”

  Without hesitation, Claire squeezed the trigger. The sound made Phoenix and Penny leap back in fear. A handful of black birds took flight into the crisp, clear sky. The report echoed against the mountains for a few moments.

  For a second, Penny thought she’d fired a warning shot into the ground beside him. Never in a million years did she think she’d actually put a bullet in him at close range.

  “Holy shit!” Phoenix breathed.

  “What? I asked him three times.” She turned to where he lay writhing in agony. “Didn’t I? I asked nicely three times. That was always the rule.”

  “You shot him!” Penny gasped as she took another step away. Phoenix tried to reach for her.

  “Right. So what’s the plan then?” Claire asked calmly as she looked back and forth between them.

  Charlie writhed and groaned on the ground, clutching at his stomach. Blood stained the surrounding snow, following the hill's downward slope.

  “I think I’m gonna be sick,” Penny choked out before she wobbled on her feet.

  Phoenix lurched to the side just in time to catch her before she fell.

  Chapter 21

  Penny’s episode was more of a brown-out than a blackout. She never fully lost consciousness, but still fell to the ground like all strength had been sapped from her legs. Phoenix grabbed her in time to slow the fall.

  She swallowed hard a few times, her tongue dragging along her dry lips. A million things raced through Phoenix’s mind, not least of which was the gunshot would probably bring someone running.

  “You actually shot him,” Penny croaked, staring up at Claire.

  Claire shrugged. “Nowhere vital.”

  “He’s not gonna die?”

  She looked down at the groaning figure who, up until a few hours before, used to be her boyfriend of sorts. “I doubt it. I mean, maybe. If I nicked his intestines or something, he could eventually get an infection. But it’s cold enough out here he probably won’t bleed out.” A heavy sigh was the most emotion Phoenix saw from her.

  But as overcome with emotion as he was, Penny had a completely different reaction. She shoved him away and scrambled to her feet.

  “We need to go. Right now. They’ll come looking for him. They heard that gunshot.” She backed up with every sentence, already putting distance between them and the incident.

  Claire took this as a cue. She nudged him with the toe of her boot. “You ready to talk yet?” Charlie groaned a weak response, the words of which slipped past Phoenix’s ears. Claire translated it. “He apparently isn’t feeling very talkative yet. Should I encourage him some more?”

  “No!” he yelled as her fingers curled around the strap at her shoulder. He tempered his voice, wondering how it came to be he was the calm one in the situation. “No, it’s okay. We don’t want to bring any more attention to ourselves.”

  Claire didn’t seem to hear him, but at least she didn’t shoot the poor guy again. She knelt down at his side and brushed the hair on his sweaty face away. It was almost tender. Almost. “If you tell me everything you know, I’ll call for help. Maybe someone will get to you before you bleed out.”

  Penny clutched at Phoenix. He was afraid to move, to break the moment. It was sick, twisted, and incredibly dark… but it might work. The terror in Charlie’s eyes said that much.

  “Who is your contact?”

  He resisted for a moment, but when he spoke, it came in short, quick bursts through his clenched teeth.

  “We don’t have contacts… we’re passed information through dead drops.”

  Claire frowned and looked to Penny who gave her a weak nod. Apparently she knew what that meant.

  “What’s the end game here?” she asked him.

  He sneered and coughed. “No end game. It’ll never end.”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake…” Claire muttered.

  Phoenix jumped in, the question bubbling up in his throat. “Is there something big planned? Bigger than this?”

  Penny piled on. “Where have all those people gone? Where are they disappearing to? Were we going to be taken too?”

  “I don’t know.” He writhed as Claire leaned on him slightly. “I don’t know!”

  “Did you know we were going to be kidnapped?” Claire demanded.

  “No!” he cried out, agony etched on his face.

  The sig
ht turned his stomach, but it was Penny who finally called her out. “Enough! He’s done.”

  Charlie sputtered as she relented. The look he gave her was pure hatred. “I hope you have a great time at the closing ceremonies without me.”

  “I’m sure I will.” She gestured to them to follow as she strolled toward the bus, as if inviting them down the street for a cup of coffee.

  “I can’t believe you fucking shot him!” Penny hissed.

  “I have a thought,” Claire said conversationally. She waited a beat before continuing. “If you need to get back into the barn to get the SOS button, I can provide cover. Or a distraction,” she said as she patted the barrel of her gun. She didn’t wait for the response before jogging up the steps and unlocking the back door. It hissed open.

  “No fucking way,” Penny insisted. She shook her head adamantly, almost willing Phoenix to join her.

  He never considered himself a brave man, so it was as much a surprise to his ears as everyone else's when he agreed with Claire. At the very least, he understood the importance of acting quickly. They could be discovered any minute, or worse yet, their absence noticed back in the barn. What would the repercussions be for everyone else?

  “I’ll take the batteries with me. Tell me exactly where you hid it.”

  “You can’t…”

  Phoenix swallowed the bile that rose in this throat as they followed Claire down the side of the bus to the back. “It’s not like the sat phone. I just press a button and help comes, right?”

  Penny stared at him in disbelief. “Yeah, I suppose you’re—”

  They had to move before he lost his courage. The hostage situation would come to a boiling point soon, one way or another.

  Claire stood aside and gestured for them to climb aboard. She followed half-way up, keeping an eye on Charlie squirming in the snow.

  Phoenix was vaguely aware he and Penny were taking orders from her without question. The thought didn’t bother him as long as the direction made sense. “Right. You two stay here with Charlie. She’ll keep you safe.” He glanced back to the open door where the armed woman gave him a nod.

  “You don’t have to—” Penny started to say with a soft voice.

  “Yes. I do.” He cut her off, knowing how she wanted to end that sentence. He was afraid if she asked him one more time to run away from it all with her, he’d listen.

  "I'll go with you."

  “Great!” Claire chirped. “It’s settled then. I’ll just look for Rhett’s stuff and we can be on our way.” She handed Penny her rifle as she stepped away from the door.

  Penny gave Phoenix a terrified glance as she accepted it gingerly. “I uh…” Penny started. “He had his gun with him the last time I saw him.”

  “Oh, right.”

  “But there were a couple people after him and I heard gunshots,” Penny added solemnly.

  Claire shrugged. “He’s obviously fine.”

  Phoenix now wondered about her mental state. The way she so callously shot Charlie, how she rolled with everything that’d happened… maybe she was in a strange, functional state of shock.

  “There’s a good chance he’s dead,” he emphasized.

  Claire was already picking through her bag. “Unlikely. If no one knows we’ve all been kidnapped, those shots that gave us a chance to escape were most likely him. Plus, I didn’t want to say it earlier, but someone took my ammo and left my rifle,” Claire stated. Penny opened her mouth to explain about Rhett but she continued over her. “Which tells me Rhett was here.”

  Penny nodded with thin lips. “He probably was.”

  Three short words said so much. Claire swiftly absorbed this information and looked into her bag. With both hands, she pulled out a wad of brightly colored, silky underwear. She presented the rolled panties, all pinks and reds and leopard prints.

  “What the hell…” Phoenix gaped.

  “My secret stash,” she grinned. “While not technically legal to have extra ammo on my person like this, I’ve always felt more comfortable knowing it was there. And even the most overzealous guard is reluctant to pick through my underwear,” she said while unrolling one.

  Phoenix dug his fingernails into the cushion of the seat as he thought. They couldn’t sit around doing nothing and with that gunshot still echoing in his ears, he knew the time to act was now. He strode toward Penny and took the rifle.

  “You can stay here. I’ll come back for you.”

  She shook her head, the fear in her eyes breaking his heart. “We can—”

  He cut her off. “No. We can’t.” He rested his hand over the one she used to hold the rifle. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

  Penny studied his face for a moment before she shook her head once again. This time, the gesture was resolute and determined. “I have to grab a couple things before we go,” she declared, releasing the weapon into his grip.

  A few minutes later, they were packed with as much as they could carry. With thick, warm layers of stolen clothing, they were ready to go.

  He and Claire made quick work of moving Charlie onto the stairs of the bus. They lowered him to the bottom one. An anguished groan rattled in his chest as he settled into place. Phoenix had to turn away before he felt pity for the guy. Claire didn't have any parting words.

  “You said you’d call for help,” he called out.

  “Oh, right.”

  “Have a great time at the closing ceremonies without me.” His raspy laugh turned into a painful cough.

  Claire was unfazed. “I’m sure I will.” She climbed the front steps of the bus as they walked away, snatching the walkie-talkie from its holster. “Mi pafis unu el viaj viroj. Venu kaj akiru ĝin, vi pecon da ŝo.”

  A voice crackled as they walked away. It felt horrible to leave the relative safety of the bus. Danger could come at them from all sides. Knowing what he was walking into didn’t make the journey any more appealing.

  “You know, that’s an interesting point,” Claire said as she stopped dead in her tracks. She was oblivious to how exposed they all were, standing in the middle of the road.

  “No one said anything,” Phoenix insisted as he yanked on her arm.

  “I did. Yesterday. Back on the bus. About how no one has noticed we’re missing…” She trailed off, presumably finishing the sentence in her mind.

  “Okay, great, come on!” he urged, physically pulling her into the meager cover of the trees.

  Chapter 22

  In many ways, the journey back down the slope to the barns was a lot easier than the trip up. In others, it was one of the most difficult walks Penny had ever had to make.

  The relatively mild day meant the wind hadn’t blown over their tracks. They were able to follow them, softly walking in a single line to their fates.

  Every cell in her body told her to turn and run, to take a chance out in the wilderness. If she walked in one direction until she collapsed, surely she’d find help of some sort. Walking back into that barn felt like she was willingly pulling the noose around her neck. In the face of Phoenix’s bravery, she wouldn't abandon them.

  As understanding as he and Claire had been about what happened with Charlie, she couldn’t stop kicking herself. She’d come so close to getting killed, getting them killed. She was completely out of her depth in this situation. Clearly, this Autonomous Action was far more organized and vicious than the CIA had ever suspected.

  Or they dropped me in the water like chum to the sharks.

  * * *

  She wanted the walk to take forever but it felt like it was over in a matter of minutes. They hung back in the dense cover of the small patch of trees where they’d first taken refuge. The area leading up to the barn was a crumpled mess of snow, dozens of tracks snaking this way and that. The body was no longer there, at least. Charlie’s reaction to seeing that poor man get shot hung heavy in her brain. Had he been truly distraught or was he really that good of an actor?

  Despite the hour, the sun had already disappeare
d behind the tall mountain peaks. The light was going quickly. Somehow they’d lost half the day between figuring out what to do and the walk down. They had to move.

  Penny looked to Phoenix who was taking deep, steadying breaths. He scanned the area as if he were ready to sprint off at any second. Panic flood through her body. She shot her arm out to grab him.

  “You remember where we were first tied up in the barn?”

  He nodded, the fear plain in his eyes. The guilt of her selfishness twisted deeper, yet she heard herself explain the details of the button anyway. She could’ve saved everyone the trouble and gone herself, but she was too chickenshit.

  “It’s under a floorboard,” she explained, tucking the batteries in his warm pocket. “It only has two buttons. Power and SOS. Turn the power on, wait for the light to blink, press the other one.”

  “And then what happens?”

  “Help comes,” she whispered. It was another lie, but a white one. She didn’t actually know what came after sending a distress beacon. She was sure they’d glossed over it, but the details were hazy. Would rescue come in minutes? Hours? Days? It would come, but would there be anyone around to rescue by the time it happened?

  Phoenix shifted again in the snow like a sprinter settling into the blocks at the start. Penny refused to let go of his arm, as if her tether could keep him safe.

  “Please don’t accidentally shoot me,” he whispered to Claire.

  “Very unlikely,” she replied dryly.

  He let out a dry laugh of his own. “You’re an odd duck, but I’m glad you have my back.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He turned toward Penny and she was struck with an overwhelming sense that it was the last time they’d ever talk.

  “You don’t have to do this,” she begged, clutching at his jacket.