I bit my lower lip. If they were traveling by helicopter, too, and they were already ahead of us, we’d never catch up.
“Can’t Devlin send someone else in to intercept them?” I asked. “Surely there must be people who are closer who can help.”
Isaac shook his head. “This is the exact reason we needed to be back in touch with each of the bases. There is no one else. Only us. To everyone else, Hollan looks like the authority. He’s the good guy. It’s not as though we can call the cops on him.”
I motioned around us. “But what about all of this? Surely the police will listen when they see the bodies.”
“And how are we going to explain it? For one, our cover will be blown. What we do will no longer be a secret, and if it’s not a secret, there’s no point in us even existing. Plus, if we contact the cops now and they show up here, all that’s going to happen is that we’ll get pulled in for questioning, and Hollan will be free to complete his plan.”
Isaac was right. I ground my teeth in frustration, wishing there was something more we could do.
He marched back to the tech room, and I followed, forced to break into a jog to keep up with him. It was exactly how we’d left it, with screens smashed, desks and chairs toppled over. Hollan’s men didn’t only want to kill the people who worked here, or take the boys they were training. No, they were sending a message. This was their way of letting us know they were winning, and that they wouldn’t leave any part of the bases standing. My thought went to our base, and to Aunt Sarah, and the boys she was helping to take care of. Was this to be their fate, too? The idea of returning only to discover a similar scene caused ice to slip through my veins, chilling me to the core.
Isaac stood with his hands on his hips, surveying the remains of the technology the room housed. He knew far more about computers than I ever would, probably recognizing things that meant nothing to me, then he stepped forward and got to work, flicking switches and checking leads. He flipped one switch and something came to life, light appearing behind the buttons.
“Gotcha,” he said, mainly to himself.
He started moving things around, connecting and disconnecting different leads. He certainly looked like he knew what he was doing, but I was clueless.
Finally, he pulled his laptop out from the bag strapped across his chest and used some of the leads he’d found to attach the laptop to what looked to be one of the system units of the bigger machines. He righted one of the chairs—a small leather one with wheels on the bottom—and sat down.
“Let’s hope this is the right one,” he said, though again I was sure he was talking to himself.
He fired up his laptop and started to scroll through the files. He clicked on one. “Bingo.”
The stairwell came up in grainy color. Isaac scrolled, forwarding through the times. There was a flash of movement as someone walked up the stairs, but it wasn’t anything interesting. How long ago had they been here? How much time had we missed them by? How long had George been hiding in the kitchen cupboard? It occurred to me that if we’d left an hour earlier, we might well have walked right into this. We might have been able to help, or alternatively, they would have heard the chopper coming and been ready to take us down the minute our feet touched the ground.
Sudden movement flashed on screen, and a man flew backward, landing on the stairs in the position we’d found him. Then more men ran past, leaping over the body. How many were there? Was Hollan among them?
Isaac jabbed his finger at the time stamp. “They were here almost two hours ago. That helps us narrow things down.”
“Good.” It was a relief that he seemed to know what he was doing.
Isaac opened more files, bringing up more video footage of other parts of the base. He appeared to be looking for something in particular, but his face was a mask of concentration, and I couldn’t predict what.
Then footage of the outside of the building and the surrounding area appeared on screen.
I watched in stunned horror as multiple black vans screeched to the front of the building. The doors opened and men dressed in Kevlar body armor and helmets jumped out. Each man was armed and moving with fast, silent precision. They looked as though they were taking on a terrorist cell.
Though horrified at what I was seeing, there was one bright light.
“They’re traveling by road,” I said, noting the presence of the vans.
Isaac nodded. “It’s a small bonus, but it’s one we should be able to take advantage of.”
“Can we tell which one is Hollan? Is he with them?”
I studied each of the figures on screen, hoping there would be something that would distinguish him from the others. But they each wore the same black protective vests and helmets. Identical soldiers.
“This might not be his only team,” Isaac said. “He might have sent multiple teams out at the same time. He might not even have been here. There’s a chance he’s gone to a different location.”
“That’s possible. But how many people does he have access to? Yes, he’s an FBI agent, and he almost certainly has a number of men behind him who are as corrupt as he is, but multiple teams of men?”
Isaac frowned. “He could have lied to them. We know that wouldn’t exactly be against his moral code. I might have told them they were dealing with something corrupt—assuming these men are aboveboard.”
My teeth dug into my lower lip. “I guess that’s the real question. Do these men know what they’re really doing—the truth of who they’re killing—or have they been fed a pack of lies? If it’s lies, and they don’t realize what they’re doing, they might be easier to stop.”
Isaac nodded. “But if they know the full truth of the situation, it’ll be kill or be killed.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
The door pushed open, and Alex and Lorcan entered the room.
Isaac twisted in his seat. “Did you find anything on the bodies?”
Lorcan shook his head. “Not a single thing. It was as though someone deliberately went over them and made sure there wasn’t anything identifying them. I’m surprised they didn’t take the tips of their fingers and their teeth as well.”
“It wouldn’t make any difference if they did. These men work off grid, just like we do. We wouldn’t find any records to identify them by.”
Alex frowned and folded his arms across his chest. “If any of them were Hollan’s men, they’ll probably have a record somewhere.”
I thought of Otto and how Hollan had recruited him to do a job. There was a chance Hollan had done the same thing with these men, and they were guns for hire.
Isaac uploaded the video files to his laptop, then unplugged from the system unit.
He got to his feet. “We can’t do much more here. We need to get on the move and see if we can catch up with the son of a bitch.”
“And get the boys back,” I said, hoping we weren’t too late. What the hell did he want with a bunch of kids, anyway? Yes, they were being trained, but they wouldn’t be the final product until they were grown men like Isaac and the others.
Even so, I was glad to be leaving this place. I followed Isaac, Lorcan, and Alex out of the destroyed control room and back into the stairwell. I averted my gaze from the body still slumped on the stairs as we retraced our route up the stairs and into the big entrance hall where the other three bodies lay. It felt wrong to leave them, but what else could we do? I stepped into fresh air and allowed myself to breathe again.
Kingsley had been waiting outside with George. The boy stood at Kingsley’s side, glancing around nervously. I wondered how often he’d been allowed up. Had the boys been allowed to explore the area, to run in the surrounding forests and swim in the lake, like those back at the home base were? He looked nervous, like a beaten dog just released from its chains, but I didn’t know if that was because he was worried because of the attack, or if it was the sudden exposure to wide open space that was bothering him.
Then he caught sight of the
helicopter and his eyes widened. “Are we going for a ride in that?”
“Sure are,” said Kingsley. “You ever been in one before?”
He shook his head. “No, sir.”
“It’s pretty cool.”
“Sure is!”
The boy’s nerves seemed to have been forgotten at the prospect of a ride in the helicopter.
I took Isaac to one side. “What’s the plan? Are we going after Hollan, or are we going to the next base?”
“I think the two things are the same. According to the coordinates, and George overhearing them saying it was five hundred miles away, that’ll take us to the next base, which makes me think that’s where they’re going, too. We could try to catch up with Hollan on the road, but, if somehow we fail, they’ll be free to continue and repeat what they’ve done here.”
“So you think we should head for the second base, and hope we get there before Hollan does?”
He nodded. “At least that way they’ll be prepared should Hollan and his men arrive.”
“We just have to get there first.”
“That’s the challenge. They have a couple of hours on us, but we can move twice as fast.”
I sucked in a breath and nodded. I prayed we’d be on time. The idea of coming across a similar scene at the next base tore me up inside. I didn’t know the people there, but that didn’t stop me from caring about them. I didn’t want innocent lives lost. Over the past few weeks, I’d gotten to know the people at our base, and I couldn’t help imprinting each of their faces onto the bodies we’d found.
Isaac had moved away to catch up with Lorcan and Alex and run them through what was happening next. Kingsley had taken it upon himself to show George the helicopter, and they were both now standing with Jonathan. I was out of earshot, but the pilot pointed at the different parts of the aircraft, most likely telling the boy how each part worked to get the chopper into the air.
A figure appeared at my side, making me jump. Then I realized it was only Clay. He bumped me with his shoulder.
“You okay, sugar?”
Unexpected tears filled my eyes, and I blinked them back, glancing away, not wanting him or anyone else to see I’d been affected by what we’d found. I wanted to be as tough as the guys, to play my part alongside them. I didn’t want them to see me as being weak.
I didn’t want to look at him, so just nodded instead.
He stepped in closer and his fingers caught my jaw, gently drawing my face back around to his, and his thumb gently brushed away the tear that had escaped my eye.
“Hey, you don’t have to hide how you feel from us,” he told me.
“I just keep thinking about those kids,” I admitted. “As if life hadn’t dealt them enough blows, now they’re in Hollan’s hands. I wish we had done more. I wish I had done more.”
“If this is too hard, you can always say you want out. None of us would think any less of you. We’re all pretty damned impressed with everything you’ve done so far, but you weren’t raised for this life. It’s okay to say when it’s too much.”
I shook my head. “If I’m here with all of you, then nothing will ever be too much. My old life doesn’t exist anymore. I can never go back to being that person I was before I met you. What would be the point? I’d rather die, knowing I had you, and Isaac, Kingsley, Lorcan, and Alex, than live the rest of my life without you all.”
“Hey, no one’s dying.”
I wished he could say that for sure.
He put his arm around my shoulders, and together we joined the others.
Jonathan already had the helicopter warming up at Clay’s request.
Isaac told him our plans, and the pilot’s lips twisted. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that could be a problem.”
My stomach sank.
Isaac frowned. “Why?”
“I’m gonna have to refuel. We already used most of the fuel getting here. I have maybe another hundred miles’ worth, but that’s it.”
“Shit.”
“Okay,” I started to calculate, the numbers jumping up in my vision, “if we both have to travel five hundred miles, approximately, and on the road they’ll be covering eighty miles per hour, at the most, it’s going to take them at least seven hours, and that’s without taking into account any stops for fuel or rest breaks. It’s going to take us less than half that time—three hours, tops. They’re two hours ahead of us, but that still gives us a couple of hours to stop somewhere and refuel.”
“She’s right,” Alex said, nodding.
Isaac turned to Jonathan. “How long is it going to take to refuel, and are we going to need to veer much off course to do so?”
The pilot shook his head. “No, it won’t take long. We should still make it.”
“Okay, but it’s going to be tight. We can’t waste any more time.”
“What are we going to do about the kid?” Kingsley asked under his breath.
Isaac pressed his lips together. “We don’t have time to do anything with him. I hate to say it, but he’s going to have to come with us.”
I agreed. “It’s not ideal, I know, but we don’t have any choice. If we try to divert to drop him off somewhere else, Hollan will beat us there. Besides, he’s probably safer with us right now than anywhere else.”
Kingsley turned to George with a grin. “You ready to take a ride, kiddo?”
The boy did a fist pump. “Yeah!”
He might have just witnessed the deaths of the men who’d been training him, and watched his friends being kidnapped, but he was still seven years old and excited about a ride on a helicopter.
The innocence of it kind of broke my heart.
Chapter Seven
Back on board, the rotor blades spun faster until the chopper lifted into the air.
It still felt unnerving to me, my stomach lurching, my fists tightening into balls. I was aware we had a child with us now, however, so I masked my nervousness with a smile.
“Fun, huh?” I said, though my voice was too high pitched, and I didn’t think I was fooling anyone.
George looked equally unsure now we were actually in the air, but he returned my smile and nodded briskly.
I knew how he felt.
I couldn’t stop myself thinking about the four boys who had been taken by Hollan. I thought of the men in their protective gear with their guns and the black vans. I imagined Hollan’s men shoving them from behind, maybe even hitting them with the butts of their guns, forcing them to move when they were scared and maybe even crying. Or would the older ones have been defiant, remembering what they were being trained for? That defiance may have only earned them more violence, and I prayed none of them had been badly hurt.
Beneath us, we left the lake far behind, until it became only a shade of blue on the horizon. Green dots of bushes and trees blended together to become a patchwork of hues, divided only by the strips of roads winding between them. I had the strange thought that we were the only ones left, circling above the rest of the world like survivors of an apocalypse.
I leaned across Lorcan to stare down at the roads, and any tiny dots of vehicles made my heart lurch. Could they be Hollan? It was impossible to tell from this high up—they were nothing more than ants—and I knew Hollan would be way ahead of us by now. Hell, they might not even be taking the same route; it wasn’t as though we had to worry about following the highways. Plus, we’d agreed we weren’t going to try to take out Hollan that way, and we needed to wait until we’d told the next base of their impending arrival. Still, it didn’t stop me imagining them below us, and how good it would feel to swoop down and shoot the bastards off the road.
I also realized we didn’t know which vehicle the boys were being held in, and just shooting the vans off the road would also mean putting the lives of the boys in danger.
There was a different atmosphere in the chopper now. Where before we’d been tense but hopeful, now it felt as though we’d already failed. There were another four bases we still ne
eded to reach, but now the reality that we might not win this thing sat heavy on each of our shoulders.
We were playing a game of chess, each of us trying to anticipate the other person’s move before they made it. I wished we had some idea of how many men Hollan had been able to get behind him. If it was only a handful, we were on an equal footing, but if he had hundreds he’d been able to mobilize, then we’d already lost before we’d barely gotten started.
Up front, the pilot used the radio to call ahead and let whoever owned the place where we’d be refueling know we were coming. I guessed you couldn’t just land and help yourself.
It felt as though we’d barely been in the air when the helicopter began to descend again. I looked down to see the gray strip of an airfield below us. The roofs of a couple of buildings were positioned at the far end.
“This is where we’re going to refuel, folks,” Jonathan said through our headphone sets. “Probably going to be a good thirty minutes, so you might as well use the time to stretch your legs. It’ll be a couple of hours before you get to do so again.”
I looked over to the guys. They wore similar expressions—jaws tensed, shoulders back. There had been a distinct lack of conversation, and when there was some, it was stilted and abrupt. I didn’t like seeing the usual easy camaraderie between the guys being eaten away by regret and self-doubt. I knew all the worries going through my head would be going through theirs, too.
The helicopter grew lower in the sky, until I was able to make out the detail of the ground below. A large tanker was set to one side of the airstrip, a little way from the buildings. As I watched, a figure exited one of the buildings, and then stood looking up at us, his hand cupped over his eyes to shelter from the glare of the sun. I hoped this was someone we could trust, but I’d been having a hard time trusting anyone lately.
Jonathan didn’t seem to be bothered by the person’s appearance, as he continued to descend. I did, however, notice Lorcan’s hand slipping down to where his gun rested in its holster at his hip. I had my own weapon on me, too. Now was not a time for letting down our guard.
Merging Darkness Page 5
