Killer Assignment

by Black, Maggie K.

  He stepped back. “I’m sorry for what I said to Zack. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.” He let out a long breath. “You’re right. You’re incredibly strong. Plus you’re gutsy. The way you handled everything that’s happened has just been incredible, and yeah, I’m sure when you’re in your element and kidnappers aren’t breathing down your neck you’re a serious force to be reckoned with.”

  “Then let me show you that side of me, too,” she said. “Stay up here this weekend. Come with me on my assignment. Be my date for the Shields gala. Watch me do my job. It will give you a chance to see what I’m really like when I’m not busy running or ducking for cover.”

  He ran his hand over his head. “Actually, I was kind of hoping I might be able to change your mind about covering that event.”

  “You must be joking.” She stepped back. “I can’t just start turning down assignments. Ethan would fire me on the spot.”

  “Well, I’m hoping that after we talk tonight you’ll feel differently.”

  “I’m positive I won’t. Mark, I’ve been really understanding about whatever this business is that’s going on with you. I’ve respected the fact you wanted to keep some things private. But nothing you could possibly say is going to stop me from doing my job. I need my job. I love what I do. It’s who I am.”

  A hard, unexpected look flashed across Mark’s face as though he were smiling at a joke that wasn’t very funny. For a moment, she could feel her breath catch inside her chest, as his arms began to slide away as if to make a space for her between them. But then he wrenched his eyes away again. “You’re right. I need to respect that your life matters to you, too.” He rolled his shoulders back. “I’ve got to go fill up the tank. I suggest you walk around a bit before we keep going. Your legs can get pretty cramped on the back of a bike.”

  She paused, uncertain. But he had already turned away. Katie sighed and followed the direction the bear was pointing.

  * * *

  Katie wandered around the empty mini-golf course. Plastic beavers chased painted fish around the first hole. A chorus of wolves was poised to howl around the third. A dormant waterfall stood by the end of the course. She pulled a rust-stained putter from its base and gave it an experimental swing.

  She’d never planned for her life to be like this. As a teenager, she pictured herself not only finding work that she loved but also getting married, raising a family, going to church on Sunday mornings, having some form of balance in her life. Instead, it felt like she’d traded in everything else of value to work a job that left her feeling worse at the end of the day.

  A breeze tickled the trees. Psalm 139 flickered at the edge of her mind again. The actual piece of paper Celia had given her had been lost somewhere between getting ambushed on the road and trekking to Zack’s campsite. But many of the words had stayed with her.

  Oh God, you have searched me, and you know me. You perceive my thoughts from afar...

  This is not what I planned, God. None of this. Is any of this part of your plan?

  * * *

  Mark kicked the tires of the dirt bike. Then he walked the bike around to the automatic air pump at the back of the building. The tire pressure was actually pretty good, but it never hurt to be careful. A wry smile curved at the corner of his lips—he’d take almost any excuse to delay the inevitable for a few more moments.

  “Hey, God,” he said, under his breath, “I know I asked you once to find me the right woman. But she wasn’t supposed to show up until my company was in a stronger position. And she was definitely not supposed to be a journalist, let alone one on her way to see my family.”

  He ran his hand along the back of his neck. The muscles were tight.

  Tonight. He’d promised to tell her tonight. And he would. Before she had the chance to stumble upon a picture of him at his father’s party and recognize the man he was now in the eyes of the boy he used to be. Would she understand and forgive him? Or would she feel betrayed? Presume he was just like his father? Count off the number of chances he’d had to tell her the truth since they’d met on the railway tracks last night? Never want to see him again?

  He closed his eyes so tightly his lids ached. No matter what he said, she’d be determined to do her job. She hadn’t worked all this time at a shot at editorship just to let the chance encounter with him steal it all away from her. He couldn’t put her in that position. Maybe it was better he just wait until she was safely at the police station, write her a note explaining everything and disappear before they drew any closer.

  “When are you going to stop running?” Zack’s voice echoed in his mind. He grabbed for the air pump. He wasn’t running. He was saving lives. He was changing the world. Doing all that just meant leaving some things behind.

  There was the rumble of an engine coming from the direction of the parking lot. He glanced up. A black van had parked across the entrance of the parking lot. He pressed his back up against the wall and held his breath.

  Four young men got out. Most were barely more than teenagers. Two had guns. They walked around the van like a ragtag army of petty criminals in search of a battle to fight. They were the kind of boys he’d seen in battlegrounds all over the world. Boys who fought just because someone told them to and didn’t stop until they were too beaten down to move. One of them was Billy. Then Al stepped out. He glanced a cold eye over them like a guerrilla leader preparing for war.

  Mark could feel the breath freeze inside of his lungs. For a second, he was almost paralyzed by the questions cascading through his brain. How had they found them? How could he fight? What if they ran?

  Silent words tumbled over and over in his mind, pleading with God to do something—anything. He needed to make sure Katie was safe. He could not fail her. He needed to protect her even more than he needed to protect himself.

  In that moment, something like a bolt of lightning shot through Mark’s heart, splitting it down the middle and illuminating everything in its path. He needed help. He had one shot to get it. Nothing else mattered now.

  ELEVEN

  Hearing the vehicle pull up was what had first put Katie on edge. She’d been standing with her back to the fiberglass waterfall, idly swinging the putter back and forth, when she heard the guttural roar of a badly tuned engine shake the air. She tried to still her racing heart and tell herself it was probably nothing, even as she could feel her fingers clenching around the club in her hands. Then came the footsteps, moving slowly, as though someone was methodically searching for something.

  Making herself as small as she could, she slid behind the final obstacle until she could look out in between the gap in the plastic trees. There were two of them—Billy and a larger boy. A long-barreled gun shook unsteadily in Billy’s hands.

  Terror poured through her limbs like an icy wave. If only she’d been able to find a better hiding place. She forced large deep breaths into her lungs. Billy stepped around the corner. His eyes scanned around the space and then fell on the corner where she crouched. His eyes met hers. He smirked. Then he raised the gun toward her face.

  She swung. The sharp upswing of the golf club caught him across the temple, knocking the gun from his hands. Billy fell to his knees with a yelp. Katie didn’t pause. Leaping out from behind the barrier, she came face-to-face with the other boy. He was taller and younger with the bloodshot eyes of someone who had already seen far more than a human being should and had made it through by brute force and dissociative drugs.

  She held the putter out in front of her chest and tightened her grip. She might not be able to win, but there was nowhere to run now and at least she’d go down fighting. The boy snarled. A motor roared. He turned. The motorcycle shot out from behind the building. Through the helmet’s open visor she could see Mark—his jaw set, face grim. Her helmet was clenched in his outstretched hand. He swung it around hard, catching her attacker i
n the chest and knocking him to the ground.

  Mark swerved to a stop. “You okay?”

  Katie ran to him. “Yeah. Billy’s behind the waterfall. I hit him with a putter.”

  Mark grinned. “You are amazing.”

  He threw her the helmet. She caught it and shoved it on.

  “There’s at least two more boys, plus Al, and they’ve got a van. They’ve blocked off the entrance to the parking lot, so get prepared to—”

  A gunshot rang out in the air. Mark cried out in pain. He lurched sideways, nearly throwing himself and the bike sideways onto the ground. Katie grabbed for him and braced his weight to keep him from falling. Blood seeped through his sleeve, running down over his hand and onto the ground.

  “Al! They’re over here!”

  She glanced back. Billy was crawling toward before them, gun waving in his hands. He pulled the trigger again. The bullet shot past them into the trees.

  “Climb on,” Mark said.

  “You’re shot!”

  “I’m just grazed. I’ll...” He groaned.

  “Slide back. I’m driving.”

  “Can you?”

  She threw her leg over the bike in front of him. “Better than you can. Just hold on.”

  Sweat was pouring down Mark’s forehead. His face was ashen. Settling herself on the seat, she grabbed his good arm and threw it around her waist. He held on. There was shouting to her left and the sound of people running toward them. She didn’t let herself look. Gritting her teeth, she yanked hard on the throttle. The bike shot forward. She hit the edge of the fourth hole and jumped onto the green, nearly taking out a fiberglass falcon before landing hard on the ground again. They flew down the verge and then out onto the road.

  She’d driven motorbikes before but never something this large—and not with the weight of an injured body hanging on to her. Help him, God... Help us, God... Help me... She flew down the highway, forcing her arms to stay steady on the handlebars. She edged the bike faster, faster as rocks and trees flashed past her in a blur.

  How far was it to the nearest town? How would she ever outrun them? Mark’s grip was beginning to weaken. She could feel fear beginning to take root in her stomach and crawl up inside her. There was nothing but empty highway in front of them and an unknown, relentless enemy behind them. They would never escape. There was nowhere to run.

  She heard the steady thrum of a new, heavier motor in the distance. Something else was coming now. Something big.

  They were going to get captured. Kidnapped. Tied up like animals. And then?

  She could hear the sound of the motor growing louder. Thrumming. Humming. Like it was floating through the air and about to land on top of them. She glanced in the rearview mirror. The van was still just a speck in the distance, growing larger by the second. But still the loud, disembodied sound of a motor droned on, drowning out even the sound of the engine beneath her.

  They crested a hill, and then she saw it. A large black helicopter was coming down from the sky toward them. It hovered above the road, like a metallic beetle with dark tinted eyes, emblazoned with the logo of the Shields Corporation.

  The door slid open. A rope ladder fell out. An imposing figure in a crisp black uniform climbed down and leaped onto the road in front of them. Another followed quickly on his heels. Mark’s arm slipped from her waist. She pulled up on the accelerator, barely bringing the bike to a stop before he fell onto the ground. The men in uniform were pelting across the pavement toward them. Choking back tears, Katie jumped off and fell down to his side. She pulled Mark’s helmet off and cradled his head onto her knees. “Trust me, Katie. Please...”

  Strong hands clamped down on her shoulders, pulling her away from him.

  * * *

  The high-backed seats inside the helicopter were made of leather and melted around Katie’s limbs like butter. The uniformed men who had escorted her there had practically forced her to sit. Then they went back down again on a stretcher, leaving her alone in the sleek, loungelike interior with the helicopter’s one other passenger—a stunning, dark-haired woman in a flowing yellow dress and crisp black blazer.

  “Are they going to get Mark? I’m not leaving without him.”

  The woman smirked. “I’m not sure you have much of a choice. But I can assure you we have no intention of leaving him behind.” A polite smile spread across her face that didn’t quite touch her eyes. It was the kind of faked smile intended to make you look warm while still holding yourself back. It took years of practice to make a smile like that look genuine. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Sunny Shields, chief of operations for Shields Corp. You can call me Sunny.”

  Katie couldn’t even begin to guess why the CEO of the Shields Corporation would airlift her off the highway. But at least no one was firing at them.

  “I’m Katie Todd with Impact News. I was invited up here to cover the events this weekend. My friend Mark runs a small charity.”

  Sunny’s eyebrows rose. Okay, whatever she was expecting her to say, it was definitely not that. But all Sunny said in reply was, “You’re going to want to buckle your seat belt.”

  The black-clad figures reappeared in the doorway with Mark strapped to the stretcher. His eyes were shut, but thankfully his chest was still moving. Had he passed out, or had they sedated him? The men nodded to Sunny. Then they carried him to the back portion of the cavernous aircraft and pulled a door shut behind them. Katie followed them with her eyes.

  Now what? Fighting off a teenager with a gun was one thing but trying to safely bring down an aircraft full of armed guards was something else entirely—especially if Mark was on board and injured.

  “How was he hurt?” Sunny asked. Was there a glimmer of genuine concern slipping through her clipped tones?

  “He was grazed in the arm by a bullet. We need to get him to a hospital.”

  Sunny waved a hand toward a closed-circuit camera. The helicopter rose. “All of my security team have medical training. If they think we need to land at a hospital or clinic, they’ll let me know.” Sunny moved her eyes toward the window. “I’m afraid you’re just going to have to trust me.”

  “Trust you? Are you kidding me? Since agreeing to cover your father’s party I’ve been attacked, kidnapped, tied up and shot at. Not to mention crashing a truck and jumping from a moving vehicle.”

  Sunny’s eyes swiveled forward. The calm mask fell from her face to show the pure shock underneath. Beautifully manicured fingers rose to her throat. “Kidnapped?”

  “Yes. Kidnapped. And while I may not have a clue how to safely land a helicopter, I’d sooner try that right now than just trust anyone from the almighty Shields Corporation—”

  “I can assure you that nobody from Shields had anything to do with any of—”

  “Why is someone trying to kidnap me?”

  “I don’t know—”

  “Does the name Langtry Glen mean anything to you?” Katie asked.

  She was hoping for a big response, but all Sunny did was sniff. “Of course. It’s a property we acquired four years ago. Why?”

  “Because...” How much could she trust her? Probably not all that much. “Because maybe somebody who lived there still holds a grudge.”

  This time Sunny rolled her eyes. “You can’t be serious. We’ve received some threats from people who weren’t happy with the acquisition, but that was years ago and our security consultants assured us it was nothing to worry about.”

  “Look, I know how ridiculous this must sound. But I can assure you that whoever’s been chasing me means business.”

  Sunny crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes narrowed. “What makes you so sure someone’s after you?”

  Had she not just noticed the men with guns or seen that Mark was injured? The helicopter soared over the treetops as a
constant kaleidoscope of pictures flashed through Katie’s mind.

  “Because someone is. I was followed up on the train from Toronto, and they jumped me in the station parking lot. If Mark hadn’t been there, I’d probably be dead by now. One of my kidnappers had a Langtry Glen bandanna, presumably to set them up. For all I know, it was someone inside your own organization. Maybe it was even you, and that’s why your security grabbed us—”

  “They saved you!”

  “Why would they do that? For that matter, why would you come with them?”

  A dangerous look flashed across Sunny’s dark eyes. She opened her mouth. Her hand raised in the air as if to strike a chord. Then she paused, chuckled under her breath and lowered her hand again. She crossed her arms. “Mark asked for help, and he’s never asked me for anything before. Ever.” Her voice was calm with the threat of some deep-seated emotion moving beneath the surface. “Until now. Until you.” Her glance swept critically from the top of Katie’s disheveled hair all the way down over the borrowed clothes to her mud-caked shoes. “I guess you could say I was curious.”

  Katie’s heart stopped. “You know Mark?”

  “I used to think I did. But considering the fact you obviously know nothing about what’s happening here. I suggest you stop talking before you embarrass yourself.”

  “But—”

  “When you do find out what Mark’s deal is, you’re definitely not going to hear it from me.” It was the tone of a woman who was used to being listened to.

  The helicopter started descending. They flew over a golf course, set on the edge of a river-fed lake, with a lushly forested island near the center. Then a set of walls with a guarded gate and then a ring of four buildings around a large green space.

  “This is the Shields Corporation headquarters?”