The Redemption Lie

by Amanda J. Clay

  Moments later, his vehicle crept up a woodsy road. He saw the faint outline of an old warehouse peeking out through the thick pine. He pulled behind some trees and turned off the ignition.

  Beck closed his eyes and counted to 30. He took a few deep steadying breaths. Panic started to set in. How did he play this? If he waited for back up to arrive, they might kill her. But if he went in alone, was he going on a suicide mission? What was Nina thinking? Why would she voluntarily go there?

  Did she have some vigilante notion that she was gonna take Luther out all by herself?

  No, Nina was smarter than that. Nina would've run unless something very compelling was keeping her here. Luther baited her with something she valued more than herself. Didn't she have a sister? A young niece and nephew? Friends?

  Beck screwed the silencer onto his gun and slowly crept out of his truck and up the woodsy path.

  The scents of pine and cool earth danced around him. The natural beauty of this place deserved better than the likes of Luther.

  He kept under the cloak of the trees as he crept up. His senses sharpened, blocking out anything unnecessary and homing in the sights and sounds he needed.

  For a moment, he was back in Iraq, a rescue mission, trying to free a captured soldier. He’d been so foolish, taken risks that should have gotten him killed. Maybe part of him had hoped it would. Then he would never have to go back home, never have to see the heartbreak in his mother’s eyes again. He could see Jack again.

  His breath was calm, his senses alert and ready. Instantly the panic subsided, replaced with pure training and instinct.

  He spotted two men standing guard outside. Run-of-the-mill thugs, nothing he couldn’t handle. He did an assessment of the building. An old warehouse. There was probably a logging mill close by. Beck shut his eyes and inhaled, smelling the timber and sawdust on the air.

  He took a breath and charged forward. He slipped to the side of the building. One, two, three. He snapped around the corner and fired two quick shots at the guards. A hiss, a muffled pew, pew, and they each fell to the ground.

  Beck fell back against the wall and took a few calming breaths. He waited for a response from inside but nothing came. No one heard.

  He kept on.

  He put his ear to the front door and heard the low murmur of voices from within. It was impossible to know what he was up against.

  He took a step back, assessing. He spotted a window. He crept down, duck walked over to it and ventured a peek through. The glass was faded and opaque, but he could make out the figures within. He counted 10, maybe more. Far too many for him to take in open fire. Dammit, he was going to have to wait for backup after all.

  Chapter 37

  The seconds ticked by like a snail rolling through molasses.

  Nina paced the small room, trying not to panic. Luther wouldn’t stick around here long—he was smart enough to know that they’d be found eventually. But where would they go?

  The doorknob turned. She caught her breath. Luther stepped through, carrying a bottle of Champagne.

  “How are you feeling?” Luther said.

  “Tired,” Nina said.

  He gave an easy smile. “Stressful day for you. Here, let’s share a toast, shall we?”

  Luther filled up two glasses sitting on the desk in the corner and brought one to her.

  “What’s the occasion?” Nina said, gingerly accepting the glass.

  “I have good news. I’ve decided not to kill you,” Luther said.

  “That is good news,” Nina said. “So what happens now?”

  “Well we can’t stay here, can we?”

  “Then why’d you come back here at all?” Nina said.

  “I came back to pick up where I left off before my untimely demise. I’d learned you’d gotten out and come back here as well. It seemed fitting. But I didn’t count on you working with the DEA. I must admit, you keep me on my toes.”

  “I wasn’t working with them,” Nina said.

  Luther grabbed her wrists and squeezed until pain radiated up her arm. “Don’t lie to me, kitty. Never, ever lie to me. I know you turned back then, and I know you’re turning now.”

  Luther released her arm and sighed. “I admit I was furious. But I think I understand. You were young. Scared. Didn’t realize what you were doing.”

  “You nearly got me killed,” Nina said. “Damn right I was scared.”

  “I saved you.”

  “I was raped. Beaten. Used as a revenge ploy to get back at you.”

  “And I saw to it that he suffered for his slight.”

  Nina could still hear his blood-curdling screams, the crack of bone, the rip of cartilage. Still smell the burnt flesh and blood. Her stomach turned at the seared memory.

  “You’re a monster,” she said.

  “And you’re ungrateful. But that’s all in the past isn’t it? It’s all behind us. We can move on, forget, rebuild. I have a beautiful place on the Yucatan. Warm water, salty air, white beaches. Or we can go back to the homeland. How about a castle in the Estonian mountains? Leave this place behind.”

  “And if I say no?” Nina said.

  Luther pressed his lips into a tight smile. He stroked her hair, brushing tangled tendrils behind her ears. He traced the white scar that ran across her neck where her rapist had sliced her.

  “Then I will kill you.”

  Nina swallowed hard. She pressed her eyes closed, keeping the tears at bay. She nodded.

  “When do we leave?”

  “Soon. The plane will be ready in a few hours. By tomorrow, we can be basking in the Mexican sun.”

  Nina tried to force a smile, but it felt like a razor blade across her heart.

  The blip of a siren echoed on the air. Luther shot up.

  He glanced toward the window. Then his face hardened.

  “Nina,” he said with such heartbreak and disdain that Nina almost felt guilty. “You wound me. You should have known better.”

  Luther’s fist came hard against her jaw. She fell back, her ears ringing. The room spun from the impact. She forced herself to stand back up. His fist came again, this time to her gut.

  “I trusted you,” Luther said.

  “There’s your first mistake,” Nina croaked out. She tasted blood. Her body ached, but it told her at least she was still alive. She was still in this fight.

  Luther pulled out his pistol and pressed it to her temple. He looked down at her with seemingly genuine hurt. Maybe he did love her in his own twisted fucked up way.

  “Just do it,” Nina said. “Then you can go down for my murder. I hope you rot in a cell like the animal you are.”

  Luther’s eyes narrowed into blue slits. Nina felt the hatred oozing from them. It didn’t matter what she said now. She was already dead.

  Luther lowered the gun. “Stay here.”

  He ran out of the room, shut the door and locked it from the outside.

  

  Every second Beck stood outside felt like an eternity. Finally, in the distance, he heard the familiar roll of tires on dirt road. Backup.

  In an instant the place was surrounded, sirens and motors dancing around the edifice.

  So much for a surprise attack.

  Uniforms and suits flooded the scene, guns raised, locked and ready.

  “Agent Graham!”

  Beck looked up and saw Martinez flanked by two officers.

  “You hurt?”

  “No. Two suspects down. About a dozen more inside. Nina’s in there,” Beck said.

  Martinez gave him a regretful look and nodded curtly.

  He gave the orders to raid.

  Chapter 38

  The explosion of commotion rattled her. What the hell was happening out there? She tried the door but it was locked. The room erupted with shots. She dropped to the floor, then realized it was all coming from the front room. But who… Beck.

  Coming into this viper pit was a suicide mission. It was one thing to sacrifice herself to save B
rooklyn, but she would not let Beck go down for this too. This wasn't his fight.

  Frantically she looked around the room for some kind tool to break down the door. She spotted a long metal bar leaning against the wall in the corner. Quickly, she slipped her jeans down and grabbed the knife out of her leg holster. Then she picked up the bar and smashed it against the doorknob. Three swings and the knob broke off. She took a deep breath and braced herself.

  She swung the door open, the bar raised high.

  The room was chaos. Cops and thugs were in open battle.

  She braced herself to run into the fray, then she felt cold metal against the back of her head.

  “Don’t move, kitty. I hate to ruin your beautiful face.”

  Luther’s breath was hot on her neck.

  “It’s over, Luther,” Nina said.

  He laughed. “Nothing is over until I say. Now drop those.” Nina let the knife and bar fall to the floor. “C’mon, we have a plane to catch.”

  “Don’t move!” Beck’s voice bellowed across the room. “Nina! Are you ok?”

  She swallowed. “Fine.”

  “Nina is coming with me,” Luther said. “So back off and let us pass.”

  “I don’t think so, Kavka. Let her go.”

  Luther pressed the gun into Nina’s temple. She closed her eyes and breathed. He wouldn’t hurt her.

  “Are you really willing to gamble with her life?” Luther said.

  Nina met Beck’s eyes and saw the warring emotions in them. He didn’t know how to play this.

  “It’s ok, Beck. I want to go with him,” she said.

  “You hear that, agent? She wants to go. So just put down your toys and step aside.”

  “Please, Beck!” Nina pleaded. “Just let me go.”

  She saw the conflict in his eyes, but he lowered his gun.

  “Good boys,” Luther said. Keeping the gun pressed to Nina’s head, he pushed her forward toward the door.

  They burst through the front door and Nina was assaulted by mountain air. She could barely breathe, barely think. She felt like she was tied to the tracks, the train was coming and there was nothing she could do but close her eyes.

  “They will come after you,” Nina said.

  “They can try. Extradition from Estonia is tricky.”

  “Thought we were going to Mexico.”

  “Change of plans.”

  He pulled her around the building and toward a black luxury SUV parked near the back.

  Nina silently bid farewell to Tahoe, to Beck, to her family. To the life she almost had. She knew once she got into that car, it was all over. She was never coming back.

  Luther picked up the speed to a slow run. Nina stumbled in his grip, her head banging against the gun.

  A shot rang out, shattering against the evening sky. Luther jumped and stopped in his tracks. Nina froze, expecting the searing pain of a bullet. Nothing. She caught her breath and looked up.

  Brooklyn was standing in front of them, pointing a pistol at Luther’s head.

  “Brooklyn!” Nina shrieked in both fear and relief. God, she was going to get herself killed.

  Luther froze, then he relaxed. “Put that down, sweetheart. You’ll hurt yourself.”

  Brooklyn fired a shot right at Luther’s feet. They both jumped back.

  Nina balked. Brooklyn could shoot?

  “Next one goes in your eyeball,” Brooklyn said.

  Luther was stunned. Then he started to laugh. “If you do that, then your friend dies too.”

  “I might be able to live with that. But what I can’t live with is you spending one more hour on this earth. Nina made her bed,” Brooklyn said.

  Nina searched for truth in her friend’s eyes. Did she really think that or was she just playing up her anger?

  Nina felt the hesitation and doubt in Luther’s shifting demeanor. That’s right, Nina thought. She’s my friend. Did you expect her to be weak?

  “Brooklyn, drop the gun.” Luther said. “I’m going to take a step closer. And then another. And you’re going to give that to me.”

  Brooklyn held steady. Nina’s heart was racing, thrumming.

  Brooklyn raised the gun and Nina waited for the shot. A siren blipped, startling them all from their trance. Brooklyn’s attention pulled toward the noise and in an instant one of Luther’s men had disarmed her and she lay on the dirt floor in confusion.

  “Brooklyn!” Nina screamed. A moment later something smashed into her head and Nina saw stars. The world spun around her, her vision blurred. Then she tumbled to the ground. Through a dizzy haze she saw Luther’s spectral form disappear into a black SUV. Momentarily, everything went dark.

  

  A few minutes later, Nina blinked, trying to process the preceding moments. She was in the dirt, her head throbbed. Had she been knocked out? She forced herself up on her forearms.

  “Jesus Christ, Nina,” Beck was running toward her. Her vision was blurry and for a moment it looked like there was two of him. God help her.

  “Beck,” she said, struggling to stand. She nearly fell but he caught her.

  “Are you hurt?” Beck said.

  She shook her head. “I’m fine. Are you?”

  “No, fine,” Beck said.

  “Luther?”

  “He got away.”

  Nina’s heart sank but she bit back the emotional reaction. “How’s Brooklyn?”

  “She’s ok. She’s in the ambulance getting checked out. They’re questioning her to see what happened to her,” Beck said.

  A chill scuttled up Nina’s spine as she thought about all the various scenarios.

  Beck took her hand and pulled her close.

  Nina pushed him away slightly. “People will see you,” she said quietly.

  “God, I was so fucking scared.”

  Nina laughed then. “You were scared? Try being locked up in a bedroom with 20 thugs outside your door.”

  “What the hell were you thinking? Why wouldn’t you call the police? Or at least me?”

  “I couldn’t risk it. She’s my friend, Beck. One of the only people I have in the world. And if saving her meant sacrificing myself, then it wasn’t even a question.”

  “But you could have—”

  “God, you still don’t get it do you? When they say no police, they aren't fucking around. Luther isn’t afraid to kill an innocent woman as a means to an end. You need to pull your head out of your own ass and start realizing that!”

  Beck laughed slightly then pulled her into a hug, despite her protest.

  “Nina,” a gruff voice said. They looked up to see Martinez.

  “Agent. Did you catch him?”

  “’Fraid not. We have a number of them in custody, but the rest got away. Including Kavka. We’ll find him though. Don’t you worry. He couldn’t have gotten far.”

  Nina forced a smile. But she knew he was wrong.

  Although Nina was relieved to be alive, the persistent fear was still rooted deep within her. She didn’t know where Luther would go—but she was certain that one day, he would come after her again. She would be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.

  “It's all going to be all right,” Beck said, as if he was soothing a trauma victim or a small child.

  Nina smiled up at him, trying not to let her true feelings show. Beck was just doing what he was good at. She understood why they assigned him to this case. He was a charmer. He had the kind of eyes that made you want to trust him, that soothed anxious victims.

  And Nina did trust him. But she knew that he shouldn't trust her.

  

  Nina found Brooklyn in the ambulance being poked and prodded and patched up. Brooklyn had a black right eye and bruises up and down her arms. There were scratches down her arm, and her shirt was ripped.

  “Oh my God, Brooklyn,” Nina choked out. She rushed to her and threw her arms around her. She didn't care about the spectacle, she pulled her close to her chest and cried into her hair. Brook
lyn hesitated, then returned the gesture.

  “Hey, be careful. I’m a little beat up,” Brooklyn said.

  “Sorry,” Nina said and pulled away. “Are you ok?”

  “I'm fine,” Brooklyn said, her tone cold and unwavering, ever calm in the face of adversity. Or was that simply shock?

  Nina assessed her. “You don’t look fine. Are you badly hurt?

  The coldness in Brooklyn's eyes sent a chill down Nina’s spine. Nina swallowed hard, her throat feeling like cement.

  “Nothing I won’t recover from.”

  “Brooklyn, talk to me. What happened?”

  Brooklyn laughed then, a cold incredulous laugh. “I'm sure you can imagine.”

  Nina tried not to imagine what she had endured in those few hours. Luther would not have let something so bad happen to her, would he? He wasn't that sadistic. No, more like he was just too controlled.

  “Did they…did they rape you?” Nina asked the question bluntly. She needed to know. She needed to feel Brooklyn’s pain.

  Brooklyn looked away, staring out at the woods. Finally, she turned back to Nina. She shook her head.

  “No, not really. It didn’t get that far. Your boyfriend Luther stepped in and stopped those brutes. But that didn't mean that they didn't do things.”

  Brooklyn shuddered and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

  Nina's heart broke to imagine it. Brooklyn who tried so hard to be good despite her past. Who was cautious. Who only wanted to be loved. She deserved better. So much better.

  “I’m so, so sorry Brooklyn,” Nina said through tears.

  Brooklyn’s blue eyes met Nina’s. “I know you are. And I think I understand things a little better now.”

  “You do?”

  “For the record, I think you're an idiot. Those men,” Brooklyn shook her head. “I can't even describe the horror of them. The fear. I'm going to hear their voices forever.”

  Nina cupped her friend’s chin. “I know. I hear them every night.”

  “And Luther. He’s…I don’t know. You know the funny thing? Luther kinda seemed like the good guy in there.”

  Nina smiled. “Yeah, that’s sort of his thing. He has a way of captivating you. Of making you believe that you love him.”

  “I understand why you fell for him,” Brooklyn said with a small smile. “Doesn’t seem like you had a choice in the matter.”