Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1)

by Adrian D. Roberts

  His body was a limp weight. Some far off part of her hoped he was unconscious rather than dead, as she let go of him close to the floor and he rolled away from her. She didn’t have time to check. She continued her turn to find a massively muscled, wild haired man charged towards her. He was already too close for her guns. His arms were spread wide to grab her in a bear hug. She dropped her right shoulder and launched herself straight at him. Matching him charge for charge.

  The impact was jarring, his much heavier and larger body threatened to engulf her. She felt his arms start to come round her, to counter it she rolled her shoulder, brought her right arm up and used his momentum against him, changing the charge into a throw. He went over her cleanly, landed on his shoulder and rolled to his feet as she turned to meet him. She could have attacked while he was still on the floor, but decided to stay where she was. This was the man who kidnapped Hanna, and in all probability, gave her the beating that was the cause of her injuries.

  Valerie wanted to see what Gaunt was made of, the others talked about his brawls in bars, how he beat people to death on the slightest provocation. Gaunt didn’t disappoint and was back on his feet quickly, coming at Valerie with a swinging right hook. She stepped in to meet it, her left forearm blocking the blow between his shoulder and elbow, her right fist hammered into his solar plexus. They both stepped back, Valerie in a ready stance, Gaunt in surprise and pain. She could see in his face, he hadn’t expected a blow of that much power from her. Even his deadened nerves felt it.

  His face screwed up in rage, turning a powerful red, then tightened as he got his emotions under control. He moved in on Valerie again. His fists were up and he stalked forward on the balls of his feet. An experienced fighter, he now treated her with the respect of a worthy opponent few ever saw from him. He jabbed with his left, feinted with his right and followed with a left handed powerhouse. Valerie dodged the jab, ignored the right and ducked under the powerhouse. She responded with a left jab of her own to his gut and a hard right that connected fully with his jaw.

  Gaunt staggered for a moment, he’d never been hit that hard before, but shook it off instantly and kept attacking. He was big, fast and experienced, trying to take advantage with his longer reach. Valerie had trained against the best in Legion, men and occasionally women with an even longer reach than Gaunt, though none as muscular. The Legion frowned upon such over indulgence of enhancement and the side effects it caused.

  As they bobbed and weaved against one another she blocked, ducked, parried and dodged his blows. For every blow he missed, she landed one on him. For years he relied on his size, strength and capacity for punishment. He let his opponents hit him, just to watch their spirits wither in despair, when their best and strongest blows had little effect on him. Now this slight, fast and incredibly strong woman, was landing punch after punch and they were taking their toll.

  Valerie could see he was slowing, he was feeling what she was doing to him and lost the mental battle. He knew he was going to lose, just as she knew she was going to win. Hanna’s blue eyes suddenly appeared in her mind’s eye and that carbon steel box inside of her snapped open. All she could see was Gaunt’s face. Everything else went out of focus. She started hitting it again and again. Every blow landed with all the power she had at her disposal. Rarely in her long life had she let loose like this. She never she lost control. Even when she slaughtered those who murdered her family, she did so with a clear and cold precision.

  He collapsed under her beating, losing his balance and falling towards her. She would not let him fall and struck with a powerful left upper cut. Followed by grabbing his arm with her right, pulling it forward and slamming her left elbow into it. A crack resounded through the room and Gaunt screamed a high pitched wail, falling to his knees. Valerie stepped back for a moment and looked at this broken man, his face a ruined mess. He had a sunken left cheek where she smashed it with her fist, jaw dislocated, one eye swollen shut and the other splattered across his face from bursting on impact. Gaunt kneeled in front of her, clutching at his broken arm, a spur of bone sticking out at a right angle and sobbing in excruciating pain.

  Her rage was receding and as she looked at Gaunt, she felt no pity for him. She glanced around her. Hobbs was back on his feet, Tumbler still collapsed on the desk, her last two minions cowering on the floor, Rush and Sneaker were standing over Hanna. She was no longer cuffed and was sitting up, looking worse for wear. All of them avoided Valerie’s eyes as they swept past them, all except for Hanna. Blue met Hazel and there was an understanding there. Something Valerie couldn’t identify in herself and it caused her to make a silent promise. She would do everything in her power to keep this girl safe. Valerie could not define why she would do this, just that it was very important to her.

  She looked back at the man who caused Hanna such pain. Without a change in expression, stepped forward and punched him in the neck. Smashing through the cartilage, she crushed his throat to leave him thrashing on the floor, his life slipping away from him as he suffocated to death. Valerie stood there unmoving, his feet brushing hers, thrashing in reflex as his lungs tried desperately to draw in air. The thrashing slowed until only a twitch remained and then there was no more movement. He was gone. All were silent in the room, as though everyone was holding their breath.

  “Good,” Hanna broke the silence. “That bastard deserved worse for what he’s done. Ahhh.” Valerie glanced over to see her bent over her arm in pain.

  Sneaker immediately knelt down next to her. “Easy, Kid. Nothing broken but we need to get that immobilised until we can get you to the Doc.”

  Valerie looked over to Hobbs, who was still standing there somewhat dumbfounded. “Hobbs,” she pointed over to the two still cowering goons. “Get them and Tumbler secured. If she wakes up, let us know. I’m sure Sneaker would like a word.” She walked over and knelt down next to Hanna and Sneaker, who was starting to use a dead woman’s jacket to bind up Hanna’s arm.

  “Hang on,” Valerie placed her hand on his arm. “Can you show me the scan?”

  Sneaker looked at her for a moment and saw something he hadn’t in her before. Concern. “Here.” His datapad was still strapped to his left forearm and he turned it towards her, the scan still on the screen.

  Valerie studied it for a moment and looked directly at Hanna. “OK, I can put it back in. It’ll hurt like blazes, but it will give you movement again. Do you want me to do that?”

  Hanna smiled slightly. “It won’t be the first time. Do it.”

  Valerie couldn’t help herself and smiled back at what Hanna believed to be acceptance of her life, but was also real bravery as she didn’t let it rule her. Sneaker put a hand on Valerie’s arm. “Are you sure you can do this?”

  “Perks of the job in the Legion,” she replied. “I’ve been trained as a field medic and have the experience on more than one occasion.” She took hold of Hanna’s upper arm with her right hand, gently placing her left behind the injured shoulder. Hanna nodded at her to go ahead. With a short shove, Valerie pushed the ball back into the joint. Hanna grimaced around her clenched teeth and let out a low grunt, gasping for breath as the pain receded steadily.

  “You all right?” Sneaker asked her in concern.

  Hanna nodded back, not yet able to talk from the pain.

  “She’ll be alright,” Valerie said a little brusquely. “We’re not out of the woods yet though. There are still a number of Tumbler’s goons below us. I doubt they’re really up for a fight anymore but we’re still outnumbered and I don’t like to take chances. On top of that, we need to get out of here. I’m guessing as no one has managed to unseal the building already, it’s not going to be very simple. Hanna?” she asked the girl. “Can you take Sneaker’s datapad and see if you can find the rest of Tumbler’s gang?”

  Hanna rolled her injured shoulder, grimacing but seemed happy that it was now useable. “I can do that.”

  Valerie looked at Sneaker and he handed it over. Valerie got up and strode o
ver to the settee she tossed aside earlier, where it was lying upside down. Valerie bent down and easily rolled it back onto its feet. Going back to Hanna, she eased her to her feet and half carried her to the couch. “This will be a bit more comfortable. Here,” Valerie unclipped a bottle off her belt. “Have some water.”

  “Lap of luxury,” Hanna said as she relaxed onto the expensive leather. “Such a shame it hasn’t been properly cared for, it spoils the effect a bit. I don’t think Tumbler deserves such nice things if she doesn’t look after them.” She waved to the numerous holes, rips and scuffs on the leather from its recent mistreatment.

  Valerie felt herself smile slightly and said dryly. “I’ll talk to her about it.” She turned to Sneaker her voice cold. “Speaking of which, I think it’s time to see if she’s still breathing and if she is up to having a bit of a chat.”

  Hanna looked up suddenly, her face thoughtful. “I was pretty out of it, but I’m sure they were talking about the shutters before you got here. Tumbler has some people working on opening them. Something about, having trouble due to a load of busted equipment.”

  Valerie looked at Sneaker with a raised eyebrow. “Security room?”

  Sneaker pondered for moment. “That would be my guess, we haven’t seen or destroyed anything else like that. It would make sense for them to hard wire them the same way they did the cameras, to stop external interference. I did see some connections that may have run to the blast doors while I set the cameras up.” He shook his head in annoyance. “I should have run them down and found out what they were for.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up for it,” Valerie said. “We were in a rush and didn’t have the time.”

  Hanna smiled up at Sneaker. “From what I overheard, they’ve been at it for a while with no luck.”

  Sneaker smiled back. “Thanks, kid,” then looked at Valerie. “Tumbler?” he asked.

  “Yep. Time for a talk.”

  “I think you’re right.” Sneaker replied grimly. “She caused all this and she is going to be held to account for it.” They walked over to Hobbs. He had the two survivors kneeling facing the far wall with their hands tied behind their backs. Tumbler was hog tied very similarly to how Hanna had been, at his feet.

  Sneaker was far more confident now, Valerie reflected, than he was when they started. Nothing truly showed you who you were than the harsh crucible of combat. He had survived and found out just what he was capable of. She had seen it in many new recruits to Shadow Company, like them Sneaker was smart and competent. He had been in risky situations before on the edges of short often brutal encounters. Today was a completely different level, where death was a constant for hours. In those situations you either fell apart or met the challenge. Both Sneaker and Rush met that challenge and were better soldiers for it.

  As they approached Hobbs, Valerie could see he was nervous. Although most of his attention was on the captives, he kept casting glances in her direction. Sneaker and Rush were in all probability intimidated by her. It was the standard reaction she experienced when she let people see the full extent of her abilities. This was offset by the fact they firmly believed she was on their side and were glad of it.

  Hobbs had gone the other way and was terrified of her. She saw this often enough as well. It was one of the main reasons her husband never knew. She would have to watch Hobbs carefully, often fear turned into something ugly, which could cause him to try something he viewed as pre-emptive. He had no need to fear her. She had no intention of harming him. Emotions were not that logical and fear was one of the more powerful ones. Valerie mentally shrugged it off, if he acted she would kill him. That would be a shame, he did well today.

  “She’s alive I take it?” Valerie asked Hobbs and pointed to the prone Tumbler.

  “Yep. This one said he cracked her pretty hard in the head with the butt of his rifle.” Hobbs replied and indicted with the barrel of his Mag rifle, the man kneeling in front of him. “She stirred a bit when I dragged her over here, but she hasn’t moved since.”

  “Good, that means she can be woken up.” Valerie bent down and hauled Tumbler up by the front of her jacket with one hand. The Asian woman’s head lolled about limply. Valerie tapped her cheek lightly with her left, while still holding her bodily off the ground, until her eyes started blinking open. “Wakey wakey. I’ve got someone here who wants to talk to you.”

  Tumbler’s eyes focused on Valerie’s face and she jerked back in shock and fear. “You! I don’t know who you are or what you’ve got against me, but I’ll triple whatever you’re being paid!”

  “Paid?” Valerie replied with a snarl. “Who says I’m being paid? You took a friend of mine and I came to get her back.” Valerie’s expression slid into the smile of a predator. “The rest was just collateral damage.” Tumbler’s face drained of blood, almost passing out until Valerie shook her and shoved her towards Sneaker. She hung in mid-air in front of him.

  “Sneaker!” Tumbler gasped. “You bastard,” she snarled. “You’ve gone too far this time. You jumped up tech weenie. When the Tops hear of this you’ll be hunted by every Enforcer on the planet!”

  “I’m a Hacker and the best you’ve ever met.” Sneaker snarled back. “This is all on you. If you hadn’t let your problem with me, involve a girl with nothing to do with it, I would never have asked Valerie here to help. Your people would still be alive and your operation would still be in one piece.”

  Tumbler licked her lips, her brain catching up with what she was being told. “The girl?” she said in disbelief. “This all happened because of some young nothing from the gutters?”

  “You’ll never get it.” Sneaker said, shaking his head. “It’s about loyalty, it’s about friendship.” He glanced at Valerie who stood there with her face like a statue, no expression at all. “It’s about responsibility to your Crew and team mates. That’s why they betrayed you. Never mind, you’ll never change.

  “What you’re going to do now, is to save as many of their lives as possible.” Sneaker told her in no uncertain terms. “You are going to tell everyone not working on unsealing the building, to head to the ground floor. The rest are going to get the job done as soon as they can. No one is to come within five floors of here. If they all do that, we won’t fire another shot and everyone left gets out of here alive.”

  Tumbler spat in his face in reply. Sneaker stepped back in surprise and Valerie reacted immediately. Her rage was still only just below the surface. She saw no reason to contain it in this case. She slammed Tumbler down into the floor and she bounced quite nicely. They were standing on the plush rug so it didn’t hurt Tumbler too badly, but certainly shook her up.

  Sneaker went down on one knee next to the groaning Tumbler, her hands and feet were still tied up, all she could do was writhe on the floor. “That really wasn’t a good idea. Right now, I don’t think you are going to come out of this alive. Take a look at that.” Sneaker pointed down the room in the direction of the door. “That pile of human remains is what’s left of Gaunt.” Tumbler let out a gasp as she focused on that bloody mess of a human being. “That’s what Valerie did to the man who hurt Hanna.” Tumbler squirmed round and gazed up at Valerie in disbelief. She didn’t have to put any effort into returning it with one that was cold and emotionless.

  “What do you think,” Sneaker continued. “She will do to the woman who sent him?”

  “How did you do that?” Tumbler demanded of Valerie. “You beat him to death!”

  Valerie shrugged ever so slightly in reply. “He was an amateur.”

  “Tumbler,” Sneaker said to draw her attention back to him. “You need to focus now. You’re not going to get out of this alive. There is nothing you or I can do about that. I do have enough influence, with my rather violent colleague, to offer you a bullet in the head if you do as I ask. If not, I can assure you, you’ll end up like Gaunt. That will not be pleasant.” He leaned in close. “So what’s it going to be?”

  She stared back at him defiantly and Valeri
e was somewhat surprised by her fortitude. It didn’t last long and she could see the very moment Tumbler’s spirit broke. Her whole body visibly deflated and she nodded to Sneaker.

  “Good.” Sneaker looked at Valerie and nodded to the communication desk. She grabbed Tumbler by her upper arm and picked her up with one hand. Not bothering to lift the broken woman all the way up this time, she half carried and half dragged her over to Sneaker. He was already setting the coms to do a building wide broadcast. Valerie dumped Tumbler into the operator’s chair. Sneaker pressed the last button before turning to Tumbler. “It’s all yours.”

  Tumbler licked her lips nervously, gave Sneaker a hate filled glance, looked over her shoulder at Valerie with only terror in her eyes and leant forward to the microphone.

  “Attention everyone,” she said in a subdued voice. “Gaunt is dead. I am held captive by those who have attacked this building. They have what they want and now wish to leave without further killing. If we comply with their last demands, it will all end. Crowther. You and your team are to continue working on the blast doors. Everyone else is to head to the ground floor and stay there until the doors are opened. No one, under any circumstances, is to go above the thirty-fifth floor.” Sneaker nodded and Tumbler sat back.

  Sneaker leaned into the mic. “Once the doors are open, everyone can leave. We want this to be over as much as you do, but let me be clear. We control the cameras, we are watching. If anyone not part of Crowther’s team leaves the ground floor, if anyone enters the thirty-sixth floor or if anyone tampers with the cameras, we will come down and it will not end until you are all dead. Crowther. If you need access to anything up here, you call us in Tumbler’s office and we can discuss it. If everyone is reasonable, we all walk out of here.” Sneaker switched off the mic.