by Regan Black
Hank was down the steps in a blink, his arms around Danny in a bruising hug. “You’re alive.”
He held Danny at arm’s length. “I didn’t know if I wanted to believe it or not.”
“This isn’t your place,” he said. Off topic and lame, he wished he’d kept his mouth shut.
“No.” Hank stepped back and shoved his hands into his pockets. “The guys who live in the area want to see you. The ones who aren’t want to hear that you’re all right. I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed.”
Too late, Danny thought. He’d expected each minute out of Messenger’s reach to feel liberating. Instead, he was increasingly antsy. He felt eyes on him. When would they open fire? “Thoughtful. Thanks,” he added a beat too late.
“Get inside.” Hank’s gaze skimmed the perimeter. “Let’s catch up.”
Suddenly, he realized he’d made an arrogant mistake. Messenger had let him go, knowing where he was likely to end up, he could come get Danny at any time. After days out of the loop, he would naturally assume Special Agent Spencer had convinced him to talk. She would have leaped to his top priority so he could suppress any evidence.
“You have a perimeter guard set up,” he said to no one in particular.
“Hank’s men,” Scott said. “Standard procedure since we came to the area.”
Danny paused halfway between the truck and the house. Picking up on the radio signal between posted guards, he couldn’t suppress the smile at the stunned and excited chatter that it was really him. For the first time in a long while, he felt almost normal out in the world. Guilt swirled in his gut. He might survive, but at what cost.
“Call Ben,” he said to Scott. “Better yet, go back and help them.” He rubbed at the weird burn behind his sternum. He never should’ve left Chloe alone to deal with the mess he’d dragged her into. Yes, she was more than capable and Ben was enhanced, but the odds were stacked against them.
He trailed Hank inside and Scott stayed on the porch to make the call. When Danny shook hands with John Noble and greeted his wife Amelia, he felt a surge of gratitude that he was standing with people who’d bested Messenger. The man in the gray suit wasn’t infallible.
They settled around the kitchen table and Hank listened to a truncated rundown of Danny’s induction and work within UI. He knew it was the interview of his life, recognizing a debrief when he was in the middle of one. No point holding back, the more people who knew the real story, the better. Plus, he needed the resources of these two men to get back to help Chloe and Ben.
Hank exchanged a worried glance with John.
“What?” Danny demanded, recognizing a team dynamic and wanting to shift the subject away from himself to the rescue he was already planning.
John laced his fingers and tapped his thumbs together. “Ben took a blood sample a few days ago and dropped it with a friend of ours for evaluation. She’s confident you’re clear of any drugs and apparently whatever they were using to track you is no longer working.”
“My tracker went out all the time, just like my earpiece. They blamed it on the signal sensitivity,” Danny explained.
“But you were frying it?” John asked, a hint of admiration in his voice.
“Sure,” Danny replied with a shrug. “It forced them to trace me through the booster device more often than following me directly.” He worked to keep his legs still when he wanted to jump up and run back to the airfield.
“Did you see any operatives or recruits taking drugs?” Hank asked.
“Not willingly. In the lab it’s not like you have a say or can believe that what they pump into you is as benign as they say it is.”
Scott walked in and gave him a thumb’s up. Danny’s rising tension eased a fraction.
“Did the bloodwork show if he has a…” Scott pointed to his ear and glanced uneasily at John. “Like Owen?”
“No sign of that either.” John’s eyes were cold. “They’re getting new recruits hooked on something and adding a kill switch now,” he explained to Danny and Hank. “It’s some sort of virus they can release on command.”
“How can I help you stop them?” Hank asked.
“Right now, we want to give you some time, keep you here on this ranch while we sort out your options,” John said. “You’ll need new identification, which takes time.”
“That has to wait. I have to get back to Special Agent Spencer,” Danny said. “Messenger won’t come after me until he kills her and destroys the evidence I gave her.”
“I know this isn’t easy,” John began. “Ben won’t let anything happen to her.”
Danny surged to his feet. He’d been an idiot to believe he could trust anyone else with her life. “This is more than a bad reaction to freedom,” he said. “She has enough to make people believe UI is operational, even without a lab location. He’s not going to sit back and let her put him in the spotlight.””
“We can convince him there’s no point, if you like,” Scott said. “They did that for me.”
“You want to fake my death? Hers?” Danny supposed that wasn’t the worst idea, though she’d never go for it. “I’m already been dead, officially. She has a career she loves. I can’t take that from her.”
“Is that a yes or a no?” Scott wondered.
Danny laughed bitterly. “I’m not sure it matters. Now that Hank knows I’m okay, once we save Chloe, I can find an unpopulated corner to occupy for the rest of my days.”
“Would you be happy?” Hank asked.
He shrugged. Happy wasn’t really an attainable goal. Not for a man who’d spent the better part of four years interfering and sharing information he wasn’t entitled to, ending lives as ordered. If it meant his friends, old and new, were safe, that would be close enough to happy. Though he would miss Chloe specifically, he could live out his days in peace knowing she was out of danger.
Chapter 8
Chloe made her way to the hotel business center and started uploading the audio files of her interview with Danny to her team’s secure cloud account, copying a friend in the department of defense. She’d also left a flash drive with Antony along with instructions to send it to Hank Patterson of Eagle Rock, Montana if he didn’t hear from her by the end of the day tomorrow.
Messenger wasn’t the only one who knew how to play dirty.
The traumas Danny described infuriated her all over again and part of her hoped Messenger didn’t write her off. She wanted a chance to face off with the dick who’d destroyed so many good men and women.
Having done all she could remotely, she felt deflated and a little lost. Danny had told her he was working in the city, trying to spark a memory that might lead Ben and Scott to the lab, but he’d left. She didn’t want to go back to her life without him, but what were her options, really?
Was it too much to ask that he might have left her a phone number or an email? Hell a post office box would have worked. She should have insisted on some way to stay in touch with the man who had turned her life upside down. Except neither of them had broached the impossible subject of staying in touch, exploring a future together. She knew better than to hope he would change his mind.
What else could she do to help Danny or others in UI’s clutches? She could go back to the New York City office as expected, or she could get an official investigation rolling right here in Chicago. Danny seemed set on her return to her life and her routine. As if she could forget their paths had crossed. This case was rife with blurred lines and foggy details. Only one thing remained clear to her: no one else should suffer the physical and emotional abuse he’d endured.
She snapped her holster onto her belt and loaded her service weapon before sliding it into place. Tossing her new cell phone into the tote, and zipping her suitcase closed, she looked around the suite one last time. Her cheeks flushed recalling the way they’d used every available surface for pure pleasure last night.
Ready to go, she only had to decide where. And how, she realized when she reached the lobby and remem
bered she was reliant on public or commercial transportation options. It wasn’t as if the limo was at her disposal indefinitely. She turned in both room keys at the front desk and asked them to store her suitcase until she finalized her travel plans. Though he’d booked the suite for two nights, she couldn’t bear to stay in that room again tonight without him.
Later, she’d force herself to deal with the why of that. Right now, she had some hunting to do. There was no way Messenger had given up on finding her. She could do some retail-therapy with her credit card on the Magnificent Mile. With luck, she’d draw out an operative loyal to Messenger and force him to make a mistake that would expose UI and prevent them from continuing unchecked with their private, sinister agenda.
Striding across the lobby, she caught sight of a man in a gray suit on the sidewalk outside. His build and coloring matched the description Danny had given her. Her instincts and intuition leaped into high gear. Did UI have a bloodhound or had someone been forced to give up their location?
She took a deep breath, reminding herself plenty of men wore gray suits on a daily basis and never experienced a truly devious or deadly thought. She slipped into the dim shadows of the lobby bar, deserted at this early hour of the day and watched.
The man in gray entered the hotel with a purposeful stride. Despite the elegant appearance of a perfectly tailored suit and excellent grooming, she picked up an irritated vibe. His gaze raked the lobby, searching for someone. He moved toward the main seating area and withdrew a cell phone from his inner coat pocket. The phone to his ear, his mouth set in a grim line, he restlessly waited for some kind of response.
A muffled hum sounded from behind the bar where she hid. Cautious, she moved while the man in gray’s back was turned, following the noise. Another man, wearing an ocean-blue polo shirt and black slacks, was wedged under the bar, curled up in the fetal position. Unconscious, she saw he was breathing evenly. She startled when the phone started humming with another call.
Peering up over the bar top, she saw the man in the gray suit consulting his phone and walking her way.
She ducked out of sight again, convinced this was the elusive Messenger. She thought of stealing the man’s cell phone, but that only gave Messenger a better line on her. Instead, she checked the unconscious man for any weapons or a wallet. Coming up empty, hearing the soft squeak of shoes on the marble floor, she backed away, toward the opposite end of the bar, hoping he didn’t spot her in the reflection of the glossy black marble wall.
She huddled out of sight as the man in the gray suit roused the man shoved under the bar. Definitely Messenger, she thought, listening to the one-sided exchange as he roused the man with zero sympathy. The demands for information and timing were softly spoken and somehow far more threatening because of the smooth, cultured voice.
As the man who’d been stationed to watch for Danny described what he could about being attacked and subdued, she realized Ben and Scott must have handled it. Last night.
“That gives them a significant head start,” Messenger said. “One more mistake and you’re out.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chloe had a chilling new understanding of Danny’s certainty that no one could stop this man or bring down his horrid program. Neither could they keep running indefinitely.
“They’re headed for Montana,” Messenger stated flatly. “Noble’s playing at rescue and rehab again, this time from what seems to be a fixed location.”
“If he’s in one place, why don’t we just go in and level it?”
“Not yet,” Messenger replied. “I’ll call a team to intercept Audible.” A moment later, he’d given the order. “I’ll be damned if another operative grows a conscience and forces us to reset again.”
“Sir, I promise he can’t give them much to go on. He was sedated every time we transported him in or out of Detroit.”
A sigh and grunting followed as Messenger helped the other man to his feet.
“Steady?” Messenger asked.
“Enough, yeah.”
“Good.”
Hearing the two of them walking away, she could hardly believe her luck at going undetected. Then the bar lights came on and before she could move, the door between the bar and the service area swung open.
“My goodness.” The woman wearing a hotel uniform pressed a hand to her heart. “You gave me a start. What are you doing down there?” she asked. “Are you hurt, honey?”
“Who are you talking to?” Messenger demanded.
“Call a cop!” Chloe said as she bolted for the service area.
Danny had warned her about Messenger’s tenacity and long reach. So she was prepared for the wall of resistance when she shoved through the back door and into the service alley behind the hotel. Strong arms banded around her, squeezed hard and lifted her off her feet. Chloe slammed her head back, hearing the crunch as her skull connected with her captor’s nose.
Bellowing in pain, he dropped her. She rolled out of his reach, but the grab had cost her precious seconds as Messenger stepped into the alley. “Special Agent Spencer.”
She suppressed the shudder. This close, she could see the cold calculation in his eyes. She could go for her badge, but why? Outnumbered by Messenger and his men, she didn’t stand a chance. This man had kidnapped, drugged, altered, and manipulated men and women without oversight or repercussions for who knew how many years.
“You are not where you should be,” he said. “You’ve been associating with known spies. This kind of poor judgement wrecks careers. Are you prepared for the consequences?”
She remembered Scott’s story. Was she about to hear one of Messenger’s notorious ultimatums?
“I can make all of this unpleasantness go away, young lady.”
Apparently. “That’s Special Agent for you. And I’m good, thanks.”
The man who’d grabbed her kept one hand on his bleeding nose as he shifted to flank her.
Messenger held the door open, inviting her back inside. “Let’s go sit down and discuss your options in a civil manner.”
In less than a second, she debated and discarded the idea of going undercover. Danny’s story would have been enough of a warning, meeting Ben and Scott only added to weight to the cautionary tale. To go with Messenger and call it an undercover op with no one the wiser on the outside was suicide.
Or worse.
She couldn’t let him make use of her skills or change her somehow to suit his research and plans. “No, thanks.” She stepped backward. “I’m late for a meeting.” The man who’d been shoved under the bar and the man with the bloody nose moved in unison to corral her.
Suddenly the door slammed shut, catching Messenger’s hand. He swore at the pain, swore again as he wrestled the door open enough that he could pull himself free.
Chloe didn’t ask questions, only raced toward bustling Michigan Avenue. If she couldn’t find a cab, she’d at least be surrounded by people. She didn’t think Messenger cared about the lives of innocent people, but not even he could shoot an FBI agent on a busy street and expect to get away with it.
“This way,” a voice said beside her. She felt the pressure of someone tugging her elbow and pulling her left.
Ben.
“You’ve been watching?”
“Not smart to leave you alone,” the invisible man said. “Messenger had eyes on the airfield in New York City. We couldn’t keep everyone quiet.”
Her heart pounded as they ran another block and another, turning as the crosswalks lit up. Ben didn’t even sound winded.
“You put that guy under the bar?”
“Yup. Arthur’s been dead weight from day one. I’m not sure why Messenger keeps him breathing.”
“I was almost clear,” she said as they snaked through the pedestrians at the next crosswalk.
“Almost only counts in horseshoes,” Ben quipped. “Here.” He bumped her toward an electronics store. “We can lose them in here.”
She glanced over her shoulder, stunned to s
ee Arthur less than half a block behind them. “How is he keeping up?” she whispered as they slipped into the cool air-conditioned store.
“Messenger probably gave him something,” Ben answered. “The man’s tricks have tricks.”
Together, they cruised by the cell phone displays, Ben deftly avoiding knocking into anyone. Near the computers and accessories at the back of the store she asked for a minute to send an email.
“Nope,” he denied her request. “My orders were to get you clear if Messenger tried anything with you.”
What she’d done would probably be enough, but if the local office could harass Messenger it would be worth the time. “Let me send up a flare first.” She tipped her head to the front doors. “It will only take a minute and it’ll make his life miserable.”
“Why didn’t you say so? I’ll cause a distraction. If we get separated, get to Midway airport. I’ll find you there.”
She wondered how she was supposed to notice if she’d been separated from an invisible man.
As a scuffle ensued at the front door, she forced her way into an email service through the predictable sales-floor access code on a demo laptop. She posted a person of interest flag here in Chicago using Messenger’s description and last known location. Then she sent an email to her team back in New York City with a list of bullet points and requests. She wanted them scouring every available source for the man in the gray suit, codename Messenger, with activity in and around Detroit. She gave them date ranges based on what Danny had told her as a jumping off point.
“Time to blow this pop stand, Special Agent.”
She put the computer back on the lock screen before giving in to the invisible tug on her elbow. Though she couldn’t see him precisely, the egress options were limited. Into the back hall, past the public restrooms and employee area out into another Chicago alley. Thankfully no one was waiting to grab her this time.
“I need to get to the nearest FBI office,” she said, hoping she wasn’t talking to herself.
“Messenger will expect that move,” Ben said. “Better to find a hotel or store and ask an agent to come to you,” he said under his breath.
