Megan stared at all the equipment before her eyes caught both Wyatt and Bryan. They looked as shocked as she felt. While Neil had said what he had was important, never in her dreams did she think it was this vital.
“How is it something so important wasn’t traveling under better protection?” Wyatt asked and Megan turned to see the General’s expression.
The General sighed heavily seeming to weigh how he would respond. “There are unseen forces out there that I can’t speak of, but they’re determined we don’t succeed. We thought it best not to advertise what we were doing, so we used multiple agents to bring us the card up from Southern California. Several of the convoys were ambushed but it was mostly locals looking for supplies.”
Before anyone could ask another question, he held up his hand. “Enough.” Turning to an older woman wearing thick glasses sitting at one of the workstations, “Well?”
The woman looked at the General over the top of her glasses, blinking slowly. “As near as I can tell, the Hollerith card is real and does not appear to have been tampered with.”
General Kalis’ mouth tightened as he glared at her. “Is it what we need?”
The woman shrugged. “I can verify its authenticity to the era, General, but I won’t know what kind of data is on it until I insert it. Shall I proceed?” The general gave her a quick nod and the woman went to work.
Megan looked at Wyatt, then Bryan. They were on the front lines of history. They were real American heroes, swooping in to save the country from complete destruction. Megan had to smile. It felt good to be a hero.
27
Megan watched as the woman inserted the card, which looked like a metal punch card, did some tapping on the keyboard and then sat back. The room started filling with people as more of the computer seemed to come alive around the room. Everyone wanted to witness history. Megan held her breath as she watched the big monitor on the wall fill with strange code. It meant nothing to her.
The woman smiled, as she called out. “We have contact with both Delta IV and Syncom 3, General.” Suddenly, the woman looked panicked. “Oh no,” the woman said. “No, no, no!”
“What is it?” the General demanded.
“This is wrong. It's all wrong!” she shouted. “No! It's too late! It's a virus!” the woman shouted. “It's rewriting the instructions on the communication satellites. I can't stop it!”
Megan looked on in horror as people talked all at once, all trying to stop the destruction that was unfolding before her very eyes. Within seconds of the woman's announcement, there were at least ten guns pointed in their direction.
“What did you do? Who are you?” General Kalis demanded.
Wyatt held up his hands. “We were only told the box had to be here within two weeks to prevent some terrible tragedy from happening.”
Megan jumped in, “Yes, Neil—I don't know his last name.” It was then she realized there hadn't been a patch with his last name sewn above his left pocket like each of these men had.
General Kalis narrowed his eyes at her. Wyatt quickly came to her defense. “We already told you. We happened upon an ambushed convoy. Everyone was dead except for Neil who was still holding the box. When he came to, he told us little, but asked us to get it here. We agreed to make the journey with the hope your doctors could help the baby.”
“Where did you find this Neil?” Kalis asked, walking to a desk in the back of the room. He was rifling through stacks of papers and tan file folders.
“Outside of a small town called Luther in Washington,” Bryan answered.
Kalis picked up a file and stalked towards them. He stopped in front of Wyatt opened the folder and pulled out an eight by ten colored photo. He held it up. “Is this Neil?”
They all stared at the picture of the man they’d helped save. “Yes,” Megan said, glancing at the file that had a large red CLASSIFIED stamp on top of it.
“We've been compromised. Everyone out!” General Kalis shouted.
He looked at them, shaking his head. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Megan didn't get a chance to defend them. A red light in the ceiling directly over their heads started flashing seconds before a horrible siren went off.
“Get out, now!” the General shouted again.
Megan looked around the room, unsure what to do or where to go. Her eyes were drawn to the massive screen on the wall, it had a timer on it and it was counting down.
“What's that?” she shouted.
General Kalis looked at her. “That card triggered the self-destruct sequence. This place is about to be obliterated from the map.”
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. “What?” she managed to get out.
Wyatt grabbed her arm. “We have to get JJ and Willow!”
Her mind was whirling with everything they’d learned. She pushed it all aside to focus on following Wyatt. He was running down the hall they’d walked a few short minutes ago.
“Where's medical?” he asked a soldier who was running by.
“End of the hall,” the young man said.
Wyatt rushed past, racing down the hall. A doctor was walking out of a room, carrying a small machine.
“Where's the baby?” she managed to get out between her heavy breaths.
“In here,” the man said, rushing by them and heading for the exit.
Megan ignored the fact they were running into danger while trained soldiers were going the opposite direction. She reached the door seconds after Wyatt. Willow was holding JJ close, murmuring words in his ear while using one hand to stuff a plastic bag full of various medicines into her pack.
“Willow?” Megan asked. “Did the doctor get a chance to look at him?”
“Briefly. She was going to do some tests, but there’s some emergency. She told me to take whatever I wanted and get the hell out of here.”
“We have to go, Willow. They say this place is going to blow,” Wyatt said softly.
Willow stopped. “What?”
He took the bag from her and looked at one of the bottles of medicine she was holding. “Does JJ need all of this?”
Willow shrugged. “I don't know, but I figure it can't hurt to take it anyway. The doctor says he may outgrow it and will probably be fine.”
“Outgrow what?” Megan asked.
“A heart murmur like Brenda suspected. The doctor thinks it could be some kind of congenital heart defect, but without the tests, we can't confirm it. She listened to his heart and could detect a murmur, but couldn't tell how big or what kind. We didn't get to the tests that would’ve told us more. The doctor did say there are medications that lower his blood pressure, which he may need as he gets older.”
Megan grabbed one of the bottles. “We'll take them all. Wyatt, grab everything in that cabinet,” Megan ordered. Once again, they were tossing in every bottle of pills they could find into a bag. If these were the drugs JJ needed to stay alive, they were taking them all.
“Let's go, guys,” Bryan said from the door. “This place has cleared out. I estimate minutes before that clock hits zero.”
Wyatt grabbed the bag and pushed Willow out the door. “Go! Don't you stop running. You get out that gate and keep going!” he shouted.
Megan followed them down the hall and back up the stairs, nearly stumbling as they raced to escape the building. They made it outside where there were at least twenty soldiers herding people through a small gate.
“Take cover!” someone shouted.
“There!” Wyatt yelled and pointed to a large military jeep parked on the other side of the road.
They raced to the vehicle and dropped behind it. Within seconds, there was a massive explosion that echoed through the city streets shaking the ground beneath them. The building behind them seemed to implode, raining down glass and debris.
JJ screamed. Willow had him sheltered under her, trying to block the noise and debris. Wyatt leaned over Willow to protect her. Megan instinctively moved close and offered her own body as
a shield for Willow and JJ.
She heard Wyatt curse and knew he’d been hit with some falling debris. She’d taken a few knocks herself. When the noise stopped, Megan backed away from her position next to Willow.
The world had become eerily quiet as she looked at the soldiers covered in gray dust running around silently. She shook her head to try to clear the ringing noise that was pressing against her eardrums and suddenly there was sound again. Lots of it. People were screaming and yelling. Using her sleeve to wipe at all the dust on her face, she turned to Willow.
“Is he okay?” she asked, terrified of the answer.
Wyatt slowly moved his body off Willow. She straightened her torso and held JJ out. He was softly crying, but he looked unharmed.
“How about you?” Megan asked Wyatt. There was a trickle of blood running down the side of his face. He rubbed his head, wiping the blood off and clearing his ears. When he looked at Megan again, she repeated the question.
He winced. “I'm okay. A little bruised, but I'm fine.” He put a finger to his head. “It's only a small cut.”
She sighed in relief. “Bryan?”
He was slowly standing. She could tell he was in pain by the way he was moving. Wyatt stuck out a hand to help Bryan who seemed unsteady on his feet. The whites of his eyes were a stark contrast against his face covered in cement dust.
“I'm okay. My ears are still ringing and I got some dust in my eyes, but I don't think anything is broken,” he managed to get out.
Wyatt looked around, whistling low. “Wow.”
Megan stood and scanned the area. The building that had once been the NRU was reduced to a mountain of rubble where it had collapsed in on itself. Several of the buildings around the area had also been severely damaged. She couldn't believe what had happened.
“I don't understand,” she muttered.
Wyatt shook his head. “I don't know either. I'm going to see if I can get some answers.”
Bryan put up his hand. “Are you sure that's a good idea? They think we did this on purpose. They may shoot you on sight.”
Megan groaned. “Not again.”
“I think General Kalis knew we’d been scammed by Neil,” Wyatt argued.
Willow's head shot up. “We did this? How? How did Neil scam us?”
Megan gave her the Cliff Notes version of what had gone down.
Willow stared at them, waiting for something. “Hello!” she said with frustration when none of them seemed to be on the same page as her.
“What?” Megan said, not in the mood for games.
“Neil's at the lodge, with our family,” Willow said slowly as if they were all addled.
Megan felt as if she’d been hit with a brick. Her stomach lurched and her knees went weak. What had they done? Neil had managed to destroy a government building without lifting a finger. Now, the man was at their home.
The kids. Megan's heart pounded as she thought of the danger Caitlin was in.
“We have to get back,” Wyatt said.
Megan looked at him. “It’ll take us days! What if he’s already hurt them or—”
“Don't say it, Megan. They're fine. Chase, Brenda, Tara and Albert would never let him hurt the kids. They’d be watching him close,” Wyatt said, grabbing her hand. “Don't panic.”
Megan looked at him, shaking her head. “Wyatt,” she murmured.
Images of death and destruction flashed through her mind. She couldn't live with herself if something horrible happened to her daughter.
Not again.
28
“He seems to have made a full recovery,” Albert muttered.
Chase and Brenda had come in from switching out the rain barrels in anticipation of the thunderstorm rolling in. With August around the corner, they had to do what they could to prepare for the hottest and driest month of the summer.
Chase looked at Neil jogging up the stairs, shrugged his shoulders and said, “That was the goal, right? He seems to be coming out of the little fortress he was hiding behind. I can almost see myself liking the guy,” he said with a grin. “We could use another able-bodied man around here.”
Albert guffawed, but deep down, he agreed. Neil had proven to be a big help around the lodge. He helped in the garden and even did a few loads of laundry, which of course impressed Rosie and Tara. Neil picked up the slack created by the absence of Wyatt and the rest of the group. Ever since that day in the garden, he’d been the perfect guest, helping and being very congenial in general. It was a welcome change.
“Anyone up for a game of Rummy?” Rosie asked holding up the deck of cards.
“I'm game,” Albert said, happy to have an excuse to sit down and rest his aching knees.
“Let me clean up and I'd love to play,” Chase said, heading for the kitchen sink and the gallon of water sitting beside it.
Brenda appeared thoughtful before agreeing to play a couple hands. “I'll clean the guns tonight.”
Tara plopped down the empty laundry basket. “Where's Neil? I wanted to thank him for helping me with that last load.”
“I'm up here. I'll be right down,” he said from the loft.
“Are you guys playing cards?” Tara asked.
“Yep, are you in?” Albert asked.
“Of course!” she said with a smile. “Let me get the kids settled and I'll be right back.”
Albert sat back and watched as everyone milled about. Things were much calmer now. Neil had really come around and seemed to be meshing well with the group, which eased a lot of the tension that had been present the last week. They could sit back and relax a bit. All of them were holding on to the hope JJ had gotten the medical attention he needed. Things were getting better.
Neil pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. “What's on your mind, old man? You look lost in thought.”
Albert grinned. “I was thinking about how badly I’m going to whoop your butt at this game!”
Neil chuckled. “We'll have to see about that. It's been a while since I’ve played cards, but I'm sure I can remember the basics. You may beat me the first round or two, but don't get comfortable. I’m the kind of guy who enjoys a good sneak attack,” he winked.
Albert smiled, but the words had a bit of a foreboding tone to them. “We'll see.”
Rosie sat down and started dealing the cards. Chase and Tara joined them within minutes. It wasn't long before the first hand was underway. Albert found himself laughing for the first time in months. They were all having a blast.
“How about we take a short intermission,” Rosie said after they finished the third hand. “I'll make some tea or would anyone prefer coffee?”
“I'd like a cup of coffee,” Neil said.
“I don't need anything, but I do need to make a visit to the outhouse,” Albert said.
Tara stood as well. “I need to get the kids to bed.”
Chase stood, stretched and muttered something before walking out of the house. Albert followed him, clapping Chase on the shoulder. “He's a different man, don't you think?” he asked, referring to Neil.
Chase nodded. “Yeah, maybe I was a little too hasty judging him in the beginning. He may not be so bad, but we do need to figure out what he’s going to do now that he’s healed. I don't know if he’s the kind of guy who’ll mesh well with us for the long-term.”
“I think we wait it out. Wyatt and the rest of them should be back in the next week. We'll see if the NRU trip was a success and get their opinion on what we should do with the guy,” Albert said. “All right, I'll be back in a few. Now that I'm warmed up, prepare to cry for mercy when I kick your butt in cards.”
Chase laughed. “Sure, Albert, I'll be waiting.”
Albert quickly took care of business and headed back inside. The kitchen was empty. Everyone was still taking advantage of the intermission. A sound caught his attention, it was his HAM radio.
He walked towards the back of the house where the radio was set up. He slowed when he heard Neil speaking in a low voic
e. Instinct told him to stay out of sight.
He quietly opened the bathroom door and stood inside the doorway, doing his best to make out what Neil was saying. He didn't realize Neil knew how to use the radio or had anyone to contact. The fine hairs on his arms were standing on end as he realized everything he’d thought to be true about Neil wasn’t the case at all.
“Yes, this is the perfect spot to control the end game from,” Neil said before pausing. “Okay, I've got to go. I'll see you in three days. Vsego dobrogo!”
Albert's heart raced as he processed what he heard. Was that Russian? Neil was definitely not who they thought. He silently kicked himself for trusting the guy and letting his guard down. Instead of sitting and stewing on the matter, he’d confront the traitor.
“Who the hell was that and what the hell do you think you’re planning?” Albert demanded, walking out of the bathroom prepared for the confrontation.
Neil's back was to him as he replaced the microphone on the table. Albert watched as he exhaled a breath, dropped his head to his chest and stayed that way for several long moments.
“Turn around and face me like a man, you coward,” Albert seethed.
Neil obeyed, but Albert suddenly wished he hadn't.
“Old man, what a shame. You could've witnessed history in the making,” Neil said in a quiet, sinister voice.
Albert barely heard the words. He was too focused on the gun pointing directly at his heart.
End of ‘Dark Redemption’
EMP Lodge Series Book Five
Blurb
When lives are at stake, you can’t always rely on others—there are some things you have to do yourself.
Rushing back from the NRU, Megan, Wyatt and their party arrive to find anything but a warm welcome. Their home has been compromised by rogue soldier Neil Spraggat and a small army of men who are using the lodge as a base for a deadly operation. To make matters worse, during the takeover of the lodge Megan’s daughter Caitlin and Wyatt’s mother Rosie were forced to hide in the root cellar to avoid capture.
EMP Lodge Series Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 96
