Repercussions

by Jessica L. Webb

  Edie touched her hand to her face and assessed the rest of her body. She’d be bruised, but the cut on the inside of her cheek where she’d bitten down had already stopped bleeding.

  “Bruises. I’m fine.” Edie leaned into Skye, taking and giving some strength. She tried to peer into the darkness, though she knew it was useless. “Faina? You okay?”

  Edie thought she could hear sounds of scraping and shuffling.

  “I think…not.”

  Alarm snaked up Edie’s chest at admission from her friend, the faintness of her voice. Skye moved beside her, and a second later, the light from a cell phone lit up the gloom.

  “They never look for more than one phone,” Skye said as she flashed the light up the wall above their heads. “No window. Good.” She moved the beam down the truck. It was empty except for Faina’s inert body right near the centre.

  Faina lay on her side, rolling and shaking with the movement of the truck. Edie and Skye crawled toward her, then gently turned her onto her back. Her neck and shoulder were covered in a dark, wet stain. Skye angled the phone and the blood showed up red and awful, splattering Faina’s face.

  “The shot through the Jeep. Jesus,” Edie breathed out. She leaned over Faina and pulled back her shirt. All she could see was blood. “Where were you shot? I can’t see it.”

  “Shoulder, I think. Hurts. It was so hot.” Faina mumbled.

  Edie wondered how much blood she’d lost. She pulled more forcefully on the neck of Faina’s shirt, making her whimper. But she needed to find the wound. There, on the outside of her bicep. Edie bunched up the sleeve of her own shirt and pressed it to the wound. She looked up at Skye, lit from below with the glow of the cell phone. “She needs a hospital.”

  “We’re being tracked. JC isn’t too far behind. We just have to hold on until the cavalry arrives.” Skye’s voice was sure, and Edie felt her skyrocketing pulse re-enter the atmosphere at her certainty. “Faina, you just need to hold on for a little while longer. It’s almost over. I promise.”

  “He’s here. My brother. I saw him.”

  Edie and Skye exchanged a silent look over Faina. Skye looked back down.

  “Don’t worry about that right now. Just try to conserve your energy. I’m going to call JC, which means I need the light.”

  “It’s okay,” Edie said. Faina’s blood soaked through the sleeve of her shirt. She needed more material, a better angle. She needed the truck to stop moving.

  “JC. Have you got us? Edie and I are fine, but Faina’s got a GSW to her upper arm. She’s lost a lot of blood already.”

  “Tell her about Alex,” Faina mumbled.

  Skye began awkwardly pulling off her long-sleeved shirt. “Faina identified her brother as one of the assailants. Tell Donaldson to send the whole fucking army.” She pulled the shirt over her head and passed it to Edie. “You’ve got us in your sights? And backup? Okay, good. We’ll sit tight. They’ve got my weapon as well as their own. Roger that, fire buddy.”

  Skye tilted the phone screen back to Faina so Edie could see the wound. It wasn’t bleeding very much anymore, but Edie folded Skye’s shirt into a semblance of a bandage and wrapped the sleeves around Faina’s bicep, pulling tightly until Faina moaned.

  “I’m sorry, Faina,” Edie whispered.

  The sound of the engine changed, downshifting and reducing speed, and Edie nearly fell over Faina.

  “Let’s move her against the wall,” Skye said. “I want us halfway between both doors when they stop.”

  It was difficult with the constant swaying of the truck and the unexpected changes in speed, but Skye and Edie managed to half drag Faina up against the wall. They sat on either side of her, propping her up. Faina rested her head against Edie’s shoulder. She was so pale.

  The truck slowed again, bouncing over an uneven road. Then they stopped, the engine idled, and there were voices outside and the sound of scraping metal.

  “A gate.” Skye tapped into her phone.

  The truck slowly lurched forward again, then came to a complete stop before the engine died. The floor shook as people clambered around the vehicle, calling out to each other in Russian. Then Edie heard multiple sirens, their wails taking turns as they climbed to a crescendo before dropping down and making the ascent again, pausing just long enough to give a rapid-fire warning blare. Edie felt relief and hope until she looked across Faina’s still form at Skye.

  “You both need to listen to me very carefully,” Skye said. “We’re in a standoff. Rada has brought us here for a reason. He’s not only drawn the three of us to this location, he has intentionally drawn the police here, too. He wants something, and we’re going to have to figure out what that is.”

  The relief was gone, hope replaced with a sense of powerlessness. Edie hated that feeling. She dug underneath it, refusing to allow it to take root.

  “Tell me how to play it,” Edie said, aiming for calm. It was hard with the sirens wailing.

  “Ask questions. Get Rada to talk. Do what you do best.”

  “Okay,” Edie said. “An interview. Faina said we should play to his ego. Let him think he’s entirely in control.”

  “Yes,” Skye said. “Which is why I’m going to sit back. I’m a threat. He’ll feel more confident now that I’m unarmed.”

  “He doesn’t know you,” Edie whispered. Skye’s face was stone in the edge of light cast from the phone. “You don’t need a weapon to be a threat to him.”

  “Yes,” Skye said, soft and dangerous.

  Edie jumped at a bang on the far side of the truck. Skye turned off her phone, plunging the interior of the truck into darkness for a second before the side door opened and the back door of the truck was rolled up. Armed men climbed into the truck from both doorways. Artificial light streamed into the truck, and the occasional flash of yellow and white made Edie think the line of police was not far off. She counted the men as they entered the truck. Six in total. The size of their guns momentarily confused Edie. Ottawa, not Kandahar. Canada, not Afghanistan. Home country. Safe and secure. She glanced at Skye, trying to resettle her thoughts. Protected. She was protected.

  One man squatted down in front of the three women. Edie guessed it was Rada, and she tried to find traces of Faina in his face. Maybe in the eyes, the spark of intelligence. The love of a puzzle. Edie felt a surge of confidence. She knew men like this. She had interviewed men like this.

  “I am Alex Rada,” he said in accented English. He spoke directly to Edie. “I want to spend as little time as possible in this truck. I want to let you go. First we exchange information, and then you go. You understand this, Edie Black?”

  “Yes, I understand,” Edie said. “I need to get Faina to a hospital. Tell me what you want.”

  Rada glanced once at the slouched form of his sister who leaned against Edie with her eyes only half-open. His eyes flashed with scorn and loathing, before focusing back on Edie.

  “You tell me what you know. What you have told the police.”

  She had no reason to hold back. The only thing she had to sell was her uncertainty that it was all out.

  “I know you put things in my head. Faina told us that. Then they used some kind of hypnotherapy. I gave them lines from a poem while I was under.”

  “How many lines?”

  “Four, I think,” Edie said, trying to sound uncertain. “Yes, four lines from a poem. They wanted more. They kept asking, but I couldn’t remember more.”

  Rada kept his gaze pinned on Edie, obviously searching for lies amongst the truth. Edie let him search. It was all truth.

  When Rada said nothing more, Edie took a gamble. “Is there more? I want it out. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care that the department of firearms—”

  Rada stood suddenly. Edie worried she had made a mistake, had offered up too much too soon. He paced in short bursts, muttering in Russian to his men. Faina shifted and leaned her head back, moaning. Edie squeezed her hand then leaned in when Faina squeezed back with surprising str
ength and Edie heard her whisper. She leaned closer to catch the words.

  “He is saying you know some but not all. He is relieved. Bargaining chip.”

  Rada returned and knelt in front of Edie again. His eyes were alight, like a predator closing in on his prey. “What did the police do with the words?”

  “I don’t know exactly,” Edie said. When Rada growled, she held up a hand. “I really don’t. They think it’s a code. They thought I had the key to unlock it, but I kept telling them I didn’t know. They talked about cryptographers and bringing in data analysts. If they figured it out, they never told me.”

  Rada seemed satisfied with this response. He suddenly shifted his gaze to Skye. “You. Can you negotiate with the police?”

  “I have no power to make a deal,” Skye said. “I’m here to protect Ms. Black.”

  Rada sneered. “Then you are no good at your job. A bodyguard should not fuck those they protect. Or you will end up in back of truck with men with guns.”

  Rada laughed and his men followed suit. Skye just glared. Rada stood and reached into his pocket, pulling out a phone and tossing it to Skye. She caught it deftly.

  “Call your police contact. The one who has been at your house. Put it on speakerphone.”

  Skye did exactly as directed.

  “Caldwell.”

  “It’s Kenny. Rada wants to negotiate.”

  “I’m listening, Rada.”

  “I have information for you regarding multiple drop points and buyers,” Rada said, raising his voice. “I assume you are one of the many uniforms outside these gates. Approach the truck alone, unarmed, no listening devices. You break any of these conditions, and I will shoot one of these women. I have not yet decided who.”

  “Understood,” JC said through the speaker. “Two minutes, back of the truck.”

  The line went dead. Edie couldn’t look at the guns, but she imagined the muzzle being aimed at her, at Faina, at Skye. A tremor started in her hands. She wasn’t sure how much bravery she had left.

  A commotion at the back of the truck signaled JC’s arrival. Edie watched as JC easily climbed into the back of the truck. Two men approached and patted her down. JC scanned the interior as she held up her arms, giving no indication she was bothered by the roughness of their search. She glanced at Skye, Edie, and Faina, then she turned her attention to Rada.

  “This will be brief,” Rada said. “I have no interest in long talks. I can give you dates and times of drops, list of product and suppliers, and names of buyers. I am small piece. You want bigger piece. I give you information, I give you the three girls and my men and I walk away.”

  JC said nothing, but she nodded throughout his speech, as if they were talking calmly. As if everything he was saying was completely reasonable.

  “I’m not going to lie. My superiors have been riding my ass for that information.”

  Rada smiled the predatory smile. “Good. Then we have a deal?”

  JC smiled as well. “Here’s the thing. You’re about an hour too late. We already have some of that information. It’s basically no good anymore.”

  “What?” The word exploded from Rada, and he turned an accusing glare on Edie.

  “Ms. Black didn’t know,” JC said. “Though I’m thinking Kenny here did.”

  “What do you think you know?” Rada yelled, looking between JC and Skye. Edie was having a hard time keeping up. Did they really know something? Was this a bluff?

  “I take it you got a message from Gordon?” Skye said.

  Gordon, thought Edie. Gordon bouncing on the trampoline in the Twelve. Skye had given him the code and asked him to crack it. Without permission.

  “I sure did,” JC said, grinning. Their conversation was obviously unnerving Rada. And as their leader became more rattled, so did the other men. Edie caught the uneasy glances behind Rada’s back. JC and Skye were effectively undermining Rada’s authority and trust along with whatever plan he had promised his men he could execute.

  “I do not believe you,” Rada spat. He suddenly seemed aware of the shifting uneasiness of the men around him. He barked at them in Russian over his shoulder. They settled but kept glancing at each other.

  Beside her, Faina rolled her head over to rest against Skye. Rada spared her a glance, but when she didn’t move again, he looked back to JC.

  “Prove it,” Rada said.

  “Sure,” JC said easily. She walked a little farther into the truck. Closer to Rada but also closer to where Skye, Faina, and Edie still sat. Rada stood his ground, but his men shifted back. Edie noticed several of them glancing at the side door. “The first drop is May 31, seven a.m., at the Petit Dejeuner truck stop. My source said you mixed multiple languages in each line of code. Clever. It tricked all of our analysts.”

  Rada said nothing, but the tension in the truck had increased exponentially. The men at the back of the truck muttered to each other now. Faina shifted again and whispered something in Skye’s ear. Skye shook her head emphatically. Faina squeezed Edie’s hand, then disengaged and slowly pulled herself to standing. She called out in Russian, and when she had Rada’s attention, switched to English.

  “You always called me an embarrassment,” Faina said, leaning against the wall of the truck. Skye and Edie stood as well, trying to support Faina, who pushed them away.

  “You are an embarrassment, sister,” Rada sneered. “You and your whore of a mother.”

  Faina swayed slightly as she slowly approached her brother, one arm held protectively across her body. “I made mistakes. Trusting you and Yana was a mistake. But I am not the one who is an embarrassment to their birth country. Who is sinking quickly. And taking everyone down with him.”

  “You know nothing,” Rada said. “I am restoring the good name of Rada after our father lost it, marrying that Syrian whore and producing you.” Rada used his gun to accentuate his point. Edie flinched. Faina continued her slow advance as Rada’s shouting increased in volume. “This technology is a gift to the Russian military. It will clear our name.”

  “A plan gone wrong, Alex. Yana disappeared. Your code is cracked. This locked vault you promised is a sham.” Faina stopped in front of her half brother. She poked him in the chest. “You have failed.”

  Alex’s eyes bulged at the insult, utterly enraged. He swung his arm back and screamed in Russian.

  “No!”

  Edie screamed as JC and Skye launched themselves in tandem at Rada. Skye tackled Faina just as the butt of Rada’s gun made contact with Faina’s cheek. Faina’s cry of pain was lost in the sudden cacophony of noise. Police shouted commands to drop their weapons, JC and two tactical officers took Rada down, and a single bullet was discharged. Edie was tackled from behind and dropped to the floor of the truck. The weight on her back was heavy. Edie started to panic.

  “Off.” Edie tried to shout above the awful noise in the truck. Screaming and shaking and boots pounding against the walls of the truck, and Edie felt every vibration with her body pressed against the metal floor. She wanted to yell but didn’t have enough air in her lungs. Edie angled her head, her vision filled with Skye leaning over Faina, who was blood-covered and still. Skye turned and looked at Edie and she was angry, shouting, gesturing wildly, then suddenly the weight was gone from Edie’s back. The shouting was dying down, and fewer jarring thuds rocked the truck. Edie rolled onto her back to see an officer holding out her hand.

  “Sorry, Ms. Black. Just trying to keep you out of the line of fire.”

  Edie took the hand, and the officer helped her up from the floor. Her legs were shaky, the dump of adrenaline nearly too much for her body to process. She scanned the truck interior, a sea of officers in tactical gear, two to each unarmed Russian who was being pulled out of the back of the truck. JC talking to Rada, her face impassive, reciting something as if from memory. They are arresting the man who wanted me dead.

  Edie suddenly sank to her knees. It was too much to keep standing, too much to process.

  “Edie, jus
t breathe.”

  That request was harder than it should have been.

  “Take a breath. Good. Another one.”

  Edie breathed, and as the oxygen settled back into her lungs, she connected the voice to the words. Skye was still kneeling beside Faina, though two paramedics had joined her. The truck was lit up now. Dawn had arrived. Faina was shot. Edie had played her part. JC and Skye had kept them safe.

  “Faina, is she…”

  “She passed out,” Skye said firmly. “Look, she’s coming around.”

  Faina opened her eyes and she was struggling to move. Edie shuffled forward on her knees and joined Skye next to Faina’s head. She didn’t look at the paramedics, but Edie could not ignore the angry red welt and blossoming bruise on one side of Faina’s cheek, the imprint of Rada’s gun clearly pressed into her flesh. Edie shuddered and carefully touched her hand to Faina’s unmarked cheek.

  “You’re okay,” Edie whispered. Faina focused her eyes on Edie for just a moment.

  “You? Everyone?” Faina said.

  “No one else was hurt,” Skye said, her voice was very gentle. “Edie and I are unhurt. JC is fine. They’re going to take you to the hospital in a moment, so just rest.”

  Faina almost immediately closed her eyes again. Skye put her arm around Edie’s shoulder and drew her sideways against her body. She was strength and reassurance, and Edie soaked up both wordlessly.

  “How long until transport?” JC had walked over, still in full command mode, both hands wrapped around the straps of her bulletproof vest.

  “Five minutes, tops,” one of the paramedics said. “She’s stable, just getting her ready to move.”

  JC nodded curtly and looked at Skye and Edie.

  “We’re all going. Everyone gets checked out. No arguments.”

  Edie did not have the strength to argue. She had a sudden image in her head of Skye being kicked repeatedly. Edie shuddered and tried to ease away, but Skye held her securely.

  “It’s done,” JC said, more softly. “We’ll need to get initial statements at the hospital from both of you. But you did it.”

  “Listen to her,” Skye said in her ear. “Just sit with Faina. It’s done.”