by Jody Klaire
“Which way?” Renee pulled us close to the wall. The door we’d broken in through, burst open.
“Lock’s been picked.” A male voice, grumpy. More ratcheting of guns.
“It’s old. It’s probably rusted up or somethin’. Either that or kids.” The second voice sounded bored, sounded like he wanted to be anywhere but there.
Sweat dribbled between my shoulder blades. Nausea panged in my gut. “I don’t know.” I swallowed back the rising fear. The sound of boots in the distance. “I’m trying.”
Heavy boots, big guns, pounding heart, sick. I felt sick.
Renee touched my hand. “I know you are. You can do this.”
Her voice held such utter belief. My heart slowed. I could do this. She needed me to.
I sucked in a long breath. Flash of Frei on the move.
There.
“Left, left . . . go.”
Renee pushed me this way and that way, covering my back as we sprinted through the maze of dark, flooded halls. Splash, splosh, rats scurrying, heart hammering. Men’s voices bounced around the space behind us. Heavy boots, splash, splosh, scurry.
At least five of them, maybe more outside. Why such a big patrol? Were they waiting for us? Did they know we were inside?
Clomp, clomp, splash, splosh, scurry, thump, thump thump.
“Concentrate. Forget them. Focus.” Renee put her hand on the small of my back. Her touch sent comfort and calm through me. She knew what she was doing.
I pulled out the lock and held it in my hand. Frei’s memory flickered across my eyes. I pointed to a room. “Frei climbed out of a window.”
Renee ushered me inside. Boot falls reached our section of corridor.
It had been a room in the memory. I couldn’t see for the lack of light. I slid the lock in my pocket, feeling my knees wobble. It was no time to pass out.
“It’s okay.” Renee soothed me with her voice. “We move slowly, put your hands out in front and concentrate on sweeping the floor with your feet. Do you remember that training drill?”
I did. I’d stumbled around like a fool until I’d clattered into three other CIG folks, set off a smoke trap, and Frei had aborted the session. “I had on a big mask thing.”
“Yes, you did, this is just the same.” She took the crook of my arm. “What are you checking for?”
I swallowed. I’d sucked at this exercise, really sucked.
Voices in the distance. Boots, scurrying, pounding.
“Floor . . . er . . . Is it safe, corroded . . . is it . . . er . . . there?”
Renee squeezed. “Good, and in front?”
I felt every level in front and to the side of me. I’d clothes-lined a few people on the second attempt at the exercise, crashed into a tank that had set off another alarm. “Objects, pointy stuff, things that could be hazards.”
“And why aren’t I using the light on my cell?” Renee’s foot clunked into something. She stopped. I knew she was feeling for some kind of shape.
“Light alerts?”
She squeezed my arm. “Think. What else, what can you smell?” Renee guided me around whatever object was in our path.
“Some kind of fuel?”
She squeezed again. “Yes, I’m guessing we’re in a store room, or holding area.”
“For fuel?” Why would there be a whole room of fuel?
Renee stopped us.
Outside. Her thought pulsed through my mind.
My heart pounded so hard that my ears hurt. I shuddered breaths in and out. Panic held me there. My legs wouldn’t budge.
Renee squeezed my elbow. Keep quiet. Keep moving.
I nodded. Dumb as she couldn’t see me. I sighed. Panic jabbed through my stomach, gushed sweat from my palms. They’d find us in here.
I reached inside my pocket. Gripped the lock. My stomach rolled. Heart slowed. Too slow. Heavy. Hard. Skipping.
I needed to focus. Panic prickled through me, sucked at me. I slammed shut my eyes.
The window is on the wall somewhere ahead of us. It’s got a board in front. I hoped she could hear me.
I heard her tuck her pistol in her waistband. Renee squeezed my hand. Calm, comfort flowed from her.
How’d I gotten her into this position? Armed guys, nasty intentions. Heavy boots, closer. Closer. Each room being cleared one by one.
And I’d led her into a room full of fuel. Was there still a window? What if she got hurt? I couldn’t stand the thought of her getting hurt. I couldn’t bear it.
I trust you. Her words flickered through my mind. Armor. Remember your armor.
I clenched my jaw. I visualized it, visualized every ounce of love and hope pouring into it.
I could do this.
She needed me.
I wasn’t letting her get hurt.
I focused every bit of energy I had. Gripped the lock.
“They’ll find us if we go in there,” the young girl said, shivering as she peered into the darkened room.
“That’s our exit.” Frei had no time to explain. Whoever Megan had alerted would be waiting. The traps would only keep them busy for so long.
“It stinks.” One of the smaller kids held her nose.
Frei nodded down at them. “That’s because it’s where they store the stuff to keep the engines running.” A place no one with any sense would hide. Which is exactly why they were going that way. Frei took the kid by the hand and led her in.
The others followed.
She was thankful for it. She didn’t want to leave any of them behind. They snuck around the big machine, over the fuel tank, and she felt the fresh air tickle her face.
“Here, this way.”
“Man, this one stinks.” The heavy boots scraped to a stop. The men were at the mouth of the room.
I grabbed Renee and followed the memory. I rolled over the tank, pulled her with me, and ducked down as light hit the wall above us. I leaned forward and felt over the board. Frei had put it there. I doubted anyone had ever realized.
“You hear that?” Angry, alert, spoiling for a fight.
“No. Room is clear.” Bored, hungry, not interested.
Renee’s grip on my hand tightened. Quiet. Still.
“It can’t be clear. The movement sensors said they came this way.” The guy was bubbling, alert, ready to pull his trigger. “I heard something.”
“Ah come on. It’s probably a rat. We checked.” He wanted a coffee and a burger. His hunger was nagging at him.
Heavy breathing, slow breaths, keep still.
“We check again,” the second guy grunted. He wanted action.
Renee followed my arm to the panel and pulled it away. An old window that looked like it should be half way up a wall not sliced in two and shoved at the bottom. Like the window I’d seen in Frei’s flash.
She was somewhere in one of these places.
“The room stinks, man.” He didn’t like rats. He didn’t like the machinery. It freaked him out.
“I don’t care if it stinks. Check it.”
Renee leaned forward. Checking for glass?
She squeezed my hand. You first.
“You check it. Who put you in charge?”
It would only take a glance for them to see the daylight we’d let in. I rolled myself through, trying with every single part of me not to make a noise.
“Hey you see that?” I heard, sensed, the guy seeing the flicker on the wall. I reached in, grabbed Renee’s arm, and yanked as hard as I could.
The guy raised his gun.
“No. Don’t fire—”
Bam.
Ping.
I tensed.
Uh oh.
Hiss . . .
I rolled her with me to the side. A plume of flames rocketed out of the window. Renee hauled herself to her feet. Dragged me with her. Shouts filled the air.
“Move. Move. Move!” The gate was open. Renee’s car was next to another warehouse further down. Was Aunt Bess watching? Was she ready? We needed a rescue.
&nb
sp; “Don’t think about them,” she said as we ran. “Focus on the car. Your only focus is the car.”
Ping.
A bullet kicked off the wall beside me. I grabbed Renee. Threw her behind a wall. She fired a volley over her shoulder.
“One bullet?” I puffed. She looked like we were strolling down the street. “What happened to the assau—?”
A burring sound ripped through the air.
Ping, ping, ping.
Renee threw us forward. Her car screeched to a halt in front of us.
“I ain’t liking the bullets whizzin’ at the fuel tank,” Aunt Bess muttered.
“Go.” Renee threw us both in the back and slammed the door. “Armored.”
I ducked down, Renee covered my head. Aunt Bess kicked the car into reverse and floored it. We spun around. She slammed it into drive. Hit the gas. I gripped on. “Go, Aunt Bess.”
“Had to dodge some bullets in my time too, kid.” She flashed me a smile, which had relief written right through it. “You guys hit anywhere?”
I shook my head. “Renee?”
“All good, thanks to you.”
I glanced behind as we careered out onto the main road. “They ain’t following?”
“Don’t bank on us losing them,” Renee muttered. She straightened up and dug out her cell. She tried reaching over to place it on the dash but couldn’t.
I went to help but she tutted.
“We need it working.” She handed it to Aunt Bess, who plugged it in one handed. Either she’d been a getaway driver or NASCAR had taken her on.
“So we know where we’re headed?” I asked as Aunt Bess swung us around a corner. I lurched, flattening Renee who groaned from somewhere under me.
“Out of the city and away from danger. Then I drive,” Renee mumbled as I pulled myself up. She shook her head at me. “You’d have made a great football player; you know that?”
I felt my head swim, knowing that I’d used too much energy getting us out of the warehouse. I touched my hand to my jacket, feeling the lock still inside. “Don’t forget we gotta get meds . . . somehow.”
Renee nodded. “Yes, we will.” She was so calm and focused. It was hard not to be in awe of it. Did Frei know? Did she realize Renee was so amazing? Did she love her too? She must do.
“It’ll be easier to distract someone in a smaller place.” She smiled at me and then at Aunt Bess who gripped the wheel like she’d ram us through anybody who got in the way. “You’d make a great response driver.”
Aunt Bess waved her hand. “Gotta focus. Don’t do multitasking.”
I chuckled, then met Renee’s eyes and couldn’t help but sigh. “I’m sorry I got so . . . that I didn’t . . .”
She beamed at me. “You did really well. It’s not easy being in a combat situation. That’s why the training is so intense. It’s to stop you freezing.”
I didn’t like to tell her how much I’d sucked in training. “The only one who didn’t freeze was you.”
Sweat dribbled out from my hands and I wiped them on my pants. Renee put her hand to my forehead.
“You’re clammy. You need more sugar . . . or something.”
I took the offered energy bar. Where’d she had space to stash them in the little travel bag she hung on the back of the passenger seat?
A flash hit like the pounding throb of a headache.
I dropped the bar.
“Aeron?”
I shook it off. My vision blurred. “Same window, same warehouses, river nearby.” I rubbed at the stabbing pain in my eye socket. “Maryland . . .”
“How do you know?” Renee rubbed circles on my back. She picked up the bar, unwrapped it, and urged it toward me.
“I see a welcome sign . . .” The stabbing pain got worse. “Sign . . . welcome to . . . B . . .” I shut my eyes, I couldn’t stand the agony. “I’m sorry, I can’t . . .”
“It’s okay.” She touched my arm and placed the bar to my lips. “She’s in Baltimore.”
I chomped on the bar and tapped the bag. “You need to eat yourself.”
Renee glanced upward and muttered under her breath. “Quit reading me.”
“I like reading you.” I rubbed my temple, hoping the throb would fade. “When I couldn’t, I didn’t know what to think.”
My hands were shaking. It felt dumb to be so shook up but I was. I’d been scared in the warehouse and I didn’t know if that had been my own fear, the kids who’d been held there, or Frei’s. Maybe it had been all three.
“It’s okay to be scared.” She smiled at me when I looked at her. “Really. I drank myself stupid . . . a few times.” She touched my knee. “It’s natural. Right now, you need to leave what happened back there, get rid of it from your mind. We’re on a road, we’re heading to a drive-thru. We’ll clean up, fuel up. That’s all you need to think about.”
I nodded. I could do that. “You never doubted me . . . even when I led us into a room full of . . . well . . . whatever it was.”
Renee met my eyes. “Not for a second.”
Her lips glittered with the truth. Her eyes twinkled and something in them swirled like she was saying more than her words were. She smiled, affection pouring through it. Her aura fired off its lightshow.
I loved that lightshow and for some reason, my throat ached. I rubbed at it. Why was I gettin’ teary eyed now? “Eat your bar ’cause your stomach is growling at me.”
She saluted, winked, and ripped off a chunk.
I trusted her.
She trusted me.
Maybe I just needed to trust myself more.
Chapter 35
LILIA RUBBED HER forehead as she searched, or hoped she was, through the filing system. She’d never learned German. She never thought she’d needed to but Frei had decided that she needed to file everything in a language only she could understand.
Great.
Lilia had found the paper copies and hidden them. That had been no problem. The computer operating system and language wasn’t proving as easy.
What was the German for CIG team files?
She looked down at the keyboard. It didn’t look like a US layout. She closed her eyes, hoping she could find a trace of Frei, then sighed as the computer crackled. Probably not a good idea to blow the electrics.
“Is there a problem?”
Lilia felt her shoulders tense up at Fleming’s voice. “More mine than yours.”
Fleming wandered in. Her sharp eyes tracked every inch of the office. She would have made an incredible investigator herself. Lilia had often thought about asking her to join when she’d been with Renee.
“Care to explain?” She smiled, a patient smile. “So far things are looking a bit . . . sketchy.”
Lilia laughed. “Doesn’t it just. I will happily admit that I don’t run the base, that’s Lead Agent Frei’s job.” She held up her hands. “You’ve discovered that I’m a terrible administrator.”
Fleming strolled over and looked down at the keyboard. “Well, not many people would be able to administrate in another language.”
“I forget that her parents spoke German.” She kept to the cover. She’d keep to the story about Detroit. If necessary, she’d make a quick call to Eli and have him find some parents for Frei. She had been impressed at just how many contacts he’d made. She felt her heart flutter at the thought of him. He was an amazing man.
“Luckily, I took it in college.” Fleming shrugged as Lilia stared up at her. “I liked the lecturer, long story.”
How could she argue with that? Lilia made way for Fleming who set about navigating Frei’s workspace. She only prayed that there was nothing telling on the computer.
“There.” Fleming pulled up the CIG files. She pressed print on Frei’s and then cocked her head at the screen. “Any relation?”
Lilia saw Aeron’s name and couldn’t help but smile. “My daughter.”
“Aeron?” Fleming scanned over her file. “Interesting name.”
Lilia chuckled. “Yes, if you as
ked her, she’d probably tell you that we wanted a boy so we changed her name.” She shook her head. “Eli, my husband, seemed to have given her that impression.”
She left out the fact that he hadn’t a clue why they’d named her Aeron, he’d left names to Lilia. If they’d had a boy, he might have demanded a name but she doubted it. Eli had been laid back to the point of sleeping when they were younger.
“He must be quite tall?” Fleming was more and more drawn into the file. Lilia didn’t much like her scrutiny but what could she say? She only hoped that the whole mistaken for a killer and locked up wasn’t on there.
“No, that’s from my side.” Lilia nodded as Fleming cast a glance over her. “My sister is a fraction taller, as were my uncles. My parents and I were the odd ones out.”
“It must be hard to see her in the field. I see she’s your protection officer now.” Fleming’s tone held a trace of longing and regret.
Lilia winced at it. “I feel that way about all my agents, Aeron and the others.”
Fleming scanned her face. “She’s your daughter and most of the agents up on the wall are in the protection team.”
“Aeron has great support. We learned from our mistakes.” She knew the look. It was her fault that Renee had been hurt by Yannick. She’d tried her best and fallen far short. The guilt would remain with her. Fleming could blame her but not as much as she blamed herself.
“Llys?” Fleming frowned, turning back to the screen. “Funny, Renee used to . . .”
Lilia tensed for it. Then Fleming waved her hand in front of her face and printed the files. She shut down the screen without looking any further.
“Sorry . . .” Fleming sighed, the tears bubbling in her eyes. “Silly that even now it gets to me.” She stood up. “I’d like to try explaining that to Martin.”
Lilia nodded, handing her a tissue from the box on the desk. They looked untouched. She couldn’t imagine Frei being a heart-to-heart kind of boss. “He knows about her?”
Fleming shook her head. “He knows I was engaged and . . .” She took a long breath. “He doesn’t need to know any more.”
“Not an agent?”
