by Ciana Stone
“Then why would she have returned?” Konnor didn’t follow Shen’s logic. In his mind, if Senna had remembered her past, she would not come back to the place where she knew there were people after her, people like Slater.
“You must try and place yourself in her position. If you had learned about the missing time in your life, a time in which you lost your family, what would be your first reaction? To see the only living relative you had left, to make sure that she was safe. Which is exactly what she did. She went to her aunt and tried to persuade her to leave the city.”
“I see your point,” Konnor surrendered. “But what makes you think she’ll take me to this place you seek?”
“She loves you.” Shen looked away from him. “And will follow her heart over her head.”
Konnor stood up and looked down at Shen. “I hope you’re right. In any case, I have to go home and collect some things. I have to be prepared for Slater or anyone else who comes after us.”
“I would advise against taking a sword.” A glint appeared in Shen’s eye.
Konnor frowned in confusion and Shen stood. “Contact me when you know your destination. I will find you.”
There was no need to say any more. Konnor knew that the conversation was at an end. What he didn’t know anymore was why he continued to follow Shen’s orders.
Perhaps it was because if it had not been for Shen he would have died in that Iraqi prison. It was Shen who had rescued him. Even now Konnor had no idea how Shen had accomplished it. All he knew was that one night Shen had simply appeared in his cell and led him quietly from the prison and to safety. Then again, maybe it was all that Shen had taught him in the time he had known the mysterious Asian. He had made more of a difference in Konnor’s life than anyone else ever had. If not for Shen and his guidance, he would not have been able to deal with the grief of losing the woman he loved.
He watched as Shen turned and walked away then headed in the opposite direction. He still had several things to do and time was running short.
* * * * *
North Charlotte
When Konnor hadn’t returned by a quarter-past seven, Senna decided she couldn’t wait any longer. She dressed and called for a cab then jotted down a note for Konnor and propped it against the phone on the nightstand.
When the cab arrived she gave the driver the address Ryan had given her earlier. “You sure ‘bout that, lady?” the man asked with a concerned expression on his face.
“Quite,” she replied after glancing at the written address in her hand.
“Okay.” He shrugged and pulled off.
She realized why he had asked when they arrived at the location. On the northwest side of the city, the building was located in the middle of a line of run-down buildings. It looked as if it might have been some type of factory at one time.
For a moment she was unsure about getting out of the cab. She didn’t see any cars parked alongside the street and there wasn’t any traffic. But Ryan had said that the place was not officially open for business. She also considered that the lack of cars on the street might be nothing more than an indication that there was parking in the rear of the building.
Paying the driver, she went to the door with the correct address painted above it. Just as she reached for the knob she heard a voice behind her. “Dr. Laserian?”
Senna turned and looked at the man who had walked up to her. “Excuse me?”
“You are Senna Laserian, aren’t you? Ryan’s girlfriend?”
Immediately she relaxed. The man must be a friend of Ryan’s. “Yes, and you are?”
“Your escort.” He suddenly grabbed her arm.
Senna reacted without thinking. Turning to one side, she twisted her arm around so that it was no longer beneath his. At the same time she grabbed his wrist and twisted. Stepping around, she shoved the palm of her other hand into the man’s elbow.
It wasn’t enough to break his arm but it was enough to make him let go of her. She leaped for the door, jerking it open and bounding inside, expecting to see a restaurant full of policemen who could help her. Instead she was met by a dim, cavernous space with only stacks of dusty crates to break up the vast expanse.
She didn’t have time to consider her next move before the man attacked her again. This time he was much rougher. The blow he delivered to her back sent her to her knees on the cold concrete floor. Before she could recover, he had a handful of her hair, wrenching her head back.
“Now, listen closely because I’m only going to say this once. I want the data and I want it now.”
“I don’t know what you’re…” Her sentence ended in a grunt of pain from the kick to her back.
“Don’t play games with me, Doctor. I’m not a good sport.”
“Please.” She tried to stall for time so that she could try and think of a way to escape. “I’ll do whatever you say, just don’t hurt me.”
“That’s better.” He jerked her to her feet and shoved her toward the door. “Now, why don’t we take this conversation somewhere more private? We wouldn’t want to be interrupted, would we?”
She pretended to have trouble walking but he didn’t go along with the ruse. A vicious shove sent her stumbling and she cried out as he jerked hard on her hair, making her body bend backward from the waist as her feet were still trying to move forward.
“Please.” She reached up and tried to relieve some of the tension on her hair. “That really hurts.”
“This is nothing compared to what I’ll do if you give me any trouble,” he warned and slammed her face first into the wall beside the door.
She didn’t move as he opened the door with his free hand, keeping the other tightly wound in her hair. As he jerked her toward him she added to the momentum with her own power. It was enough to pull him off balance and send them both crashing into the door. For a moment his grip on her hair released. As it did, she wrenched around and hit him as hard as she could in the groin.
An explosion of air mixed with a curse came from his mouth and he instinctively reached for his testicles to protect them from another attack. Senna took the opportunity to dive away from him.
“You fucking bitch!” he wheezed. “I’m gonna…”
“Let me see them!” A shout came from the interior of the building. “Now!”
The man hesitated for a split second. “Let’s see ‘em!” The command was followed by the noise of a hammer being pulled back on a gun.
This time the man didn’t hesitate. He raised both hands up and out to his sides then turned to face the darkness. Senna bolted up from the floor. She had recognized the voice.
“Ryan!” she yelled as she started forward.
A spilt second later someone grabbed her around the waist from behind and jerked her up off her feet. At the same time she screamed, Ryan shouted. “Not another move!”
The first man dropped his hands and turned to look at Senna and the man who held her. She was frozen in place with a gun pointed at her head.
“Why don’t we rethink that,” the first man smirked at Ryan. “Or would you rather see your sweetie’s brains splattered all over the floor?”
Senna could see the play of emotions on Ryan’s face. He didn’t want to surrender, but she knew he would not endanger her life.
“Okay, why don’t we all just calm down,” he said and made a show of lowering his gun. “Tell your man to lower the gun, Southgate.”
Surprise made her start in her captor’s grip. Southgate was the name Ryan had used for the man who was supposed to be working for the FBI. The man Konnor claimed was an imposter.
Southgate swaggered confidently and the man holding Senna kicked the door closed behind him and marched her forward. Southgate pointed deeper into the darkness and Ryan started backing up. The man holding Senna released her but kept the gun pressed against her head as he felt along the wall. A moment later yellowish light lit the cavernous space of the building from old ceiling fixtures covered with wire.
“Make the doc
tor comfortable,” Southgate directed.
Senna’s captor shoved her forward. She stumbled over close to Ryan and he took her in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Just stay close and do like I tell you.”
She didn’t respond but moved out of his embrace. Ryan turned to look at Southgate. “It’s over. We know all about your deception. I’m not here alone so give it up. You’ll never leave this building alive.”
Southgate laughed as if very amused. “I suppose you’re referring to the stalwart agent Sanders of the FBI and the policemen you have posted around the building? Well, I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, Detective, but they’ve been taken care of.”
Before Ryan could open his mouth to reply a shout came from behind a stack of crates. “FBI, drop your weapons!”
“Kill them!” Southgate shouted.
His accomplice raised his weapon as Southgate dived for cover. “Down!” Ryan shouted and pushed Senna. She was on her way down when the first shot rang out. She hit the floor on her back and almost immediately Ryan fell on top of her. His weight drove her breath out and she felt like she was being crushed. But the pain was nothing compared to the fear. Gunfire was being exchanged and the sound was terrifying. Putting her arms over her head, she clenched her eyes closed and prayed for it to stop.
When the silence came it was almost deafening. Senna moved her arms and raised her head to look around. She could not see Southgate anywhere but the body of his accomplice was crumpled on the floor in a rapidly swelling puddle of blood.
“Ryan, get off me,” she wheezed and pushed at him. “Ryan… Ryan? Ryan!”
It took several seconds for it to dawn on her that her chest was wet and that he wasn’t moving. With a scream she began pushing at him and trying to squirm out from beneath him. Her hands were quickly covered with blood from her efforts.
“Oh, god,” she gasped. “Ryan, Ryan please, can you hear me? Oh, god, don’t be dead. Ryan?”
“Sen…”A raspy bubbling sound accompanied his whisper.
“Ryan! We have to get out of here. We have to get you to a…”
“No…time.” His voice failed and two burbling breaths came from him. “I’m…sorry. I love…I…love you.”
“Ryan, please!” She couldn’t stop the tears. “Please, you can’t do this. We have to get out of here.”
His body jerked once then a strange stillness came over him. She pushed at him, trying to lift his face up. “Ryan! Ryan, please. Don’t die. Ryan?”
“I don’t think your boyfriend can help you anymore.” Southgate stepped out from behind a brick column with a gun aimed at her.
Senna had no doubt that he was going to kill her. She pushed at Ryan’s body, trying to dislodge it. Her hand moved against something hard and it dawned on her that he had another gun, this one stuck in the waistband of his pants. Trembling with fear and exertion she wrapped her hand around it and pulled. It slipped free and she let her hand fall to the side, where Southgate could not see it.
“Now…” He walked over and put his foot against the side of Ryan’s body. “Where were we, Dr. Laserian?”
Much needed oxygen flooded her lungs as Southgate kicked Ryan’s body off her. Knowing that she would get only one chance, she raised the gun and fired.
A look of surprise came over Southgate’s face as his blood splattered the floor behind him from the exit wound of the bullet. He staggered a couple of steps then collapsed.
For a moment Senna was shocked into motionlessness by what she had done. Then she thought of Ryan. Climbing to her knees with the gun still in her hand she knelt over him. “Ryan?” She felt his neck, trying to find a pulse. “No, please,” she begged to the silence when she didn’t feel a heartbeat. “Please, please no.”
“Hold it right there!”
Senna jumped at the sound of the voice. “Drop the weapon!” Paige shouted as she moved from the doorway.
Without hesitation Senna put the gun down on the floor and stood up. “Paige, you have to call an ambulance. Ryan’s…”
“Don’t move!” Paige leveled her weapon.
Senna didn’t understand why Paige was pointing the gun at her. “We have to get help. Don’t you…”
“Shut up! You’re under arrest. Turn around and put your hands on top of your head.”
For a moment Senna just stared at her. She couldn’t believe what Paige was saying. “Do it!” Paige shouted.
Turning, Senna put her hands on top of her head. Her mind was reeling with what had happened. She barely heard what Paige was saying. Not until she felt the handcuff snap around her right wrist did it sink in. Paige was reading her her rights, charging her with Ryan’s murder, along with Southgate and the other man.
“Paige, you don’t understand,” she whirled around with the cuffs dangling from one wrist. “Ryan asked me to meet him here and that man…Southgate, he showed up and…”
“Button it up, bitch!” Paige’s gun came up level with Senna’s nose. “Or I’ll put a bullet in you now and save the taxpayers some time and money.”
“Please, just listen to me.” Senna could barely get the words out as she stared down the barrel of the gun. “I didn’t shoot Ryan. That man Southgate…”
She never got to finish. Something hit her in the shoulder and knocked her sideways. Almost simultaneously a soft “uuhhh!” came from Paige. One second later she fell face forward to the floor.
Senna looked around fearfully, not knowing what to expect next. A startled yelp issued from her lips as a figure came out of the shadows.
“Konnor!” She sprang to her feet and ran to him. “Oh god, Konnor!”
She was in his arms a moment later, crying, and trying to tell him what had happened. He pried her arms away from his neck and pushed her back to arm’s length. “We have to get out of here.”
“But we have to call the police!” she babbled. “We have to get an ambula—”
“We have to go. Now.”
“No!” She started to pull away from him. “We can’t leave. Don’t you understand? Ryan was trying to protect me and that man…that man killed him. He died trying to save me. I can’t just walk away and…”
Before she could say anymore he reached for her. In the blink of an eye she felt darkness closing in around her.
* * * * *
Northwest Charlotte
“You want to tell me what the fuck happened here?” Captain Prichard shouted at Paige as the paramedic was checking the lump on the back of her head.
“Senna Laserian!” She spat the name.
“Laserian?” He looked at her like the knock on the head had rattled her brains. “Are you telling me that a five-foot-three physicist is responsible for all this? In case you’re not fully in command of your faculties, Detective, let me fill you in. I’ve got a shitload of dead people here. Agent Sanders and four members of my SWAT team are all dead, still at their posts outside. Dalton in here along with Southgate or whatever the fuck his real name is and another unidentified male. And you want me to believe this is the work of one woman?”
“She wasn’t alone, sir,” Paige replied in a defiant tone.
“Then how about you tell me what army she had with her, Detective.”
“Konnor Chase.”
“Chase?” He frowned at her. “The guy who teaches self-defense at the police academy?”
“That’s the one.” She knocked the medic’s hand away as he continued to probe at the lump on her head. “And the longer we sit here with our fingers up our asses the more time they have to get away.”
Prichard gave her a hard look then turned. “I want an APB out on Doctor Senna Laserian and Konnor Chase and I want it five minutes ago. Call the Highway Patrol and fill them in. Laserian and Chase are wanted on eight counts of murder. I want them found and I want it done now! And bring in the real FBI for a change.”
Paige looked up at him as he turned toward her. “I want to be part of the team.”
“You’re in no shape, Detectiv
e. We can handle this without you. Which brings up an interesting point. You weren’t supposed to be part of this operation. What are you doing here?”
“Just trying to watch my partner’s back, sir.” She looked away as she spoke.
Prichard regarded her silently for a moment. “I want to see you in my office first thing in the morning. Until then, you’re relieved of duty.”
“But, sir!” She jumped up and started after him as he turned away.
“Officer,” he called one of the uniformed policemen over.
“Yes, sir?”
“If the medic doesn’t think Detective Landers requires any further medical attention then see to it that she gets home. Otherwise I want you to stay with her until she is released from the hospital. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“But—” Paige started to argue again.
“In the morning, Detective,” Prichard cut her off.
She glared at his back as he walked away. “I think maybe it’d be better if you sat down, Detective,” the officer assigned to her said in a solicitous tone.
“You want to know what I think?” she asked in a sexy tone, giving him a look that was intended to make his legs weak.
“Sure,” he grinned at her.
“I think,” she leaned over close to his ear and shouted, “that you should fuck off!”
With his ears ringing he watched her stalk off.
Chapter Fourteen
Senna woke with Ryan’s dying words echoing in her mind. “Ryan!” she screamed as she sat up and looked around wildly.
Konnor stood from where he sat across the room and walked to stand beside the bed. “Where are we?” She looked up at him.
“Somewhere safe.”
Anger at what he had done flared and she pushed herself off the bed. “You had no right!” she barked. “We should have stayed and called the police. What if he wasn’t…what if he was still…”
