Lights Out

by Amy Cross

  Chapter TwentyOne

  19:45pm

  “I'm so sorry,” Cassie whispers with tears in her eyes. “Please forgive me.”

  Staring up at the waves and ribbons of red that are drifting high above, and at the blanket of stars beyond, she tries to tell herself that she's doing the right thing. She's been rationalizing her decision for hours, but now – with no way back, no way to change her mind – she's starting to think that she's made a terrible mistake.

  “Everyone has to break a vow occasionally,” she continues, before squeezing her eyes tight shut as tears start streaming down her face. “I'm not the person I used to think I was. And I'm so, so sorry.”

  Chapter TwentyTwo

  20:55pm

  A cold wind blows along the street as Anders takes the climbing gear from his backpack. Despite all his planning and preparation, he's neglected to bring enough warm clothing, and he knows that it'll only get colder as he gets further up the side of the tower. Still, there's no going back now, so he figures he'll just have to shiver.

  He checks the equipment for a moment, but then he realizes that he's delaying the inevitable. Looking up, he sees the tower looming high above, its tip reaching toward the flickering red sky. The sight is beautiful, but Anders quickly reminds himself that he has to get on with things.

  He looks both ways, just to make sure that there's nobody around, and then he starts slipping his hands into the home-brewed high-tech grips that will allow him to climb up the side of the tower's concrete base. He just has to get to the top of the base, about fifty meters above, and then he can switch to a more conventional climbing system. None of this would be possible in ordinary circumstances, of course. The building is riddled with sensors that would detect him even before he got close. Tonight, however, none of those sensors are going to be working. They're just dead little pieces of glass and metal, awaiting the passing of the storm so that they can return to life.

  For the next few minutes, as he makes the final preparations for his climb, Anders can't help periodically glancing along the street. He tells himself that he's checking to make sure nobody is nearby, but deep down he knows that he's also – mostly – watching in case Cassie turns up. Then he tells himself to stop being so foolish, and he gets back to focusing on his preparations, and then he glances again, just in case.

  And then, once he's ready, he checks everything one final time and approaches the wall. Cassie's no-show has left a little part cut out of him, but he'd lose the rest if he gave up.

  So he starts to climb.

  At first, as he makes his way meter by meter up the concrete, he's surprised by how easy it all feels. He's kept himself in shape over the years, but he'd expected a few more aches and pains. Finally, however, those aches and pains begin to creep into his joints; by the time he's halfway up the initial fifty-meter concrete base, he's wincing a little and having to stop every so often to get his breath back. He keeps telling himself that this is the hardest part of the climb, that after this he only has to get up the relatively easy main part of the tower, and that he has plenty of time for a rest in-between. He also tells himself not to look down, not to consider just how high he's already climbed.

  It takes much longer than he'd anticipated, but finally Anders reaches the top of the concrete base. Taking care not to slip, he clambers over and onto the narrow ledge that marks the start of the tower's main glass section. He stays low once he's on the ledge and looks through the nearest window, although he can make out nothing inside the building. He knows that somebody on the other side of the window would likely be able to see him silhouetted against the flickering red night sky, but he figures that's just a risk he'll have to take. He's going to need some luck tonight, and this won't be the first time he has to take a massive risk.

  Leaning back against the window, he tries to get his breath back, and he stares out across the dark city. For a moment, he marvels at the sight of the storm as it draws ribbons of flickering light through the sky, casting a faint, ever-shifting red hue across the pitch-black buildings of London. The sight, he has to concede, is beautiful.

  “Hey.”

  Startled, he turns to his right and sees that there's a figure sitting a few meters further along the ledge.

  “It's me,” the voice adds.

  “What?” Anders stammers, his mind racing even as he realizes that he recognizes the voice.

  “It's me,” she says again, before crawling a little closer with a backpack on her back. “Anders, it's okay.”

  She leans even closer, but still Anders can't quite believe what's happening.

  “You were right,” Cassie says, silhouetted against the rippling red night sky. “I had to come.”

  Chapter TwentyThree

  21:20pm

  “I made a vow to avenge Tom's death,” Cassie continues in the darkness. “I also made a vow to be a good wife to my husband, and a good mother to Emily. I've been sitting here for a while, waiting or you, wondering whether I made a mistake. Whatever I decided tonight, I had to break at least one of those vows. I hope you won't think less of me, just because it took me a while to make a choice.”

  “But you...”

  Still shocked, Anders can't quite think of anything to say.

  “I left a note for Steve,” Cassie explains. “I told him I had to go and check on my sister. So long as all of this goes according to plan, I'll be back in the morning and he won't have to be any the wiser. Emily might be a little scared without me there to comfort her, but Steve'll do a good job. They'll be fine.”

  “I...”

  Anders pauses for a moment.

  “I thought you weren't coming,” he says finally. “I thought you'd given up.”

  “I figured I'd meet you up here,” she tells him. “I thought about waiting around for you at street-level, but there was a guy in a hoodie who seemed to be patrolling the area. I didn't want to kill him, in case someone might notice his absence, so I waited until he was out of sight and then I climbed this first section as fast as I could. I assumed you'd start on this side of the building, it was the most obvious.”

  “I killed the man in the hoodie,” he tells her.

  “I thought you might.”

  “I really thought you weren't going to come tonight,” he continues. “I understood, but at the same time I was disappointed. Cassie, I'm so sorry I doubted you. I should have known that you -”

  “Shouldn't we get started?” she asks, interrupting him. “Or do you need a longer rest, old man?”

  “Old man?” he splutters. “What have you got with you? What equipment?”

  “Just some basics,” she replies. “Even after I got married, I retained a small stash of essentials. I told myself I might never use any of it, but I wanted to be prepared. I imagine it's not that different from whatever you've got in your pack.”

  “We're going to climb the south-eastern side,” he tells her. “There's a metal frame rig running all the way up, so -”

  “So we'll have extra purchase,” she says, finishing the sentence for him. “I figured that.”

  “I've been planning this climb for years,” he continues. “Obviously I never anticipated anything like this storm, but I've been contemplating all the different ways I might be able to get to Essien. I even considered attacks on his other homes, but somehow London always seemed like the most realistic target. I even fantasized about developing super-powers and flying straight up there, blasting the bastard with laser rays that come straight out of my eyes.”

  He looks up toward the top of the building, and then he turns to see that Cassie is also staring straight up.

  “He's really there, isn't he?” she says after a moment. “After all this time, we're so close. Michael Essien's up there right now. What do you think he's doing?”

  “Sitting on his ass, feeling pleased with himself,” Anders replies.

  “You don't think he knows we're coming, do you?” she asks. “Remember how he always used to talk about his gre
at instincts? About how he could sense threats?” She turns to him. “What if he knows somehow that we're here?”

  “You're giving him too much credit,” Anders says. “The man is a master bullshitter.”

  “But if -”

  “Don't think like this,” he adds. “Michael Essien is just a man. I know he likes to cultivate this idea that he's somehow special, but really he's just cruel. And lucky. He's been very lucky to survive for this long. Never start believing that he's anything more than that.”

  “I know you're right,” she says, “it's just... The last time we saw him...”

  “Put that out of your mind,” Anders says firmly. “Treat this like it's just another job. Just another assassination that someone wants us to carry out. We've done this kind of thing many times before. He's just a man.”

  She pauses, and then she nods.

  “Are you sure you're in the right frame of mind for all of this?” Anders asks.

  “I'm sure.”

  He stares at her for a moment.

  “I'm sure,” she says again, before turning and making her way along the ledge. “We're going up the south-eastern side, yeah? There's no point standing around here and nattering all night. We've got a job to do.”

  Anders opens his mouth to ask another question, but at the last moment he manages to hold back. He's still not entirely sure that Cassie's ready for all of this, but he knows there's no point peppering her with questions and, at the same time, exposing his doubts. He knows he has to trust her, just like he should have trusted that she'd show up. Sighing, he makes sure that he has all his equipment and then he follows her, while taking care to not look down past the ledge toward the pavement far below.

  By the time he reaches the building's south-eastern corner, he finds that Cassie has already assembled her climbing gear.

  “Nice of them to leave a rig for us to climb up,” she says. “I guess it's the housing system for all the sensors. There's something ironic about it making it easier for us to get up there. Do you think Essien's men will have considered this possibility?”

  “We'll soon find out,” Anders tells her. “You understand that we have to go all the way to the top, don't you?”

  “Aren't we entering through the air-conditioning vents?”

  “That seems too easy,” he explains. “Believe me, I've studied this building over the years, and I think I have a fairly good idea of its weak points. We're going all the way.”

  “To the very top?”

  “To the very top.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then we drop in on Michael Essien, and we make him pay for what he did to Tom Dansing all those years ago.”

  He waits, but for a moment Cassie focuses on securing her equipment. It's clear to Anders that every mention of Tom's name makes her go quiet. He wants to ask her if she's okay, but he forces himself to stay quiet. There'll be time for all of that later, after Michael Essien is dead.

  “Let's go,” Cassie says finally. “Just because we're got all night, doesn't mean we need to take all night. Let's get this over with.”

  She starts climbing, and Anders steps over to follow. There's still a long way to go before they reach the top of the tower, and he knows the climb won't be easy. He takes a deep breath, and he reminds himself why this is necessary, and then he too starts making his way up the rig. Already, he can feel his bones getting tired, so he forces himself to think back to that awful day ten years ago, to the last time he and Cassie saw Michael Essien.

  To the moment when they lost a good man.

  Chapter TwentyFour

  Ten years ago

  “It's too late!” Anders yells, as the SUV burns under the desert sun. “Cassie, it's too late. They're all gone.”

  He's holding her back, and after a moment he feels the struggle leave her body.

  “They're all gone, Cassie,” he continues, still watching the flames. “It would have been quick. The pain is over. They're gone, and we have to get out of here before anyone finds us. Do you understand?”

  He waits for her to answer.

  “Do you understand?” he asks again. “Talk to me, Cassie!”

  This time, finally, she turns to him. She hesitates, and then she nods.

  “Call Tom Dansing,” he continues. “Tell him we need a ride out of this place, and tell him we can't afford to sit around and wait. Tell him the area's teaming with enemy forces. Not just locals, either. Tell him Michael Essien's private militia is swarming all over the southern ridge.”

  As Cassie fumbles for her phone, Anders turns and looks back toward the SUV. Five minutes ago, the inhabitants of that vehicle were alive and well, traveling to Mofa for a peace conference. Five minutes ago, he and Cassie were escorting them and keeping them safe. Then they'd spotted movement ahead and there'd been a moment of confusion, and in that split second Anders had made a decision to go and check for concealed positions. Standing in the heat now, watching the flames, he knows that it was his decision that led to this moment. At the time, he'd thought he was doing the right thing. Now he can think of a dozen different choices he could have made, all of which would have left the occupants of the vehicle alive.

  Heat shimmers in the air.

  Nearby, Cassie's explaining the situation to Tom over the phone.

  Something doesn't make sense.

  He's not sure what's wrong, but Anders knows that he's not seeing the whole picture. The peace conference will be canceled, dealing a blow to efforts throughout the region, but was that really worth such a precise, targeted operation? Despite the heat that's still coming from the burning car, Anders takes a step forward as he tries to make sense of the situation. And as the flames die down a little, revealing the outline of a burned figure in one of the front seats, Anders still can't quite work out what's causing the flicker of dread in his belly.

  “Tom's on his way,” Cassie says, hurrying over to join him. “Fuck, how did we let this happen?”

  “We made a mistake,” Anders replies, still watching the body in the car. “Everyone makes mistakes. We've made plenty before. I've made plenty before.”

  “This road was supposed to be clear,” she points out. “It was swept, what, two days ago? The guys who check these things are too good at their job, Anders. They've been monitoring the area. They wouldn't have missed something like this.”

  “I know.”

  “Then what if -”

  “I know!” he snaps angrily, turning to her. “Don't you think I realize that we fucked up? People are dead because we made a mistake, Cassie! People are dead because somewhere along the line our system failed them! We were supposed to protect them, and instead they died in agony! It doesn't matter how much we try to tell ourselves that it's all in the line of work. It doesn't matter how many times I tell you that everyone makes mistakes. They still died because of us! It's our fault!”

  He stands in silence for a moment.

  “Tom said they'll be here within half an hour,” Cassie replies finally. “What do we do about the vehicle?”

  “Leave it,” he says, and now he sounds exhausted. “Anything of value has burned already. Leave it to rust by the side of the road.”

  “And the people in there?”

  Anders glances at her, before turning and walking back over to the middle of the dusty road. He looks both ways, and then he watches the clear blue sky for a moment. The heat is relentless, and sweat is already running down his face.

  “I'm getting too old for this,” he mutters under his breath. “Too old and too sick of all the killing.”

  For the next thirty minutes, he and Cassie barely say another word. They watch the hills, checking to make sure that they're not about to be ambushed, but for the most part they're lost in their own thoughts. The car continues to burn, although the flames are much less intense than they were earlier, and Anders in particular can't help but look over every few minutes and observe the wreck. He keeps thinking about the last time he spoke to the occupants,
when he told them to stay put while he and Cassie went to check that the road ahead was clear. He remembers telling them that everything would be alright.

  And then the whole car had been blasted off the road by a bomb. The explosion had been so quick, so intense. Even an experienced old dog like Anders Holl had been caught off-guard.

  “They're here,” Cassie says eventually.

  Turning, Anders sees that dust is being kicked up at the horizon, and he realizes with a flicker of relief that Tom and the others have arrived. He knows from experience that he'll feel better once he's away from the scene, that he'll start to forget the horror. He's lost track of how many deaths he's witnessed, but he knows that he has a way of compartmentalizing the horror and forcing it out of his thoughts. Looking over at Cassie, he can't help but wonder if she has the same skill.

  It takes a few more minutes for the truck to arrive, by which time Anders and Cassie are both keen to get going. The driver signals for them to go around to the back, and they get round there just as the rear door opens and a familiar face appears.

  “Hey Tom,” Anders says with a sigh, “long time, no -”

  Suddenly he stops, as he sees that something's wrong. Tom's face is battered and bloodied, and he looks worried, maybe even scared, and a moment later several guns reach out from inside the truck and aim straight at Anders' and Cassie's faces.

  “What is this?” Cassie asks, taking a step back.

  Tom is shoved out of the track. He lands hard on the desert floor and lets out a pained gasp, as he struggles to free his hands from the restraints behind his back.

  “You people are getting sloppy,” a voice says, as another figure climbs out from the truck and grins at the expression on Anders' face. “I find it difficult to believe that you finally fucked up this badly but, well, here we are.”