by R. Cayden
For a brief second, Cash thought that Raiden actually blushed. “I missed you, Cash,” he grunted under his breath. “And I’m in. I’m doing this, whatever it takes to get him back.”
A surge of confidence shot through Cash. “We’re doing this,” he said. He turned, then grabbed his box and backpack. “And we’re doing it fast.”
Raiden nodded, then grabbed the box out of Cash’s hands and popped it on his shoulder. “You need to meet Declan and Seb. They have a lot of information on Reed and Horizon Zed that you’ll want,” he said, straight to business. “They’ll be able to help make a plan.”
“Thank you,” Cash said. “For trusting me again.”
Raiden let out a puff of air, then pulled the door open. “Come on,” he said. “We can thank each other when Lawrence is safe.”
The immediate switch to focusing on work was comfortable for Cash, and it gave him something to think about other than how much he had fucked up. He wanted to jump on top of Raiden and get the release he truly needed, but there just wasn’t time for that until Lawrence was safe. And in the meanwhile, the steamy glances Raiden sent his way were enough to keep him going.
Cash was also surprised when Declan and his boyfriend Seb seemed to welcome him. Sure, they were still careful, and Declan in particular was like a hawk, the way he kept an eye on Cash. But once Cash started unloading the files he’d brought along, and once they realized their shared animosity toward Reed, they fell into a natural rhythm.
“The black site is right in New York City,” Cash explained. He pulled a map out of the box, spread it out on the table between the four men, and then pointed at the location. “There on the Gowanus Canal. It’s in the subbasement of a warehouse. The building is only separated from the street by a barbed wire fence and a couple guard dogs, but there should be five, six guards inside, maybe more.”
Seb pointed at the box. “What else you got in there?”
Cash grinned. Seb was a little awkward at first, but sweet as pie. After only a few minutes of working together, Cash could already sniff out a talented hacker, and Seb was as bright as they came. “Lots of cool shit,” Cash answered. “Here’s my notes on the security systems and network infrastructure Reed normally uses…”
Seb accepted the file. “Great. We can compare these with our research.”
“Let’s see,” Cash continued. “Here’s a shiny rock I keep for good luck and some old network passwords. Oh! And there’s my backpack.”
“Coltan,” Seb said.
“What?”
“Your shiny rock is columbite-tantalite,” he said distractedly, his eyes on the security note. “It’s called Coltan.”
“What’s in your backpack?” Declan asked.
Cash grabbed the bag, then pulled back the zipper. “It’s kind of my signature move,” he said, then pulled out two cases made of molded plastic. He popped them open, revealing the silver guns and the orange tipped darts inside. He lifted one in the air, then turned to them all with a hesitant smile. “It’s silent, discreet, and effective with just one hit practically anywhere on the body. And not only is it fun to watch the bad guys drop after you fire the tranquilizer, but a lot of times, they piss their pants, too.”
Declan and Seb both tilted their heads quizzically as they stared at him, but Raiden just snatched one of the guns from the case. “Cool,” he said as he felt its heft in his hand. “This feels right.”
Cash smiled softly. The way the men all seemed to trust each other did feel right. And even though he knew he still had to redeem himself, for the first time since Lawrence disappeared, Cash was beginning to believe the fight was one they could win.
RAIDEN
From a rooftop across the Gowanus Canal, Raiden peered down on the warehouse. It looked like any other old building, with dirty windows, worn brick siding, and piles of junk surrounding it from every side. Between him and Reed’s hideout, dirty water trickled down the wide canal, nearly still against the concrete embankments.
Could Lawrence really be in there? Raiden hated the idea of the kid being trapped in such a dirty, dark place. But as he stared through his scope, a guard casually strolled around the corner of the building, and anger boiled behind his eyes.
By his side, Cash squatted and peered through his own binoculars. Whatever had compelled Raiden to give him a second chance, he couldn’t imagine doing this without the guy, and he felt another surge of protective impulses, thinking about the danger Cash was about to be in.
Raiden’s earpiece crackled. “Seb has shut down the security system,” Declan announced from his van, parked down the street.
“We’re good to go,” Raiden answered. He took one last look at the warehouse, then headed to the fire escape to climb down.
“Wait a second,” Cash said, catching his arm. “Forgetting something?”
Raiden chuckled. Cash had that sassy look on his face, with his lips pulled back in a half-smile and his hazel eyes dancing. “Come here,” Raiden said, then pulled him into a deep kiss.
“Mmmmm,” Cash hummed. “Something to remember me by when I’m shot down in the warehouse.”
“Don’t even joke about that,” Raiden grumbled, then leapt down, landing on the fire escape grating with a jangling crash.
It was a hell of a thing, to realize he was in love for the first time, and he still didn’t know how to process the fact that those feelings appeared for both Cash and Lawrence at the same time. But luckily, Raiden didn’t feel the need to sit around and worry about shit like that, not when there was something so urgent to get done. He just knew that it felt good and right, and that he was even stronger for it.
He and Cash climbed their way down to the Canal, where they had stashed a small inflatable raft earlier. Once the guard rounded the corner again, they hurried through the shadows, then pushed off across the still water.
Raiden sniffed. “What’s that smell?”
“A lovely combination of pesticides, chemical runoff, and some raw sewage,” Cash replied in a hushed tone.
“What?” Raiden looked down at the small plastic paddle in his hand, dripping with canal water. “Sewage? We’re rowing through sewage?”
Cash tittered. “I figured you’d be a baby about it. But hey, there’s a reason they don’t keep a close eye on this side of the building.”
Raiden started to turn to glare at Cash, but his weight made the raft wobble, and he grabbed the sides instead, terrified of splashing into the toxic water. A few minutes later, they floated to shore, crawled up onto the concrete again, and Cash materialized some wire cutters to make work of the fence while Raiden held watch with his tranquilizer gun.
Pulling back the fence, Cash started to squeeze his body through. “It looks clear,” he whispered. “You’ll have to cut some more fence, though, to fit that body through.”
All of a sudden, a large gray mutt jumped from the shadows, headed straight for Cash, who was caught halfway through the fence. Raiden’s instincts fired before his brain did, and a dart landed in the pooch’s neck before she let out more than a growl.
The dog collapsed in front of Cash. “Stellar,” he whispered to Raiden. “Now let’s go.”
Raiden grabbed the fence, then yanked it back, bending it with brute strength. He paused to pull the dart from the dog and give her a few nice pets. “Sorry, buddy,” he whispered.
“We’re in the perimeter,” Raiden whispered as he pressed his earpiece. “Guard dog neutralized.”
“This is Seb. I’m in the internal video monitoring system. There’s one guard on the perimeter and two inside, near the rear door to the stairs. It doesn’t look like they have cameras on the lower floors. The exterior guard is just about to round the east corner.”
Raiden heard a whoosh of air, and when he jerked his head toward the building, he saw the guard collapse silently to the ground.
Cash blew on his gun as though smoke were coming out of it. “See? They’re great toys.”
With a spin, Raiden pointed t
he gun jokingly at Cash. “Now I know how to shut you up, too.”
Without responding, Cash hunched down, then took off through the shadows, darting silently like a cat chasing its prey. Raiden moved the fallen guard into a comfortable hiding spot, then kept an eye out while Cash jimmied the lock to get them inside. They listened carefully at the door and followed Seb’s instructions to sneak inside, and when the right moment presented itself, they stepped out of the shadows and simultaneously took down the guards with a couple of darts.
The warehouse was largely empty, with a few dim lights shining at the end where some offices were built. After doing a quick sweep to make sure they weren’t missing anything, Raiden and Cash found the door to the basement.
Raiden’s anxiety spiked. He’d broken into plenty of buildings before and put his life on the line for plans riskier than this one. But he was only minutes away from finding out whether Lawrence was okay, and that was setting his brain on fire.
“Don’t pull some fucking stunt,” he whispered to Cash, “and don’t get yourself hurt.”
“Don’t worry, big guy,” Cash whispered as he picked the lock to the basement door. “I’ll be here to keep you safe.”
They didn’t know much about the basement, and they crept down the stairs slowly, ready for anything. When they reached the bottom, Cash extended a small mirror that he used to peek around the corners. In the clear, Raiden snuck ahead, confident that Cash had his back. The hallway he crept down ran into two dead ends, but there were six doors scattered along the way.
Raiden rested his hand on one of the door handles, and Cash crept into position, his gun pointed straight ahead. Raiden gritted his teeth, ready for a fight.
And then, one door down the hallway, the sound of a flushing toilet echoed through the silence. Raiden and Cash exchanged a glance, then each fell into different positions. When the door to the bathroom opened, Raiden landed a dart in the chest of the man who emerged. He was wearing a gray suit, and he mumbled some confused grunts before he tumbled to the ground with a loud thud.
“At least he took care of business first,” Cash muttered.
The door at the end of the hallway flew open. “Who the hell—" Before the tall man stepping out could finish his sentence, Raiden fired a dart his way. Just as quickly, though, the man slammed the door shut again, deflecting the dart to the ground.
“Fuck,” Raiden cursed, then charged forward. Their cover was blown, and the only thing he could think about was plowing ahead and getting his hands on Lawrence as fast as they could.
“Raiden, wait!” Cash called, sprinting after him, but Raiden barely heard the words. He lowered his shoulder, ready to charge his way through the flimsy wooden door if that’s what it took. Just as quickly, though, the door kicked open again. His full momentum rushing ahead, Raiden gasped as he saw the rifle, pointed straight at him.
A dull force hit the back of his knees, and Raiden fell hard on his face as the bullet blasted by over his head. Cash tumbled to the ground with him and sent a dart toward the door, but the man dodged it, cocked his gun, and sent another bullet ricocheting down the hallway. “Who the fuck are you?” he hollered.
Back on his feet, Raiden jumped forward. He threw a wild punch, which the man dodged expertly, then countered by pounding the butt of the rifle into Raiden’s shoulder. Grunting from the sharp pain, Raiden reeled back but used the wall to thrust himself forward again and landed his boot with a hard kick against the man’s thigh.
“You’re fucking dead,” the man screamed. He swung his rifle up, cocking it straight at Raiden’s chest, and for minute, Raiden thought it was over. His last desperate thought went to Lawrence and Cash, and he prayed that they’d escape even if he didn’t.
A dart whizzed through the air, thwapping into the man’s arm. He stumbled in place for a second, and the rifle fell loosely from his hands and clattered to the ground.
Raiden gasped, his heart still thumping, and turned to Cash. “You saved my life.”
“Twice. But don’t get cute about it,” Cash said, his gun still straight in the air.
In the tense minutes that followed, no one else came busting into the hallway. Methodically, Raiden and Cash made their way through the rooms. There were a couple of offices that seemed set to deal with the legitimate warehouse business, as well as a locked room, filled with what seemed to be crates of Cuban cigars and another loaded with handguns and ammunition. Every time Raiden kicked open another door, he prayed Lawrence would be waiting at the other side, but soon enough, there was only the stairs to the subbasement left.
“I’ve got two darts left,” Raiden whispered.
“Just one for me,” Cash answered.
Raiden palmed the back of Cash’s head, then pulled him into another kiss. “Let’s hope there aren’t more than three guards down there.” He pressed his finger to his earpiece. “We’re going down below.”
“You’ll lose the signal,” Seb said through the fading static. “Good luck.”
The subbasement was lit by fluorescent lights. The stairs landed on a concrete floor, and across from them sat two wooden doors, each unlabeled against the white wall. Raiden prayed to god that things were going fine with Seb, and a gang of thugs wasn’t charging into the warehouse at that moment, ready to trap them in the claustrophobic basement.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Cash whispered. “Be okay for us.”
They went to the first door, which was locked. Cash pulled out his tools and picked it quickly, then silently pushed the door open. It was dark inside, but when he pushed the door fully open, the hall light illuminated a simple office, with a desk, some file cabinets, and a large calendar of naked women hanging on the wall.
Raiden and Cash locked eyes, then turned to the other door. “Go hard,” Cash mouthed to Raiden. “By surprise.”
With a quick nod, Raiden reared his boot back, then kicked the door in. Cash slid through in front of him, sweeping his gun through the air. The world seemed to go by in slow motion as Raiden watched Cash’s face fall. The door hit the wall with a bang, and he charged into the room, ready for anything.
It was totally empty. A wooden chair was toppled on the concrete floor, and a knife was stuck in the wall. But otherwise, the last room was bare.
“He’s not here,” Cash said, stunned. “He’s not fucking here.”
“Damn it!” Raiden turned, raging, then kicked the wall. Tears bit at the corners of his eyes, frustration with himself and Cash and everything else storming. “Where is he? Where the hell is he?”
Cash looked like he was about to puke. He grabbed Raiden by the shoulder. “We’ve still got to get out of here,” he whispered. “Fast!”
“That’s it?” Raiden asked, suddenly terrified. “We just go?”
Cash pressed his fingers to his temple in deep thought. “The office,” he answered. “There might be a clue.”
They hurried back to the other room, and Raiden kept an eye on the stairs while Cash flipped through the files, then turned to clicking on the computer. Raiden’s pulse was a hammer against his temple, and he felt like he could rip a car in half, he was so upset that they had failed.
“Come on,” he hissed to Cash. “We have to hurry.”
“This computer is a goldmine of Reed’s secret files,” he hissed. “There’s so much we could use. I have to dig through it!”
Raiden looked nervously back to the stairs again, then grunted. He stomped over, wrapped his arms around the big desktop computer, and then heaved it in the air. “Come on,” he barked, “let’s move.”
Cash grabbed the paper files that he could, and they headed back up the stairs. “Reed’s working for someone inside Horizon Zed,” Cash whispered after Raiden, reading through the papers as they ran. “It’s not an outsider. Someone high up in the company grabbed Lawrence.”
Raiden shoved the door to the next level open with his shoulder, then took a quick scan. The place was still clear, with the men in suits propped up in their spots agains
t the wall, peacefully passed out. “Who, though?” Raiden hissed back to Cash. “We need to know who if we’re going to find Lawrence.”
They bounded up the rest of the stairs, then entered into the warehouse. “Oh my god,” Cash said suddenly, fast at Raiden’s heel. “I think I know.” He hit his earpiece, and the noise in Raiden’s ear crackled.
“Is he there?” Seb asked. “Did you find him?”
Raiden winced. “No sign of him,” he said, his heart breaking all over again to share the news.
“Seb, I have a question,” Cash said. “Coltan. You recognized the stone I had.”
Raiden grunted, the weight of the computer heavy in his arms. Cash pulled the door to the outside open, and when they entered the night, Raiden let out a puff of air.
“Sure,” Seb said. “Why are you asking?”
“What’s it used for? It’s valuable, right?”
“Yeah,” Seb crackled. “It’s rare and in high demand, since it’s a valuable tungsten ore. It’s important for laptops and cell phones especially.”
Cash stopped in his tracks, and Raiden stumbled still behind him. They were at the hole in the fence, and trash drifted by in the dirty canal water. “I know who Reed works for,” Cash said. “I know who took Lawrence.”
Lawrence
Lawrence wasn’t sure how long he’d been in that room. Two days, maybe? The men had dragged a mattress in for him to sleep on, and every now and then, Lawrence heard them screaming threats at his father through the wall. After endless, torturous hours, though, something finally changed.
The door flew open, smacking against the wall. Lawrence thought it was time for them to drag him to the bathroom again, but when both of the guards hurried in and grabbed him by the arms, he knew something was different.
“What’s going on?”
“The game’s over. Your old man didn’t cave, and our boss hit the road about an hour ago.”
