by T. C. Clark
She nodded and ran to the house. She took the shortest route and within a few minutes, she was in the backyard. She didn’t hesitate. She climbed the wall carefully, using her skills from the military to aid her. She paused at a small window on the top floor and waited for a sign from Sandy.
She heard it, a large explosion at the front of the house. There were yells and then a barrage of gunshots. It took her a second to get the window open. Once she was inside, she moved through the rooms quickly.
She never even raised her gun. She delivered a killing strike to every person she encountered as she worked her way through the home. By the time she made it to the small bedroom on the left side of the house, there was a path of bodies behind her.
She kicked in the door and pulled out her gun. A man ran at her with his hands raised. She used his momentum to flip him onto his back and she shot him in the neck. She didn’t bother to wipe the blood from her body; there would no doubt be more before she left this place. She looked over at the little girl lying across the bed.
Lily ignored the pounding of her heart. She liked Nancy. She was one of the only agents who knew who she was. The Benefactor had been smart enough to keep his family far away from the dangerous world of the Sanctuary. Nancy’s mother had died a long time ago; the little girl didn’t have anyone else.
Nancy was eerily quiet. Lily walked up to her and braced herself. She bent down and felt her head. She was running a fever but she was clearly alive, relief filled her. She looked around the room for clues for what they’d given her.
She found it in the small trash can at the door way. There was an unmarked vial of clear solution. There were also two 1ml syringes. She carefully recapped the syringes and grabbed the empty vial. They had a doctor that the Sanctuary used to use close by. She would make him evaluate Nancy.
Lily reached down and picked the small girl up. She adjusted Nancy over her shoulders into a fireman’s carry to keep her hands as free as she could. She couldn’t go back out through the window, not with Nancy knocked out.
She looked down at her weapon. She loved the gun the Mechanic had designed specifically for her. She’d only fired two shots, but she had twenty more in the chamber.
Sandy was already inside and by now, he would have taken out most of the people on the ground level. She’d killed eight men so far, and from what Dmitri said, there were about twenty people inside. Typically, when an agent gave an approximation of how many people could be inside, she mentally tacked on ten extra people.
She’d learned a lot from other missions, and she knew relaxing at any point was dangerous. She balanced Nancy on her shoulders and adjusted her gun. She moved as quietly as she could through the top floor. She took the time to check each room. Luckily, most of the other bedrooms were bare.
By the time she got to the steps, she was breathing deeply. Nancy’s weight plus the addition of her tools were adding more strain to her body. She had maybe ten minutes before the fatigue started to affect her reaction time.
Lily made her way down the stairs. She heard two men below. They were speaking quickly in Bulgarian. They were setting up to attack Sandy, who was working his way up through the first floor.
Fuck, they’d agreed she would be the lead on this. He was supposed to only handle the ground level and then set up to catch anyone else who made their way down. In their plan, she was supposed to take out the top two floors. In the back of her mind she’d known he wouldn’t wait for her to do that.
Lily bent down and laid Nancy against the stairs. The way they were standing made it possible for one of them to shoot Sandy before he could see them.
She leaned forward and fired. The first guy dropped and the other one turned around and fired wildly in her direction. She jumped back and moved again when the sound stopped. Sandy must have him. She checked and, sure enough, Sandy had the other man in a choke hold, and within seconds he was dead.
He kept his hand up and motioned to her to see if she’d cleared the other floors. She shook her head no. She wanted to go through each room and do a more thorough check. She sent a sign to him to come and get Lily while she did so. He ignored it and checked the rooms himself. She only heard one gunshot and then the house was silent.
She knew this particular house was one of two safe houses located throughout the city that NICON usually used. The other safe house was only thirty minutes away. They needed to get out of here before anyone else showed up. She couldn’t risk Nancy’s life in a shootout.
She didn’t have time to argue with Sandy about it. She picked Nancy up and followed him down the stairs and out of the house. They’d killed twenty-six men back there. She would have to update Dmitri when they got back.
Once they were outside, Sandy took Nancy from her and Lily took over their protection. She looked down at her watch and smiled. The complete mission had taken less than twenty minutes. When they got to the car, Lily sent a message to Dmitri to contact Dr. Stanev and have him sent to the boat they were heading to.
Sandy drove them straight to the meeting point. The drive took longer than she’d anticipated and by the time they pulled up, Lily’s fever was worse.
Lily was relieved to see Dr. Stanev standing next to the fishing boat they’d hired to take them out of the country. She was shocked to see Ghost sitting on the deck. Ghost was a former Sanctuary member who’d been forced into retirement because of his drug addiction. She hoped he was here to help. The red headed Irish man looked bored sitting on the deck of the boat.
The two men standing behind Ghost and the doctor were locals they’d used before to move around the coast of Europe. She trusted them. Sandy carried Nancy on board while she collected their stuff from the car. Once she was done, she parked the car on the far side of the beach, and left it running. They were in the poor part of Bulgaria, she wouldn’t be surprised if the car was gone before she got back to the boat.
When she walked on board the two fisherman bowed to her. She liked their style. They never spoke, but they always showed her respect. She gave them a smile and followed after Sandy.
“Give me a moment with the girl,” Dr.Stanev said. The older man looked tired from his surprise midnight trip to the boat. Lily nodded; she knew how the doctor worked. She didn’t want to distract him while he was attending to Nancy. Sandy went back with Dr. Stanev and Lily went to talk with Ghost.
“Why are you here?” Lily asked, genuinely confused. She’d only seen Ghost a handful of times since his forced retirement.
“Sandy called me and asked for my help. I owe him. Trust me, I had no other choice,” Ghost said with a wink. His Irish accent was more pronounced now. He must have spent his time away at home. If Sandy trusted him, she would have to as well.
“Are you going with us to drop her off?” Lily went through her pack and pulled out a warm water bottle. She needed to hydrate and eat.
“Yep, I’m here for protection,” he said vaguely, his green eyes fixed on the turbulent sea. She felt like he wanted to say more on the subject, but he closed his mouth and crossed his arms. She’d always liked Ghost. He was charming and easy to get along with. He was a great agent in the field. He’d gotten his code name for his ability to make people disappear. He was an expert at relocating witnesses or snatching up victims. His addiction to drugs had been his only flaw. She wondered how he was doing now.
She’d given the vial and syringes to the doctor before she’d left them alone. She prayed he could figure out what drug they’d used to sedate her. The two fishermen started moving around, preparing the ship to leave.
Lily took a deep breath and left Ghost alone with his thoughts. She would check on Nancy first and make sure the little girl was okay. Once that was done, she would turn her complete attention to the Magician. That son of a bitch wouldn’t escape death again.
Four
Chapter 4
* * *
The doctor examined Nancy quickly. He knew the protocol well. The Sanctuary had several doctors located throughout th
e world that were permanently on the payroll. Even though the Sanctuary was disbanded, the doctor was smart enough to help the former members when they called.
“She has an infection. I’ve started her on IV antibiotics. The vial you gave me has a sour smell to it, I’m pretty sure it’s a Trilix mix. It’s a combination sedative that both paralyzes the limbs and forces the mind into a deep sleep. As far as her body is concerned there was some bruising on her legs, arms, and stomach. I’ve left you with a variety of antibiotics, pain medication, and anti-anxiety meds. The Librarian knows how each of them work and can adjust the dose per the girl’s weight,” he said directly to Sandy.
Lily was sitting on the bed holding Nancy’s hand. Nancy was too young to go through something like this. Losing a parent, especially the way she did, would traumatize her. What the hell was she supposed to say to her when she woke up?
The doctor gathered his things. He wrote down a few more notes and handed them to Lily. Sandy walked over and shook his hand.
“Thanks for the help, doc. We will have your usual payment sent to your account. We appreciate your silence on the matter,” Sandy said coldly. He gave the doctor a look that had made lesser men shudder.
But the old man was too seasoned to respond to intimidation. “Boy, I know who you are and what you do. I owe the Benefactor. He helped my family when no one else would. I could never betray his blood. Keep your payment; just let me know if she needs my help again.” The doctor brushed past the grim faced Russian and walked over to the worried woman sitting on the bed.
“Dmitri said to get you more of these.” He placed an amber prescription bottle in her hand and left the room. Lily ignored the questions in Sandy’s eyes and pocketed the medication. When she felt the boat start to move, she jumped up. She rushed back to the deck to grab her computer.
She needed to check her email before the boat got too far out. Once they were on the sea any type of internet connection would be impossible. She went back to her assigned room and sat down on the bed. Sandy came in a few minutes later with Ghost right behind him. Lily wondered just how much she could say in front of him.
“We got a message from Dmitri. He says he’s located our target. He has a plan laid out for us. We can discuss it after we drop Nancy off.” Lily purposely left out the when and the where.
“You can trust Ghost.”
“If we trust him and you’re wrong, we risk everything.” Lily ignored the outrage on Ghost’s face.
“What have I ever done to you?” the Irishman asked, apparently offended by her tone.
“Do you trust me?” Sandy asked. He also ignored Ghost and focused all of his attention on Lily. He walked over to her and placed a strong hand on her shoulder. He waited for her to respond. She knew her answer really mattered to him.
“Sandy, it’s not about trust.”
“Do you?” he asked again.
“Unfortunately, yes,” she said. Lily was shocked when she realized it was the truth. She’d never thought she would trust another man in her lifetime.
“Then trust that I wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger. We need all the help we can get. Ghost is good, damn good. I brought him in because he is one of three people I trust in this world.”
“Thanks for the defense, Sandy. But damn, Lily, it’s ice cold on the other side. We used to be good mates. What happened? A guy gets a wee heroin addiction and now he can’t be trusted?”
“You stole my car and sold it for drugs, Ghost. Please don’t try to play the victim here,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Stole is a bit much, wouldn’t you say?”
“You took it, sold it to a chopper shop, and used the money to buy drugs. Stole is the only way to define your actions,” Lily snapped. She’d loved that car.
“Okay, if we are using the American definition for stealing, you could possibly call me a thief. But, correct me if I’m wrong. I did send you a heartfelt apology, and some money to replace what I took, so I think your attitude is a bit much.”
“You sent me a postcard that said, sorry, shit happens, and one thousand dollars.”
“Exactly.” He looked at them smugly, as if he’d made his point.
“You stole my Ferrari.” Lily said the words slowly, as if she was speaking to a child.
“Yes, and to be fair, one thousand dollars to a drug addict is like a hundred thousand dollars to a normal person. So, in heroine terms, I actually overpaid for it.” Sandy laughed and Lily stood up. Her small frame vibrated with anger. She moved closer to Ghost and he threw his hands up in defeat.
“All I’m saying is I think we can both agree that mistakes were made. But in times like this, a thief with a good heart is a nice thing to have. I may steal from my friends, but I was never one for betrayal.”
Lily rolled her eyes. It was hard to stay mad at Ghost. She had to trust him. They did need all the help they could get. She stopped being vague and told them exactly what she’d read in the message.
“Dmitri says he has a team waiting for us when we get to Turkey. They will take Nancy to the island. Dmitri’s been in communication with the Forecaster and the Surgeon, and they’ve finally located the Magician. He and the engineer who is being sold with the weapon are traveling to Siberia. So far the best place we have to eliminate them is during that transport.”
“Are you sure this is the only way we can handle this?” Ghost asked seriously. The reflective quality of his tone bespoke of how much he’d changed. Whatever he’d done after he’d retired was making him grow up.
“This is our only option. Time is running out. If we fuck this up and they get away it’s over for everyone. This weapon has the ability to kill millions of people at a time. We have to eliminate them now,” Sandy said firmly.
Lily nodded in agreement. “Dmitri wants us to head in the direction of Siberia for right now; he will use the next few days to narrow down the exact location for the transport.”
“If the Magician is involved, it’s going to be Hell getting close to him.” Ghost looked at both of them. He looked nervous. Lily thought that was a good thing.
“The Magician is just a man with a love for violence. He bleeds like anyone else,” Sandy said ominously.
“I’m going to contact Dmitri and let him know what’s going on here. We have a few days of travel in front of us and we can breakdown the best way to handle this later.” She left the room to tell the fishermen it was okay to leave.
Once she’d explained exactly where they were heading, she went to check on Nancy. The little girl was sleeping soundly. Lily looked down at the tiny child. Her dark blonde hair was slick from sweat.
Her fever was finally breaking and her skin was starting to get some color. She looked at the chart that the doctor had left behind. He had her on some strong antibiotics. She checked the cart next to the bed. There was some food and some other supplies. She placed a hand over Nancy’s and squeezed.
“I promise, I will get you home,” Lily whispered.
She didn’t know how she could comfort her. She wasn’t good at stuff like that, but she would try. According to the doctor’s notes, Nancy would probably be out for a few more hours.
She noticed a cot next to hers. It had Ghost’s stuff on it. The only reason she knew it was his stuff was because of the small metal attachments on the outside of the bags. Ghost always used the same style of gear. She picked up two books he’d left on top of the cot. She flipped through them. She didn’t care about his personal rights to privacy.
If he was taking over Nancy’s protection, she needed to know more about what he’d been up to. She needed to be sure that Ghost would do right by her.
She was surprised when she realized it was a sketchbook. The drawings were beautiful. They depicted what had to be a countryside in Ireland. A little girl was featured in most of them. She looked so much like Ghost that she had to be a sister or his daughter.
When she got to the end of the book, she stopped. There were photographs of the littl
e girl from varying ages. She could make out the details of her face in the old photos. She was clearly Ghost’s daughter.
“I see you Americans don’t believe in a man’s right to privacy,” Ghost said from the door.
“This is your daughter?” Lily asked, closing the books and putting them back on his thin bed.
“Yes, she is,” he confirmed.
“Why are you helping us, Ghost? Don’t make a joke. Just tell me the truth.”
“Because Sandy told me to,” he answered.
“She needs to be protected. She doesn’t deserve to suffer because of who her dad was. We owe it to him to get her out. I’m trusting you to put Nancy before yourself. Can you do that?”
“I can. If it makes you feel better, another agent will be there to help. Dmitri confirmed the Fireman is with the team coming to pick her up. Sandy asked me to request extra help. He really wants this protection detail to work out. Nancy will be fine. Trust me; she is the least of your problems.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing. I’m tired and I’m pretty sure I’m getting sea sick. Let’s take this time to rest up, and we can talk about all of this tomorrow.”
Lily smiled and patted him on the arm. As crazy as Ghost was, he was a good man underneath the addiction and his issues. He was right. Now, that Nancy was safe it was time to turn her attention to the Magician, and that meant facing the past.
Between two agents as skilled as the Fireman and Ghost, Nancy would be well protected.
The Fireman was a retired Sanctuary member who had a penchant for saving children. He’d left the organization when he turned sixty, but Lily had worked with him enough to know he could be trusted with this task. She hated that she had to depend on someone else to protect Nancy, but there was no other alternative. She had some vengeance to reap.
Lily opened a new burner phone and sent an update to Dmitri. She calculated their coordinates and gave him an approximate arrival time. Once they got Nancy to the team in Turkey, they would make their way to Siberia.
