“I don’t think either Emily or Kendra will appreciate having you behind bars,” Ace said, his voice laced with amusement.
Wayne was not aware that he’d spoken out loud, but he didn’t really care. He was filled with so much rage against the old man that he knew he would need help getting over his anger and bitterness.
“If he had anything to do with their abduction I swear I will not spare him.”
“Calm down, dude. I don’t think he’s involved in this,” Rusty said. “A ransom call was made during a homeland security meeting. That’s how he got to know.”
“What did you find out about the signal?” Wayne asked.
“The coordinates are the same as the location you gave me earlier. So it seems you are on the right track.”
“That’s good. The video feed?”
“We hacked into the feed and I’ve sent the location of the guards and other security details like camera locations to Drew and Ace. The only thing we were unable to determine was the location of Emily and Kendra, but we have that now.”
“Great, fill us in.”
Rusty took the next few minutes to tell them about the warehouse, which was used for storage. Wayne found out that they had also borrowed his method of taking his operations underground, although it wasn’t as though the idea was peculiar to him. The important thing was that he now knew where his girls were being held and that was two levels below ground. Sadly, he was going to have to entrust the guys with the responsibility of getting his family out unscathed while he faced off against the person who had taken them hostage. He wished he had his old Shadow Force team with him. This would have been a piece of cake.
“Thanks, Rosabelle. Keep us posted of further developments,” Wayne said when the other man was done.
Once they finished the call, they decided to go over their strategy once more. They had agreed that Drew and Ace would jump several miles before they got within the vicinity of the warehouse. They would then make their way covertly to the warehouse. It was already getting towards sundown, which meant that they would have the cover of darkness when the men exited from the aircraft. Meanwhile, whoever had abducted Emily and Kendra had asked Wayne to land at a designated spot, after which someone was to meet him and take him to whoever he was supposed to see.
A few minutes later, Wayne stood beside the other men as they stood facing the open door of the plane. They had their parachutes on as well as their rucksacks, which had everything they would need.
“Put this on, it’s Emily’s,” Ace said, raising his voice above the roar of the engine so he could be heard.
Wayne took the wrist device from him.
“It’s voice activated.” He knew because he had designed it himself.
“Yeah, and we’ve configured it to respond to your voice. It will also respond to Emily’s,” Ace said.
Wayne nodded.
“We’ll be in touch.” Drew said and tipped an imaginary hat to him. Then with a wicked grin he let out a shout and jumped out of the plane.
“Stay safe,” Ace said, looking back at Wayne.
Wayne nodded then clapped him twice on the shoulder, and then Ace was gone. After a couple of minutes, he shut the airplane door and returned to his seat. He brought out the device that Ace had slipped to him. It had been manufactured by Carter Industries, like almost all Silver Shield Security gadgets. He slipped it onto his wrist and heard the latch click. He could not explain it, but wearing that device made him feel a little closer to Emily.
Emily.
He pushed the thought of her further into the back of his mind. He needed to be alert because he was not exactly sure what he was walking into. He could not afford to let his emotions get the better of him. He was going in lucid.
Before long the pilot landed on an airstrip. It looked deserted except for the two sedans parked a few meters away from the landing strip.
“Do you want me to hang around, Mr. Carter?” the pilot asked when Wayne was about to disembark.
“No need, you head on right back to New York.”
Before he stepped out, he glanced at the wrist device. He needed to let the others know that he’d arrived. He tapped out a brief message and sent it. A minute later he felt it vibrate against his wrist. It was a slight vibration, such that someone standing next to him would not feel it. He read the message. The others were not yet in position but were really close. From their estimation, the warehouse would be visible in less than ten minutes, which was perfect because it would be dark by then.
Good. It was time to play ball.
He stepped out of the small plane and stared at the four men standing there silently. He could see the bulge of their weapons beneath their jackets.
“Welcome, Mr. Carter.” One of them stepped forward to greet him.
“Thanks. What’s your name?”
“O’Neal.”
Wayne nodded. Just then, the plane taxied and took off. They all turned to watch it until it disappeared into the evening. It was getting dark, but there was enough light that they could see.
“So which one of you gentlemen would be patting me down?” Wayne asked with a slight smile.
“That would be me,” O’Neal replied.
Wayne stood silently as the other man patted him down. Satisfied that Wayne was not carrying any firearms or any other sort of weapon, he stepped back with a nod. Wayne noticed the tension ebb out of the others and moved one side of his lips in a facsimile of a smile. What they did not know was that his most lethal weapons were his limbs. But even he knew that taking down four armed men without the cover of darkness might be a bit of a stretch for his capabilities.
“The boss is waiting to meet you,” O’Neal said and walked back to the sedan.
Wayne followed and got into the back seat of the leading sedan. O’Neal got in beside him while another of the men there got behind the wheel.
“Tell me, who is this boss of yours?” Wayne asked.
“You will meet him soon enough, Mr. Carter,” O’Neal replied politely.
“Quite mysterious, eh?”
“He loves a bit of mystery,” the other man said with a shrug.
That statement tickled Wayne’s memory. He had heard it before; heck, he had used that same statement before about one of his friends. He felt sad at that memory. He had lost a lot of people in his life, but after the loss of his wife and daughter, that must have been the saddest loss he’d ever experienced. He shook off the feeling as they approached a group of abandoned warehouses. Well, they looked like they had not been used in at least a decade, but Wayne knew they were not abandoned. Beneath one of those buildings was the villain who had abducted his wife and kid and beneath that building was where he was going to bury the asshole, alive if need be.
They got to the parking area of the larger warehouse and got out of the car. The other vehicle had already parked beside them. O’Neal led the way as they walked towards the building. With every step, Wayne’s heart beat loudly against his ribcage. Emily was there. He knew this not just because of the intelligence he had, but because he could feel it with every fiber of his being. His wife, the reason for his existence, was in that building. Because of his stupidity and his father’s duplicity, he had gone so many years without her and their beautiful daughter. He was not going to let some greedy bastard deprive him of spending the rest of his life with them. And no, he was not going to let himself get killed either. He fully intended to spend his life growing old with Emily.
They got into the warehouse and Wayne could see that it was very much in use as a sort of storage facility for…he cast a quick glance at one of the boxes. Even though the light was poor, he recognized the box. It was used to pack electrical components produced by a company in Japan. He ordered his stock from them as well.
“This way, sir,” the ever-polite O’Neal said, leading him to an elevator. At the elevator door, he paused and turned to look at Wayne. “I’ll be riding the elevator with you. First, I want to know, am I putting my
life at risk by doing that?”
Somehow, as grim as the situation was, Wayne found that he could still summon up some humor. Sure, it was just a chuckle, but he found the man’s honest concerns humorous.
“I’m not here for you, O’Neal,” Wayne stated baldly. “However, if I find that you’re standing in my way, in any way, then yes, you would be putting your life at risk.”
“Fair enough,” the other man said with a nod before getting on the elevator.
The ride down was quiet and brief. By the time the doors swooshed open, Wayne had retreated to the mental state he needed to be in if he was going to save his girls and get out alive.
They walked into what looked like a small assembly plant for drones, except that these were not ordinary drones. They were exact replicas of the prototype that Carter Industries had built. Wayne stared in disbelief. How had they managed to reproduce them in such a short time? The prototype had only gone missing a couple of days back.
“Wayne Carter, it’s been ages.”
Wayne froze at the very familiar voice. It was a voice he had not heard in close to fifteen years. A voice that belonged to someone he had mourned and continued to mourn. He lifted his gaze in disbelief and met the slightly mocking smile of Jack Chance.
Chapter Nineteen
“Chance? How is this possible?”
They had searched the streets of Cairo for him without finding the son of a bitch. They had even followed a lead into the desert and almost lost their lives. Wayne thought of the beating he and Asher had received when they’d been captured. They were slowly being starved to death when they had escaped. And yet, by some strange miracle, the man was standing there before him. Alive.
He felt joy swoop through him at the realization that his long lost friend was alive and well. Following the joy was the sinking feeling that if Jack was here, at this warehouse where his wife and daughter were being held, then he must be in some way connected to the kidnappers.
“What the hell is going on, Jack? What happened to you?” Wayne asked, mostly referring to his disappearance in Egypt, but also to the fact that the man he’d known would never have stooped so low.
“What happened to me? I’m surprised you can ask that, Carter, seeing as how you all left me for dead.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Wayne demanded.
“You’re going to feign amnesia now?” Jack asked, shaking his head. “How disappointing.”
Wayne stared at him in surprise. He took in the changes in his friend. He used to have a ready laugh and sparkling eyes, the eyes were now harder. His lips were still quick to smile, but the smile had lost its shine and now had a meaner edge to it. As he looked carefully and catalogued all the changes, something else crossed his mind. Could it be that the man never got to know about their desperate attempts to find him?
“Is this why you took my family…as a twisted attempt at revenge for being left behind?”
“That would be nice, wouldn’t it? But nah, revenge is a wasted emotion,” Jack said with a careless shrug. “I have bigger things on my mind.”
“My weapon,” Wayne said in a flat voice.
“Your weapon.”
Wayne damned the weapon in his mind. He cursed the day he’d decided to create CID Six Thousand. That singular decision had cost him everything and was still costing him. He could not wait to hand it over to the United States government after he made the presentation at D.C. Then, he would wash his hands off the damn technology. It was too much of a threat to his peace of mind.
“Where is my wife, Chance?”
He was not there to exchange memories or to reminisce about what used to be. It was clear that the man had no idea that he and Asher Banks had almost lost their lives in Cairo trying to track him down. They had gone back for him and they both had the scars to show.
“Your family is safe, for now.”
“If anything happens to them I will destroy you.” The words were spoken in a quiet and measured tone that did nothing to reveal the hot rage he felt inside.
“You really should calm down, Carter,” Jack said with a chuckle that had no humor in it. “Look around you. You are decidedly disadvantaged at the moment. Without your Shadow Force, there’s not a damn thing you can do.”
Wayne casually glanced around. At first glance there were roughly about five people pointing firearms at him that he could see. There were probably more people that he could not see. He knew that he was surrounded. Not like that was going to stop him.
“It used to be your Shadow Force as well, Jack.”
“It never really was, Wayne. I was there strictly for the money. That’s something you never realized or believed no matter how many times I said it. But we don’t all have five-star generals for a father.”
He did not want to remember all the times Jack had joked about making enough money to be set for life. He had assumed that all his jokes about finding antique objects on one of their missions had been just that…a joke.
“Fine then, let’s get down to business. What the fuck do you want?”
“You know what I want.”
“The microchip.”
“Damn straight.”
“First, I see my family.”
He needed to know that Emily and Kendra were okay. He also needed a way to delay handing over the microchip until he was sure that they were safe.
“Seriously, you’re making demands?” Jack shook his head, a mocking smile on his face.
“You know you’re not getting shit out of me until I know they’re okay.”
They stared at each other for several moments, then Jack shook his head again and laughed.
“Damn, you’re still as stubborn as ever, Carter.”
Wayne remained silent. He studied the man before him, hoping to see something of the person who had been his closest friend for so long. He remembered the grief he’d experienced when they had been unable to find him in Cairo. They had been through so much together and he’d hoped for a hint of that in the other man’s eyes.
But the eyes were cold.
Wayne had been the solemn one. Jack had always had a ready laugh on his lips. But there was no humor in his eyes this time. It was like looking at a familiar stranger. One who had kidnapped his family. Wayne knew that he would not hesitate to fill him with lead if it was the only way to get his girls out.
He didn’t give a rat’s ass if the asshole did not realize what they’d done for him. That part of his life was over. What was real was Emily and Kendra.
“Do I get to see my family?” he demanded, his voice harsh.
“Come with me.”
Wayne followed Jack out of the room through a narrow hallway. They stopped in front of a door. Jack opened the door and Wayne stepped inside the room. He looked around, but there was no sign of Emily or Kendra.
“Where are they?” he demanded, turning to face Jack.
Jack pointed to a wall. The top half was made of glass. With determined steps, Wayne walked towards the glass and peered at it. When he saw what was on the other side of the wall, his blood boiled. He gritted his teeth, but did not show any outward sign of the anger he felt when he saw Emily and Kendra tied up, looking tired and helpless. He could see the strain on Emily’s face and knew that she was in pain. There was very little that could save the ass standing behind him from his wrath now.
“You’ve seen them, now give me the microchip,” Jack said, his voice losing all traces of pleasantness.
“Let them go,” Wayne said without taking his eyes off his girls.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“You took them just to make sure I came, right?” He turned then to glance at Jack. “Well, I’m here. Now let them go.”
“You seem to think you can dictate what happens. You are outnumbered. I can kill you here and take the microchip off you,” Jack snarled.
“But you won’t,” Wayne said confidently.
“Why the hell not?”
“Because
you’re not sure I do have the chip on me. If you kill me, you will never find out where that chip is.”
Jack swore then.
“You think this is some game, fool? You have no idea who you’re dealing with. Give me the damn microchip then you can take your fucking family and get out of here.”
Wayne laughed then. A short, bitter laugh. He shifted his glance back to Emily and Kendra. As though sensing his presence, Emily lifted her head and looked straight at him. He knew that even though he could see to the other side, they most likely could not see him. She cocked her head to one side and frowned then shaking her head slightly, she turned her attention away.
“You really do think I’m stupid, yeah? Let my family go and once I’m assured that they’re safe, you get your microchip.”
“How the hell will you know if they’re safe? You have no way of communicating with them.”
“Let me worry about that,” Wayne said with a shrug.
He heard Jack swear once again.
“You stay here,” he said, then beckoned to the two armed men that had followed them into the room.
Wayne watched them leave and heard the click of the door shutting behind them. He had known that they would lock him in as well so he was not surprised.
Just then he felt a slight vibration on his wrist. He placed his hand on the glass so he could casually glance at the device. It was a message from Ace and Drew. They were inside the warehouse.
Wayne leaned against the glass with his mouth just beside the device.
“We need to get the girls out,” he muttered.
There was another vibration. They wanted to know what his plans were. He explained briefly that he was negotiating their release. Then he asked them to be on standby. He would let them know what to do.
He was not sure what he would do, but he knew with utmost certainty that he was not going to part with anything until he was sure that his girls were safe.
He stared at the two females in the next room. Emily looked like she was in pain. The arm was probably giving her trouble. A ball of emotion formed in his chest at the way Kendra was leaning against her mother. He had no doubt they were experiencing a level of discomfort, yet they looked so at peace. Kendra said something and he saw Emily’s shoulders shake in laughter. A smile formed on his face as he watched them. She looked tired and disheveled, but she’d never looked more beautiful to him than she was at that moment. He knew with absolute certainty that he would give his life for this woman. He had known it the first time he’d seen her all those years ago.
Silver Shield Security Box Set Page 117
