“Even when it involves an innocent woman and her child?” She glared at him. “But why should I be surprised when you were willing to kill a girl to get away from me?”
He held up a hand. “No one was supposed to get killed during the kidnapping. It was strictly a financial transaction. That’s why we all needed to be involved. It takes a lot of people to abduct two people and control them for days on end.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “Then we had to return them, only that changed into returning only one of them.”
“This had to be more than just a money grab,” Dani said. “Was Brinkley’s company about to secure a government contract?”
If a rival corporation was competing against him, disrupting his personal life with a ransom demand would be a way to throw him off his game and make a profit in the bargain.
“No idea,” Toro said.
She was missing key information. “There must be more, can you—”
A blast of sound cut off her words. After a long, loud tone Dani recognized as an emergency alert signal, a bulb mounted to the ceiling and resembling the cherry light on an ambulance began to rotate. She felt Toro move close to her as the room filled with an eerie red glow. Putting her back to his to cover the space, she scanned the area. A small rectangular screen high on the wall’s digital display went from 00:10 to 00:09.
“Countdown clock,” she said.
Toro turned to follow her gaze. “What the hell happens when it gets to zero?” he said, looking for threats.
“We’re not staying to find out,” she said, moving toward the hatch set into the floor. It had unlocked moments ago, and she hadn’t heard it reset. Nemesis obviously didn’t like where their conversation was going. Dani took that as a sign they were getting close to something, but whatever they were on the verge of figuring out would have to wait.
00:07
“It’s unlocked,” she said, trying the handle.
A bright circle of fluorescent light from below appeared when she yanked open the round door.
“Follow me.” Holding her gun in the low ready position, she began to climb down the metal ladder. “I’ll clear the area.”
She didn’t want Toro to believe she was evacuating herself from danger first. Fully aware of their predicament, she suspected Nemesis might have guided the other captives toward them before flushing them from their concealed position. She was exposed going down the ladder, and there was no way to take the time necessary to proceed safely. The damned clock was forcing her to choose which risk she thought was worse.
00:04
“Clear,” she called out to him. “Get down onto the ladder and close the hatch behind you.”
Whether it was more poisonous gas, an explosive device, or another dangerous creature about to be set loose, they would be better off with a metal door separating them from whatever Nemesis was about to unleash.
00:02
Toro’s booted feet appeared as he climbed down the ladder. She kept her back to him, continuously scanning for threats. Overhead, the hatch clanged shut, cutting off any retreat.
“What the hell was that about?” he said, sucking wind.
“Another head game? A real threat? Who knows?” she said. “Either way, it was our cue to leave.” She glanced at him. “Let’s find another way up to the next level.”
Ultimately they all had to get to the surface. The space was vast, but there could be only a limited number of ways to do that. She gave Toro a hand signal, and they went down the hall back to back, watching out for each other.
They walked past a pair of corridors, one branching off on either side, after peeking around the corners first to make sure they were empty. Dani was just thinking that two people were less than ideal for clearing a large building when a dark figure stepped out from around the corner ahead of her.
In less than a second her sights were leveled directly on the Colonel’s chest.
He had managed to find a gun, and it was trained on her. “This has been a long time coming,” he said, smiling.
CHAPTER 49
Dani faced the Colonel, each in a tactical stance, pistols aimed directly at the other. A classic standoff. She hadn’t known he’d located a firearm, and then recognized it as the Sig Sauer she had brought with her. She had to assume it was loaded.
The weapons they were finding in the game had been planted by Nemesis after he confiscated them. Now a pistol she was responsible for was about to be turned against her.
Unless she could stop it.
According to protocol, she was supposed to identify herself as a federal agent and give the suspect a chance to surrender. She’d already taken care of the first requirement, but the second could get her killed. She stalled for time to come up with a plan.
“You’ve got twenty years on me,” she said to him. “My reaction time is faster than yours.”
“I’ve got twenty years more experience,” he corrected. “And action is always faster than reaction.”
He was threatening to shoot first. If he did, he would likely hit her before she could move. Her best option would be to shoot from a stable position an instant before diving to one side. Despite what action heroes did in the movies, she knew that trying to hit her target while in the process of jumping out of the way would likely result in a missed shot, and she had only two rounds.
The Colonel moved a step closer.
She heard Toro, who was beside her, take a step back.
The Colonel was a tactician. He threatened to fire on her but hadn’t done it yet. She could think of only one reason why.
“Where are Guapo and Jock?” she asked, refusing to address him by his former military rank or call him “sir.” He deserved no such respect.
“We parted company.” He edged closer. “Decided to split up after we found a cache of weapons and ammo.”
Toro backed up again, instinctively retreating.
She held her ground, certain the Colonel was advancing on their position to maneuver them into an ambush. There were countermeasures she could take, but how could she warn Toro without giving up the element of surprise?
She took one step back, careful not to let Toro get too far away from her to hear her whispered command, then spoke in her softest tone. “Stop.”
Toro froze.
The Colonel flicked a glance in his direction. “What’s this?” he asked Toro. “Taking orders from your girlfriend now?” He paused a beat before continuing. “Or should I say your handler?” Accusation sharpened his words. “You know what happens to snitches, don’t you?”
If he was telling the truth and they were all armed, the Colonel would have sent Guapo and Jock down the other two corridors they had passed. While he distracted her, his men could approach unseen from either side, trapping them in a pincer movement.
She had no doubt the Colonel had employed the classic military tactic in the past, but always with troops who had drilled in the technique. Guapo and Jock were lone operators. If she played this right, she could use their lack of training to her advantage and lure them into a cross fire. Since she didn’t have enough ammunition to take them all out individually, subterfuge was her only option.
She and Toro would be exposed to gunfire as well, but her plan was their best option under the circumstances. She had a split second to decide whether to follow standard FBI protocol or act according to her military training and neutralize the threat immediately. Taking out the leader might temporarily disorient the men who had looked to him for guidance.
She processed multiple factors at the same time, and a part of her understood that Nemesis had created a grand finale by directing the Colonel to their location after making sure his group found weapons.
This was not entertainment. People’s lives were at stake. Toro had shown himself to be loyal. He had been willing to sacrifice himself for her. She could do no less for him.
That included taking a bullet if necessary.
Toro was the only one without a firearm. He would have to follow her instructions without hesitation, or he would die. Whatever trust they had built would be critical in the next few seconds.
“Back up slowly,” she said to Toro, then dropped her voice to a whisper. “Be ready.”
While she held her position, Toro crept backward. The Colonel’s grin confirmed her suspicions. He believed they were falling into his trap. She sold the deception by keeping her sights trained on the Colonel, who would assume she was covering their retreat.
She made out the faint shuffling of boots from the corridors behind Toro. She adjusted her earlier plan, realizing she would need to move while firing after all.
The unmistakable snick of a safety being released was her cue. One of the men hiding in the corridor behind her was preparing to shoot.