Dark Game (Merikh Book 1) (22 page)

“As you wish, boss.” I sat up and checked where we were, then almost wished I hadn’t.

We were passing Littleton, weaving between the cop cars whose lights were still flashing as though to illuminate the carnage. Townspeople and the new thugs who’d invaded the place lay together on the hard packed earth, blood coating everything. There were deputies mixed in with them but not many. It looked like the sheriff had arrived and opened fire on everyone equally.

The flow of magic had come from here, and it was still coming, rising from nearly half the bodies and rushing toward the car, or toward the bag that must have been in the trunk of the car.

The BMW took its time, allowing the dagger to soak up as much of the energy as it wanted before pulling away and leaving the result of all Foster’s work behind.

“You like that?” the ugly goon in the front said. “That’s what we do when we want something. That’s what you tried to stop.”

“That?” I tried to put on a brave face, but I wasn’t feeling it. “That looks a lot like the actions of people too afraid to do their own dirty work.”

It was weak, but I was a little beat up. I had a broken rib and I could feel it scraping every time I took a breath. That kind of thing throws you off your game.

The goon snorted and turned to check where they were going. I could have taken the gun from his hands and then taken the car and the dagger from them. Easily. I could have freed myself and run, but then I would have no idea where Foster was and no way to save Claire or Patty.

So I stayed where I was and let them drive me, sitting in a puddle of my own drying blood.

We followed the roads I’d driven on earlier that day, making each turn I’d made until we arrive in Midway.

“Surprised?” the ugly goon said. “We doubled back after you were gone. Must have missed you by a minute, but we got the girls.” The way he said “girls” made me twitch with a barely controlled desire to break him.

The town was still empty of inhabitants. It was a movie set after filming had stopped for the day, or one of those towns the army built for field exercises. A pretend place, not one where real people had lived just a few hours earlier. Now those real people were dead or arrested, all because one man wanted it to be so.

I really wanted to see Foster dead.

We came to a stop outside the bank, a short way from the open front doors.

“Your target is in the basement,” the ugly goon said. It took me a moment to notice the dead expression on his face, the impression of something hiding behind his features.

“Why don’t you just take care of this?” I asked.

“For reasons you wouldn’t understand.” The man dropped the gun on the seat beside me. “Take care of these men and go do your job.”

The other man turned to face me, his demeanor different to the being I’d been speaking to since it tried to pick me up on the highway. This goon was also clearly possessed, but it was equally clear it was by a different entity.

“Remember to have fun,” the man said. “You’re going to die in there and I’d hate to think you went out without enjoying yourself.”

“There’s two of you,” I replied, looking down at the gun. “And you still can’t muster up the courage to take care of this yourself.”

“You don’t want us to rectify this situation,” the first one said. “It isn’t in anyone’s best interests.”

“Nuke from orbit?”

“Something like that.” They both turned to face forward. “It is time to escape, Merikh.”

I took the silenced pistol and used it on the men.

The trunk of the car had my stuff, including the backpack with the dagger. I quickly replaced everything Foster’s men had removed and slung the pack on my back before closing the trunk and turning to consider my approach.

The bank was older than the town around it and built to withstand anything. Solid, thick, stone walls and a vault that was built to ignore dynamite. There was no rear entrance or sneaky way in, and the main room of the bank had great sightlines for any gun-wielding men waiting for an attack.

In short, it was a building designed to keep people from getting in. Big surprise.

Something had been added to accommodate modern sensibilities, though, something to make HR happier with the business and to stop anyone from suing. In the summer the building was great, its high ceilings and the materials used in its construction creating a cool, cave-like environment. In winter though, the place must have been a frozen hell.

So to make everyone happy they’d tunneled through the walls and installed a central heating system. Nothing that would compromise the security of the vault, of course. But they hadn’t been able to get the condensers on the roof without going through the inside of the bank, and that had left a weakness.

These are the kind of things you notice when you’re always working out how to kill everyone without getting caught. My head is a weird place sometimes.

I ran around the side of the building and to the back. The outer wall had ornate ledges in bands from the ground to the roof, perfect for climbing. When the building was first put up there was never any thought given to someone cutting a giant hole in it someday, so nobody had thought to make it harder to reach the top.

I clambered up quickly and without incident, though I was covered in sweat when I finally pulled myself over the edge and away from the fall. The broken rib was a constant, tearing pain, but I blocked it out. I could deal with the damage later.

The night air was humid and heavy, weighing on me with every movement. I was excited to get inside just to get out of the residual heat from the day.

The magic streaming from Littleton had followed the dagger and I was surrounded by that organic, red light. Enough to see where I was going. It occurred to me briefly that if anyone else could see the energy I was screwed, lit up like a beacon. But, I reasoned, there was nothing I could do about it, so my subconscious should shut up and let me do my job.

My subconscious agreed, and I made my way to the giant condensers in the middle of the flat roof. In theory, they could be used as air conditioners as well as heaters, but I didn’t think anyone had ever bothered.

They were bolted to the roof, all their piping and electrical work hidden beneath the metal plate that covered the hole I wanted. I reached into my bag of tricks and pulled out my Sawzall. It was a cordless reciprocating saw; kind of like a large and really powerful electric meat carving knife.

I attached the blade and found a spot where rust had eaten through the plate. I set the Sawzall in position and hit the button to turn it on.

The sound of that small blade biting into the metal was enough to wake people up in Greenridge. I was deaf in a few seconds.

I kept cutting for a few more seconds, then leaned the saw against one of the condensers. I wrapped a cable tie around the trigger and then used more to attach it to the condenser. The wall of sound coming from the metal plate diminished when I stopped actually cutting, but it would still be enough to get everyone’s attention inside.

I ran to the side of the building and started to climb down, the sound of my distraction still echoing in my ears as the pain in my chest flared, as though in concert.

Gunfire sounded from within the bank as I ran for the front doors. Someone had been stupid and tried to shoot up into the ceiling where the noise was coming from.

I stopped when I came to the doors, took a breath, and risked a look inside.

One of Foster’s goons was standing a foot away with a rifle pointed at me. He was looking the other way, following the sound of the gunfire. I grabbed his rifle with one hand and drove a knife into his throat with the other. I pulled him outside, getting a quick survey of the interior as I did.

There were still three men waiting for me inside, but they were distracted. They were staring toward the rear of the bank and the sound of the Sawzall.

I dumped the body, drew my pistol, and stepped inside.

Chapter 22

The sound wasn’t as loud inside as I’d expected, but it was enough to cover my footsteps on the polished floor. I approached the nearest man – standing near the ATM I had never fixed – and slit his throat. I snatched his rifle and guided him to the floor.

I slipped behind the desk, where Patty had crouched so she could talk to me. The two remaining guards were losing interest, their body language telling me I had no time left. I couldn’t reach one without the other spotting me, and they were far enough apart for whichever one remained to make light work of me. Silence wasn’t going to be an option.

Oh well, you work with what you’ve got.

I dashed out onto the floor. The one standing nearest to Patty’s teller window saw me first, so he got a bullet from the rifle. I ran for the other guy even as he jumped at the unexpected gunfire and turned.

He saw me as I reached a good position to fire. He was jumpy and he fired his rifle as he raised to aim. I put him down before he got any closer to hitting me.

The back of the bank led onto the offices and the upper floor where the Sawzall was still making a racket. I approached the security door and quickly flattened against the wall beside it. I didn’t think my code would still work on the door and they’d let it close.

Someone hit the keys on the pad and the door opened. Another nameless goon stepped out of the hallway beyond.

“Someone get up on the roof and find out what’s going on.”

I was close enough to do this one properly, severing his spine as my knife cut stabbed into his throat. The effort of it brought fresh agony from the broken rib, but he went down quietly, anyway.

I entered the hall with my rifle up and ready. There was nobody waiting for me. I advanced, heading for the stairs at the end of the corridor. If there were more guys to worry about, they would be near the sound of my diversion.

Two men stood at the top of the stairs. They saw me as I put a foot on the bottom step and opened fire. I fell back, tripping and landing on my ass. My rifle was raised and ready when the first of them came into view.

The first bullet took out his leg while the second destroyed his face. I rose and stepped further back, switching corridor sides in an effort to hide my position. There weren’t a lot of options.

“He’s up here,” the man said, fear in his voice. “No, in the offices.” He was talking to someone on the phone, or through a headset.

“Up here” meant Foster was where I thought he’d be, down in the vault. I remembered all the packages his men had brought, regular morning deliveries as long as I’d worked there. This was where he’d been planning on doing it all the time, not at his house. I wondered why he’d left the dagger there if he needed it here, but I already knew the answer by the difference in the amount of energy flowing into it. At the house it had been enough to cover the building, while here it was little more than a thick mist.

I opened the door to the stationery cupboard and slammed it closed, then knelt and trained the rifle on the stairs. It took him thirty seconds to risk it, to check which door I’d hidden in. When he came down the stairs he joined his associate on the floor.

I paused, listening for any sound from upstairs, but the Sawzall was making too much noise. I had to go up and check before I went to find Foster, or I might have someone at my rear when I faced him. I made for the stairs, the rifle at the ready.

There was nobody else upstairs. I worked methodically, going from room to room until I was sure before heading back down the stairs. I’d left my bag in the way of the door at the end to keep it open. I smashed the keypad on both sides before letting it close; better safe than sorry.

The vault led off from a door behind the tellers. This one was meant to be closed, as well, but it had been torn from its hinges and was lying nearby. I stepped through and began down the stairs, wary of repeating the mistake of the men upstairs.

The metal gate at the base of the stairs had been torn open, as well, though it hung, bent and abused, from its hinges. The vault door stood beyond it, open and waiting.

“You might as well hurry up,” Foster’s voice echoed from within. “I don’t really have all night.”

I did as requested, keeping my rifle high and entering the vault.

I’d never been allowed in before so I didn’t know what to expect. I’d pictured a clean room with metal boxes along each wall and some sort of security features attached to every surface. I hadn’t expected to find a dingy chamber the size of a corner Starbucks with an altar erected in the center. The boxes were there, only they were huge and old, and stacked haphazardly around the walls. Foster stood before his altar in crimson robes.

Mouse’s body lay on the altar.

“A touch much, right?” Foster gestured to his robes. He didn’t seem to notice the gun pointing at him as he smiled at me. “It’s a necessary tradition, I know. But it itches like crazy.”

“What are you doing with her?” I said. My finger was pressing the trigger and his head was in my sights. I barely noticed Claire and Patty chained to the wall nearby.

“She’s a true vessel,” he said, as though that would answer everything. When I didn’t nod in understanding he sighed. “I was planning on summoning it into one of my men, and then providing it with a new host every time it killed the old one. This way”—he gestured to Mouse—”I don’t have to. Like I said before, this is fate.”

“What are you doing?” I wanted to pull the trigger so badly, I’d forgotten my broken rib. I’d forgotten the girl and the god I’d come to rescue. But I wanted to know why he was doing it all and I figured he’d answer me more clearly than Claire had.

“There are gods,” he said, pointing at Claire, “and then there are gods like mine. But above them all, predating them all, there is another power. A greater power that is dormant out in the world. I’m here to finally summon it and give it a vessel.”

“You’re a religious loony,” I replied, meaning it sincerely. He was practically frothing at the mouth in his excitement.

“You’ll see, Merikh.” He took a bottle of ambrosia from a pocket hidden in the robe and sipped a little before screwing the cap back on and returned it to its hiding place. “Tonight is the beginning of something amazing and terrifying. Can’t you feel it?”