The Reckoning (20 page)

“I’m sorry.” With that I stepped closer and slammed my elbow down on his head, knocking him out. He never saw it coming and the effect was immediate, but that didn’t make me feel any better. I wished I could have tranqued him, but that would be more suspicious or might kill him in his weakened condition.

Stepping closer, I put my hand on his forehead and dove into his unconscious. It was easy to locate the thought bubble containing the memory of me. He’d never know I was there. Except for the missing letter. I replaced it under the mattress and started to channel Mari’s ability.

On second thought, I crouched down, retrieved the letter, and pulled out my camera to take a picture of both sides. I couldn’t give him peace of mind, but if the worst happened, I could give closure to his family.

I saw the approaching life force before I heard the steps in the hallway, and I reached into Mari’s head, making sure it was safe. The door was already opening as I shifted out of the building, appearing where I had left Ritter and Mari, still crouched as I’d been by the prisoner’s bed. They turned toward me simultaneously, and I could feel their unasked questions.

“Habid’s not there.” I hesitated before adding, “He might be dead. The guy I talked to thinks they may have taken him back to Iran. Hardly seems likely, but maybe Shadrach might have an idea why. Anyway, they’re moving the plutonium in the morning, probably before dawn. They’re using the river.” I reached out and put my hand on Ritter’s arm, using the physical link to boost our mental connection. I pushed a memory of the map at him while it was still fresh in my mind. He’d be better at remembering it and knowing where we should overtake the boat.

I wanted to say more, to tell them about Crandall and the letter to his wife. But there wasn’t time for any of that, and I didn’t want Mari to carry the load I felt now. I took a deep breath. “We’ll have to come back and free these people after we get the plutonium. The Emporium will have no use for them then.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll rip the doors out if we have to.” Though his face was in shadow, I knew Ritter understood that something had happened to make me upset about the prisoners. Maybe I would tell him later. For a moment I thought he would ask about the snake, but he didn’t and I was grateful. The blue lights had faded somewhat now that I wasn’t delving into people’s thoughts, but I needed to get back to Jeane soon.

Ritter led the way out. As we moved forward, a heavy weight seemed to crash down on me, and it was all I could do to keep up. I stumbled and would have fallen, but Keene joined us, the brush barely moving in his wake, and steadied me.

Or at least I thought he did. When I looked, he wasn’t touching me. Prickles ran over my skin, the feeling intensifying when he didn’t meet my gaze. Was that my imagination or did I feel stronger now that he was near?

“We’re done here,” Ritter said into his mic after putting some distance between us and the building. “Rendezvous at the SUV.”

We continued into the night, walking until I felt numb all over. I began absorbing at a greater rate, and by the time we reached the vehicle, I was feeling better. Or maybe that was because Jeane had joined us and Delia’s creation stopped feeding.

Ritter explained what I’d learned, and Stella opened her laptop on the ground and connected to the satellite. Ritter, Stella, Jace, and Keene huddled together over the display, discussing options, while Mari and I sat down on the grass, close enough to see, but not participating in the dialogue. Jeane had settled on the hood of the SUV, her arms around her knees, looking as if she were posing for a commercial featuring vehicles that were meant to be taken to exotic, sexy locations. Shadrach stood aimlessly nearby, his face mournful. I knew he thought his son was dead, and there was little any of us could say that would help him. I felt sorry for his wife and that he would have to tell her that her only son was gone.

“Okay, so that has to be the boat they’re taking,” Ritter said, extending a forefinger toward a satellite photograph of the river. “It’s bigger than I expected, but nothing else nearby really fits the profile. The best place for us to board will be here. There’ll be at least two ladders, one on each side, but we’ll need grappling hooks to get everyone up at once.” He moved his finger to a place down river. “Either that or at the entry point.”

“They’ll have too many guards while they’re loading,” Jace said. “But I think we should board the boat further away. Give them more time to start feeling like they’ve made it. The river is also much narrower in this area so we won’t have as much space to miss them. It’s deeper, but we all know how to swim, right?”

I waited for Ritter to point out why that wouldn’t be a good idea, but he gave a nod and said, “I think you’re right. That is a better location. And it’ll give us more time to get into place. But no heroics. We do what’s necessary to grab the plutonium and get out.”

“Okay.” Stella snapped the laptop shut. “We’ll have to call Chris and have him meet us at the hotel with the water gear. If he starts out now, we’ll be in place in plenty of time. I hope everyone is ready for a cool dip.”

“Not everyone.” Ritter glanced at Shadrach. “I want you to wait here for Cort. You two will keep an eye on the guards here to make sure they don’t hurt the prisoners. If they try, do whatever it takes to stop them. We’ll come help you free them once we have the plutonium en route to the rendezvous with whoever Ava and the president are sending for it.”

Stella put on her headset. “I’ll call Ava to see how that’s going. I’ll let them know we’ll need them soon.”

“Keene and Mari,” Ritter continued. “I want you two watching the loading. I need a solid count on guards. As soon as they board, you’ll come to meet us. We’ll probably be out in the river by then, so depending on what signal we send, you’ll either pick us up or speed forward to a second location to make another attempt in case we fail.” His tone told everyone he didn’t think that would be necessary.

“What if you need more help on the boat?” Keene asked.

“We won’t.” Ritter hesitated before adding, “With Erin channeling, we’ll have three using combat, and that should be plenty because Jeane’s going with us, and she’ll null their agents’ abilities. You think you can do that, Jeane?”

She slid down from the SUV, giving him a long stare. “Of course.” There was more in her gaze, a question about why he’d decided to trust her, but she didn’t voice it.

Ritter must have seen the same expression because he added, “I know you would hate it if they took you back to Delia. They are working for her. Don’t ever forget that.”

Maybe he wanted her close to help me, or maybe it was so he could put a knife in her if she did anything stupid. I couldn’t really say. But for whatever reason Jeane had saved my life, and I believed that, at least for now, she was aligned with us.

“We’d better get into place,” Ritter said. “Shadrach, when Cort gets here, he’ll use the listening device Stella sent in so you can listen and act against the guards before we get here if you need to.” He paused before adding, “If you do go in, be sure you keep one of the guards conscious. They might know where your son is.”

Shadrach nodded, his gaze refocusing. I was glad that Ritter seemed to know exactly what the healer needed to hear.

INSTEAD OF CALLING TO REPORT
, Mari shifted from the dock where the Emporium were loading the plutonium and came to stand with us on the bank downriver where we waited in ambush. “We count nine guards,” she said, “and at least two boat personnel. But there could be more. Some were on board before we arrived.”

“That’s good enough,” Ritter said. “Even if there are a few more, it’ll be more than a fair fight. Uh, but don’t forget to go back for the SUV.”

She laughed and vanished with a soft
pop!

Ten minutes later, I swam into the river with the others. The lush vegetation on the banks was full of insect and animal life, and I was glad that nothing really large registered in the water. I was feeling strong and anxious for a fight, but it was the two-legged enemy I wanted to confront, not the endangered Orinoco crocodile.

“Here she comes,” Ritter said. “In exactly sixty seconds, we start. Begin countdown now.”

We all carried grappling hooks and waterproof weapons, except for Jeane, whom we’d equipped only with a pistol. I’d worried the wetsuit would inhibit my mobility, but the material was pliant enough. It didn’t keep out the cold, of course, but the water wasn’t as chilly as I’d expected. I let the current drag me slightly downstream, out of the way of the Emporium boat and the huge light mounted on the front.

My watch beeped out sixty seconds. Showtime.

I fired my pistol at an Unbounded guard who stood near the boat railing holding an assault rifle. Without a sound, he toppled forward into the water. Not exactly what I’d intended, but it was good enough. I pulled out my tranque gun, now equipped with a tracking beacon, and shot at the body in the water. Maybe we could find him later and take him to our prison compound.

Swiveling, I launched my grappling hook and pulled myself close to the boat, where I grabbed hold of a ladder and began climbing. I saw Jace scaling the boat some distance away. There was no sign of Ritter or Stella, but I knew they were on the other side. I was about to pull myself up when I noticed something grabbing onto the side of the boat several yards away from me. Before shooting, I sent out my thoughts tentatively.

It was Keene, and I saw in his mind that after determining the number of guards, he’d hooked on and ridden the boat down to us in order to be part of the assault team. I had to admit that it was something I might do, but disastrous if he had been caught, and I hoped Ritter didn’t come down on him for it.

I reached the top and peeked over the railing, glad to see that the four guards who had been outside on the deck were down. Yet, even as I had the thought, a radio crackled static and a clump of men spewed from the door to the cabin. I vaulted over the side, dragging Jeane with me. I pushed her against the side of the boat. “You stay right here. Remember, focus on them. Not us.”

Could she really pinpoint nulling like that? I could with my ability, and Mari had great precision. So did Dimitri with his healing. But some abilities like combat just happened. You used them or you didn’t.

No time to worry about that now. My friends had engaged the enemy, even Keene, who had somehow made it the rest of the way up without a ladder or equipment. Bullets zinged as they ricocheted off the sides of the boat. I launched myself into the fray, firing at a soldier as he raised his pistol. His bullet went wide as he dodged behind the cabin. Then he was firing again as I dived away.

In that instant, a weight slammed into me from the side and I fell to the deck, a soldier on top of me. He was bigger than I was and the quickness of his movements were frightening. I reached for Jace, since he was the nearest, and I began using his ability. It was odd seeing Jace’s fight and experiencing my own at the same time, but we’d practiced enough in training that the double vision was no longer much of a problem. I pulled the trigger of my gun, but the guard hit my arm before I did, throwing off my aim.

The distraction was enough for me to pull out from under him and slam my pistol toward the side of his head. He blocked and my gun skidded across the deck. He went for a shot of his own, but I rammed my fist into his face, momentarily stunning him. Leaping to my feet, I spun, using a kick to free him of his gun. He answered with a punch to my stomach that made my eyes weep.

Why was he still so fast? What was Jeane doing? Twiddling her thumbs?

Feinting first one way and then the other, I somersaulted to the side, bringing up my ballistic knife. He anticipated me and moved like a blur, but I’d fired ahead of him, where I projected he might be. He jolted to a stop and collapsed to the deck with a thump, my knife embedded in his heart.

I wanted to lie there panting, rejoicing over my very lucky shot, but I jumped to my feet. No one was in sight, but I could see Jace in my mind exchanging furious love taps with his opponent. Pushing out my thoughts further, I found Ritter and Stella together, fighting off two men. Keene was shooting another man—probably the one who had shot at me when I’d first climbed on the boat. With the four that had gone down at first, and my felled man, that accounted for nine guards. If the count was correct, we’d only have the two sailors to deal with.

My gun was lost somewhere in the dark, so I grabbed my knife from the soldier’s chest, wiping it hurriedly before replacing it in its housing. Sprinting to the cabin door, I found a short flight of stairs leading up and a longer one going down. I reached out, searching for life forces. There. Up the stairs, two shone brightly. I took the six steps two at a time, reaching a hallway that ran the short length of the cabin. Glass lined one side of the corridor, and I looked through to where two mortals sat before a large window, their hands on a panel that controlled the boat.

They turned as I entered the room, their eyes widening. They weren’t blocking, and I saw in their minds that they were both mortal Emporium employees, recently contracted, and they understood at once what my appearance meant for their cargo and their job security.