Crossing the Line (28 page)

“This is going to take a minute,” Sam said. “Once the countdown was initiated, the control of the missile was shifted to the computer in the missile itself. This is rerouting the control back to the computer you're sitting at.”

“So this is only half of it?” I asked, trying not to panic.

“Yes, but the second part isn't any harder,” Sam said. “Just give me a minute.”

I exhaled and glanced around the room while I waited. For the
first time since I got in, I noticed the army of agents standing outside the door. I pushed my comm. “Hey, team? Are you almost finished what you're doing?”

“Yeah,” Nikki said. “Why?”

“Because I've got about two dozen agents outside my door,” I said. “There's no way I can get out of here on my own.”

“Give me five minutes,” Travis said. I heard metal scraping in the background. “Can the room you're in withstand an explosion?”

“Yeah,” I said. “It was designed to. Why, what are you planning?”

“You worry about the missile. I'll worry about the agents.”

“All right, Raven, you're up,” Sam said. I looked back to the computer. The screen had turned green. “But here's the thing. I don't have a view or access to the computer anymore.”

“What?” Panic shot through me. “Why?”

“Because the security this deep into the system is too advanced to hack. This is why you had to be on-site.” His voice was calm, and it forced me to keep it together.

“But you can talk me though this?”

“Absolutely.” I could practically hear the single nod of his head. “You're looking at a green screen now, right?”

“Yes.” Relief flooded me. Just the fact that he knew that made me feel like I wasn't blind.

“Okay. I don't want you to freak out,” Sam said, “but you can't make a mistake here. One wrong keystroke could ignite this thing early.”

I grunted. “I don't know why you would think something like that would freak me out. I mean, it's not like any of this is over my
head or anything.” My sarcasm could not have been more apparent.

Travis cut back in. “The rest of the team is clearing out. The hovercrafts are destroyed and I'm en route to the control room.”

“Copy that,” Sam said. Then he turned his attention back to me. “You're going to be fine. Just take your time and type what I tell you.”

I drew a shaky breath. “Okay. What's first?”

“First you need to find the computer's operational program.” Sam told me what keys to hit. I tried to move as fast as I could, but I was so inexperienced in this area, and now millions of lives were sitting at the tips of my fingers. “You're doing good,” Sam said after a few minutes.

“How could you possibly know that?” I asked.

“Because we can tell from the satellites that the missile hasn't launched,” he said. “Just keep doing what you're doing.”

I closed my eyes, taking a moment to refocus. “Okay. What's next?”

“Here's the big part,” Sam said. “You need to override the countdown to make the computer think the device has already been launched.”

I swallowed and nodded, even though he couldn't see me. “All right. Tell me what to do.”

Sam walked me though the code and after a few nervous keystrokes, I was starting to feel more comfortable. I could tell by Sam's tone that we had to be getting close when Travis interrupted us.

“Stop what you're doing for a second,” he said.

I froze. “Why?”

“Because I'm about to take care of the guards outside your door
and I don't want you to make a mistake.”

I sat up a little straighter. “Scorpion, what are you doing?”

But he didn't answer. The next second the hallway outside the control room lit up and an explosion shook the entire room so hard it knocked me off my chair. I stared at the windowed wall as the smoke cleared, at the agents sprawled across the floor. “You're going to want to hurry up,” Travis said. “I'm sure backup is on its way.”

I stumbled to my feet, thoughtlessly using my injured arm to try to help me off the ground. I gritted through the pain and got myself back in front of the computer screen. “Command, what's next?”

“Type eight, zero, one, five, six, three. Then hit enter twice.” His voice was hurried and I knew we were running out of time.

I typed fast without stopping to second-guess myself. I hit enter. “Now what?”

There was a pause on Sam's end, like he was double-checking something. “Now you get the fuck out,” he said finally.

“It's done?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “And I erased the hovercraft data.”

“Okay, give me a minute to wipe this.” But that wasn't all I was doing. I started typing furiously. I knew KATO's computers enough to do a basic system search and there was one more thing I needed to do before we left. It took me seconds to find what I needed. Then I wiped the computer. “Now.”

“Go!” Sam said. “I've got the door open.”

“I'm right outside,” Travis said.

I hurried down the small tunneled hall, jumping over the agents I had taken out when I'd come in. Travis was holding the door open for me when I got there.

“I can hear them gathering in the entry hallway,” he said. Both of
the exit shafts I knew about were in that direction. “Command, you got another way out for us?”

“Go to the back right corner of the atrium you're in. You'll find a hidden door that will take you down a tunnel. There's a way out from there.”

Travis headed right over to the corner, but I stopped to take in the agents littered across the floor. I started to panic when I saw who
wasn't
there.

“Hey!” Travis barked when he noticed I wasn't with him. “Let's go!”

“He was here,” I said.

“What are you talking about?” It was taking every ounce of patience he had not to completely snap at me.

“Chin Ho,” I said. “I shot him, but he's not here anymore. He didn't die.”

Some of the impatience left his face, and I could see a part of him wanted to find Chin Ho as much as I did. “We don't have time to look for him. We've got to get out of here while we have the chance.” I didn't move. “Raven!” He spoke sharply enough to startle me back to life.

I hurried over to Travis, pushing Chin Ho out of my head.

“We're here,” Travis said to Sam. Sam started rattling off a step-by-step process of exactly what we needed to do to get out of KATO. I focused on his voice and on Travis's movements, pushing myself to keep moving forward, fighting everything inside me that wanted to go back and finish what I had been too weak to do the first time.

W
hen we got to the end of the tunnel there was a tall ladder leading to a manhole. Travis went up first. I struggled, pain spiraling through my arm every time I had to grip the rung. When we got to the top, Travis reached to help me, but I pushed myself past him. The only reason I was keeping it together was because I kept moving forward and making myself focus. If I let him help me, I was done.

Travis had his tablet in his hand quickly and squinted at the GPS map. “We need to move this way, through the forest. The street we parked on is on the other side.”

I nodded. “Let's get there fast.” I led the way through the woods, with Travis right behind me.

“Let me see your shoulder,” Travis said once we were safely covered by the trees.

I pulled away from him. “We don't have time. We need to keep moving.”

“I need to see if you're okay.” He was forcing himself to be patient.

“I'm
fine
.” I grabbed his tablet and navigated through the forest, back toward the car. I heard him sigh in exasperation, hurrying to keep up. We moved quickly and quietly through the trees. I figured we had about a ten-minute head start before anyone started searching
the surrounding area. They had no way of knowing how we got out of the building, which meant they would have to fan out and search the entire facility before they checked outside.

We zigged and zagged our way back to the car. I pulled open the passenger door. “We've got to move,” I said. “They'll have people on the ground and road looking for us.”

Travis jumped in the car and pressed hard on the gas pedal, putting enough distance between us and KATO before he slowed to a less noticeable speed. Once he had, I felt like I could finally catch my breath. And that was when I could really process everything that had happened. They killed Dr. Foster once they realized the IDA was inside. He knew too much for them to risk us getting a hold of him. He was alive this morning and I didn't even try to help him.

Then I blinked and I saw Chin Ho lying helplessly in front of me and I saw myself unable to do what was necessary. I slammed my good hand against the dash. “Damn it!” Angry tears slid down my face. I brushed them away roughly, furious they'd shown up at all.

“Hey!” Travis's voice was sharp. “Take it easy.”

“I had him.” I couldn't look at him. “They killed Foster.” He stiffened, but I kept going. “And then I had him right in front of me and I couldn't—” I broke off, shook my head and leaned back into my seat.

“Who are we talking about?” He sounded cautious and I had a feeling he knew exactly who I was talking about, but I couldn't find my voice to answer. I didn't want to explain. I wasn't ready yet. Instead I stared out the window, and other than a few uncertain glances in my direction, Travis let me be. I replayed the entire encounter in my head. I had him lying in front of me.

I found myself shivering when Travis pulled the car to a stop a
few blocks away from the safe house, which was right inside the city limits. He threw a jacket at me when we both got out of the car. “Put that on.”

“I don't need—”

“You've got a bleeding hole in your shoulder that's going to draw more attention than we can afford. Put on the damn jacket.”

I closed my eyes for a second and nodded. I got my good arm into the sleeve easily enough, but I struggled to get the right side over my shoulder. Travis came up behind me and dropped the jacket over it without a word. His arm moved to my back and pushed me forward. “Come on.”

I followed half a step behind him, feeling slightly absentminded as I navigated the narrow streets and back roads until we got to the safe house. Travis locked the door behind us.

Nikki came out from a room in the back. “Thank God,” she said.

“Where are the others?” Travis asked.

“Cody got caught on a broken pipe on the way out. Rachel's treating him in the back.”

“He'll be okay?”

“He'll be fine. Rachel just needs some water.” She answered Travis but her focus was on me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. She didn't look like she was completely convinced, but the jacket hid any evidence that I was lying.

Travis steered me toward a room off to the left. “I need to talk to Joss for a second,” he said to Nikki, “but I may need you in a little bit.”

She nodded, a little confused. “Yeah, just let me know.”

He opened the door and waited for me to step inside.

It was a medium-size bedroom with a small fireplace in the
corner and a double bed pushed up against the wall. Something about it made me feel antsy and claustrophobic. I started pacing, thinking about what Chin Ho had said to me and what I couldn't do to him. And what KATO had done to Dr. Foster.

“Let me see your shoulder,” Travis said, bringing me back to the room. He stood in front of the door, watching me with his arms crossed. I was finally starting to let my guard down and I felt a little dizzy.

Travis put his hand on my good shoulder. I jumped when he touched me, but he didn't apologize. His face was etched with a confused and concerned expression that I'd seen before, but still stopped me in my tracks. He tilted my chin up, taking in my new bruise. “What
exactly
happened in there?”

I shook my head and dropped my gaze to the ground. “I wasn't being reckless.”

He squeezed my shoulder a fraction tighter. “I didn't say you were, but I need to know what happened.”

When I looked back up at him, I saw his jaw was set and determined. I sighed and nodded. Travis sat on the bed, guiding me down next to him. He watched me patiently, waiting for me to start talking.

“It wasn't as bad as it could have been,” I said. I told him about waking up with Chin Ho watching me, and being forced into the trunk, but being able to pick my way out. “Nikki got there right before he stuck me. I got lucky.”

“
Nothing
about KATO is lucky,” he said. “How did you get shot?” Travis kept his voice even, but I noticed his eyes fixed on the spot that was bleeding beneath the jacket.

“Nikki knocked out Chin Ho and locked him in a closet. He got
out somehow,” I said. “He cornered me and shot at me, but missed. I fought him off and for a little while neither of us had guns. He went after his at one point so I went for mine.” I swallowed and looked away. I couldn't look at him while I told the rest, and my voice dropped to a low whisper. “I had him on the ground right in front of me. I wanted to kill him
so
badly. But I couldn't.” My voice broke. “I pulled the trigger, but I didn't hit anyplace that would put him down for good. I hoped he would bleed out.”

“Hey.” Travis had his hand on the back of my head, trying to get me to face him, but I wouldn't do it. “Jocelyn, look at me.” I still didn't move. “
Please.
” There was a desperate edge to his voice that pulled at me. I turned my head up. His eyes were intense and firm, and his voice matched them when he spoke. “That wasn't weakness.”

I stood up to get away from him, pacing ever so slightly in front of him. A small humorless laugh got away from me. “How is it not? I had, in front of me, the person who has caused me more pain in the past ten years than most people ever experience in a lifetime. He did it to me, and he's done it to others—maybe even Eliza.” Anger ignited inside of me. “And I could have ended it all. But I didn't. Instead, I got shot and jeopardized a mission.”

“You're trained to be a killer,” he said, and paused until I stopped pacing and looked at him. “You're trained to believe that ending lives solves problems. It would have been
easy
to kill him. And if I had been the one that got to him, his blood would have been all over that facility for what he's done to you.” I stepped away, feeling worse, but Travis was in my face, with a hand on me in seconds. “It takes more strength than I have
not
to put him down, especially given everything.”

I shuddered and looked at the ground. “It doesn't feel that way.”

He stepped back so he could drop his head and find my eyes. “Trust me.”

I looked up at him and I wanted to. At least for now. I sighed. “I'm sorry we couldn't get to Dr. Foster in time.”

“I don't want to think about that right now,” he said. “But I do need to look at your shoulder. And this time I'm not asking.” He arched his eyebrows pointedly at me and I nodded. He sat me back down on the edge of the bed, then he lifted the jacket off my shoulder, untied the makeshift tourniquet, and gently shifted my clothes so he could get a good look at the wound. He poked in exactly the wrong spot and I cried out. “Sorry,” he said, glancing up. “The bullet's still in there. The good news is it looks like it's lodged in your tissue, which is the best-case scenario. Bad news is I'm going to have to get it out.”

“Can't it wait until we get back?”

“It could if we knew for sure we'd be on a plane in less than forty-eight hours. But if something goes wrong and that doesn't happen you're going to have a problem.”

I swallowed. I had never had a bullet removed from me in the field, and I'd never had anything like this done when I wasn't heavily drugged. “Have you done this before?”

He looked uneasy. “Yeah,” he said. “But never with anyone as sober and aware as you're going to be.”

I exhaled deeply. Strangely not feeling the aftermath trigger nearly at all. “I can handle it.”

He tilted his head and I knew he wasn't convinced.

“You said this can't wait until we're extracted,” I said.

“No,” he said. “It can't.”

“Then we really don't have a choice, do we?” I sounded more sure than I felt.

Travis shook his head slowly.

“Get what you need and let's get this started.”

“Lie on the floor,” he said, grabbing a pillow from the bed and dropping it at my feet. “It'll keep you more stable than anything else in this place.”

I eased myself onto the ground as Travis moved around the room, picking up the first aid bag and a bottle of alcohol. He also built a fire in the fireplace. I knew why we needed the fire, but I wasn't ready to think about that yet. “Give me a minute to get Nikki,” he said.

He came back with Nikki right behind him. I swallowed hard as he sat down next to me, and Nikki settled at my head.

“You know,” she said, “when I ask you if you're okay, and you've got a gunshot wound, the right answer isn't yes.”

I gave her a halfhearted smile that she didn't return.

Travis held a thick piece of rope in front of my mouth for me to bite on. “Try to keep your arm across your ribs,” he said. I nodded.

“What do you need me to do?” Nikki asked.

“Keep her from moving.” He started to cut the clothes around the wound. I winced when he poured alcohol over it.

Travis picked up a knife and cut my shoulder open a little bit wider. I cried out and tried not to squirm, but I couldn't help it. Travis's hand was on my face. “Hey.” He spoke gently. “I know it's hard but I need you to stay as still as you can.”

“I know,” I grunted out, talking around the rope. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay.” He looked deep into my eyes, trying to transfer some calm.

“Focus on me,” Nikki said. “No matter what happens or what Travis does, keep your eyes on me. Okay?”

I breathed through my nose, fighting the pain. “Yeah. Okay. Just—go.” I hated the desperation that crept into my voice.

Travis brushed a hand over my forehead. “Stay with me.”

I nodded. His fingers lingered in my hair for another moment, then he grabbed the towels and pushed them into my hands so I'd have something to hold on to. He picked up the knife again and continued to widen the wound. I dug my fingers into the towels, gripping them so hard the cotton cut into me.

“You're doing good,” Travis said, concentrating intently on my shoulder.

I panted through my nose and let out a cry of relief when the knife lifted off my skin.

“We're really getting into it now.” He sterilized a pair of medical-grade tweezers. “I need to dig for the bullet and pull it out.”

I fought to slow my heart down, but it was useless. “Do it,” I grunted.

He gave me a hesitant look, like he didn't think I understood how much this would hurt. “Do everything you can to stay still,” he said, looking more to Nikki than me. Nikki nodded.

“Okay.” I tightened my fists around the towels. “Let's go.”

He gave me one final look. “Keep your eyes on Nikki. Once I'm in there, I'm not coming out until I have the bullet. It'll be better that way.”

I nodded. Travis turned back to my shoulder and I looked back to Nikki. She gave me an encouraging smile that only lasted for a moment. The tweezers brushed the edge of my wound. I focused
on Nikki's eyes as she hovered over me as much as she could without getting in Travis's way. Then he hit something. The pain spiraled through my entire right side and I couldn't stay still. I was only vaguely aware of the tears streaming down the side of my face.

Nikki tried to hold me steady, but I was in too much pain.

“What did you do?” she asked him. But he wasn't paying attention to her.

“It's okay.” Travis held my face in his hands. “You're okay. I just hit a nerve. Give it a minute to pass.”

I breathed through my nose, trying not to throw up. The pain still echoed through me as I found my way back to Travis. He was leaning over me, searching my eyes, trying to anchor me. He came out without the bullet, despite what he promised. “Keep going.”

He scanned my face like he was trying to read my mind. “You sure you're ready for more?”

“Please. Just do it.” My voice was barely more than a whisper through the rope.