Freedom Does Matter (Mercenaries Book 2) (48 page)

Can I… Assholes never learn.

They had taken positions on either side of her, a little below her knees. One of them caressed her thigh. I am so not up for being groped. Make it good, Beck. Only gonna get one chance ‘cause I can’t take both of ‘em together. As quickly as she could, she curled into a ball, then, with all the power she could muster, she unwound to slam her feet into the men’s faces. She flipped up and with a glance chose the one likely to recover first. She ran and jumped on him, landing with a knee in his throat and smacking his head against the floor.

A blow caught her above the ear, throwing her into the nearby wall. She hit with a glancing blow and continued toward the corner. A quick peek revealed that the man who’d hit her was standing with blood streaming from his nose and lips, shaking his head.

He hadn’t hit her hard; in the corner she caught her breath. Kneeling, she took a moment to confirm her situation before snatching open her bag to remove Alisha’s gun. She moved to a two-handed shooter’s stance with the barrel pointed at the man’s head. “Lay down on your belly with your hands behind you. Now!”

“I can’t,” the man whined. “I hurt and I’m bleeding!”

“Lay the fuck down!”

This time, he did. She held the gun against the nape of his neck, assuring him it pointed exactly where the spine entered, so when it went off, he wouldn’t feel anything. He lay still, taking little shallow breaths.

Comforted by her success so far, she surveyed the space. This room was about the size of Billy’s office, but not as high in the ceiling, which appeared to be covered in large filters. She decided not to worry about that. Along the opposite sides, two long fluorescent fixtures added illumination. Except for the three of them, Billy’s desk chair and a few scraps of paper and packing, the room was empty with only a single entrance besides the slide. A three-foot square steel door two feet off the floor had been set in the same wall as the chute. It was closed, but the big lever handle didn’t have a lock in it.

She looked at the back of the man’s head as she spoke. “As you can guess, I’m pissed off and a little nervous, having had two big old men pawing at me, so I’d suggest you don’t make any sudden moves. Even better, don’t move at all. I’m going to ask you once and you will want to answer honestly and fully, because no matter what, I
will
come back. If you’ve played straight, I’ll be quiet about you. If you haven’t, I’ll fucking kill you before I destroy whatever rep you might have. Are we clear? Nod very slowly if we’re clear.”

His head moved almost imperceptibly.

“Good. What if I open that hatch over yonder? Where will I be when I go through it?”

She had to smack him twice before he spoke audibly. “The hatch is okay. Heavy, but okay. Opens to the garage. The rev’rend’s gonna be long gone by now, so it should be empty.”

“You count to fifty. You can count that high, right? Count to fifty
after
I close the door. When you’re done, take care of your buddy. His neck’s gonna be sore for a while, but his head hitting the floor probably did the real damage.”

With a smooth motion she rose, keeping the weapon trained on the man. A quick check: the other man lay still where he’d fallen. His breathing was steady.

At the hatch, she grabbed the handle. She almost fell when, ready to force it, it rotated with almost no effort. The door. As the man had said, it was heavy but also well-oiled; it opened out with a steady push. She peered into the garage, at least, the area the light from inside reached. Painted lines on the floor gave it away; there were no cars in view.

Hiking her skirt up, she did the emergency exit leg, body, leg departure. Not wanting to be completely blind, she allowed the hatch to hang open. There were neither light switches nor a door in sight.

She took a few cautious steps into the gloom, but stopped when a door slammed. Certain she heard footsteps, she ran back to the hatch and closed it with a little bang before feeling her way to a column five or so feet away. She pressed herself to the side away from where the door had slammed and peeked around the corner.

The footsteps approached until finally, a flashlight slashed the dark. The person’s shape remained hidden. She hugged the pillar.

Then a woman’s voice rang out through the gloom: “Beckie! Are you here?” Elena! Prudence demanded that she not show herself until Elena had gone by and Beckie saw she was alone, silhouetted against the beam.

The two women hugged, but Elena quickly grabbed her phone and called Ian. As they rushed back to him, Elena told Beckie that while Kevin was watching the bug tracking Billy’s car, Ian had started at the tenth floor looking for her. He had been working his way down; Elena had started in the basement, working her way up.

The dark look Beckie spotted on Ian’s face had vanished by the time she’d closed within a yard of him, coming in hard for an embrace both would remember.

Eventually, Elena pointedly cleared her throat; they relaxed their hug.

On the way to join Kevin, Beckie explained what had happened; Ian grimaced again and again, but said nothing intelligible. When they reached the street, Beckie looked around before starting to cross. When Ian asked why, she pointed to a storefront. “Army-Navy. I thought I’d seen it. I’m gonna get rid of this.” She flipped her skirt. “Too many guys are getting free looks at your… treat.”

He laughed. “As you wish.”

Inside, she had him stand guard while she tried on pants and shirts in the aisle. “All too big, but these’ll do for today,” she said, taking him by the arm and walking to the register.

“I don’t like that outfit nearly as well as the one you had on,” Kevin said with a laugh.

She threw the bag at him. “Sorry. You can take it home with you. Maybe Shalin will wear it, once it’s washed up.”

He tossed the bag in the back with another laugh. When they were in the SUV, Kevin pointed out the marker on his tablet. “He’s headed north, toward Plattsburg. No idea why he’s headed away from the church.”

“Didn’t the web site say the church had built him a home out there? Maybe… No reason to think he knows we have him bugged?”

“I don’t think so, Elena. More likely he’s super suspicious.”

“Yeah, like I said before, what the devil does he need an escape hatch for?”

Elena held up her phone to reveal an image on the screen. “While you two were in the store, I went back to the office. This is on the wall. I wondered about it, since it was the only thing besides the Crucifix and flag.”

Beckie took the phone to examine the picture. “Black borders. But this looks like… I can’t really tell. The picture’s too small.”

She handed it to Ian, who swiped several times. “Hebrew, I believe. It appears to be an announcement. The black would argue for a funeral.”

“I didn’t notice it,” Beckie said. “On the wall, you said?”

“Right. Kinda like a display, almost.”

Beckie sat for a second as she recalled… “Hmm. I… Another bit of circumstantial evidence, though his reaction to Ian’s question settled it for me. But when we can view that on a big monitor…” She spent a minute describing the end of the meeting with Roni Shalev. “I don’t know how the police would be able to use it, though.”

Elena slid the phone back in her pocket and began rifling through the briefcase Ian had handed her when he ran to clutch Beckie. “I hope he doesn’t mind we borrowed this,” she said. “Wow! Got his passport here. Current and all.” She handed it to Beckie and dove back into the bag.

Beckie flipped the pages, but stopped to hold the book in the sunlight. “Cool. This might be the smoking gun. A year ago, in June, our Reverend took a trip. To Israel. Four days later, he entered the UK, at…” She squinted at the page again. “At Heathrow, I think.” She handed the passport to Ian, who absently slipped it into a pocket, more interested in the paper Elena had handed him while Beckie was reading.

Beckie made a moué that faded when he said, “This is a deposit slip from Cayman National Bank, for something under a million Euros.” He gave each of them a grim smile. “I suggest we arrange a withdrawal. Is there anything else of interest, Ms Rios?”

“Some news clippings which, if he were involved, might explain his wish to have a fast getaway at hand, but we can look at those later.” She closed the case and pitched it back over the seat. “Kevin, how are we doing?”

“He’s still on the move. He’s turned east.”

Beckie looked out the window at the two lane highway taking them to Billy. The sun shone above them; trees and their shadows lined the roadside. At frequent intervals, a house or concrete block building advertising a business flashed by, even though Kevin kept the Escalade’s speed within five miles of the limit. Off to her left, clouds were beginning to creep east.

After another forty minutes following the violet trace on Kevin’s tablet, Beckie wondered why he had stopped—no stop signs or traffic lights out here. An unmarked gravel track ran off to the right. “Is this it?” she asked.

“Looks like,” Kevin said. “Unless you can see another turn-off down there.” He indicated the road ahead. “The bug is over there, off to the right.”

Ian took the tablet and studied the display. “Park at the end; we will continue on foot.”

Even moving quietly, the walk took less than fifteen minutes. The drive wandered through the trees, keeping their destination hidden until the last turn. They came out to a clearing where a three-story colonial manse stood. Beckie couldn’t guess how many rooms it might have. Plantings of late summer flowers decorated the small plot of grass before the house.

“Someone’s gone to a lot of work to create this look of studied nonchalance.”

“Indeed,” Ian said. “I wonder if Billy recognizes it as such.” He walked on.

At the end of the drive, Kevin slipped through the open garage door to place his hand on the tire of the closest car. “It’s the one I bugged.” He reached into the wheel well and removed a plastic box, smiling as he bounced it in his hand.

They grouped at the corner of the home. Beckie took a step toward the front door, expecting to knock, but Elena touched her arm. “This way.”

“Huh?”

She wiggled her phone. “Website says he has a space out back where he prays. We should go there first.”

Ian gave her a smile. “Kevin, keep watch here.” Kevin nodded and tapped his ear. “Yes. Rebecca’s wire; good.” He waved Beckie and Elena around the side of the house.

Behind the house, the trees approached to within fifteen feet; grass covered the open area. A wide space between trees gave on a large clearing, but Beckie was more interested in a smaller gap, not as heavily trod. She pointed to the fresh footprints in the damp soil; Ian nodded and waved Elena close.

“Hold here while I check beyond…” He went through the opening, then returned. “Nothing of interest.”

“I went a couple of steps up this way,” Beckie said. “If Elena takes the left side, away from the house, we can come up the trail and Kevin can come in from the right, if we need him.”

Elena agreed as Ian said, “That is a workable plan.”

Similar to the driveway, the path meandered a quarter-mile through moderately dense oaks—as dense as old growth oaks grow. The raucous sound of a motorboat recalled the large lake to the west. Ian held his hand to stop Beckie while he raised the other, signaling Elena.

“Someone is ahead,” he whispered. “Follow me.”

Beckie glanced around as Ian moved silently, the way Trillian did when hunting. Elena moved forward, about fifteen feet from her. Ian’s hand brushed her stomach; she stopped short. Through the magnolia leaves, a man—Billy, from the white shirt and black pants—was kneeling on the ground.

Ian backed her up; she followed his lead without understanding until he stopped and with his head against her ponytail said, “Kevin, to me. Silent,” barely louder than a whisper. Beckie giggled silently as he brushed what she hoped was a kiss over the top of her head, and signaled Elena to wait.

Beckie strained to hear anything from Billy’s direction for the minutes until Kevin approached from behind. When she turned toward the sound, Ian had already pointed him to the side opposite Elena. He watched as Kevin took the position, then gave Elena a wave.

Beside Ian, Beckie mimicked Ian’s movements as he reached the point allowing a view of Billy. He was still kneeling with his head down; she couldn’t see his hands, though it looked like he had them tucked into his belly. Funny way to pray, she thought.

Ian’s muscles tightened under her fingers as soon as Billy moved. The reverend remained on his knee, but straightened in a smooth motion, his arms now extended before him, a flash of sunlight glanced off something in his hand. A gun. “Pop!” Elena fell, clutching her leg. It was queer, Beckie thought, watching her friend, her teammate, her partner, fall without making a sound. Ian grabbed the throat of her shirt and pulled three buttons free as he stopped her leap toward Elena. Billy still faced the direction where Elena now lay on the ground, bleeding, maybe… dying. Stop that! She’ll be okay…

The hope didn’t convince her, but she did appreciate the folly of any other action. Heart pounding, she saw Ian tip his head to Kevin. A moment later Ian exploded out from behind the magnolia, running toward Billy.

As Billy rose, Ian timed his leap perfectly. Arms around his head, Ian left his feet, driving his hip into Billy’s knee. Off-balance already, the man’s 240 pounds toppled him. Beckie’s heart jumped; Billy was too quick, rolling away before Ian could get up, and before Kevin could tackle him.

Beckie moved before completing her plan. She decided to entangle Billy’s legs so Ian and Kevin could finish him off. Billy was favoring the leg Ian had hit; as she ran, she aimed for the same one, lowering her head, tucking and using her hundred pounds to hammer his knee across the clearing. Before she stopped sliding, she grabbed his legs, then twined her legs around his calves and locked her feet to slow him down.

He didn’t move; when Beckie’s hearing came back, she heard a groaning loud enough to overcome the sound of blood rushing in her ears. Someone tapped her butt; she opened her eyes to see Ian. A grunt brought her head around; Kevin was wrestling the gun away from Billy.