The End of Games (21 page)

I took their guns and walked to the doors I had come through. I used the sliding card thing, opening the door a little. I nodded at Servario who instantly walked over to Roberta and snapped her neck.

I tossed a gun at Coop and Jack. They followed me inside of the doorway. Servario ran to catch up. He looked at my smeared lipstick, remembering his own fetish, no doubt, "How was that?"

I snarled, "Just a quickie."

Coop gave me a desperate look and Jack gagged, "Oh gross. You are the most dedicated agent ever."

I sighed, "Let's go. I need gum, made of bleach."

Servario went to the guards’ room first. He used a silencer to shoot everyone in the room and kill the monitors. Jack went and deleted all data being stored on them.

Coop and I made our way down the hallway. Every door we opened revealed something nastier inside. Each room had something, or someone. Teenage boys and girls, women of every shape and color.

Some rooms held a sex slave with a man, midway in their session, which meant that man died. Some I stabbed in the back, others I slit their throats. I heard the silencers making their dulled noises. Servario and Coop were also killing everyone they found with someone.

The blood greased my knives and hands but I never relented. The men had no fighting skills, they were suits and executives with a membership to a private club. A private club we were bent on destroying.

Servario was shouting at everyone, "Go to the front doors, run down the stairs and leave this building. Go home."

I pointed, “Go that way.” The girl I spoke to nodded, sobbing, "Thank you. Thank you."

I shook my head, "RUN!"

They left in a screaming horde. Every door I used the slider key card on, had someone in it, at least one someone. It was the most upscale brothel I had ever seen or heard of. It looked no different than an office but each room had a bed. Coop and I met at the end of the hallway. He looked at the blood on my hands, “You okay?”

I nodded.

Servario called out to us, “Last doors are down here.”

I was out of breath and sanity, but when Servario opened the first door, I lost even more. I lost my ability to think straight at all. The last three doors had children. They were young—very young, girls. I would have guessed Mitch's age, if I had to. Somewhere between ten and twelve.

Servario got a look in his eyes that I had never seen before. Coop grabbed one, I grabbed one, and Servario grabbed the last one. We walked down the hallway, holding the silent, almost frozen, children to our chests. We walked out the door that I had been dragged through to leave, not seeing the man with the gun behind us, "Who are you people?"

I spun, firing a shot at the same time he did. Coop dropped the child as the man died. I looked at his arm where the bullet had grazed him. He grabbed a pillowcase from one of the rooms and tied it to his arm, as I made sure the kid was okay. She wasn’t injured, but there was no mistaking the look in her eyes. She was stuck in the horrors that had occurred there. She couldn’t see anything beyond the faceless men who had hurt her. I couldn’t think about what they had endured without thinking about my own children. The whole thing filled me with a grotesque amount of hatred and rage.

Coop came out of the room and nodded at me, "Thanks. I think you shooting first stopped that from killing me."

"That’s my job."

"Killing me or saving me?"

I weakly smiled back at him, "Killing you. I believe you already told me once that there was no way you would ever be in the situation where you needed me. That was never going to happen, remember that?"

He nodded, not laughing. None of us had anything to laugh about. I feared I might never laugh again.

We carried the kids to the elevator, "Is this the only floor?"

Servario nodded, "At this one. Jack downloaded all their hard drives though, and wiped everything. He’ll call the police from the air. We need to hurry—the girls should be reaching the ground level by now."

I looked at the kids, "What do we do about them?"

He looked pained, "I have a special place I put them." I couldn’t lie to myself. I didn’t trust his special place or him.

We rode the elevator to the top floor and ran for the helicopter. When we were inside and far enough away, Jack pressed a button and flew off. I frowned, "What was that?"

He muttered, "One of the EMP-style weapons that was used on your house in Boston. In case any part of the building is getting information from that floor, I just wiped out a block."

The three little girls huddled to me, staying as far from the men as they could. I wrapped around the three of them like I had wings to protect them and shield them with. I felt sick until we flew to something I hadn’t been prepared for…a church.

Servario got out of the helicopter, "Evie, bring the girls." They never made a sound, just gripped to me. I got out and let them hold onto me for dear life until we reached the grounds where a nun came out. She smiled at Servario, "Gustavo, how are you?" She was an older lady with a gentle smile and a huge scar on her cheek.

He nodded, "I am well, Sister. How are you?"

She looked at the three little girls, "Worried about the world we live in."

He nodded again, "As am I." My heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces as I watched the nuns greet him with warmth and kindness. They knew him, well.

The nuns turned and welcomed the girls with hugs and kisses and promises of safety for the rest of their lives.

I hugged each one, wishing we had tortured the men just a little longer. I had killed too quickly.

Servario took my hand, leading me to a bathroom inside of the old stone building. He leaned against the wall, “Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head, “No. I conned him into thinking I liked having my hair pulled and a penis lodged in my throat.”

He laughed bitterly, “If only he had known you better. He might still be with us for me to let your mother skin him alive.”

I scowled, “You were watching us, the whole time?”

His eyes darkened, “I will forever be in the shadows, Evie. Just as I promised I would be.”

My insides ached, but I chose to ignore his words. “I like my way of killing him just fine.”

He scowled, “What did you do?”

I grinned at myself in the mirror, “Stabbed him in the taint and cut his voice box out.”

He wrestled with a look of horror, “Someone is remembering who she used to be, quite quickly.”

I laughed, “I never was this evil.” I looked at him accusingly. He nodded knowingly. He knew he had done that to me. Coop and Jack came in. Servario left the room.

Coop gave me a look, “You alright?”

I shook my head, “I don’t think I will ever get this one out of my heart.”

Jack gave me a sober look, “Me either, Evie.”

We all washed up, tended to Coop’s bullet wound, and got back in the helicopter.

When we landed on the roof of the yacht again, Servario looked back at me, "You are fearless."

I felt sick, "I need something hard to drink. Like bleach water."

Coop chuckled, "How bad was it with him?" He might have been laughing, but I could see the hurt in his eyes for me.

I shuddered, "It wasn’t good but I’ve been through worse." It was true, nothing would ever top watching the guard get backdoored by my children’s paternal grandmother.

Servario looked at us all, "I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership between the four of us."

Jack nodded, "And Luce, don’t forget Luce."

We made our way off the helicopter and down to the party. Coop shouted, "We're part of the mile-high club!"

Everyone on the boat cheered at him and gave me an approving nod. We went to the bar where Servario ordered four shots of tequila.

He held them in the air, "To the sisters at the convent for forgiving our trespasses today."

We all clinked and drank. He ordered four more. Jack lifted his, "To Lucile."

We clinked again. Eventually, we toasted everything under the sun and drank the bottle dry. But even then, we all had the same haunted look in our eyes. I knew the initial horror would fade away, but that night when I laid down to sleep in the arms of Coop, I could feel the stain of it would always be left on my soul.

As I drifted off to sleep, I tried not to think about the way the nun had known Servario so well. It was an odd thing, a drug dealer with a conscience.

Epilogue

My mom passed me one of Fitz’s coffees and sat on the huge back deck. I snuggled into the blanket and rocked my chair.

“It’s nice here, isn’t it?”

I nodded, “I’m surprised. I always thought Canada was snow and rain. This is just like Montana, very desert and country-like.”

She sighed, “You need to cut things off with Coop. You can’t be involved with a member of the team.”

I gave her a sideways glance, “Like you and Dad, you mean?”

She smiled, “Exactly. Look at my marriage, what kind of life is that?”

I shook my head, “I don’t know, but I know he makes me feel normal and safe. He is very good at this.”

She nodded, “You don’t have to tell me. He’s the best I’ve seen, besides Servario, who is the best ever.”

My heart skipped a beat. My mom must have heard it somehow. She gave me a knowing look, “You can’t fight what you feel. It won’t ever go away.”

I shrugged, “I’m okay with that. I don’t need it to go away, I just need it to not hurt so much.”

“Good luck with that.”

I rocked and took a deep breath, “We are safe here, aren’t we?”

She nodded, “Safe as we will ever be.”

“Why don’t you go and join Dad?”

Her smile became forced, “You are a mother, Evie. You know what you would do for your children. He made his decision and I made mine.”

I winced. She had chosen us over him, where as he had chosen the world over her. I hated that. She gave me a look, “Servario and your father are very much alike. Everything is about the cause.”

I swallowed my emotions. She didn’t need to know Servario might not be as much like Dad as she imagined him to be.

“When will this be over, Mom?”

She sipped her tea, “When the whole thing has been destroyed.”

“That sounds like treason.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything else. She didn’t have to. I felt the same as she did; I would rather destroy the whole thing than live the way we were, always looking over our shoulders.

Jack came out onto the deck with Luce right behind him. She gave me a grin, “We are headed for Dubai in three days.”

I grimaced, “Why?”

Jack gave me a look. It was the one from the helicopter. I nodded, looking down, “Are any of these people on the list, or are we just ridding the world of evil.”

Jack smiled at that, “No, this is a two birds with one stone sort of thing. Karl was on the list.”

Coop came out and sat on the huge bench next to Jack.

My mom smiled and pulled her phone out. She made a call, “We’re ready.”

She hung up and the four of us all gave her the same face. A car drove up to the house moments later and parked at the back of the house. It was a fully-tinted, red sports car of sorts. I couldn’t see who the driver was, but the car screamed Servario. The door opened and he stepped out. He pulled his sunglasses off and walked up to the back of the house. He climbed the steps and sat in the only empty chair.

“Nice house.”

I gave my mom a look. She laughed, “Servario and I have something to talk to you about.”

Jack laughed, “You’re getting married?”

Servario’s eyes never left mine. “I have been withholding information from you.”

I mocked a gasp, “Not you. Not you and my mother together, no way.”

He sighed, “The list of names was never just people searching for the Burrow. It is a list of people who are part of something much worse.”

Where Luce and Jack’s faces held the same apprehension and confusion as mine, Coop looked stoic. He knew what they were about to say. He didn’t turn his face to meet mine when I looked at him.

My mother smiled, “When I was first brought into this, I was asked to track down a group of people who had banded together after the Second World War. We called them the Organization.”

Jack cocked an eyebrow. My mom shook her head, “It’s not as cheesy as it sounds. The richest of the rich belong to it, as well as many of our presidents and other leaders. They work the markets of whole countries to get richer, ruin countries for sport, and dabble in the worst of the worst. They truly are the very worst people in the world. The people on that list are the ones who belong to the Organization.”

I gave Servario a blank look, “You belong to them?”

He nodded slowly.

“Double agent?”

He shook his head.

I scowled, “I don’t understand.”

Jack looked at my mom, “Fitz?”

She nodded.

Servario tapped his fingers against the chair, “I am for many of the things they do, but not the arms race for the Burrow.”

“You agree in the organized crime part though?”

He nodded, “I do.”

I sighed and looked at Coop, “And you knew all along about the Organization and that was who the mole in CI belongs to? Whoever the mole is, they are part of this Organization?”

Coop sighed, “Yup.”

“Does the commander know?”

He blinked, “The CI has members who are part of that. The CIA too. The Burrow is like a single island, all on its own and everyone is trying to find it. The arms race is actually controlled by one group of people. The Americans, the British, the Russians, the Germans, the Koreans, the Chinese, even some of the Japanese, and everyone else is part of it. Every government in the world has members and they want the Burrow to take control of the world.”

Jack cocked his eyebrow again, “This sounds like New World Order. Like a conspiracy theory.”

Servario raised his eyebrows, confirming Jack’s statement. I looked at him with disgust, “You agree with one governing power for the world?”

He sighed, “You never listen. I disagree with that one point. I don’t think the Organization should have the Burrow and take the power from everyone. I disagree with the New World Order.”

My mom nodded, “As does Fitz. He has never believed anyone should have it.”

Luce took a deep breath, “Whoa.”

Coop nodded, “This is why we have to find a way to destroy the Burrow. We will get rid of the list and then the Burrow, and it ends with them.”

Servario nodded, “That is the best plan.”

My mom nodded, “That is what we will be working towards. We will be alone on this one. No more CI, except whatever dummy missions the commander sends you on, and you will do those to make it appear as if you are part of the team. The rest of the time we will work for one goal, death of the Burrow.”

I swallowed hard, “We swore to protect the Burrow and the scientists.”

Servario nodded, “That’s the thing that will keep you alive. While you are killing off the list, the Burrow will believe you to be on their team. I will be working with Fitz to devise a plan to get the Burrow and finding out how the Organization plans on killing you all off, when they discover who you are. We will have kept our fingers in many pots and not have to worry about anyone double-crossing us.”

I nodded, “Wow, this sounds like a really bad plan. I don’t see how my kids will be safe at all, and what about the poor scientists? It’s not fair that they get killed ‘cause they’re smart. Won’t Dad be in danger too?”

Coop took my hands in his, “We take it one day at a time. You can’t plan for every second of the next year or two that we need to finish this and take back our lives.”

I sighed and got up. I walked inside and sat on the couch, blocking it all out.

“Mom, I have hockey in fifteen minutes. Can you drive Matt too? His mom is on the phone.”

I looked over my shoulder and nodded, “Of course.” I got up and loaded the gear into the truck. When Mitch got in he gave me a smile, “I like it here.”

I smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “Me too.”

He pushed me off, “Mom, jeesh. No kisses. Someone could have seen.” I nodded at Coop standing in front of the truck. He nodded at me, “I’m driving.”

I smiled and shoved over so he could drive. He climbed in, “You score tonight and I’ll let you play my new Assassin’s Creed.”

I shook my head, “Nope. No way. Pulling mom veto. No violent games.”

Mitch moaned, “MOMMMMMM! Come on. All the guys play it.”

Coop nodded, “It’s true. I asked the other dads at the game, they all play it. I double checked.”

Mitch put his hands up, “Two goals, I’ll get two goals and you let me play?”

I smirked, “Five goals and I let you play.”

His jaw dropped but he thought for a second, “Done.” He put a hand out. I shook it, “You’ll never get five goals.” I looked back over at Coop, “This is exactly the sort of hockey-parent behavior they try to discourage.”

He scoffed, “Whatever. It’s a competitive sport. The kids need to be motivated.”

I shook my head, “You are both bad.”

An hour and a half later, I was screaming my face off as he scored his sixth goal. He pointed up at me in the crowd as his team screamed and lifted him off the ice.

I sat down, flustered and excited, “I can’t believe he got six goals.”

Coop laughed, “Oh ye of little faith, I totally knew he would.”

Jack passed me a coffee as he and Luce climbed back up the stairs. I sipped it and made a face. He rolled his eyes, “You’ll get used to it.”

I looked at them and smiled. In the corner of my eye, I saw Servario sipping coffee and watching the game from below. I looked away from him and kissed Coop on the cheek, “I wish this were our real life.”

He smiled back at me, “One day at a time. Today, this is our life.”

I grinned, “How did you get so smart for someone so young?”

He shrugged, “I hang out with a lot of older people.”

I laughed and shook my head, “You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”

He shook his head, “I am sleeping wherever you are.”

I sighed, it was a happy sigh, and looked out onto the ice as my boy had the game of the year. I was excited that even though I had learned of the uphill battle we faced, that was my life today.

I couldn’t help but glance down at where Servario had been. He was gone. He had wanted me to see him so I knew he was there. He was always there.

I hoped that he always would be and told myself it was because I wanted him to keep me safe. I looked back over at Coop and smiled at the way he beamed proudly as he cheered for my kid. My kid he made feel safe.

My mom’s words trickled through my head, but I pushed them away and let it just be about that day. One day at a time, we would succeed and get our lives back. One day at a time, we would win. And one day, we would look back and know we had made the right choice for all the people who had no clue how crazy the world had gotten.

Did I have all the answers? No. I still wanted to know what was on the phone Servario sold me out for. I still wanted to know what butterflies and nightingales had in common. I still wanted to know what my mother had over Servario that made him come and save me. Mostly, I wanted to know what was more important than me to Servario, considering I felt pretty important to him. Through it all, I felt like I mattered.

I pushed those thoughts away and let it be about Mitch, 'cause in the end it really was about the kids.