16
Marisa was on her feet in the van, her body bent over. “No!”
“What happened?” Jeremy said.
“Someone forced their way into the room. Christy is down.”
“She won’t be for long,” Ace said. “That cat has an endless supply of lives.”
“There’s no audio, and the glasses are useless, staring off into a corner.”
“Ace, pull up the other two feeds.” Jeremy moved over to the portal for Christy’s feed. Marisa couldn’t help but notice his unsteady hand. It took him three tries to get his headset plugged in. At least someone was worried.
Ace split the screen for Marisa. “How can you be so calm? She could really be hurt. They could have the document,” she said. And Christian could be down too, she thought, though she didn’t say it. Her gut ached.
“In our line of work, we’ve learned to take things as they come and not freak out,” Halluis said. “Freaking out gets in the way. We’re problem solvers. Sit down and help us solve the problem.”
She sat hard in her chair and huffed. On the screen was chaos as it only showed stuff from waist level. The guys were right—Christy was on her feet, fighting what looked like two men.
A man held a gun at her and another entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Marisa couldn’t hear what was being said, but she was sure they were asking for the document. She moved back slowly. And then there was a flurry of movement again. The gun was in Christy’s hands and both men were out. The glasses were back on her face, but still no sound came through. She pulled out her phone.
Jeremy’s phone rang. As he retrieved his phone from his pocket, it fell from his grasp. He cursed, then snatched it up and pressed speaker.
“Do you have sound?” Christy’s voice came through the line.
“No. Sound is compromised. I’ll keep you on speaker on our end. Keep this phone line open.”
The tell tale knock sounded at the door again. She slid the phone under the bed transmitting so that her team could know what was going on before moving to the door. She said, “Di Stefano?”
There was silence then a muffled voice said, “Orsini?”
Christy opened the door and rushed Christian inside, around the three men knocked out on the floor. Marisa sighed with relief, her pulse slowing considerably.
“We’ve been made,” Christy said.
“I see that. Let’s move.” He looked around the room. Marisa was thankful that she could be watching what Christian was doing.
“Let’s put these guys in the bathroom. Tie and gag them.” She jerked her head toward the bathroom door and then retrieved her phone, putting it in her bra, still transmitting.
Jeremy was back on his computer. “Come on,” he said to the screen. “File your flight plan already.” Jeremy had been the voice of calm the entire day. It was strange to see him somewhat frazzled. He really cared about Christy. Marisa’s gaze fell on Halluis and then Ace. Would Jeremy be as crazy if it were one of those two? Her eyes flicked back to the screen.
Together, Christy and Christian moved and secured the men.
“I figure we have about thirty seconds before the next wave hits,” Christy said.
“This way,” he said and directed her into the closet, but just as they got there, the room door burst open and Christy, the last one entering the closet, turned to face her newest threat. She handed the document to hands in the closet and closed the door. She pointed her gun at the three men who had entered the room. Each had a gun pointed at her. One of the men shut the door and locked it. Their guns had silencers. Hers didn’t.
“Just give us the documents and we’ll let you go.”
“Famous last words.”
Marisa could imagine what was going on in Christy’s head. Marisa yelled out in the van, “Fire two shots while rolling. You can do it.” As if reading her mind, Christy seemed to be doing just that. She rolled and one shot fired, but not another. “What?” Marisa yelled. “Two shots. Two!” The quiet sound of a silenced gun being shot sounded in Marisa’s ears. Christy screamed out in agony and fell to the floor, her head slamming into the corner of one of the bedposts.
A guy was on top of her in a matter of seconds. She didn’t fight back. She didn’t move. She must have been knocked out. “No!” Marisa yelled as a third man crawled over to Christy and helped secure her. “They have her.” Marisa’s voice was no longer shrill or loud, but even and dry. “They’re tying her up. She obviously has no control. She’s unconscious. They are carrying her somewhere. Wait, the feed just went dead.”
Halluis’ voice filled the van as he shouted out, “We got ‘em. Just logged the flight plan. Smart devils waiting until the last minute. They leave in fifteen minutes from Palmiro airport. The one we thought least likely they’d use.” The car sprang into motion.
“Did you hear me?” Marisa yelled. “They have Christy. We lost the feed.”
Jeremy talked over her. “ETA ten minutes.”
“You better make that six,” Halluis said. “They’ll leave ground in six. You can leave up to five minutes early, and they’ll push it, I know it.”
“Calm yourself, Marisa,” Jeremy said. “The feed is not dead. They’re in a dark room. Christy will be okay. We need to focus on retrieving Tara right now. Without her, we have nothing. Tara is the key to helping Christy.” His calm voice soothed her and helped give her courage, because she could see all over his face that he was worried.
The engine roared, Ace at the wheel this time. He swerved between cars, forcing some to move to the shoulder. He even moved into oncoming traffic several times. Halluis and Jeremy were suiting up, with protection and all kinds of other gear, planning their attack and yelling out three different plans depending on what they found at the airport. Ace would assess the situation and then call out number one, number two, or number three.
While Marisa could hardly contain her dread, she listened intently to all three plans, not liking any of them, but internalizing them. They all seemed way too dangerous with too many unknowns, but she assured herself that these people did this kind of stuff all the time and knew what they were doing.
“Marisa, suit up. We need you.” He pointed to a bag attached to the wall of the van. Her heart thundered and an intense concentration came over her. She told herself she was in a simulation, a simulation that would determine her future and the future of three others. She would rise up and do the best she could for them and for her. She unbuckled and scurried over to it. Inside she found a vest, some night vision goggles, a black mask, and gloves. She put on the vest, mask, and gloves, and hung the goggles over her neck, then moved to confer with Jeremy and Halluis. What would her dad say if he could see her now? What would Christian say? Would she ever see either of them again?
She buckled up and dug her fingers into the armrests as she reviewed the plans in her mind. She could see the airport ahead, her eyes flicked to the clock at the front of the van. It had been three minutes. The sign to the entrance to the airport said three miles. They were at the wrong end, but Ace turned toward the large dip and fence that surrounded the small airport. She screamed, but no one seemed to hear.
The van flew over a large dip, sending them all on a little rollercoaster ride. Ace crashed the van through the fence at the end of the relatively short runway, and the moment the van stopped bouncing, Jeremy and Halluis positioned themselves next to the sliding door opposite her. “You ready, Marisa?” She jumped up, took the semi-automatic from Jeremy, and got ready to cover the two agents as they exited the van. The engine roared and squealed in protest as Ace forced it to perform. That’s when she saw it, a small plane headed straight for them.
The old Marisa would have screamed about dying, but this new Marisa was ready for anything. This wasn’t about her or the three men with her. It was about the whole country of Monterra. And if they didn’t succeed, Christian and Christy and everyone else in the castle would be in terrible danger. She was focused. She had the skills to succeed. She was ready for this.
“I call number two!” Ace yelled, giving a quick glance to Marisa and pressing harder on the gas. “Relax,” he said. “Don’t fight it. Just relax.”
“Follow us out. Roll. Three! Two! One!” Jeremy yelled, when the plane was only fifty yards from them. Ace jerked the wheel, the sliding door rolled back, and the two armed men flew out, followed by Marisa. Marisa told herself to relax and roll and whatever she did, not to let go of the rifle. Her body felt weightless at moments and heavy as stone at others until she came to a stop.
She heard machine gun fire and opened her eyes. She moved her hand for her weapon and started shooting, giving Jeremy and Ace the cover they needed as she headed for cover herself.
The gunshots continued to fill the air, and a siren started to wail. She’d hit two men, and both Jeremy and Halluis had attained the positions they wanted.
Fractured glass hit the ground at the back of the van, and Ace climbed out. He held up night vision goggles to his eyes and then said, “Watch for me.”
Ace ran fast, but she couldn’t continue to watch him. She had to continue to provide cover for Jeremy and Halluis if they needed it.
She heard what she had been waiting for over the com, Ace’s voice, saying, “Five, four, three, two, one.” She let loose on the front of the plane and then she saw them, one man jumping from the side door of the plane, another person about to jump, and a third firing shots. A car sped toward the plane and slowed to a stop. Ace sat outside his window, shooting at the back of the plane. Jeremy and Tara stumbled toward the vehicle and then climbed in, shots hitting the car and ground as they ran, Marisa adjusted to give them cover. Ace adjusted his firing, too, and the barrage of bullets stopped.
Jeremy and Tara were in the car. Halluis rolled under the plane and started running toward them. Marisa kept firing at the front of the plane, but when she saw some movement on the other side of the plane, she fired a few shots there. The form disappeared. Halluis piled in the back of the car and Ace slid in, his foot hit the gas until the car reached the back end of the van. His foot slammed onto the break and the car skidded to a stop. Marisa, who was still firing at the plane, continued as she ran to the front passenger side of the car. The door swung open. Marisa stopped firing and jumped in before pulling the front door shut. The firing stopped; the wail of the police siren hit her ears. She looked out the back window. Three cop cars were right on their tail. She glanced at Tara, wanting to tear her apart for causing all the trouble, but the moment was not yet.
“Buckle up!” Ace roared as he shifted into fifth. Marisa, noticing Ace was not buckled, somehow managed to buckle him and then herself before he hit the bump at the end of the runway and went sailing onto the street beyond. The car landed with a terrible crunch and then a squeal as Ace turned the wheel, forcing the car to change directions and drive on the freeway.
She heard Jeremy on the phone. “Cleanup at the airport. Target acquired. And get the local cops off our butts, please.”
Ace drove like the devil was chasing him, weaving in and out of traffic at top speed. At least he didn’t go into oncoming traffic this time. Soon the wails disappeared, and Halluis called out to the team, “ETA seven minutes. The celebration is set to begin in thirty minutes. Christy has not reported in for thirty minutes, but the feed at the back of her belt is still live. It’s giving us nothing, but it is live.” He stared at his phone. “Turning control over to Marisa to help us get onto the castle grounds.”
“Wait,” Jeremy said, also looking at his phone. “I have something. Quiet everyone.”