Game of Fear (29 page)

“Good eye,” Deb said. “That’s where I would have headed, too. Let’s hope it’s as obvious to Justin and Dave on the ground.”

“Nick is arranging a safe house and guards for the boys to go into as soon as we find them,” Gabe said smoothly. “Plus, I called Caleb and gave him a heads-up. He’s got everyone in our family in Denver packing.”

“So what’s the plan?” Zach asked, all the while scanning the desert surface with the binoculars.

Gabe did the same on the other side of the chopper. “Luke is gathering the troops. As soon as we know where to go, we’ll finalize plans.”

The sat phone rang. God, she hoped Luke had come through with the location.

“See you there,” Gabe shouted. He twisted in his seat. “A local news report said the police found a truck and weigh station blown to smithereens off of Highway 93. Not a whole lot to identify, but enough of the driver remained to determine that he had been shot through the temple. Before the bomb hit,” Luke said.

Zach cursed. “Any mention of the kids?”

“Nothing. If they haven’t been recaptured, then they’re still out there somewhere.”

“What are the coordinates?” Deb asked.

Gabe relayed them.

She adjusted course.

“The other kid sounded sick or hurt,” Gabe said. “They won’t be moving fast. If we start the search pattern near the truck explosion and go systematically from there, we may luck out.”

Deb scanned the horizon, looking for anything out of place. They had to be there. Had to be. She pushed the chopper to its limits. “We should be nearing the explosion area soon,” she said, following the ribbon of highway that dissected the desert landscape. “You see any unfriendlies?”

“Nothing,” Zach said. “Makes me nervous.”

“You got that right.” Gabe smoothed the map over his lap, growing more impatient by the minute. A half hour later, there was still no sign, and the sun had gone down lower in the sky. Shadows started falling over the mountains.

Gabe’s gaze swept across the barren vista.

“Anything?” Deb asked, the pit of her stomach twisting in knots. Flying missions overseas, facing gunfire, was nothing compared to searching for her little sister. Deb couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so much terror as this moment. So close and panicked, they might end up being too late.

“Not yet. Maybe they didn’t get as far as they thought.”

Each minute seemed to inch the sun lower in the sky. “Wait!” Gabe shouted. “Blue fabric came winging out from behind that mound.”

Deb turned the helicopter and moved very low very fast. Gabe caught his breath, but Deb’s hand didn’t waiver.

A blue T-shirt lay on the ground. “Smart kids,” Deb said. “That’s something Ashley would do.”

She circled the area. One of the boys crawled out and yanked the shirt behind the rock. “They know we’re here.”

“I’ll set her down,” Deb said. “Be ready to grab them so we can take off immediately.”

“Two ATVs approaching fast from behind,” Zach yelled. “They’re armed.”

Deb pushed the chopper to cover the distance. She cursed. She couldn’t land between the boys and the ATVs. She quickly landed on the packed earth. She hated this part. Waiting, wanting to help. She sat at the controls, ready to pull up as soon as the boys were inside.

Gabe palmed his weapon and opened the door. “You call out, Deb,” he said. “They don’t know me.”

She cupped her hands. “Justin! It’s Deb Lansing.”

The boys ran toward them, sprinting as the ATV roared closer and closer.

Zach and Gabe bounded out of the helicopter, guns at the ready.

“Run, Dave!” Justin yelled. “Faster.”

Dave fell. Justin hauled him back to his feet.

“They found us!” Justin sprinted out into the open first, heading right toward them.

Dave followed, but it was easy to see how much he struggled. She wanted to get out and run, but she had to stay ready.

The helicopter’s rotors whirred, buffeting them. The ATVs pulled within range, spewing dirt in the air, then split off.

Taking advantage of the dust cloud, Gabe raced toward the kids, firing as he ran. Zach veered toward the second ATV.

Deb leaned forward, straining to see the murky view. Shots rang out. Dave stumbled.

The ATV quickly gained on the boy. He couldn’t seem to get back on his feet.

“South!” Deb shouted.

Gabe shifted, aimed at the gunman pointing his weapon at the boy. Direct hit. The man slumped over. The driver pulled out a pistol and shot Dave where he lay.

“No!”

“Get down, Justin!” Gabe yelled.

Justin dove.

Zach hit the second ATV’s gunman in the head.

The vehicle swerved. Zach’s shot missed the driver’s heart. He turned the steering wheel toward Justin. Gabe and Zach both fired, killing the driver instantly, but the vehicle’s trajectory was set.

The ATV smashed into Justin, knocking him down and running over him.

Deb’s fists clenched the controls. There was nothing anyone could do. God, she hated this part of her job. Useless. Waiting.

Gabe ran to Justin and knelt beside him. Zach ran to Dave. They returned quickly to the chopper, each man holding a boy in his arms.

Zach loaded Dave onto the floor. “He’s bad. You have medical training. Watch him and I’ll fly.”

Deb nodded, slipping into the back beside the unconscious boy. Within seconds Zach lifted off.

While she settled Dave, Gabe checked Justin. One side of his head bore a long cut and a huge bruise.

He tested his pulse. “It’s weak, but there.” He ran his hands over Justin’s arms and legs. “He’s in bad shape. I think there are cracked ribs and probably internal injuries. We have to get him to a hospital immediately.”

“I don’t know about Dave,” Deb said. The boy’s lips were blue, his chest covered with blood. Gabe removed his shirt and thrust it into Deb’s hands. She tried to stanch the bleeding. “Look for a medical kit. See what they have.” Wheezes sounded from the boy’s chest.

“After I get the coordinates for the nearest hospital, I’ll tell them to stand by,” Zach yelled.

Deb had no time to answer, no time to think. She and Gabe worked side by side. Her best leads to her sister now lay unconscious. Deb prayed they made it through, so they could tell her where Ashley was, before it was too late.

As Zach flew them through the ever-increasing darkness, Deb shivered.

What if it was already too late?

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

D
EB PACED IN
the waiting room
while Gabe spoke to his brother Nick in low tones.

The small town had only one surgeon, and Dave had needed the OR first. The bullet had come close to his heart. He was in a coma on a ventilator. They didn’t know if he’d wake up.

Justin had gone into surgery to repair his spleen. The kid was banged up, but alive. Gabe had gotten hold of both sets of parents. They’d probably be here soon.

If only they could’ve found Justin and Dave sooner. Maybe if she’d flown faster, made better choices.

Deb rubbed her hands over her face. Southwestern Idaho was a huge area. So was the bombing range. How could they find Ashley in time if they didn’t know where?

A surgeon pushed through the double doors and mopped his face. Exhaustion tugged at his eyes.

“How is Justin?” Deb practically lunged in the guy’s face. “When can I speak with him?”

“I should only be talking to his parents, but these are unusual circumstances. I can only give you a brief. He came through the surgery okay. I’m more concerned about his head wound. We’re doing everything we can to keep the swelling down.”

Deb’s tension ratcheted higher, and Gabe joined her, his hand on her shoulder.

“As far as talking to him . . .” The doctor shrugged. “I have no idea when he’ll wake up, or if he’ll remember. In traumas like this, sometimes memories of what happened just before the accident never return. It can vary from losing minutes to days or more. He’s going into recovery now. If you’re the praying kind, you might want to start.”

The surgeon turned around and headed back to his patients.

“Ashley can’t wait.” Deb rubbed her tired eyes.

“Nick is making some calls,” Gabe said. “As soon as they’re stable, we’ll move them to a more secure location.”

Deb nodded. She walked to the edge of the waiting room and looked out the window. The lights of Reno twinkled, but looming over them, a large, black monstrosity of a mountain shadowed the foothills.

Gabe moved in behind her and rested two hands on her shoulders. She leaned back into his warmth. She knew Gabe’s touch, his scent. Over the last few days she’d become accustomed to him.

He kissed her hair gently. “What are you thinking?”

“That I’m so thankful you’re safe, but Ashley’s still out there.” Deb closed her eyes. “She might be dead.”

He squeezed the muscles and kneaded them slightly. “You can’t give up. She got Justin and Dave out.”

“Stupid girl didn’t come with them. She played hero.” Deb’s voice cracked.

“She did what she had to do. She’s a hero. Just like her big sister.”

Gabe turned Deb around and drew her tightly into his arms. “Our cavalry rented a hotel room across the street to plan and brought some of Zach’s best gadgets.”

“We have to get out there looking.” She could hear the slight hysteria tingeing her voice.

“I know you’re beat, but my brothers have been working on a plan while we were here. They’re close.”

“How?” Deb insisted. “All we know is a warehouse in southwestern Idaho.”

“That matches up with Ernie’s cryptic Idaho message before he died. Steve Paretti spoke with Grace. After getting her and her son to safety, she had written down the name of the construction company in her notebook. I guess she’s been trying to nail Jeff Gasmerati for a long time.”

A spark of hope sparked within Deb. “Can we track that information?”

“Luke’s researching a company that bought a big tract of land around here in the last several years. Whitney’s matching it with the FBI’s list of possible Gasmerati shell companies. They’re close.”

Deb glanced over at Nick, who had the cell phone to his ear. She lowered her voice. “Whitney is with your brothers? Do they know who she is?”

“Yeah, and she pretty much told them to man up. Zach’s watching out for her.”

Deb’s phone rang. She looked down. “Oh, no. It’s my father.” She let out a slow breath and picked up. “Hello?”

The General didn’t speak for a moment. “Deb? I . . . uh . . .”

She hadn’t heard him stutter like that since . . . Fear clamped her gut. She braced herself. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Ben.” Her father’s voice went thick with emotion. “There’s been an explosion. The Army lost all communication with his unit.”

He paused. She didn’t want to hear it.

“Deb, they think Ben’s dead.”

S
he froze. No. Not true. Not possible.

With both hands, she clutched at Gabe, her mind strangely numb. She couldn’t think, couldn’t feel.

A fog fell over her. She could barely make out her father’s words.

Something wet streamed down her face.

“Deb, what about Ashley?” Her father’s voice was soft, hesitant. “Did you find her?”

He’d asked her a question.

Gabe’s thumb wiped away her tears. She clung to him.

“Not yet.”

He paused. “I see. I’d arranged to come stateside, but now I’ll need to wait until I receive confirmation . . . of your brother’s . . . status.”

“I’ll find Ashley,” Deb said softly. “I promise.”

She heard the hitch of her father’s breath on the other end of the line. “I can’t lose two of my kids, Deborah. Do whatever you can.”

“I . . . I will.”

Her father cleared his throat. “Stay safe, Deborah. I . . . I do love you.”

He disconnected before she could respond.

He hadn’t said those words since her mother died.

She clutched the phone, unable to move. She’d wanted to stay on the line with her father. This was the man she remembered from so long ago. She wanted him here. She wanted someone to count on.

Gabe stroked the side of her cheek with his knuckle. “You all right?”

She looked at Gabe. He’s the one she could count on. He’d never let her down. He’d proved that already. No matter how tough things got, he was always there.

“You heard?”

“Enough,” he said gently. Gabe’s phone rang. “It’s Zach,” he said, then pressed Speaker.

“We found the warehouse. Wheels up in twenty minutes.”

T
he wake-up alarm shrilled over the intercom and echoed down the hallways.

Ashley groaned and pulled herself up to a sitting position. Her room had no windows, but from the grit in her eyes, it had to be night. Why were they getting up now?

She’d heard the moneymen might be coming this afternoon or tomorrow. What was going on?

She dressed swiftly, not wanting to be caught unprepared should the Warden or one of the guards come in.

The Warden was still angry with her. He hated her so much, he would probably do the deed himself when it came time to kill everyone.

She had to stop thinking like that or she’d paralyze with fear. Bravery came and went with increasing irregularity.

Moving carefully, she slipped the tiny screwdriver back into her bra. Today would be the day she’d use it. Ashley couldn’t avoid finishing the programming they’d assigned her the day before. She’d had to do it right. She couldn’t fool them.

Niko was the best programmer among the bad guys, but even the Warden knew code. Enough to verify her subroutines did exactly what they were supposed to.

She’d embedded the grid commands deep, the virus even deeper. But after Justin and Dave’s escape, they checked her computer thoroughly every night. Was she really that good, or had Niko just chosen not to see what she’d done?

The two kids down the hall had disappeared yesterday. Ashley closed her eyes. She’d watched Niko carefully last night. He’d come inside, his face almost gray with fatigue.

And she knew. The purge had started. The least talented went first, but no one was getting out alive. They’d outlived their usefulness.

She didn’t hope to get out alive. She could stop what they planned, though. But only if she or Floyd did the demo. She definitely shouldn’t tick anyone else off until then.

The Warden had engineered the creation of a pervasive piece of code that would make any computer on any network vulnerable. If the computer was connected, he and his people would have a back door into the system. Anywhere in the world. Military, government, financial. Ashley shivered. They had to be stopped.

Boots and shuffling sounded in the corridors. Guards were escorting people to the cafeteria, she assumed, before starting their unusually early day.

Tension made her fidgety. She sat on the bed and her ankle bracelet hit the metal bedstead with a clang.

She studied each corner of the room. No obvious cameras in the ceiling, but she’d seen enough to be careful. There were vents, and she couldn’t risk being caught. This could be her last chance.

Lying on the bed, she huddled beneath the blanket, tucking her legs into a ball, feigning feeling ill. Niko said if she used the wrong tool on the cuff, she’d set it off and they’d know. She sent a little prayer upward, then pulled the small screwdriver from her bra.

Nerves had her fumbling as she felt around the bracelet. A small screw attached at the back.

God, what she wouldn’t give for a flashlight.

The blanket clung like a suffocating hand around her throat. She caught the groove in the screw and turned. No alarm went off. Did it trigger a notification somewhere else? She was committed now.

Every few turns, she fumbled with the screw. Finally, the tiny piece of metal fell to the bed. After undoing the second screw, she pulled apart the ankle monitor and brought it up to her chest. She had to risk a bit of light to check it out. She lifted the blanket slightly. Inside the bracelet two small sets of marks were scraped into the inside rubber casing.
C2.

That was the door Niko had pointed out when he’d led her to the armory, and again when he took her the long way back to her room tonight.

A door, metal, but no guard. Only the wall panel. She’d seen cameras . . . and yet . . .

God, could she trust him? If she was wrong . . .

She had to take a chance. There was no time left.

A loud knock sounded at her door.

“Get up,” Niko’s voice yelled. “You’re on display.”

Heart pounding, she tucked the tracking device into her pocket and made certain her pants covered her ankle. For a while, she’d let them think they knew where she was . . . and she prayed she’d know the right time to run out of door C2. She’d take whoever she could with her.

Niko slammed open the steel door. The clang echoed through the halls. The Warden stalked in, Niko and the red-haired guard behind him. “We’re going to the main computer room. Our guests are coming earlier than expected.” The Warden’s eye twitched in irritation. “They want to see you play. You will perform brilliantly. Understood?”

She nodded.

“I’m serious, Ms. Lansing. No stalling. No purposeful mistakes. Nothing rebellious at all. You will do exactly what you are told to do or I will gun down Floyd and your friend Mylo. Right in front of you. Do I make myself clear?”

She nodded again, but she felt sick this time. Endangering herself was one thing, but her friends? She hadn’t even been allowed to talk to Mylo since he’d been here. At least he was still alive and hadn’t vanished like so many others.

She ducked her head, not wanting the Warden to see her hatred. No mistakes. No trouble. Not today.

“Good.” The Warden gripped her chin and yanked it up so that she had to look him in the eyes. “You screw up even one thing, and I’ll shoot you right in the chair after I dispose of your friends. A little blood on the machine may make the next person more receptive to commands.”

Ashley clenched her teeth so she wouldn’t spit in his face.

“Niko, pat her down. I’m heading to see our guests now.” He addressed the red-haired guard. “Watch her carefully.” The Warden paused. “In fact, watch them both.”

She swallowed.

Niko patted her down, not even pausing as he felt the ankle bracelet in her pocket.

“Bring her,” Niko ordered the guard, then stepped away, until he stood behind the red-haired guard. In a movement so fast she barely caught it, Niko formed his fingers into a
C
, then held down two fingers. “Today should be very interesting. Remember your lessons well.”

Ashley walked through the doorway with them. She understood what Niko meant. Today was the day to escape through C2. He would do—or had done—whatever he could to help her.