Shiva (29 page)

Levont grunted his approval.
“
Do we have an evac plan?
”

No one answered as the crickets sang their little hearts out.

“
But hey, on the bright side,
”
Lopez said, raising his camera,
“
I got it all on film!
”

CHAPTER 11

═══════════
═══════

Pentagon

7
:22
p
.
m
.
(
EST
)

“
The hack is on the inside,
”
the tech announced. Finally.
“
I mean, I hate to admit it, but Bunny is right.
”

Bunny knew she was right. It was the only thing that made sense.
“
Thanks
…
T
ech.
”

“
Stark,
”
the kid corrected.
“
And not Tony.
”

She snorted.
“
Of course not. I can only assume you take after the
Farscape
character. Season one. Episode nineteen.
”

The kid
’
s eyes dilated. Oh
,
he definitely batted for her team, and after that sci
-
fi geekery? Batted for
her
.

Emily didn
’
t seem nearly as impressed
,
as she asked
,
“
Which means the Disciples probably know that
we
know the hack is within the Pentagon
’
s servers
?
”

The tech just nodded, pulling his fingers back from his keyboard as if the keys had suddenly become distasteful.

“
So even if we were able to get another satellite in position, we would be letting the Disciples know exactly where Brandt and the rest were?
”
Prenner asked.

“
Exactly
where they were, yes,
”
Stark answered.

“
Okay
,
then,
”
Bunny said.
“
Plan B.
”

“
Huh?
”
the tech said as only a teenager could.
“
Maybe you don
’
t get it. We are effectively neutered. Anything I do, the Disciples know.
”

Bunny grabbed her purse.
“
Exactly. Which is why we need to get out of here.
”

She turned on her heel-less
s
hoe and walked out of the
supposedly
most secure place in the world. For all their shiny toys and high
-
tech gear, they could be breached just as easily as Troy had been by a wooden horse. No wonder Brandt went off the book so frequently.

“
Wait,
”
Prenner called out, trotting to catch up with her
,
“
w
here do you think we are going?
”

“
To go on a little shopping spree.
”

Prenner stepped in front of her, blocking her exit.
“
Not without a little more explanation.
”

Bunny studied the lieutenant
’
s features. He was handsome if you liked that chiseled
-
jaw
“
I was a star quarterback
”
kind of look. Which Bunny didn
’
t. His arrogant bluster had mellowed
,
though
,
into a more subtle
“
I hate losing power
”
kind of vibe.

“
How many years have you spent under the radar?
”
she asked him
.
“
One? Two years?
”

Prenner
’
s lips formed a hard line.

“
I spent two and a half with Coti and another six months in Russia. I know a thing or two about laying low but getting the job done.
”

Emily caught up with them.
“
That she does.
”

Stark
,
who had his arms full of equipment, ran up, panting.

Bunny shook her head.
“
You gotta let it go, dude.
”

“
But
—
”

“
Anything that has even seen this building has got to go.
”

Both Emily and Prenner nodded.

With tears at the edge of his eyelashes, Stark laid the components on a desk.
“
Good
-
bye, Lady Bug.
”
He patted his customized mouse good
-
bye.

And people thought she loved her Prada a bit too much.

“
Where are we going?
”
Emily asked
,
with her trusty phone at the ready.

“
You
’
ll see,
”
Bunny said as she walked through the pressurized doors. The fewer people who kn
e
w what she was up to, the better.

* * *

Frellan favored his left ankle. A bit of shrapnel had dug its way next to the bone.
Ugudo, perhaps relishing the chance
,
had been none to
o
gentle in removing it. T
o
think the girl had been just a short river crossing away. But he had seen the crocodile attacks. He had seen what happened to anyone foolhardy enough to enter the Congo River, especially at night.

And given that what remained of his team was bloodied to their cor
e, getting in that water
was not an option. The only exception to their injured list was
,
of course,
Mikhal
. Besides his blond hair being a bit singed at the tips, the man looked like he had just walked out of their beloved
s
anctuary.

There were rumors
Mikhal
was kissed by God
’
s graces. Frellan was unfortunately starting to believe such gossip.

The burning village came into view as they reached the rutted, muddy road. Their transportation should be here within three hours. They could begin the hunt again. As they
approached
the huts
,
Frellan made out a lone figure standing vigil.

Monnie.

The
w
atcher must have observed their descent toward the village
,
as she ran to me
e
t them. Her eyes scanned the men, finding no Messiah with them.

“
Where is She?
”
Monnie asked
,
her tone tinged with recrimination.

Frellan moved her hand
,
and she flinched. Clearly
,
she did not know him well enough. A slap would be juvenile. No
,
what he planned for her took far more maturity and especially patience.

Instead
,
he took her hand, stroking the smooth skin. Such smooth skin.
“
She is just a river
’
s width away
.
”
Imagining how easily it would be to drill through the finger joint. Her hand trembled in his. Tears streaking down her face. Monnie must have heard the rumors about him then. Frellan followed a vein as it crossed over the bone.
“
We shall retrieve her in the morning.
”

Monnie
snatched back her hand.
“
There is some
thing you might want to see
.
”

Wiping away her tears, Monnie turned and headed toward the heart of the village
,
which was nothing much more than a gathering of burned
-
out shacks.

She ducked into one of the few structures still partially intact. The rough mud walls sloped inward due to the heat of the fire. Monnie pointed to the far wall. At first
,
Frellan did not understand why. It looked just like the other walls. Pocked and flawed by the villagers
’
crude construction methods. Walls of mud.

“
Look more closely,
”
Monnie suggested
,
then took a quick step backward as he swung his frown toward her. She best learn not to order him about.

Taking another step forward, Frellan realized there was tiny writing etched into the mottled surface. Some were scrawled in Aramaic. Some in French. Other letters were of Congonese origin. The sliding mud had mixed it all together until it was jibberish. He reached
out
a finger and traced the garbled words.

This was the first documented writings of their Messiah.

He looked back at Monnie. She dared not give voice to it, but he could hear her thoughts as clearly in his head as if she
had
spoken them.

And you have destroyed them.

Frellan would pay a price for such an act. But not yet. Not before he delivered the Messiah to the Master.

* * *

“
Block
the camera, would you?
”
Bunny asked Prenner. The man obliged by sliding in front of the ATM machine, his back to the lens.

Bunny pulled out a bank
card and pushed it into the slot. She rapidly cycled through the prompts to get cash.

“
They can easily trace that, you know,
”
Prenner said while scanning the street.

“
Back
to
Tori Rinklehouse?
”
Bunny countered.
“
I say go for it.
”

She could feel Prenner study her face. That was fine by her. Let him figure out she wasn
’
t some bubblegum
-
popping sorority girl. Well, at least not anymore. The last few years had changed her. And in moments like this, it felt like for the better.

Bunny accepted the five hundred dollars the ATM spit out. She got out another card and repeated the process. Then again.

Prenner frowned.
“
That
’
s a lot of stashed cash.
”

“
Let
’
s just say I made a few
‘
specialty films
’
back in college.
”

The lieutenant
’
s eyebrow went up. Wouldn
’
t he like to know the exact nature of those. But alas
,
that was a story for another time.

Grabbing the last of the cash, Bunny turned toward the car. Well, not actually a car
,
but a beat
-
up Gremlin. While there was no way to electronically follow that old of a car, it did kind of stand out in a crowd. Kind of like how Stark wanted it to. Thumbing his nose at the man, the whole while desperately wanting the man to notice him.

An older model, neutral
-
colored Toyota pulled up to the curb. Emily. Now
,
this was a car that could blend in with traffic. And all without a backfire every quarter of a mile.

“
Oh man,
”
Stark pouted.

Avoiding the ATM
’
s camera range, they climbed into the Toyota.

Emily turned to Bunny.
“
Where to?
”

“
Make a right
,
then two blocks later a left.
”

Within moments
,
they arrived at the rather sketch
y-
looking
“
used
”
electronics store. Every town had one. And DC? They were usually next to the bail bonds offices. The best part about them? While they had cameras and signs posted that they had video surveillance, they didn
’
t record a single second. Their patronage
was
not hot on being caught on camera.