Tex's Revenge: Military Discipline, Book Two (24 page)

“Let me see if I can calm her down.”

The guard snorted. “Good luck.”

Upon being let through, Savage discovered that Zora's room was no longer a room. It was a demolition site. Everything that could be broken was broken and Zora was in the middle of it all, covered in scratches and bruises largely self-inflicted in the process of tearing the place apart. Most of the sheet rock had been torn away from the wall, revealing thick steel reinforcing plates that made the cell secure. She'd not managed to so much as dent those plates, though they had acted as the anvil against which every other stick of furniture had been slammed.

The moment she saw him she flung herself into his arms and burst into floods of tears. “I'm sorry,” she howled. “I tried to stop him.”

“Shhh, I know.” Savage held back his own tears as he tried to comfort her. It was a tall order, almost impossible. Her pain was his pain and she was in so much of it he could hardly bear it.

“This is a bad place,” Zora said, wetting his shirt. “A bad, bad place. We have to get out of here.”

“Shhhh,” Savage repeated, stroking her hair with comforting slow swipes of his large hand. She was trembling against him with fear and anger.

“We will be next, I know we will,” she was becoming more hysterical with every passing moment. “He is going to kill us!”

“Listen to me,” he said, speaking low and calm. “We have to keep our heads. He will be expecting us to do something silly. He will be expecting us to try to run or to lose our minds. We can't do any of those things.”

Meeting his eyes, Zora nodded slowly. He was pleased to see that she was getting herself back under control. She was stronger than he gave her credit for sometimes.

“We are going to get out of here,” he promised her. “We are going to get out and we are going to go so far away they will never find us. But it's not going to happen tomorrow.”

She sniffed and nodded, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “When will it happen?”

“Maybe days. Maybe weeks.”

Zora shook her head, her eyes darting around with new panic. “I don't know if I can last that long.”

“You can and you will.” The emotion drained out of his voice as he gave an order rather than simple encouragement.

“What if I can't?”

“You will.” He pulled her close and claimed her mouth in a kiss that had her melting in his arms. In spite of everything, she still believed in him. Still trusted him. He would not betray that trust, he silently swore it on  his very life.

* * *

One week later, Zora had regained much of her composure. The first few days after Anja's death had been hard, but Savage had insisted she get a grip on herself and a grip had been gotten. A trip or two over his knee had sealed her determination to behave herself and to stick to the plan he'd laid out. With a stinging bottom, she made sure that she crossed paths with Tex.

He was hurrying down a hallway, looking harried and busy. He glanced in her direction and appeared surprised when she gave him a smile. “You're in a good mood,” he remarked, stopping in his tracks and looking down at her with a curious gaze.

“Why wouldn't I be?” She continued smiling sweetly. “I have my man and my enemy is dead.”

Tex's eyes narrowed in suspicion. “That wasn't how you were looking at it the other day.”

“Well I wasn't seeing things right,” she said, putting a little swing into her hips as she drew closer to him. She knew she looked good. She was wearing a lace blouse over a white tank top and a long skirt that was modest, but hugged her figure. Her hair had been carefully coiffed into an updo with a few long strands hanging down in ringlets. She was a woman transformed, a woman well aware of her feminine power. She closed the distance between them, went up onto tip toes and brushed a chaste kiss against Tex's cheek. His skin was smooth and cold against her warm lips and a faint smear of pink lipstick was left behind.

“What's that for?”

“That was to say thank you,” she said, pushing down the revulsion that was churning in her stomach. “Thank you for taking care of me. I didn't see it your way at first, but I thought about what you said. We're all better off without Anja.”

Tex wasn't buying it, she could see that in his eyes. That was okay, he didn't have to buy it, not yet. In time he would. She smiled at him again and turned and walked demurely away.

* * *

Not long afterward, Tex approached Savage. “What is going on with Zora?”

“Zora?” Savage shrugged as he scrolled through his data pad. “I don't know.”

Tex moved around to force himself into Savage's eye line. “If the two of you are planning something, I assure you it would not be a good idea. I have you both under continuous surveillance.”

“What would make you think we are planning anything?” Savage deadpanned the question.

“She's done a complete 180. From tearing apart a room to kissing me on the cheek. I don't buy that.”

“Women,” Savage shrugged. “I don't pretend to understand them.”

Tex gave him a cold smile. “I know you're up to something. For both of your sakes, I suggest you abandon any ideas you might have of escape or revenge. Nobody leaves my service.” He leaned towards Savage. “I have you,” he said softly. “For life.”

“Nothing like job security,” Savage said agreeably.

Tex made a growling sound under his breath and walked away. His suspicions were more than aroused, they were screaming. He would get to the bottom of their little ploy and make sure they regretted crossing him if it was the last thing he did.

Retiring to his office, he tried to do some work. There were a lot of missions going out over the next 48 hours. He was busy, too busy to worry about those two insipid lovebirds and their pathetic attempts at manipulation.

A mission popped up for his approval. He glanced it over and was about to approve it when he noticed the names on the team. Zora. Savage. Both planning on going out. Together. He laughed out loud, amused at the transparency of their plan. “Oh dear me no,” he murmured under his breath before sending a message to Mr Savage.

Savage came obediently and stood at attention in front of Tex's desk. Old habits died hard. It was sad really, the way the man still thought he was special, thought he was someone.

“What is this profile?”

Savage looked at the data blankly. “It's for the next mission, isn't it?”

“Zora and you are both going out?”

Savage nodded. “She needs to run on-site analysis.”

Tex smirked. “You must think I am stupid. There is no way I'm going to let you two out together.”

“The mission requires it,” Savage explained. “Someone quick has to be on the scene. We can't relay the data back here for analysis, it will take too long and be too risky. This is the sort of mission you bought her in for.”

Scowling, Tex tapped his fingers on the desk. The man was right, the mission did require on site analysis and everyone else who could have done it was already out. “Very well,” he said finally. “Then I am coming with you too.”

Savage shook his head, trying to weasel out of the predicament as Tex knew he would. “The team is already booked. We're at capacity.”

“Make. Room,” Tex ordered. He had no intention of letting the pair of them simply walk out and drive away into the sunset. If they thought he was that stupid, they had more painful lessons coming.

* * *

The mission was a smaller one than Tex had anticipated going on. In fact it was just him, Zora and Savage that boarded the van bound for the mission location.  Zora gave him a silly smile which he returned, knowing full well that neither of them really meant their smiles. They were perversions of smiles, masks covering loathing and plotting. “Where is everyone else?”

“We made room,” Savage said in clipped, business like tones as he took the driver's seat. “Henry got booted. You're acting as backup.”

“Are you giving me orders, Mr Savage?” Tex smirked with amusement.

Savage fixed him with a dark look. “You'll damn well take them if you want to be on this team.”

Tex chuckled with amusement and held his hands up. “Very well captain.”

Savage ignored the snide retort as he fired up the engine and drove the three of them out of the compound. Tex waved at the guard as they left. He was more wired than a bomb, wearing a recording device and a hidden camera that was transmitting data back to the Agency so they could keep a location on him.

The mission was a data mining one, it required entering sewers and making their way to a secure building where Zora would run analysis on the local server. A simple enough task, but a potentially dangerous one too. Tex had a moment of trepidation when they arrived and prepared to slip through the man hold cover into the dark depths, but he put his fears aside. He had an entire global organization behind him, he was untouchable.

First Zora slipped into the hole, then Savage descended. Tex followed up the rear through winding wet tunnels that smelled horrific in some places and merely bearable in others. The sewers were like another world, dank and dark. Their torches only made things worse in a way, highlighting small horrors in the beams. Rats scurried in the darkness beyond, mostly unseen as they foraged amongst the debris of civilization.

Zora and Savage stopped suddenly in the middle of an intersection of four large outlets, large rusted affairs with bits and pieces of unidentified matter hanging from the bolts and welded joints. He stopped too, looking at them askance. “Where's the target?”

“There is no target,” Savage said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. “There's no mission.”

“Surprise,” Zora said sweetly, the first words she'd said to him since kissing his cheek. She drew a hand gun at the same time as Savage did, pointing the barrel of the pistol square at his chest. Center mass, like a pro.

With two weapons trained on him, Tex had no recourse. “What are you planning, Mr Savage? You have to know my men will come after me.”

“If you're referring to the wire you're wearing, those units don't work underground,” Zora smirked.

“We have a 48 hour window before they even start to look,” Savage said. “That's enough time to be anywhere in the world.”

“And what are you planning to do with me? Murder me?”

“It's what you did to Anja,” Zora found her voice.

Tex shrugged. “Very well. All things must come to an end.”

“You don't care if you die?” She was confused. It threw her off long enough for her to take one step towards him. A fatal step made by a silly sod of a woman he was fast coming to despise. He should have dosed her after he dosed the damn violent blonde.

“No Zora!” Savage's shouted warning was too late. Tex grabbed her, wrested the gun from her hand and pressed it to her temple.

“Game over Mr Savage,” he snarled. “Put your gun down or I'll kill her where she stands.”

“And then I'll shoot you,” Savage replied, keeping his weapon trained on Tex.

“You think I care if you kill me?” Tex's chuckle was mirthless. “I have been waiting for death for over a decade.” He pressed the barrel harder against Zora's skull. “I have nothing to lose, Mr Savage. You have everything to lose. And that means you lose here. Now put your fucking gun down.”

Left with no choice, Savage lowered the gun to the ground.

“Kick it over here.”

Ever the good puppy doing just as his master told him, Savage slid it over with the toe of his boot.

“You two thought you were so clever, but you're stupid,” Tex scolded them. “All you had to do was your jobs. If you'd done them you would have been able to be as free as anyone else. But you fought and you lied and you deceived me and now look at you both.” He released Zora and shoved her towards Savage. Whilst Savage was occupied catching his girlfriend, Tex picked  Savage's weapon and trained both of the guns on the pair. Zora was sobbing with fear. That made him feel a little better about things.

“You can't even control a single woman, Mr Savage,” he said. “How could you hope to beat me?” He ground the words out, his system spiking with adrenaline. The filthy pit was supposed to have been the place he took his last breath. How incredibly tasteless. I think an apology is in order,” he said, calming down as he regained control of himself and the situation.

“What's the point?” Savage was keeping his cool admirably for a man whose final attempt at freedom had just failed. “You'll kill us both anyway.”

“Kill you? Because of this inept attempt to escape?” Tex laughed a real laugh. “No no no, this is going to be something I want to see you living with. This is something you're going to remember every time we see one another.” His voice lowered with vindictive glee. “Every day you wake up under my roof, you're going to know that you tried and failed and that I own you both.”

“I'm sorry,” Zora sobbed against Savage's chest.

“Are you apologizing to me? I'll pretend you are, for your sake.”

Savage held her close and kissed the top of her head. Tex understood why. There was little left to do but comfort her. They had tried and they had failed. They were too pathetic to be holding at gun point. He holstered the weapons inside his jacket and stood smirking at the luckless pair.

“I always win, kids,” he said with finality. “I always win.”

A gunshot echoed through the silent space. Zora screamed and clutched at Savage, thinking he had been hit, but it was Tex that crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide with surprise as he died instantly.

“Fuck you, I win.”

Like a blonde angel of vengeance Anja emerged from the shadows. Being dead had been good to her, she positively glowed with health. Her figure was fuller and her eyes sparkled with her full faculties behind them.

“I thought you were dead!” Zora's jaw dropped open as she looked from Savage to Anja. Savage did not look at all surprised to see Anja walking and talking and shooting.

“So did that piece of shit.” Anja booted Tex's corpse. “Fortunately I don't die that damn easy.”

“I'm sorry, I tried to save you.”

“Yeah yeah, you shrieked the place down,” Anja rolled her eyes. “If I ever need a watch dog, I'll use you.” She smiled a little when Zora's face fell. “I'm kidding. You got me awake enough to pull the end of the IV out before too much of that shit got into my veins.”