The Belial Library (The Belial Series) (37 page)

Jake stared at him.  They couldn't have.  They wouldn't have.  "Please tell me they didn't give him a gun."

Yoni grinned.  "Well, just one."

Jake groaned, dropping his head to his hands.  He was going to kill all three of them when this was over.  Assuming they didn't go and get themselves killed first.

"There it is," Mike yelled.

Jake looked up. The massive house was built into the side of the canyon and the brick was the same color as the canyon walls.  Walls of windows added to the effect by reflecting the canyon walls.  If you weren't looking for it, you'd probably never see it.  

And they were storming towards it in bright daylight, without a clue what kind of security they were going against.  Absolutely everything about this plan was suicidal. 

Shoving those thoughts from his mind, he scanned the landscape.  "Anybody see a place to land?"  There was a helipad on the southeast corner of the roof, but it was already occupied with another chopper.

Jordan leaned forward from the back.  "Southwest corner.  The roof’s flat there.  We can take her down there."

Mike nodded.  The helicopter shifted into a descent.   A gust of wind blew hard against them.

Mike wrestled with the controls.  “A little windy here.”

The house was getting bigger.  This thing was really was massive.  Glass windows lined the wing they were racing towards.  Anyone looking out would see them.  But there was simply no other way to approach the place.  At least not quickly. 

Jake glared down at the building.  He couldn't make out any people.  Where was the security?  How much security did they have? 
God damn it.
  He hated going into a place blind.

"To our left," Mike yelled. 

Jake looked across him.  He could just make out Danny hidden in a crevice, a hundred yards from the building.  He would be invisible from the ground, but clearly visible from the air.  "Yoni, tell him to stay put and contact the other team.  When they get here, Danny’s their priority."

Yoni nodded.

"That must have been where they went in," Jordan yelled, pointing to a door in the side of the building.

Jake nodded, a cold fear crawling over him.

"Hold on," Mike yelled as he cut back the power and increased the angle of descent.  They hovered above the roof, fifteen feet, ten, and then the skids touched down with just a small bounce.

"Keep a lookout," Jake yelled as he leapt from the helicopter.  Yoni and Jordan followed him as Mike shut the helo down.  Wind pushed and pulled at them.  They sprinted across the roof, heading for the side where Laney and Jen had entered.

Jake peered over the edge of the roof.  There was a door two stories below them. 

"Jake?"

Jake tapped his throat piece.  "Danny?  How’d you get in my ear?"

“Yoni gave me the channel.  I'll guide you in. You're going in that door below you."

“Okay.  Give us a second to get ready.”

Yoni attached a rope to an air duct and flung it over the side.  Jake stepped over and quickly lowered himself down.  He took up a defensive position as Yoni and Jordan followed him down.  Mike flew down the rope and landed next to him a few seconds later.

Yoni grunted.  "Not bad for a feeb."

"Everybody ready?"  Jake asked.  The three men nodded back at him. 

He tapped his mic again.  "Okay, Danny.  Show us the way."

Laney waited at the bottom of the stairs with Henry as Jen sprinted up them. 

Jen paused at the top, inching the door open.  Glancing back at them, she waved them up.

Laney turned to Henry.  "Henry?"

"I'm good, Laney."  And she realized he was.  The bruises and cuts had all but disappeared.   He was standing straight and his eyes were fully awake.

She nodded, even though she was shaken.  Hopefully she’d get used to his abilities.  "Let's go."

They jogged up the stairs, pausing next to Jen. 

"They're coming," Henry said looking back down the stairs. 

Jen pushed open the door and they spilled out into a den.  They quickly made their way across the room to a hallway.

Laney recognized it.  It was the one the old man had walked through.  His office was at the end of it.

Laney grabbed Jen's arm.  Jen looked down at her and nodded.  "I know."

Gunfire erupted behind them.  Henry pushed both women to the floor, covering them with his body.  He grunted, his body shuddering.  Laney realized he'd been hit.  She and Jen rolled out from under him and returned fire, forcing the three guards back into the stairwell.

Ahead of them, the old man stepped into the hall, Hugo with him.  Hugo opened fire and Laney dove down the hall, back into the den, Jen and Henry with her.  Jen returned fire with Hugo while Laney fired at the guard hidden on the basement steps.

Laney saw Henry stiffen as his gaze locked with Hugo.  Henry got to his knees, a new wound in his shoulder.  The bleeding, though, had already stopped. 

The old man and Hugo disappeared around the corner.  Henry stood.  He nodded over at the giant entertainment center across the room.  “Jen.  Help me.” 

The two of them ran across the room while Laney kept the guards pinned in the stairwell.  She stopped shooting only long enough to allow Henry and Jen to shove the giant entertainment center in front of the door to the basement. 

Henry looked at Laney.   She nodded, knowing she wouldn't be able to stop him and that she’d want the same in his situation.  "Be careful."

He nodded and took off down the hall, a blur of motion.

Laney grabbed Jen’s arm.  "Go with Henry."

"What?" Jen asked. 

"Stay with Henry.  I'll be right behind you."

Laney knew Jen wanted to argue.  She pushed her in the direction Henry had disappeared.  "Go." 

Jen disappeared after Henry.  Laney sprinted down the hall after the two of them, feeling ridiculously slow.

"Jake.  He's-" 

Jake's earpiece was full of static.  "Yoni, can you make out anything from Danny?"

Yoni shook his head.  "No.  All I've got is static."

Jake ripped the earpiece from his ear.  "The canyon must be interfering.  Keep your eyes peeled."

Gunfire erupted from somewhere ahead of them.  Jake sprinted forward.  They spilled into the kitchen, their weapons trained for any movement.  Five men were down. One had dragged himself to a sitting position.  Blood spilled from his mouth down his chest.

"Guess our girls have been through," Yoni said, his eyes hard.

Jake just nodded, his stomach a knot. 

"They went down there."  Mike nodded towards a door across from them.  They headed across the room.  Three men burst out from the door.  Jake opened fire, along with Mike and Jordan.  The three men didn’t even have a chance to get off a shot.

Yoni moved forward, kicking the men’s weapons out of the way.  Jake peeked down the stairs.  All the was quiet.  He nodded at Mike who went down the stairs first.  Jake covered him as the other two followed. 

At the bottom of the stairs, they turned left and then took the first right. They came across eight more bodies.  Halfway down the hall was the room where Henry had obviously been held.  The scent of burnt skin lingered.  A table just inside the door contained an array of sharp instruments, most of them with blood still on them.

"Bastards," Jordan muttered.

Jake moved them forward to the other stairwell.  They walked up the stairs and tried to open the door.  It was blocked.

"What the hell?"

More gunfire could be heard on the other side.

"Damn it." Jake yelled, sprinting back the way they’d come.

Yoni was right on his heels.  "You got a plan?"

Jake didn't pause.  "Yeah."

"Is it a good one?"

"No."

Laney ran after Henry and Jen.  They were quickly disappearing.  She reached the end of another hallway and glanced to her left and right.  Nothing.  Not even a sound.  “Come on guys, you could’ve at least left me a bread crumb.” 

Flipping a mental coin, she turned to her left.  Gun extended in front of her, she silently made her way forward, glancing into each doorway as she passed.  The place was empty. 

In the third room, monitors filled the wall opposite the door.  A control panel half the size of the room in front of it.

Where the hell was everybody?  She cautiously moved forward glancing at the screens.  A couple of cars were zooming down a road away from the building.  Bodies littered the hallways and kitchen.  In the top right monitor, she saw a group of at least ten guards. 

She found the controls and after a minute of figuring out how they worked, zoomed in.  Hugo stood out in the center of the group along with Sebastian.  The phalanx of guards surrounded them.  She scanned the rest of the screens.  There were a few guards patrolling on their own.   

On the top right, Henry and Jen sprinted towards a door.  She couldn’t tell how far behind Sebastian and Hugo they were.  A note in the bottom right of the screen marked their location as E12.

Laney looked at the schematic of the building on the right side of the console.  She’d chosen wrong. They were at the other end of the building.

She grabbed her Beretta off the console, turning towards the door.  A movement in the bottom right screen caught her attention.  A man was creeping along the hallway right outside the entertainment room she’d run through. 

Her eyes narrowed. 
Warren
. 

He opened a door and disappeared. Quickly skimming the map, she found the door.  It led to the basement.  And the garage.  Warren was trying to escape.  “Oh no you don’t.”

Laney traced the route from her location to Warren’s and ran out of the room.  Two minutes later, she was at the door Warren had disappeared through.

Laney walked quietly down the stairs, her Beretta held firmly in her hand.  She hoped she wouldn’t have to use it.  Not because she wanted Warren to be unharmed.  Quite the opposite.  She wanted him to feel pain.  But she also wanted him to spend a nice long life behind bars.

Mentally, she pulled up the floor plan of the basement.  There was a small hallway and the door on the opposite the stairs opened to the garage. She reached the bottom of the stairs and peered around the corner.  Through the crack in the door, she saw Warren struggling to get a motorcycle started.

Laney rolled her eyes.  Warren on a motorcycle.  She could probably just let him go and he'd accidently drive himself off a cliff. 

“Why won't this start?"  he muttered.

Laney crept towards the door, nudging it open with her gun.  Warren had his back to her.  He was jumping on the starter.

"Need some help there?"  Laney asked.

Warren whirled around, reaching for the gun at his waist.

"Don't," Laney warned.

Warren's hand stilled.

She gestured with her gun.  "Hands up."

Slowly, he raised his hands.  "Laney.  It doesn't have to be like this.  I can make you rich.  Really, really rich."

"You really are the dumbest man I have ever met.  Do you honestly think money will erase everything you've done?  All the lives you've ended?"  Laney pictured the devastation at the Shuar village, the church, the Guardians’ home, and Julian.   She tightened her grip.  She should just take him out. 
It's the least he deserves for what he's done.

Warren must have sensed his precarious situation.  His hand dove for his gun, pulling it free from the holster. 

Laney pulled the trigger. 

Warren’s left shoulder bloomed with blood.  He dropped the gun.  Collapsing to the floor, he screamed.  "You shot me!  You bitch, you shot me!"

"Of course I shot you, you asshole.  You were going to shoot me.” 

Kicking his gun away, she reached down and pulled him to his feet by his good arm. 

He screamed with agony.  "But I'm the one who contacted you."

Laney stilled.  "What?"

"The text message.  I'm the one who sent it.  I'm the one who led you here."

Laney stared at him.  "Why?"

Warren just moaned.  Laney shook him and he screeched.  She gritted her teeth against the noise.  "Oh for God's sake, grow a pair.  Now answer me, why the hell did you send me that text?"

"I wanted you to catch them.  To kill them."

"Who? Hugo?"

"Hugo, my grandfather, all of them."

Laney stared at him in disbelief.  "You set your own grandfather up to be killed?"

"He never cared about me."

He sounded like a child.  A spoiled little child. 

"Oh shut up."  She shoved him towards the door.  "Let's go.  There are some people you need to answer to."