The Carrier (The Carrier Series Book 1) (19 page)

BOOM!

An oversized fist came crashing through the
window on the back wall of the cabin and scared the crap out of me. Half a
second later, a small army green item came crashing through the window. 

Dammit
!

They were going to gas me out. Judging by the
size of the room, it would only take about thirty seconds. I kicked the chair
away from the knob, but right when I opened the front door I felt a bloody fist
meet my eye. I hit the floor just as I blacked out.

*    
*     *     *

In
what felt like seconds later, I came to in a small, very dark, cold room. Agent
Harper was sitting on a chair under a naked light bulb hanging from a silver chain
in the ceiling. I had been placed on a chair too, but my hands were tied behind
my back with rope. A laptop was sitting open on a small circular table in front
of me. Its screen was black.

“Nolan...” He growled like a small, ugly dog.
“I warned you not to alert the Carrier!” He did not sound happy, like every bit
of good was squeezed out of him.

“I didn’t tell her anything!” I protested.
Something about the situation did not feel right. And then it dawned on me. How
did I not see it before? I am such an idiot. “I don’t work for a covert branch
of the FBI, do I?” I had been knocked out and then tied to a chair by my boss.
This was all too nefarious for the FBI.

Harper released a truly evil laugh.
“Oh, Agent Hill.”
There was a pause as he stood up from the
chair. How could I have ever thought that face was kind? Maybe it was the bad
lighting, but Harper looked downright wicked now. “No. You do not work for the
FBI. You never have. Although the CBB’s mission is to keep the American people
safe at all costs, the government won’t condone our methods, pronouncing them
unethical and corrupt.”

I couldn’t believe it! How could I have been
working for the CBB and not know it wasn’t part of the FBI? I could feel the
anger rising inside of me. I had been betrayed and used.

He walked behind me, continuing to lecture.
“Ten years ago when the CBB was rejected by the government, Ethan Myers, a
founding member, broke away and secretly formed his own covert operations. He
hired Americans as field agents and made them believe they were working for a
legitimate government function.”

“You son of a bit...” but I was cut off by a
deeper and more urgent voice emerging from the shadows.

“Now, now, Agent Hill.
Save
your curse words for when I’m absent.” The man’s voice was steady and
confident. “I know you’ve just been blindsided by the truth, but I suggest you
think logically about this. The CBB has provided well for you these past three
years. You can’t deny that.” He walked into the light, and I could see his face
clearly for the first time.  

“Ethan Myers.” It came out as a surprised
whisper. I would recognize his face anywhere. The field agents at the CBB had
been trained to recognize Myers as an enemy of the US government. We believed
he was involved in treason, espionage, and designing genetic weapons. And now
he was standing right before me.

A large bead of sweat began to drip down the
side of my face. We must have been trained to know him as an enemy so we would
further believe we were working for the FBI. Or perhaps there was another
agenda I just couldn’t figure out in my mind right now. I was so angry I had
been deceived in this way. I had sacrificed a real life in order to fight for
good—but not for whatever this was.

“Let me make something clear, Agent Hill. The
Carrier and the space rock need to be destroyed within the next three hours.
And you are the only one to do it.” Myers sat down in the chair at the other
side of the table and casually crossed one leg over the other.

“That’s bullshit. Any one of your monkeys could
take her out!”

What was I saying?

I wanted to take it back the second it came out
of my mouth. I struggled with the ropes behind my back angrily, and wiggled in
my chair, frustrated.

Harper and Myers laughed as they watched me
realize what a fool I was. Myers nodded at Harper, and he walked over to the
computer sitting on the table. “Maybe this will persuade you.” He turned it on
and played the video waiting on the screen. It was my mother, father, and
sister tied to chairs and looking like they had been drugged. My mother was
moaning, and I saw blood dripping from my father’s hairline. My sister sat
lifeless.

I bit my bottom lip and tasted blood in my
mouth. They wanted me to become agitated, weak. But the video could be
completely fabricated for all I knew. I tried to hide my solicitude, so I
looked Ethan Myers directly in the eyes and said nothing.

“Fine.
If
that’s the way you want it.” Myers stood up from his chair. “You’ve made your
decision. I’ll send my field agents to take care of Miss Gardner immediately,
and then I have no use for you or your family.”

And then I remembered the plan I had hatched
that morning. A plan that had only the slightest chance of succeeding, but
could possibly save the ones I loved.

Myers gave a nod to one of the suits standing
near the door. Then Myers and Agent Harper turned to leave just as the
bodyguard grabbed me from behind with a burly arm across my chest. Then he
brandished a knife in front of my face and brought it slowly to my neck. It was
now or never.

“WAIT! Wait! I’ll do it!” The man lowered his
knife but held his hold across my chest. Harper and Myers stopped dead in their
tracks. Myers turned around wearing a disturbing smile. Then in a voice that
was barely there, I said, “I’ll do it.”

Myers walked right over to me, put his hand on
my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “That’s a good boy, Agent Hill.” His voice
was like poison in my ear, and his smell was disgusting. He let a hand run over
my hair a few times like I was his pet dog. I growled a little under my breath
as Myers pulled away from me. Harper whispered something to the bodyguard, and
then he and Myers left the room.

The door to the little room slammed shut and
the guard took several slow steps towards me, smiling nefariously. “Boss said
to let you go, but how would that be any fun?”

This was trouble.

I shoved my thumb in the heart of the knot
behind my back and had the rope untied by the time the guard reached me. I
ducked just as the guard swung his fist and then I leapt up on the seat of the
chair and tipped the backrest down with my left foot. I caught him by surprise
and in a split second I whipped up the chair by the back and swung
it—CRACK!—right across the bodyguard’s head. He fell to the floor like a sack
of potatoes with a loud thud.

I took a second to catch my breath, and then I
felt his pulse. He was gone. I picked up his knife and ran out of there as fast
as I could, trying not to think about my first kill.

When I busted through the heavy steel door, the
light of late afternoon burned my eyes. I squinted around. I was at some type
of warehouse in the middle of nowhere. They had driven my Audi there and parked
it outside the door, apparently for when I agreed to go kill Ava. How nice of
them. I hopped in and turned on my dashboard GPS. It indicated I was outside of
town about two miles from the cabin.

I drove as fast as I could all the way back and
called no one as I drove—the car was surely bugged. They had seen and heard it
all. All summer we had been watched. I couldn’t believe it. It was
all my
fault. I had led them to Ava, and now they expected
me to kill her or they would do us both in along with my entire family.

I flew into the alley behind Animal Island.
Ava’s car was there and my heart stopped momentarily.
Dammit
!
Had they sent someone to take care of Ava?

I screeched the tires to a halt within inches
of my cabin’s front steps. I left the driver’s side door open as I carefully
inched my way to the front door. I pressed my ear to the door listening for
noises inside, but heard nothing.

A small, wailing sound led me around the back
of the cabin. Wishing I had been issued a gun, I carefully peaked around the
sidewall into the back yard. Ava was crumpled into a ball on the grass, crying
hysterically.

Oh my God
.

I ran to her. “Ava! Are you hurt?”

What did they do to her?

I knelt down on the grass beside her and slid
my arms around her waist. She settled right into my body and held on tight. I
let out a breath of relief. She was okay...for now. Her wonderful smells
flooded my heart with a million emotions. She sat up and looked at me through
her tears. 

“Please, sweet Ava, tell me what’s wrong. Are
you hurt?” I couldn’t hold back my own tears as I held her sweet face in my
hands. Was this the last time I’d be able to sense her heart beating with mine?
I kissed her with everything I had, and she kissed me back.

I knew we were being watched and time was
running out. I quickly picked her up and carried her to the front seat of my
car. Then I got in and peeled away from Animal Island. My body was shaking with
fear and anger and my mind was flooded with a million thoughts as I sped down
Minnesota Avenue.

Judging by the level of the sun beneath the
trees, it was pretty close to sunset. Myers’s field agents had most likely
raided the Gardner house by now and were apprehending Ava’s parents as we
spoke. I prayed to God they didn’t hurt her mom and dad.

I parked and shut off the ignition, but stayed
in the car staring silently out the windshield, tears streaming down my face. I
didn’t know if I could go through with it. I knew that once today was done, I
could never see Ava again.

I didn’t want the summer to end. I didn’t want
our relationship to end. I was beyond frustrated at this point. Ava reached for
my hand, but I pulled it away. If she only knew what I was about to do.

Time was running out, but I was losing my
nerve. I dropped my head into my hands and said a quick prayer. With my whole
body shaking, I slammed my fist into the steering wheel and scared Ava half to
death. Then I lifted my head and screamed in anger at the ceiling of the car. I
was sure Harper and Myers were wearing earpieces, and I hoped I just blew their
eardrums out.

I looked down at the clock on the
dashboard—8:46.

Now.
It’s
time.

I leaned over and told Ava in a whispered voice
to say nothing. I didn’t want the bugs picking up any clues to where we were
going. Then I opened the door and waited impatiently for her to come around the
front of the car. In one swift motion I grabbed her hand tightly and set off
running toward Make
Out
Rock. I heard a train honking
its horn down the tracks several hundred yards away. We jumped over the train
tracks and ran through the bushes. We descended down the deep path until we
were at the rock cliff.

I trembled as I grabbed her by the shoulders
and looked her straight in the eye. She was more beautiful now than ever
before. My heart was breaking over and over again as she looked at me with fear
in her eyes. The train was speeding behind us so loudly I had to yell to her
that we didn’t have much time.

She was screaming back at me, more confused
than ever. I wished I could explain, but there was no time. Then she yelled,
“Nolan, I love you. You can tell me anything!”

She loves me? Why did she have to say that?

My voice was caught in the back of my throat,
but I was able to choke out, “I love you, too.” Then I kissed her like we were
back in the cave on the Upper Dells again. It was filled with raw emotion. She
held onto me tightly. If we could stay on this rock forever kissing...but I
knew it was now or never. The train had almost passed.

I found the smallest amount of courage I had
left inside of me, looked into her eyes, and whimpered, “I’m so sorry it has to
be this way. I truly do love you, Ava Gardner.” And then I pulled the knife
from my belt and, with all the force I could muster up, I shoved it deep into
her torso with a grunt. I kissed her one last time on the forehead while I
hysterically sobbed into her hair.

Then I threw the knife down on the rock with
disgust, and, without looking back, I ran up the path. The caboose of the train
had just barely passed as I crossed the tracks and retched into the darkness on
the other side of the pathway. My head began to pound as I willed myself to
stand and stumble back to my car. The grass was spinning, and I couldn’t tell
which way was up.

When I finally arrived back to my car, Harper
was there waiting. I swung at his face, but my body had nothing left in it and
my dizzy brain caused me to miss horribly. The momentum of the punch spun me
around in a circle and I came to rest bracing myself on the hood of the car
with my hands. I stood up, leaving bloody handprints for Harper to see.

Harper laughed maniacally as he swiped a finger
in Ava’s red blood. He pressed his finger to a small black machine in his hand.
It beeped after a few seconds and a robotic voice announced that the sample
contained extremely elevated counts of radiation.