The Galilee Falls Trilogy (Book 3): Fall of Heroes (36 page)

“Something’s going on here.”

“What kind of cars do you see?”

“Uh, SUVs, Escalades, a Hummer.”

“Probably drugs then. Ryder stole a fleet car. It follows all the people at the lab are driving them. And guess who owns the fleet service?”

“Goliath.”

“A subsidiary, yep.” I hear a phone faintly ring in my other ear. “Stand by. Stone’s getting another call.” I pull up the tracer program. “Same number as before, but…not the same cell tower.” It’s from the one near his hotel. Shit.

Over the bug, I hear a knock on the hotel door. Then a few seconds, another pound. Bennett groans. Another pound. “C-Coming,” Bennett says. A few more seconds I hear him say, “W-What? What are you doing here?” he asks groggily.

“We’ve been trying to reach you for two hours, sir,” a British man says.

“I-I must have fallen asleep. I—”

“Sir,” the Brit exclaims, scared.

“I-I need to sit down.”

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. The drug hasn’t had time to wear off. “Knight, Stone woke up. I think we’ve been compromised.”

“Wh-Where’s…her? Uh…Joanna. Fallon?” Stone asks.

“Sir, I think you need a doctor.”

Shit. “Yeah, we’ve been compromised.”

“Guardian, pack up and get out of there,” Justin commands.

Yeah. I unplug Doris Jr. and hurry to the bedroom for my suitcase. “Sir, I’m calling a doctor. I think you’ve been drugged,” the Brit says over my computer.

“N-No,” Stone says. “H-Help me…safe.”

I throw what little I’ve unpacked back inside the suitcase. “Guardian?” Justin asks.

“He’s checking the safe. Where should we meet?” I hustle into Jem’s office for the secret stash.

“It’s all here,” Bennett says over my headset. “I…”

“Sir!” the Brit shouts.

Guns, Taser, code breakers, everything I returned to him before I left for Independence. I grab as much as I can fit into the satchel. “I’m fine,” Bennett says. “I don’t need a doctor. Why are you here? What happened?”

“Dr. Sharpesh has gone off the grid,” the Brit says. “Vanished. We had someone on his house, but they snuck past him.”

“Joanna,” Bennett says before chuckling. Damn straight asshole. I close the satchel. “Duncan, we’ve been compromised.”

“Then why haven’t the authorities—”

“I don’t know,” he snaps. “She’s up to something. Maybe she just suspects…we’re leaving. Don’t say another word. Come with me.”

Fuck. “Knight, he’s ditching the hotel. The cell will be next. We need to find that facility right fucking now before he burns it down or something.” I throw our cell phones, the papers, all our evidence into the satchel. “You keep searching. I’m on my way to Poplarville.”

“I’m parked at Maple Park,” Justin says. “Meet you there in half an hour. Be safe.”

“Guardian out.” I unplug the headset and power down Doris. We need to—

My cell phone rings, and I jerk in shock. My trembling hands remove it from my purse. Bennett. I don’t know what to do. Pretend? No. I throw the phone back in my purse. I need a plan before we talk.

Suitcase, satchel, purse, and computer bag secured, I flee yet another apartment. I am getting so goddamn sick of being on the defense. I get into the elevator. We probably now have all of an hour before all the evidence, the facility, the cure is gone. Once again all we have is what we’ve got now. If we don’t get those files unencrypted, we’re fucked.

The elevator door opens, and I hurry through the lobby past Paul, one of the doormen. “I need a taxi.”

He takes some bags and follows me outside. “Leaving again, ma’am?”

“Yeah. To the airport,” I lie.

A taxi waiting down the street pulls up. We throw my bags in the trunk before I climb in. “Maple Park in Poplarville.”

The taxi drives off. Okay, I need a plan. I need—

The taxi turns the corner before coming to a full stop.

“Excuse—”

I barely have time to register it as a man climbs into the back with me. One word screams out: DANGER. Shit. I reach into my purse for my gun, but not fast enough. The moment I look away, something sharp pierces my skin. There isn’t even time to cry out before the world turns black.

Gotta give the devil his due. He got me.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Gods and Monsters

A sharp stab against the crook of my arm suddenly brings me back to the land of the living. Whatever they pump inside me this time makes my whole body jolt as if stuck by a live wire. My eyes fly open, and my legs kick, but the rest of me tries to move with no luck. It takes a second for me to realize I’m zip-tied to a chair and another to remember this fact should frighten me. As should the huge man, easily 6”4’ and two hundred fifty pounds in front of me holding a needle. “She’s awake, sir,” says the man with a familiar British accent.

My tormentor steps aside, and without the need for my addled brain to process his largess, I can take in my surroundings. Just a boring, ordinary medium sized office. The last time I was held hostage it was in a shipping boat miles from land strapped to a giant bomb. There may be no ship and no bomb this time but my kidnapper is no less dangerous. Bennett Stone stands a few feet away at the cheap desk, staring over the shoulders of two men tapping away at their respective computers, one of which looks familiar. Doris Jr. Fuck.

“Get her some water, Duncan,” Bennett says, never taking his eyes off Doris’ monitor.

The henchmen obeys, walking over to the water pitcher by the bank of surveillance monitors. Over the screens I see people hustling down hallways in Hazmat suits pushing boxes. More in labs packing up equipment or at computers. A warehouse with huge metal tanks and more people in Hazmat suits packing up smaller cylinders. Screens and screens with empty gurneys. Swiveling views of an empty field surrounded by a barbed wire fence, and a parking lot with sedans and vans getting loaded with boxes and equipment. I’m here. The facility. Not how I wanted to find it. I—shit. I press down on my ring finger, activating the tracer under my skin before Duncan returns with my water. Please God, still work. He pours it into my mouth with such little grace I choke. Bennett gazes up from Doris, mouth opening a little in concern. “Easy, Duncan. Don’t drown her.”

I keep hacking until I can breathe again. “W-Where am I?”

“Don’t play dumb, gorgeous,” Bennett chides. “It doesn’t suit you.”

“How long have I been unconscious?”

“About two hours. Same as I was.”

“So this was revenge? I drug you, you drug me?”

“I know how important equality and fairness are to you,” he says with that goddamn smile of his. He pats the two men at the desk on their shoulders. “Guys, why don’t you continue that in the next room? My lover and I need privacy.” The men unplug their computers and rise. Duncan doesn’t move. “You as well, Duncan.”

“Sir, should you—”

“She’s tied to a chair. Just wait outside the door. If you hear screaming—well,
my
screaming—then come in. But only then.”

Duncan glares at me, but begins toward the door. “Yes, sir.”

Bennett’s smirking eyes never leave me as the men depart. Duncan slams the door behind me and the loud noise makes me jump. With whatever they injected in me, and the normal adrenaline boost I tend to get when in mortal danger, I’m trembling and my heart beats double time. Bennett grabs a chair from the desk and begins dragging it toward me. “You know…when I fantasized about tying you up, and having you at my mercy, this is not what I had in mind.” He sits about three feet away, just out of range of my legs if I choose to kick him.

“How long did you have people following me?”

“Since you left the mansion. For this very contingency. In case you hadn’t noticed, I place great importance on contingency plans.” He folds his arms across his chest. “So, I have questions for you, and I am positive you have many for me. Since I too find equality and fairness paramount, we will take turns. I’ll begin if you don’t mind. We’ve found no evidence the government is aware of my involvement with the virus. All we have found in your computer are emails to private accounts. So who knows about me, gorgeous?”

“It’s been two hours. My people could have sent all the intel to anyone by now. Especially if I’ve gone missing. Everyone at the end of those private accounts know who you are and what you’ve done. You’re fucked.”

He twitches. “What precisely
do
you have?”

“You have my computer. You know.
Everything.
I made copies of all the files in your safe and downloaded both SIM cards and laptops. Every company, every transaction, every dirty deed, over a dozen people now have access to it. All your planning, all your contingencies, its all gone down the tubes because of one errant supervillain and your need to get laid.”

The sides of his mouth twitch. “And Dr. Sharpesh. Where is he?”

“In a lab somewhere under heavy guard creating a cure. I don’t know what lab if that’s your next question. I didn’t ask. My allies are big on compartmentalizing. There’ll be a cure in days. It’s over, Bennett. You’re about to become the planet’s most wanted man. If you were half as intelligent as I thought you were, you’d be halfway to Brazil starting life under a new identity.”

“Obviously I have planned my disappearance—I would be a fool not to—but some things supersede the life of one man. In the grand scheme, what is my existence versus the millions my actions will save?” He scoffs. “
You
of all people should understand that, Jo. How many times have you risked your life for that very tenant?”

“Don’t you dare fucking compare us, asshole. What you’ve done is-is…monstrous. It’s genocide, Bennett.”

“No, it’s simple arithmetic. Kill one million to save ten. You’re a pragmatist. Can you really discount those numbers?” He leans in closer to me. “You were there that night at the theater. That girl, that innocent girl, died in our arms for the simple crime of going to a film. White Knight didn’t give her a single thought when the supposed hero was allegedly trying to save the city. All he saved was his pride for not letting his opponent best him. He’s a murderer lauded as a hero. Th-There’s no accountability. No one puts them in check and innocents suffer.
No.
I say no. Not on my watch.”

“By your logic, Bennett, I should want all men dead on the off chance they’ll commit rape. Maybe we should kill all the poor because they commit the most crimes. Where does it fucking end, Stone? What right do you have to play God?”

“The job was vacant,” he says before shaking his head. “You know, as a victim of their crimes, I really thought you could at least open your mind a little and see where I’m coming from. Justin Pendergast and Jem Ambrose both dragged you into their hells. You were beaten, broken, betrayed because of their little power games. Can you honestly tell me your life has been enriched by your involvement with these men?”

“
Yes,
” I say, leaning forward. “Abso-fucking-lutly. You know why? Because they showed me what sacrifice is. What love is. They helped me realize you can either overcome the shit hand you got dealt or let it corrupt you. Your family died, Bennett. And I’m sorry, I truly am, but I lost my family too. I lost my father, my mother, my best friend, hell my whole fucking life more than once. But you don’t see me using my wealth and power to punish innocent people, innocent
children
who had no choice in being born different just to avenge something they had nothing to do with.”

“Vengeance doesn’t factor into this, Jo,” he insists.

“Bullshit. If your sister died in a terrorist bombing you wouldn’t have created a virus to go after Arabs? If the mafia put out a hit on them it wouldn’t be Italians facing extinction? You may need to dress it up as altruism to get through the day, but from where I’m sitting this is just a damaged, sad, angry little boy lashing out. And
I
would know. More than once in my life I was you.” I catch his weary eyes. “And that’s how I also know you can come back from this, Bennett. There is still good in you. I’ve seen it. You were a friend when I truly needed one. I’ve seen how you are with your friends. How wonderful you were with that girl in her final moments. You’ve just let hate corrupt you. I’ve been there, but if I could fight it back, you can too. Right here. Right now. There’s still time to call this off and just go. Run. You can just…let it go. Let the hate go and live your life.”

“Are you trying to save me, Joanna? Or are you trying to save them? Him? Your
fiancée
?” He breaks eye contact and shakes his head again. “Ten years. This has been my life’s mission, my life’s work for ten years. And what brings it almost crashing down? The one time I put myself before the project. When I heard you were infected, I made sure you had the serum. Because I couldn’t bear for you to suffer even a little because of my actions. Because I care about you. Even now. And I even believe you still care about me. So I am
really
trying to get you to see the light on this.”

“What do you think I’m trying to do, Bennett? I do care about you. And I do know why you think you have to do this. But you
don’t
. This will not bring your family back. It will not bring Molly or Ariana back. All this will do is turn you into the biggest monster the world has ever seen. Your family, your legacy will be mired in hatred and cursed forever. And while you watch children cough up blood, while you listen to your victim’s sobs and pleas to God for deliverance, you will realize just how wrong you were.” I pause and close my eyes. “I don’t believe this is who you truly are. I don’t. And I know, I
know
the man I laughed with, cried with, who comforted a scared girl, my
friend
is in there begging you to stop this. Listen to us, playboy. Trust us.” I open my eyes again. “This is it, Bennett. The moment. The moment when you decide: darkness or light. Hate or forgiveness. Rise above…or fall.”

My friend’s eye twitches, and I think I’ve gotten through. That the man I hoped he was is inside there. That even the greatest sinner can be redeemed. But the corners of his mouth fall with disappointment, I know I’m wrong. My heart breaks a little inside my chest. Damn it. Some people are just too far gone. “There is no talking to you, is there? Stubborn as hell even now. I admire that about you. I do. Holding strong to your convictions. But you can only see black and white, Jo. The world is gray, gorgeous. Always has been and always will be.” He rises from the chair. “I don’t know if what I’m doing is right or wrong. I can only trust my instincts. ‘The only way for evil to win is for good men to do nothing.’ I
will not
do nothing anymore.” His handsome face falls. “My only regret is what I have to do now. Please know I didn’t want this. I did all in my power to make sure it didn’t. What has to happen now…
you
will haunt me until my dying day, Jo,” he says, voice brittle. “You’re a hell of a woman. A good friend. We could have…” He sadly smiles as his face almost crumbles from regret. “But this is bigger than you and I.
This
is the right thing. This is how it has to be.” He starts toward the door. “I don’t believe you about Dr. Sharpesh. Maybe Duncan and his bag of tricks will have better luck. I’m sorry, Jo. From the depths of my soul, I am sorry. I’ll miss the hell out of you. Good-bye, gorgeous. Bye.”