Terminated

Chapter 16

They bought her clothing at an ancient camping stop up in the mountains; she’d managed to tell him to head north, and that took them farther into the wilderness. The clothes weren’t exactly stylish, but they were tough—granny panties and sports bras, flannel shirts and thick khaki pants. Her boots had survived, somehow, though she traded out for fresh socks that hadn’t been through a day of exertion and a dunking in the river.

Her skin looked pink now, more like a sunburn. It hurt all over but at least it was intact. The hair, on the other hand, was an unmitigated disaster.

It looked like someone had taken a blowtorch to her head. Some of it was completely gone, down to the pink, unnaturally healing scalp; some of it was still there, but charred. She asked Patrick for a razor and, using the bathroom’s sink and soap, hacked off what remained, then gave herself a smooth shave.

The result was appalling, but she topped it with a 1950s-era scarf Patrick had bought, and a big pair of sunglasses. Retro chic. The hair would grow back, but not quickly; she had to be prepared to rock the bald look for at least a few days, and then a super-short cut after that, for weeks most likely. Hair was something that didn’t regenerate so fast. Nonessential, according to the nanite programming.

Well, she thought, I’d wanted to change my look. That made her want to laugh, in a dark kind of way. She somehow choked it back, just barely.

Then it was Patrick’s turn. He’d escaped direct contact with the flames, but his clothing was saturated with smoke, and that definitely wouldn’t do; if it came to stealth, the smell of him would announce his presence far too well. He shopped the men’s aisle, and when he was changed he could have posed for an L.L.Bean catalog photo, except for the scabbed wound on his head up close to the hairline, and the bruises. They were turning sickly yellow now, but she had no doubt he had a lot more under the clothing. Fresh ones. New wounds.

“Feeling okay?” he asked her, and took a moment to really look at her. She nodded slowly. She did, and she knew it was because—because of what she’d done. A thing she couldn’t even look closely into, for fear of what she’d see looking back. Water and blood. Thrashing. Food.

“We need to get back on the road,” Bryn said. “Did you get camping gear?”

“We’re set,” he said. “I’ll pay. You go on to the car. He didn’t see you.”

He meaning the proprietor, an ancient man who had decorated his store in American flags and signs. There was a sticker on the door for the John Birch Society, and a Tea Party symbol, and she had the distinct impression that the crusty old man wouldn’t give information about anybody who shopped here to anyone he perceived as government.

Bad luck for Jane, since she was going to look like his worst black helicopter nightmares come to life. If she managed to trace them this far, Bryn doubted that it would get her too much.

Once Patrick was in the car, they headed up a winding mountain road, and he took a turn to the east, veering off.

“Where are we going?” she asked him. She was in the front passenger seat now.

“Someplace you won’t like much,” Patrick said, “but I’ve got a cover there, from way back. Just play along with me, whatever I do. It’s our best possible chance to make this work and get resupplied.”

“Is it worse than a Russian spy station?”

“It isn’t better.”

Lovely. She sighed, relaxed, and looked out the window. At least she was fairly certain Jane would be furious over the way things had gone; she’d brought her A game, had set a very good trap, and still, they’d managed to wiggle out of it (not without leaving skin behind) and taken the bait with them, to add insult to injury. “I hate to say it, but you know what? Stabbing your ex felt really good, Pat.”

“I was thinking the same thing about kicking her ass over the railing,” he said, and smiled. He reached for her hand and held it. “That makes us sound less than well adjusted.”

“Well, in the words of Chicago, she had it coming.”

“Pretty sure that doesn’t make us sound any more stable, Bryn.” He got sober fast, and sent her a glance so quick she wasn’t even sure she’d seen it. “You took a ton of damage back there. Do you need to eat?”

“I ate,” she said dully, and shut her eyes. When she swallowed, she could still taste the blood rusting her mouth, even though she’d brushed her teeth, rinsed, spit a dozen times, and used up half a bottle of mouthwash.

“Bryn—”

“Leave it.”

He did. She wondered exactly what he’d seen. Exactly what he thought. He didn’t let go of her hand, that was something; she hadn’t known she needed that until she’d felt the warmth of the grip, holding her in place. She felt like she’d spin off the edge of the earth if he let her go.

There was a thump from the trunk. “Reynolds is awake,” she observed. “Is it too hot for him in there?”

“I punched air holes in the top and made sure there wasn’t any carbon monoxide problem. It won’t be comfortable, but he’s got bottles of water, and he’ll live. I’m not too concerned about his bruises.”

“Maybe he needs a bathroom break.”

“I’d rather steam clean the trunk later.”

She had a sudden, horrifyingly clear thought. “He’s Revived, right? He’s chipped. They’re tracking him!”

“Relax. I had one last shot Manny had given me just in case, and I gave it to Reynolds before I stuck him in the trunk. It’s loaded with tracking inhibitors. He’s off their radar, for now anyway.”

“You’re sure you got rid of anything that might be bugged?”

“Stripped him, threw him in the river, soaked him, and gave him the hikers’ clothes to put on,” he confirmed. “This isn’t new to me, Bryn. Relax. We’re okay.”

She didn’t think so.

She didn’t think she’d ever feel okay again, honestly. But the miles disappeared under the humming tires, and the beauty of the mountain scenery lulled her into what was probably a false sense of peace. Somewhere, Joe and Riley were fighting to get to Manny, if Manny and Pansy still held their bunker secure. Somewhere, Jane was kicking walls and thinking about how hard she was going to torture them when she got her hands on them.

Somewhere, the rest of the Fountain Group, learning of Reynolds’ disappearance, might be starting to sweat. She hoped so.

Night fell, and he kept driving, taking roads that seemed sketchy at best, until she’d thoroughly lost her sense of direction; navigating by the stars was a skill she’d developed back in Iraq, but you could actually see stars in the desert. Here, smothered by the trees, she could see only thin strips of inky sky, with hard chips of stars shimmering through. Not enough to place herself.

“We’re here,” he said, and slowed the sedan to a crawl as he made a last turn. Ahead, there was a clearing in the trees, and a fence that wouldn’t have been out of place in a prison—fifteen foot walls topped by razor wire, turreted guard posts, and blazing security lights that popped on when they came close enough. The glare blinded them, and Patrick brought the car to a stop and put it in gear.

“Get out and keep your hands up,” he said. “Do what they say.”

“Where the hell did you bring me?”

“Just don’t talk if you can help it.”

She had to settle for that, because an amplified voice was telling her to do exactly what he’d just instructed—out of the car, hands up. Patrick complied, and she did, too, though she didn’t feel too good about it. The road was sharp gravel, and it dug into her knees as she followed instructions to kneel, hands on head.

Moving figures emerged from the blinding glare, and though she could have reacted—violently—she didn’t, because Patrick didn’t. The shapes resolved into armed, burly men, none of them too clean, who pushed the two of them facedown and handcuffed their wrists behind their backs. Bryn’s tender new skin protested at the harsh handling, but she didn’t complain. Ten seconds later, she was on her feet and shoved shoulder to shoulder with Patrick.

“We safe?” she asked softly. He nodded, but his slitted eyes were searching the glare for something.

She saw him relax when he found it: another shape heading toward them. As he reached them, the blinding halogens turned off, leaving only general illumination, which seemed like pitch darkness after that scorching of her eyeballs. When she blinked away the afterimages, she saw a medium-sized man standing there, staring at Patrick. He had a narrow face, narrow dark eyes, lank shoulder-length brown hair, and he looked hardened and sunbaked, like the rest of them.

“Son of a bitch,” he said. “Look who’s come home.”

Then he pulled out a vicious-looking bowie knife and held it point-up under Patrick’s chin. The point dented the flesh, and blood welled and ran down the steel.

“Walt,” Patrick said. “Been a while. You mad?”

“What gives you that idea?” The knife stayed where it was. Walt’s mouth stretched in a smile, but it wasn’t much of a reassurance. “Who’s the bitch?”

“Mine,” Patrick said. “Hands off.”

“We’ll see.”

“You going to slit my throat or kiss me?” Patrick asked.

“Well, now, I was considering that first thing, but if you want kissing I’ll see if I can find a couple of volunteers. You left some bad feelings behind in here. Why come back?”

“Had to,” Patrick said. “I’ve got heat on me.”

“And you bring it here?”

“I bring it to the man who can handle it.”

That made Walt smile again, a dark, angry sort of thing that made a shiver run up Bryn’s back. “Get them and the car inside,” Walt said. “Sweep everything. Don’t want no federal ears in here.”

“Fair warning,” Patrick said. “I have a man tied up in the trunk. He could be dead. Or not.”

That brought . . . utter silence. And then Walt laughed, and took the knife away from his throat. “That’s what I always liked about you, Vaughn. You are utterly fucked up.” He turned and waved at his men. One slid behind the wheel of the sedan, and the others crowded around Patrick and Bryn and hustled them in through the parting gates. It was an efficient operation, maybe thirty seconds between gates opening and closing, and then they were inside the compound—she couldn’t think of it any other way—which was a tidily maintained, almost military style design. Barracks surrounded by neatly raked gravel. Their sedan was driven to an area that served as a motor pool, mostly populated by old, solid Humvees and four-wheelers, along with some pickups. A flagpole—empty at the moment—stood tall sentry in the center. Toward the center of the place there was something out of place—a square building with playground equipment such as swings, teeter-totters, and slides, all in camouflage colors.

Children. There were children here.

Their captors pushed them down to a cross-legged sitting position by the flagpole and withdrew to convenient shooting distance. They had a firing squad of four, which would be plenty to kill Patrick, but not enough to take Bryn if she needed to move. Of course, they couldn’t know that.

Yet.

“Who the hell are these guys?” she whispered to him. He tilted his head toward her, just a little, but he didn’t take his eyes off their guards.

“Well, that’s Mel there on your end. He’s got a mean streak, so watch him closely. Next to him is some new blood—don’t recognize him. Third one is Paul, and then Queeg—he’s Walt’s best buddy. Kind of the second in command around here, or was, anyway. I’ve been gone a few years.”

“I meant who are they in general?”

“I know,” he whispered. “Short answer is militia. But it’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it!”

Even if he could have, or wanted to try, he didn’t have the chance, because one of the men—Queeg, wasn’t that cute—gave them a menacing glare and growled, “Shut up before I break your jaws.”

Patrick sighed and put his head back against the flagpole, closed his eyes, and just . . . relaxed. Bryn tried, but her brain was firing too fast, running on constant adrenaline and paranoia now. She counted at least thirty armed men, and she supposed most of them wouldn’t be outside and visible at this hour; the windows on the barracks and small houses glowed warm and bright, and for most people it was bound to be dinner hour. One reason their guards looked so grim, she supposed. Taking away dinner in a place like this, where dinner might be just about all you looked forward to, was probably a firing squad offense.

One thing: some of these men carried themselves with that unmistakable posture you earned from long hours in the military. Bryn knew she had it; she’d learned to recognize it at a glance, in others. These men were a long way from any army or marine base, but they still had the look.

Militias did tend to draw in the fringes of ex-military. So she knew they couldn’t afford to underestimate the danger.

Patrick had been here undercover. That was interesting and significant; she knew about his military service, but not anything law enforcement–related. If it was that at all. It could easily have been a black ops mission, she supposed, highly illegally conducted on American soil.

Walt reappeared, coming back from the motor pool with a pack of his men. Two of them were half-carrying Reynolds, who’d been dressed in a greasy-looking blue jumpsuit—air force surplus, from the look of it. He filled it out a little too much around the middle.

And he was talking. “—have to let me go. I’m telling you, these people kidnapped me! Right from my own house! Please, you need to call my people. They’ll pay you a handsome fee for rescuing me. . . .”

“Shut up,” Walt said in a pleasant kind of tone as he paused about three feet out of any reasonable lunging distance from Patrick and Bryn. “So, friend, you want to explain to me why you have a black man in your trunk?”

“I told you, they kidnapped me!” Reynolds blurted. One of his guards shook him, hard enough to make his teeth clack.

“I didn’t ask you,” Walt said without looking at him. “Well, Vaughn? Not going to ask you again.”

“He’s not lying,” Patrick/Vaughn said, and grinned. He looked different, suddenly, as if another person inhabited his skin. Creepy. “Son of a bitch screwed me on a deal. I grabbed him and took him for a ride. Just wanted to teach him a valuable life lesson.”

“You kidnapped this prick and brought him here? To my house?”

“He screwed you, too, Walt,” Patrick said. “That’s the beauty of it. Remember that shipment of Stingers that you paid for and didn’t get? Well, meet the man responsible. He jacked it and sold it to the Taliban.”

Walt looked away from Patrick this time, to study Reynolds, who was looking shocked now. “I—I don’t know anything about this!” he said. “This man kidnapped me and if you just call my people—”

“Hang on a second. My friend here just told me that you sold my Stinger missiles to the Taliban, so they could shoot down American planes. You don’t think we should discuss that just a little bit first?”

Reynolds wet his lips. He looked sweaty and scared, and Bryn knew that would probably, in the eyes of Walt and his men, translate into guilt. “I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

“He’s talking about me paying somebody half a million dollars and getting two of my men arrested when they went to pick up the goods, and getting no product. You the man? You the one who was behind the jack?”

“I’ve got nothing to do with weapons! Nothing!”

“He’s right,” Patrick said. “He’s a middleman who sells whatever people want. Drugs, weapons, hell, pirated DVDs for all I know. Doesn’t matter. He’s the one. He pocketed the cash and called the feds and walked away clean as a whistle. Until I found him.”

“He’s lying!” Reynolds was trying his best to look sincere now, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of it; too scared, and too confused. “I told you, I’ll give you money. What did you say, half a million? I’ll double it. A million dollars to call my people and let me go.”

“Good offer,” Walt said, and nodded. The men on either side let Reynolds go. He looked relieved, and straightened up as much as he could in the too-small jumpsuit. “Too bad I don’t believe you.”

He raised his gun and shot Reynolds straight between the eyes. Large caliber round. It left a significant hole in the front, and though Bryn couldn’t see much of it from where she sat, there wouldn’t have been a lot of skull left around the exit wound. A gout of blood sprayed a few feet from the back of Reynolds’ head, and his eyes rolled up to show the whites, and . . . he was down. Crumpled like a dropped toy.

The sound of the shot echoed sharply from the surrounding mountains, but nobody reacted in any way. Not even a twitch.

“Right,” Walt said. “Get him out of here.”

“That was stupid,” Patrick said. “You could’ve gotten paid.”

“I did get paid,” Walt replied. “That why you left? Looking for him?”

“One of the reasons,” Patrick said. He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed them at the ankles, very much at ease even with his hands still pinned behind him. “Couldn’t stand looking at Queeg’s ugly face anymore, either.”

Queeg showed teeth, and Bryn had to admit, he didn’t look like something she’d want to wake up to, either. “Fuck you,” he growled.

Patrick puckered lips in a silent kiss. “Missed you, too, Queeg. What are you going to do with him?” Meaning Reynolds, who was being dragged off by Walt’s men toward the darkness. Bryn was wondering, too.

“Dumping him in a ditch for the night,” Walt said. “We’ll take him out and bury him good and deep tomorrow.”

It was a deadly shot, of course, but there was every chance that Reynolds would recover in a matter of an hour or two, and if he was just dumped in a ditch, he’d be off and running. Even out here, eventually he’d run into a hiker or hunter or ranger with a cell phone.

They could not let him get away now. Not now.

Walt was gesturing to his men again, but this time, they hauled her and Patrick up to their feet, turned them around, and released the handcuffs. She automatically rubbed at the sore places the metal had left on her wrists, but she was thinking fast, and she knew Patrick was doing the same. She locked eyes with him as she turned, and before he could speak, she said, “You let him kill our payday? You asshole! I needed my share!”

He got it, instantly, and shoved her backward. “Stow it, bitch. You’ll get paid when I say you get paid.”

“I didn’t sign up for this cracker militia shit, and your friends just put a bullet in the skull of the man I found for you. You think that isn’t going to ruin my life just a little bit? You burned me, Vaughn. I’m not going to forget it.”

Patrick looked at her with the deadest eyes she’d ever seen in him, an absolute zero of emotion, and in one smooth motion reached sideways, took Walt’s gun, and aimed it at her heart.

“Fuck you,” he said, and pulled the trigger.

She felt it. Not an instant death, not quite; there was time for the shock to travel to her brain, for her heart to struggle to beat and fail and fibrillate, for shock and panic to set in. Her mouth worked, opening and closing for breath she couldn’t seem to pull into her lungs. The pain was sudden and shocking, but brief.

She saw red, and then she saw black, and then she was just . . . gone.