Chapter 23 #2
“I didn’t make it to the packs,” Girard answered in the same low voice. “Rhodda met me before I could get there. She’d turned around, away from Reunion, and was going to get her son.”
“So, no back-up?” Hallie asked, stomach sinking as she thought about Findo Trask and Jonah and his more than twenty armed men.
“The director and tac team will be on their way at some point,” Girard said, then shook his head. “Just not right now. We’re on our own.”
Rhodda had reached the building where the ATVs were stored.
She ducked inside the open double doors at the front.
Hallie followed, finding herself in a low-ceilinged room full of machinery and the scents of oil and fuel and old sweat.
There was space for at least one more ATV and Hallie couldn’t see the old, heavy motorcycle that Blondie and Red had taken in their hunt for Girard.
She hoped that they were having a thoroughly miserable time hunting through the forest a long way from here.
“You seem to know your way around,” Hallie commented, as Rhodda threaded her way through the vehicles towards the back wall with no hesitation.
“I’ve been here before. Jonah forces me to service the vehicles and the lift from time to time,” Rhodda said. She wasn’t looking at Hallie or Girard, but Hallie thought she could hear shame in the older woman’s voice.
“Jonah threatens to hurt Brock if she doesn’t do what he wants,” Hallie told Girard. “But what Rhodda didn’t know is that Brock goes along with it.”
“Stop saying that,” Rhodda hissed. She was trying to sound angry, but Hallie could hear the catch in her voice. Even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself, Rhodda knew somehow that Hallie was telling the truth.
“That’s twisted,” Girard said to Hallie. “What hold do you think Jonah has over Rhodda’s son?”
“I don’t know. From what I’ve learned, the men here get paid and fed, and Jonah keeps them occupied. They all follow him. Brock almost seems to worship him.”
Rhodda flinched, and pointedly didn’t look at Hallie or reply.
It might mean that the other woman was beginning to accept the truth, but Hallie doubted it.
She hesitated, wondering if she should say something about Findo’s role in Devin’s death, but decided against it.
Too complicated a story for just now, and there was no point in upsetting Rhodda further.
Particularly not when they were going to need to deal with Jonah and his men to get her son back.
“Here,” Rhodda said, her back still to Hallie, pointing to the cupboard in the back wall that she had just opened.
Hallie’s mouth dropped open at the contents. Not just one or two guns, but enough weapons and ammunition to kit out a small army and start a war. And, based on what she’d seen of Jonah, he’d have another stash of weapons somewhere else in the house. He wouldn’t risk having everything in one place.
“I’m pretty sure Jonah is engaged in smuggling,” Hallie said, “but I never imagined this.”
“A few of these weapons are brand new on the market. They should only be available to governments,” Girard said, frowning as he stared into the cupboard.
He lifted something out of the cupboard and held it up.
“Here, this could be useful.” He handed it to Hallie, who took the item, realising that it was a body armour vest, surprisingly lightweight in her hands.
She shrugged it on finding it a little large, but the straps at the sides tightened almost far enough for it to be a snug fit.
While she was adjusting the vest, Girard was poring over the contents of the cupboard and selecting a few items. He held out a gun in its holster, complete with several spare magazines, to Hallie, then when she’d put that on, handed her a couple of rifles.
“These are automatic,” he told her, then showed her how to unload and reload.
As she slung one of the weapons over her shoulder by the long strap that came with it, Hallie saw Rhodda taking a pair of handguns and stuffing ammunition into her pockets. The other woman had a tight expression on her face somewhere between grief and anger.
“Wait a moment,” Girard said, keeping his voice low, but loud enough for Rhodda to hear. “We need to have some kind of plan. We can’t just go in and shoot everyone. That’s going to get a lot of people hurt, and may get us killed.”
Rhodda looked as if she wanted to argue but somehow held her silence. She thought her son was missing, Hallie reminded herself.
“I counted twenty men earlier,” Hallie told Girard. “All of them armed. I can’t be sure that was all of them. And there’s Findo as well.”
“Who is this Findo? You seem more concerned about him than my son. Why is he so special?” Rhodda asked, bitterness in her voice.
“He’s a very dangerous veondken who was running illegal fight rings in low city,” Hallie told her. “He’s at least as dangerous as Jonah, and far more powerful. He escaped from Conclave custody. I’ve no idea how he ended up here.”
Rhodda gave a little sniff, as if she was unmoved and unimpressed, but Hallie had caught the tiny flash of fear.
“I really wish we could call for back-up,” Hallie said, mostly to herself.
She was used to going into situations on her own, but that was usually her against one fugitive and no matter how powerful the fugitive was, it had always felt more like a fair fight.
Even with Girard and the body armour she was wearing, this didn’t feel like any kind of fight they could win.
“I think Jonah has a radio here,” Rhodda said unexpectedly.
“Sorry, what?” Hallie’s voice rose in disbelief. She stared at the woman. “You’re telling me there’s been a radio here all along and you’re only mentioning this now?”
“You never asked,” Rhodda answered. But she wouldn’t meet Hallie’s eyes.
“You said you think he has a radio. Where?” Girard asked, before Hallie could say any of the angry things on her mind.
“He’s got some kind of office at the front of the house. I’m sure he’s got a communicator of some kind, but I’m not sure what. I’ve never been in the room,” Rhodda added, an almost plaintive tone to her voice as she glanced at Hallie.
“Anything else you’d like to tell us? Anything else we might find helpful to know?” Hallie asked, a savage edge to her voice. Whatever sympathy she owed Rhodda, who was worrying about her son, it had worn away.
“I can’t think of anything,” Rhodda said. Hallie believed her.
“Twenty men, though,” Hallie said softly. She looked around the garage with its collection of ATVs. “We’d do better to steal one of these, fix the radio at Reunion and come back when we’ve got back-up.”
“How are you going to fix the radio? I’m not going to tell you where the amplifier is,” Rhodda said, lifting her chin.
Hallie half-opened her mouth, ready to demand that the woman give up the information. Alternatively, Girard should be able to find it.
“Let’s leave that aside for now. You said something about a harbour and a lift?” Girard asked, looking between Hallie and Rhodda.
“Yes. The corridor where you found me leads to an old metal cage lift. It goes down to a hidden harbour. A cave, I guess. There are boats there,” Hallie said.
“A smuggler’s paradise,” Rhodda said, bitterness clear. “The entrance is concealed from the outside. Impossible to find unless you know what you’re looking for.”
“The lift needs someone in it to operate,” Hallie said, “so it’s stuck up here until someone takes it down. But it’s not the only way up or down.” She looked at Rhodda for confirmation.
“No. There are stairs,” Rhodda said, reluctance clear.
“How long will it take the men to get up from the harbour?” Hallie asked.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never had to climb the stairs, but it’s a really long way up.” Rhodda was being honest.
“Where do they come out?” Girard asked, a sharp edge to his voice. Perhaps wondering, as Hallie was, if they were about to have all of Jonah’s men descend on them.
“The stairs come out somewhere in the trees. I don’t know where,” Rhodda said, still sounding miserable. “They never let me see.”
Hallie swallowed a curse. So Jonah and his men could come out of the forest at any moment. That was bad. “The lift’s in the corridor where you found me,” Hallie told Girard, then turned back to Rhodda. “It looked like the only access was by that outside door. Is that right?”
The older woman just stared back at her.
“Rhodda,” Hallie said, voice sharp. “Is that the only way to access the lift from here?”
The woman stared, and her lower lip trembled. “Yes. You said Brock was down there. He might be on the stairs just now,” she whispered, voice harsh. Not thinking about her own danger, not right now. More worried about her son.
“We don’t have much time, then,” Hallie said, turning back to Girard. “We might have a chance to escape with an ATV if we go now.”
“The ATV will attract attention. And if we steal another one of his vehicles, Jonah’s going to be even more angry,” Girard said.
Hallie frowned at him, thinking about the lethal edge she’d sensed in Jonah.
Unlike Nicholas, the governor wouldn’t just lock people up or bully them into submission.
No. Jonah would inflict a lot of harm on a lot of people.
“If we go to Reunion, he’ll follow us there and hurt them,” Hallie said slowly.
“And if we try and walk out of here, we’re going to get caught.
” She swore. There were no good options.
“This is what we’re going to do,” Girard said, voice firm.
“We’re going to try and get to the radio, send a call out for help, and get back out of the house without anyone seeing us.
Then we’re going to find a place to hide out until help gets here.
No,” he said, before Rhodda could speak, “I am not breaking my promise to find your son. We will find him. But not tonight.”
“How many days will it take for back-up to get here? How much longer will my son need to suffer?” Rhodda asked, tearful edge to her voice.
“I can’t answer that until I’ve made contact,” Girard said.
“Right. I like this plan. Or at least, it seems the best of a lot of bad options,” Hallie said. “Get inside, make the call, then get out, and hide. We should grab some more provisions on the way if we can. I’m all out of protein bars.”
Girard’s mouth lifted in a grim smile and he nodded.
Then he turned to Rhodda. “Make no mistake, I keep my promises. I want to know from Jonah just what he’s been up to here.
He’s got to answer for those guns, if nothing else,” he said, tilting his head to the weapons display.
“And I want Findo Trask back in custody,” he added, glancing at Hallie.
“No argument here,” she told him. “But we’ll need flexi cuffs or manacles to hold him. Rope would be useful, but won’t work for long.”
“I’ve got some cuffs,” Girard told her, and drew a set from his belt. “And a spare set for you.”
“Good, thanks.” She hitched the cuffs onto her belt and even in the unfamiliar surroundings, that habitual gesture centred her. “Where did you get these?” She didn’t think he’d been carrying them when they’d been in New Hope.
“I always carry a pair. And brought a spare for you,” he told her.
“Good thinking,” she told him, smiling. “I don’t suppose you brought spare socks?”
“Sorry, no, I didn’t think to do that,” he said, genuine regret in his voice. “I do have a couple of spare protein bars, though.”
“Oh, thank you,” Hallie said, taking the couple he held out and finishing the first in a few quick bites. “I never thought I would miss low city’s fast food trucks, but I have been longing to see one of those dented little metal carts.”
Girard grinned at her.
Rhodda made a low sound of agreement. “Once you’ve spent a few weeks working to prepare every single meal, a greasy plant burger and fries seems like heaven.
” She shook her head. “We can talk more when it’s safer.
Here, there’s some rope. Could be useful.
” She set the coil of rope over her shoulder and turned to the others, face set in a hard, determined expression.
“We move as quietly as possible and stay together,” Girard said.
Hallie’s brows lifted at the stern tone, but he was looking at Rhodda, matching her determination.
He waited until the older woman had given a single nod, a reluctant agreement, before he turned away from the weapons cabinet. “Follow me.”