Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
C assidy told Warrick to head to the hospital Deming’s body had been taken to. She was looped into comms with the Rahmi military as they prepared to stop the coup. Warrick’s phone rang and he grimaced. “It’s the boss.”
Warrick answered and put it on speaker.
“What the hell is going on? You got the president killed and now the country is in upheaval!” Director Beaumont yelled.
“Director,” Cassidy said, trying to calm him. “Have some faith in me, please.”
“Faith? You let an American ally get assassinated on live television!”
“There’s more going on, sir,” Cassidy told him. “This is bigger than just Crusina.”
She knew that would get Beaumont’s attention. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll explain when I get everything wrapped up here. You’ve trusted me before. I’m asking you to do it again.” Cassidy wouldn’t beg. She instead said it as if giving an order.
“I want a debriefing every three hours.” Beaumont didn’t give her the chance to answer before hanging up.
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” Warrick told her.
“I do.”
Cassidy was normally very humble, but this wasn’t one of those times. She was exceptional at her job. The only thing that troubled her was knowing Agent Naylor had been involved in what she thought had been only a Crusina political issue. This went much, much deeper and wider than Crusina, and that worried her.
“Shit,” Warrick cursed, looking out the van’s window. Soldiers were shoving by security.
“Hurry! They want Deming’s body. I won’t let him be strung up like that.” Cassidy reached into the back of the van and re-armed herself. “Go around back,” she ordered Warrick, who sped down the street, heading to the back entrance. “Wait here,” Cassidy ordered.
“Like hell,” Warrick slammed the van to a stop, reached under the seat, and came up with a gun. “I’m still a trained agent.”
Cassidy gave him a nod of approval then shoved a rifle at him with extra ammo. “Let’s move.”
Cassidy didn’t have nerves. She’d practiced storming buildings at her uncles’ training facilities and in real life. She’d done it before and she’d do it again.
“Ten minutes until rendezvous,” Cassidy heard over the comms in Rahmi. Yes, that was one of the languages she spoke fluently.
“We have to keep them out for ten minutes,” Cassidy called over her shoulder as she ran through the ambulance bay. Most of the ambulances were out on calls. Two sets of doors led to the emergency room. A guard’s office sat between the two entrances.
Cassidy ran to the office and spotted a security guard trying to hide under the desk. “We’re trying to protect the hospital. Can you lock it down?” she asked him.
He looked at her armed to the teeth and then at the video monitor showing the soldiers attacking security in the parking lot. Cassidy then glanced at the equipment lining the office. A big red button. You always hit the big red button.
Cassidy reached out and hit it. Alarms went off, the metal garage doors slowly began to shut. Doors locked. Metal protective barriers began to roll down across the windows of the doors and the exterior windows.
“Warrick, do your thing. Lock this place down tight. Do you need my help translating?”
Warrick shook his head as he stood in front of the console. “Got it.” His fingers flew over the keyboard. “It’s locked down and I have the only access code.” He did something else and the computer went blank. “To stop him from accessing it,” Warrick said, nodding to the guard still hiding in the corner.
“Show me,” Cassidy ordered as they rushed to the emergency room doors. She watched as Warrick punched in the code and nodded with a smirk. 07041776. Independence Day.
Cassidy began issuing orders for people to barricade the exterior doors and windows as soon as they made it inside. The news was on television, and Cassidy saw the coverage from people hiding and sending in live coverage of Jin and his group trying to storm the courthouse.
By the way people moved to keep the soldiers out, they understood what was at stake and had no intention of giving up their freedom. Nurses were taking the lead, organizing patients and relatives to arm themselves. Doctors were still rushing to treat the people in the hospital or join the nurses in arming themselves.
“Hey,” Cassidy called to a nurse looking down at the bright orange rubber strips used to tighten on your arm when drawing blood. “How many of these do you have?”
“Hundreds of thousands, why?”
Cassidy grabbed one and handed another to Warrick. She tied it loosely on her arm. “Any soldier without one of these on is the enemy. Now, I need all of them you have down here.”
The nurse threw all she had in a clear bag and went to spread the word about the armbands.
“Let’s go,” Cassidy ordered.
“Where?”
“Labor and delivery,” Cassidy told Warrick, taking the stairs two at a time.
She entered the code to the locked door on the third floor to find nurses already armed and protecting the newborns. Mothers and fathers were holding chairs, stools, and scalpels, lunging as they came through the door.
“Stop!” Dasha yelled. “They’re friends!” Dasha flung herself forward and Cassidy caught her. “They killed him and now they want his body, don’t they?”
Cassidy nodded and turned to the nurses, parents, and parents-to-be. “Any soldier without an orange armband is here to overthrow the democracy Deming Nikan set up.”
“Like hell.” A nurse, no more than five feet two inches tall with gray hair up in a matronly bun, stood standing at the door to the nursery with two scalpels—one in each hand. She looked like a grandma, but her fierce gaze said she was a warrior.
“She’s in charge,” Cassidy said, pointing to her before grabbing Dasha’s hand and hurrying off down the hall.
“Are we going to sneak President Nikan’s body from the hospital so they can’t get it?” Dasha asked, tears still in her eyes. “He saved me. Did you see that? He’s dead because he took a bullet meant for me.”
Cassidy stopped at the room where the controlled narcotics were kept and entered the override code. The door opened and she stepped inside.
“Who was it?”
Dasha gasped and fell to the ground in a near faint as Deming rose from the chair he’d been sitting in.
“Jin,” Cassidy answered, giving Deming a brief rundown of what had transpired since his death . “Here, take an armband in case they don’t think you’re real.”
“You’re alive?” Dasha whispered with a sob.
“Sorry for deceiving you,” Deming told them. “It was Cassidy’s plan to get to the bottom of who was trying to overthrow my government once and for all.”
Deming reached down and took Dasha’s hand in his, pulling her to stand, and brushing back a lock of her hair. “You were so brave, Dasha.”
“Me? You threw your body over mine to protect me. You’re the brave one, Mr. President. Oh my gosh, you were shot! How are you?”
“Blood packets with a bulletproof suit,” Deming said, opening up his suit to show the packets of fake blood.
“Cassidy,” Warrick said between gritted teeth. She was wondering when he’d speak. “You didn’t tell me.”
“I couldn’t. The only person who knew was a resident doctor from Rahmi who works here. She hid him here to protect him and to give me time to get to the bottom of the threats. Now, we need to take control back. Our guests are arriving.”
Dasha was still in shock. Warrick was pissed. Cassidy couldn’t care right now. She had a mission to accomplish. Lives and an entire country were on the line.
“Be pissed at me later, but give Dasha half the armbands and come with me,” she told Warrick. “Let’s go,” Cassidy ordered the room of people as she handed a gun to Deming.
The nurses and parents gasped when Cassidy led a very alive Deming Nikan down the hall. “Wait, Cass,” Deming said softly before turning to everyone staring wide eyed at him. “I promise, I will uphold democracy. I will fight for you and for Crusina.”
The people cried happy tears and cheered as Cassidy entered the door code and they began climbing up the stairs to the roof. A knock on the door sounded and Cassidy opened it.
“Thanks for coming,” Cassidy said, stepping onto the roof to where forty armed soldiers stood.
Deming stepped out next and the Crusina soldiers snapped to attention even as their mouths dropped with surprise. Dasha and Warrick began passing out the orange bands. While Deming explained what was happening and who was behind the coup, Cassidy went to the helicopter pilots and handed them the bag of orange bands. She instructed them to notify everyone of the plan, and hand them out to all Deming supporters in military and law enforcement.
The helicopter lifted off as Deming finished with his orders. The soldiers cheered, and Deming turned to her. “Ready?”
“Let’s get these assholes,” Cassidy said with a grin. The soldiers cheered again.
Dasha was staring at Deming with hero worship as Deming led his soldiers down the stairs.
“Well, this is a new side of Deming,” Warrick said to her as they followed close behind Deming.
“I think he’s all grown up now. A military coup can do that.” Cassidy winked at Warrick and he grinned at her. His anger evaporated away as the sound of shocked cries came from the emergency room when Deming entered it with a full military unit behind him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Warrick nodded. “It’s okay. I understand now. I’m glad he’s alive. He’s a good leader and a good person. What do you need me to do?”
“Well, if your leg can hold up, you can walk with us to the center of town to end the insurgency or you can take the van. Your call,” Cassidy said, watching as Deming thanked his supporters even as the outside soldiers were trying to break into the hospital.
Warrick frowned and rubbed his leg. “I better drive.”
Cassidy put her finger to her ear and nodded to herself as the comms updated. “Okay, everyone. It’s showtime.”
Loud explosions and a tremendous amount of gunfire sounded from outside. Cassidy could tell the soldiers were itching to get outside. She’d restored Deming and now it was his show to run, not hers. And run it, he did.
“Open the door!” Deming ordered.
Cassidy wanted to object, but Deming was finally coming into his own. He’d become a great politician, but now he was becoming the great leader Crusina needed. He was showing the world he wasn’t going to back down and he’d fight for his country and her people.
Cassidy unlocked the door. Deming looked at Cassidy as she handed him a second gun and with a nod got her own weapon ready.
“Let’s go!” Deming yelled. His soldiers cheered. Then, on his signal, they pushed out of the hospital and into the fight, effectively surrounding the insurgents as the second helicopter had been set down a short distance from the hospital. The soldiers all wore orange bands as they fought.
Yelling was heard through the fighting and Cassidy gasped as she and Warrick turned to see nurses, doctors, staff, and patients running into the fray armed with little to nothing in terms of weapons, but willing to fight for their freedom.
The battle only lasted five minutes.
But it was enough for lives on both sides to be lost.
“For those who wish to fight,” Deming called out, picking up a weapon from one of the surrendered insurgents and handing it to the gray haired nurse from the labor and delivery floor. “Follow us.”
Cassidy watched with tears in her eyes as everyday people picked up weapons ready to fight for their country. “I’ll fill the van with anyone who wants to come, but can’t walk the distance,” Warrick whispered to her. “Be safe, Davies.” He hurried off to get the van filled with weapons and tech.
“He’s so amazing,” Dasha whispered with awe as they fell in line behind Deming and the troops as they began the mile walk to the city center.
Cassidy watched as doors opened along the street. Men, women, and teenagers all came out to join them, armed with rolling pins, kitchen knives, axes, and more. They cheered as Deming raised a fist and then pointed to the city center.
Soon their group quadrupled in size. The cheers were so loud that the sounds of fighting from downtown weren’t heard until they were upon it.
“Jin!” Deming yelled, but it was to no avail. The crowds were too loud.
The sound of large vehicles could be heard though. They filled the streets as soldiers with orange bands exited them, charging into the fight. The military base had been recaptured. The insurgents were most likely dead or imprisoned.
Cassidy looked around as the fighting spread. Deming grabbed a bullhorn from a shocked police officer and climbed on top of the cruiser.
“If you follow Jin Kuzmin and are fighting for him, you have two options!” Deming yelled. The look on Jin’s face as he tried to get into the courthouse was priceless. The insurgent soldiers were equally shocked, but the ones with the orange bands had obviously been clued in that Deming was alive. “First option. Put down your weapons, lie on the ground, and put your arms behind your head. Second option. Die. You have ten seconds to decide your fate.”
Jin screamed to fight, but now being faced with Deming and his armed soldiers and the armed citizens of Crusina, who were growing in number, most of the insurgents surrendered. Not Jin though.
With a battle cry he raised his gun to shoot Deming. Cassidy fired her gun at Jin, but she wasn’t the only one. Stones, knives, axes, and a hail of gunfire met Jin. The people had spoken. The insurgency was dead.