Chapter Nineteen
Cooper followed Zach down the road, adrenaline starting to pour through his system. “You know Drake’s going to try to take you in. He kind of has to.”
“I’m not going in,”
Zach replied. “I’m not ready yet. I promise you when the time is right and I’ve got all my work done, I’ll turn myself in and I won’t be a problem anymore.”
“You’ll go to prison?”
He didn’t like the sound of that. Even if he was still angry at Zach.
Zach shrugged as they turned the corner, and the house came into full view. “Hey, I’m carrying on the family tradition, I suppose. Stay close to me if you can. I’m hoping this asshole will monologue awhile before I need to set off the bombs. I want to give Big Tag some time to get everyone into place.”
“You didn’t tell him what places needed covering,”
Coop pointed out.
“Don’t have to,”
Zach replied. “That’s the great thing about Big Tag and Charlotte. They’ll know what to do. I’m going to need you to pretend you’ve been with me all along. You’ve known we’re brothers for the two years we’ve been working together.”
Subterfuge. He could handle that.
He glanced off to the side of the house and saw a chopper sitting on a launch pad. “I wonder how long that’s been there. And how long it’s going to be there.”
“I couldn’t get close enough,”
Zach admitted. “I hope Big Tag knows about it because if Huisman wants to run, that’s how he’ll do it. I need you to understand that if it comes down to it, you leave me behind and get the ladies out of here. I think he’s got a thing for Kala now, and Huisman likes to break his toys, if you know what I mean.”
The words threatened to make him sick, but he was shoving down all emotion at this point. Up ahead he saw the porch light to the big house come on.
“They see us,”
Coop noted.
“Don’t forget. You left the team this afternoon when I called you. He knows about your relationship with Kala. Assume he knows almost everything,”
Zach said, his voice tight. “And what happens if you can’t get me out.”
That was easy. “Oh, I’ll leave your lying ass behind.”
He wasn’t thrilled with Zach, but he also was already softening and would kind of like to know the story. His parents were his parents, and his brother and sister were his siblings. But there was always room for more. “Brother.”
Zach stopped, his eyes on Cooper. “I hope we can sit down with our ladies and have a beer one day. If we can’t, know that I loved you from the minute I knew you existed. I know you have a family, but I don’t have much anymore. Thank you for sharing yours. Even for a little while.”
Damn it. He didn’t want the surge of sympathy that rolled over him. Or the curiosity about the man who was technically his big brother. He’d always been the big brother to Hunter and Vivian. There had definitely been times in his life when he could have used a guiding hand. Maybe if Zach had been around, he and Kala wouldn’t have wasted so much time. “Zach, don’t fucking die.”
Up ahead he could see two armed guards coming out of the house, rifles pointed their way.
“It’s show time, little brother,”
Zach said and put his hands up. He dropped to his knees. “When the time comes, a punch to the kidneys might be called for.”
Cooper did the same. He’d disarmed back at the van with the exception of the camera Lou had given him. It was a weapon of sorts. It would definitely send intel back to the team about what was happening. “Who am I punching?”
He hoped it was Huisman. The guards yelled some guard-like things. Hands up. We’ll shoot. Shit like that, but Coop was watching Zach. He had a grim look on his face as the guards approached.
“Me, if you have to,”
Zach said under his breath.
“Both of you stand up,”
one of the guards said. Now there were four of them. “Who the hell are you? This is private property.”
“This is Dr. Emmanuel Huisman’s property, and I think you’ll find I was invited,”
Zach said. “Tell him Captain Reed is here to discuss a very important matter with him. You’ll find I’m unarmed and hoping we can deal with the issue like gentlemen. My brother is here to ensure the negotiations go smoothly.”
“Hey,”
Cooper said, giving the big guy a nod. “Nice place you have here. Do you know if they’re hiring?”
Sarcasm. He’d gotten it from his woman.
The guard ignored him, pulling his radio out and talking in French.
“He’s calling his boss, who’s going to talk to Huisman,”
Zach said quietly, his arms still behind his head, but no one was tying them up yet. Zach was counting on Huisman’s curiosity and his arrogance. “The boss says Huisman is with one of the prisoners.”
He should have learned French. He was fluent in Spanish, German, and Russian, but only because he liked to know what the Taggart girls said about him. He’d learned Russian early since they spoke it around him all the time. Even when he was a kid he hadn’t wanted to be left out of any group.
Now he only needed one. “Kala. He’ll be with Kala.”
He hoped he would be escorted to where she was. Huisman could be cruel and might think seeing her being tortured would wreck him. It would, but it would also mean he was in the room with her. The closer he could get, the more easily he could snatch her up and run like hell.
Nothing mattered but getting her and Devi out of here.
“Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in,”
a familiar voice said. Lena Gallagher stood not ten feet away from them. Her head tilted, features shadowy in the dim light from the moon. “I expected the captain. You’re a surprise, McKay. Where’s your boss and how did he find us?”
Cooper tilted his head slightly Zach’s way. “Boss is right there, lady. He’s in charge of this insane op.”
She frowned, arms crossing over her chest. “I meant Ian Taggart.”
“He’s back in Texas. He doesn’t know I’m here,”
Cooper replied. “When Zach found out you have Devi, he called me. You have Kala, too. You have to know she’s mine, and we’re willing to do what it takes to get them back. Bringing the team in means bringing the Agency in, and we don’t want that.”
She studied him for a moment as the guard waited for orders. “I’m supposed to believe you ditched your team? She’s his daughter. You don’t think Taggart would move heaven and earth for his precious girl? I call bullshit.”
“Call it whatever you like,”
Cooper replied. “I have other family, and I have loyalty to them, too. I didn’t want Kala hurt in the inevitable gunfight that would happen if I brought her parents in. Zach wants the same for Devi. Look, I’m only here so Zach has backup, and I can take the women with me when Zach turns himself in. He’s my brother. I owe him.”
“Ah, but he’s not just turning himself in, is he?”
Lena asked. “It’s your biological mother Huisman wants. No loyalty to her?”
This had seemed so simple half a day ago, but now he had questions. He also had a part to play. “She’s not my mom, so no. My loyalty is to my brother. He’s the one who came and found me. And to her. My loyalty is always to Kala.”
“To that psychopath?”
Lena asked the question with a roll of her eyes. “That’s what she is. She has sociopathic tendencies. All it would take for her to become a true monster is a loss. Do you have any idea what she’s capable of?”
He did. Love. She was capable of loving deeply, of sacrifice. She was capable of making him laugh and feel safe. She was capable of being anything she wanted to be. He wasn’t about to explain any of that to this woman who’d abused her trust so mightily. He was easily as angry with her as he was with Huisman. One tortured her body and the other her soul. Lena made her feel less, and he hated her for it. But he had to play a long game. “The heart wants what the heart wants.”
She sneered down at him. “Well, what your heart wants is currently being experimented on. Like the animal she is. Honestly, I hope Manny kills her. He’s treating her like some exotic animal he wants to tame, but she’s feral. She’ll always kill. Like her parents.”
Zach growled a low warning.
Cooper needed it because his instinct was to get to his feet and make a run for the house. She was in pain, and the idea of it nearly floored him.
He took a long breath, checking his emotions. Getting his ass shot wouldn’t help anyone at this point. But he could fuck around with Lena since now he knew the whole story. Big Tag had opened the files and let him read everything he had on the very dead Eli Nelson. “Like Charlotte took out your asshole father?”
Lena gasped and backhanded him, smacking him right across his jaw.
It tickled. Now if his baby had done it, she would have used her fist and he would be seeing stars. But Lena didn’t spend the same time in the gym.
Zach snorted. “You okay, brother?”
Cooper shrugged. “I’ll forego the tears. I find it interesting that the doctor here is more than willing to give up her career and likely her freedom to get revenge for a dude who knocked up her mom and left. You do understand those stories your mother told you were so you wouldn’t know what a shit stain your dad actually was. He was a traitor to his country.”
“At least I had a mother.”
Lena seemed to want to take the mean-girl route.
“My mother is doing well, no thanks to you.”
Cooper wasn’t about to back down now. If she wanted to slap him again, he could use the massage. Huisman needed to find more terrifying minions. “And the woman who gave birth to me cared enough to spare me what could have been a difficult childhood. My biological aunt cared enough to find the best family she could.”
When he thought about it, it didn’t seem like a cold, calculated move. It felt like a loving sacrifice.
And one he was deeply grateful for.
“Well, Mommy’s going to be in a world of hurt soon,”
Lena said with obvious superiority. “And I’m giving up nothing. I’m taking my place in the new world order Dr. Huisman is going to bring about. I’m going to have a special position in the organization.”
“I bet you will,”
Zach agreed. “He respects you.”
Cooper snorted. “Huisman hates women. He’ll use her and toss her on the garbage heap, likely as a corpse.”
“You know nothing,”
Lena practically snarled.
His brother’s narrowed eyes spoke volumes about his irritation. “There’s a reason you’re usually behind the scenes. Dude, when we’re dealing with a delusional person who also has a bunch of armed guards at her side, we agree with everything they say. She wants to believe she’s going to be a queen? Here’s to your crown, girl. See. It’s simple. We both know Huisman’s killing her tonight because her usefulness is over. Can’t you give her a couple of good hours?”
Oh, his brother was a dick. Cooper liked this side of Zach. He looked back at Lena. “You’re going to look great in a crown.”
“My usefulness is not over,”
she said with a huff.
Now he saw what his brother was trying to do. Sow discord. Take a page out of Huisman’s book and create chaos. “You were his insider at the Agency. Maybe not the only one, but you were his eyes and ears, at least in your department. You won’t be able to go back. You have to know we have video footage of you taking Devi Taggart. You missed a camera. We have a few in the trees on the walk up to the club.”
He was lying, but it was a good idea he intended to bring up at the next meeting of the board of The Hideout. “It’s been sent to Drake Radcliffe, who’s probably already talked to his bosses.”
“I took out the cameras.”
She’d paled slightly. Even in the low light he could see it.
“Not the ones you couldn’t see,”
he replied.
“Hey, you brought him two important assets,”
Zach argued. “He’ll be thrilled when it’s your work that brings him the bombmaker.”
This was kind of fun. He watched Lena’s shoulders go back, pride on her face again. And then he went in for the kill. “And he won’t need you anymore. I’m sure he’ll still want you around. You won’t be a liability or anything. He’ll probably give you a pension or something. Maybe a good letter of recommendation to the next evil asshole looking for minions.”
Her hand came back again, and Cooper simply smiled. She might do better this time.
The guard walked in and gestured for them to stand, getting in between Cooper and Lena. “Dr. Gallagher, maybe you should go inside. I don’t think he wants anyone out here. Despite how far we are from the town, there could still be eyes on us.”
Lena turned and started walking back in.
The guard watched her. “Did you have to wind her up like that?”
He sighed. “Get up. Dr. Huisman will see you now.”
Like they were being invited in for tea. He stood beside Zach as the guard took their places around them. Two in front and two on the sides. How many did that leave for the team?
They were given a cursory pat down. Exactly what Zach had been counting on. No one touched his waist except at his hips. When they were satisfied, the guard nodded.
Lena walked in front of them, her boots pounding against the porch boards, an agitated sound. She pushed through the double doors. “Manny, are you insane? We should leave right now. I don’t buy this bullshit for a second.”
Huisman stood at the top of the stairs, two guards flanking him. “Lena, do you think I don’t know what I’m doing? Do you think I don’t have eyes on Taggart? Even now he’s huddled up in his office building with the rest of the team. They entered the building six hours ago. I do believe they’re trying to figure out where to go. I know their jet is on standby. They haven’t filed a flight plan yet because they can’t figure out where to look.”
Lena pointed his way. “Yeah, but their pilot is here. Have you thought about that?”
“I snuck him out,”
Zach claimed. “I was in Dallas today meeting with someone my mother works with. When I received your message, I knew I needed backup I could count on, and that’s my brother. You can’t possibly expect me to turn myself over without a guard to escort the women out of here. He’s part of the deal.”
“Ah, so he knows now.”
Huisman started down the stairs.
This was where he hoped he was a better liar than Kala thought he was. “I’ve known since he joined the team.”
Huisman stopped, his expression shuttering. “No, you have not.”
Either he had someone on the inside—and by inside it would have to be an actual member of the team—or he was guessing. The good news about his team? The only one who wasn’t solid was standing beside him. “Zach told me when he joined the team.”
Huisman’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you.”
Huisman was really arrogant. The man hadn’t even restrained them. He was counting on his guards and their fear for the women. One of those things did keep Cooper on a leash, and it sure wasn’t the guards. “It doesn’t matter in the end. I’d like to see Kala and Devi. I’ll take them off your hands. I have a car waiting at the road. Should I bring it down?”
Huisman’s mask slipped back on, and he seemed jovial again. “Oh, I think we should negotiate first. I am completely willing to part with Devon Taggart in exchange for your brother selling out his mother.”
He walked to the small bar. It was a neatly kept tray in what appeared to be the front lounge. “Kala is another story. Kala is… Well, she’s a personal project of mine.”
Zach’s hand reached out, stilling Cooper. “There’s no deal without Kala.”
Huisman’s smile was vaguely reptilian. “Then I’m afraid we won’t have a deal. Perhaps you will change your mind when I start cutting off pieces of young Miss Taggart. Or perhaps I’ll get creative and take her eyes. She’s some sort of designer. Well, she’ll find other work. Guard, go down to the basement and shove your thumbs into Miss Taggart’s eyes. Bring them to me.”
He held up a hand. “The redhead. Don’t touch the pink-haired one. She’s mine. But she’s a bit of a feral animal at this point, so you might give her a shock or knock her out before you open the cage.”
If they opened the cage, Kala would have a shot. Even if they used a Taser on her. She handled that pretty well. And Devi knew a bit about self-defense. If they set off the bombs after the cage was open, they had a fighting chance. Though he didn’t know what they’d already taken from Kala.
“No,”
Zach practically shouted. “I’ll do it. I’ll get my mother here. Let Devi go with my brother. I’ll call her as soon as Devi’s gone.”
He looked to his brother. “I’m not leaving Kala here.”
The guard turned to Huisman. “You want me to stick my fingers in her eyes?”
While Huisman stared at his guard, Zach winked his way, and his hand came up to his waist as though highlighting the detonator he had there.
It was almost time. He wasn’t going to leave Kala, but a fight between them would be a distraction.
“And I’m not letting them blind my girlfriend,”
Zach said. “You take her out of here. I’ll deal with Kala.”
“I think you should send Kala away,”
Lena argued. “If you send her out, Taggart might stop looking. We need to regroup. I don’t like the fact that McKay is here. I think Taggart is here, too. He’s hiding.”
A crack bounced through the room, and Cooper realized it had been the sound of Huisman’s hand hitting Lena’s face. The psychologist put a palm to her cheek.
“I don’t need your voice, woman,”
Huisman snarled, every word a dark threat. “As for you, you will do what I asked or I’ll be the one taking your eyes. Am I clear?”
The guard nodded and started to walk away.
“Follow him,”
Huisman ordered another guard. “If he doesn’t do it, kill him.”
Now they were down to four guards. But they were running out of time.
Zach seemed ready to panic. “If you hurt her, all bets are off.”
“But she’ll be alive,”
Huisman argued, pouring himself a glass of what looked like whiskey or bourbon. “Isn’t that the important thing? The poor girl. She’ll be upset to find out your love only extends to her eyes. However, it’s probably a better way to go. She’ll be utterly useless, like most women.”
“How dare you.”
Lena had been frozen, but she started to move now. “After everything I did for you. You know what? Let’s see how you feel when I put that bitch out of her misery.”
She started after the guards.
Now he needed to get moving.
Huisman waved it all off. “The guards won’t let her. They have strict instructions to keep Kala Taggart alive. They’ll take care of Lena. I won’t call her a doctor. The amount of people trying to aggrandize themselves shocks me. Shall we have a drink while we wait for our prize?”
Zach looked Cooper’s way and nodded. His hand went to his waist. “Or I can show you what my mother can do.”
He pushed against his torso and the world started to explode. Light and heat blasted from behind them, the windows shattering in the rooms around them. He heard one of the guards scream, but Huisman stood there, glass in hand, perfectly comfortable with the chaos.
And the fucker smiled as though this all amused him.
“Get the women,”
Zach yelled his way. “I’ll take care of this guy.”
Huisman reached into his pocket. “Oh, Captain Reed, did you think I wouldn’t have a backup plan? Though this was spectacular. I thank you. I assume now that this is to distract me while Taggart rides in. What a fun way to end this day.”
He pressed down. “I have just begun a fire in the basement. Good luck getting them out. Or you can try to take me in. What will you choose?”
They didn’t have guns and there were still guards moving around. He had seconds, and he already knew what his choice was.
Cooper ran for the kitchen and hoped he got there in time.
* * * *
Every inch of her body ached as the guard slammed the door shut behind her.
At least the lights were on and she’d gotten a halfway decent look at the locking mechanism. It was one she’d dealt with before, and if she had the right tools and enough time, she might be able to get them out of here.
“Kala, I’m so sorry.”
Devi knelt to help her up.
The guard stood on the other side of the door, staring down at them, a bank of monitors behind him. The security system had gotten an upgrade.
“You should behave now,”
the guard said. “I’m taking a leak. Make yourselves comfy, ladies. You’re going to be here for a while.”
Not if Kala could help it. Of course, she had to get her arms functioning first. “You’re sorry? What are you sorry for, Devi? For ignoring my very reasonable advice and ditching the guard who could have avoided this for you? For probably getting Landon fired? For getting Eve shot? How about getting me tortured?”
Devi’s eyes closed briefly. “You do not hold back, cousin.”
“I never have.”
Her teeth chattered, and she forced her jaw to close. She flexed her hands.
“I’m sorry for all of it,”
Devi whispered. “Let me help you up.”
She shook her head. “I need a minute, and that’s probably all we have. Although I noticed he didn’t use the bathroom down here.”
“You know there’s a bathroom down here?”
“This is where Julia Ennis took me and Kyle.”
Devi’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry. What did he do to you?”
“Gave me a paralytic and sent a couple thousand watts through me,”
she replied. “Trust me, he’s done worse. I didn’t nearly break a rib from this. He’s working his way up, though. What can you see on the monitors?”
“They rotate through the cameras.”
Devi glanced up. “There are a lot of cameras.”
“I need to know if you see Cooper,”
Kala managed to get out. She could wiggle her toes again. It was starting to come back. “Can you sit me up? I’m pretty much going to need you to pose me like a doll.”
Devi’s brows rose, but she did as Kala asked, getting her into a seated position, her back against the concrete wall. She managed to hold her head up but she couldn’t point. “See. There. He’s walking through the damn door. Idiot. How the hell did he find me? If he’s here…”
A brilliant smile broke over Devi’s face. “Then Uncle Ian’s here.”
She tried to shake her head. “That’s not possible. How would they know?”
“The tracker,”
Devi said as though it should be obvious.
“I assure you they disabled my tracker before they ever tossed my body in the car,”
Kala replied with no small amount of bitterness. Had Zach convinced Cooper to come with him? They were stepping into the foyer.
Devi stood, looking down at her with a quizzical expression on her face. “They already figured a way around the new system Lou designed? Damn. That’s disappointing.”
The new system… Lou talked about it. Holy shit. Kala hated to admit it but the science stuff Lou could spout from time to time almost always made her fall asleep. She’d slept through the big lecture on why they all needed new trackers. Now she kind of wished she’d listened in. “Lou designed trackers that get around the tech that Huisman uses to disable them?”
“Uh, yeah,”
Devi said as though she should know—which she should. “Sorry. She was talking to Kenz about it in the locker room one night and Bri made me be quiet because she wants to use it in a book. She listens in way too much.”
They would have a talk about that, but for now hope surged through her. Somewhere out there her parents were waiting for their shot. Cooper was here, risking everything. Her team had come for her. Lena could fuck right the fuck off. Her bestie was getting a big old hug. After they got out of here. Huisman seemed to be doing that annoying thing where he talked forever. “Devi, I need you to find something we can dismantle that lock with.”
“Like what? I don’t think it comes apart. It looks solid.”
“I assure you it comes apart. I know that system. My father makes us study all the new systems to ensure we know how to use them and how to best break them if we have to.”
She was never again going to complain about those long sessions they spent in the conference room at the MT building. “But we need something to spring out the back cover. It only looks solid state. It requires batteries, hence we can get in, but I need something like a pen or a paperclip.”
“Sorry. I don’t have office supplies on me,”
Devi replied.
They might be spending some time in the ring when they got back. Female Fight Club was how some of the women of The Hideout handled their issues. She stared at her cousin, who had her hair in a high ponytail. Devi was incredibly careful about her appearance. She didn’t like flyaways messing up the line of her hairdo. “How about the bobby pins holding your hair up?”
Devi’s jaw dropped, and her hands went to her hair. “I do have one. Two, actually.”
She pulled one out. “What are you going to do with it?”
Oh, if only it was so simple. “Well, I sit here and try to stay upright and you’re going to slide it underneath until you feel the slightest indentation. You won’t be able to see it, but you’ll be able to feel it.”
“You want me to do it?”
Devi asked and then seemed to get the message Kala was sending. “I’ll do it.”
She got to her knees and straightened out the pin. Kala kept her eyes on the monitors. Huisman was talking. She could guess. Chaos. Blah, blah. New world order. Blah, blah, blah. Women bad. Yeah, Huisman thought he was, like, bringing something new to the world. That dude was obviously not on social media or he would know how tired his takes were.
“I’m not feeling anything.”
“It’s the smallest indentation.”
Kala tried to be patient. It had taken her hours to break this one. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Bring all your senses down to this one thing. It only seems solid. It’s got a very small place where you can press down and the battery slides open. From there we’ve got roughly thirty seconds when the locking mechanism is open to use the factory setting code.”
“Well, we have a problem unless you memorized the… You know it,”
Devi said with a sigh. “Do you know all of them?”
“All of the major ones,”
Kala admitted. “The best way to get away from any bad guy is to break out before the fight ever starts. When the lock comes open, you’re going to run. To our left is a secret door that leads to tunnels. They’ll take you roughly half a mile from here, but I need you to be ready because there’s likely a guard on the other side. I’m hoping Zach is about to create some chaos and my team is going to swoop in. That should mean the guard leaves his post in an attempt to help his fellow guards, or the fucker flees when he realizes it’s going bad. Whatever happens, you keep running. My parents will find you.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
Such a pain in her ass. “I can’t run, Dev. I can’t walk. The paralytic he gave me is strong, and I’ll probably be like this for at least another hour. We don’t have time. The guard could be back any second. Do it.”
“I’ll carry you out if I have to,”
Devi muttered but got back to the task.
Kala looked to the monitors. She was starting to get some control over her extremities. She could wiggle her fingers and toes and keep her neck level. She hated this, hated feeling useless. How did she explain to Devi that being forced to sit here and watch her get hurt was far worse than having it happen to herself? How was she going to get her cousin to leave without her? “You know I think you’re a bitch, right? I don’t like you. I think you’re stupid and you’re the reason we’re here.”
“Not going to work.”
Devi didn’t look back, merely knelt there, her fingers moving over and over the small base of the locking mechanism. “You love me. Though the stupid part I might agree with you over, and I’ll use the whole ‘you’re the reason we’re here’ against you for the rest of our lives. Other people might think you’re some heartless bitch, but I’m your cousin. I know exactly who you are, Kala Taggart.”
She turned suddenly, and a smile was on her face. She looked so much like her mother, but that smile was all Theo Taggart. “Hey, now I don’t have to let you punch me in Female Fight Club. You already punched me. You punched my feelings.”
Damn it. Why had she listened to Lena? Lena had her believing the world was afraid of her, and no one was. It was kind of insulting but also true. And a problem. “You have to leave. Zach will have more options if he knows you got away.”
“Why is he here?”
Devi asked.
“Because he loves you,”
Kala replied.
“He does no…”
Devi stopped. “I have it.”
Kala steeled herself. She could see the guard on the camera. He was moving through the kitchen, but he stopped to talk to another guard. Out in the foyer, Huisman seemed to be saying something to Lena. “Ease the pin under it and find the indentation. You need to push the pin inside and with enough force that the battery pack on the side slides out.”
“Can I pull the battery?”
Devi asked.
“No. After thirty seconds the lock will shut down, and then you need the owner code. I’m counting on the fact that almost no one understands they have to change both codes. The lock code is easy to change. The battery and manufacturer reset code can be changed, but it takes some work. So we’re hoping whoever set this up isn’t as good as McKay-Taggart guys.”
“So I push this and have thirty seconds and I can’t actually see the keypad since it’s on the other side.”
Devi neatly summed up the problem.
“Yes. You have to do it backward. I can visualize it. When the battery pack comes out, put your finger on the bottom row, center. That’s the zero. I’ll guide you through the rest, but you have to be careful. If you hit the wrong key, reset is bottom right, and we’ll try again. We might get three shots at this.”
“I’ll get it right,”
Devi promised. There was a slight whirring sound. “I’m ready.”
Kala began telling her the code, though not in numbers but in key positions. All the while she watched the monitors.
That was when Lena threw her hands up and followed two guards who Huisman had just obviously given orders to.
Cooper’s eyes had flared. Zach had gone stiff. Something was wrong.
They were coming.
“I’m sorry,”
Devi said. “I must have done something wrong. I reset the keypad.”
Kala began again, her mouth moving while her eyes watched the slow-rolling tragedy that was coming their way. Huisman was playing hardball, and that meant someone was going to be in pain or worse. He’d threatened to take Carys’s fingers off one by one the last time he had the team in this position.
“I’ve got it.”
Devi stood and looked back, relief plain in her eyes. “It’s open. We did it.”
The ground shook, and there was no way to miss the sound of glass exploding around the property. Kala shifted, trying to see the monitor, and it sent her sliding to the ground, her head slapping against the concrete.
“Hey, I got you.”
Her cousin started trying to get her up.
“It won’t work,”
Kala said. She needed more time, and they didn’t have it.
“No, it won’t,”
a nasty voice said. Lena stood at the top of the stairs. “None of this will work.”
Devi got Kala into a position where she could at least see what was coming for them. She could move a leg now. One. Fat lot of good that was going to do. And an arm. She had one leg and one arm. Lena didn’t need to know that.
“Whatever those boys of yours are trying to do, it won’t work,”
Lena said, stalking down the stairs, a gun in her hand. “Manny is too well prepared. He has plans you can’t imagine. But for now, these nice gentlemen have orders to bring back Miss Taggart’s eyes. We’ll see if that loosens up Captain Reed’s tongue.”
Devi had an arm around Kala, propping her up, though she was holding almost all of Kala’s weight. Thankfully Devi was a gym girl, not that it would help her in a couple of minutes. Her muscles wouldn’t stop bullets.
“Okay, ewww,”
Devi said, her nose wrinkling. “I think I will keep my eyes, thank you. You’re weird and super gross, lady.”
She would give it to her cousin. Devi was cool under pressure. She wasn’t wilting. She also probably noticed that the guards behind Lena had taken off when the explosion happened. They’d been flanking Lena but hadn’t gotten down the stairs. Now she couldn’t see them.
Lena’s expression turned to a resentful sneer. “Do you know what’s gross? The amount of families your family has destroyed.”
“Lady, I don’t care,”
Devi replied. “I get it. Daddy hurt you by walking away. Get the fuck over it. Do what the rest of us do and suck it up. Find a fucking hobby. I would say get some therapy, but it obviously doesn’t work on you. Now are you going to put out the fire that just started or shall we all cook together?”
Kala could smell it, but she couldn’t get her head to turn. There was a fire? The monitors had fritzed out. Damn it. “He’s going to blow the whole place. Like he did in Toronto. He knows the team is here. He’s going to get away, and he’ll burn the house down to make sure he can.”
“Guards, take them,”
Lena announced.
Dumbass. “They left. So you can shoot us, though you’re holding the gun wrong and the safety’s on.”
Lena looked back. “Fuckers.”
“Drop me and use the door,”
Kala whispered.
Lena turned her attention to the gun in her hand, and that was when Devi proved she could follow orders. She might be a fashion designer, but she was still a Taggart. She let Kala fall as she kicked out, slamming the door right into Lena, who fell back and sent the gun clattering to the floor.
Kala tried to hold her head up. Devi was pushing against Lena, who obviously had some training. It was a chaotic mess, and smoke was starting to pour through the basement. She could feel the heat from the flames that were currently engulfing the computer equipment Huisman kept down here.
She managed to force herself up enough to see a ghostly image of a helo taking off before the last monitor fritzed out.
Devi was fighting, but Lena was better trained. She had Devi against the wall, a hand around her cousin’s throat.
Kala used her left foot to push herself forward. It took every bit of energy she had.
“I’m not about to go down alone,”
Lena was saying. “Let’s see how well Taggarts burn.”
There was a thud as Lena smashed Devi’s head against the brick wall, and Devi slumped to the floor.
How was she going to get Devi to safety? Kala pushed the thought from her brain as she got her hand around the gun while Lena actually took the time to straighten her damn clothes out and kick a now unconscious Devi. It gave Kala a moment to force her fingers around the gun. Her arm was starting to work so she lifted, getting a line of sight on the woman who was going to try to kill her.
“As for you,”
Lena said, turning.
Kala fired. And then fired again. And again.
Lena put a hand to her gut and then her chest. Not Kala’s best work, but she was giving herself some grace.
She fired one more time, and Lena hit her knees.
“I just wanted to know my dad,”
she said, blood on her lips.
The world didn’t always give us what we wanted, but how we dealt with those tragedies made or broke souls. Lena’s was done.
She had to find a way to make sure Devi’s wasn’t. She crawled or at least pushed herself toward her cousin. She needed to wake up. “Devi. Devon fucking Taggart, wake up.”
She was almost to her when a set of boots came into view. She glanced up and Zach stood there, a grim look on his face. He knelt down and put two fingers to Devi’s wrist, and a sigh of obvious relief went through him.
“Coop’s on his way,”
Zach said as he leaned over and picked Devi up. “He got into a fight with one of the guards, but I think TJ is helping him. You tell Theo and Erin I’ll take care of her.”
“What?”
Kala tried to turn because Zach stepped over her paralyzed body and was going for the tunnel. “Where the hell are you going?”
“Can’t tell you, sister,”
he replied through the smoke. “But I’ll call when I know something. Take care of him for me. When I’m done, I’ll turn myself in.”
“Then you should leave my cousin behind,”
Kala called out. “She’s going to be pissed.”
“Then she should have taken care of herself.”
Zach started to disappear behind the door. “Good-bye, Kala.”
“Zach,”
she yelled out.
The flames seemed to find some fuel, and she could feel the heat on her skin. Naturally Huisman’s paralytic merely meant she couldn’t move. She could still feel.
But she was starting to not be able to breathe.
“Thank god.”
Cooper stood over her. He bent down and lifted her up as she coughed. “Where’s Devi?”
TJ was behind him. “Where’s my sister?”
“Zach took her through the tunnels,”
she managed to hack out.
TJ started toward them, but Cooper stopped him. “You can’t. It’s too much.”
Kala managed to get a glimpse of the door. It was now engulfed in flames. They couldn’t leave that way. Cooper started for the stairs, but Kala could feel her heart twisting inside her body. Like last time.
“Hey, I love you,”
she whispered. “I’m sorry. I love you so much.”
A pain started in her chest, and the world went black.