Chapter 43
43
COLLINS
“It was a setup!” I yell into the phone, as I frantically rush back to my rental car.
I peel off my mask, hoping that I can see better in the fog.
The air is burning my lungs, I’m breathing that hard.
“What does that mean?” Graham asks, his voice going up an octave. He sounds like he’s out of breath too. “Do you need backup? I can go to you now.”
“No. He’s gone.”
“Who? Tanner?”
“Yes. He escaped and put someone who resembles him in the back of the transport vehicle. Both the fake and the driver are dead and I’d assume by his hands.”
“For fuck’s sake!”
I hop into my rental and start the engine. Ripping off my gloves, I toss them into the back seat.
Staying on the line, I send a text to Chris.
Collins: Use GPS to get exact location of transport vehicle. Tell police two dead. Real suspect missing and on loose.
Chris: On it
Collins: Stay in town and start trying to track Tanner.
“I’m going to take the helicopter to Seattle.”
“Why there? Don’t you think he’ll be trying to leave the country?”
“I think he’s going for Penny.”
“Fuck. Really?”
“Yes.” I think it over, as I pull out onto the main road. “He’s going to use her as either a hostage or to fulfill some revenge plot.”
“Do you think murder-suicide?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“I’m grabbing Nic. We’ll take the private jet and be in the air within an hour.”
Then we disconnect the call.
Racing down the highway, I turn left and head east just long enough to arrive at the private airport where we have the helicopter stored.
I just never thought I’d have to resort to our backup plan.
At least I had one in place.
* * *
“Dammit!” Graham snarls into his cell phone, slamming his device down onto the cushioned seat in his private jet.
My eyes lock in on my own screen, as I witness his reaction through video chat. On the off chance that one of us got delayed or something happened en route, we decided to use different transportation methods.
And considering the numerous hurdles we’ve already had to jump over, I’m glad we did.
“What’s wrong?” Nic asks, pacing in front of the row of seats on the private jet. He’s going to hear this news firsthand with me apparently.
The elder Hoffman gets up, and based on his stance, I know it’s bad—very bad.
My hand grips the armrest, while my other adjusts my headset. I can’t take any more bad news.
Graham looks at me through the screen. “Basically there are several huge power outages in and around the city of Seattle from the storm and several crises happening that are pulling all available units in the entire region, not to mention several road closures due to fallen trees.”
“Well, then it’s good that we are in the air and can avoid some of those potential delays,” I say with confidence.
Nic tilts his head to the side, his brow furrowing. “True. But that’s assuming we’ll be able to land if the storms are still raging and actually get our vehicle to the facility.”
“Where are you landing?” Graham asks me, making eye contact through the screen.
“Hopefully on the roof. There’s a pad there. But if not there, I’m rappelling down.”
“Do you have any eyes out there at all?” Graham asks.
“Not anymore. There’s been a bunch of new hires, but other than that I haven’t kept tabs.”
Graham nods. “I still can’t believe Tanner tricked us. How did he know we’d stage a fight that would get him free from prison long enough to make a switch?”
“A guy on our payroll there decided to change teams.”
“Fucker.”
“Well, it cost him. He didn’t even have time to enjoy it before our loyal men took care of him.”
I glance out the fogged-up window of the helicopter. Luckily, we had one on standby just for emergency purposes, but I never dreamed of actually having to utilize it.
Granted, nothing about tonight has gone to our plan, and I’m mentally kicking myself for not having more safeguards in place.
We’ve been served up the shittiest slice of shit pie.
So many little things have worked in Mark Tanner’s favor tonight, and while we are making huge assumptions, I know he’s going for Penny and he won’t stop until he destroys every part of her. We don’t need actual trackers on him to know that he’s heading her way.
Tanner might assume he’s a dead man, so why not leave this world with a bang?
Rain pelts against the window, streaking and splattering. My eyes follow the little vertical rivers while they make their way north from the wind beating against the glass.
The pilot steers the helicopter through the night sky. I can’t help but have flashbacks to the numerous times I’ve been in the air on night missions with the military, and I can’t help but draw symbolism to what I plan to do when I get to the facility.
My mind races with so many worst-case scenarios that can still happen before this all ends.
It will end.
I’m done living in limbo where Tanner’s concerned.
“Who’s watching the girls?” I ask.
“My guy, Tyler,” Nic responds.
I nod.
Graham takes a seat. “And another three of my men.”
It’s best that none of us take anyone’s safety for granted. Who knows who’s ready to pounce at the first sign of a weak entry point.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I mutter. I really can’t.
Out of all the work I’ve done for the Hoffmans, this will be the most important yet and a life I’ll never take for granted.
And when I get my girl back, I’m never letting her go.
Glancing at the weather app on my phone, I see that the West Coast storms have let up enough for the flight to hopefully continue as expected, cutting down the trip’s time by two-thirds. But every minute I’m in the air and not at Soulful Mind is terrifying enough. I can’t help but wonder what is happening to Penny, and the thoughts of her suffering in any way because of that madman are causing soul-crushing anxiety to hit me hard.
“Our baby sister is potentially trapped in a mental institute with a psychopath, and authorities don’t think it’s worth checking out?” Nic asks, appearing to be at the end of his rope. “Not to mention that a prisoner has escaped and is on the loose.”
“They fucking want to run a DNA test on the corpse they found resembling Tanner,” Graham scoffs. “We gave them the exact address for the transport van, and they are all over the news gloating about how amazing their department is.”
“I’m not surprised,” I mutter.
“And just as a very small precaution, since I obviously pushed back on their lack of urgency, they promised to send out some local search teams in a three-mile radius from the crash site. You know, in case they are wrong.”
I sigh. “It’s asinine. The guy obviously wasn’t Tanner. It can’t be that hard to confirm.”
“Right. Yet they think if Tanner isn’t dead, then he’d be moseying around on foot,” Nic adds sarcastically.
Graham sighs, while rolling his shoulders. “And then they’ll wonder why we decided to take matters into our own hands.”
“I’m going to murder Mark Tanner,” I say with certainty. “And I’m going to enjoy every second of it.”
Graham runs his hand along the back of his neck, glancing at his screen. “Not if Nic or I get to him first. For the record, I don’t want any time wasted on ending things. We can’t ever leave this up to the authorities again.”
“Understood.” And I wholeheartedly agree.
“Nic and I may have been bitches to the system in the past, but I don’t give a fuck about the justice department right now. Penny’s probably terrified. We need to stick to our mission and not deviate from the end goal.”
I nod and then glance at my watch. “I’m twenty minutes away from the landing pad.”
“We’re about thirty from the airport,” Nic volunteers.
“We’ll need time to get into the car and race to the facility,” Graham adds. Then his eyes lock on mine through the screen. “If you arrive before us, which it appears that you will…please protect our sister.”
I swallow hard. “I’ll protect her with my life.”
And I will without hesitation.
Despite what they think about Penny and me entering into a sexual relationship, I’ve always tried to do what was best for her. Maybe tonight will prove that I’ll always put her life above my own.
There’s a silence that transpires between us, but so much is said without words that a part of me finds hope that we will work things out after this is all over.
We have to work this out.
The connection goes staticky, and I end the call.
Looking out the helicopter window, I only see dark clouds and no sign of the city or neighboring towns yet.
C’mon.
Time is ticking and the longer I’m away from Penny, the higher the chance there is that I won’t find her alive.
And it’s that realization that has my heart in a choke hold.
* * *
The helicopter lands after a rocky descent on the roof of Soulful Mind.
I gather my bag of supplies, just in case I need to do some breaking and entering.
The entire aura around this place feels eerie, and I’ve never felt this way before now. Any other time I’ve visited here, I’ve felt at peace.
Not tonight.
I disconnect my seat belt and bump fists with the pilot.
“I appreciate you getting us here safely,” I say with pride. “You’re one hell of a pilot.”
He dips his head forward, accepting my praise. “I’ll be here in case anyone needs another lift.”
“Sounds good.”
I take off running toward the staircase entrance. The perk of being in the air for an hour was that it gave me the chance to map out my plan. I already had physical copies of the layout for the building when the Hoffmans first brought Penny here. The security protocol has always been top-notch.
I just hope that those measures don’t come back to bite me today.
Because right now, I need to go and find Penny and eradicate this world of any monsters set out to do her harm.
Trying the door handle, it’s locked.
Swinging my bag to the side, I unzip a compartment and pull out some lockpicks I like to keep on me for times like this.
Then I go to work trying to manually unlock the door.
Turning the pick, I feel the click, but when I try the door handle, it doesn’t budge.
Fuck.
My eyes search the premises, looking for another entrance point.
I can’t help Penny if I can’t get inside.
With the rain beating down around me, I wipe at my brow. I have a rain jacket on but the droplets are still finding my face and impairing my vision.
Moving to the edge of the roof, I look down, seeing a steel service ladder attached onto the side along the back part of the building.
Grabbing ahold of the side, I make my descent.
When I get to the base, I try every door I encounter, until one finally gives.
“Hold on, Princess,” I whisper. “I’m coming for you.”