Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Sterling gasped. His vision blurred as he blinked his eyes open.
His pulse quickened, but he quickly reminded himself to stay calm while he assessed the situation.
Beneath him, the floor was cold, hard, and unforgiving.
Concrete. He jerked his hands. That was a mistake.
Zip-tied behind his back. His skull throbbed, and flashes of the car chase filled his brain.
He shifted, and his ribs felt like someone decided they were a wishbone.
The last thing he remembered was Logan Pike crouching outside the busted windshield with a smug expression Sterling wanted to erase—permanently. He didn't have that feeling too often these days, but it was still with him.
He blinked a few times, forcing his eyes to adjust faster.
The roof was metal and rusted. Could be anywhere Florida, but the smell was distinct.
Vegetation rot. And it was thick, humid, and full of salt.
They were close to water. Most likely somewhere that led to the bay or the ocean.
He couldn't be too far from Calusa Cove.
There were cracked beams and a ceiling fan that wasn't spinning.
Not too many old, abandoned buildings between Calusa Cove and the west coast. But there were some toward the east.
Interesting that they'd doubled back. But made sense if these assholes were trying to make to cover their tracks.
Sunlight came through a gap near a loading bay and cut a pale strip across the floor. There were two big doors, shut, heat seeping under the edges.
To Sterling's left, Nick's breath panted raggedly. He sat against a square post ten feet away. Blood on his cheek. Hands tied behind his back. Ankles bound.
"Our guests are awake." Pike stood near a folding table with a gun on his hip and that fucking smug smile on his face.
Asshole.
"Good to see you again, Fox. Colter." Charlie Baldwin, a man Sterling hadn't expected to see in a situation like this, leaned against a forklift across the room with a rifle.
"Can't say the same for you." Sterling had met Charlie a little over a year ago when Sterling had to sit in a room full of suits and discuss his release from the CIA. He hadn't been the only one who had a brain full of intel. But he carried some things the government wished he didn’t.
Sterling wished that information wasn't stored up there either.
He wished he could forget a lot of things.
And he knew this wasn't all about corridor operations or which person he'd come across during his time in the southern hemisphere had been willing to take a bribe, look the other way, or who was aggressively corrupt.
This was about images. About maps. About things only Sterling had seen in a way only he's seen them. About what places looked like on the inside. How to get in, get out, and never be seen.
It was about ultimate power. And right now, these people thought Sterling held the key. Maybe he did, but whatever he had, they’d have to kill him first.
"I'm hurt." Charlie had gone to West Point and served four years after that.
He got his time in, and then he went to the Department of Defense where he pushed pencils and people.
He was the kind of guy that believed he was important, but really, was only a gofer.
He was kept around because he was willing to do what his keepers wanted him to do.
That made him dangerous in the sense that he was willing to go to any lengths. But it also made him an idiot, and idiots could be bought and sold.
Rutgers, who Sterling only knew from pictures, hovered near a laptop. Sterling knew very little about this guy, except that he currently mistrusted the man, considering the situation.
And Doyle stood by a stack of old pallets with his arms crossed and a frown that reminded Sterling of the last time he'd done an op with Doyle.
Sterling remembered it vividly because it was the only time Sterling had ever seen Doyle get upset over his ideas not being taken seriously.
Normally, Doyle got pissy for five minutes, then let it roll off his back and focused on the mission.
The man was a little left of normal, but he didn't have a death wish.
But that day, Sterling had agreed with Doyle one hundred percent. He liked the plan so much that Sterling had implemented it in the field. Too bad Doyle hadn't been on that mission. He'd been taken off for insubordination. One of the few times Doyle had pushed hard to be heard.
"Comfortable?" Pike asked.
"Five-star accommodations," Nick said.
"You were always a wise ass." Pike inched closer, lowering himself to glare at Sterling. "If you had just taken the job, we wouldn't be here." Pike made a tsk tsk noise.
"Somehow, I don't believe that," Sterling said.
Charlie snorted. "You've been hanging out with that asshole over there too long."
"I'm offended," Nick said.
One of the big doors screeched across the floor.
Harlan Koda stepped inside wearing a pair of pressed dark dress pants and a pale shirt button down shirt.
His shoes were black patent leather, and he strolled into the space with his hands in his pockets.
Even his swagger had swagger. Two men followed him in, both armed, and neither looked familiar.
"We meet again," Koda said.
"I don't think I’ve ever met you." Nick shifted, groaning in the process.
"I wasn’t talking to you." Koda snagged a chair, dragged it to the center of the room and sat down. "You're an unfortunate complication."
"I get told that a lot."
Koda waved his hand, as if to dismiss Nick. "So, how's the legendary Librarian doing?"
Sterling leaned back against the post. "If you want something, I'll need to see your library card."
"I've always enjoyed your dry sense of humor."
"You don't know shit about me," Sterling said.
"Maybe. I want to know what's in that brain of yours.
" He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Doyle thought he had this great plan. He said it would take time.
And we had to be patient. But that we'd get all the information we wanted if we played the long game. But you backed out of the job."
"I could've gotten him to change his mind," Doyle said. "You're not going to get what you want this way."
Sterling glanced at Doyle who had shifted his posture, slightly. He leaned against one of the pallets, but he wasn't relaxed. His arms were still crossed, and his face was bunched up so tight he looked constipated.
"I've been thinking about that job," Sterling said. "The information, the names that you want from corridor that are still around. They’re small potatoes. That can't be all you want."
"Maybe not," Koda said. "But if they aren't big pieces on the board, why not just give them to me now?" He waved a hand and smiled. "You give me that, and I'll get you some water."
"Not a good trade." Sterling craned his neck. "Untie me, and I might think about it."
"That's not gonna happen until we develop some trust." Koda tilted his head. "I'm not a bad guy, here. I do a lot of good things for our country."
Nick snorted.
Sterling laughed. "Trying to extract my intel isn't good. Even the government doesn't try to do that with the shit that's not on paper. They have to sign documents, get court orders, have congressional hearings, then bring me in and have civilized conversations."
Koda leaned back and raised his hands. "This can be civilized. If you want it to be. Just start talking." He pointed to one of the armed men that Sterling didn't know. "I'll get my guy to start recording, and we'll make it all official like."
"You're a regular diplomat," Nick said.
"Open your mouth again, and I'll have someone shut it for you. Permanently." Koda nodded his head at one of the guards, who marched over to Nick and pistol whipped him.
Nick twisted, his body slumped to the concrete. Groaning, he managed to right himself to a sitting position. He spat, blood spewing from his mouth.
"I don't like using force," Koda said. "It's one of the many reasons I went along with Doyle's plan."
"I never liked it," Rutgers said, but he didn't move from his position. Didn't even look up.
"It was a good plan. I'm sure even Sterling would agree." Doyle rubbed the back of his neck.
"It wasn't the worst," Sterling said.
"Well, it didn't work. And the thing is, I've wanted you in my organization. I've wanted that for a long time. Approaching you would've been crazy. You'd have turned me in faster than Superman could leap a tall building. But there are other ways to own a man."
"And how's that?" Sterling asked.
"Pressure points," Doyle mumbled. "Weak spots. Or having you work for him unknowingly. Doing something illegal and then having him hold it over your head for years."
"Is that what he did with you?" Sterling asked.
"Not exactly, but that's what I was doing with you," Doyle admitted. "If you had taken the job, it wouldn't have been straight forward because Granger is dirty as fuck. But it would have put you between a rock and a hard place because you would have crossed lines you couldn't have come back from."
Koda let out a long breath and lowered his head. "I'll deal with you later."
"I'm sure you will," Doyle said, fists dangling at his sides.
Sterling stole a glance at Nick who tilted his head.
Interesting dynamic in the room. Sterling would need to figure out how to exploit it because as of right now, he wasn’t going to be able to fight his way out of here.
"It doesn't have to be like this." Koda leaned back and crossed his legs.
"What do you have in mind?"
"You could come work for me. I'd even bring Colter on, too."
"Let's say I was interested," Sterling said. "What would that look like?"
"You'd both stay where you are. That wouldn't change. You'd continue doing whatever it is you do. But when I need something, you do it. And when I need what's useful in that brain of yours, you freely give it. To whoever I tell you to. And you don't question me. Ever."
"You honestly thought I'd just agree to that?" Sterling twisted his wrists.