Chapter 15 Fort Liberty, North Carolina #2
“You see, operations like this one require certain sacrifices to be made," Wes said. "Collateral damage in a much larger game."
Specs' fingers had stopped moving on her keyboard. She held Lark’s gaze.
It was done. Communication link established. Kawan and everyone else should be able to hear everything.
“You’re just going to kill us to cover up the truth?” Specs asked.
Wes laughed, the sound harsh and bitter. "Truth? Lady, you wouldn't know the truth if it bit you on the ass."
"Try me," Specs said.
"The truth is that sometimes good people have to do bad things to prevent worse things from happening," Mina said. "The truth is that the world is more complicated than your black-and-white view of right and wrong."
"The truth is, you're traitors," Lark spat.
"Perhaps," Wes said, stepping closer. "Unfortunately, you two are going to have an accident."
He gestured toward the door with his weapon.
"Now, follow us please."
Kawan crouched behind a maintenance shed on the east side of the administrative building, checking his watch for the third time in five minutes.
Fourteen hundred hours had come and gone, and Lark and Specs should have been in Lorre's office for twenty minutes now.
Long enough to establish communications but not long enough for things to go completely sideways.
Yet.
"Comms check," he said quietly into his throat mic. "All stations report."
"Thor, west perimeter. All quiet."
"Jupiter, north side. Two guards at the main entrance, rotating every thirty minutes like clockwork."
"Sloan, south approach. Vehicle bay's clear, but I've got eyes on our backup transport."
"Lief, overwatch position. Good sightlines on the third floor. No movement in the target office since our girls went in."
"Moose, rear exit. Locked down tight, but I can get us through if we need an alternative route."
Kawan keyed his mic again. "Brick, what's your status?"
"Pipe and I are in the lobby, running our 'security assessment,'" came Brick's calm voice. "Tonka's in the basement, checking their electrical systems. So far, our cover's holding."
"Any word from Bradford and Alvarez?" Kawan asked.
"Radio silence since they moved to their position an hour ago," Dustin's voice crackled through the comm. "Could be maintaining operational security, could be something else."
That "something else" was what worried Kawan. Bradford and Alvarez were supposed to be providing overwatch from an abandoned office building two blocks away, ready to move in if things went hot. The fact that they weren't responding to check-ins made his skin crawl.
"Jupiter," he said. "You picking up anything on the electronic surveillance front?"
"Negative. Whatever Specs is doing in there, she's keeping it quiet. No unusual network traffic, no security alerts. Either she's being very subtle, or—"
"Or they're not letting her work," Kawan finished grimly.
A burst of static filled his earpiece, followed by a familiar voice that made his blood run cold.
"—died," came Specs' voice, crystal clear through the communication link she'd apparently managed to establish.
Then Wes Lantham's voice, casual as always: "Close. But as you can see, reports of our deaths have been greatly exaggerated."
Kawan's finger tightened on his weapon. Wes was alive. And from the sound of it, he was working with Lorre.
"How long?" Lark's voice, tight with barely controlled fury.
"How long what?" Mina asked.
"How long have you been working against us?" Lark asked.
"Define 'against.' Because from where I'm standing, we're on the right side of this thing,” Wes said.
Kawan forced himself to stay in position, listening to the conversation playing out in Lorre's office.
Every instinct screamed at him to move, to get to Lark before whatever trap they'd walked into could spring completely.
But he needed intelligence first. Needed to understand what they were dealing with.
"Thor," Kawan said quietly. "You getting this?"
"Copy. This whole thing's been a setup from the beginning—but we already knew that. This is just the confirmation we needed, and now, thanks to Specs, it’s been recorded.”
"… unfortunately, you two are going to have an accident. Now, follow us, please,” Wes said.
The communication link went dead.
"Shit," Kawan muttered. "They're moving them."
“Pipe, Brick, you guys got any eyes on the hallways with your system?” Thor asked.
“Sure do,” Brick said. “Back staircase. Headed toward the east end of the building.”
“That’s where our van is,” Tonka said.
"Sloan," Thor's voice cut through the silence. "You still have eyes on the vehicle bay?"
"Affirmative. Two figures just came out of the rear exit, escorting two others. They're loading them into a black sedan."
"That's them," Kawan said, already moving. "We need to follow."
"Negative," Thor replied. "We can't risk a high-speed chase through military housing. Moose, can you get a tail on that vehicle without being spotted?"
"On it," Moose confirmed. "I'll keep my distance, track where they're going. You all pack up and ease on down the road. Once you’re out, you can hightail it to my location.”
Kawan reached the parking lot just in time to see the black sedan pulling out onto the main road. His hands clenched into fists as he watched it disappear around a corner, taking Lark and Specs with it.
"This is fucked," Jupiter said, appearing beside him. "We just lost them."
"Thor, we need to move. Now," Kawan said into his mic.
"Easy. Moose will track them. We'll regroup and follow. Going in hot and stupid will just get everyone killed."
"They could be taking them anywhere," Kawan argued. "Every second we wait—"
"Is a second we use to plan this right," Thor interrupted. "Brick, Pipe, Tonka—exfil now. Meet at rally point two."
"What about Lorre?" Pipe asked.
"Gone," came Dustin's voice. "Office is empty—no sign of him anywhere. But thanks to Specs, I’ve got enough to lock down this base. I’m doing it now, so get out. If he’s still not here, we’ll get him. I promise.”
Minutes later, Kawan jumped into the back of an SUV. “Let’s go.”
“Moose pinged his location,” Thor said. “Following now.” He eased off the base and onto the main road, putting the pedal to the metal.
Kawan kept looking between his watch and Jupiter, who did the exact same thing. “You okay, buddy?”
“Specs isn’t cut out for this,” Jupiter said softly. “She’s come a long way, but this? I don’t know.”
“She’s tough.” Kawan had seen it in her eyes—that quiet steel beneath the nerves. She'd hold.
“She can also be reactionary.” Jupiter rubbed the back of his neck. “But no idea how she’ll be in this situation, especially when guns are involved.”
“We’re not going to let anything happen to her,” Thor said from the front seat. “To either of them.”
Twenty minutes later, they pulled into an abandoned gas station five miles from the base. Moose was already hunched over a tablet.
“What do you have?” Kawan asked.
“Tracking the beacon Specs had apparently managed to activate before they'd taken her,” Moose said. “Woman has mad skills.”
“Puts me to shame.” Jupiter puffed out his chest as if he were a proud man.
"Got them," Moose said. "Riverside Motel, about four miles east of here. Looks like they stopped moving about ten minutes ago."
"That's not a coincidence," Thor said grimly. "They picked that location for a reason."
"Isolated," Sloan observed, studying satellite imagery on his phone. "Single access road, clear sightlines in all directions. Easy to defend."
"Or easy to dispose of bodies without being seen," Kawan said darkly.
"We go in quiet," Thor decided. "Two-man entry team, the rest provide overwatch and extraction support." He glanced at his watch. “Brick, Pipe, and Tonka are five minutes out.”
"I'm going in," Kawan said.
"And me," Jupiter added.
Thor nodded. "Lief, you're our sniper, since Kawan’s going in. Find an elevated position with good sightlines of the motel. Sloan, you and Moose cover the access road—anyone tries to leave, you stop them. Brick's team will provide backup if things go sideways."
"What about Bradford and Alvarez?" Sloan asked.
"Still no contact," Thor replied. "We go with what we have."
The drive to the motel took eight minutes, but it felt like hours. Kawan checked his weapons for the third time, his jaw clenched so tight it ached. Every scenario running through his head ended with Lark bleeding out in some dingy motel room while he was too late to save her.
“I know what you’re thinking, but we’re gonna get there,” Jupiter said quietly. “We have to.”
“I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to her,” Kawan muttered.
The Riverside Motel was precisely what he'd expected—a run-down strip of rooms with peeling paint and broken neon signs. The black sedan sat in front of room twelve, engine still ticking as it cooled.
"Eyes on target," Lief's voice came through the comm. "Room 12. Two heat signatures moving around inside, two stationary. I suspect our girls are tied up."
"Any other vehicles?" Thor asked.
"Negative. Just the sedan,” Leif said.
"Movement patterns?" Thor asked.
"One pacing near the window, one by the door. Classic overwatch positions,” Lief added.
Kawan and Jupiter approached from the rear of the building, using the shadows cast by the afternoon sun for cover. The motel was built in a simple L-shape, with room twelve at the far end of the long side.
"Bathroom window," Jupiter whispered, pointing to a small, frosted window near the back corner of the room.
They moved carefully, testing each step to avoid making noise on the gravel. When they reached the window, Kawan cupped his hands and boosted Jupiter up so he could peer inside.
"Shit," Jupiter breathed. "Lark's in bad shape. Looks like they worked her over pretty good."
White-hot rage flooded Kawan's system. "Can you see Specs?"
"Tied to a chair near the bed. Black eye, cracked lip, scared shitless.” Jupiter dropped down. "Wes is by the door, Mina's got a position near the front window. They're not expecting company from the back."
"Window's too small for entry," Kawan observed. "We go through the wall."
"How?"
"We make our own entrance."
“You and your fucking explosives,” Jupiter whispered. “Couldn’t that injure the girls?”
“Not from back here and not if I rig it to blow out, not in,” Kawan said. “And as long as the Gods align.”
“Sometimes you scare the shit out of me.”
Kawan moved to the rear wall of the room and placed his hand against it.
Cheap construction, thin walls. "Shaped charge. Might be overkill, but it won’t do damage to our girls.
” Kawan pulled a small breaching charge from his kit.
"This'll put a nice hole in the wall without bringing down the whole building. "
They positioned the charge at shoulder height then moved back to the minimum safe distance.
"Thor, we're about to make some noise," Kawan said into his mic.
"Copy. All units, standby,” Thor said.
"On three," Kawan said, finger on the detonator. "One... two..."
The explosion was smaller than Kawan had expected, but effective. A ragged hole appeared in the rear wall, large enough for a man to dive through.
"Go, go, go!" Jupiter yelled
Kawan went through first, rolling as he hit the cheap carpet inside. The room erupted into chaos—Wes spinning toward the unexpected breach, Mina shouting something in Spanish, the sound of chairs scraping across the floor.
The scene that greeted him turned Kawan's blood to ice.
Lark and Specs sat zip-tied to chairs in the center of the room. Lark's left eye was swollen nearly shut, a dark bruise spreading across her cheek. Blood trickled from a cut above her eye, and more blood stained the front of her shirt. Specs looked more terrified than roughed up.
Wes had his weapon up and was already firing, forcing Kawan to roll behind the bed for cover. Jupiter came through the hole a second later, going left as bullets chewed through the cheap drywall above Kawan's head.
"Well, well," Wes called out. "Look what the cat dragged in." The bastard sounded like they'd just run into each other at a bar. "Look what the cat dragged in."
Mina had moved behind Lark's chair, her pistol pressed against the base of Lark's skull.
"Drop your weapons or she dies," Mina shouted.
Kawan's rifle was trained on Wes, but he stole a quick glance at Lark's battered face. The barely controlled fury that rose in his chest burned fiercely.
"Let them go," he said, his voice deadly calm despite the rage burning inside him.
"I don't think so," Mina replied, pressing the barrel harder against Lark's head. "In fact, I think you two are going to drop your weapons and join the party."
From across the room, Lark met Kawan's gaze. Even beaten, even bound, there was still fire there. Still fight. And something else—an apology, maybe, for walking into this trap.
"Kawan," she said quietly, her voice thick from the injuries to her mouth. "Don't—"
"Shut up," Mina snapped and struck her across the back of the head with the pistol grip.
Lark's head snapped forward, and a fresh trickle of blood ran down her neck.
That's when Kawan knew someone was going to die in this room.