Chapter 17
“The teachers didn’t ask us about our poles this time,” Jack said with a frown.
“I like it when they offer to help us hold our hoses,” Conley said, pouting.
Colton and Nolan shared a smirk as they pulled away from the Keeneston Elementary School. They’d presented a school safety lesson then showed the kids the fire truck.
“I’m pretty sure they were put on their best behavior by the presence of the school board,” Flint said before letting out a long-suffering sigh. “I really enjoyed demonstrating mouth-to-mouth on the librarian last year.”
“Hey,” Conley drawled, suddenly sounding serious. “Who is that guy?”
Nolan leaned forward and saw a man standing on the street in a very puffy jacket. He had danger written all over him.
“Call it in,” Colton told them before directing them to drive ahead and pull into the station since it was so close. “Could this be one of the men after Helena?”
“Could be. Looks like the photos of Garang’s men. See that necklace? According to Helena, they all wear the same one.” Nolan could only catch a piece of the leather and the top of a star pendant, but it was enough to make the connection to Garang. “I think I’ll ask him about it.”
Nolan hopped out of the truck even as Colton was telling him to wait.
The sheriff’s office was directly behind where the man was standing.
But, just as when one of them went into the fire, they all went.
The truck emptied out as Nolan advanced on the man.
He wasn’t nearly as tall as Nolan, and Nolan had a good fifty pounds on him.
However, there was a very good chance that he was armed.
“Hey, man.” Nolan called out. The man had been standing across the street from the Blossom Café, hiding behind the horse statue in front of the courthouse observing the café. “Can I help you? You look lost.”
The man turned cold eyes to him. They weren’t dead. Instead, they were menacing. A cold fury built just below the surface.
“No, you cannot help me.” He spoke in English, but his accent told Nolan it was South Sudanese by process of elimination. It wasn’t American, British, Australian, or anything else he’d ever heard. The man turned his head back to the café as if Nolan was no threat.
“Well, I think you can help me.” Nolan approached him, feeling Conley directly behind him.
The rest of the team would be there in some capacity too.
In the distance, the side door to the courthouse opened and he was sure the sheriff’s department was on their way too.
“I think you can tell me all about Garang and his plans.”
There wasn’t a spark of life to his eyes, instead a flash of recognition.
Then he moved. Fast. Nolan was used to animals and getting the hell out of their way, which was the only reason the man’s knife didn’t sink into his heart.
He moved fast enough that it caught the outside of his fireman’s jacket.
Nolan countered with a punch to the back of the man’s head as he spun out of the way. The two men faced off. Conley circled around the back, looking for a moment to put him in a headlock.
“Drop the knife!” Matt, the sheriff, yelled. However, Nolan knew he couldn’t take a shot because Conley was behind the man.
“I’ll drop it into your heart,” he sneered as he lunged for Nolan.
Nolan was ready to grab him and toss him like a hay bale when a blast of water shot out and hit the man on the side with such force that it sent him flying down the sidewalk.
Nolan looked to see the rest of his team racing to join them even as Matt was handcuffing the man. Colton and Jack were handling the hose and Flint was wielding an axe like a lumberjack, twirling it menacingly. Conley was now standing over the man just in case Matt needed help.
“Why are you here?” Nolan asked. “Is Garang here too?
The man just smiled and tried to jerk free from where Matt was hauling him to his feet.
“The bitch will die, but not before we get the answers we want. We know she’s here.”
Nolan was known for his cool head, but it was hard to keep it when the man was threatening Helena.
“And which bitch is that?” Matt asked, but he already knew. “Sarah? Ashley? Emma?” he said, making up names. Matt was behind the man and so he didn’t see the anger radiating off him, but Nolan did.
“Or maybe Helena,” Nolan said, eliciting a reaction. “Yeah, definitely Helena. Garang is such a coward he has to send men to come get one small woman. And what does that make you, now that you failed?” Nolan laughed without a trace of humor.
The man lunged, but Matt yanked on the cuffs behind his back at the same time Conley grabbed the man by the shoulder.
“What’s the matter?” Nolan asked with a smirk. “Just realizing you failed at a simple mission to get one little lady? What’s Garang going to do to you when he finds out you’re a failure? I bet it’s not going to be pretty.”
“I’m only the scout. The full force of Garang’s power is coming.
You, that bitch, the whole town will be wiped out.
In the ashes of the burning town will be a rebirth after the darkness.
” The smile on the man’s face was something straight out of a cult.
Then he slammed his jaw together tightly.
His face contorted and he began to foam at the mouth.
“He’s poisoned himself!” Nolan yelled as Flint rushed forward to try to administer emergency aid. However, it was useless. By the time Matt and Conley lowered the man to the sidewalk he was already dead.
Matt looked up at Nolan and his eyes locked on the black device on his jacket. “Was your body cam on?” Matt asked.
Nolan nodded. “It’s on anytime the jacket is on.”
“I need a copy of this. Jace does too, to maybe identify the poison. Then I would guess several other people in the town would want to see it. What the hell was he talking about with a rebirth?”
Colton was already jogging back to the firehouse. “I’ll pull it now and send it to the usual group.”
“Make sure to include Helena,” Nolan called out.
“Got it!” Colton replied.
Helena sat back after telling the group all she’d learned about Garang and how he rose to power over the past two years.
Specifically, who he took power from to become the leader of the opposition.
She told the stories she’d learned from the people on the ground in South Sudan.
Not the journalists or even the governments on the ground, but from the aid workers and the citizens.
She put forth all the evidence she had gathered for Garang to earn his Red Notice.
Greer and Kori’s phones both vibrated at the same time.
“What’s going on?” Wick asked.
“And how long until we’re included on the Keeneston group chat?” Avent asked with a sigh. “I tried to bribe the Rose sisters with my Irish grandmother’s cookies last week and I’m still not on it.”
Kori worked his phone and a second later his phone was mirrored on the large screen.
He pressed play and Helena froze when she heard Nolan’s voice.
She watched, unable to even blink, as the man attacked Nolan.
She gasped, or might have, but her hand ended up over her mouth when she saw the knife plunging toward him.
Then again when the man’s mouth began to foam and he died in seconds.
Greer turned to her. She was not gasping. She was not horrified. She was calm and it made Helena feel calmer even as her emotions were going wild. “What do you take from that?”
“The necklace is what Garang’s men wear,” Helena told them. “I only noticed it since I was surrounded by them and saw it. They don’t wear traditional military uniforms. It stood out to me as the one thing they were wearing in common.”
“Good. That part wasn’t in our intelligence. That will be helpful,” Greer told her, encouraging her to continue.
Helena took a deep breath and closed her eyes for just a moment.
“What the man said didn’t make sense. A rebirth?
What has that got to do with me? However,” she paused thoughtfully, “rebirth is the literal meaning of the word renaissance. I believe that confirms your suspicions that Garang is part of this New Renaissance group.”
Everyone at the table nodded. “Kori, would you take Helena to see Nolan? I’m sure she’s worried about him.
He’ll be with Jace, getting the knife wound looked at,” Greer told them.
“We’ll stay here and analyze everything and see if we can figure out who recruited Garang into New Renaissance.
” Helena stood up, her legs shaking, but stable.
She was worried, but at least she felt as if she were helping.
“Oh, and Helena,” Greer said, stopping her.
“Good job today. We’ll be here to protect you and the witnesses.
I’m trusting you with that folder. Study it tonight and we will discuss it tomorrow.
Don’t let it out of your sight. If anyone approaches you or tries to get into your room, you destroy it.
Immediately.” Greer reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic tube.
“Just pour this onto the paper. My cousin developed it. It’s nanotech and will only destroy paper so don’t worry if it touches you. ”
Helena took the tube and stared at it as if it might attack her. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Piper is a genius. It’s safe. But only use it on the folder if it’s at risk,” Greer instructed.
“Got it. I’ll review it tonight and let you know what I think. I assume I can’t tell Nolan about any of this?”
“He’s a townie. He’s good. The town is part of the reason we set up our headquarters here.
They’ll help us when we need them and they’ll keep our secrets too.
The training center attendees, on the other hand, have no knowledge.
They’re here doing their one- or two-week programs then heading back to their state, government agency, or military branch.
We use them on occasion but tell them it’s a training exercise. ”
“You’re telling me the entire town knows all this classified material? That’s a massive safety risk.”
“They don’t know the details, but they know we are here and the town has clearance.
More than you do. More than most of the people working in the White House do,” Greer said with a smirk.
“Don’t underestimate Keeneston. They’ve saved the world before.
And if we need them, they’ll help us save it again.
And they’ll certainly help save you and your witnesses from Garang.
Case in point.” Greer said, pointing to the frozen image of Matt, Nolan, and Conley with Garang’s man on the big screen.
“Got it. I’ll do everything I can to help.”
“We knew you would,” Wick said with a wink.
“Can you not flirt for five seconds?” Rosalie said with a roll of her eyes.
“That was flirting? I feel I have so much to learn,” Xander sighed. “I can kill someone with a pencil, but this is flirting?” Xander winked at Helena. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to flirt with you. I was just practicing.”
“How do you flirt in Bermalia?” Bowen asked.
“We follow the king’s example. We demonstrate our masculinity by showing off the family jewels.” Xander stood up and his hand went to his zipper.
“No!” Greer shouted, stopping him. “One Draven is enough. No showing off the family jewels.”
“I can demonstrate how to kill someone with a pencil? Would that work?” Xander asked in earnest.
“For the right woman, sure,” Greer said with a shrug.
“I think you just need to take off your shirt,” Rosalie said with a grin for Helena.
“Like this?” Bowen ripped off his shirt and Helena blinked. Holy smokes. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven . . . she lost count of the ridges of his abs.
“Just like that,” Rosalie told him with a smile.
“I can do that too.” Bowen shrugged and then pulled off his shirt.
“Have I thanked you yet today for this job?” Rosalie asked Greer, who was shaking her head at the men.
“How are we doing at flirting?” Bowen asked.
“Amazingly!” Rosalie told them. Helena had to agree.
“Kori, take Helena to see Nolan. Rosalie, knock it off and do not let them strip naked. Logan, you and Kellen teach Bowen and Xander how to flirt so they don’t strip in public,” Greer ordered.
“What about me?” Wick asked. “I should be the flirting teacher.”
“You’re in a time-out,” Greer said to the man almost twice her size.
“Aw, man. How long this time?” Wick asked as Kori led Helena out of the secret basement lair of the Bluegrass Ops team.
The door closed behind them and they headed to the first floor. “So, those are the people stopping global crises?”
Kori chuckled. “Yeah, and there’s no one better than them. Trust me. If Garang comes, you’ll want them on your side.”