Chapter 29
29
Memories bombarded her, rushed at her, igniting emotions, and filling her with dread. A hammer beat her head and she pressed her fingertips against her temples as if the action could stop the pain. Her chest constricted as she tried to breathe, but fear and terror paralyzed her.
Hawk gently grabbed her arms. “Take a deep breath. Just calm down.”
The images ... everything that had happened hit her all at once as if a curtain had suddenly lifted to reveal what had been hidden in her mind this whole time. Those memories had always been there, just beyond the veil, but she hadn’t been able to access them.
“Remi, look at me. It’s going to be okay.”
How could he say that? He had no idea. Too much information hit her at once and none of it good.
“Breathe, Remi, breathe.” He grabbed her hands. “Look at me.”
She blinked a few times, then stared at him, his face filled with concern. Compassion. The cab filled with the sound of rain pummeling the truck and pavement. Focus on Hawk.
She drew in a breath, then released it. Then another. And another. In and out.
“Good, you’re doing great. Keep it up.”
Leaning back against the truck seat, she pulled her hands free from his and closed her eyes.
“Take your time,” he said.
But tell him everything.
She opened her eyes again to peer at Hawk.
“Look,” he said. “John already told me the operation name. He already gave me information, if you’re concerned that Operation Blackout was classified. He was basically reading me in.”
“Who is he to read you in? For that matter, who is he to read me in? I’m not on this mission, and I was never supposed to be part of it. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” She shook her head. “Classified or not, you need to know if you’re going to finish this with me, and we’ll deal with the fallout.”
“I’m good with that.”
She could do it. She had to tell someone. Hawk was it.
“I was at this café in the capital, Novograd. Sitting outdoors, taking in the sights. I planned to visit a castle that day.”
“For the travel blog,” he said.
“Yes. I hadn’t gotten up the nerve to start it. Maybe if I had, then we’d have that record. But I kept seeing this guy, you know? Thirties. Glasses.”
“You mean he was following you?”
“No. He kept coming to that same café. I was there for three days. I was taking shots of a gorgeous cathedral, you know, with the domes like you see in Russia. I decided to capture him in the photos. That’s when I realized that someone was following him . I noticed the follower was packing too. I wasn’t sure what to do. Warn him? And put myself in danger? Or mind my own business and leave him to his own troubles? Then the strangest thing happened. He approached and asked if he could sit at my table and then he sat down before I could respond.”
“What would you have said?”
“I would have said yes. It would give me a chance to warn him. He smiled and spoke very good English, but with an accent. Turned out he wasn’t happy that I had taken his picture. I showed him the pictures, and that’s when I told him he was being followed.
“A bullet grazed the chair he was in. We both ducked. People screamed. I’m not sure if he grabbed me or I grabbed him, but the next thing you know, we’re running down alleyways, and I was lost. But now and then, whoever was after him would catch up and bullets would fly again. Hitting much too close for comfort. I did what I could to protect this stranger, pushing him into doorways, yanking him down other alleys, whatever it took to cover and protect him so the bullets wouldn’t hit either of us. I guess my former military training just kicked in or maybe it was the will to survive.”
Remi shook her head. “We ducked into a church and hid in the confessional. Not sure how long we were there, but it had to be hours. He said he was trying to escape the country and asked if I could help him get to his extraction point.”
“Why would he want you to do that?”
“I think he was scared, for one thing. Plus, he knew that I was an American and had been in the Army.” She shrugged. “When you’re hiding in a confessional, you say a lot of things. Like, I learned his name was Sergei Petrov. I had helped him stay alive so far, and so he seemed desperate for me to stick with him until, and I quote, ‘the Americans get him out.’ At first, he even believed that I was part of the extraction team, sent there to watch over him and assist him to the meeting place. To be honest, at that point, I felt I needed an extraction too. I had no idea what I’d gotten myself into.”
His expression remained grim. Serious. “Where were the Zarovian police?”
“Oh, they showed up, searching the city. We slipped out of the church late at night and headed into the countryside. Sergei warned me against talking to them. He was a wanted man, and I had just helped him. I decided I’d be better off letting the Americans who were extracting him figure this out, so I agreed to help him get to the extraction point. We found our way to a small village at the base of the Carpathian Mountains, then we were extracted.”
“Give me the details.”
“Soldiers—American soldiers—showed up. We didn’t even know they were there. Two of them. They took us to wait for a helicopter. There was an argument at first over taking me too, but Sergei refused to go without me. He was bluffing, of course, but if I stayed behind, then I was going to be running anyway. The helicopter started lifting off, and I climbed up the ladder. Another soldier was behind me, but Cole reached for me. I wasn’t over water or in the desert like I initially thought.”
“So, Cole was there to help initially.” Hope rose in his eyes.
I haven’t finished the story!
“Sergei must be some kind of high-payoff target,” he added. “What else do you know?”
“Well, I know a lot. More than I’m supposed to. With all those hours together, he told me more than he should have, but he was nervous. I think he just needed to talk. He was afraid. He’s a scientist, a physicist, who developed technology and weapons for the Zarovian military. Well, he was anyway. He’s dead now. He’d been working on a new project but learned that someone within the government agency in which he worked was selling the project to an arms dealer—Charles Whitman. I didn’t recognize his name when John brought him up, but Sergei told me about him.”
“Now we know where Whitman fits in.”
“Sergei didn’t feel comfortable with what he knew would happen to his project. He spoke to his supervisor about his concerns, and a week later, that man died—radiation poisoning.”
“Murder?”
“Yes. The effect was instant. Sergei feared for his own life. He couldn’t tell another soul. When Sergei was speaking at a conference in Europe, someone within our government approached him.”
“A CIA operative?”
“Maybe. He didn’t say. And arrangements were made. If he delivered the project to the US instead, so that it wouldn’t land in the hands of a notorious arms dealer who had arranged to sell it to a terrorist group targeting US soil, then he could be extracted. He couldn’t just get on a plane to the United States. Zarovia is a post-Soviet democracy.”
“So, still struggled with political instability. I get it,” Hawk said.
“He was too valuable for his government and, unfortunately, to the unscrupulous government official who planned to sell to the arms dealer.”
“And the tale grows darker still,” Hawk said. “Sounds like US intelligence was hard at work thwarting a plot against Americans. What else do you know?”
“Sergei was able to have the device sent somewhere.”
“It’s crazy to think he got away with that when it sounds like he was being watched closely.” Hawk rubbed his forehead, looking more haggard than she’d seen him in the almost three days she’d known him.
This was bad. Really bad. Dangerous bad.
“What about this device you mentioned?” he asked.
Remi had a sudden thought, and she could hardly breathe. “You’re not a spy, are you? Sent to get close to me and find out what I know?”
“While that’s within the realm of possibility, no, I’m not a spy.” His smile was filled with sadness and compassion. “Remi, you’re in so deep.”
“Well, since you’re not a spy, are you sure you want to know? Because telling you could put you in danger.”
He scoffed a laugh. “I’m in this with you now.”
They remained sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot, the rain coming down in sheets. He was probably waiting for her to get to the part about his brother. Maybe he couldn’t drive and focus on the conversation. She didn’t blame him.
“What’s this about?” he asked. “What’s the device that Sergei sent?”
“I’ll get there, Hawk. But I think you want to hear this next part.”
“Cole.”
She nodded. Tears spilled, and she didn’t care. “On the helicopter extraction that night, I was strapped in next to Sergei. He should have felt relieved, but he was so nervous. I remember he looked at me when I tried to reassure him and said, ‘You don’t understand. They don’t let you go. Ever. I’ll never be safe. I’ll never be free, and neither will you.’
“Then chaos erupted. Alarms sounded. The helicopter started spinning. There was lots of shouting and cursing. I think the pilots were trying to land before we crashed.” Remi squeezed her eyes shut, but she couldn’t stop the flood. She’d been a soldier. She should have been able to tell this story without tears, but her emotions were running high as she relived it.
“It’s okay, Remi. I’m sure it was terrifying.”
She opened her eyes. “I know you understand. You’ve been through it. I’m glad you’re here, Hawk. I’m glad you’re the one in this with me.” And she was. She truly was. She squeezed his hand.
“I need to know what you were going to say about Cole.”
Right. She released his hand and wiped her cheeks. “I don’t know what I saw, really. There was fighting in the group. Sergei told me the extraction had been compromised and we needed to jump. He said we were over water. I think he pushed me out. It all happened fast, and I’m having trouble with details. I remember seeing an explosion.”
“What happened next?”
“I woke up in the hospital.”
Hawk shifted in his seat. “And this device, the reason they wanted Sergei?”
“Some leading-edge electromagnetic-pulse device. He called it the Tempest device.”
“An EMP device. The name Operation Blackout makes sense now. An EMP knocks out all electronics. But that’s nothing new.” Hawk sounded almost incredulous. Definitely suspicious.
“No, but...” She squeezed the bridge of her nose. Focus. Remember. “The military is always looking for cutting-edge technology. I don’t think Sergei wanted to be in weapons, but he was forced there. He explained the big race between countries. Everyone wants high-powered electromagnetic weapons for both offense and defense. It could mean the difference in gaining the upper hand and winning in a conflict.”
“Yeah, but what did Sergei’s device bring to the table?”
“He developed an extremely portable and compact weapon with focus targeting. I mean, it could even be used from a drone.”
Hawk nodded. “In other words, in enemy hands, a critical infrastructure or military equipment could be taken out while our enemies wouldn’t be affected by that same pulse. So, the terrorist organization that wanted to use it against us could be planning for something catastrophic. Take out Air Force One or other planes. I can think of so many terrible possibilities. Maybe they planned to target a nuclear reactor. I don’t know.”
“I do.”
“What do you mean you do?”
Nausea roiled inside. “Sergei hacked into the traitorous official’s email and learned of the plans. First, I asked Sergei the same thing—I mean, about the nuclear reactor. He said with all the multiple fail-safe systems in place, an EMP couldn’t do much. Especially since those shutdown systems are analog, they wouldn’t be affected.”
“But what more? If not that, then what are they planning to target? The power grid?”
“One of our most vulnerable critical infrastructures—the water supply. They’re planning to target the water supply and distribution networks of multiple large populations, introducing a radiologic threat agent—”
“Wait. You mean, radioactive material?”
Remi had to slow her racing heartbeat. “With the Tempest device, they can specifically target and disrupt the contamination detection systems, and communications as well, so that after they contaminate the water, millions of people could be affected before anyone even knew what was happening—because, again, it’s very specifically targeted and affects nothing around the target. When someone makes the discovery, their ability to stop the flow of water— anything at all—would be taken out long enough...” She hung her head. “Why do people come up with such horrible ways to hurt other humans?”
“I don’t know, Remi. I just don’t know.”
She stared out the window at the rain, pure, unadulterated water falling from the sky, washing the air and the earth. “I’m not a scientist and I think Sergei did a great job explaining it, but I wish he hadn’t. Why didn’t I ask him to stop? Now I know something I shouldn’t know.” Something too horrible to imagine.
“I’m done sitting here. We need to get moving.” He turned on the wipers, then exited the parking lot, steered through the side streets, then sped onto the freeway.
Fear had edged his voice, and it added to the terror already coursing through her. Rain whipped the windshield, and the wipers moved fast, the rhythm beating with that of her heart.
Hawk glanced at her and back to the road. Back and forth.
Remi. The road. Remi.
“And Cole knows this, or suspects you know it, so he wanted you dead. But ... now he wants you alive. What haven’t you told me?”
“You want to know why he suddenly needs me. What could I remember that’s so important? Someone wants the information before they kill me.” Remi knew. Now she got it. Oh, Lord in heaven, please help me! “I know where it’s hidden. The science. The documents explaining the build. And the prototype device.”
“Why did he tell you that?”
“In case he didn’t make it. In a way, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time just like I was. In that way, we’re the same. Who knew a camera could get me into so much trouble?” She shook her head. “I wonder if it’s already too late.”
“This was never supposed to be your battle, your fight.”
Remember before it’s too late.
She sucked in a breath and looked at Hawk. “Is there some sort of countdown, a timeline for when the weapon will be used?”
“Someone has to find it first.” He gave her a hard look.
And Remi might be the only living person who knew where the device was.