Hyland
SPELL IT OUT - YOU ME AT SIX
In the SUV’s cupholder, a vibration emanates from my stashed phone. Can’t catch a break even while hiding in the goddamn car. I glance up from the fire department’s incident report to slide it free and check my messages.
Willow: Ethan has us under lockdown. Should I be worried?
My innards twist and wring, awash with anxious acidity.
Hyland: We all should be.
Willow: Please be safe. I can’t lose anyone else.
Hyland: You won’t have to.
Whether or not I believe my own shallow reassurances remains to be seen. Willow and her family don’t need to carry my fears. I trust Ethan to keep them safe while we battle on the frontlines of this never-ending fight.
Returning to the official account of Blaine’s bolthole fire, the specifics are sparse. Officials are still identifying human remains from the ashy wreckage, but a variety of illegal substances have been identified, leftover from Blaine’s underground operation.
It’s enough to tie the incident to criminal activity. As for the police investigation, it was simple enough for Sabre to assume jurisdiction. We know what happened. Bringing local law enforcement into the fold will only complicate our case and incriminate Blaine.
I’ve reread the black-and-white print three times by the time my teammates emerge from the underground entrance to HQ. Warner and Blaine boast matching glowers, while Ember lingers behind to match Axel’s slightly slower pace.
“How did it go?” I ask when the doors open.
“Ask him.” Warner climbs into the passenger seat, awkwardly manoeuvring his prosthetic.
Sliding into the backseat, Blaine slams his door harder than necessary. “Ember’s brother read me the riot act.”
“In all fairness, you’ve continued to operate an illegal criminal empire after accepting a clemency agreement,” I point out. “Be glad it hasn’t been rescinded.”
“My illegal empire has saved Sabre Security’s backside on multiple occasions.”
“Doesn’t change the terms of the deal.” Warner sighs.
“The directors didn’t see it that way when they required my intelligence or wished to exploit my resources.”
“You work for them now.” I turn in my seat to remind him. “What did you expect?”
After a pause, Axel clambers into the backseat, shortly followed by Ember. Both appear equally weary. I’m relieved I skipped the legal bollocking to call Jayce in the car to check on Luke.
“I didn’t expect an official warning.” Blaine glares out the window like he can shatter the glass with his mind alone.
“They have to reprimand you,” Ember counters.
“I’m not a child who needs their wrist slapped.”
She frowns at Blaine then meets my gaze in the mirror. “Please take us home. My head is killing me.”
“You have a headache?”
“More like a drill digging into my brain, and this conversation isn’t helping.”
“Any other symptoms?” I twist again, this time to pin a stern look on her, searching for any signs of a seizure.
“No tremors or blurred vision.” She rubs her bleary eyes.
“Axel, watch her closely. I want to know the minute anything changes.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing?” Axel glares at me.
“We’re all watching her.” Warner clicks his seatbelt in. “Just drive. Let’s get out of here.”
My jaw aches from the force of locking my teeth into a tight-lipped vice. I doubt biting my team leader’s head off will do much good. No matter how tempting.
As we pull out of the parking garage, winter gloom engulfs the car.
Traffic moves at a slow crawl with the approaching evening rush.
When I called, Luke was finishing his online schoolwork while Jayce prepped dinner.
Not that she had much to say to me beyond a grunted hello that dripped with irritation.
“I need to see Gracie again,” Ember announces from the rear. “We need to run the footage of the fire attack past her, see if she recognises any of Madden’s men fleeing the scene.”
“All we have are a couple of grainy images.” There’s a hollow weight to Axel’s cadence. “Besides, they were masked. In and out, a clean kill. Hardly groundbreaking evidence.”
“It’s worth a shot. What about the accelerant used?”
“Petrol bombs.” I pass the report back with my free hand. “This was just released. Officially, the blaze was caused by a rival gang attempting to secure new territory.”
“Not far from the truth,” Blaine grumbles.
“The best lies often aren’t.”
“What about Spyder?” Ember suggests half-heartedly.
“Still on a ventilator,” Blaine replies in a grim tone. “Two low-ranking runners passed at the hospital, and one is in a medically induced coma with head-to-toe burns.”
“Shit!”
“How did Madden get their location?” Warner rubs his trouser-covered leg. “That’s what I want to know.”
“I can’t exactly interrogate the dead to identify who betrayed me, can I?”
“Enough, Blaine. We’re trying to help here.”
“Can your help bring back my dead friends?”
Internally wincing, the cold lash of Blaine’s voice doesn’t leave me with much to offer. Even I can admit the dude has been through a lot. His crew is like his family, and this attack decimated his ranks.
“How many people do you have left?” Axel cranes his neck to make eye contact.
“Perhaps a dozen,” Blaine reveals after a beat. “There was a smaller distribution operation in a different location.”
“Have you told the directors that?” Ember asks him.
“I’m already on thin ice, sweetheart. It isn’t the time to play my last card.”
“Probably for the best. They were pretty mad.”
“Ya think?” Axel flops back against his seat.
Even under the threat of re-prosecution, Blaine still has a backup plan. He’s a crafty son of a bitch. Begrudgingly, I can appreciate the master strategising at a time like this.
Focusing on the array of red brake lights sprawling ahead of us, we make progress through London’s rush hour at a painfully slow pace. I’m about ready to start rear-ending overpriced electric cars and black taxi cabs when the glittering lights of Canary Wharf become visible.
Between our desperate frenzy of active operations, moving loved ones into safe houses and chasing our tails at every turn, none of us have gotten much rest. I need to lay horizontal for a few hours before I do something really stupid or Blaine embarks on a murderous killing spree.
“We rest tonight then reinterview Gracie tomorrow,” Warner decides, his gaze on the towering apartment buildings ahead. “Perhaps she can give us another lead.”
“Her list of names was a dead end.” I shake my head, certain it’ll be a waste of time.
“Victims, yes. But we haven’t covered other members of Madden’s entourage or the sleazebags he forced her to entertain across the globe. Somewhere in her mind, there’s a lead.”
“You can’t push too hard too soon.” Ember’s concern for Gracie is palpable.
“I know, love. But we’re running short on time and options here.”
Her exhale is audible, even from the driver’s seat. “I’ll see what else I can get out of her.”
“Thank you.”
With our glass skyscraper growing taller above us, I can practically feel the softness of my mattress cradling my exhausted body. Already yawning, my hand moves to reach for the garage’s security system through the half-open window.
Only I never get the chance.
Reality shatters into vivid snapshots as a ground-deep rumbling crackles through the SUV. The riotous symphony of rupturing glass and great, booming explosions devours us whole without spitting out any bones.
BOOM.
Somewhere above us, the sky illuminates, raining down rubble and flames like an almighty judgement from the heavens themselves. All I can see is a huge fireball racing outward where the top of the skyscraper kisses the darkening sky, devouring clouds and dusk alike.
“Explosion! Get down!”
Swerving hard from an onslaught of adrenaline, I narrowly miss bumping the kerb and mowing down the building’s security gate. We halt in a scissored tangle across the street, directly in the path of hellfire pelting debris from above.
Numbly, I hear someone shout, “BOMB!” before another round of ear-piercing crashes splits air particles faster than an atomic collision. Successive crashes echo through the chaos, halting traffic and creating panicked chaos in all directions.
“Get down!” I shriek as sheer horror consumes me.
Smoke erupts from the SUV’s collapsing bonnet when a large chunk of detritus smashes into it at high speed. The impact reverberates through the car, prompting several startled shouts and curses.
Slotting into reverse, I’ve flown our four wheels backwards faster than is safe when another huge chunk of plaster hits where we were parked then promptly bursts apart. Deadly shards of shattered glass follow, swirling with red-hot embers and falling ash.
“Get us out of here!” Warner screams amidst the madness.
“Hold tight! I’m going to floor it!”
“Go, go, go!”
The engine howls in protest as I slam my booted foot down to carry us farther back, dodging falling materials with every wheel spin. There’s no time to be gentle, throwing us all from side to side in bruising jerks.
Several cars around us are spinning just as wildly in an attempt to escape. I swallow an exclamation at the sight of two taxis smashing into each other, eliciting an agonising screech where metal twists and contorts, ripping innocent passengers to shreds.
“Brace!” I bellow the command.
Slamming on the brakes to throw the steering wheel into a hard turn elicits more cursing. The SUV whirls on the spot, placing the destruction unfolding behind us as I smash down on the gas to accelerate.
I’m only granted a quick look in the mirror to verify my teammates are intact before the road demands my attention. It’s a war zone. Terrified faces flash through spiderweb cracked windscreens, matching our own fear.
“Where was the explosion?” Warner tugs a gun from the locked storage, disarming the safety.
“I think it was our place.” Seething, I push past the raw heat in my chest to respond.
“That isn’t possible. Our home’s location has always remained secure.”
“Clearly it is possible!” Axel yells.