Chapter 32
Back to work
Declan
On the other side of town
Mary and I narrowly escaped death.
Since I drove like a bat out of hell toward the city, somebody must have called the police. A line of cop cars chase me on the highway.
My foot is like a brick on the gas pedal, my grip on the steering wheel deadly as I maneuver the SUV between the traffic.
On the radio, there’s a report of an explosion in the hair salon across the street from the hospital. The helicopters circling the city tell me there’s an active scene.
“Dec, honey,” Mary says gently from next to me. “Whatever the matter is with Connor, you can fix it, but nothing will be fixed if you die in a car crash. Then you’re just a corpse. Rather useless, wouldn’t you say?”
“Thanks for the fresh perspective, Mary.”
“Take a right toward the hospital here,” she says, reading the GPS as if I can’t. Granted, I’m driving over a hundred miles per hour and reading the GPS at the same time.
I cut the right corner and get off the highway.
Mary cracks open the sunroof, not enough to let in the prying eyes from the chopper that’s joined the chase and is flying above us, but enough that we can see it.
“It’s a news station chopper.”
Good. They can report all they like. I enter a dense residential and tourist area in the city. From here, I recall several exit plans I’ve circulated in my head before we landed in Selnoa. I’m sorting through them in my head, but my plans never involved another person.
On the ground, I work solo. Connor is my eyes and ears. I need a new plan, on the fly. A plan that ensures that Mary and I survive.
Something presses on my chest. It feels as if I’m being crushed.
The cops follow me through the narrow, busy streets, but I’m putting a reasonable amount of distance between us. The thing is, I have to shake the news chopper, lose this car, and send Mary away, preferably all in a single move.
My phone rings.
Mary grabs it. “It’s your uncle.” She picks up and says, “Endo, we’re in the car being chased by the police. There’s a chopper above us too, and you’re on speaker.”
“What happened?” Endo asks as I pull into a busy parking garage for the city’s biggest shopping center. I circle around until I find what I’m looking for. An SUV that’s been covered by a tarp to protect it while the owner doesn’t use it. There’s always at least one in these parking lots.
“Need a minute.”
“Take your time,” my uncle says. I slide pods into my ears.
Anytime I do this, it’s a cue for my brain to activate my training.
It’s almost like flipping a switch. A trigger where I engage my assassin mode.
Master Yi teaches this because an assassin is a weapon and, as such, should not be engaged while mingling with civilians.
I must function as a brother, nephew, and now also a lover. I cannot be just an assassin. But once I flip the switch, that is all I am.
Mary and I step out of the car. She rushes to hide behind it while I strip the covering from the car next to us and put it over our SUV. We hear sirens approaching the garage. In my ear, Endo stays quiet.
Sirens blare throughout the parking garage, making people scream. Civilians run past the car. Tires screech as they peel out of here. This is good. Chaos works in my favor.
I tap my com unit (the pod in my ear). I treat Endo as I would my handler.
“We’re in the parking garage. The mansion is on fire.
There was an explosion, and I believe it’s Dina Ferrar’s hair salon.
” I swallow. “She wanted to grab some supplies. I need to confirm the reports.” I need eyes.
I need Connor, who never fucking understands how indispensable he is.
My chest is heavy. So heavy. I rub it. It’s hard to breathe.
I’m having a hard time clearing my head. My emotions. I can’t think about Dina. That will get me killed. Two of my favorite people might be dead. And if that’s the case, I can’t help them. But I could plan my revenge. Excitement about revenge pushes adrenaline into my veins.
The thirst for blood makes my mouth dry. I lick my lips.
“Brief me,” I command Endo.
I hear shuffling. “Okay, I’m down with Marquis, and we’re looking at reports out of Selnoa.
A car rammed and exploded inside a hair salon across the street from Selnoa General Hospital.
A woman, the owner, they say, one Dina Ferrar, has been rescued from under the rubble and taken to the hospital. “
“Does that mean she’s alive?” I fist my hands. “Is she alive?”
“No status reports. We can’t confirm anything since we have no assets in the city anymore, remember? And I hope Connor doesn’t walk into the place when it’s swarming with Ivan’s people and the cops. Do you have a twenty on your brother? He’s not answering his phone. Again.”
I ignore the pain gnawing at my chest. What if you lost your brother and the only girl who passed the loyalty test with flying colors? My brain supplies. SHUT UP, brAIN.
FOCUS. “Was anyone else rescued?” I ask.
“The crews seem to be on standby. Cops surrounded the area several blocks around the shop and set up a wide perimeter. Too wide. They’re expecting more people on the streets, I bet.”
Cop cars drive past the SUV at near-crawling speed, no sirens, quietly stalking. Mary and I huddle tighter. The elevator pings, footsteps approach, boots on the asphalt. They’re searching the parking lot on foot.
Mary is a smoker, and her breathing is raspy. If they come any closer, they’ll hear her.
Since I can’t speak, I use the tapping signals on my com unit to communicate with Endo, the same way I communicate with Connor when he’s doing surveillance. We have our own codes, and Endo understands them. He knows that I’m surrounded and in trouble.
Footsteps come nearer.
I lie flat on the ground and look under the cars around me. Two people in blue uniforms stand in front of our covered SUV.
“P1 clear,” a woman says.
“Check the elevators,” the voice on the other side says.
“Did. I said it’s clear.”
“Check the elevators again.”
I recognize the voice on the other side. It’s the cop who briefed me this morning at the mansion. What was his name again?
The uniforms walk toward the elevators.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
“How are you doing, Mary?”
“I’ve been better.”
“Ivan made the move,” Endo says.
Mary turns abruptly toward a sound at the same time that the cops yells, “Hands where I can see them!”
I lift my hands and walk over to the cop.
“Stop right there.” His voice shakes.
I grab his wrist, pinch the nerve, and loosen his grip on the gun. I knock him over the head with his pistol, and he crumples to the ground.
“Clear?” Endo asks on the com.
“Mmhm.”
“Connor is where?” he asks.
“I’m not his keeper, Endo.” I switch to Mary.
“Let’s get you armed and safe.” I pass her the gun from the cop and money from my wallet, thankful now that Dina didn’t accept my bribe.
“We need to separate. The longer you stay with me, the worse it will be for you. Here’s what we’re doing.
I’m going to hot-wire a car, and you’re going to drive it back to the airport we came from and get on the cargo plane back to Couldermouth. ”
“I can’t leave you out here, Declan.”
“If you stay, I’ll worry about you. I need to work alone, and I need to know you’re safe. Check in with Endo when you’re en route.”
When faced with life-and-death choices, we don’t have the luxury of being considerate of someone’s feelings.
They will heal the pain of that hurt if they’re alive.
If not, then those courtesy conversations won’t matter.
Whether I hurt Mary’s feelings is the last thing on my mind.
Mary needs to survive this ordeal. Kindness, while surviving, is optional.
I kiss her warm, wrinkly cheek.
“I love you, Declan Crossbow. Don’t you dare die in this city and leave your brother behind. As for hot-wiring, I’ll find my own car. I just need an oldy but goody.”
Mary walks off as if we’re not wanted by the cops.
Fuck.
But beginner’s luck lands her right next to a 1995 Jusik convertible with those big round headlights that remind me of puppy eyes. Mary opens the car door and slides inside. It was unlocked? I crab walk between the cars to get a better look. She’s looking around the car and putting on sunglasses.
No rush, Mary.
A cigarette is next. Looking for a lighter now. Are you kidding me?
She finds one and rolls down the window to let out some smoke. She shows me a key on a key chain with a big plastic ass. Unbelievable.
Mary pulls out. In style, mind you.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, I rest against the wall. I need to think, plan, forecast.
“Where is your brother?” Endo asks in my ear.
I say nothing.
“He was with your woman,” Endo concludes.
“She’s not really my woman. She’s still married.”
“Was he with her?”
I can’t speak because a rock is stuck in my throat. What if they’re dead? Pain rips through my chest, and I fold over.
“Declan?” Endo’s voice sounds urgent.
I can’t find my voice.
“Declan, answer me.”
“He’s been wearing his brown contact. He’s been drawing attention to himself. He wanted to know what we’re up against. I forbade it, but you know Con. He wouldn’t listen.”
“Ivan tried to kill you,” Endo concludes.
“Mmhm.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I’ll give Mary a few more minutes before I go down there.”
“Down where?”
“To the site.”
“Negative.”
“Connor didn’t just disappear.” Was this how my brother felt when we lost contact after the Massio mission?
“That is exactly what they’ll expect. You. They want the pair of you dead so they can take over your father’s legacy. Should this happen, we’re all going down. Not just us, many others too. There will be a regional war.”
Bile rises in my throat, and I swallow it down. Nope. I bend to hack it out. Wiping my mouth, I peek over the cars to see if anyone heard me. Not now, but the cop I knocked out should be waking up soon.
“Do you think your brother is alive?” my uncle asks quietly.
“I don’t know.”
“Sure you do.”
“Then yes, I think so.”
“Good. Then he’s alive. What do you have on you?”
“I’ve got the clothes on my back and my pistols. I can steal a car.”
I glance at the cop. “I have an idea.”
“Me too. I’m on my way.”
“Negative,” I say. “I work alone.” I wait for acknowledgment. “Hello?” Nothing. Damn it.
Even though Connor thinks he inherited everything from our father, he takes after Endo. They’re fiercely loyal to the people they consider family.