V
Out of the blue and into the black
- N. Young
Piper sat quietly behind a desk in a room with four men trying not to cry. They studiously ignored her and shortly another man entered and addressed her.
"Miss Tate," Robards said. "As soon as this phone rings you'll have five minutes to talk. Five minutes only. We will not listen in and will be outside the room. Do yourself a favor and don't try anything stupid. Have I made myself clear?"
Piper nodded and took the cell phone that he offered her. She sat uncomfortably for several minutes until it rang and the men filed quickly out of the room.
"Five minutes," Robards said as he closed the door behind him.
"Hello."
"Hi."
"I'm so sorry," Piper said, bursting into tears.
"Did they hurt you?"
"No," Piper said. "Don't let them use me against you, Bailey."
"Hush," Bailey said. "I know where you are, I'll be there shortly."
"No! There's too many."
"It'll be okay."
"No, Bailey don't," Piper sobbed.
"I'm coming to get you," Bailey said. "It'll be okay, I promise."
"They'll kill you," Piper cried.
"They can't kill me, love," Bailey said. "But a lot of people are going to die today."
"Baby, please don't do this."
"I've no choice," Bailey said. "I'll be there soon."
Piper dropped the phone on the desk and put her head in her hands, crying uncontrollably. The men came back in the room after a moment and Robards gently took the phone off the desk and put it in his pocket, trying his best to ignore her.
"Anderson."
"I'm on my way," Bailey said. "Any idea what room she's in?"
"No," Josh said, his mouth dropping open. "Bailey, you can't go in there that's fucking crazy."
"Perhaps," Bailey said. "Tell me what you see."
"I can see several men that seem to be hanging out in the lobby but that's it."
"Very well, I might need support when I come out."
"Bailey, that's fucking nuts," Josh said. "Dying won't get her back."
"Just stay put and wait for my call."
"Holy Mary, Mother of God," Josh said, putting the phone in his pocket and dropping to his knees to assemble his rifle.
"Martin," Bailey said, emerging from the hall wearing her poncho over her weapons. "I'm leaving, remember my instructions," she said as she walked to the kitchen table and collected her bag.
"Bailey, are you sure about this? That's a lot of men, trained men."
Bailey stared at him for a moment. "I'm beginning to think that neither you or Piper really read my file," she said with a shake of her head. "I'll be back shortly," she added as she turned and walked out of the flat.
Her cell phone rang again in the elevator and she looked at the ID before she answered.
"Wraith."
"It's time," Terry said.
"Send your car, I'll be down with Satterfield in thirty minutes."
"Very well," Terry said. "And Bailey?"
"Yes?"
"If you fuck with me, I'll have her raped before she dies."
"Thirty minutes."
She passed through the lobby and entered the door to her garage quickly, despite Tom's frantic attempt to get her attention. She threw her bag and sword into the passenger seat of the Barracuda and backed out into the parking garage, pulling over to park as she approached the street exit. She got out and jogged behind the first row of parked cars facing the street, using them as cover until she found what she was looking for. She walked several car lengths up before she emerged from the garage and approached the surveillance car in its blind spot, drawing one of her pistols. As soon as she got close enough, she fired two rounds through the rear window of the car into the heads of both men, killing them instantly. She turned and despite several people on the street who were witness to the act, she walked quickly back into the garage and sat down behind the wheel of the Barracuda. Driving as though she was out for leisurely tour of the city, she pulled out onto the street and slowly disappeared into traffic.
Terry hung up the phone and turned to Bob. "Have Robards send three of his best men to C-Corp. They're to park on the street and wait for her arrival. They're not to speak to her in anyway, she'll submit to a frisking but for the love of God, no handcuffs. If they try to restrain her or get rough with her, she will snap and we'll have to send another team for her. Keep it polite and respectful. Clear?"
"Yes," Bob said picking up the phone and relaying the instructions to Robards.
"Terry," Keith said. "What do we do if she changes her mind?"
"We send in the troops," Terry said. "Pray that doesn't happen."
"I already am," Keith said.
"Let's get a chopper in the air, we want her and Satterfield here as quickly as possible," Terry said.
"Robards has a team on the way," Bob said as he hung up the phone.
"Good," Terry said looking at his watch and trying not to smile. "I'll call her in another twenty minutes."
"Zack, wake up," Russell said urgently, shaking the sleeping form of his friend.
"What?" Zack asked irritably and looked at his watch. "Our shift doesn't start for another five hours."
"They grabbed her girlfriend."
"What?" Zack asked, rapidly sitting up straight. "Are you kidding?"
"No," Russell said, shaking his head. "They have her in an office a few doors down."
"Holy shit," Zack said getting out of bed and hurriedly putting on his clothes. "Let's go find the loneliest part of the building and hide out for a few hours."
"Do you think she knows how to find her?"
"I'm taking no chances," Zack said tying his shoes and putting on his gun. "Let's go."
"Make the call, Terry," Bob said, hanging up the phone and glancing at the clock.
"Alright, our men at C-Corp yet?"
"They said they're about two minutes away."
"Very well," Terry said and with a smile he dialed the number.
"Wraith."
"Our car will be out front shortly, head that way."
"Terry?" Bailey purred.
"Yes?" Terry said suddenly uneasy.
"Even God can't save you now."
The line went dead and Terry fell into the back of his chair. "Holy Christ," he whispered. "Call surveillance on C-Corp, find out if she's moved. Now!" he said almost screaming the last word.
Bob urgently punched a number into the speakerphone and the room waited breathlessly through twelve rings.
"No answer," Bob said as the phone in front of Terry rang.
"McKraken."
"This is Walsh. We just arrived at C-Corp, there are several police cars out front and our surveillance team is dead."
"My God, she knows where Tate is, she'll take them all by surprise," Terry said in horror, the world caving in on him. "Alert Robards now!" he screamed at Bob who urgently dialed the phone.
"Robards."
"You've got incoming!" Terry yelled over the table at the speakerphone.
"What?" Robards asked in alarm but his attention was drawn away from the phone at the sound of automatic gunfire.
"Oh, my Christ," Keith said.
Terry went sickly pale and sank into his chair as the line went dead.
VI
And the perverted fear of violence,
Chokes a smile on every face- C. Rea
Josh saw Bailey drive the Barracuda into the parking lot like she owned the place and park just to the side of the front doors. He shook his head in disbelief as she got out of the car, sheathed her sword, shouldered a large canvas bag, and what appeared to be a shotgun diagonally across her back. He could make out the gleam of her katana as she leaned back into the car and produced an M4 with a high capacity drum before walking casually through the front doors. He could hear the gunfire start immediately and jumped in surprise a moment later when a large explosion blew glass and debris out of several windows on the first floor.
"Fuckin'A," he said as he searched the building intently through the scope of his rifle.
Bailey walked through the doors and instantly shouldered her rifle to take out the fifteen or so men gathered around a big screen television with several long automatic bursts. As the last ones fell, she caught the motion of a man in the hall next to the elevator and he fell dead on the floor when she fired a quick burst of armor piercing rounds through the drywall corner he was taking cover behind. She ran to the corner where the man had fallen and caught two more in the hall with another burst. Reaching around to the bag on her back she retrieved a small brick of C4 attached to a Frisbee. She set the electronic timer for a ten second delay and flung it down the hallway where it struck the floor and skipped to the far end of the hall. Walking back into the lobby, she pulled another Frisbee out of her bag and set it just as the first one went off with a ground shaking detonation. She threw the second one down the other hall and jogged over to press the button on the elevator as it went off with another concussive blast.
She walked back several paces to the right of the elevator doors and placed her back against the wall. Cocking an ear when it arrived and waiting patiently until she was satisfied that it was empty. She pulled another block of C4 from her bag, peeling the strips off the adhesive on the back as she entered the elevator and placed it on the wall just above the control panel. She set the timer for forty seconds and hit the button for the second floor, jogging out in the direction of the stairwell.
"It's coming up!" a man yelled, prompting over a dozen men to take up firing positions in front of the elevator.
They waited patiently as it stopped and the doors slowly opened to reveal an empty compartment.
"Move away!" Robards yelled from the far end of the hallway a second before it exploded.
The blast sent shrapnel and body parts flying in all directions as the cables snapped and what remained of the elevator plummeted to the basement with a horrendous crash.
"Fuck," Robards said as he picked himself off the floor and wiped blood away from a laceration on his cheek. The sound of automatic gunfire from downstairs again reached his ears and he winced as he ran down an adjoining hall.
Philips fled wildly down the stairs that led to the basement, having just narrowly survived the blast from the first explosion. He burst through the door and screamed in both pain and surprise as he found his forward momentum violently stopped by a katana that impaled him through the shoulder and pinned him to the wall.
"Where is she?" Bailey purred.
"Dead, just like me," he gasped as he found himself looking into a pair of enraged black eyes.
Bailey twisted the sword and he screamed. "Where is she?"
"Second floor, Room 217," he rasped.
"You've something on your shoes."
Philips gasped and slouched against the wall as the blade left his body, his eyes following her as she nonchalantly collected her rifle from a few feet away and walked into the depths of the basement. Feeling faint and oddly warm from the waist down, he let his gaze travel down the front of his body as he began to lose consciousness. The last image his mind processed was the sight of his intestines protruding from a ghastly wound in his belly and hanging morbidly in ropes down the front of his legs.
"Shit," Mike cursed as the lights flickered off. "She cut the power," he pointed out uselessly to the seven men gathered around him.
"Mike!" Robards called out as he ran down the hall towards him. "The elevator's history, she'll be coming up the stairwell, get over there. I'm gonna grab everyone else I can find and take up a position next to the Tate lady."
"Alright, we're on it," Mike said. "Grab your balls, boys. Let's go," he said, leading his men hurriedly down the hall and around a corner.
As they approached the stairwell, Mike came to a stop and looked around carefully. "Stagger yourselves on opposite sides of the hallway, look sharp!"
"Mike, we got smoke behind us."
He snapped his attention from the stairwell to see a thick white smoke drifting evilly down the hallway towards them. Knowing instantly what it meant, he dropped to one knee and attached himself to the wall.
"She's already up here," he said. "Keep your shit wired tight."
Bailey let another smoke canister roll down the hallway and reached around to her bag for the visor. Slipping the bulky apparatus over her head, she stepped into the hall from the office she had been taking refuge in. Squatting on her haunches in the smoke, she patiently observed the eight heat signatures of the men perhaps twenty yards away laying in wait for her. Noting their positions, she placed the visor back in her bag and situated herself on one knee. Shouldering her rifle and aiming from memory, she fired several automatic bursts down the hall until the weapon locked open empty. She stood and quickly stepped back into the office, tossing the now useless rifle to the floor and estimating from the return fire that had been directed at her in retaliation, that most of her bullets had found their mark. She took off at a run, drawing her katana as she raced through the smoke towards the surviving men.
"It seems your girlfriend is rather pissed off," Robards said to Piper as he entered the office and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "I need two of you to organize everyone you can find in the halls surrounding this office. Move!" he ordered, gesturing at two of the four men.
"There's smoke out here," one of the men called back into the room.
Robards put the cell phone back in his pocket and cautiously looked through the doorway to see a dense smoke drifting through the hall.
"Disregard, get back in here," Robards said but his head jerked in the direction of another intermittent volley of automatic gunfire that was frighteningly close to his location.
"She'll kill you all," Piper said, having not moved from behind the desk.
"Close that door and be on your toes," Robards said to his men, ignoring her as he moved quickly to the window and looked down.
He jerked around at the sound of a piercingly loud male cry of pain and winced as he recognized it as Mike's. He paled and involuntarily shivered as the sound was followed by an enraged scream that echoed down the hallway, leaving a silence in its wake that made the air hard to breathe.
"What the fuck was that?" one of the men asked.
"The Wraith," Piper said. "You're about to meet her."
The man paled and turned to Robards. "Let's get the fuck out of here."
"Fuck this, Dwight," another man agreed, nervously gesturing at Piper. "Kill the bitch and let's go."
"Keep it together," Dwight ordered. "It's just one woman."
"One woman who had to kill everyone downstairs in order to get up here, let's rocket."
"It's far too late for that," Piper said. "You're all going to die."
"Shut the fuck up," Dwight yelled at her.
The sound of four shotgun blasts in rapid succession on the other side of the door brought Robards spinning to one knee with his gun extended. The wood surrounding the knob and hinges turning to splinters as the door fell forward with a crash into the room.
"Holy shit," a man whispered as a new wave of smoke eerily entered the office.
"Cameron," Robards yelled. "I'll kill her right now unless you surrender."
Bailey stood calmly in the office next door and studied the wall through her visor, both pistols waving in front of her as she slowly tracked, and almost blindly targeted the forms in the other office. When she heard the man's words she fired eight rounds from each gun and quickly moved out of the room.
Piper screamed when the rounds came through the wall and Robards grunted in pain as one hit him in the hip, dropping him to the floor. From his position on the ground, he noted with a rising uneasiness that, with the exception of Tate, only himself and one other were still among the living. He stood shakily on his feet and emptied his weapon through the walls of the surrounding offices and quickly inserted a fresh magazine. He squinted into the smoke that had filled the room and fired another quick burst through the window.
"Throw a chair through the window," Robards ordered his remaining man. "Vent out some of this smoke," he added, moving closer to Piper.
The man put his gun in the waistband of his pants and lifted one of the office chairs over his head, falling forward stiffly when two rounds burst through wall and blew out his heart. He collapsed awkwardly to the ground, the chair falling behind him to crash on the floor.
Robards watched the man fall and turned slowly to Piper. "Nothing personal, Miss Tate," he said, lifting his weapon and pointing it at her chest.
Piper watched with widening eyes as Bailey took form in the smoke behind him, cringing at the horrible gurgling he emitted when the entire length of her katana violently burst through him from just under the breastbone, his gun falling to the carpet from suddenly numb hands.
"Nothing personal," Bailey whispered and Piper flinched at both the violent tearing sound and the man's gasping contortions as she viciously enlarged the wound all the way down to his pubic line. She withdrew the katana and let his twitching body fall to the floor, his face a distorted study in surprised agony. With a casual flip of her wrist she flung the excess blood from the length of the blade, leaving a crimson splatter against the stark white wall of the office.
Piper watched her silently as the rage in her eyes softened when they met her own and she gave a quick shushing gesture, extending her left hand in invitation. An action that prompted her to spring from her seat, closing the distance between them and taking the offered hand in relief.
"Are you okay?" Piper whispered and Bailey nodded as she tore loose the Velcro straps on her vest to remove it.
"Put this on," she said, handing it to her.
"What about you?"
"You're more important. Do as I say," she replied, ignoring Piper's shaking head and gently slapping her protesting hands away as she quickly went about dressing her in the garment. "Put a hand on my back and follow me," she said as she put the last strap in place. "Stay still if I move suddenly, and be very quiet," she added with a quick peck to her cheek.
Piper nodded nervously and moved behind her to place one hand on the small of her back as she began to lead her out of the office and down the hallway. They had traveled the length of half the floor when she suddenly flowed into motion and backhanded the katana upward to disembowel a man emerging from a doorway in front of them. She went stock still as Bailey darted past the falling body to the other side of the door, pasting herself to the wall and leveling the gun in her left hand at the doorway. She fired two rounds into the man that shot out from the office behind his companion and quickly motioned for her to join her again.
She led Piper three doors up and into an office on the opposite side of the hall, placing her back against the wall just inside the door and gesturing for Piper to do the same, leaning over to whisper in her ear when she complied
"There are men coming down the hall," Bailey whispered. "Wait right here."
Piper nodded and reached over to take the pistol out of Bailey's right holster, receiving a concerned look and a slow consenting nod.
"I'll be right back," she whispered and silently slipped into the hall.
Piper waited fretfully, ears straining for any sound and her knuckles turning white around the grip of Bailey's gun. A footfall close by seemed startlingly loud and she raised the gun in the direction of the sound, peering intently into the smoke that still permeated the halls and the office she had been left in. The sound of another footfall preceded the appearance of a figure in the hall and her finger tensed on the trigger as she took aim through the doorway.
Suddenly, the figure seemed to fall in two directions at once and she sighed in relief at the sound of a whistling blade. Closing her eyes tightly as she heard it make contact with the flesh of several bodies. The anxiety leaving her a moment later when a gloved hand landed gently on her arm and took the pistol from her hands.
"Time to go," Bailey whispered as she holstered the gun. "We have to hurry."
An arm around her waist prodded her gently out of the office and she was spirited forward to a waist-high, metal door in the hall, where Bailey dropped to her knees to open it and motion her through. Piper crawled through the door to find a ladder across a long narrow tunnel that ran parallel to the environmental ducting and dropped into the dark below her. She reached out and grasped the ladder and descended several rungs, allowing Bailey to enter and close the door behind her. Bailey reached down to tap her gently on the head and repeated her shushing gesture when she looked up. She nodded as Bailey reached into her pants for her cell phone.
"Anderson."
"We're coming out," Bailey whispered. "Is it clear?"
"Three goons just drove in," Josh said. "One is screaming into a cell phone and the other two have taken positions behind the car. It's in front of the doors."
"Wait three minutes, then drop any you can get a bead on."
"Three minutes," he confirmed and Bailey turned off the phone and put it back in her pocket.
They reached the first floor access point and Bailey motioned Piper further down so she could open the door, pausing in front of it to pull her visor out of her bag. She scanned the hall behind the door carefully before she removed it and placed it back in her bag, pushing the door open and flowing liquidly out into the hall.
Piper waited until she poked her head back in the shaft and nodded, letting Bailey pull her to her feet in the hall. She put her hand on her back again and was eventually led to the lobby, closing her eyes at the numerous bodies scattered in the center of the room. Bailey paused against the wall several feet from the front doors and turned to her.
"Wait here," she whispered. "I'll be right back."
Bailey slid along the wall until she was an arm's length from the doors, hearing gunfire erupt from just outside. She poked her head around the corner to see one man taking refuge behind a car and presenting her with his back, stupidly firing a handgun at a building far out of effective range. She rounded the corner and fired a round into the back of his head, quickly stepping back in and motioning for Piper to join her. She ran over to take the hand and was shoved gently in the direction of the Barracuda as they exited the building.
Piper hurriedly ran over and got in the passenger side as Bailey opened her door and threw the katana and her bag into the backseat. She let out a startled scream when several gunshots shattered the driver's side window and the thump of Bailey's body could be heard colliding with the car and then the ground.
"Bailey!" she screamed.
She fell to the ground between the open door and the car but regained her feet rapidly, jumping into her seat and closing the door behind her. She leaned over the wheel and started the car, instantaneously dropping it into gear as the engine came to life and rocketing backwards across the lot, changing gears in a blur of motion and screaming forward.
He was dying and he knew it. He could feel the blood pooling below him and even lying perfectly still, he felt lightheaded. For the sniper that had shot him and killed his partner, he could only feel resentment for being taken out so easily. He could hear the surviving member of his team firing a weapon in the direction of the sniper and part of him wanted to yell out to the man not to waste his time but he couldn't muster the energy. Even through the fog that was rapidly consuming him, he could make out the report of another weapon being fired and could hear the fleshy thump of his associate's body hitting the ground, his gun suddenly silent.
With a sudden lucidity, he observed the appearance of two women. He didn't know if it was spite or vengeance, but he found the strength to lift his weapon and empty it in the direction of the woman in black as she started to get in her car, feeling oddly satisfied when she fell. An emotion that was swept away seconds later as she regained her feet and disappeared into the car, which launched backwards in a cloud of tire smoke as soon as she closed the door behind her. He still had enough life left in him to be alarmed when the roar of the motor indicated a change of momentum and lifting his head, he observed the sinister front grill of the black car bearing down on him at a frightening speed. He tried desperately to roll out of the way, but the driver ruthlessly compensated and he only had time close his eyes before impact.
Piper brought both hands to her mouth in horror as the car crushed the man under it's wheels and accelerated out of the parking lot. "Oh God, baby. Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
"I'll be alright," Bailey said with a wince.
Piper started to cry. "I'm so sorry."
Bailey took a hand from the wheel and gently grasped one of Piper's. "Everything's fine now, love."
Piper grasped Bailey's hand with both of hers and cried quietly as the Barracuda sped away from the ravaged building.
VII
I will remember you, will you remember me?
- S. McLachlan
"What do we do now, Terry?" Keith asked.
"I don't know," Terry mumbled, sitting in his chair helplessly.
Bob stood from his chair. "Start calling through the operative list and hope we find survivors. Move!" he barked and everyone burst into a flurry of activity with the notable exception of Terry, who sat lifelessly in his chair staring blankly at nothing.
Bob waited restlessly as the phones started dialing and he shook his head in disbelief as they quickly moved through half the list with no answer. The room went deadly silent when a voice answered and everyone pasted their attention on the phone in front of Willis.
"Wallinger."
"Zack," Bob said, relieved. "This is Spicher. Report."
"Russell and I have found six survivors at this time, including ourselves. Three of which need immediate medical attention. We just now got to the second floor."
"Oh, my God," Keith said.
"Stay on the line, Zack," Bob said. "Get everyone that you find together, check the room where Tate was being held and see if you can find Robards, Donnelly, or Phillips."
"Phillips and Donnelly are dead," Zack said. "We found Phillips gutted in the basement and we just came across what's left of Mike."
"Jesus," Bob said. "Alright, let's start a clean up. Enlist the locals, have the FBI assist you on site. Use NSA credentials and answer no questions."
"Alright."
"We'll hold, give us the situation as you find it," he added, putting his head in his hands.
Bailey slowed as she approached C-Corp, noticing the police cars out front with narrowed eyes. She drove past the lobby and the garage and came to a stop in front of a parking meter on the far side of the building.
"What are all the police doing here?" Piper asked with a worried look.
"Looking for me I'd imagine," Bailey said, turning off the car and pulling her poncho from the backseat. "Let's go, we don't have much time."
Bailey pulled the poncho over her head with a wince and sheathed her katana, shouldering her bag as she circled the car to take Piper's hand.
"Here's the key to the elevator," Bailey said, handing it to her as she led her down the sidewalk. "You go first, I'll be right behind you. Don't stop or reply to anyone that might talk to you or me, okay?"
"Okay," Piper said squeezing Bailey's hand tightly.
Bailey gently prodded her up the stairs that led to the lobby. "I'll be right behind you," she repeated and Piper climbed the stairs, shooting a concerned look over her shoulder as she passed through the doors to the lobby.
She strolled as casually as she could toward the elevator, trying desperately not to look at the several uniformed police officers that were milling about the security desk. She opened the elevator doors just as Bailey entered the lobby. Her concern for her lover taking a moments respite as she watched her walk within arms reach of two policemen who were totally unaware of her presence. Fascinated despite herself, she wondered how a woman as striking as Bailey could seemingly disappear in plain sight when she wanted to. She was about ten paces away when she finally came under attention.
"Freeze!" one of the men yelled.
Bailey ignored him and jogged the rest of the way, pushing Piper into the elevator ahead of her. Taking the key from Piper at the sound of several rapidly approaching footsteps, she inserted it into the control panel with her right hand and leveled her gun out the door with her left. The man who yelled at her came to a sputtering halt and backed away from the doors when he found himself two feet away from the business end of her gun, he motioned carefully to halt his approaching colleagues and let the doors close uninterrupted.
"Bailey, I'm scared," Piper said with a trembling lip as the elevator started its ascent.
"Don't be," Bailey said. "It's almost over now."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Bailey said. "Go on," she said, motioning Piper into the hallway, pausing to lock the elevator down.
She left her key in the control panel and withdrew her card to open the door to her flat. "Go get your things, hurry," Bailey said, prodding Piper in the direction of the bedroom.
"Okay," Piper said as she ran off down the hall.
"I'm so fucking glad to see you guys," Martin said as he approached. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Bailey said as she dropped the bag from her shoulders and knelt to remove a small leather case. She unzipped it and Martin saw an injection gun and several vials, one of which she loaded into the gun and promptly injected herself in the neck with. She winced and reloaded the gun with another vial, slipping it under her poncho before she zipped up the case and put it back into her bag.
"Are you sure about that?" Martin said, noticing with dismay the blood beginning to soak through her clothing.
"I'll last long enough to wrap things up," Bailey said as Piper ran down the hall with her bag. "Remember my instructions," she said quietly to Martin who looked at her sadly and nodded grimly.
"Ready," Piper said and Bailey shouldered her bag again as Martin collected his things from the kitchen table.
"Let's go," Bailey said, taking Piper's hand and waiting for Martin to catch up as they left the flat and entered the elevator.
The doors opened to a view of the roof and Bailey locked the elevator down again. "Chris," she called to the pilot, "fast as you can, please."
Chris nodded and hurriedly jumped in behind the controls to prepare for lift off.
Bailey led them to the helicopter and motioned them inside. "Get in," she said and Martin clamored inside.
"Not without you," Piper said, not moving and starting to cry.
"I can't go with you," Bailey said. "Do as I say."
"No," Piper yelled, throwing a clinging embrace around her as the engine started up.
"Come with me, please," she cried into her ear.
"I can't," Bailey yelled back and pushed her gently away from her.
Piper wiped at her eyes and noticed the blood on her hands with horror. She looked down and found her clothes stained red on the left side. She threw a desperate look at Bailey and noticed for the first time the blood soaking through her clothes.
"Bailey!" she screamed, grabbing at her hands but Bailey avoided them deftly and injected her in the neck with the gun.
Her hand went to her neck and Bailey's tears started as she began to collapse. "I'm sorry," she said as she swept her into her arms and placed her in the helicopter.
"No!" Piper screamed as she began to lose consciousness.
Bailey leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "I love you," she said and looked into her eyes until she faded out. She kissed her gently on the mouth and with a tearful nod at Martin, she closed the door to the helicopter and backed away.
Martin buckled the seatbelt around Piper's waist and threw an arm around her as they began to rise. He looked out the window and watched as Bailey stood unmoving in the center of the roof until the building faded from his view.
VIII
When the dark night seems endless,
Please remember me- L. McKennitt
"Andrew, get their bags," Jeremy yelled when the helicopter landed and he rushed forward to open the door. His eyes widened in alarm as he took in the sight of Piper's bloodied clothing.
"Is she injured?" Watts yelled to Martin over the noise of the engine.
"No. She's been sedated."
Jeremy nodded as he quickly undid Piper's seat belt and carried her to the limousine, setting her gently in the backseat as Andrew threw their bags into the trunk. As soon as they were all seated, Jeremy knocked sharply on the window and the car quickly sprung into motion.
"She called an hour ago and said you were airborne," Jeremy said. "Whose blood is all over her?" he added, gesturing to Piper.
"Bailey's," Martin said and Jeremy cringed.
"Well, she was alive an hour ago," he said. "What happened?"
"I'll explain later," Martin said, handing him the bag Bailey had given him. "She instructed me to give you this immediately."
"I see," Jeremy said as he opened it to find a single clipboard.
He removed the clipboard and found two paragraphs of text which he read quickly.
"Shit," he said turning his gaze out the window.
Doreen bolted out of her chair when Watts carried Piper into her room without knocking. "My God, what's happened?" she asked, running over to the bloody form as Jeremy laid her on a sofa.
"I'm not quite sure," Jeremy said. "Bailey called and said they were on the way. Piper's been sedated, she's uninjured. Will you look after her and call for me when she regains consciousness, please?"
"Of course," Doreen said. "You heard from my daughter?"
"Yes," Jeremy said. "Please call me as soon as she's up," he said, walking out the door without elaborating.
Doreen watched him go and turned to Piper, noticing with dismay the dried tear tracks running down her face. Her heart clenching painfully as she went to the bathroom to retrieve a warm wash cloth, returning to sit on the sofa next to her and gently wash her face, looking closely at the little woman that was her daughter's lover.
"Oh, child."
Doreen walked into the hall about an hour later and signaled one of the staff. "Would you ask Mr. Watts to join me, please?" she asked, stepping back into the room when she received a nod in response.
She crossed the room and sat back down next to a stirring Piper, who she had had stripped and dressed in one of her bathrobes. She watched closely and took her hands as her eyes slowly opened and began to focus. The tears started almost immediately and Piper enveloped her in a crushing embrace, crying into her chest.
"It's okay, child," Doreen said, rocking her gently back and forth until a knock came at the door.
"Come in," Doreen said and Jeremy stepped into the room, seating himself in one of the chairs across from the sofa.
"Piper," Jeremy said. "Martin informed me of what little he knew, will you tell us the rest?"
Piper pulled herself from Doreen's embrace and wiped at her eyes, looking at the Major hopefully. "Have you heard from her?"
"About an hour before you landed. Nothing since."
Piper nodded. "I went home today for lunch to grab some things for our trip up here on Thursday," she said. "But three men broke in and took me at gunpoint to the place they were all staying. They let me talk to Bailey around half an hour after I got there and she told me she was coming to get me."
"Yes, Martin said this was where all of the agency men were stationed," Jeremy said. "How many men were there?"
"Around seventy from what I was told."
"What happened?"
"She killed them all," Piper said, wiping at her eyes again. "She was very angry."
"Good God," Doreen said in awe.
"She was wearing a vest but she took it off and made me wear it. She was getting in the car when she got shot," Piper said with a sniffle. "I didn't think it was bad because she got right up and drove us back to the company where the police were waiting for her. She ignored them and we collected Martin and my stuff on the way to the roof to catch the helicopter," she said, starting to cry in earnest.
"I argued with her because she wouldn't get on the helicopter with us and I grabbed her and came away with blood all over me. It was soaking through her clothes so she had obviously been hit pretty bad," Piper said covering her mouth with her hand. "I started to grab her again but she gave me a shot and put me in the helicopter," she finished, choking back sobs and collapsing again into Doreen's arms.
"Jesus," Doreen sobbed and started rocking Piper gently, ignoring the tears falling from her own eyes.
"It's all my fault," Piper said into Doreen's shoulder.
"No, it isn't," Doreen said.
"Yes it is," Piper sobbed. "I forced her into coming and getting me, I shouldn't have gone home. She warned me the other day they might try to hurt me to hurt her and I didn't listen. Now she's out there all alone, hurt and with no one to care for her."
"What do we do, Mr. Watts?" Doreen asked.
"She said I would be contacted in no more than fourteen days," Jeremy said. "Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do but wait."
"Can you contact her?"
"I've tried the number she gave me almost a dozen times, there's no answer."
Piper disentangled herself from Doreen and ran quickly into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Doreen and Jeremy watched her go with almost identical expressions.
"If my daughter doesn't make it, that girl is going to be inconsolable."
"I wouldn't write Bailey off very easily."
James Hoake woke up in his suburban Virginia home with the very distinct impression that his wife wasn't the only one sharing the room with him. He lay quietly with his eyes closed, ears cocked for anything out of the ordinary. It was a short wait.
"Get up, I don't have much time left," a feminine Irish voice cut through the air of his bedroom.
He sat up bolt upright in bed, instantly turning to check on his wife.
"She's unharmed, but has been sedated," the woman said. "Your security staff is in the same condition, with the exception of the two men posted outside."
"Who are you?" he demanded, trying to make out her features in the dark.
"I'm The Wraith, Mr. Hoake," she said and his eyes widened in the dark. "We've a lot to talk about, I suggest we do so in a room that has a VCR."
"What do you hope to accomplish?" he said, rising from bed and putting a robe on over his pajamas.
"The question should be whether or not you'd like to survive," she said as he turned on the light.
He stared at her standing calmly in the corner of the room, swallowing nervously as his eyes tracked to the katana in her right hand. "My office is downstairs."
"Lead the way, make no mistakes. I can make your pain last a lifetime."
"I know," he said as he turned and walked out of the bedroom.
Bailey followed him out and down a staircase where he entered the first room on his left and turned on a light. He circled his desk and sat patiently with his hands folded on the surface in front of him as he waited for her to sit down.
"Killing me won't save your life," he said as she seated herself in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"Did you know, Director," she said."That as of this moment, I estimate that the Secondary has less than a dozen operatives left?"
"What?"
"I eliminated the majority of them this afternoon, when Mr. McKraken thought it a wise idea to take my girlfriend away from me, since my family is no longer at your mercy."
"I don't believe you.".
"You will," Bailey said, leaning over with a wince and retrieving a large binder from her bag which she tossed on his desk. "Do you recognize that?"
He reached out and casually examined the first few pages. "It appears to be a copy of your personnel file."
"That it is," Bailey said. "The original was stolen by McKraken's assistant, Martin Satterfield."
"Really?"
"Mr. Satterfield and the original are in my possession. Did McKraken not inform you of this?"
"No."
"I see," Bailey said and produced a videotape from the bag at her feet, sliding it across the desk. "You won't need to watch the whole thing, but you can highlight it if you wish."
He picked it up curiously and turned on the television behind his desk, slipping the tape into the VCR. He watched with a frown as Bailey appeared on the screen and introduced herself. She stated exactly who she was and began listing names and places. Ten minutes into the tape he shut it off with a sigh.
"Three years ago, you agreed to let me go inactive," Bailey said. "I would've remained that way indefinitely, posing no threat to the Organization now or in the future. It was my intention to negotiate the release of my family at a later date. However, Mr. McKraken decided, out of the clear blue sky, that I should return to the Organization and he again used my family as leverage to get me to accede to his wishes. Were you aware of his actions in taking me off inactive status?"
"No."
"I thought as much," Bailey said. "Because of McKraken's machinations, your Organization is all but destroyed and those that have survived, I now have at my mercy. How long do you think big brother will let you live if I expose what's left of you?"
"You know the answer to that."
"Yes, I do," Bailey said. "The videotape you just watched is but one of hundreds. My personnel file is in the hands of British Intelligence, as is Mr. Satterfield. After fourteen days with no contact from me, that information will go public."
"That would be harmful to you as well."
"Perhaps, but without medical treatment I won't live through the night."
James narrowed his eyes. "What do you propose?"
"I propose we come to an immediate arrangement," Bailey said. "I've no wish to expose you, I just want to live the rest of my life free of you. I want my family to have their names back and to be free of your influence as well."
"I'm listening," he said, leaning forward in his chair.
"Write this down," Bailey said and he produced a legal pad from his desk to write on. "Martin Eugene Satterfield is to be cleared of all charges and granted amnesty from any means of prosecution. Joshua Mark Redding is to have his fingerprints removed from all databases and his criminal record destroyed. Doreen and Ryan Cameron and Ryan's fiancé Fiona, are to be granted American citizenship and to remain free of any governmental influence or presence for the rest of their lives. Piper Esmeralda Tate is also to remain free of those same influences."
"Is that it?"
"Not quite," Bailey said. "If any of those people or myself fall prey to anything that may even remotely be considered suspicious, I'll make sure the Organization is buried, whether I'm still among the living or not. Do as I ask and you've my word that you'll never hear from any of us again."
"And you?"
"I've several demands on my own behalf," she said. "First, I'm no doubt implicated in the deaths of several of your operatives in Atlanta. I want that to go away and my name cleared of any wrongdoing. Secondly, I'll need medical attention very quickly. If I die and don't make a phone call in fourteen days…" She paused with a shrug. "… You're aware of the consequences."
"How badly are you injured?"
"I've a gunshot wound to my abdomen that is fatal if not treated soon, in fact, it may already be too late," Bailey said. "I've also a gunshot wound to my left shoulder and right leg.
"Let me make a call?" he asked and she nodded.
She sat quietly as he spoke into the phone quickly and hung up. "I've arranged for an EMT transport to Bethesda Navy. What are your other demands?"
"I'll tell you if I survive," Bailey said. "You'll view at least one as a favor."
"Fair enough," he said with a nod. "I agree to your terms."
"You've made the right decision," Bailey said. "There are instructions in my bag. How long on the EMT?"
He looked at his watch. "Any minute."
She nodded and he noticed for the first time how pale she was and the light film of sweat that covered her face. His gut clenched at the repercussions so many people would face if she didn't survive and he rejoiced as he heard the sirens approach. He rose from his chair, acutely aware of the black eyes that tracked his movements as he traveled out of the office on his way to the front door to let them in. By the time the paramedics carried the stretcher into his office, she was slumped over in her chair, her sword lying on the ground at her feet.
"Oh God," he said. "Is she alive?"
"Barely," one of the paramedics said, taking her vitals. "Let's move her, hurry."
James smoked three and half packs of cigarettes from the observation deck of the operating room while he had waited and watched the doctors work on her throughout the night and well into the morning. His balls had jumped into his throat when, on two frightening occasions, she had flat-lined on the table and he had waited with a rolling stomach as the doctors worked to revive her.
Finally, as it neared ten in the morning a doctor entered the room to speak with him.
"Is she going to live?" James asked.
"We think so," the man said. "Doctor Goldman, by the way," he said extending his hand, which James shook.
"You think so?" he asked with a frown.
"That woman should've been dead before she got here. I don't know how in the hell she was walking around," Goldman said. "She's stable at the moment and we think we've stopped all of the internal bleeding that the bullet in her abdomen caused."
"I see," James said. "And her other wounds?"
"A clean entry and exit in the shoulder, if she survives it'll probably cause her minor discomfort for a few weeks, but as strong as she is, I suspect she'll fully recover. The leg wound will require a little more time. I doubt she'll be able to walk without a crutch or a cane for a few months. But I would predict a full recovery on that one as well."
"Good," James said. "How long until we know for certain?"
"If survives the next forty eight hours, she'll make it."
"That long?"
"Like I said, I think it's nothing short of miracle she survived as long as she did, we lost her twice on the table," Goldman said, shaking his head. "She's one hell of a fighter."
"No doubt about that."
"You can help yourself to the couch in my office if you'd like," Goldman said. "I'll come in and get you if…." he trailed off abruptly as the beeps emanating from the equipment below starting screaming alarms. "Fuck, she's crashing," he said bolting from the room.
James ran to the window and placed both his palms on the glass in front of him as the doctors and nurses scrambled frantically back into the room and went to work on her.
"We're losing her!" one of the other doctors yelled and James closed his eyes and sank to the floor.
"Clear!"
He leaned his back against the wall and listened as they tried to revive her. He put his head in his hands and tried to drown out the voices coming from below.
"Clear!"
"She's not responding."
"Hit her again."
"Doctor."
"I said hit her again."
"Doctor, she's gone."
"Hit her again!" the man roared.