Chapter 10

10

RPG!

The explosion knocked Derek sideways as pandemonium took over. Another explosion rocked the outside of the meeting hall in the direction of the entrance of the building.

“This is a fucking set up!” Jack yelled as he hauled Derek behind a row of chairs.

“You think?” Viktor yelled back. “Stark, you ready?” Nathan nodded grimly.

By this time, there was a frenetic exchange of assault rifle fire. Viktor recognized the “rat-tat-tat” of an AK-47 in between rounds of the M4-carbines used by the building’s security personnel.

The MPD and the FBI agents who survived the first explosion drew their hand guns and took defensive positions. Viktor searched for Yeager and saw him taking his boss—the CIA director—toward a rear exit door.

“We’ve got incoming!” somebody yelled.

Another explosion rocked the room just as everyone scrambled away from the gaping hole on the wall.

“This is becoming a massacre,” Viktor said. “Damn it. We’re fighting blind.” He punched his direct line to Tim. “ Burns. The Hudson Building is under fire. I want you to send an assessment to my phone.”

“Holy fuck!” Tim said. “On it, boss.”

Viktor took out an earpiece and mic and fixed it securely. “Has Cole arrived yet?”

“Negative.”

“The building security is breaking under the assault,” Jack returned from his quick venture out the room. “But I think they’ve taken out the RPG shooter.” Jack flinched when a bullet struck the wall behind him.

“It might be a good idea for you to take cover,” Viktor told him. “I don’t want to explain a bullet in your head to your wife.”

Jack scowled as he crouched beside Viktor. “Are we just going to sit here?”

“I’m waiting for an update from Tim. We play this smart, McCord.”

Derek crouch-walked beside them. The wild expression on his face indicated worry for his wife rather than their present situation. “I talked to Sophie. She picked up a wounded Jiro Matsuda at the corner of Oakland and Connecticut. Someone attacked the dojo, Matsuda managed to get away. Damn you, Viktor. If anything happens to Sophie—”

“Where are they now?”

“I told her to drive straight to AGS.” Derek looked ready to bolt. The inability to get to his wife immediately was frustrating him.

“Viktor.” A voice he’d been wanting to hear all day sounded in his earpiece.

Marissa.

“Are you at AGS?” Viktor demanded.

“I just got here.”

“Sophie is on her way with Matsuda. I have no time to explain. Call Dr. Henderson.”

“Copy that. ”

“Lockwood,” Viktor addressed his friend who looked ready to kill him. “Can I count on you to keep your head straight?”

Derek nodded. Viktor worked with Derek enough to know how reliable the man was. He had nerves of steel when faced with overwhelming odds. But this was before Sophie, and Viktor hoped his friend had not lost his edge after he had gotten married.

“Okay, I’m counting sixteen hostiles armed with AK-47s and they’re slowly pushing forward,” Tim crackled through comms. “Your best bet is at the main entrance. The rotunda has pillars that could provide cover.”

“Copy that. Inform the guards out front that we’re coming through.”

“Roger that. Oh, Sophie Lockwood just checked in at security. Maia and Ms. Cole are on their way to meet her.”

“Thanks, Tim. Do we have an ID on who these men are?”

“Chatter says it’s an Al-Qaeda splinter group.”

“Syria?”

“Yup.”

Viktor cursed under his breath. What the hell was going on? He glanced at the MPD officers who were valiantly keeping the meeting room from getting overrun. Time to join the fray.

“We break for the front,” Viktor said.

He caught the attention of the MPD police chief and gave him a quick hand signal that they were defending the entrance of the building.

The police chief responded with a two-finger salute.

Viktor looked at Derek, Jack, and Nathan. “Ready?”

Rafiq Shadid and his crew navigated the century old subterranean tunnels that snaked under Washington DC. They were supposed to be sealed off, but the city planners lied—brought about by government agencies’ plan to facilitate spying on their citizens and planting bugs at foreign embassies.

Not many people outside the CIA knew about this network of underground conduits, but this was another lead that Matthews provided them. A microfilm chip of the blueprints were in a CIA station in Morocco. His uncle, Stuart Kwon, paid a handsome amount to a double agent to make a copy of the microfilm.

“This is it,” Ali said, checking the location on his GPS device and looking at the map.

“Are you sure?” Rafiq pressed. “Precision is important, Ali.”

“I’m sure, my brother.”

Rafiq nodded for his men to attach the explosive device on the ancient brick wall. It pained him to destroy something so old, but the infidel had plundered their land, this was payback.

Partnering with Al-Qaeda was a slippery slope to navigate. It was an uneasy alliance, aimed at targeting a common enemy. But motivations were different. Very different.

“It’s ready.” His ordnance expert informed him, handing him the triggering device.

Rafiq looped his index finger in the air to signal his men to take cover. He pressed the trigger.

The explosion was instantaneous, a loud rumbling sound that echoed deeply in the tunnel. The billow of dust was so thick, Rafiq thought for a moment that the tunnel had collapsed. But when the cloud of debris cleared, a light illuminated the tunnel through the hole the C-4 had punched open.

They had to be quick, the element of surprise was crucial. Rafiq had memorized the building layout by heart.

He stepped through the craggy opening in the wall, straight into the underbelly of AGS.

Matsuda had lost a lot of blood. In the backseat of Sophie’s Escalade, a red pool formed from the kendo master’s gunshot wounds to the leg and shoulder. They were not fatal shots, but Marissa needed to get him a transfusion quickly and seal the wounds before he bled to death. When Sophie zipped into the AGS parking, Marissa and Maia were already waiting with a gurney. They had some guards help them load him up since he was almost unconscious.

Marissa had not wanted the female Guardian along because she was still struggling with movement, but there was no stopping Maia when she had set her mind on something. In some ways, Maia and Viktor were cut from the same mold.

“You okay, Sophie?” Marissa asked, turning her attention to the blonde woman. They wheeled the gurney into the waiting elevator.

Sophie nodded, but her lips were trembling like she was controlling a sob. “Derek said the Hudson Building is currently under attack. He said he was okay and they were handling it, but I don’t think he’s telling me—”

“Sophie,” Marissa said firmly. “Derek is with Jack and Viktor, and I believe, Nathan Stark. Do you think any of the attackers stand a chance?”

Sophie considered this and then, “Will Sensei Jiro be okay?”

“He’s lost a lot of blood.” Marissa was not about to give false hope. Too many people died last night and to downplay the situation was an affront to the lives that were lost. She caught some footage of what was happening at the Hudson Building. The terrorists took an ambitious gamble in hopes of crippling the city’s defenses, and she was taking heart that Viktor had capable people to watch his back.

The medical bay was located on the second subterranean level, adjacent to the bunkers and a floor below the datacenter. A nurse was waiting for them when the elevator doors opened.

“Dr. Henderson was held up at New Park Medical. News of the attack on the Hudson Building required all hands on deck because of the numerous casualties reported,” the nurse informed them as they rushed into the medical bay.

“Do you have Matsuda’s record pulled up?” Maia turned to the nurse.

“We’ll have to do what we can,” Marissa said.

“What do you mean?” Sophie’s gray eyes were wide with concern.

“Can you deal with the gunshot wound and transfusion?” Marissa asked the nurse.

“Yes. I’ve prepared his blood type,” the nurse said confidently as she began snipping away at Matsuda’s jeans to inspect the injury. “There’s an exit wound, so we’ll just have to clean the area and stitch him up.”

Maia took a look at Matsuda’s shoulder. “None in this one. You’ll have to dig it out.”

A rumbling sound shook the frosted glass panes of the medical bay. The women exchanged alarmed looks.

Maia grabbed the intercom and buzzed security. “What the hell was that?”

“We don’t know, Agent Pierce, we’re investigating.”

Maia hung up and looked at Marissa. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

The words barely left her mouth when the headquarter alarm went off. The red lamps stationed throughout the building started flashing.

Maia called Tim. Marissa watched the redhead’s jaw get tighter and tighter as she waited for the analyst to pick up. When she finally got through, she could hear Tim Burns’s voice yelling through the intercom though she couldn’t make out the words.

Maia slammed the receiver down, drew her 9mm from her shoulder holster, and racked the slide. Levelling her eyes at Marissa, she said, “We have a breach.”

Viktor led the other three men out of the meeting hall, guns drawn, stealthily walking along the wall. Moving closer to the rotunda, he watched one of the guards get struck down by a bullet. A masked assailant kicked the guard over, preparing to deliver the kill shot.

“Hey!” Viktor shouted. The assailant looked up, raising his assault rifle, but he was too late because Viktor immediately shot him between the eyes.

“Clear, right!” Derek shouted.

“Clear, left!” Nathan added.

Jack took charge of the rear.

The four of them moved as a unit, guarding all sides.

Six gunmen charged into the rotunda, which indicated only one thing, building security had been overwhelmed. They needed those assault rifles.

Viktor acted on instinct. Picking up speed, he ran straight for the six gunmen, shooting one down before he dropped to his knees and slid forward. Slamming into one of them and grabbing the assault rifle, he used the barrel jacket to crack against the face of the attacker. Shots were exchanged behind him.

By the time he swung the rifle around, there was one gunman remaining and without hesitation, Viktor squeezed the trigger and brought him down as well.

Shouting from the entrance heralded three more terrorists rushing in. Shifting to one knee and bracing with a leg cocked in front of him, Viktor shouldered the assault rifle and picked one off before they came upon him. Standing up, he held the rifle with both hands and swung the butt out, striking a man down. He turned as his elbow connected with the cheek of another. It was close-quarters combat time.

“I got this!” Viktor shouted as he jabbed his fist into the first guy’s gut before finishing him off by bouncing the man’s forehead on his knee. The second attacker came at him with a knife. Viktor skipped backward and concaving his torso to avoid the slash of the knife, he grabbed the guy’s hand that was holding the knife and twisted his arm. The man’s scream of pain was cut short when Viktor rammed his elbow into the man’s face. Viktor heard the nasal cartilage break before blood spurted out the other man’s nose. Picking up the knife, Viktor swung it out and severed the man’s carotid artery.

Grabbing the fallen assault rifle, Viktor took position behind the wrecked revolving door—a casualty of the RPG. Jack was on the other side busy firing rounds into the open.

“You’re crazy, you know that right?” Jack yelled at him with a smirk on his face.

Viktor grinned. “Yeah, I know.” He looked around for Derek and Nathan and spotted them by the broken Cathedral windows.

He pressed his earpiece to resume communication with Tim. “Tim, do you copy? I need updated shooter formation.”

No response.

“Burns!” Viktor barked through the mic.

“I’m afraid Mr. Burns is not available right now.” A faintly familiar voice turned his blood to ice.

“Who the fuck is this?” Viktor demanded as his brain processed the man’s accent.

“I’m what you call your worst nightmare, Mr. Baran.”

“Shadid?”

“Very good, Mr. Ba—”

“I have no time for your bullshit. What do you want?”

“The codes.”

“You’ve lost your mind if you think I’d give them to you.”

“Oh, you will. Or I shall begin executing your people.”

“Fuck you, Shadid,” Viktor said. “Fuck you.”

“Everything all right?” Jack hollered at Viktor amidst the din of gunfire, a look of puzzlement on his face.

“We need to wrap this up.” Viktor evaded Jack’s question. Now was not the time to distract him.

“Working on it, Baran.” Jack fired a couple more rounds. “I think the rest are bugging out.”

Police sirens blared outside. Reinforcements had arrived. Some FBI agents joined them at the entrance and clearly, the tide had turned in their favor. In the next five minutes, all the terrorists were either dead, had retreated, or surrendered.

The mood was somber despite their success in repelling the attack. There were numerous casualties once again.

The DC police chief approached Viktor and the others. He patted them on the back and shook each of their hands vigorously.

“The MPD is grateful for your help.”

Nathan was on his phone, a worried look on his face. He looked at Viktor. “I can’t raise Tim. Manning called me from Cali because he needed some datacenter support, but he can’t get through to Tim or Holly.”

“Didn’t you just talk to him, Viktor?” Jack asked.

Viktor jerked his head to motion them to the corner. The three men followed him, a wary expression on their faces.

“What’s going on?” Jack’s voice was low as he enunciated each word.

“Shadid has control of AGS.”

The identical stunned looks on their faces quickly morphed into different reactions. Derek and Jack’s were murderous. Nathan’s was grim and resolute.

“When did you find out?” Jack asked softly.

“Ten minutes ago.”

Viktor expected it and he was prepared to take it. Jack’s fist connected with his jaw in a bruising right hook that sent him staggering a couple of steps .

Jack stalked forward, fists clenched and preparing to strike again, but Derek blocked him.

“You want to take a swing at me too, Lockwood?” Viktor spat out some blood.

Derek grabbed Viktor’s shirt and pulled him close until they were nose to nose.

“I would love to,” Derek said. “But I need your sorry ass to get my wife out of there. I understand your reasons, Viktor, but sometimes you need to trust us to keep our head on straight and do the job. Never withhold information about our women’s safety even for one damned second. Am I fucking clear?”

“Crystal,” Viktor returned calmly, looking Derek straight in the eye. His friend’s rage was barely under control.

“Marissa’s at AGS too?” Derek asked quietly.

“She is.” Viktor couldn’t allow himself to process his feelings for her right now. Responsibility weighed heavily on his mind. His agents on the field were vulnerable without datacenter support. The remaining AGS personnel were at their lowest defense right now. Olsen was a rookie, and Maia was far from a hundred-percent. But his thoughts always ended with Marissa. She was unpredictable. She better not play hero . . . ah, fuck, he was a hypocrite.

“I’m going with you,” Marissa informed Maia as she pulled out her own gun and checked the chamber.

“What about me?” Sophie asked. “I can handle a gun.”

The other two women looked at each other.

“Sophie, stay here,” Maia said. “Derek will never forgive me if I let anything happen to you. Besides, we can’t risk you, um, shooting the wrong person.”

“I’m better than that,” Sophie sniffed indignantly.

For a moment, Marissa wanted to laugh. She walked over to the blonde woman and put a hand on her shoulder. “Sweetie, you brought Matsuda here. You did well. Let me and Maia handle the rest.”

Glancing back at Maia, she said, “Let’s roll.”

The darkened hallways were eerily quiet. They encountered three dead security guards that were struck down by assault rifle rounds. The breach was on the first subterranean level on the same floor as the datacenter. There was a hostile guarding the entry from the tunnels.

Marissa had heard rumors of the mythical underground labyrinth but never had the need to verify CIA records because her missions were usually overseas. Maia motioned for her to backtrack. She followed the Guardian toward the datacenter, stopping short of the clearing that comprised the sweeping state-of-the-art AGS command center.

“I count five hostiles in and around the area,” Maia whispered.

Marissa peeked behind a wall and recognized Rafiq and Ali. There were another three men with them who looked like ex-military types. Marissa sighted Tim and Holly. Holly’s hands were bound behind her back. Tim was stoically sitting in front of the control station with a gun trained on his head. Another security guard, plus Agent Olsen, were bound and sitting on the floor. Four hostages.

“Bring up the logs or I will shoot you!” Rafiq hissed at Tim. The analyst resisted another second before complying, his hands reluctantly typing on the keyboard.

“Pierce? Maia Pierce is alive?” Rafiq shouted. “Where is she?”

“I’m fucked,” Maia whispered. The redhead stood up and faced Marissa. Maia pulled her away from the datacenter. “Listen, I don’t think I can hide for much longer.”

“You’re not surrendering, are you? ”

“I may not have a choice. Listen,” Maia repeated urgently. “There is an air duct surrounding the datacenter that can hold your weight. I will try to—”

“Maia Pierce!” Rafiq’s voice sounded over the HQ’s PA. “If you don’t show yourself in the next two minutes, I will start taking out your people. Starting with your analyst.”

“—I’ll distract him as much as possible,” Maia said.

“He’ll kill you, you know,” Marissa said. “He’ll kill everyone anyway.”

“I know. But I need to buy Viktor and the guys some time to move in.”

Marissa checked updates from her phone. The Hudson Building siege was over. She should call Viktor now. She hesitated earlier because the men were in combat and may be in hidden positions; a phone ringing would give them away. She figured that was the same reason she had not heard from Viktor yet.

“Sophie Lockwood and Anna Roberts. Where are they?” Rafiq’s demand froze the two women.

“They’re just support personnel. They are of no threat to you,” Tim explained, desperation in his voice.

“Maia Pierce, you’ve got one minute left,” the voice over the PA warned.

“Ali, go look for this Lockwood and Roberts. Get rid of them,” Rafiq ordered.

“No!” Tim yelled. “You don’t need to do this.”

Maia looked at Marissa urgently. “Tell Jack—”

“Damn you, Pierce. I’m not doing this with you,” Marissa said. “Do what you have to do. I’ll protect Sophie and the nurse.”

Marissa scurried away toward the medical facility.

Her heart thudded wildly when she heard Maia say, “I’m here, Rafiq.”

She waited for a gunshot. None came .

Marissa barrelled into the medical bay.

“Where’s Maia?” Sophie asked.

“Rafiq has her,” Marissa said shortly. She whipped out her phone and punched Viktor’s number.

“And you left her?” Sophie asked angrily. Marissa ignored her and turned her attention to the nurse. “How’s Matsuda?”

Before the nurse could answer, Viktor’s terse voice answered the call.

“About fucking time you called.”

“Was kinda occupied,” Marissa replied. “Shut up and listen. I’m outta time. The men came in from the tunnel at the datacenter level. There’s a guard at the tunnel, and I suspect it’s also booby-trapped. You guys need to find an alternate way in. They have Tim, Holly, Olsen, Maia, and a security guard. I’m counting six hostiles, maybe more. They may have guys stationed at each exit.”

“Copy that—”

Footsteps caught Marissa’s attention and she quickly whispered, “Quiet, someone’s coming.” She left the line open. She signaled for Sophie and the nurse to hide.

Marissa flattened her body against the wall, hiding behind a cabinet. The doors to the medical bay slid open.

A man cursed in Arabic. Ali spotted Matsuda lying unconscious on the bed.

Before he could inform Rafiq, Marissa made her move.

She drew her KA-BAR from her boot and jumped on Ali’s back. She clung like a crab, her legs squeezing his sides, her arms around his neck, one hand over his mouth and the other about to slice through his jugular. He managed to block her, his hand digging into the knife as he struggled to push it back.

Oh, Shit ! Marissa thought. Ali scuttled backwards and slammed Marissa repeatedly against the cabinet until she lost her hold on him and fell on her back. He aimed his AK-47 at her, but she managed to flip on her side as he fired and missed her. Ali screamed in frustration, realizing he had it set to single shot. Before he could rig it to fully automatic, she swept her leg under him and sent him crashing to the floor.

Marissa grabbed the fallen KA-BAR, straddled Ali, and with both hands plunged the knife down, but he caught her wrists. His injured hand was weak, but he was still strong as she struggled to dig the knife through his eye to scramble his brain. The blade was turning toward her and was hovering close to her neck.

Marissa started shifting away, and just when she thought she’d have to pull back completely, a shot rang out and Ali’s head jerked back, his hands on her wrists fell away.

Marissa glanced up and saw Sophie holding a gun, the muzzle still smoking.

She pushed away from Ali and walked to the blonde scientist. Grabbing the gun by the barrel, and lowering the muzzle, she leaned in and said, “Do you know it’s dangerous to fire a gun in a room full of oxygen tanks?”

Sophie blinked at her in confusion.

She grinned. “Great job, Sophie.”

“Marissa!” Viktor’s voice yelled loudly through the phone.

Shit . She forgot about him.

Viktor was ready to come out of his skin. They were still a few minutes out from HQ and he had repeatedly told Nathan to floor it. Stark’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel as they listened to the sounds of the fight over the phone. Every time Viktor heard a gunshot, he feared the worse. So when he heard Marissa’s snarky drawl to Sophie, he felt relief and anger, which seemed to be his standard reaction when it came to her.

“Marissa!” He was annoyed as hell.

“I’m here, Viktor. Sorry, I was—”

“Are you hurt? ”

“I’m fine. Ali’s dead.”

“We’re five minutes out. Stay put.”

“I need to get to the ventilation duct around the datacenter.”

“And—what—do you plan—to do—exactly?”

“It’s obvious.”

“You can probably get off two shots before you get one of our own killed.”

“Maia’s on the floor. I know she’s not a hundred-percent, but this is our only chance.”

Viktor contemplated her plan and glanced briefly at Nathan who said, “She’s right.”

“We’re running out of time, Viktor,” Marissa said. “Rafiq may discover the alternate visitor’s log for the CIA. Do you have a plan on how to come in undetected?”

“No.”

“So I’m your only person inside that can do anything.”

“Yes.”

“I guess I better get to work. Where’s the armory?”

“Second level, near the last situation room.”

“That’s near the opening to the tunnel. There’s a hostile guarding that area. I’ll have to make do with what I have. Where’s the best access panel to the ventilation system?”

“Opposite end.”

“Got it. I’ll call you when I’m in position. I’m setting my phone on stealth, so I may not pick up any updates from you immediately. I’m also sending Sophie and Nurse Roberts to the bunker with Matsuda.”

“Copy that.”

The AGS vehicle pulled into a side alley where Viktor knew was a blind spot for HQ’s outside cameras. The Silver Escalade with Jack and Derek parked behind them. The two MDI men immediately disembarked from their vehicle and jogged to the passenger side of the Explorer.

“Any updates?” Jack asked .

“Rafiq has Burns, Nolan, Maia, Olsen, and a security guard hostage,” Viktor said. “Sophie, a nurse and Matsuda are heading to a bunker.”

Jack raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. Relief flickered in Derek’s eyes, but his face remained stoic.

“What’s the plan?” Jack asked impatiently.

Before Viktor could reply, the LCD display that was mounted on the dashboard started blinking.

“It’s from the datacenter,” Nathan said.

Viktor nodded to accept the feed and motioned for the other men to move out of camera range.

The screen filled with Rafiq’s smug face.

“Mr. Baran, I must applaud your cunning in keeping Agent Pierce’s survival off the grid.”

“I’m learning your methods.”

“Ah, cloak and dagger. The old way is more reliable, isn’t it?”

“Get to the fucking point.”

“I’ve already told you. I want the codes to all the classified information in your database.”

“What are you after? What do I have that is so important to you?”

“What do you have that you need to protect with military grade encryption?”

Viktor remained silent.

“Your agent NOC database and client list. I expose them. No one will ever trust to work for you or hire your services again. I told you—” Rafiq’s expression turned sinister “—I will destroy you.”

“The people you want to destroy have nothing to do with your hatred for me,” Viktor said. His eyes flickered to Jack, who was ready to go ballistic, and Viktor was thankful to Derek for calming his ass. “I cannot give you what you want. I can offer myself in exchange for your prisoners. Do as you want with me. ”

Rafiq appeared to be considering this. Yes, you bastard , Viktor thought. Take me on, and you’ll discover that I’m your worst nightmare.

“No,” Rafiq said finally. Viktor’s heart thudded against his sternum when he saw Rafiq rack the slide of his gun, aiming it at Maia’s head. “The codes, Mr. Baran, or I make sure Ms. Pierce will not have a miraculous second chance. A head shot is ninety-nine percent fatal.”

“Don’t give in, Viktor!” Maia yelled. “You swore to protect all Guar…”

One of Rafiq’s men backhanded Maia.

Fury clawed up his throat even as he grew aware of the scuffle in his peripheral vision. Keep their heads straight, yeah right . Nathan had joined Derek in keeping Jack from interfering.

“Damn you, Rafiq,” Viktor rasped. “I can’t give them to you.”

His eyes met Maia’s on the screen. “I’m sorry, Maia.” She nodded and smiled sadly. He wasn’t going to survive the consequences of this decision. He just knew it.

The image of a 12-year-old Katerina Luski flashed before him. A frightened red-haired girl emerging from under the table, trustingly wrapping her arms around Viktor’s neck as he ferried her away from the carnage of her home. Viktor’s right hand gripped the dashboard as he tried to keep his face resolute, but he was beset with the bitter irony that he had saved Maia that day only to sign her death warrant nineteen years later.

“Perhaps you don’t think I’m serious,” Rafiq said.

Viktor held his breath, not letting go of Maia’s gaze. He would face this with her and not turn away like a coward. He wouldn’t survive this, but he would own it.

Rafiq swung the gun away from Maia and shot Holly Nolan in the head.