Chapter 6

My heart shifted into overdrive when I saw the incoming message from Cam. While the HRC hangars weren’t identifiable from outside signs, locals knew it for what it was, and most everyone in Jeppur would know how to find it.

The hangar had security gates and cameras and limited protective measures, but staffing was light to nonexistent. We were in the middle of recruit training, Frank’s team was gone, and Boy Scout had taken a short leave of absence. There was precious little of interest at any given HRC property. Weapons were locked down and ID activated, the same as they were for the drop ships. Secure information wasn’t kept onsite, and any so-called luxuries were worse than IGMC-issued. Frank’s coffee maker, as an example, only worked some of the time.

In other words, there was no reason anyone should have breached the hangar’s boundaries.

Pounding up the stairs of the safehouse, I had Janessa secure in one arm while I ordered a remote spinner on my comm.

I sprinted up the street to the address I’d entered, and we only had to wait for a minute standard before it pulled up. After strapping Janessa in the back, I straddled my seat and activated the enclosure. It would keep the impending rains off and keep Janessa safely in, as well.

“Keep your hands on the grips, Jetpack,” I called behind me, and we were off, the lights of the neighborhood increasing door by door until we found the busier streets of Jeppur. We raced through Lucky Breaks and careened up the ramp to the main road that would take us to the hangar. Knife and Boy Scout would have gotten my emergency pings, but this was all on me. Knife couldn’t get here in time, and I had no idea where Boy Scout was.

Speeding across the distance, I tried to strategize a way out for all of us. I’d tapped into the security feed for the hangar, and the only thing I’d seen were some blurry images scaling the fence and disappearing into the shadows cast by the assorted ships parked on the tarmac. As long as Cam stayed inside the drop ship, she would be safe. They couldn’t open it without powerful explosives that would damage whatever was inside that they were so desperate to get. I hoped they weren’t planning on wanton destruction.

I zipped between hov-shuttles, knuckles whitening as I clenched the handles. “Janessa, I’d love to tuck you somewhere safe, but I’m going to need your help at the hangar,” I said over the low hum inside the spinner’s shell.

“We have to save Cam,” she said, her voice brave though I detected emotion. “You know I wouldn’t stay tucked somewhere.”

“Yes, I do,” I said with a grim chuckle. “I’m going to park this about a block away. We’ll go the rest of the way on foot. Can you handle that?”

“They slapped me around some,” she said. “They didn’t cut off my feet.”

I grunted. Heads were going to roll.

Before we got out, I gave Janessa the rundown. “I spotted three Jepps lookouts on our way here. Are you familiar with this part of the city?”

“A little,” she said. “I might know a way we could approach the hangar without being spotted.”

Fifteen minutes later we were standing under the striated glow of a metal grate opening into the hangar’s HVAC room.

Spitting in the dirt at my feet, I stirred it a bit with my finger and then swiped the black mud under Janessa’s eyes in two lines, then did the same to my own. She gave me a solemn nod.

Shaking my head as dirt sprinkled down on us, I watched as Janessa climbed the tunnel’s ladder on nimble legs and jimmied the grate open. She scrambled up like a pro, and I quirked a brow but followed the little recalcitrant. I didn’t need to tell her that we had to move silently through the room and scope out the sitrep before we took action.

With the security feed streaming on my wrist comm, I could lead us through the building until we stood inside one of the repair supply closets. From our vantage point, we could see part of the drop ship on the tarmac through the hangar’s bay doors.

Placing a finger on my lips, I made eye contact with Janessa then pointed to the left. She nodded when she saw the Jepp posted outside the door leading to the office. Then she pointed to the giant bay doors, her eyes wide, and mimicked two people walking. She pointed in an exaggerated arc, suggesting there were two Jepps on either side of the bay doors.

Nodding, I felt a strange pride in the tiny rebel who was willing to risk another kidnapping to keep Suva Cam safe. After hearing Cam’s account of spiriting Janessa away before she could become a victim of child rape, it was no wonder that she would show Cam such loyalty.

Checking the security stream again, I confirmed Janessa’s suspicion. I also saw three more figures hiding behind the ships closest to mine. I tapped another message to Cam letting her know we were nearby and not to worry.

By my count, there were ten Jepps scattered across the HRC property. I had to wonder why they were going to such trouble for one skinny little kid. I assumed they knew an HRC had escorted her out of Lucky Breaks, and that was why they’d convened here.

Placing my finger over my lips, I showed Janessa two fingers, pointed to the guys waiting outside the office door, then made a slit-throat motion with my hand. She gave me a thumbs up and a nod and crouched back into the shadows of the room. Good. She planned on hanging back and staying out of sight while I took out two of their guys.

Slipping behind workstations and unused vehicles, I waited for the right moment to strike.

The skittering of a pebble echoed inside the hangar like a gunshot, and a bird fluttered from one of the eaves. The noise had drawn both the thugs’ attention, and I rose up behind the first one, taking him out in a silent stroke before the other one turned around. When the second one did, a quick throat punch prevented his shout of alarm, and I killed him with no remorse; grown men hunting a child? I was doing the galaxy a favor.

Now there were eight.

When I looked back to the closet, I saw Janessa sneak out and go in the other direction. My instincts were to run to her side and toss her back into the closet without ceremony, but she wanted to keep Cam safe just as much as I did, if not more. It occurred to me the pebble was her idea; she’d even managed to make it look like the bird caused the noise.

With Janessa taking on the guard at her side of the hangar’s bay doors, that left the other for me.

When mine tumbled to the cement in a quiet heap, I looked across the bay to see Janessa give me another thumbs up sign. I couldn’t see her victim; she must have slid the body back into the shadows.

Six.

Pausing beside the bay’s huge opening, I checked the security feed on my wrist unit. Two were inside the office area waiting by the front entrance. I could see two with my own eyes posted on either side of a separate drop ship out on the tarmac, but they were oriented toward the one in which Cam was safely stowed. I didn’t know where the last two were.

Looking over at Janessa, I showed her my palm, hoping she would wait so I could formulate a strategy. She shook her head vigorously and made the slashing throat sign, her eyes wide in terror.

Without her warning, I would have been a dead man.

Pivoting on my right foot, I spun to face my attacker with a left hook followed by a gut punch and an elbow to the neck. I crouched and finished him off, wiping my blade on the back of his shirt when it was done. A quick glance across the bay to Janessa showed she remained in place, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Five more. As easy as meat pie.

Picking up the fallen man’s weapon, I checked to see if it was ID sensitive; most gang weapons weren’t, then I scoped the thug nearest me out on the tarmac. A detail niggled at the back of my mind, so I took my time and studied the thug. Red neck cloth. Lazy stance. Half-assed grip on his weapon.

Tracking the scope to the second man watching my drop ship, I picked out similar features on him. Red neck cloth. Shabby clothing. Surly expression.

What was I missing?

I brought the scope to the first man again. All the signs of a Jepps gangster were there. Narrowing my scrutiny to his face, I expected his eyes to match his otherwise lackadaisical demeanor and got a jolt to the gut.

He had the practiced stare of black ops.

Posing as a street criminal, that man was a hardened killer.

What in the fuck? Shooting a glance towards Janessa, I swallowed. This was a game changer; she could hold her own against a single thug. An experienced assassin was a different scenario, and I had no doubt Cam herself would take me out if I let anything happen to Janessa. When we made eye contact, I pointed to myself and circled my finger, then pointed to her. She gave me a quick nod and stepped back into the shadows. Good girl.

Securing my new weapon, I backtracked into the shadows of the hangar and made my way around its perimeter to reach my little thief.

We met behind a shop counter, the tools and spare parts obscuring us.

“Change of plans,” I whispered. “I don’t know who those men are on the tarmac, but they’re not Jepps or Kaz. They’re professionals, and I need you to go back down into the tunnel and as far away from here as possible.”

I saw anger flare in her eyes, but she nodded. “I just want you to save Cam,” she said, a crack in her voice, and I grabbed her into a tight hug. I felt tension drain from her, and I realized with a shock that I might have been the first man to show her kindness and tenderness in a long time.

“I’ll save Cam,” I said into her ear. “And we’re never going to let you be hurt again.”

She nodded into my shoulder, and I held her for an extra minute. We snuck back to the closet, and I oversaw her entrance into the tunnel, assuring myself she was safe before I tackled the problems on the tarmac.