Page 12

Chapter 12

Dax slipped through the passages, grateful these tunnels were lit and trying to recall the number and direction of turns he needed to make to reach the command center. All the while, he had to move quickly and silently so as not to alert any guards the Nexus Collective might have posted along the way.

He suspected they’d made a circle through the tunnels when they’d been taken to the dungeon. Returning to the massive room with the conference table had been a miracle. He wasn’t sure he could retrace his steps back the other route. They’d been running too fast and making snap decisions on directions. With guards hot on their heels, Dax hadn’t had the opportunity to memorize the turns.

When he arrived at the first of the doors, he keyed the code and stood back, expecting a guard to be standing there ready to shoot.

No one was there.

He ran along the stone tunnel, arriving at the next door. Again, he entered the code and stood back in the shadows.

As soon as the door opened, a rifle’s barrel poked through.

The door didn’t remain open long. As it reversed direction, the guard started to back up.

Dax reached out, grabbed the barrel of the rifle and yanked it and the guard through the door.

Pulled off balance, the guard stumbled and pitched forward. Before he could regain stability, Dax planted his foot in the man’s back, kicking hard, sending him crashing into a stone wall.

The Russian slid to the ground.

Dax dove through the door with only inches to spare.

He ran along the corridor. Left turn here. Or was it right? Following his gut, he could sense he was nearing the command center. At the next corner, he slowed to a halt and peeked around it.

Two guards stood on either side of a door. One held a submachine gun, the other a rifle. They faced away from each other, each looking down the pathways leading toward them.

Dax ducked back around the corner, trying to figure out how to get past two heavily armed guards without them seeing him.

He had no way to distract them. And no gun to shoot them from a distance. All he had was a stun gun he could only use at close quarters.

That settled it.

Dax stepped into the passage and held his hands in the air. “Don’t shoot,” he called out in his limited Russian, hoping he’d got it right.

Instantly, their weapons were trained on him. He moved forward, trying to remember the word for surrender. When he couldn’t recall the right words, he said, “ YA tvoy plennik .” I am your prisoner.

The man with the submachine gun motioned for the other guy to approach Dax.

Dax kept walking toward them. He had to get close enough to both of them to use the stun gun. And he had to get his hands into his pocket to get to the device.

The guy with the machine gun wasn’t chancing it. He stayed far enough away Dax wouldn’t be able to stun him and the rifleman in rapid succession.

All he could hope was that they wouldn’t take away his stun gun and use it on him.

Rifleman reached for Dax’s raised hands.

Machinegun Dude started to type the code into the keypad, keeping his gun pointed toward Dax even if his attention wasn’t.

As rifleman lowered Dax’s left arm, Dax lowered his right, slipped it into his pocket, turned slightly and pressed the pocket and the stun gun into the Russian’s side.

He yelped and dropped to the floor.

Dax dove for the man with the submachine gun, knocking the barrel to the side with his left hand and tagging the man with the stun gun in his right hand.

The man went down like a ton of bricks, his head making a sickening thud against the stone.

Dax hit both men once more with the stun gun and relieved them of their weapons.

He removed the bolt from the rifle and slung the strap of the machine gun over his head.

After one more hit from the stun gun to each guard, he entered the code into the keypad.

As the door swung open, he stepped through. “It’s over Maas.” He aimed the submachine gun at Maas and Yamaguchi, standing at the station behind the plexiglass.

Maas glanced up, his eyes wide. Then they narrowed. “Do your jobs, damn it,” he called out. to the Russians.

Four guards didn’t wait for Rotenberg to translate. They came at him at once.

Dax couldn’t let Maas go through with his plan. He had to stop him, and this might be his last chance. He braced himself and pulled the trigger, aiming at Maas. The burst of bullets slammed into what Dax had assumed was plexiglass.

When it didn’t shatter, he realized his mistake. It wasn’t plexiglass, it was bulletproof glass.

Dax turned the submachine gun on the Russians, closing in on him.

When he pulled the trigger a second time, nothing happened. The gun had jammed.

With no time to work the jam free, he used the weapon as a club and swung it at the nearest guard, hitting him in the side of the head.

Before he could swing at the next guy, he was hit in the head from behind. Pain shot through his skull, and Dax sank into to darkness.

How long he was out, he didn’t know. Seconds, minutes? He was sliding in and out of consciousness as he was being dragged across the floor. His hands were being yanked together and bound around something metal.

He tried to resist, but he blacked out. When he opened his eyes again, his vision was too blurry, his head too heavy to hold up.

Voices sounded as if at the end of a long dark tunnel.

They were saying something about the girl.

Giva? Were they talking about Giva?

Dax fought toward the surface. He fought to open his eyes, but his head spun, and he couldn’t...

A woman’s voice sounded near Dax.

Yamaguchi.

“She knows... bring... authorities... leave... now.”

“Can’t let them have access... destroy... move... backup location.” Was that Maas?

Dax needed to wake up. Time was running out.

“Where?” the German’s voice demanded.

“Bel...deer... abandoned hotel,” Yamaguchi said.

“We have five minutes,” Maas was saying. “...detonate... destroy everything... this room, including... imposter.” Someone kicked Dax in the ribs.

The pain shot through him, pulling him out of the fog to semi-consciousness. He raised his head in time to see everyone had left the room except Maas. The man stood in the open doorway, staring at Dax. “You look nothing like me. Should’ve stayed out of my business.”

He stepped through the door, and it closed.

Dax blinked his eyes several times, trying to clear the remaining fog from his mind. Five minutes echoed in his thoughts. Five minutes until what?

He lay on his side, his wrists bound together around a metal beam. Dax’s gaze followed the beam upward to the table it supported beneath the array of monitors displaying images from webcams all over the world.

Dax pulled his wrists, trying to break the bindings. They’d used three zip ties instead of one, making it impossible for him to break them by slamming his wrists against the pole. He swung his body around, braced his feet against the pole and then kicked as hard as he could.

The pole didn’t budge. He kicked again. Nothing. His movements had made his pantleg rise up enough he noticed the sheath strapped to his leg. The knife!

Dax wrapped his legs around the pole and positioned his right ankle close to his hands.

Five minutes until what?

As he pulled the knife free, his heart skipped several beats.

Detonation.

Maas had said five minutes until detonation.

Holy shit.

That left him less than five minutes to free himself and get out.

Holding the knife tightly between his heels, he rubbed the zip ties over the blade.

A few minutes had to have passed when he snapped the first zip tie. He worked steadily, carefully. If he dropped the knife and had to fumble around to reposition it, he’d waste valuable seconds.

The second zip tie snapped. He pressed his wrists against the last zip tie as tightly as he could and slid it over the blade. Once... twice...

Snap.

Dax rolled to his feet. He didn’t have time to locate the explosives and defuse the detonator. His only hope was to get out of the command center and as far down the passage as he could.

He slid the metal plate upward, exposing the keypad and quickly entered the code. His hand shook so badly, he missed and had to start over.

The clock in his mind was ticking loudly, counting backward.

Ten... Nine... Eight...

His second attempt to enter the code failed.

Had they changed it?

Steady, man. Focus .

Seven... Six... Five...

He drew in a deep breath and slowly entered the numbers he’d memorized. After he pressed the last key, he waited for the reassuring click of the lock disengaging.

Four... Three... Two...

The lock clicked, and the door opened slowly.

Dax stood near the gap, fitting his arm through, then his leg, and finally, his body.

One...