Page 23 of Polestar (The Global Paranormal Security Agency #3)

NINETEEN

C langing and banging preceded the opening of the cargo box door. Everyone squinted against the sudden splash of light filling the room.

“Breakfast,” Antony said.

Two goons stood on either side of the door, holding automatic rifles, while two more distributed food.

Emilio shoved a bowl of gruel with a chunk of bread into Ana’s hands. “Yummy,” she muttered, staring at the gray slop.

The pounding and spinning in her head had gone away after a few hours of sleep, making it easier to focus and think.

Emilio and the other crew members settled around Ana before the doors closed, throwing them back into darkness.

She’d heard them whispering among themselves whenever she was awake, catching snippets here and there.

“What do you want to know?” she said, raising the spoon, hoping it was high enough to reach her mouth in the dark.

After a few seconds, she lifted the bowl to her chin and just shoveled it in, gagged once, and powered on.

She hadn’t eaten since the snacks she and Magnus had consumed on their way to the stronghold.

“Antony.”

“Okay.”

“He said you’re gifted. Like, woo-woo gifted.”

Ana struggled against snorting the gruel out through her nose. “I guess you could call it that.”

Did you seriously describe me as ‘woo-woo’ gifted to them, Antony?

“It was the only way to get them to understand what I was talking about when I tried to be polite about it.”

“We figured he didn’t make it after he got us out. He was, uhm… right in the middle of the, uhm… blast,” Emilio said, then sucked in a breath.

“No. He didn’t,” she said, her voice soft. “The navy is going on the assumption none of you made it since they didn’t recover you. Dead or alive.”

“So they’re not even looking for us,” one of the other guys said.

“They’re investigating. That’s all I know,” Ana said.

“No one in the world knows we’re here,” another said.

“No one knows any of us are here,” a woman said from further away.

“No, but that doesn’t mean no one’s looking,” Ana said. “It’s what I do. I’m part of a team investigating this group that’s stealing people, and selling them.”

“That’s fucking awesome,” the woman said, laughing. “And you’re in here with us.”

“Yeah, thanks for pointing out the obvious. That’s what Antony said, too.”

“What? He’s here with us? You weren’t just crazed from that bump on your head?”

“Nah, I’m always crazed, bump or not. And yes, Antony is here. He’s been here with you all this time and apparently trying to tell me about it. But I’ve had… communication issues.”

Emilio grunted.

“My crew will come looking for us. We were so close. They’ll find us,” she said with more uplift in her voice than she felt in her gut.

“Yeah, how are they going to do that? We don’t even know where the hell we are,” the woman snapped.

“Well, they grabbed me from an island nation in the middle of the Barents Sea, so I expect we’re still in that region or very close. My team knew where I was. And now that I’ve gone missing, they’ll hone in.”

“Lady, it takes a lot to find boats in vast areas like that.”

“I’m aware. My crew is… special,” she said, thinking of Carson’s ability to shift into a water dragon. Ian too. Lirikai was also a fierce aquatic hunter. Raya was a hell of a fighter and could go anywhere there was a water source.

And Magnus. He’d be magnificent as his polar bear self. Her chest tightened, thinking of him. Had he broken free from the guards? Did Kane go in after him, guns blazing—or whatever it was she did?

“Like Navy Seals or SAS?”

“Yeah, something like that, but… more. A lot more.”

“Bullshit,” someone scoffed.

“Listen, Ana,” Emilio spoke. “If Antony is here, can you tell him thank you for keeping us alive? Even if we got picked up by these pricks.”

“Tell them they’re all welcome and that wasn’t part of the plan.”

Emilio laughed when Ana relayed his words. “No shit, huh?”

“Have you all been together this whole time?”

“Our crew? Yeah, for the most part. We don’t even know who these pricks are or what they want from us, but we’ve seen a lot of other folks coming and going. I think we’re here because we’re the troublemakers,” he gave a short laugh.

“They’re traffickers. Everything from drugs, weapons, animals, people—anything their clients want.”

“Animals? Yeah, that makes sense. A while back, they had us in another crate and something happened that made the guards panic and all we could hear was roaring. Like a lion or something. Made all the hair on my body stand on end; kinda glad we were locked in here.”

“It was a polar bear. Pretty freaky seeing it going wild like that before they brought it down with a tranq. I went to see what all the noise was when the roaring started,” Antony said.

“A polar bear?” Ana asked. Aksel?

“Who knows?” Emilio said.

Antony said, “Yeah, big son of a bitch, too. It was weird. That girl you talked to that split?”

“Bi-located? Sascha?”

“Yeah, the one that gave you my message. She was there. I thought maybe the animal had tried to attack her or something because it went nuts when they pulled her out of the box. Emilio and the guys had stepped in and tried to protect her from some nasty shit they were doing to her a few days before. I thought they were going to feed her to it or something.”

“Sascha? You’ve seen her?” the woman asked.

“Yes. My team seized the ship she was on. Everyone on board was rescued.”

The woman sobbed. “Oh, thank God. Thank God. She’s my student. I teach her English. They grabbed us together while on holiday. I’m so glad she made it out.”

“Yeah, we were all worried the creepy guy got her,” Emilio said.

“Creepy guy?”

“There’s two of ’em in charge,” Antony said.

“Who are they?” Ana asked.

“A guard mentioned Wulker,” a crewman said.

“Adolf Wulker. Looks like an underfed accountant,” Antony said. “There’s another guy. Big guy. Doesn’t say much. Clean-shaven blond guy that came around with a woman around a couple of times. A tall blonde. Nice to look at.”

“Have you seen anyone with weird throat tattoos?”

“Yeah sure. Most of them don’t get seen again, though. What is it? Like a brand or a tag for a gang or something?”

“More like a brand,” Ana said, drawing a deep breath. “It’s dangerous.”

“The tattoo? Do they contaminate the ink with some contagion or something?” Emilio demanded.

“Ehm. Well. Sort of?”

“But?”

“Here’s where the woo-woo comes in.”

“Ah shit. Don’t tell us. If we get tattooed, we’re screwed?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Clanging signaled the guards’ return.

The doors squealed open, blinding everyone again as the bowls were collected.

A new figure appeared in the illuminated rectangle of the doorway.

“Shit, Ana, that’s him. The Accountant.”

Ana’s breath caught as she squinted to make out details as her eyes tried to adjust to the light. The silhouette was smaller than the guards, his form outlined in a suit.

“That one,” his accented, nasal voice commanded with a nod.

The two guards collecting the bowls moved toward Ana.

“Oh shit, no, Ana!” Antony yelled, swiping ineffectually at the guards to stop them.

“Hey!” Emilio and the crewmen shot to their feet. “Leave her alone.”

One of the armed guards dropped the point of his rifle at Emilio. “Back off.”

“Emilio. My team is coming. Be ready for them. They’ll need all the help they can get from the inside when they get here,” she whispered, raising her hands submissively as the guard grabbed her wrist. “Woo-woo or not, be ready.”

The guard wrenched her wrist painfully, dragging her out of the box into the garish fluorescent lights of a massive warehouse.

Ana squeezed her eyes shut against the pain from the light stabbing her eyeballs, alternately squinting until they adjusted.

The nasal voiced man questioned another larger figure standing further away, who appeared to just nod.

“Analiese Ortega.”

“Yes?” she blinked at the man who wasn’t much taller than herself. “You are?”

Creepy Accountant seems about right.

“Here to collect my leverage.” He grinned and turned on his heel.

Shoved by a guard, she had no choice but to follow him as the steel doors clanged shut again.

“Don’t worry, Ana, I’m right here with you,” Antony said as they passed the taller man that fit the description of the second man Emilio described. “I’m not going anywhere.”

The man’s eyes slid from Ana to Antony.

“Does he see me?”

The corner of the blond man’s lips lifted.

“Shit,” Antony said.

Ice slid through Ana’s veins.

The armed guard shoved her forward again, forcing her to keep up with the Accountant.

J oey Kane paced behind her desk as her team assembled in her office. Jack Maeda was on the line from his New York office.

“Please close the door,” she said to Aaron Connor as soon as he jogged into the room.

With a nod, he did so and moved in.

Joey’s gaze slid from team member to team member. Even the ones that usually masked their emotions exuded concern. Aaron Connor, Raya Burns, Carson Perenga, Lirikai of the Barra’kidai, Ian McLachlan. Everyone else associated with the case was still in the field.

Do I tell them about the Gate?

She bit her lip.

No, there will be time for that later. Focus on this case right now.

“We’re all here, boss,” Aaron prompted, fingers tapping against his thigh.

Right.

“Jack is on the line with us,” she gestured toward the conference speaker phone on her desk.

“Ana and Magnus?” Carson leaned in.

They were all clearly impatient for a status report.

“Dark.”

The team erupted, all speaking at once.

“Fuck,” Raya said.

Carson said, “When are we going in after them?”

“They should have been back by now,” Aaron picked up Joey’s pacing across the back of the room.

“Yes,” Joey nodded. “They should have. The seaplane they used to fly into Barentia hasn’t been returned yet.”

“What do we know?” Jack’s voice came through the speakerphone.