Page 40 of Storm and Tempest (Brand of Justice #13)

Chapter Thirty

V oices drifted through the door, solid white with a tiny window crisscrossed with metal lines. “…total carnage. No one left alive, we didn’t even find remains floating on the surface. The whole thing was burning.”

“Burned alive is a nasty way to go.”

“Better than drowning.”

Two men walked by the door and continued down the hall.

“Out here?” one said. “You’d never feel it you go cold so fast. Get numb. Drift off and start to sink. Better than flames, and your skin melting.”

Jax stared at the window. As soon as the two men were out of sight, he tried the door handle again.

He had no idea how long he’d even been in this room—whether hours or days—since the surgery.

His limbs were dragging a little, as if the signals from his brain needed a second longer than normal before they activated.

He had white scrub pants on, and canvas shoes he’d found under the bed that were a little too small.

No socks. His own underwear still, thank you very much.

A white tank top, muscle shirt so that the bandage on his shoulder was more visible.

Or it had been, until he’d taken it off so he could see the wound underneath.

With no mirror in here, it had been hard to look at the back of his shoulder and the extent of how they’d carved him up.

Still tender. The shoulder joint felt better than it had in a long time, if he was honest. But it felt more like having some foreign thing inside him and he wanted it out.

Captured.

Experimented on.

Shut in a cell with no way out.

He was living the life Kenna had lived for the past few months—and even longer. Ever since Colorado she’d been at their mercy, whether either of them had wanted to realize it or not.

Thank You.

He knew now what it felt like for her, being here. What it was like to live through everything they’d done to her. I get it. What she was currently going through, and what she had been forced to endure. He understood what it felt like to have no power.

If she’d told him what it felt like, he’d have said he understood. But he never would have. Not really. Now when he got her back, he’d be able to empathize.

Because he’d lived it as well—even if it was only for a short time.

Jax tried the door handle again. Still locked.

Thank You for giving me this understanding.

Gratitude pushed anxiety out of the brain.

In fact, the two couldn’t coexist inside a person’s mind, so he’d fight fire with fire and keep saying thank you for anything he could think of.

And he’d keep doing that until this was over.

In between, yes, he was asking for what he wanted.

Laying his desires down and trusting God for what happened next.

He had no other way to fight this than to ask for God’s intervention.

Thank You that MSI had a plan.

Maybe it had only been Bear, but regardless, things were still going to plan. Sort of. At least the highlights were on track.

He hadn’t seen Kenna yet.

Jax went to stand on the cot mattress and tried the ceiling tiles, just in case one wasn’t securely fastened. He might be able to climb up there.

Sure, he’d purposed in his heart to trust God no matter what, but he was still going to do everything he could to get out of here. Surrender wasn’t about giving up and quitting.

A dull thud echoed down the hall.

Jax jumped off the cot and went to the door so he could see out. So what if they saw him watching.

But it wasn’t any of the gunmen or medical staff who worked here.

He spotted a guy in black fatigues, dressed a lot like one of the gunmen from the island but with a couple of distinct differences. It was his friend.

Bear scanned each room as he came down the hall, looking in the little window at every door. Jax knocked on his, drawing the man’s attention.

I guess the plan is working.

Bear rushed over, his gaze scanning the four corners of the door. Then he signaled Jax to back up. He reached up on the side with the hinges. Attaching explosives to the door?

Jax backed up farther, hugging the wall in the corner.

He heard three knocks on the door.

Then two.

Then one.

A long second later, the door popped. Smoke blew from around the frame on the far side from the hinges, and through the lock. Jax rushed over and caught the door as it fell in, making sure it didn’t land hard on the floor and make a lot of noise.

He laid it against the end of the bed. “Got another of those guns for me?”

Bear grinned and held out a pistol. “Thought you were going to complain I took so long.”

“Take as long as you like.” One way or another, he was getting out of here. “Have you found Kenna?”

“Sounds like she isn’t back yet. I’ve got my guys spread out all through the facility finding Amara and Bruce and looking for Kenna. One of them shot the breeze with a couple of Dominatus guys who are waiting for orders to go get her.” Bear stopped at the end of the hall and whispered, “Bro…”

“Say it.”

Bear winced. “Sounds like she’s out in the ocean on some kind of dingy. They want to know how she responds to cold exposure, and hunger, so they’ve left her there a few days with nothing. Like a stress test for her and the baby.”

“I’m going to kill these guys.” Jax’s stomach clenched. He checked the weapon and confirmed it was loaded, ready to fire. Safety off. Suppressor screwed to the front to mute the sound of a gunshot at least somewhat. “How did you get in without being discovered?”

Even walking down the halls trying to escape was a risk.

“Orders from on high. Half the staff went to the mainland.” Bear quick-walked down the hall, his steps almost silent.

Which for a big man was pretty impressive.

“The other half haven’t realized the security system has been tampered with.

” He winked over his shoulder, then proceeded around a corner.

He said, “Copy that,” to whoever was on the other end of his comms.

“Where is Bruce?” Jax wanted to ask about Buzard, just to make sure the guy didn’t disappear and manage to escape.

“Sedated and being prepped for surgery since they were done with yours. Looks like they were going to take most of his organs.” Bear muttered under his breath. “These guys are sick. Carving people up. Zeyla told me some of what happened to her.”

“She and Maizie are good?”

Bear nodded. “Tucked up safely back at the office. They’re digging into their whole computer system.

Giving them a little payback. So far, they’ve backtracked the worm in Maizie’s system and dug out what was in the FBI network.

They wrote a program that erases the worm and everywhere it’s been, repairing all the damage that was done.

Don’t ask me how they’re able to do that.

And they said it might take weeks to complete the job because it goes slow through each byte of data, backtracking what the worm altered or restoring what was deleted. ”

Thank You.

Maizie had managed to salvage the damage their enemy had done to the FBI network, destroying the chance for real justice for too many people and bringing in their own agenda. The young woman could repair what she caused, even if it was originally done to save Kenna’s life.

He needed some time with Maizie so they could talk it out and get to the place they were good with the fact she’d withheld all that from him.

Probably they both needed to forgive the other as part of it.

But it seemed as if they would get the chance and Maizie would have a clear conscience.

So one way or another, it would be resolved.

Jax could teach her about forgiveness like Ramon had suggested.

Beyond that, he wanted them to deal a blow to Dominatus .

In fact, an idea began to coalesce in his mind.

Jax had been fighting being two steps behind their enemy this entire time.

But what if they could get a chance now to reverse that and finally be a step ahead of Dominatus for once?

Like a punch their enemy didn’t see coming.

Or a virus they didn’t notice had infected them until it was too late to repair the damage.

Good idea. Thank You.

He wasn’t going to quit being grateful to God for anything. Not until the day he died and couldn’t be thankful anymore. And after that, he would spend eternity being thankful, so it wasn’t really as if he was going to stop ever.

No matter what happened.

Jax checked the hall behind him and followed Bear. “Let’s get out here and go find Kenna.” Once they were clear, he told Bear his idea.

“Exactly what I was thinking.” He moved down hallways, around corners, until Jax had no clue where they were.

He’d been unconscious when they left him in that room. How was he supposed to find his way out now? The futility of it hit him in a way he knew Kenna had felt the same emotion. Yet another way God allowed him to understand what it had been like for her.

“This way.” Bear headed through a set of double doors, in front of which was a desk to the side.

Jax spotted a guy behind the desk, a hole in his forehead.

As he stepped into the room, smaller than his office at the FBI, Jax pulled up short. Doctor Buzard sat behind a desk, both hands on the surface. Palms down. Sweat on his forehead, and over that bald dome. Jax wondered that it only took two trained private security officers to make the guy sweat.

Apparently, he wasn’t as unflappable as Jax had thought.

“Figured you’d want to do the honors.” Hollace took a step back.

Buzard eyed him. “After everything I’ve done for you?”

“Shoot him and let’s go.” Hollace turned away from the desk, disgust in his expression. “I don’t wanna be here any longer than we have to be.”

The idea that had been assembling in his mind clicked into place a little more. “You know how much intel is locked up in that mind?”

“He isn’t gonna talk.” Hollace shook his head.

“Maybe not for a while. Depends how long you keep him. Who knows what he’d be willing to trade in exchange for concessions, or a sweet deal in protective custody?” Jax shifted his stance, aware this needed to be wrapped up quickly but unwilling to lose a golden opportunity.

Bear took a step closer to Jax’s side. “Shoot him, or I will.”

“Everyone step back.” Jax looked around. Two men, one of them Hollace, and Bear. He had to convince them. “Take a breath. Killing assets to tie up loose ends is what they do. That’s not who we are. We’re supposed to be better.”

Hollace said, “You wanna let him go so you can feel good about yourself? Clearly you don’t understand what they’re capable of.”

“You think I don’t know?” Jax shot the guy a look.

“If you’d suggested we bring him before a court, maybe I’d have believed that.

Or if you said to torture him until he squeals because it’s what he deserves.

If you’d said that , I might have gone along with it.

But altruism? No way. The moral high ground doesn’t make us the winners here. It leaves us with nothing.”

“How about this, then,” Jax began. “None of what happened here gets out. You guys settle in and take over operations—at least as far as Dominatus is concerned. Keep things running at this facility. Check in, file reports. Do whatever he does to provide evidence of what he’s doing to the higher-ups.

Feed them information like nothing has changed. ”

“Take over and pretend nothing happened?” Bear looked intrigued. “We could tell them whatever we wanted. Find out information we never would’ve known otherwise.”

Buzard scoffed. “That will never work.”

“I’m not so sure,” Jax said. “I think you know it could work. And if you want to stay alive, you’ll explain to us exactly what to say to report in, so they never suspect a thing.”

Buzard’s jaw flexed.

Nothing to say to that? Jax figured that meant he was onto something. Especially when these people had a computer program that could let them pretend to be this guy, or anyone else they wanted. That’s what they’d done with Jax, undermining what he’d built. Trying to strip even more from him.

“Buzard goes with us.” Jax motioned to the guy. “Everyone else stays and does what they’re told. They’re used to it, after all. And MSI is now the proud owner of an offshore platform.”

“I’ll call it in to Mr. Jonas,” Bear said. “Get approval from him and Lightwood.”

Interesting that Preston was now an authority figure at the office. But not interesting enough to ask about it. While Bear pulled out a satellite phone, Jax turned to the others. “You guys are good with it?”

Hollace nodded. “As long as they pay for what they’re doing, it could actually get us a win.”

“Did you get Maizie in this system already?” Jax lifted his chin, indicating the computer on Buzard’s desk.

The doctor sneered. “Soon as we got here. She got into the surveillance and helped us move through the facility without being seen.”

“Good.”

Hollace started to speak, but Bear cut him off.

“Green light,” Bear said. “Pack it up, and let’s get Buzard out of here.”

Jax didn’t move. “Tell me where to find Kenna.”

The doctor only chuckled. A hollow sound, the satisfaction of a man who thought he could do whatever he wanted, and no one would ever hand him the consequences of his actions.

Hollace said, “I’ll find out.” He pressed the button to speak into his comms. “Base, this is three. Do you copy?”

Jax didn’t take his attention from Buzard, not for one second, the entire time Hollace spoke to the office—presumably to Maizie, in the computer network. Scouring the files for information about Kenna, most likely.

Jax stared down Buzard. “You don’t realize it yet, but you’re done. These guys are going to decide what happens to you next. And I doubt they’ll take my advice.”

“She wants to talk to you.” Hollace lifted his chin.

Jax stared at the MSI guys. Bear’s satellite phone rang, and he handed it over.

Jax answered the call, “I just need to know where she is.” He didn’t want small talk, and this wasn’t the time for them to process how they were feeling. The sense that time was running out had grown until he was antsy with the need to move.

“I know,” Maizie replied. “But I just need to know that we’re good.”

He heard the fear and hurt in her tone.

“We aren’t right now, but we will be. That’s what families do,” Jax said. “They stick it out no matter what. They get through the hard stuff together.”

“Okay.” Her tone sounded stronger. “There are eight buoys spread out around the platform, at various points, like a boundary line. All about a mile apart. They have codes, and one matches the record of Kenna’s testing.” Her voice shook. “Jax…”

Dread washed over him, cold like the ocean had sucked him under. He wanted the numbness, but it never came. “What is it?”

“She’s been out there for three days.”