Page 82

CHAPTER 82

T HEY REACHED THE REAR OF the house without incident. The door there had a deadbolt, but there was also a sidelight. Devine cut out a pane of glass, put his hand through, drew back the bolt, unlocked the door, and they slipped in. There was no sentry posted here. Devine figured the folks inside the house had no doubt counted on their perimeter security to alert them if anyone was approaching.

The men glided down the hallway, Devine watching the front and Shore covering their rear flank. Devine had turned down the volume on the comm pack he’d taken because he could hear it from another device obviously on the person of someone just up ahead.

They rounded the corner and glimpsed the man standing there at the bottom of the stairs. He was speaking softly into his walkie-talkie. He slipped it back into the holder on his belt and looked to his left.

Devine nodded at Shore, who readied himself to launch. Devine took aim and fired. His weapon had an integrated suppressor, and a subsonic round fired off with a minimum of noise, sounding more like a hard slap. It struck the man in the neck. As he fell dead, Shore caught him and slid him off to the side.

They went up the stairs side by side, with Shore again watching their rear.

On the next landing another man was posted. Shore slipped the knife from his belt, took aim, and flicked it. The blade bit into the man’s neck, lodging there. He gagged and tried to cry out but the blade had severed his vocal cords.

Before his tumbling down the stairs could alert the others, Devine snagged him and set the dead man on the floor. Devine pulled Shore’s knife free, wiped off the blood, and handed the blade back to him.

“Haven’t lost your Delta touch,” noted Devine.

“That shit ain’t somethin’ you ever lose till you dead.”

They kept climbing.

When they reached the top landing, Devine peered down the long hall that ran to his left. He nodded at Shore and they put in their earplugs. Devine pulled the flash bang, engaged it, and tossed it down the hall.

Seconds after it went off, he and Shore charged down the hall to find five disoriented men curled into fetal positions amid the smoke, their ears burning and their eyes temporarily blinded by the flash. Devine took the baton out of his pack and struck each of the men in the head with it, rendering them unconscious.

“There’s one more guard,” said Devine.

The next moment they heard Odom scream from inside the room, “Help!”

Shore plowed into the door, ripping it right off its hinges. He sprawled on top of it inside the room. Devine followed him in and saw the eighth and final guard at the open window. He was trying to pull Odom through it. Devine also saw that one end of a flex escape ladder had been placed over the windowsill.

Devine pointed his gun at the man. “Get away from her, now.”

The man pulled a knife from his belt. Before he could do anything to Odom with it, Devine fired a round into his head.

Odom screamed as the man fell back and slipped through the open window, falling three stories to the dirt.

Shore rushed forward and hugged Odom. She had blood on her from the man.

“You okay, Bets?” said Shore anxiously. “You ain’t hurt?”

Sobbing, she shook her head and sank to her knees. “Is… is he…”

Devine holstered his weapon and knelt down in front of her. “It’s okay, Betsy. You’re okay. And now we’re getting you out of here.” When she tried to stand, her legs failed her. Shore picked her up and said, “I got you.”

Outside the room Devine quickly zip-tied the still-unconscious men.

Before they reached the landing where the first dead man was, Devine said, “Close your eyes, Betsy. And keep them closed until I tell you it’s okay.”

She didn’t ask why; she just shut them.

When they got outside, Devine told her she could open her eyes, and he radioed Campbell that they had Odom safe and sound.

“Okay, backup is on-site and will secure and clean the area,” Campbell replied.

Devine clicked off and Odom said, “Where is Kor? I know he was fightin’ with the men who took me.” She gazed anxiously from one to the other.

Devine glanced at Shore, who dropped his gaze. Devine said, “He didn’t make it, Betsy.”

Her eyes immediately filled with tears. “He’s… Kor’s dead?”

“Yeah,” muttered Shore.

“He lost his life helpin’ me,” said Odom, as though it were a crime. “He didn’t have to do that.”

“He wanted to do it, Bets,” said Shore. “Dude loved you.”

Her eyes brimmed with even more tears. “I… I wasn’t worth… that.”

“He thought you were,” said Devine. “And that’s what counts. Now we need to go.”

They passed the backup team as they headed to their van and Devine took a minute to fill them in.

As Shore drove them off, he looked back at Odom, who was curled up into a little ball in the backseat, quietly crying.

Hours later, as they were nearing Seattle, Campbell’s voice came over Devine’s mic.

“We’ve got a problem, Devine.”

“What?”

“Danny Glass has gone missing.”