Dark Deceptions Read online

  “I’d say you’ve got about twenty minutes,” Jason confirmed.

  “Should be more than enough time,” Drake said, swinging his utility pack over his shoulder as he rose to his feet.

  “Assuming we don’t run into a welcome party,” Emmett muttered as he double-checked his gear. “Nothing like discovering a nest of hostiles on site at the last fucking minute.”

  “I heard that,” Hannah said.

  “Sorry.” Emmett clearly wasn’t, but the apology seemed to placate Hannah.

  “Let’s move out,” Nash said, signaling the others, falling in line with Tyler as they made their way down the hill.

  “I hate to agree with Emmett, but it does seem like Hannah might have given us a heads-up a little sooner.”

  “Maybe the satellite wasn’t in position. I don’t know. You know as well as I do that intel is an inexact science.” Nash shrugged. “Point is that we know now. And with a little luck we’ll avoid an encounter altogether.”

  “And if we happen to run into them?” Tyler asked.

  “We’ve faced worse.”

  “True enough,” she sighed. “It just seems like lately something always goes wrong.”

  “Comes with the territory. Anyway, we’ll be fine. You’ll see.” Nash shifted his weapon to the other side and moved ahead, the four of them falling into their former positions.

  They managed to make their way down the incline without incident, emerging from the grass at the far southeast corner of the enclosure. Two minutes later and they’d arrived at the fallen tree, the resulting gap in the vegetation opening the canopy to the star-studded sky.

  “The camera is definitely missing,” Drake said, pulling a climber’s rope from his pack. “Way to go, Hannah; you called it right.”

  “Hey, I aim to please.” Even long distance you could hear the smile in her voice.

  “Anything on the other side we should know about?” Nash asked.

  “Looks clear from here,” Jason responded. “But you’d better go quickly; I’ve got one of the front gate guards on the move. About a hundred yards out. Heading your direction.”

  “Okay, people. Let’s move,” Nash called, as Drake tossed the rope, and the grappling hook dug into the top of the wall with a soft thunk. With a jaunty grin, Drake was up and over, Tyler following on his heels.

  “You next, Emmett,” Nash said, turning slowly to survey the area, making sure they didn’t have additional company.

  Emmett vaulted over the wall, and after waiting a beat, Nash turned and followed suit, straddling the barrier to remove the rope and hook before jumping lightly to the muddy ground of the compound.

  “Where’s the guard?” he barked into his earpiece.

  “Moving the other way.” Despite the distance, Jason clearly sounded relieved. “For the moment you’re good to go.”

  “Should we split up?” Tyler asked. “It might be more time-efficient.”

  “Normally, I’d agree with you,” Nash said, “but considering the number of hostiles present I think we’re better off sticking together.”

  Tyler nodded.

  “I suggest we get a move on,” Drake urged, already heading in the direction of the tiny communications building.

  The heat closed around them, the still air oppressive, drops of rain spattering the ground as they walked. Nash positioned his silenced Sig Sauer, finger on the trigger. Better to be ready. The shrouded building loomed out of the mist, and they stopped in the shadow of a large acacia tree.

  “Drake, you and Tyler stand guard while Emmett and I deal with the computers. How much time will you need once we hit the array?”

  “Seven minutes tops.” Tyler shrugged.

  “All right, we’ll be out in three.”

  The building was dark and surprisingly cool. A narrow hallway ran from the door to the far end, flanking a large room full of computers that was even colder than the hall.

  “The computers can’t function in this humidity, so they’ve got to control the temperature,” Emmett explained, as he opened a small bag at his waist.

  Banks of computers lined the room on both sides, LED lights blinking off and on, giving the room a hazy green glow. Emmett pulled out a pen drive the size of a lighter, and after a brief search opened a drawer with a keyboard and inserted the drive in the CPU above it.

  The computer’s gauges lit up, moving up and down as the machine downloaded the information on the drive. Designed to immobilize not only the computers present but anything networked to the system, the virus Jason had created was geared to reach beyond the compound itself into the very heart of Red Sword’s technical infrastructure.

  “How’s the security?” Jason’s voice crackled into the earpiece.

  “Can’t tell yet,” Emmett replied. “So far they haven’t even detected the fact that we’re in the system. You getting anything?” The plan was for Jason to remotely detonate the virus seconds before Tyler blew the array, keeping outside interference to a minimum. However, there was always the chance that Emmett’s download would trigger some kind of inner systemic security.

  “Everything seems fine,” Jason replied.

  “Five more seconds,” Emmett whispered to no one in particular.

  Nash held his breath, waiting for the all-clear. In truth, he’d rather face a horde of Uzi-toting hostiles than a simple bank of enemy computers. There were just so many variables, and nothing he could do to control them. Technology had its moments, but push come to shove, he could live without it. Hell, he never even remembered to turn on his cell phone, a shortcoming Tyler never failed to remind him of.

  As if giving voice to his concern, the room was filled with an ominous beeping sound—some kind of alarm. “What the hell?”

  “I don’t know,” Emmett said, typing furiously as the screen above him scrolled through various commands. “Jason, you got anything?”

  “You tripped some kind of security,” Jason answered. “Maybe the firewall.”

  “Well, that much I knew. But it’s not responding to the codes you gave me. Anything you can do from your end?”

  “Hang on.”

  Not exactly words to instill faith. Nash pulled his gun and turned to face the door. “You guys getting this?” he asked, speaking into his headpiece.

  “It’s all quiet out here,” Drake responded. “At least so far. Nothing’s moving.”

  “Keep your eyes open.” The beeping increased in intensity, lights flashing now along the bank Emmett was working on. “Jason. We could really use some help here.”

  “I’m trying.” The sound of frantic typing filled both the room and Nash’s earpiece as both men worked to stop the alarm. Nash tightened his hand on the Sig, almost wishing for an intruder—anything to break the tension.

  Then suddenly the alarm stopped.

  “Got it,” Emmett said, retrieving the hard drive before pushing the drawer with the keyboard closed. “Jason, you should have control.”

  “Hannah?” Jason asked.

  “We’re in,” she confirmed. “Now you guys get the hell out of there.”

  “With pleasure.” Still leading with the gun, Nash made his way out of the computer room, down the hallway, and out the front door. Drake and Tyler were standing back to back watching the pathways for signs they’d been discovered.

  “Looks like I’m up,” Tyler said as they ducked low, making their way across the open ground between the compound and the array.

  The rain was coming down in earnest now, providing a gray cloak that helped to obscure their progress. Still, Nash kept himself on hyper-alert. The alarm in the computer room had to have alerted someone. Which meant that sooner or later they were bound to have company.

  They reached the array in seconds, Tyler already pulling the prerigged plastique from her backpack. She knelt at the base of the first dish and, using duct tape, carefully secured the explosive in place.

  “Do we have to connect the three of them?” Drake asked, his attention fixed on the compound
behind them.

  “No.” Tyler shook her head as she moved to the second dish. “They’re wireless. I’ve got a detonator.”

  “And if something happens to you?”

  “Nothing is going to happen to me,” she said. “But worst case, Jason can trigger the charges remotely.”

  Nash nodded. “How much more time?” Things were still quiet, but he had the distinct feeling the other shoe was about to drop.

  “Just a couple of seconds. I need to arm them.” Using a tiny screwdriver, Tyler made an adjustment on the first device, the small red pinprick of light on its face turning green. “One down. Any action out there?”

  Clearly Tyler was having the same thoughts about impending intervention. She moved to the second device and in less than a minute had it armed as well. But the third mechanism proved to be stubborn, the red light refusing to change to green.

  Tyler let out a curse, just as a shot rang out.

  “Company,” Drake called, returning fire. Emmett followed suit, the two of them moving between the gate to the array and Tyler, who was still struggling with the third unit.

  “Just leave it,” Nash said. “Better to get the hell out of here. We can blow the two you do have set.”

  “It’s okay,” Tyler said. As the reticent light turned green. “I’ve got it. Let’s go.”

  The four of them raced for the far wall behind the array, the shots moving closer but the gunmen still not in sight. Skidding to a halt, Drake threw the grappling hook again and was up and over almost before it was embedded in the wall. Tyler and Emmett followed suit while Nash kept the shooters at bay with return fire. Then after a last volley, he pulled himself over the wall, hitting the ground on a roll.

  Springing to his feet, he followed his friends as they sprinted for the cover of the jungle, quietly trying to raise someone on his com piece. No one answered, and he wasn’t certain if the problem was his alone or if somehow the entire system was down.

  But there was no time to figure it out. Bullets exploded in the mud at his feet, and he dropped to a crouch, still moving, veering back and forth to keep his path unpredictable. Ahead, he saw Emmett fall, but Drake was quick to pull him back to his feet, the two of them moving in tandem. Tyler was just off to the right, almost to the cover of the trees.

  All she needed was time to detonate.

  Swerving back toward the road and the gunmen, Nash rolled to the ground again and came up firing, satisfied to see a burst of blood as one of the gunmen hit the dirt. Two more shots and another man was dead.

  Two down.

  Knowing that he was still too close to the blast zone, he pulled to his feet just as the jeep rounded the corner, machine guns blazing. Reaching into his flak jacket, he produced a grenade and, without slowing, lobbed it over his shoulder. Seconds passed, but not enough time for the jeep to react, and the resulting explosion flipped the vehicle into a ditch.

  Hitting the top of the ravine and the line of trees, he ran into the jungle, scanning the area for signs of Tyler.

  “Here,” came her whisper, from the shelter of a clump of bamboo. “I’m here.”

  “Did you lose com or is it just me?” Nash asked, dropping to his knees beside her.

  “Whole system is down, which means no remote detonation. It’s got to be me.”

  “How’s Emmett?” The shooting had subsided for a moment, but there was no doubt that it would resume as soon as the dust from the grenade had cleared.

  “He’s fine. Bullet to the groin. I don’t think it’s life-threatening, but there was a lot of blood, which meant he was no good to us here, so I sent him ahead with Drake to the rendezvous point. I figured better to get them out of harm’s way. Easier for me to concentrate on blowing this pop stand.”

  “Literally.” Nash shot her a brief smile. “What about the computer virus?”

  “With loss of com we can’t be sure that Jason can launch it. Emmett is going to try to do it manually as soon as they’re out of range of the gunfire.”

  “Good. At least we’ve got that much taken care of. So are we far enough away from the blast zone to detonate?”

  “Yeah, we’re good. I just need to verify the signal.” The machine-gun fire resumed, this time much closer. Clearly the perimeter guards had survived the grenade.

  “I’ll see if I can buy you some time.” Without waiting for an answer, he jammed a new cartridge into the Sig, and keeping low, moved in the opposite direction from Tyler. Once he’d managed to put some distance between the two of them, careful to keep himself between the encroaching terrorists and her position, he twisted to a standing position and lobbed another grenade.

  His last one.

  For a moment everything moved in slo-mo, the shooters first freezing as they recognized the impending disaster and then running and diving for cover as the grenade exploded, sending chunks of mud raining down into the night.

  Firing over the top of a fallen log, Nash kept the pressure on, all the while waiting for Tyler’s signal. There were six shooters now. And despite the momentary obstacle created by the grenade, they had resumed their press forward.

  One of the men stepped out from the protection of the vegetation to get a better angle on Tyler’s position, but fortunately, Nash was faster. Three down, five remaining, and two more unaccounted for. A quick flash of light from above him indicated that Tyler was ready, so, still firing, he moved back again into the cover of the jungle, making his way over to her position.

  “You ready?” she mouthed, holding up the transmitter.

  “Go,” he bellowed, shooting as a man broke through the vegetation, his body breaking bamboo as he fell.

  Tyler pressed a button, already moving deeper into the woods, but nothing happened.

  “Shit,” she said, pressing again. This time, however, the motion was rewarded as a maelstrom of thunder and light split the night, embers and debris raining down into the jungle.

  For a moment everything was quiet, and then all hell broke loose, shots volleying off the trees.

  “Run,” Nash yelled. And the two of them sprinted through the jungle, the shots growing fainter as the distance grew. As they neared the rendezvous point they slowed, and Tyler pulled her gun.

  “It’s awfully quiet,” she said.

  “Too quiet, if you ask me.”

  Together they inched forward until they had a clear view of the beach. Drake and Emmett were huddled next to one of the dinghies, two Red Sword thugs holding them at gunpoint. Emmett’s pant leg was stained with blood and Drake had a bloody nose, which meant he hadn’t gone down easily, but it was clear that for the moment at least the terrorists had the upper hand.

  Of course they hadn’t counted on Nash and Tyler.

  With a mutual nod, they separated, shifting so that they each had a clear shot. And then on a silent count of three, they fired. Nash’s man was dead before it even dawned on him that he’d been hit. Tyler’s had enough time to get off a shot, but it went wild, and he, too, went down as Nash and Tyler broke free of the undergrowth and sprinted into the clearing.

  “About damn time,” Drake said with a grin.

  “You get the virus launched?” Tyler asked.

  “Do we look totally incompetent?” Drake quipped. “Of course we got it off. Truth is we had everything under control.”

  “Yeah, right,” Nash returned as they pulled the boats into the water and helped Emmett on board. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “We should have let them shoot you,” Tyler said, pulling the cord to start the outboard motor.

  Still grinning, Drake did the same with the other dinghy, and the two boats headed for the safety of open water, the jungle glowing silently behind them, backlit by the eerie fire of the burning array.

  CHAPTER 2

  Creede, Colorado

  Annie Gallagher stood at the window watching the fairy fall of snow, each flake glistening as it fell through the swath of gold cast by the lamplight. Tomorrow she’d have to shovel, but to
night she was content to simply enjoy the magic.

  She thought about waking Adam, but resisted the urge. It was late and he had school. Still, the idea of building a snowman appealed. Behind her the clock struck twelve and she laughed. Definitely too late for Adam to be up. Even with the temptation of a midnight snowstorm.

  She turned her back on the snow, shivering as she walked through the drafty hallway into the warmth of the firelit parlor. The old Victorian was a rare find in these parts, especially way up here on the mountain. It had been pretty run-down when she’d first found it, but Annie had recognized its beauty despite the disrepair, and she’d never been afraid of a little work.

  The quiet of the San Juans had been just what the doctor ordered. And now she and Adam had made a life here, far away from the world she’d inhabited for most of her adult life. The shadowy world of espionage. Sometimes she missed it. But she’d never regretted her decision. Isolation was the best thing for Adam.

  And for her.

  The little town of Creede was the perfect place for escape. High in the mountains, occupied mainly by others who wanted a quiet life away from the real world. No one asked questions. Folks here weren’t interested in who you’d been, just who you were now. And that suited Annie just fine.

  She picked up a poker and shifted the logs on the fire, the flames crackling as they danced along spines of spruce and aspen. Above the firebox, on the mantel, was the only thing that remained from her old life—well, almost the only thing—an intricately carved wooden box. She’d found it in a market in Krakow. The day Adam had been conceived.

  Of course she hadn’t known that then. Or just how much her life was going to change.

  She looked down at the objet d’art cupped in her hands. It was a puzzle box. The kind that only opened for someone who knew its secrets. At the time she’d just thought it beautiful and interesting, but as the years passed, she’d come to realize that it symbolized her life. She was the box, the secrets of her past locked deep inside alongside parts of her she no longer wished to acknowledge.