BRAINRUSH, a Thriller (19 page)

Satisfied, he sat down at the computer terminal next to Ahmed’s, casually angling the LCD screen away from the cameras and the large observation mirror at the end of the room. Then, while Ahmed’s attention was on his own computer and he was reciting phrases for Jake to repeat, Jake did a quick search of the hard drive. He knew the computer wouldn’t have Internet access, but since it was intended as a tool to expand the minds of children with advanced mental capacities, he hoped that the database included much more than just language lessons. 

He struck pay dirt. He discovered an unabridged encyclopedia with a library of supporting articles and reference material. Jake drilled into the files and started the research that would become the cornerstone of his escape plan. 

The analysis was a slow, painstaking process because he was forced to minimize the window whenever Ahmed got up to go over some unique phrasing in their Dari lessons. But, little by little, Jake got what he needed.

As the day dragged on, the strain of the intense concentration was taking its toll. The lump on Jake’s head throbbed and he found it increasingly difficult to practice the difficult techniques he was learning while at the same time speaking Dari with Ahmed. It put a whole new spin on the concept of multitasking.

After dinner, Sarafina drifted off to sleep on the small sofa and Jake carried her into the dorm room and tucked her into bed. He kissed her forehead.
Sweet dreams, little one.

Certain that he was as ready as he was ever going to be, Jake returned to the other room, shut down the computer, and continued his casual conversation with Ahmed in Dari.

“So, how do you rate my progress, professor?” Jake asked.

“It’s amazing! You speak just like you came from my village back home.”

“And where is home?” Jake asked.

A brief but noticeable change swept across Ahmed’s features, as though he had accidentally let down his guard for a moment and had to collect himself. He gave his toy top a spin. It careened into the keyboard, skipping along its edge. He didn’t seem to notice when it leapt off the table. “My home is—was—in a village outside of Riyadh…in Saudi Arabia.”

Jake felt the lie even as it was spoken and wondered at the need for it. “Ahmed, you can tell me the truth, you know. I’m your friend.”

Squirming a bit in his seat, Ahmed’s gaze seemed to dart for a split second to the large mirror on the wall. He looked uneasily back at Jake. “You can tell if I’m lying?”

Jake held his gaze. “Yes.” 

Ahmed scrutinized Jake as if he were calculating how to respond in light of this new development. Finally, he said, “I’m from a village in the mountains of Afghanistan. My family was very poor.”

Jake sensed the truth of Ahmed’s words. The boy must have been embarrassed by his humble roots. He shrugged it off.

It was time.

Jake stood and took a step toward the large mirror, stretched his back, and stifled a wide yawn. Suddenly, his face twisted in pain and his hands flew up to his bandaged head. He let out a low groan, his eyes rolled back, and he fell hard to the floor.

Ahmed screamed.

Venice, Italy

I
t was late evening and Tony was anxious to get moving. 

Their small group was gathered once again in Mario’s home. Lacey sat on the couch adjusting a frilly scarf around Marshall’s neck as part of his musketeer’s costume—the same garb Tony was wearing—right down to the royal blue velvet tunic and silver-trimmed black cape, both hand-embroidered with silver crosses and
fleur-de-lis.

Francesca’s uncle Vincenzo—dressed as a lady of the court, complete with flowing blonde wig and inflatable bodice—was standing by the fireplace talking with Alberto, who was dressed as Romeo. Lorenzo had traded in his M1 Carbine for a decorative saber to complement his disguise as a royal knight.

These costumes weren’t cheap knockoffs, Tony thought, the kind you could buy back home to go trick-or-treating with your kids. These were the real deal—lace-up leather boots, tights, capes, jeweled accessories, plumed hats, and incredibly detailed handpainted masks, authentic right down to the wear that was evident from years of use in the annual carnival celebration.

A jingle of tiny bells caught Tony’s attention. Lacey glided into the foyer dressed as a sultry gypsy, replete with beads and bangles that jangled when she moved. She performed a series of cat-like stretches and Tae Kwon Do movements that seemed more seductive than combative. Tony noticed Marshall staring at her with a slack jaw. She commanded the gaze of Alberto and Lorenzo as well. Is this the same Lacey that served beer at Sammy’s?

Mario looked up from his checklist. “We leave in five minutes.”

Tony triple-checked his MP5 and hooked it to the shoulder sling beneath the heavy black cape of his costume. While he checked each of his spare clips, he thought about Jake and wondered what he was going through right now. It wouldn’t be the first time Jake had been held against his will. 

When they first met ten years ago, Tony had taken a six-month break from active field ops to become acting NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge) at the US Air Force Pilot Survival and POW Training Camp in the mountains of Washington State. 

As a new pilot, Jake had to complete the two-week program before being actively attached to a squadron. Tony was in charge of a tough group of soldiers who played the role of the enemy Muslim extremist forces. They were tasked with capturing and interrogating the pilots during the second half of their training. The seasoned veterans working with Tony were only too happy to play bad guys against the hotshot pilots, pulling out all the stops to show the young college punks just how brutal the enemy could be.

Jake had thrown a curveball into their well-rehearsed routine. 

During the escape-and-evasion exercise, when everyone ultimately got caught, Jake had burrowed deep under the hollow of a tree that had fallen across one of the deer paths in the heavily forested region. Tony’s frustrated team was unable to find him, even though his men must have stepped right over Jake during their search. 

The way Jake retold the story, he’d remained in his hole until well after nightfall. Then, avoiding several roving patrols, he snuck out and found his way to the POW camp. Waiting until most of the guards had been called out to participate in the search for him, he crept under the perimeter fence, made his way to the prisoner cells, and one by one helped eleven prisoners escape.

When the patrols returned late that night, exhausted and dirty from their search, they found Jake and his compatriots in the common room of the guards’ barracks. They were feasting on junk food and sodas they had pilfered from the guards’ personal lockers. Tony’s bottle of Jack Daniels was sitting empty on one of the tables and more than a few of the young pilots were slurring their words. Jake greeted Tony’s team with his trademark crooked smile. “What took you so long, boys?”

The guards were furious, as was Tony. They rousted the prisoners back into their cells and made sure that each of them paid a heavy toll during the next three days of interrogation, with Jake at the top of their shit list. 

But, bolstered by having beaten the guards at their own game, not a single one of the prisoners broke. Each of them earned bragging rights that are still earning them free beers at Air Force stag bars around the world. 

For Jake’s part, he never wanted to talk about it. The so-called “accident” that had occurred in the interrogation room after the escape weighed too heavily on his thoughts. 

Tony checked his watch. It was ten-thirty at night, and the masquerade ball was in full swing. 

They’d been over the plan several times. 

It was time to pull the trigger.

Venice, Italy

B
attista stepped into the
palazzo
’s infirmary, squinting at the bright light from the fluorescent fixtures suspended over the beds. He walked to the bed at the far end of the room, the only one occupied. Monitoring equipment attached to the unconscious American displayed current data on his condition. 

As he neared the foot of the bed, the heart-rate monitor began to emit a steady high-pitched tone. A flat green line streamed across the LCD display.

A doctor rushed in from the adjoining room. “He’s coded!” Switching on the defibrillator on the lower shelf of the equipment rack, the doctor grabbed the twin paddles and pressed them into either side of the man’s heart. “Clear!” The American’s chest lurched upward on the bed. They watched the monitor for a response. Nothing. The equipment spun up a second charge and the doctor repeated the action, his voice sharp. “Clear!” 

The patient’s chest jumped again.

The steady green line streaming across the monitor flicked upward. The machine beeped. Several seconds passed. Another beep, then another, and another. “He’s back,” the doctor said. “Heart rate’s still way below normal, but at least it’s there.”

“Good,” Battista said. He was fully regaled as a sixteenth-century lord, wearing a velvet dress coat finished with gold braids, a waistcoat, slacks and tights, and a white shirt with cuff lacing. A powdered wig hugged his head. “What are his chances of coming to?”

“Nil, at least for now. I still have some tests to perform, but I believe he suffered a massive stroke. His brain just couldn’t take it anymore. Vitals have been so minimal since his collapse that I wouldn’t expect him to regain consciousness any time soon. If at all.”

Battista nodded. He would need one last thing from Mr. Bronson before he died.

**

Jake had drawn so far into himself that the void between his mind and the outside world was growing too vast to find his way back. 

Was his heart even beating? 

He had followed the principles outlined in the shaman and yogi techniques he’d studied during his hurried research that very afternoon. But now he felt lost. There were obviously good reasons why it took years of training and focused practice to attain the ability to safely travel in this deepest world of meditation.

Time no longer mattered. Past, present, and future all melded together in a way that seemed so natural, so right. He felt an overwhelming sense of peace and euphoria. There was a brilliant white light— 

The jolt from the paddles burst through Jake’s dream. His senses were ablaze, and the recollection of what he was trying to accomplish tore into his consciousness. 

He fought the instinctual urge to move or open his eyes.

He’d done it!

Voices. They were fuzzy at first, but one of them was definitely Battista. Jake focused on controlling his heart rate so that the beeping monitor wouldn’t betray the fact that he was awake. 

He listened as Battista spoke, “In that case, be prepared to operate in the morning. Do whatever you have to do to keep his blood oxygenated and flowing to the brain through the night. We need to perform the full cranial exam and dissection while the brain is still alive.” 

“Of course. I shall have everything ready,
signore
.”

Jake heard a door open and close as Battista left the room.

A full cranial exam and dissection. No way, asshole.

Through half-closed eyes, Jake watched a stout man in a white lab coat standing with his back to him at the foot of the bed, the chrome tubing of a stethoscope hooked around the back of his neck.

Jake had an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and he felt a sensor clipped around his index finger. The chill air told him he was bare-chested. He twisted his wrists and ankles a bit, confirming that there were no restraints. 

The doctor walked into an adjoining room.

Jake snapped off the oxygen mask and lifted his head to sit up. Too fast. A wave of vertigo swept over him. He dug his fingers into the mattress to steady himself, shaking his head. The beep of the heart monitor accelerated as his circulation rushed to keep up with his movements.   Jake fumbled to lower the volume, but as he reached for the knob, the clothespin sensor on his index finger slipped off.

The monitor responded with a loud and steady tone. 

Staggering to his feet, he flattened himself on the wall next to the doorway, tasting beads of sweat on his upper lip. Hurried footsteps approached from the other room.

The doctor stepped into the room. Jake moved behind him and threw his right arm around the man’s neck in a chokehold. His forearm and biceps constricted both of the man’s carotid arteries, robbing his brain of oxygen. The man jerked in surprise. He twisted his neck just enough to move the pressure of Jake’s grip off the arteries. His elbows pounded into Jake’s ribs. 

Jake winced at the jabs. He tightened his grip on the man’s neck and the sudden exertion brought on another bout of vertigo. With a heave, Jake pushed out with his right knee against the back of the doctor’s thighs, forcing the man’s legs out from under him. Then he used his free hand to adjust his grip and push the man’s neck deeper into the V of his locked elbow, knowing he only needed to apply the pressure for four or five uninterrupted seconds.