Girl Undercover 12: Showdown (14 page)

Well, it’s not like I need him any longer,
I decided. Flipping my gun around, I slugged Stenger in the head with the grip, which caused both Lyssa and Eric to gasp in shock.

Stenger’s head fell to his chest and it was clear that he was out cold.

I shot the two youngsters a glance. Their eyes were big and fearful, looking like they thought I was about to do something to them next.

“Don’t worry,” I told them. “He deserved it. If you knew what a monster he is, you’d knock him out yourselves. Kill him even. Come on, let’s move on to Ian. We need to fix him.”

Both of them pulled themselves together remarkably fast and followed me over to where Ian lay splayed behind the armchair. Only as we were standing above him did I notice that most of his legs were not hidden by the chair.

I mumbled a quick “Thank you, dear Lord” that the guard must have missed them, taking it as a good sign that things were going to go our way. As I squatted beside him, I noticed how the back of his blond head was bloody. Cold fear seized me.
Did I kill him by mistake?
I was trained to render individuals unconscious by using blows to their heads, which was why I had felt confident whacking him earlier. I placed two fingers to check for a pulse at the side of his neck and soon found one. The sudden terror that had filled me vanished, and I relaxed.

I looked at Eric. “I’m about to give him a shot of the medication you brought, and it’s crucial that I inject it correctly, so I need him to be completely still. I need you to hold his shoulders and chest down in case he comes to and starts moving. Also be prepared to cover his mouth if he tries to scream. We can’t afford to call any attention to what we’re doing.”

Nodding his head, Eric sank down and placed both his knees on Ian’s shoulders while pressing a hand against his chest so that he was pinned to the floor.

I glanced at Lyssa, who was staring at us, clearly not as with it as her boyfriend. “Get me the Haldol,” I told her. When she looked confused, I pointed to the plastic grocery bag that Eric had dropped on the rug a few feet away. “It’s in the bag. Get it for me,” I added sharply to make her react.

Coming out of her daze finally, she picked up the bag and found the Haldol box and the syringes. She handed me the items and I told her to roll up the sleeve of Ian’s sweater on the left side.

As I prepared the medication and Lyssa awkwardly began to roll up Ian’s sleeve, I prayed that he would have visible veins in the bend of his arm so I could easily inject him. There was no time for me to freak out whether I would get it right or not; I
had
to get it right. Anyone could come to the study, interrupting us at any moment. The more time we were in here, the bigger the likelihood that someone would want Stenger’s attention for some reason. Like his wife.

To my great relief, Ian had very visible veins at the inside of his arm. Which shouldn’t come as a big surprise to me knowing how low his body fat was, unlike Brady, who carried around more than a few extra pounds.

Removing the wrapping around a large syringe, I plunged the needle through the rubber of the Haldol bottle and filled it with 50 mg. I ran a couple of fingers over the veins in the bend of Ian’s arm.

“I’m about to inject him,” I told Eric and Lyssa in an undertone. “It’s crucial that I get
all
of the medication into his bloodstream for it to work.” Looking at Lyssa, I told her to help keep Ian still in case the sudden needle stick woke him up. She immediately grabbed hold of his arm so that he wouldn’t be able to move.

Taking a deep breath, I focused, getting ready to bury the needle in Ian’s vein. But then I heard a familiar voice somewhere outside of the study. It took me by such surprise that I dropped the syringe on the floor.

Is that Jonah?

As I fumbled to get hold of the syringe, the voice spoke again and it was clear that it was not only Jonah—a
furious
Jonah—but that he was approaching the study together with someone else. There was no doubt in my mind that, in addition to killing me as soon as he saw me, he would kill Lyssa and Eric. I needed to at least try to save them somehow.

Frantically, I looked at the two kids, who looked utterly confused.

“Run over and hide behind the desk,” I hissed at them. I pushed them both to get going.
“Now.
Under the desk. Don’t let them see you!”

As they got to their feet and dashed over to the large desk, I checked that the gun was in my holster as I was about to need it. It was. Not knowing where to put the syringe, I simply hid it in my hands. Lyssa and Eric sank behind the desk right as the door to the study opened. I was also on my feet, having gone in front of the armchair.

Jonah and Christian the guard appeared in the doorway.

“There you are, you bitch!” Jonah yelled at me, his face twisted with anger. Then his eyes found the unconscious Stenger in a corner at the other side of the study and he gasped. His gaze back on me, he demanded, “What did you do to my father?” Not awaiting an answer, he marched over to Stenger’s wheelchair and began patting the old man’s cheek. As he did so, he yelled for Christian to take control of me. I heard Stenger moaning as he came to, all the while watching the large guard coming toward me. I quickly pulled out my gun from underneath my hoodie and aimed it at him.

“One step closer and you’re a dead man,” I told him calmly.

He just smiled at me, apparently not worried about what my gun could do to him, and continued to walk toward me. Giving me no choice but to take him out, I fired two consecutive shots, one straight into his heart and one into his head. He fell to the ground like a heavy tree.

I threw a quick glance at Ian, who was only a couple of feet away from where Christian had ended up, and noted that he appeared unconscious still. Then I turned toward Jonah. Despite the fact that I had just shot Christian, Stenger kept his attention. Unlike Ian, the old man was quickly regaining consciousness. I dove down beside Ian and grabbed the handgun he kept in his waistline, then shot back up again.

With Ian’s gun in my hand, I ran over to my two helpers, who were crouching behind the big oak desk still. Throwing another glance at Jonah to be sure Stenger kept him busy, I squatted before them.

“You need to get out of here,” I hissed at them, speaking as fast as I could. “Help should arrive soon. Armed men will surround the property. You can use the window behind you to get out of the house. Hide in one of those big hedges.” I indicated the large, manicured hedges that grew in the vast back garden. They were big enough to hide a couple of people. “Do
not
try to run away from the house and into the woods. There’s most likely an invisible fence surrounding all of the property, and I don’t know what it’ll do to you if you walk through it.”

Since Eric looked the least frightened, I handed him the gun. “Don’t hesitate to fire if someone tries to attack you, but do your best to stay quiet and hidden and no one should bother you. I’m going to go up to the crazy dude and the one in the wheelchair now. When I talk to them, you open the window and run out, okay?”

They nodded their heads hard.

I gave them a quick hug. “It’s gonna be okay.” Holding my gun firmly, I got to my feet and marched toward Jonah and Stenger, who was fully conscious now.

“She’s coming, Jonah!” Stenger yelled as I neared them.

Jonah turned around, facing me, his handsome features twisted with fury.

“You fucking bitch!” he screamed, his face red. “How could you
betray
me like that?”

He started toward me.

I pointed my gun at him. “Stop right there. I might’ve betrayed you, but the one who betrayed you most is your own father.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, the hurt clearly spelled out across his face. Did he already have an idea what his father had done to him? Was that why the study wasn’t swarming with other men like Christian, who I had just killed? There just had to be more of them in the house. Suddenly, I was convinced that this was the reason. It was the only explanation.

“He wants Ian to be his successor, not you,” I pressed on as calmly as I could manage. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Don’t listen to her, Jonah!” Stenger cried out. “She’s just trying to create a wedge between us. You’re the one who’ll take over after me. Why would I want
Ian,
who kidnapped you, to take over? He’s obviously not worthy of being my successor.
You’re
the one.”

For the first time since I’d gotten face-to-face with the old man, there was real fear in his voice. I had struck a chord within Jonah. The right one to
really
light the fuse to his notorious anger issues… And this time around I felt certain him engaging in breathing techniques would do nothing to stop it from growing so big he’d no longer be able to control himself.

“Do you think I would have bothered to send men to save you from Ian’s apartment if I didn’t want you as my successor?” Stenger continued with desperation. “I would have just let you stay there!”

“That’s not what Michael and Rick told me when they came to get me,” Jonah said, having turned around to face his father again. “They told me that you were going to use Zoc 3 on Ian as soon as he agreed to come see you. Force him to become one of us.”

Stenger gasped loudly, and he was literally trembling with fear. For some reason, the men who came to save Jonah must have run their mouths unnecessarily, revealing what Stenger was really up to. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were gloating to Jonah over the fact that Stenger would choose Ian to take over, knowing that Jonah’s power would be greatly diminished now. I couldn’t imagine that Jonah was popular in the movement.

“They’re lying, Jonah,” Stenger said, his voice weak. “They only said that to tease you. Get a rise out of you. Please believe me. You’re the one who’s been loyal to me all along, so
of course
you’re the one who’ll take over!”

My guess had been correct then…

“I’m sorry to say that he’s lying to you, Jonah,” I said, further goading him. He turned to look at me again. “I was here all along. I saw what happened. He did give Ian the Zoc 3 injection. As it was taking effect, your father explained exactly how it would change Ian and how he always wanted Ian to be his successor because he believed you were unfit for the role. In fact, he’s even considering imprisoning you because he’s worried about how you’ll react when you learn about his decision.”

Jonah’s face had gone white and he was hyperventilating, he was so upset now.

“She’s lying, Jonah!” Stenger yelled, his voice cracking. “I would never say anything like that. You’re the one. You were always the one!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw how Ian was trying to push himself up into a sitting position.
Perfect timing,
I couldn’t help but think.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” I told Jonah, indicating Ian behind the armchair. Jonah had clearly not seen Ian on the floor when he marched into the study.

Ian rubbed the back of his head, the spot where I’d whacked him earlier. There must be a huge bump there now, in addition to the blood.

“Ask me what?” Ian said, still sounding a bit dazed.

Jonah glared at his brother, then back at his father, who wore a pleading expression.

“She’s lying, Jonah, don’t believe her,” he whimpered.

Jonah turned to Ian again, narrowing his eyes at his brother, and slowly asked, “Who are you?”

Quickly recuperating now, Ian furrowed his brows. “What kind of a question is that? You know exactly who I am. I’m your brother and that’s our father.”

“Did he tell you that you’re the one who’ll take over when he’s dead?” Jonah asked.

“Of course,” Ian said like it was a stupid question. “You’re not capable of running the empire he’s worked so hard to create. Don’t be mad. You just don’t have the temperament for it.”

His eyes full of tears, Jonah swiveled around and charged his father, his hands wrapping around the old man’s neck.

“How could you?” he demanded, shaking his aging father’s body. “How
could
you? I’ve always been on your side, done everything you wanted to improve so I would be fit to take over!” He sobbed loudly as he kept squeezing. “How could you do this to me? He’s never loved you like I love you!”

Ian was suddenly on his feet and running over to where Jonah was about to strangle his father to death, he was so furious. What with all the ruckus, it was only a matter of time before other guards showed up, even though Jonah must have told them to stand back until he gave word that he was done confronting his father.

As Ian finally pulled Jonah off Stenger, I debated whether to run into the house or out the open window that would lead me into the vast back garden where Lyssa and Eric had disappeared. An elegant woman somewhere in her fifties appeared in the doorway to the study then, and behind her I spotted two men. My decision was made—the back garden was my only choice. In order to get there, I would need to run around the desk and closely pass the corner where Jonah and Ian were fighting it out.

I started running in that direction and just as I was about to pass them, Ian gripped Jonah’s head and twisted it sharply. Even before I heard the heavy
thump
of Jonah’s big body falling to the floor, I knew he was dead. When I did hear it, I had reached the window already.

“What did you do to my son?” the woman cried out behind me. “Oh, my God, what did you do to my son?”

“I’m sorry, but it was necessary,” Ian replied coldly. “He was killing our father.”

I didn’t hear what else Ian said because I was already out in the big garden by then, moving away from the study as fast as I could move my legs. I needed to find a way to get around the building and reach the main entrance. Hopefully no one realized where I was heading and if they did, I could only pray that Brady had managed to get men to surround the property who could help me get away.

I heard the sound of someone landing on the ground behind me then. Throwing a glance over my shoulder, I saw that it was Ian. And it was obvious from the bloodthirsty look on his face that he was not coming to help me. When he saw me spot him, he smiled and started running toward me.