Retribution (33 page)

He ignored her question and ran a hand over his head. “Don’t step on that glass; it’ll cut your foot, then what will Dray say?”

Her hands trembled. This wasn’t like Afghanistan, yet it was. She’d not had time to effect any means of defense in Kabul, and she’d been overwhelmed by four men. Now it was just one man, but crazy made mountains out of regular men.

She took a deep breath, letting it filter through her body as she tried to control her racing heart. The man Bleak had once been had to be in there. She just needed to find out what his motivation was, and maybe she could use that to distract him long enough to disable him. She could feel his pain and wondered at what had turned this withdrawn man into what stood before her.

“Bleak, whatever this is, I’ll help you, but you have to tell me what Dempsey has on you. Let me help you, Bleak.” Her heart was in her throat, but her training kicked in. She breathed in slow and deep, kept her wits about her. She had to keep a tranquil tone because he looked more desperate the farther she backed away from him.

“I have to do what Dempsey said, Sasha. I don’t want to hurt you. He’ll hurt her if I don’t cooperate; I can’t have that. She’s everything to me, my Talia.”

His eyes begged her to cooperate, but his tone broke on the last word.

“Who’s Talia, Bleak? Tell me about Talia.”

She was willing to discuss anybody at this point to get him into the main part of the bunker where she could try to bring him down.

“She’s everything, Sasha, everything. You’d love her, I know you would, but you have to take the shot he gave me so that I can keep you safe, okay?”

The Bleak she’d come to know was gone, and in his place a frightened child begged her to take the shot from Dempsey. She wasn’t going anywhere ever again without having full knowledge of getting there. That shot wasn’t an option for her.

She had to be lucid to keep herself safe until Dray got here.

Sasha decided she needed him closer to do what needed to be done. “Okay, Bleak, come give me the shot. I would love to meet Talia when I wake up, okay?”

His face lightened into a smile as he walked over to her with the syringe held out.

She waited, looking into his eyes the entire time as he reached for her shoulder. Then she brought her arm up, blocking his reach. She moved behind him so quickly he had no time to counter, and when she struck with a knife-hand strike to the back of his neck, he stumbled.

But he didn’t go down.

Damn it, the man was huge. That strike should have taken him down, and now she didn’t have time to do anything but react.

Adrenaline was a buzz in her ears and a pounding beat in her heart. She kicked his left leg out from under him to ensure he went down, and when he did, she climbed on his back, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist and levering her right arm under his chin with her left serving as a clamp. She lifted up and back as she applied as much pressure as she possibly could. The hold would work better if she didn’t have to struggle to stay on his back, but she’d have to make do. She had to choke him out if she had a hope of disabling him.

Bleak struggled, and the more he struggled, the more pressure she applied. Then she felt it, a violent prick in her thigh, and as she looked down, the last thing she saw was the syringe sticking out of her leg.

“Bastard!” she managed to spit out just before darkness took her down, down, down.

*

“Dray, incoming. The system just alerted me that unauthorized entry has been made into the bunker,” Dare called over the comm link.

Goddamn, goddamn!
Fear pulsed through Dray. “Get to her, Dare, now! It’s not Dempsey, he’s headed my way. Who the fuck is it?”

“It’s registering with Bleak’s code.”

“Can’t be him, Dray,” Con’s voice sliced across the line. “He’s with his sister and isn’t expected until tomorrow for cleanup.”

“We knew he had somebody on the inside, Con. Get to her now, damn it!” Dray ordered harshly. He needed more men and was regretting splitting the team up. “Even if he’s not there to hurt her, he should have checked in first. I’ve got this bastard, get to her.”

“On it!” both Con and Dare said at the same time.

*

“This is bad, Con. Real bad. He’s jammed my system with an internal code directly from the bunker that prevents the stairs from lowering and the door from opening without inside help.” Dare relayed.

“You can override it though, right? If I can get you down there, you can override it?” Con asked, slightly panicked.

“No, you will. I’m gonna lower you and then give you remote directions. It’s about thirty feet down, Con, so we’ll lower you with rope about twenty feet, but the next ten are yours to survive. I have to get back up to Dray. He needs backup.”

“I’m good; let’s get me down,” Con said without hesitation.

Dare wrapped the rope around himself twice and let the other end dangle. He braced himself. Con was a big man, as big as Dare, and it would be difficult to do this without dropping both himself and Con.

“All right, it’s down. Hop on and when you fall, absorb the impact with your entire body, not just your legs, then crouch and roll immediately. Go!” Dare ordered.

Con did as he was instructed and followed Dare’s advice. He hit hard but stood immediately.

“I’m good,” he called up.

“I’m out,” Dare mic’d back, moving quickly outside to get to Dray’s position on the rooftop. “Now listen, to override Letty you have to be quick and sure. You hesitate and she’s gonna know it ain’t me. This is what you do…”

*

Dempsey thought he had him, but Dray wondered when the man would figure out he wasn’t the one in control this time. He’d watched the cocky bastard climb the fire escape through the scope, needing to take the shot but stopping when he heard Dare voicing his worst fear. Then Dray had gotten antsy about the way this whole situation was going down.

“I know you’re there, Bonner. Come on out and let’s talk like men,” Dempsey taunted as he crested the roof.

Dray stood and had the satisfaction of Dempsey’s surprise when he rose up behind him, effectively cutting off his only avenue of escape from the building top.

Dray remained silent, leveling the scope he held on the man.

“Now that’s just inhospitable, Bonner, holding a gun on a former Ranger buddy. Yes, it has been about ten years. I could give you the exact date of our little tête-à-tête in Ecuador if you’d like?” Dempsey continued to taunt, “No? Well then, how’s our little Sasha doing?”

Rage was bitterness in Dray’s mouth, a stench in his nostrils. He struggled for control but still maintained his silence. This wasn’t a game.

“Oh that’s right, you and she have a little thing going on, don’t you? Well, I’m sure she’s in good hands then. Unless my man managed to come through, which, um, could you hold on? My phone’s ringing.” Into his phone he said, “Yes, Jerry? Oh, good boy, you might have redeemed your lovely little Talia. Excellent, then.” He cut the connection. “You remember Jerry, don’t you, Bonner? I think you call him Bleak? He’s with our lovely Sasha now, taking over for you with her care.”

Black rage blanketed Dray’s vision, and his finger moved just a fraction on the trigger.

“Tell me,” Dempsey continued baiting Dray, “did Sasha tell you of our time together at el-Din’s? I did my best to make sure she remembered me. She was a tough one, but I didn’t get to spend the quality time with her that I wanted to. She never really broke. She only cried and sobbed a few times. Too bad, but there’s always tomorrow. Or, I could always go for her sisters.” His voice was sly, oily.

“You won’t be touching anybody after today.” His first words to the other man were a promise.

Dempsey shook his head. “Oh, that’s good. Perfect amount of gruffness. I may even be scared now.” He sighed dramatically. “I thought maybe it’d be best to tell you I’m not talking about the Bennoit sisters, Bonner. They are of absolutely no concern to me. Ah, there’s so much you don’t know. It’s really a joy to watch confusion break over your face.”

What the fuck?
Dray pushed the man’s words to the back of his mind, focused on his target’s forehead, and breathed deeply. He needed confirmation Sasha was okay, and then his shot could fly straight into Dempsey’s brain.

“Oh, tsk, tsk, and we have such catching up to do. Tell me, did the little lady ever see her videos? Yes, I thought so. Bonner, I always could read you like an open book. Your pupils flicker when I make a direct hit; it’s so nice to have a way to tell with that granite face of yours.”

“I must mean a lot to you, huh?”
Hurry up, Dare, give me news.

“You mean nothing to me!” Dempsey raged.

“I think I mean a helluva lot, Peter. You keep coming after me like you’re a bitter ex or something.”

“You know nothing about me!” Dempsey screamed, and then his face smoothed out, and he ran a shaking hand over his hair.

“I know that I’m going to be the one to kill you, and to be honest, Dempsey, that’s enough for me,” Dray responded in a bored tone.

“Did you think I would come up here unarmed and without a plan? Did you think I would fight you
mano a mano
? Really? Surely the great Drayven Bonner isn’t that stupid?”

Dempsey smiled. Dray’s heart dropped.

“I don’t care if you’re armed or not. I have a spot dead on in the center of your forehead. You will not be able to draw before my bullet hits your brain.”

“You’ve never played fair, Bonner. Yet, I always win.”

Come on, Dare. Come through for me.

“Con’s down in the bunker. She’s safe.” Dare’s voice was a godsend in Dray’s ear.

Dray smiled and Dempsey’s eyes widened. “It’s not about fair,” Dray said softly.

Between one breath and the next, Dray took his shot and Dempsey fell. A single second of relief flowed through him.

“Dray, get off the roof!” Dare was yelling in the ear mic.

Dray started running, compelled by the tone in his brother’s voice, and then his entire world lit up. As he was picked up and then forced to the ground by a concussive blast, it seemed all of Rowe Street, including the warehouse, exploded into the air around him.

Then Dray was falling, and the last thing he heard before he plunged into hell was Dare yelling his name.

Con’s blood froze as soon as the bunker door opened. He walked in carefully, aware that the man before him was lost inside his own mind. Whatever had made Bleak turn on them, it had to be huge. But right now, Sasha was lying on the floor of the bunker, a needle sticking out of her thigh, out cold.

“Bleak, what did you hit her with?” Con asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know. Dempsey gave it to me…said it was a tranq. I was supposed to bring her to him unless the building goes up.” Bleak’s voice matched his name. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, Con. He has my Talia.”

Con pushed his panic deep, stepping closer to Sasha with every word. “Who is Talia? Why didn’t you come to us? You know what? Never mind that right now. I need to check her out, okay?” Bleak stared at the ceiling. “Bleak, did you hear me, buddy?”

The other man didn’t glance at Con, simply stared at the ceiling as if it held all the answers in the world. “He’s gonna blow this entire place. He knew about the bunker, but he doesn’t know you’re here. You take her out, okay? You take her, and I’ll tell him she got away somehow. He’ll kill my Talia, but she’s probably dead anyway.” He sighed and it made Con’s chest hurt to hear the weariness.

“He wanted Dray so bad, man. Wanted to make sure he suffered. He’s made my Talia suffer,” Bleak mumbled, shaking his head.

“Okay, Bleak, help me with Sasha right now. You fucked up, but I need your help; tell me what Dempsey has planned.” Con turned his mic on so Dray and Dare could hear.

“He’s been planning this for a while. Some of el-Din’s men are in the warehouse across the way with rocket-propelled grenades ready to take Dray and this entire warehouse out if Dempsey gives the signal. A couple of locations along the block are wired with explosives that will detonate with a touch of Dempsey’s phone. If there is no other way, Dempsey will utilize the explosives and try to get away. I don’t even know if the man on the roof is Dempsey. It could be a body double. I’m to deliver Sasha to the el-Din’s and collect the bounty money from them.”

Con’s hands shook. “Son of a bitch. Dare? Get Dray off the rooftop and down here, now!”

“I’m in the…of try…shit—”

The transmission from Dare’s mic went silent.

The entire earth seemed to shake, and the explosions taking place above the bunker resonated throughout the structure. Con dived for Sasha, covering her with his body. Some chunks of concrete broke free, but the bunker held, the lights flickering, and then there was total darkness.

“Bleak, stay where you are. I don’t want to shoot you, but I will,” Con warned his friend, hell, his brother of the last four years.

He popped a nightstick on, and low yellow light gave him some visibility. The earth above them stopped rumbling, but Con’s heart was in his throat. He reached for her pulse, found it slow but strong. Relief numbed him for a few seconds.

Deciding the best place for her was as far away from Bleak as he could get, Con pulled her to the far side of the bunker and covered her with a blanket from the bed. Bleak mumbled to himself occasionally, but for the most part just stared into space.

Con sat down and waited.

Within fifteen minutes, the backup emergency lights had restored slivers of visibility to the underground bunker. Bleak still sat on the floor by the door, but now rocked back and forth, mumbling about Talia as Con tried to revive Sasha. He’d been unable to reach Dray or Dare and could only assume it was a complete catastrophe topside.

By the sound and reverberation of the multiple explosions, if there was anything left above them right now, it would be nothing short of a miracle. He could only hope Dray and Dare had made it.

Sasha wasn’t coming around, and all communications appeared to be down. His SAT phone was AWOL, so as he searched, he tried to remember the way out of the bunker. It was a no-go. The structure above them was completely demolished because the door refused to budge from the inside. Unless someone dug them out, there was no way out. If he could find his phone, he’d contact Surrey and bring him up to date.