Scarlet (10 page)

'You're coming home with me now." The man grabbed her. His grip firmed, pinching her skin. He was stronger than she'd anticipated.

Red didn't think. She reacted. Her pistol was out of its holster before the next breath left her lungs and shoved deep between his ribs.

"I don't know who you are or what game you're playing, but I'm giving you one chance, and one chance only to leave town." She dug the weapon in deeper and he winced in pain.

"Gina. please." he pleaded.

"Stop calling me that. You have no right. You don't know me. The fact that you're calling me Gina is proof. And I sure as hell don't know you. I rarely forget a face, especially one I'm about to blow off."

He whimpered like a wounded animal. "How can you say that?"

"Get out," she hissed, pressing her thumb on the scanner in the handle of her pistol. The gun began to charge. In a second, it would be ready to fire.

The man swallowed hard and released her. "There's no need for violence. I'll go, but I haven't forgotten the promise you made."

What was he talking about? "What promise?" she asked, knowing she wasn't going to like his answer.

'That you'd love me, and only me, forever."

"Get the hell out of here. You're insane."

The voices around them rose. Exclamations of continued shock and disappointment roared through the crowd. Red heard more than one "told you so" muttered and the click of several comlinks. She ignored them all, keeping her eyes trained on the man she knew she'd never met until this moment.

He left reluctantly, looking back over his shoulder more than once.

When the door shut behind him, she strolled back to her table where Raphael was waiting.

"Interesting . . . Who was that?"

"No idea." She shook her head. "I've never seen him be-fore today."

"You sure he's not from your IPTT days?" he asked.

"Positive. Most of those people ended up dead."

"That was quite a show he put on," Raphael said, sitting back to look at her. "Most convincing."

"Yes, it was," Red agreed, glancing back at the door. "Too bad no one but me could smell the fear and lies in his sweat." Red holstered her gun and sat back down, then ran her hands over her face. "Now the question is, who benefits from his performance?"

chapter seven

Night descended upon the Northern Hemisphere, but did little to relieve the heat. The sun might not be out, but it was still hot enough to make the mountains sweat. The cooling unit in my maglev shuttle had little to no effect. Sweat trickled down my neck, prickling my flesh until my uniform stuck to my body like a blanket soaked in honey. I glanced out the window at the training facility for the new Nurian Tactical Team.

It had started out as nothing more than a few makeshift shanties with an obstacle course made up of old tires, thick chains, and rough mats thrown into the center. All that remained was rubble and twisted metal, thanks to my laser pistol. It would take weeks before they could replace what I'd destroyed.

I'd been out here for five hours patrolling for unregistered individuals or—as IPTT
members referred to them—
unknowns,
when I'd spotted the training grounds. Something told me not to pass up the opportunity, some little voice whispering "scarlet" in my mind. I didn't know what that word meant, but I knew what I had to do.

So I'd circled around to make sure they didn't have anyone guarding the area, then got to work. Destroying the place only took a matter of minutes and a few well-angled shots. They were in for quite a surprise when they showed up tomorrow. I laughed. The cruel sound reverberated in the enclosed space.

Hitting a button in the shuttle, I scanned the area. Beyond a few rodents, there weren't many signs of life. Pity, since I was in the mood for a confrontation. A little hand-to-hand combat would take care of the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I hit the scanner again. Not a blip showed on the screen.

The unknowns had gotten as good at hiding from us as we'd gotten at hunting them. I glanced at the power gauges. The shuttle would be good for another ten hours, but I didn't plan on being out here for that long.

The desert plays funny tricks on your eyes, even in the dark with night vision in place. After a while, you start seeing things like biodomes in the distance, when there was nothing there but endless dunes of shadowed sand. I'd been to this place before, but not at night. I don't normally go on patrol, but today I found myself out here searching for something. Searching for I don't know what.

Boulders the size of my maglev shuttle surrounded the barren
valley. At its widest, the valley was two and a half miles, but it stretched on into the horizon and out of sensor view.

Powering up took the work of seconds. I made a wide arc with the shuttle, tipping it around. That's when I picked up the heat sensor blip. There was one. Maybe two. It was hard to tell from this range. I'd know for sure when I got nearer. Excitement filled me, energizing my mind. The predator within me snapped to attention and my muscles tensed. Had I finally found an unknown?

Stopping a half mile out, I hiked the rest of the way in. I didn't want the sound to scare away my prey. Luckily, thanks to the rocky terrain, there were plenty of places to hide. Plenty of places to see without being seen. I could be upon the unknowns before they had a chance to scatter.

My gloves felt snug as I slipped them on and slung the rifle over my shoulder. Running wasn't a problem on the flats, but I had to slow as I neared the rocks. I was drenched by the time I hit the first boulder. My muscles burned, but I pushed on.

Times like these made me realize I kind of liked being on patrol. It was a nice change from my regular assignments. I have many duties to perform at headquarters that leave me little time for fieldwork. Especially with Gina Santiago gone. Maybe I'd request a permanent change when I got back.

The climb up the boulders was rough going. If I hadn't had my gloves, my hands would be shredded. I squeezed my body through narrow openings, careful to not scrape my skin in my quest for higher ground. At a ridge just below the top, I crouched down and took out my binoculars with built-in infrared. The man in the valley below was dressed in an ill-fitting dark suit that allowed him to blend in with the bone-dry background.

Where were the other unknowns? I watched for signs of movement. There were none. Not even the man had moved from his present position. It was as if he was waiting for something. I hit a button on my navcom to pinpoint my coordinates. Twelve miles outside of Nuria in the Republic of Arizona, which meant the boundary fence wasn't very far away. Exactly where I needed to be.

I scanned the horizon and caught a glimpse of a green glow in the distance. This unknown hadn't made it very far. If it had been me, I would've been halfway to the Republic of Ontario by now.

My navcom beeped as a message arrived. Pressing a button, I waited for it to pop up on the screen. The message consisted of one word—
scarlet.

My head swam and I grabbed onto a nearby rock to steady myself. I reached for my canteen and took a swig of water, but that didn't seem to help. My brain still felt like a bowl of undercooked synth-noodles. I shook my head and the world tilted. Wouldn't be trying that again.

You must stop the tactical team by any means necessary.
Anyone
found in the area of Nuria is suspect and must be eliminated. Your first target will be waiting . . .

The words filled my head, leaving no room for argument. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. Never one to disobey an order, I gave a slight nod of acknowledgment to the disembodied voice and continued my mission. My muscles strained as I climbed higher. I ignored my discomfort, for I knew what I had to do: protect the International Police Tactical Team at any cost.

I couldn't allow this upstart group to gain power. They wanted to destroy the only organization I'd ever believed in. If that meant sabotaging their training facilities and eliminating their sympathizers, then so be it.

A lazy breeze kicked up the sand in the vast valley below, sending it swirling in all directions. The boulders surrounding me worked to dampen my scent, cocooning my presence. The man would never know I was here unless I wanted him to. I didn't.

From my vantage point, I could see him looking around expectantly. For me? Doubtful. I considered drawing out the encounter, but rejected the idea, preferring instead to get in and out before anyone noticed the shuttle.

I lifted the laser sniper rifle and looked through the scope until I could see the gun sight. The weight surprised me again and the gun dipped forward. I nearly dropped it onto the rocks. I was so used to the newer lightweight laser rifles the weapon felt clumsy in my capable hands. I removed one glove and laid it on the rock beside me.

Steadying my grip, I hoisted the rifle once more and notched it against my shoulder to prevent kickback. I twisted the scope and the man gradually came into view. Sweat poured off his face, whether from nerves or the heat, I couldn't tell. He was smiling, almost giddy.

I scanned the area one more time to make sure I hadn't missed anyone while the rifle charged. There was no doubt he was alone. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, my finger resting gently on the trigger. The man threw his head back and laughed. There was definitely something wrong with him.

The merciful thing would be to put him out of his misery. My finger caressed the trigger. The hot metal teased my skin, threatening to burn if I held it there too long.

It would be so easy to end his suffering. My body shook as I fought the urge to squeeze off a round. I gasped, my lungs filling with hot desert air. Killing him was
not
why I was here. My eyes slammed closed, then opened again. I shook my head to clear it.

Killing him was
exactly
why I was here.

I forced the sight back onto the fatigued man and found him with the crosshairs once more and waited, counting my breaths as I allowed the rifle to become one with my hands. There was an art to hitting a target this far out. Everything had to be taken into consideration, wind movement, distance, target location, weapon velocity, and position. All were factors that would make the difference between a hit or a miss.

Chuckling, the brown-haired man stood and brushed his hands off on his pants. He was obviously done waiting. We both were. I pulled the trigger and then quickly pressed the recharge button in order to fire again. Blood sprayed out his back as the shot went clean through.

The man's laughter ceased, leaving only the wind to howl out his pain. I watched him fall to his knees, a look of surprise upon his face. He glanced down at the front of his sweat-soaked shirt and grimaced as crimson spread across his chest, staining the fabric. Now everything he was wearing looked brown.

The man keeled face forward onto the desert floor as death embraced him.

There was no one to mourn for him. No one to come rushing forward to press a finger to his carotid artery, hoping to find a pulse. It was too late for that anyway. I had one more thing to do, then it would be time for me to go.

I stepped deeper into the shadows, allowing them to swallow me. If anyone had been around, they wouldn't have been able to see me slip away. The darkness made sure of that.

I gathered the rifle, my glove, and my duffel bag. The maglev shuttle I'd borrowed was parked behind the hill a half mile away. It would be a long drive back to IPTT headquarters, but the road I'd come in on would keep me out of sight.

Back in Nuria people were safely in their rest pads. I wished I could wait around and see their faces when they discovered the body, but that wasn't part of my assignment. The job was to get in, neutralize the threat, and get out. I pride myself on my ability to follow orders even when I can't recall why that's important.

I packed the rifle into a case. No one would bat an eye back at headquarters if I walked in carrying this weapon. Lots of team members carried sniper rifles in their shuttles and on their person. I hoisted the weapon over my shoulder and hiked down the hill. It didn't take long to reach the man. I put my glove back on and flipped him over. His eyes were wide with surprise. He definitely hadn't seen it coming.