The Victim (3 page)

“Go ahead,” Hank said. “Ask anything you want. We’re the only ones on this channel. The pilot and my guard here can’t hear us.”

“How have you managed Drake Bellamy and my parents? You picked me up a week ago from downtown Toronto when I was having dinner with Drake. He would have questions. My parents would want to know what happened to me. What about Parkman? He followed me all the way to Europe. I’m sure he’s been asking about me.”

While she talked, Hank’s smile widened.

“What?” she asked. “What’s so funny?”

“You really want to hear about that? You won’t like the answer.”

Her stomach dropped.

What could he possibly say that would piss me off more?

Hank nudged the guard beside him and motioned with the gun to train it on Sarah. Then he lifted the guard’s headphones up and shouted something into his ear. The guard turned in his seat to face Sarah.

“What’s that for?” Sarah asked.

Hank met her stare. “I just told him that you’re getting angry and you might attack us in midair. I told him to shoot you in the kneecap if you leave your seat.”

“I’m not angry, but I’m going to be if he doesn’t point that thing a little to the left or right.”

Hank reached over and guided the tip of the weapon so that it aimed a little to her left. It was still facing her general direction but not at her.

“Why would you tell him I’m angry?” Sarah asked.

“Because of what I’m going to tell you.”

She waited, not wanting to suppose anymore. Whatever he had to say, she needed to hear it.

The helicopter banked to the left, straightened and continued forward, the pilot pushing the machine hard.

“As far as the world knows,” Hank said, “you’re dead.”

“What?” Sarah screamed into her mouthpiece.

The guard turned his weapon toward her and held it up with both hands. She ignored him.

“Why the fuck is that? What did you do?”

“It’s how it works.”

“How what works? You better start explaining yourself or this helicopter doesn’t make it to Toronto. I’ve been shot before. I can kill you with more than one bullet in my body. Start talking.”

“You are a victim. Actually, Sarah Roberts, you
were
the victim
on the first day you told us about the accident with the pregnant woman. Since we knew where an accident was going to take place, we added your DNA to the scene and made sure everything was burned beyond recognition.” He smiled. “Your DNA was tested at the crash site after the fire that consumed the two vehicles. The newspapers did a huge exposé on you. Editorial columns across North America made you into a hero, covering your exploits from five years ago until the day you died. You went out with international coverage. Can’t say that about many of my other exploits.”

Her face grew hot, the inside of her palms moistened. What would her parents be going through? How would Parkman handle it after all they had been through together? She needed to let them know that everything was okay. She needed to let them all know that she was alive.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Hank said with that stupid smile of his still plastered to his ugly face. “But it’s no use. Your funeral was two days ago. Police officers from around North America attended. You were quite something in your time.”

“Why?” was all she could ask as her mind raced with a thousand possibilities.

“Because you are dead, as far as the world is concerned. As I said earlier, you work for the U.S. government now. After we do this thing in Toronto, you’ll be transferred to the States for testing. After six months or so, I have no idea what they do with the subjects, but I can tell you that they never go home.”

Rod Howley popped into her head.

“Didn’t you say Rod called about me?”

Hank nodded.

The helicopter banked so hard to the left, Sarah had to hold onto the seat. It righted and she adjusted herself. The guard still held his weapon out in front of him, but his arms showed signs of weariness. Hank saw his struggle and motioned with his hands to lower the piece.

“Rod called because he knows the procedure. Which means he knows I’m still alive.”

Hank nodded.

“And he wants to keep me alive,” Sarah added.

“It appears that way.” Hank shook his head in disgust.

She remembered Vivian’s note from a week ago, right after she’d arrived at the complex.

“It’s Rod, isn’t it? He’s going to mug Joan and kill her unless you take me to Toronto for an exchange.”

Hank nodded again. “You’re smart. He’s already got her. We’re supposed to exchange you in the Allandale Centre food court.”

“But you’re intent on not letting me go or letting Rod live, are you?”

Hank clapped his hands a few times, signaling she got it right. With the sound of the rotors and the headphones, his hand clapping went unheard.

With Sarah officially dead to the world, Hank could do whatever he wanted to her and no one would ever know.

Even if she called someone for help, Dolan, Esmerelda or Drake, they would think it a cruel joke that someone would call and pretend to be Sarah, no matter how similar she sounded.

She really was a victim. Every time she turned around, someone was trying to kill her. Or in this case, already had. Whether it was the bad guys or the good guys—supposed good guys—she had to fight. This was no different.

She forced her emotions down. She wouldn’t cry in front of Hank. When she thought of the pain her parents were going through, she became overcome with grief. Her parents were strong. They could handle it until she resurfaced. Parkman would smile with a toothpick in his mouth when he saw her again and mutter how he knew all along that she wasn’t dead.

All she had to do was get away from Hank.

All she had to do was kill him.

Chapter 4

The helicopter landed just after lunch. She learned that it was Saturday and the Allandale Centre on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto would be swarmed with shoppers. Rod had chosen a high-traffic area for the exchange. Also, according to Hank, doors leading to the underground subway were merely twenty feet from the last food court table.

But he explained how he had covered it all in advance. Six men waited for Rod to show himself. Two were inside a sporting goods store, two would be eating KFC at a table and two would be walking around the area. They would cruise up and down the aisles one floor above the food court section of the mall, as it was open and exposed to upper levels.

Sarah had saved Rod’s life after he had been shot in the basement of a madman’s cage. She surmised he was attempting to return the favor. What concerned her was Vivian’s silence. It would help if her sister could give her a little inside information, something to lead her, set her in the right direction. But Sarah hadn’t been alone or with a pen and paper so Vivian could step in and advise.

You could’ve said something yesterday,
Vivian
.

But then she remembered that Hank would’ve read the note because they’d been watching her the whole time.

They led Sarah from the helicopter to a waiting four-door sedan. Hank sat beside her in the car and then it was underway.

“What’s in it for me?” Sarah asked.

“Nothing, really.”

“Then why am I here?”

“Because we had to bring you for proof of life.”

Sarah turned and looked at him. “Are you saying I’m walking into a trap? Once the exchange takes place and I’m with Rod, you’re going to kill us both? Is that it?”

Hank pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his forehead and face. He stashed it back in his pocket and met her gaze.

“Sarah, look, you’ve been a real sport. You came with me willingly when we approached you at the restaurant in Toronto last week.” He stopped and chuckled. “Well, almost willingly. Anyway, you supplied me with five prophecies and now the most important one. I appreciate that. But now I need your help to save my wife. I know Rod, and he won’t have a problem killing Joan. I’ve worked with him for years. He was one of the best agents we’ve ever had.”

“So what are you saying? I’m free to go if I help you?” Somehow she didn’t think so.

“What I’m saying is I’ll give you a chance.”

“What kind of chance?” Sarah asked.

“I’m willing to hand you off to Rod. Once my wife is in my grasp, my men have orders to kill you and Rod. That’ll give you at least ten seconds to get away.”

She gaped at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

He shook his head.

“That’s not a chance, that’s a death sentence. You’re giving me enough time to walk over and stand against the wall for the firing squad.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, because you can do a lot with ten seconds.”

“You’re insane. Can you even hear yourself?” She collected her breath, closed her eyes for a second and asked, “And what if I refuse?”

“Sarah, I know your talents. Even you can figure it out.”

What was Hank talking about? How could ten seconds in a crowded mall give her any kind of chance? She looked down at her hands. They weren’t cuffed. Her ankles had no restraints.

“You’re offering me ten seconds to run? Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not a lot of time. In fact, it’s nothing.”

“In an open field, you’d be right. In a crowded mall, that’s a lifetime. I’m not so above the law that I can order my men to shoot indiscriminately. There can be no, to minimal, collateral damage. The mall will be filled with women and children. You get ten seconds. Then we come after you. That’s the deal. In this case, there’s no take it or leave it. If you attempt to escape prior to the exchange with Rod, my men have orders to execute you with extreme prejudice. There’ll be no ten seconds. So, you see, the ten seconds sounds appealing now.”

Outside, downtown Toronto raced by the windows. Torontonians walked the streets, going for lunch, shopping, thinking about the evening’s barbecue or movie they’d attend. Sometimes she yearned for that life. A simpler life.

The car slowed, bringing her back to the here and now.

“Joan’s life hangs in the balance,” Hank said. “If you try to run, we both know you won’t get far before my guard shoots you down. I didn’t bring him along for his good looks. He’s my best shooter. So, I’m asking you to come with me to the food court, present yourself to Rod and then walk to him. Count off ten seconds after Joan is safe with me and that’s my gift to you. That’s all I can offer in my capacity. Are we good?”

The car stopped beside the mall doors. The driver turned on the four-ways.

“We good?” Hank asked again.

There was nothing else she could do. For the time being, he had her. Ten seconds was better than one or two if she ran at any other time. But could she trust him to give her that ten-second window when the time came?

Two men stepped up to the vehicle and flanked each side of her door, waiting for it to open.

“We’re good,” Sarah said. Without meeting his gaze, she muttered, “But you’d better give me all ten of those seconds, or I’ll come for you.” She stared at him. “Sarah Roberts always gets her man.”

Hank laughed. “If I don’t give you ten seconds, Sarah, you’ll be dead.”

“I guess we’ll have to see about that.”

She opened the door and got out, the men closely flanking. She was a flight risk. Any move now would be met with swift action. She really had no play until she saw Rod.

Hank led the way into the mall, followed by Sarah and her new escorts and the guard behind them, his gun now secreted in his waistband.

They entered through double doors by a large McDonalds and started for an escalator to take them down one level. Sarah removed the sunglasses Hank had given her and examined the mall, taking it all in, watching for easy points to exit. Running through all these people with men chasing or even shooting at her didn’t look promising. She had to come up with something else. Her odds didn’t feel so good.

Hank hadn’t tied her hair up. It flowed past her shoulders, in need of a trim, but similar to what she looked like before going into the complex a week ago. She wondered if anyone would recognize her, but dismissed that idea as futile because everyone thought she was dead.

Hank probably left my hair alone so Rod would know me on the spot.

Halfway down the escalator, she saw the doors to the underground subway. From her vantage point, she couldn’t see past them. People milled around everywhere, the mall so busy at this early afternoon hour on a Saturday.

Even though she had to figure out a way to escape with her life, she worried about the people eating lunch and shopping in nearby stores. Unbeknownst to them, a shootout was about to take place.