Escape (Chronicles of Hart) (9 page)

The brush was overgrown; no path existed to the cabin in the woods. Hart had seen to that fifteen years ago when he had originally purchased the church. He had also purchased the plot of land containing the escape hatch. For it would do Hart no good if the forest was torn down to build another strip mall. He had anticipated the use of these tunnels and strove to keep the exit maintained and hidden from the world. Inquiry into the tunnel beneath the cabin would only lead to speculation about the church. And with a prisoner in the tower, that would have been disastrous for him. He was a cautious man when it came to his captives, leaving no room for error.

The air was fresh and smelled of the damp morning dew that clung fast to the leaves. Hart’s three guards walked cautiously and quietly out through the wooded area, making less sound than the wind through the trees. In their dark gear and the light camouflage they had applied while speeding to the cabin, they were nearly undetectable in this lush environment. Even with the autumn leaves splayed across the forest floor, they had managed enough cover within brambles and branches to be undetectable even to the keenest eyes. This was what they had been trained for.

Hart halted several strides into the woods. Raising a hand he indicated that his men scatter. As he stood perfectly still, he listened to his men disarm and drug fifteen hidden agents with little more noise than a tree branch snapping in the distance. Surely they had been outnumbered, but not outsmarted, Hart always held a card up his sleeve. Within a matter of minutes a whistle ahead sounded like a raven indicating the forest had been cleared of all threats. Hart stepped further in with a practiced precision, careful to keep himself neat while deliberately keeping a rapid pace. He made a straight line to the cabin that he knew was tucked into the woods ahead.

He stepped delicately over a patch of poison oak, following his instincts further into the woods that he had deliberately let grow out into an unruly oasis. Pausing, he admired the simplistic beauty of the trees while his men returned to him. Hart was cautious to check his gun, clicking the safety off before re-holstering it in his belt, facing away from himself as an added measure.

His men stood behind him like statuesque gargoyles ready to lunge forward into an attack. He approached the cabin cautiously, keenly aware that it was occupied. Dim light filtered through the cabin walls, barely visible from their distance. Mild conversations from within indicated that more than one man was inside. Again Hart halted a few paces away pausing to listen to the noises for a moment, hoping to determine an exact count before sending his small team in. He lifted his arm and his tiny army shot forward like a bullet aimed at his target. He watched for a moment at the thrill, before turning quietly into the woods. He had other business to attend to at the moment.

***

Chung had taken to pacing like a bad game of pong between the walls of the small cabin while King stood ever vigilant over the trap door. He paused at a noise outside the cabin, turning to King who had also looked up in wonder. Both stood still, listening as noises pressed in from the forest outside. The birds had gone silent. A twig snapped not far off. The silence from the forest was eerie from inside the cabin. They both stood still as statues, eyes glazed over as they concentrated on using their ears, focusing on the forest outside. The floor groaned as King shifted his weight making them both jump. He shook his head in apology as the two snapped back to the room, leaving the strange noises to the rest of their team to worry about.

In addition to the two agents waiting in the cabin, King had been assigned a detail of fifteen to secure the grounds. It was a preventative measure in the event that the girl was who Ethan had said she was. There hadn’t been a high profile case in their district in over fifty years, so the bureau was using this possible rescue mission as training for some of the more rusty agents. Chung crossed to the back window. It was more of a hole in the cabin wall than anything, a crack between two of the cedar logs. Tilting his head he looked through the opening without moving the sheet they had hung over it. Six men should be back there under the cover of the thick wooded forest. Chung saw nothing out of the ordinary; it was the same as it had been the last time. Only the snapping of a branch and the rustling of the leaves as the wind circled through the lot, typical forest sounds. They were doing a good job out there with their cover, he would be sure to mention it later to their ranking officer. Chung stepped back to the centre of the cabin where King was still and silent. He was now crouched cautiously listening to the floorboards, awaiting their guests who were expected to arrive at any moment.

Agent Chung had grown tired of standing still and listening for what was probably an animal in the vast forest. Kneeling down, he shot King a look, “we done yet?” He whispered, just as the front door was kicked in.

CHARGE

Grace had regained a bit of strength from rehydrating herself. She was famished but no longer woozy and she could tell that Ethan was feeling the same effects from finally having some water. Looking at the guards for the first time, she noticed how weary they appeared. The night was surely long for them as well and she was well aware that they didn’t see much action while guarding the church. Steve leaned against the damp wall for support sinking in slowly as though it were made of quicksand. He was shaking from the humidity mingling with the chill of the underground and lack of sleep. Walt had given up standing and had slowly slid down the wall into an awkward half awake pose with his hand at his chin propping his head up above his knees.

Grace looked to Ethan, cautious of the guards noticing them. They communicated with a series of strange looks and nudges. She shifted and slowly lifted her hands to show Ethan her loose ties. She looked at the guards and then shrugged, raising an eyebrow. He nodded, looking more alert himself as adrenaline coursed through his veins in anticipation.

Grace could feel the tie on her hands was looser than it should have been. She guessed that the guards hadn’t wanted to hurt their frail prisoner. Grace however, was not frail. She began slowly and carefully twisting her hands out; avoiding the guards’ stares as she moved her hands slowly against the tie. Ethan took notice. He began yawning, and shifting. He tried to take all of the guard’s attention over to his side of the tunnel while Grace popped her hands out. Her hands were bloody and raw in the widest parts where she had had to force them through over scrapes from the rough tunnel escape. Walt stood, Steve left the walls support; both were looking at Ethan and his sudden lack of lethargic movement. Ethan was shifting his legs to support his back against the wall. Slowly he was sliding up the wall into a low standing position. The guards were wary of his movements, both turning their bodies fully to face him.

Leaning in, Grace quietly removed Walt’s gun from his holster as he turned. She then snuck unnoticed towards Steve as he commanded to Ethan,

“Sit back down, on the ground!”

Grace slipped over to the opposite wall, reaching for Steve’s holster. Ethan paused in his struggles, hoping to keep the guards still for a moment. He mocked sickness, breathing slowly and looking to the ground. Arching his back he began to wretch as the guards froze in disgust. Ethan rolled his back and moaned. Steve stood frozen at his side with his hands up, not willing to reach out and grab someone who was about to be ill. Walt’s face was trapped in a look of bewilderment at the sudden illness. He looked concerned that he may have been exposed to the same illness while within the tunnels.

“Stand against the wall,
” Grace demanded with a loud click as she hit the safety off. Walt and Steve both turned in confusion, horror crossed their faces within a moment. Grace stood with a gun in her hand held at chest height and aimed at Walt’s heart. Both guards searched franticly for the second gun keeping their eyes locked on Grace as they patted their belts down. The second gun sat tucked in Grace’s waistband. “I have them both” she stated smugly, saving them the time of their frantic search of the tunnel floor.

Looking up in a state of horror, they backed into the wall simultaneously. Ethan pulled his hands to his face and began chewing through the tie binding them together. Within a few moments, he too was free. Standing cautiously to avoid blocking Grace’s range, Ethan approached Steve from the side and removed the heavy flashlight from his belt. With one last look to Grace, he reached back and hit Steve over the head with a deafening thud. Steve crumpled at the feet of a whimpering Walt. Ethan took a step forward pulling the flashlight up from the ground he repeated the motion, leaving two unconscious guards at his feet.

“Check their bag, it might be helpful,” Grace suggested, handing Ethan the gun from her waistband as she knelt down to retrieve the second flashlight.

“No point, the exit is there
.” he pointed up to a hatch in the ceiling. “I have friends waiting on the other side,” he reminded her.

“Finally
,” she whispered. Dropping the duffle bag still attached to the guard’s back, it landed heavily against the ground spilling its contents through the unzipped main pocket across the floor.

***

Hart’s men kicked in the door to the cabin, quickly falling into position as splinters scattered across the floor. The agents met them with two rounds of gunfire, narrowly missing their small triangle of counter-defence.

Tumbling through the door, the men landed in a kneeling position. Firing once each, they leapt to their feet. Fanning out through the room they hoped to catch the agents off guard.

Unabashed, the agents took to the task with a fiery rage that left Hart’s men panting, trying to keep up to stay alive.  Guns fired, fists flew and the men fought with a ferocity normally reserved for action movie cut-scenes. King was bleeding. His arm dripped from an early bullet wound. He held one of the intruders with his good arm wrapped around the man’s neck. With an abrupt twist, his attacker crumpled to the ground in a silent heap. King, out of breath, paced to Chung’s side where he had been keeping the other two attackers at bay with an array of boxing moves and gun power.

Chung caught King’s glance and turned his full attention to the man closest. Flicking the safety on as his hand lifted for a violent uppercut he toppled the man over their makeshift card table. Chung advanced and soon the man was pinned against a wall by his forearm. Chung raised his other arm and knocked the man over the head with his pistol, rendering him unconscious.
Two down, one to go
he thought turning back to King.

***

Ethan heard gunfire overhead,

“Grace stay here,
” He demanded in a panic as he flipped the hatch open to the chaos above.

Grace ducked away from the light of the opening, instinctively avoiding being seen by the source of the gunfire. She didn’t need to be told twice.

Ethan emerged into a mess of broken glass and wood splinters. King held a man to the floor as Chung knocked another out across the room. Blinking, Ethan’s eyes adjusted to the bright light. King turned,

“Who knew you were coming?” he growled to Ethan.

“Dominic Hart, he sent men after us in the tunnel too.”

“He must be here then,
” King concluded as he knocked out his target and rose to his feet. Walking to the window, he drew back the blinds to reveal a stern Hart, standing patiently in the clearing with a look of amusement splayed across his face.

“Shit,
” King gasped, as he pushed the blinds back into position. “Chung, call in the backup.”

Chung pulled a two-way from his belt, twisting a knob he began to mumble into the device. With his back turned to King and Ethan he relayed commands to the outside re-enforcements.

“To command post one, repeat, report to command post one. Over.” Chung turned to King, concerned at the lack of response. Finally a static click indicated a response;

“You should expect a delay...as they pull themselves together...”sounded the thick sarcastic voice of Hart on the other end of the receiver.

Ethan felt his hopes shatter. Even without an entourage, Mr. Hart was a force near unbeatable. He would never let Grace leave. Turning to the hatch, Ethan grasped Grace by the hand helping her through into the disarray of the cabin. She blinked heavily adjusting to the light that had long eluded her. Left with little choice, Ethan turned to King and Chung, waiting for their brilliant plan.

“You got a gun kid?” King asked turning to Ethan as he checked the rounds in his own pistol splayed open in his hands.

“Yes, two if you count the one Grace has.”

“Let her keep hers,” he continued, taken off guard by the good luck “we go out the fron
t, a triad surrounding the girl.”