Evil Without a Face (19 page)

Coming over a small rise past a set of railroad tracks, Sam hit the brakes and slowed to a crawl. Seth Harper stood in the middle of the road flagging her down with a flashlight in his hand and looking soaked in the drizzle. Up ahead, lights from a small town shined on the horizon, but she couldn’t tell how far it was. She pulled behind Seth’s blue van, along the graveled shoulder of the road, and turned to her passengers.

“I need you both to do as I say.” She knew Tanu had the discipline of a cop, but Archer was another story. “Do I have your word, Mr. Archer?”

It took him too long to answer.

“Look, I’m not sure what we’re going to find, but I can’t afford to have you fuck up this search trying to be a cowboy. You could not only jeopardize the rescue of your niece, but other people’s lives could be at risk. Now I want your word that you’ll do as I say, without question.”

“Yeah…sorry.” He nodded, looking her square in the eye. “You’ve got my word.”

She could see that it took restraint on his part not to say another word; the internal struggle showed on his face. She
couldn’t imagine his frustration, but maybe tonight, he’d find peace.

To make her vehicle more visible, Sam left her hazard lights blinking for Detective Garza. They cast a yellow light onto scrub brush and mud puddles and gave them limited visibility, without drawing a lot of attention. Sam got out of the car, with Archer and Tanu following her. After quick introductions, Harper filled them in.

“I lost the signal, but I’m pretty sure I saw them turn off here.” He pointed across the road to what looked like private property. A recessed gate with an old abandoned guard station. Goodville Textiles. A rusted sign was posted on the fence.

“And see here? With the rain, their tires left fresh tracks.” He pulled at her elbow and shined his flashlight to the ground. “We can’t be that far behind. We gotta find her before…” He didn’t finish. He shrugged and turned away.

As a friend, Sam wanted to crash the gate and drive onto the property looking for Jessie. But as a cop, she had to think about the law. She had enough reason to believe Jess was in danger. And even though Harper hadn’t actually seen the men drive onto the premises, he’d trailed them to the property and was reasonably certain they were inside, plus the fresh tracks made his statement more credible. She had a witness to give her probable cause to search the premises without a warrant, but had to make sure.

“How certain are you that she’s here, Seth?” she prompted, but before he answered, she clarified her point. “For me to have probable cause to search the premises, I need a solid witness, or else I’d have to get a search warrant. And that would take time.”

She squeezed his arm and held his gaze until he knew what she was saying.

“Then yeah, she’s in there. I saw everything.” He nodded. “Definitely.”

“Good man.” She smiled. “And thanks, Seth.”

Her backup, Detective Garza, had her location and was on his way, but she had to make a decision now. She stared through the gate to the deserted textile plant. At a minimum, she needed more intel.

Having made up her mind, Sam pulled Harper aside again.

“Seth, I need you to stay here and flag down Detective Ray Garza. He should be right behind me, but I can’t wait for him to get here.” She wrote down the detective’s cell phone number on a piece of paper. “Here’s his cell just in case. When he gets here, let him know I’m on the property, but I won’t be alone.”

She turned to Joe Tanu and Payton Archer, who stood within earshot.

“Officially, I can’t ask you to join me, Joe, but I could use your help.” She knew it would be a waste of time to argue with Tanu about coming along, however his sidekick was a civilian. “But Archer stays here.”

The retired trooper stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face. She hadn’t expected such a calm reaction. When he finally opened his mouth, he had her attention.

“Look, Payton and his sister are like family. If there’s a chance Nikki is being held by these people, I’m with you and I’ll follow your lead.” Tanu looked at Archer. “But Payton won’t sit on the sidelines, not with so much at stake. I know him.”

When Sam shifted her gaze to Archer, the man shrugged and said, “I never liked sitting on the bench. What can I say?”

Tanu retrieved the Walther PPK/S from his ankle holster and handed it to Archer, who confirmed he had a full magazine and racked the slide checking for brass, safety off.

“If it makes a difference, he’s a crack shot,” the retired trooper said. “I taught him how to shoot. And I’ll take full responsibility. The way I figure it, we could use all the help we can get.”

Tanu had a point, but she felt the need to make a point of her own and fixed her eyes on Payton.

“If you make me regret this, Archer, I’ll shoot you myself.”

The man shot her a sideways glance and shared one of his dimples. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Anytime.” Sam peered through the fence across the road and took a deep breath, feeling the rush of adrenaline. “Call me a gear freak, but I’ve got Kevlar in my trunk. Once we get suited up, we’re going in.”

“I like a woman with a sense of style.” Archer forced a grin, the tension showing through.

“Yeah, you should see my Christmas catalogs.”

As soon as they were decked in Kevlar vests and she had her badge visible, Sam breached the fence and crossed the massive parking lot, heading for the old abandoned textile factory with Tanu and Archer. Steady drizzle had drenched her clothes and given her a chill, despite the body armor. And with storm clouds blocking the moonlight, her eyesight gave her fits, making the shadows of the old building seem menacing. She had a flashlight, but didn’t want to screw up her night vision or make herself a target. She’d save it for when she actually needed it.

In her head, she said a quick prayer that no one would die, hoping God was listening. In her line of work, she’d begun to think that wasn’t always the case.

Hidden security cameras strategically placed on the Goodville Textiles premises had picked up the intruders outside the gate. Another vehicle had joined the blue van, and if cops were involved, Ethan knew more would follow. He’d never pulled the plug on a facility like this before, but now they had little choice.

That’s why he’d risked pissing off the Russian, insisting that he forget about the bounty hunter and keep his cock in his pants. Petrovin had the authority and the guts to make
the final call. The bastard thrived on power and all that came with it; egotistical bullshit, as far as he was concerned. He knew when he had a losing hand and when to bail, and it had nothing to do with duty.

Ethan also knew there would be fallout over the incident. There always was. But he didn’t want to get caught in the middle. There would be no brownie points in knowing when to flush the operation—only repercussions—and he preferred not to be linked to the final decision, no matter how necessary. That’s why soldiers like Petrovin made convenient scapegoats, but Ethan was smarter than that.

“We can’t risk it, Stas. We have to shut it down…now.” He urged the Russian to do what must be done. “We can’t afford for anyone to find the control room. The rest of the organization would be at stake. Shutting down this facility is bad, but we can still operate elsewhere.”

When the Russian didn’t respond, he pressed. “It won’t take long for them to make it to the building. We gotta go.”

Petrovin clenched his jaw, glaring at the security monitors in the control room. The silent red flashing light cast a strange pallor on his face. There were times Ethan was perfectly content to be in ignorant bliss where the Russian was concerned, but not today.

“What are you thinking, Stas?” he asked. “I’m not gonna like this, am I?”

“Make sure they find their way through the garage. Unlock the doors.” Petrovin smirked.

“Are you crazy? We can’t mess with them now,” he urged, pleading his case.

“Don’t worry. We will stick to our plan. I am only…adapting it.”

The control room had been rigged with thermite incendiary devices, primed with other pyrotechnic additives like barium nitrate to enhance their effect and make ignition more reliable. The enhanced thermite had been Petrovin’s choice. The chemical mixture burned with an intense white
heat, and since it contained its own oxygen supply, it could not be smothered or extinguished by conventional means.

The incendiary devices had been placed strategically through the control room, atop critical equipment to destroy the bank of computers, their hard drives, and any reports left behind. The rest of the makeshift facility didn’t matter, but the Russian had C-4 relayed to collapse the dilapidated structure onto anyone who dared to infiltrate the building.

After the thermite detonation was initiated, the rest would be discharged from a safe distance through a series of shaped charges.

A solenoid switch would open the valves of underground propane tanks by relay, releasing heavy propane fumes into the air of the tunnels—the sole purpose for the supply of propane. And after the buildup of gas, a charge near the propane tanks would initiate a white-hot fireball at the core of the building with more C-4 to hit structural supports. The blast would set off a chain reaction through the underground corridors with enough magnitude to drop a structure five times its size.

But that wasn’t enough for Petrovin. The Russian wanted to make sure his death trap would take out any cop who crossed his threshold. Someone would pay, and Petrovin would make sure of it.

“Sound the evacuation alarm for the men,” he ordered. “The noise will mask the sound of us leaving.”

“What about the girls?”

With dead eyes, the Russian smiled and said, “Do not worry about them. I have taken care of everything. I will meet you as agreed.”

Giving authority to an egotistical crazy man had its drawbacks.

Ethan had no more time to argue. He hit the evacuation alarm and ran out the door, leaving the Russian behind. When he blew past the room where the girls were held, he
tried not to think about them. He’d given up the right to a conscience long ago.

And having a sense of morality was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

“What’s that sound?” Sam stopped to listen outside a delivery door near the loading bay. “Do you hear that?”

“An alarm,” Joe said. “Sounds like it’s belowground.”

“If we had any doubts about someone being inside, those are all shot to hell. We gotta get in there—now.” Payton reached for the door, thinking only of Nikki, but Joe grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Sam and I will take point. Follow our lead, no question, remember?” Tanu’s voice was stern, tempered with the concern of a friend. “If Nikki is here, we’ll find her—bring her home.”

Home.
Payton liked the sound of that word. And the faces of Nikki and Susannah filled his mind, giving him a strange comfort when he needed it. This time when the detective tried the knob, it turned and the door opened. Finding an easy way in had been a stroke of good luck. He followed Joe and the detective into the building, hoping Nikki’s ordeal would soon be over.

And as he crossed the threshold with gun in hand, Payton found himself praying, something he hadn’t done in a very long time.

“What’s that siren?” Jess reached for Nikki and pulled her close. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know.” The girl gripped her hand. “Jessie, I’m scared.”

Beyond the door, an alarm blared through the corridor and a flash of red beat like a pulse under the door, eclipsing the light. Voices were garbled by the sound, and boots scuffed along the cement floor outside their door. Jess didn’t mistake it for a good sign. Even if Harper had come through, it didn’t leave them in the clear.

“No matter what happens, you stick with me. You understand?” She squeezed the girl’s hand. “You and me. We’re gonna get through this. I’m getting you out of here, I promise.”

The girl burrowed her head into Jess’s shoulder and put her arms around her waist.

“I’ve been so stupid. I can’t believe—”

Jess stopped her. “This isn’t your fault. These people know how to manipulate and lie. And they prey on kids like you. You did nothing wrong.”

Before she had a chance to comfort the girl, a key slid
into the lock and the door swung open. Noise and bright lights flooded the darkness, blinding them. Jess held onto Nikki and cowered in the shadows, but two men carrying weapons swept into the room, yanking the other girls off the floor.

“Get up. Move. Now!” they shouted.

When they came for her and Nikki, she asked the men, “Where are you taking us?”

“Shut up and get moving.” One of the cowards grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled, forcing her to stand. Nikki had gotten in line behind the others, but kept turning back, making sure Jess wasn’t far behind.

Out the door, they headed right single file. Nikki walked ahead of her, leaving one man on the tail end. Jess had no idea of the layout but caught a glimpse of darker tunnels ahead. All the activity and alarms were behind them. They were heading deeper into a maze, and the air smelled toxic, like gas fumes.

Instinct told her to run. She forced herself to breathe shallow, waiting for her moment. In the confusion and the noise, she and Nikki might break free without being noticed.

When the lead man turned a corner, Jess lost sight of him and the first two girls. Something inside her clicked and she reacted. Biting back pain, she spun and punched the man behind her, catching him off guard. Knocked off balance, he fell against the wall, leaving her to grapple for his gun, but the man held firm.

“You bitch,” he grunted.

“Nikki, run! Back the way we came,” she panted, struggling for leverage.

The girl moved but didn’t take off.

Jess pinned the man’s arm against the wall and slugged him in the gut, rapid blows that staggered him. When he bent over, she rammed a knee to his face. In a stupor, the bastard let go of the gun and fell back, his head whacking
the cement floor. Even with all the noise, Jess heard the ugly thud. He stayed down for the count. She picked up the gun and caught up with Nikki.

“Come on.” She ran back the way they’d come. “How do we get out of here?”

Tears welled in Nikki’s eyes. Jess could see that she was losing it, but Nikki pointed straight ahead. “Turn left here…I think.”

The blaring alarm grated on Jess’s frayed nerves, exacerbated by the flashing lights that washed bloodred on the walls. And the gas fumes had become more noticeable, making her nauseous. By the smell, the whole place would soon be a ticking time bomb. Anything could set it off. With a tight grip on the weapon, Jess raced down the passageway as if she knew where to go, clutching the girl’s hand. They couldn’t afford any mistakes.

And for Nikki’s sake, she hoped her luck had changed.

Once inside the loading bay door, Payton followed Joe and the detective into what looked like a small underground parking structure with another secured door to the left. A handful of cars were parked inside. Sam confirmed that the one with the busted-out windows was Jessie’s. It proved that something was terribly wrong and her friend was in danger.

They quickly swept the outer chamber and the car interiors, making sure no one waited in the dark to ambush them. Assured that everything was clear, they focused on the only entry left.

Payton took his position on the hinged side of the door. Standing with his back to the wall, he reached over and turned the knob before opening it. It wasn’t locked. He shot a concerned look at Joe, who seemed to read his mind. So did Sam. An alarm had blared before they’d opened the outside door. Now a second door was unlocked. Something didn’t feel right.

It was too easy.

Joe used the detective’s flashlight to check the door for booby traps, then repeated the process with the door ajar. After he gave the all clear sign and Sam had given her thumbs-up Payton swung the door open. Joe and the detective swiftly moved into the room, an efficient team. In a practiced maneuver, they crept through in a bent-legged shuffle, shifting their weapons from corner to corner. Payton followed close behind, taking their lead. But once they got inside, the interior fanned into a maze filled with spiraling red lights, a much bigger underground vault than he had expected.

Before Joe or the detective said it, Payton shook his head in frustration.

“Damn it! Which way do we go?”

Up ahead a door stood wide open. Jessie stopped dead still and pulled Nikki to one side, positioning the girl against the wall behind her. She didn’t want any surprises. The men might have evacuated the area, but she couldn’t risk getting them caught so close to finding a way out. After sending a silent signal for Nikki to stay put, Jess crept toward the door, gun in hand.

With the alarm sounding, she couldn’t hear anything coming from the room. Inching closer, she edged a look across the door frame, peering inside. A sudden motion caused her to flinch. She ducked and pressed her back against the wall. Nikki cowered behind her, wide-eyed and close to panic. After replaying what she’d seen, Jess got the courage to try again. She rushed the doorway with her weapon leveled in a two-fisted grip, shifting the gun hard left, then right. After a better look, she relaxed and stepped farther into the chamber.

It looked like a main control room, the one where she’d seen the Russian and the other man in heated debate, with a
bank of computers and monitors along the far wall. She would have kept moving down the corridor, but caught action on the monitors that forced her to stop.

“On my God,” she whispered.

Sam had two men with her and all of them were armed. She recognized her friend easily, but the men’s faces were not clear. Surveillance cameras had locked onto their movement. And wherever they were, they moved cautiously, expecting trouble.

“Where the hell are you, Sam?”

Nikki came into the room and stood by her side.

“I remember that place,” she said. “It’s by the loading docks. They brought me through that security door…my first day.” The girl pointed to the monitor, but her mouth dropped when she recognized a familiar face. Fresh tears slid down her cheeks and her lower lip trembled. “Uncle Payton…look, he’s here. Oh my God, he’s really here.”

With Nikki’s revelation, a rush of hope flooded through Jess. The girl laughed nervously at the sight of her uncle, unable to contain her emotion—touching humor mixed with tears.

“Do you think you know where they are?” Jess asked.

“Yeah, turn left out the door. Follow the corridor straight, I think.”

Not wanting to squelch Nikki’s moment of relief, Jess left her in front of the security monitor, watching her uncle. Then she noticed something of interest across the room, tucked near one of the hard drives—a trash can filled with discarded paper. She reached in and pulled out what looked important and official.

“What do we have here?” she whispered. She stuffed what she could into the waistband of her pants under her shirt, and when she looked up, her heart nearly stopped.

Positioned above each computer hard drive was some type of incendiary device, wired to explode. She didn’t know
much about explosives, except that deactivating one by snipping a wire often set the bomb off. That popped into her mind a moment before she noticed the smell from the rear passageway. Gas fumes. If they were building, a detonation in the control room could trigger a massive blast throughout the whole facility. And where there was one bomb, there might be others.

“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath.

They had to get out now! And Sam, Archer, and the other man were in danger too. They didn’t have a clue they were walking into a powder keg.

“We gotta find them, Nikki,” she said, keeping her voice calm and steady as she stared at the bombs. When the girl didn’t respond, she raised her voice to be heard over the blaring alarm, “What do you say, Nikki? Let’s go find your—”

Jess stopped dead still. She raised her weapon and swallowed, trying to still her heart. The Russian held Nikki clutched to his chest, a gun to her head. In the murky light, it took her a moment to realize the girl wasn’t dead. She was breathing, but unconscious.

Jess clutched her gun tighter, hoping her shakes didn’t show. No way she could attempt a head shot, not under these conditions. And the Russian blocked the way out, threatening to kill Nikki. A hellish nightmare, the man wielded his sinister glare like a weapon.

“You leave without saying good-bye, bounty hunter?” He slowly shook his head. “Not on my watch.” His voice made her skin crawl.

“You rigged this room to blow,” she reasoned. “You really think you have time to mess with me? If this place goes up, you’re going with it.”

The man had the nerve to laugh. The sound of it echoed in the chamber, making her almost nauseous.

“You’re talking to a man with a death wish. Considering
how much you are shaking, I would say life means a great deal more to you, especially the pathetic life of this girl.” He sneered. “Put down the gun and kick it over to me.”

Sweat trailed down Jess’s temple, and the air felt thick and stagnant, making it hard to breathe. She knew she had no choice. She wouldn’t force the man’s hand with Nikki’s life in the balance. Slowly, she lowered her weapon and laid it at her feet, then kicked it to him. The gun skittered across the floor, obliterating any odds in her favor. Her luck had run out, but she hoped Nikki would still have a chance. If the bastard had intended to kill the girl, he wouldn’t have knocked her out. He would have taken too much pleasure in slitting her throat and watching her bleed, drowning in her own blood.

The Russian let Nikki slide and drop to the floor before he retrieved Jess’s weapon and slipped it into the waistband of his pants. He pointed his gun at her again, a smug expression on his face. Jess took a deep breath and clenched her jaw, waiting for whatever the scumbag would do next.

“You’re coming with me.”

Wide-eyed, she let her panic show. “What about Nikki? You can’t just leave her.”

The bastard smiled. “She is expendable. Easy to replace. But you? I have plans.”

He’d taken her by surprise. She hadn’t expected his reaction. She couldn’t leave Nikki behind without a fight. Jess headed for the door, her mind racing with ways to take him out. But he came up behind her and turned the tables again.

A blow to the back of the head staggered her. She dropped to her knees and was shoved to the floor. A warm rush of blood drained down her neck, and the room swirled in a dark haze. She couldn’t shake her stupor and lost track of time, her awareness drifting in and out between shades of black. Behind her a shadow moved in the distance, but she couldn’t make her body move to see what was going on.

Time stalled and repeated like a skip on a CD, until a
bright heat washed over her face and forced her to open an eye to see what was happening.

On the far wall, the grenades burst and catapulted white-hot sparks high into the air, a blast of hot debris. The computers liquefied under the intense heat, molten metal spewing across the room and setting off a string of smaller fires. She felt the heat around her. And the stench of sulfur hit the air under a cloud of billowing dark smoke. A devastating fireball raged in a chain reaction across the control room, and with it came a blinding fierce heat.

Gotta move. Now!

Pain spiked through her head like a taser bolt, making it hard to see. She tried to crawl, but her body anchored her to the spot she’d fallen. Breathing in smoke and the chemical fumes of the explosion seared heat into her lungs, making her gag.

Without help, she wasn’t going to make it. And it was only a matter of time before the rest of the tunnels would explode.

Mercifully, blackness came. For her, the nightmare was over.