Paradise Falls (58 page)

The back of his neck felt pinched and his hair stood on end as he crossed the open space quickly, grabbed the railing and charged up the staircase.

If there was some answer here, he had to see it. Whether the girl would help him or not, this was his best chance. If the Fangs had her and had hours of lead time on him, she could be anywhere by now. The thought of Jennifer in the dark bubbled to the front of his mind, the look on her face as she saw the light catch the edge of one of those hooked knives… or worse, as she was forced to watch them with Katie. By the time he reached the top of the stairs, Jacob was panting.

The girl waited by the door. Jacob surged inside, grasping at the papers spread out on the desk in front of him. It looked like whoever worked here just up and left, stopped what they were doing and abandoned whatever was lying about, leaving it in place. He flipped through the papers. Shipping manifests, payroll records, nothing of any value. What was he expecting, a map with a big X marked ‘here be Jennifer’?

He pounded the desk with his fist.

“I need you to tell me everything you know,” he said, slowly. “Personnel, locations, movements, where they might take her and what they might want her for.”

“That is not my concern,” she said, calmly. “Nor yours. Put down the rifle.”

Jacob’s knees buckled, and he felt a cold wave slash through him. He looked over his shoulder and down the barrel of her little pistol, pointed at his head.

Damn it.

Wincing at the torque on his shoulder, he lowered the rifle to the top of the desk and spread his hands away from his sides.

“Do exactly as I say,” said the girl.

“Listen to me,” said Jacob.

“No. Remove your tactical vest and body armor. Slowly.”

Grunting, Jacob shrugged out of the vest and let it fall to the floor, and then began removing his body armor, opening the sides first. It stuck to his body from the blood, and he had to peel it away, wincing. It fell to the floor.

“Hands behind your back.”

“I’m going to give you once chance,” he said, calmly.

“Silence. Hands behind your back.”

Grunting at the sharp pain in his shoulder, he pushed his hands behind his waist and brought his wrists together. The girl brought her left wrist to her mouth, and kept the pistol trained on his back. He could almost feel it. She spoke quickly, in an Arabic dialect.

“
I have him. Send the extraction team in.”

“You work for them,” he said.

“I am a Fang. The Fangs are my brothers. The Fang is my father.”

“Do you know what he is?”

“He is the instrument of a higher power. Be silent.”

“See these scars?”

“Yes.”

“That was him. Cutting into me. Day after day after day.”

“If so, then you deserved it.”

“He’ll do the same thing to Jennifer.”

“Then, she deserves it.”

“What about her sister? She has nothing to do with this. Those other girls.”

“If the Fang demands their death they must die. His word is law.”

“The other girls are younger than you,” Jacob said, calmly. “Before I put a stop to it they were slaves to men who sold their bodies for money. I took them away from that. Jennifer helped me.”

“I don’t care.”

“I can help you, too.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Why would I need your help?”

“I don’t know what they did to you, but I can undo it. I can help you. This is your chance to be free of them.”

She looked genuinely confused as she moved closer, pulling a pair of handcuffs from her belt.

“You shouldn’t do that,” he said.

“Why not?”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Why?”

“I don’t hurt little girls.”

She laughed. “I know what your kind do to little girls. I’ve seen it. Have you ever seen what a bomb does to a little girl? A drone strike?”

“That wasn’t me,” he said. “It wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t Jennifer’s, or Katie’s, or those other girls. They’re innocent.”

“The Fang teaches us that no one is innocent.”

“Then he’s wrong,” said Jacob.

“Blasphemy,” she hissed, and snapped a cuff around his wrist. “He-“

“This is your last chance,” Jacob cut her off. “Please don’t make me hurt you. I can’t let you stop me.”

“You’re in no position to-“

Jacob assessed her reflection in the window. She’d crossed her arm over her body to cuff his right hand first- a mistake. Jacob grabbed her wrist and spun, pulled her off balance and drove his elbow into her ribs. He expected her to go down, but either she was tougher than he expected or he didn’t hit her hard enough.

He moved on instinct, watching the pistol swing around. Before it did he seized her wrist, turned her hand and forced her fingers open. The pistol dropped, but after a brief shout of agony she ignored the pain, bit through it with clenched teeth and kicked his right knee, the one that throbbed. Jacob went down hard, almost blinded from the pain.

She went for the gun, but she had to reach over him. With his good leg he surged up, drove his bad shoulder into her stomach and knocked her against the wall.

The world went crazy. He heard steps outside, and the door flew open. By the time the first Fang surged inside, Jacob had ‘Maya’s pistol, aimed, and fired. The first man’s brains painted the second’s face before Jacob shot him twice in the throat and they tumbled down the stairs. Snatching the rifle from the desk, Jacob stuck the pistol in his pocket, brought the long gun up and charged to the doorway, dropping to one knee.

A piece of drywall from a wild shot cut into his cheek, but he ignored it. There were four more down on the ground, and Jacob opened up on them, firing in quick bursts. It wasn’t clean or precise. He hit one in the thigh, probably shattered his femure, sent him sprawling to the ground. He hit another in the belly, one in the shoulder, another right in the head.

He turned, just as the girl sank a knife into his arm. She had a leaf-shaped punch blade held in her fingers and jammed it, screaming, into his arm. Jacob howled in agony as she twisted the blade and lost his grip on the rifle. She was reaching for it, or the grip of the gun jutting out of his pocket.

Before he knew what was happening, he kicked with his left leg. The heel of his boot it her right in the gut, the kick so hard it lifted her off her feet and threw her into the wall. She hit hard and slid down to the floor, clutching her middle and gasping for breath. He might have cracked her sternum or broken a sort rib without realizing it.

A wave of agonized remorse crashed through him and, clutching his arm, he crawled over to her, his right leg a lightning bolt of agony with every movement.

“I’m sorry,” he panted. “Let me-“

It was a feint. She got up, screaming again, slashing at him with her punch blade. He turned her arm to the side, dodged the slash, but she had another knife from somewhere, a hooked blade with a wicked sharp inner curve. It came at his throat and he grabbed her wrist to stop it. He had both her arms now.

“Stop,” he pleaded, “Stop this, I won’t-“

She kicked at his balls, and he turned his legs, so her shin hit his thigh. It was a strong kick and hurt like hell anyway, and he went down, pulling her on top of him. She jerked back, got her arm loose, and came at him with the blade. Jacob snapped his head to the side, but the edge slashed over his cheek, crossing over the old scar her ‘father’ gave him before the blade caught in the floor.

“Please,” he begged, even as he shoved her away. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You killed my brothers!” she shrieked, and hurled himself at him. “I’ll die before I submit to you!”

“I’m not asking you to-“

She was fast, viper quick, faster than he was. He dodged another slash but somehow a cut opened up on his arm from one he didn’t even see. He was slowing down, his leg dragging, his face throbbing, his right arm a sheet of blood from the bad wound she’d already given him. He begged her silently to stop but every time he ducked or dodged or deflected she only slashed at him faster, screaming. Without his armor she’d land a solid hit any second and it would be over.

Jennifer. Jennifer in the dark, and he would never come, never find her. How long would she hold on to hope? Through the first cut? Through the the tenth? Was she already bleeding under Al Naab’s blade?

There was a flash in his eyes.

Absurdly, he saw his old teacher. Earl Kittinger, the man who first interested in him martial arts. A portly but well built furniture salesman, he didn’t look like a man who’d mastered a killing way.

Yet he had, and he’d shown Jacob.

His voice was soft in Jacob’s ear.

“I only show these techniques to my finest students,” he said before giving Jacob a one-on-one lesson, “who show the talent and responsibility to handle them. You could maim or kill someone this way. Only use them if you fear for your life, or someone else’s life. Do you understand?”

Jacob understood. The memory was a motion. There was a razor sharp blade headed for his eye, and he moved so fast he was barely aware of it, using his forearms to trap the strike, turning with his whole body.

The girl went down, but it was a simple matter of physics. Her body couldn’t turn that quickly, not fast enough to absorb the force of Jacob’s turn combined with the momentum of her own body.

Snap.

When her arm broke, something inside Jacob cracked too. She dropped to the floor and dropped both of the knives and clutched at her arm. He’d broken her forearm, badly. Absurdly, tears welled in his eyes and he fell to his knees beside her.

“Oh God,” he choked out, reaching for her. “Let me-“

“Don’t touch me,” she shrieked and kicked at him.

Obviously in agony, she pushed herself back with her feet until she hit the desk.

Oh God, she was crying. Tears welled in her eyes. Jacob swiped at his own and pushed down the vomit rising in his throat. She was just a little girl, younger than Jennifer’s sister. Where here expression was remote and cold, he could see a wave of emotions flickering there now. Fear, agony, confusion.

“Listen to me,” he said, holding his hands up in surrender. “Stop fighting me and I’ll help you. I swear I won’t hurt you anymore. Please.”

“Finish me,” she pleaded.

“No,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you anymore, I promise. I’m sorry,” the words tumbled out more insistent than he wanted, “Please. I’m so sorry. I won’t hurt you again. I promise.”

He grabbed his tactical webbing and the first aid kit he carried on his back. She had a cut on her cheek. He wasn’t sure if it was her or him that put it there but he didn’t care. She winced when he put a stinging antiseptic on the wound and again when he swept a bandage over it, but he didn’t fight back.

When he moved her arm, she screamed. It wasn’t as bad as he thought. There were two bones in the forearm, and one was cracked- he could feel it. The touch sent her screaming first, then whimpering. The bone didn’t pierce her skin, which was good, but she was obviously in agony. Jacob took a deep breath.

“I have an air splint in my kit, but you need a hospital. I’ll take you.”

“No,” she snapped, “No, you can’t.”

“Why not?”

“They’ll find me-“

“I can protect you. I know people.”

She blinked a few times, confused, or maybe it was the pain. “Why would you do that?”

“Somebody thinks I’m a good man. If you swear not to try anything I’ll take you to a hospital. You need x-rays and this bone might need surgery to set. I can’t just leave you here.”

“Your woman,” she said. “If you take me to a hospital you’ll never find her in time.”

Jacob sucked in a breath.

“I will if you help me.”

“I can’t,” she shook her head. “If I help you I’m as good as dead. I’m dead already,” she sobbed, “I failed my mission.”

“Hey,” he said. “Look at me.”

She looked at him.

“I’m not the guy who kills people if they screw up. I want to help you. I don’t know what they did to you or what they told you, but this isn’t what you think it is. A lot of innocent people are going to get hurt if I don’t stop your… father,” he spat out the word.

“That’s not true.”

“They’re going to kill people, Maya.”

“That’s not my name. Of course they’re going to kill people. It’s a war…”

“Not soldiers. Women and children. Innocent people who’ve never hurt anyone. You believe in what you’re fighting for, but somebody has been lying to you. Come with me and I’ll show you.”

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Please, let me help you.”

Again she shook her head. “No. I cannot.”

Jacob sighed. “I can’t just leave you here. I’m going to try to set the bone and immobilize your arm. It’s going to hurt like hell.”

“Just leave me,” she pleaded.

“No. If Jennifer was here she’d
make
me help you.”

Her eyes widened.

“Truly?”

“Yeah, truly. Here. Bite on this.”

He handed her a bit of gauze and she clenched it between her teeth. It wasn’t enough to muffle her screams. Jacob was fairly sure it was just a simple fracture of a bone in her forearm.

Just a simple fracture, you monster. You did this to her. She’s a little girl!

Putting on the splint was worse, but she went silent, though tears streamed down her face. Jacob used some straps to fashion a crude sling and helped her sit up.

“I have some painkillers,” he said.

“Give me the bottle.”

“No, I’ll give you a pill or two. I’m not going to let you commit suicide.”

She blinked a few times, and her lips trembled.

“Kill me,” she pleaded, “I beg you,
kill me
. When father learns I failed, he’ll…”

“I can protect you,” Jacob said. “Let me take you with me.”

She shook her head. “I cannot.”

“Then take this,” he said, pulling fishing a card from his vest. “Call this number if you want my help.”

With her good hand, she took the card. It shook like a leaf in her fingers.

“I don’t understand why you would risk her life to help me,” the girl choked out.

Jacob pinched the bridge of his nose. “Because it’s the right thing to do. One more chance, Maya. Come with me.”