Paradise Hacked (First Circle Club Book 2) (33 page)

"That went as well as could be expected," he said.

"Yes," Virgil said. "I can't complain, but the game is just beginning."

Chapter Nineteen

"Hey!" Alfred said. "Take it easy! I'm not a rugby ball."

Six men were carrying him away from Navy Pier. They were yanking on his arms and legs in a frantic, uncoordinated effort to escape the mess around the Ferris wheel. Alfred had glimpsed several violent fights breaking out.

He hated violence. He had spent his life trying to find peaceful resolutions to conflict. He had searched for seeds of goodness in some of the most evil men alive. He had no intention of stopping, no matter how difficult the endeavor.

Alfred used his special voice. "Be calm. No need to rush. I'm not going to escape."

The soldiers slowed down and relaxed a little. In a much more orderly manner, they carried him to a black delivery truck parked in a garage. They opened the back.

Alfred didn't see any seats, but several sets of shackles had been bolted to the walls. The soldiers restrained him at the wrists and ankles. He pulled on the heavy chains experimentally.
I'm not going anywhere,
he thought.

Four soldiers remained in the back with him as the truck drove off. All four had guns pointed at his head, and they looked badly shaken.

"It's OK," Alfred said in a calming voice. "I'm not a threat. You have nothing to fear."

They relaxed.

* * *

Cat Lady watched from a safe distance as the battle wound down. She had witnessed a number of arrests and some serious injuries. At least two people were possibly dead. She didn't know if the victims were real cops or fakes. A fresh wave of police officers was arriving along with some paramedics to deal with the mess. The authorities were trying to clear all the civilians out of the area, a monumental task considering the number of tourists wandering around. The narrow spaces on the Pier didn't help.

Cat had seen Virgil and Lisa fight, and now she was frightened. She truly believed they had been sent from Hell. Cat had been in many difficult, even life-threatening situations, but she had never felt so far out of her depth.

Until now, she had toyed with the notion of betraying Virgil. Surely, somebody would pay a lot of money for what she knew. She could earn millions. She now realized how stupid that idea was. The last thing she wanted was to make enemies of Virgil and Lisa. Even the government couldn't protect her from their wrath.

You wanted a new life, babe,
Cat thought.
You got all that and more.

She allowed the drifting crowd to carry her away.

* * *

Reports were starting to roll into the communication center in the church headquarters of the Crusader Special Unit. Knox listened to the radio chatter with a grim expression.

The information was incomplete and somewhat contradictory, but it was already clear his men had fared very poorly. The real police had showed up in much larger numbers than expected. Somebody had tipped them off ahead of time.

At least two dozen of Knox's men were now arrested, injured, or dead. A top secret operation had just exploded into a public debacle in front of thousands of tourists. He expected to receive angry phone calls from his bosses in Washington at any moment.

The only positive note was that another alien had been captured. Still, Knox wished the entire day had never happened.

He left the bell tower where the communication center was located. He wandered into the physics laboratory in the nave of the church. Dr. Harlow and his team of scientists and technicians were building the new spacesuit. The place was buzzing as everybody worked on their separate tasks at a rushed pace. Knox had brought in more technicians to make the work go faster.

Knox signaled Harlow. The scientist put down his tools and came over.

"Is something happening, sir?" Harlow said. "I saw guys running around."

Knox briefly explained the situation.

Harlow grimaced. "This is a disaster."

"I'm not sure how to even begin cleaning up this mess," Knox said. "We have men in jail and in the hospital. This incident will make the national news. If it comes out that the Army is responsible, the next step will be a congressional inquiry. Some officer will be the scapegoat, and I'm pretty sure it will be me." He swallowed. "I could be ruined!"

"The aliens must've anticipated the possibility of an ambush. They warned the police."

"Yes. That's obvious now. Trying to run an operation at Navy Pier was a big mistake. I was suckered into it. I overreached."

Harlow looked at the activity in his lab. "We still have a little time. We just need another day or two to finish building the suit. Then we can run what will hopefully be a successful experiment."

Knox looked at Harlow's elongated face. The scientist had bags under his eyes and needed to shave.

"To what end?" Knox said. "You seem pathologically obsessed with this project."

"We're talking about sending a man to an alien world! The importance of that achievement outweighs every other concern."

"No, this is personal with you. You've always had some hidden agenda. Now your secrets are destroying my career."

Harlow rubbed his eyes. "If I could say anymore, I would. Let's just hunker down and get this done, please. Forget the aliens. Don't answer the phones. Focus on success. When you go before Congress, at least you'll be able to say you accomplished the mission."

"What about the alien we captured today? We nabbed the older male."

"I don't have time to deal with him. Let's just bury him in the same hole you stuck the other one. That would be safest. I need to get back to work, sir."

Knox considered his options, but he didn't have many good ones. He decided to do what he always did in a tough situation: his job. He would put his head down and bull his way through. One more experiment certainly couldn't make the situation any worse, and if it failed, Harlow would die. That would be helpful in some ways. It was easy to blame mistakes on a dead man. Rena Penn's mysterious disappearance was still a ticking time bomb.

"You get one last shot," Knox said. "Make it a good one."

"Yes, sir." Harlow went back to work.

* * *

At least it's quiet,
Sara thought.

Dr. Z had tried several techniques for breaking her will to resist, ranging from unpleasant to intimidating to bizarre. At the moment, she was encased in a solid block of ice with only her head sticking out. Her limbs and body were literally frozen in place. She didn't believe the cold would harm her, but it wasn't much fun.

The block of ice was on the floor of her enclosure. If she bent her neck, she could see the window where Dr. Z was standing.

"Eventually, I'll win," he said.

"Why do you say that?" Sara said.

"I have the power here. I can do whatever I want to you."

"If you kill me, you'll lose your toy."

"I do have to be careful about that," Dr. Z said, "but so far, you seem extremely durable."

"Nonetheless, you won't win, and I will take great pleasure in watching you pay the price for your sadistic cruelty. I'm normally not a proponent of violence, but I'll make an exception for you."

"I'm not being sadistic. I'm just protecting the interests of the United States and furthering the progress of science."

"Those are just excuses for bad behavior. Justice is coming."

"I'm not worried," Dr. Z said.

"And I won't break," Sara said.

"Then we'll be at this for a very long time."

* * *

Kyle looked out the window of the minivan. He saw dirt fields where corn and soybeans had been harvested. Scattered trees grew at the borders of the fields.

He faced forward. Virgil was at the wheel driving due west, and Lisa was riding shotgun. Both of them seemed absolutely certain of Alfred's location, claiming they could actually "see" him. It was just a question of getting there, and Virgil had estimated it might take all night.

Kyle and Cat had the middle seats. Mei was in the back with her head down over her laptop.

Kyle glanced at Cat. He was trying not to stare, but her beauty was distracting. She had the prettiest face he had ever seen on a woman in real life, and she had applied the perfect amount of makeup. She smiled back at him.

"They told me you're a con-artist," he said. "It's hard to believe."

"Why?"

"You're so smart and beautiful, you could do anything. You could earn a living legitimately. You don't need to resort to crime."

"That's one reason I'm so good at it," she said. "Only stupid, ugly people are crooks, right? Wrong. I cleared over a million dollars last year."

Kyle was trying to keep an open mind and not judge her unfairly. He didn't know her history. Maybe she had good reasons for choosing a life of crime.

"What is your favorite con?"

"There are so many," Cat said. "I guess one of my favorites is a variation of the Spanish Prisoner scam."

"I'm not familiar with that terminology."

"I would tell the mark that my brother was trapped in Mexico because of a legal issue. I needed money to smuggle him back to the United States. If the mark paid the smugglers, I would be
ever
so grateful." Her expression became alluring, and she made a provocative gesture with her tongue.

"They bought that story?" Kyle said.

"There was a kicker. My brother had a suitcase full of stolen gold bullion. The mark would get a bar or two once my brother reached the States safely."

"But you don't have a brother or any gold."

"Of course not," Cat said, "and the smugglers were part of the scam. Once they were paid, all of us disappeared into the night. My crew could clear fifty grand in cash at a pop. Sex, greed, and stupidity. That's what it's all about."

"A dangerous life. You must worry about one of those guys coming after you."

She shrugged. "Comes with the territory. But you're a soldier. You understand having enemies. What's your story?"

"Army Special Forces," Kyle said. "I started as a paratrooper."

"How many people have you killed?"

"Thirteen verified. More unofficially."

"Practically a professional hitman," Cat said.

"I'm not a hitman. I fought for my country."

"But you got paid."

"Not by the kill," he said.

"Indirectly. Kills get you promotions which means a higher salary."

"Money was never the motivation. I know it's hard for you to understand given your background."

Kyle wondered about Cat's motivation. Did she really only care about money? That seemed unlikely. There were easier, safer ways to make money for somebody as talented as her. The thrill of leading an exotic, risky life had to hold some appeal. He understood because he suffered from the same addiction to danger.

She frowned. "Don't talk down to me."

"Sorry, but it sounds like you have a long way to go if you want to get into Heaven."

"At least I didn't kill a bunch of people like you. Isn't murder one of those mortal sins?"

"Killing an enemy in the line of duty isn't murder," Kyle said.

"Oh? Some of those guys probably had families. What do you think their wives and kids would say about it?"

He didn't have a quick answer. It was a question he didn't like to think about.

Cat faced the front. "Hey, Virgil. What kinds of kills are sins? Which ones will keep you out of Heaven, or get you into Heaven?"

"I'm not an expert on that subject," Virgil said. "All I know is there are a lot of different rules and exceptions. Just because a person dies doesn't make it murder."

"More secret rules?"

"Of course."

She made a face. "Figures."

"Be quiet for a minute," Virgil said. "Lisa, can you call Haymaker and put it in speaker mode? I want to talk while I drive."

Lisa took out her phone, dialed a number, and held the phone in the air.

A man answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, this is Virgil. The plan worked. We're following Alfred, and hopefully, he'll lead us to Sara."

"That's great," Haymaker said, "but you left a huge mess behind at Navy Pier. Thirteen seriously injured and one dead, but the latter wasn't one of mine, thank God. We put ten police impersonators in jail."

"I'm sorry things got out of hand. I wasn't expecting the confrontation to get so violent, but those soldiers were stubborn. But there is an upside. When word gets back to the Pentagon, hard questions will be asked and heads will roll. Have you left town yet?"

"My wife and I are on our way to the airport now."

"Good," Virgil said. "Stay safe. I'll let you know when the mission is done. Bye."

Lisa put away her phone.

"Do you know where we're going?" Cat said.

Virgil raised his head and stared forward. "Alfred is hundreds of miles ahead of us and moving fast. He's probably in the air."

"But we're going to drive the whole way?"

"You can't take guns on a plane, and we have lots of guns. It's not a problem. I can drive all night without getting tired. I'm sure we'll arrive by morning."

"You realize we may end up at a top secret military base with ridiculous security," Kyle said.

"Yeah," Virgil said. "Should be fun."

* * *

Alfred heard the squeal of wheels hitting a runway at high speed. The plane had finally landed.

The journey hadn't been enjoyable. He was locked in a steel box like a dangerous animal. Small holes allowed him to peek outside, but all he could see was the cargo hold of a huge airplane. He was the only cargo.

After the airplane taxied to a stop, the back end opened. A man with a forklift came to pick up the box. Twenty soldiers in full battle gear accompanied the forklift, and the soldiers kept their guns aimed at the box.

The forklift carried Alfred's box outside. He felt cold air on his face, and he caught glimpses of a night sky. Loose sand on the runway suggested he was in the desert.

He was transported through a military base. He saw buildings made of concrete, cinderblocks, and corrugated steel sheets. An American flag was a little threadbare. Instead of lawns, the buildings had fields of arid dirt with scattered tufts of grass. Nobody was out on the street.