Smoke and Shadows (2 page)

“Maia, do you copy?” Viktor asked.

“I’m here, Viktor.”
 

Viktor turned away from the screen momentarily to fiddle with some communications settings. “Stark, how are the roads from your POV—”

“What . . . Fuck!” Tim shouted.

Viktor’s eyes swung back to the widescreen in time to watch an RPG hit the front of the limo, lifting the vehicle’s front a couple of feet before it slammed back on the ground.
 

“Under fire! Under fire!” Manning shouted through comms. “Maia, do you copy?”

“Shit, masked hostiles incoming at three o’ clock,” Stark warned.

The lead SUV backed into the limo. Stark and Olsen scrambled out of their vehicle to defend their convoy against the advancing gunmen.
 

“RPG!”
 

Stark and Olsen sprinted to the sidewalk and hit the deck as their SUV blew up from a direct hit.
 

“Take that RPG out!” Viktor shouted. “Maia, do you copy?”

“On it,” Edmunds said. The Guardian took aim from within the remaining SUV and squeezed out several shots. “Got him.” Edmunds was always as cool as a cucumber.

“Stark, are you guys okay? Maia, damn it, report!” Manning yelled again.

Viktor stood back as he watched the mayhem unfold on screen. Tim was busy panning the cameras closer. The exchange of assault rifle fire was deafening and drowned out some of the communication.
 

“We’re okay.”

Viktor closed his eyes briefly when he heard Maia’s voice come over comms.

“We’re sustaining heavy gunfire,” Maia added. “Don’t know how long the bullet-proof shields will hold. Nasir’s wife is having a breakdown. Could you guys maybe hurry up?”

“We got this,” Stark broke in.
 

Viktor watched the rest of the Guardians methodically take down the six gunmen who concentrated their efforts on shooting up the limo. Something was not adding up. This was too easy. After a few more minutes, the last of the gunmen went down, but Viktor’s uneasiness only escalated.

Sirens wailed at a distance as the Paris Police were alerted of the attack. Maia stepped out of the limo and signaled for Manning to take Nasir and his wife to the remaining functional vehicle. Stark and Olsen provided a protective circle around the Syrian couple while Maia and Edmunds had their assault rifles shouldered as they scanned the area.
 

They were sitting ducks.

“Talk to us, HQ,” Maia said. “Who are these people?”
 

She looked down, nudged one of the bodies, and bent over to pull off the mask, revealing a man with olive skin and dark hair. Just then, a muffled pop sounded audibly on the comm channel as something struck the pavement behind her.
 

“What the fuck?” Maia muttered, quickly straightening up in alarm. However, another pop echoed ominously and more than a few gasps were heard as everyone watched Maia jerk back and hit the ground.

“Sniper!”

“Shit. Sniper!”

Edmunds quickly pulled Maia behind the limo. Manning pushed Nasir and his wife into the SUV and took position behind it.
 

“Stay with me, Maia,” Edmunds said urgently.

Viktor was breathing hard. “How bad is it?”

“Gut shot. Armor piercing round. Damn it, Maia, you fucking stay with me!” Edmunds was screaming now.

“Goddamn it!” Viktor cursed. He hustled back to his office to grab his CIA-issued secure phone known as the Sec-phone.
 

He punched a number on his speed dial. A female voice answered immediately.

“Shit’s going down right now,” Viktor said.

“I’m watching it on live feed.”

“You need to mobilize Grave Digger.”

“Already did.”

“I . . . thank you, Marissa.”

Viktor ended the call and ran back to the datacenter.

“What’s happening? Were there more shots fired?” he demanded.

“We’re losing her!” Stark roared over comms. “Damn it, Tim, where’s that ambulance?”

Two police vehicles screeched to a halt just short of the attack site and officers disembarked to initiate crowd control. A few minutes later, an ambulance squeezed between the limo and the line of dead bodies littering the streets.

Two EMTs exited the vehicle, one heading straight for Maia while the other went to the back of the ambulance to retrieve a gurney.
 

“She’s not breathing. There’s no pulse,” Stark’s ragged voice informed the first responder.

The EMT took out a syringe and injected Maia with an unknown substance.

“What the hell is he doing?” Tim asked.

Viktor kept his arms crossed to remain calm, but his mind was echoing Tim’s words.

“Shouldn’t you be giving her fucking CPR?” Stark demanded.

The EMT started a couple of chest compressions and checked for breathing.

“Fuck!” Stark shoved the EMT. “Do you even know what you’re doing?”

A police officer came by and warned Stark in accented English to stand down, or he’d be removed from the scene.

“Damn it,” Viktor muttered, raking his fingers through his hair.

“This is not happening.” Tim stood up, gripping his head with both hands and staring helplessly at the screen. “Viktor, do something.”

The EMT shook his head at Stark. His face paled in disbelief.
 

“You didn’t do a goddamned thing!” This time it was Edmunds shouting. A few more police officers surrounded the tense scene.

Stark tried to stop the EMT from covering Maia’s body with a white sheet and was tackled by two police officers in the process. Manning had to intervene, grabbing the younger Guardian back while Edmunds was up in the face of another French officer. Maia’s body was loaded on a gurney, covered by a white sheet with her blood slowly seeping through.

“Shit. Viktor, do something,” Tim choked as he turned his anguished eyes on him.

“What do you want me to do? She’s gone,” Viktor said tonelessly. “Manning, get the team back into gear. You’re in charge now.”

“What the hell, Viktor?” Stark said. “Maia—is—dead. How can you be so cold about this shit?”

“Listen up, Stark. We’re responsible for a man who could end the clusterfuck in Syria,” Viktor said. “Do your fucking job. Because if you fail to bring Nasir back safely to his country, Maia’s death will be in vain. Am I making myself clear?”

“Copy that, Viktor,” Manning replied gruffly. There was no response from the rest of the Guardians, but Viktor watched them make their way back to the remaining SUV.

“Jack’s on hold,” Holly piped in.

Viktor sighed in resignation. A pain inside him was threatening to split his chest wide open. “Tell him that the convoy was attacked and we have no updates. Have him come in. I’ll tell him personally that his wife is dead.”

Tim took in a ragged breath, trying to hold back a sob, but failing to stop his tears from falling.

“Tim, are you going to keep it together?” Viktor asked sharply. “The team needs you on top of this. We have no idea who’s behind the attack. A sniper’s still at large. No way is this over.”

His analyst nodded, not looking at him.

Viktor returned to his office and sank into his chair feeling as if he’d aged fifty years. Everyone thought he was an unfeeling son of a bitch. But there was one person who knew how deeply he felt, and was the same person who could see through all his bullshit.

He punched her number on the Sec-phone.

“We have her,” Marissa said.

He asked the one question that mattered. “Will she live?”

*****

Present day

“Maia’s alive.”

Jack struggled to understand Viktor’s words, thinking that he was hallucinating the entire rescue, that he was still locked away in this shithole after a grueling electroshock session that damned near cracked his ribs.

He reached out and grabbed Viktor by his throat, backing him against the wall.
 

“Don’t lie to me,” Jack snarled, bringing his face close to Viktor’s. His vocal chords were strained—three weeks of torture did a number on them. “I saw the footage…they covered her body with a fucking sheet.” For the first time in days, the back of his eyes stung. Four days after his abduction, his captors showed him the video of his wife’s death. The sick bastards taped everything; from the assault on the limo to Maia taking a gut shot, and to the one image that he couldn’t wipe out of his head—a white sheet being lowered on her beautiful, lifeless face. The thought of never seeing her again managed to accomplish what days of torture couldn’t do—break him down enough to lose it. Then numbness replaced the crazed grief he was feeling, angering his captors enough to beat the shit out of him when he had shown no empathy. How could he when it felt like his soul had detached from his body?

“That was operation Grave Digger,” Viktor told him. “I’ll explain later what it is and why it was done. But for now, it’s enough for you to know Maia’s been in a medically-induced coma for the past three weeks. They’re about to bring her out of it. Figured it’s best if I rescued your ass before she woke up. If she knew you were taken, nothing would stop her from going after you and busting her stitches.”

Jack let Viktor go and resumed walking up the tunnel.
She’s alive
. Elation hit him, and it was a struggle not to buckle to his knees and weep in relief. He could feel their eyes on him, watching him cautiously and gauging how broken he was. His body was stiff, and his ribs hurt like hell, but they were not cracked or broken. His tormentors were careful to aim their blows on his torso, giving him just enough pain, but stopping short of breaking his ribs. The electric shock was worse, not because of the burn marks it left, but the seizing and spasming were the worst sensations and pain no one could bear. But bore them he did. Because he swore to himself, he would survive this and avenge Maia.

“We were waiting for some ransom note or demand, but it never came,” Derek said. “We immediately increased security around your parents and Brett, just in case this was against the McCords. Especially since they had nabbed you the same day Maia was shot. What did they want?”

“Codes to the AGS database.”

The only people who had the codes were Viktor and him.
 

“Fuck.” Viktor stopped walking. Jack suspected if he wasn’t as weak as a newborn kitten, the blond man would have slammed him against the wall. “Did you break?”

“Fuck no,” Jack bit out. “I thought they’d killed my wife, Viktor. You think I’d give them the satisfaction of getting what they wanted from me?”

They continued walking until they reached the junction. Nathan’s eyes widened in shock. “Fuck man, you look like shit. Did they feed you at all?”

The minimum to keep me alive for torture
, Jack thought grimly.

“Here. We got you some clothes.” Derek handed Jack a change of clothing.
 

“Are we heading straight to the hospital?” Jack took off the ratty sweater his captors gave him.
It was scratchy as hell, but along with the wool blanket they had mercifully given him, it had kept him warm enough
. He ignored the cursing from everyone when they saw the marks on his body.

“Uh, sorry, man, but you stink,” Derek informed him. “You don’t want to knock Maia back to sleep with the scent of
eau de piss
.”

Jack grinned for the first time in weeks. “You have a point. Although, I’m pretty sure I didn’t piss on myself; at least I didn’t think I did.”

“Don’t worry, man, we won’t tell,” Manning added.

Derek clapped him on the back. “Let’s get you cleaned up so you can see your wife.”

*****

A keening cry shattered the usual quiet of the New Park Medical ICU.

Jack is going to kill him
, Viktor thought. It had escaped his mind to inform Jack that his parents had kept a vigil by Maia’s bedside for over two weeks now. They didn’t blame Maia for their son’s abduction, and instead, took care of her the way parents would take care of their daughter in such a situation. Though being shot in the gut wasn’t a normal occurrence experienced by most daughters.

“Oh, my God, oh, my God—Jack!” Frances McCord threw herself into her son’s arms, failing to notice the wince that crossed Jack’s face. “What did they do to you?” Frances speared Viktor with an angry glare. “What did they do to him?”

Jack cupped his mom’s face gently. “Mom, I’m okay. I’ll tell you. But I really, really want to see Maia right now.”

Frances nodded in understanding. Robert McCord gave his son a hug and gruffly welcomed him back. Jack kissed his mom on the forehead and took a deep breath before stepping into Maia’s room. His parents followed, along with Dr. Lance Henderson, who worked on retainer at AGS’s medical facility, but also had medical privileges at New Park Medical.

Dr. Henderson had explained Maia’s condition to Viktor and Jack’s parents, but there was something else the doctor felt he had to hold back at least until Maia was conscious or Jack came back. Viktor had a bad feeling about it. He was surprised how well Jack had survived three weeks of captivity but knew the effects could still manifest later.

Pain flashed through Jack’s features as he raised a trembling hand to touch Maia’s face.
 

“Babe.” His whisper was low as he bent over to kiss his wife’s forehead.

Viktor had known Maia since she was twelve, and because of her daredevil attitude, this wasn’t the first time he had seen her laid up on a hospital bed. Still, it wasn’t easy for Viktor to see her intubated and hooked up to a ventilator—so he could well imagine how McCord was feeling.
 

Dr. Henderson cleared his throat. “Jack, it’s good to see you alive and . . . almost well.”

“Doc,” Jack acknowledged.

“I want to run some tests and x-rays on you after this.”

“That won’t be necessary—”

“Son,” Robert cut in. “Do this for us, please.”

Jack nodded reluctantly. “Doc, I would like to hear about my wife’s condition.”

“The bullet went through and through and hit mostly muscle, but it grazed some of her intestinal walls and damaged some blood vessels. They had the best surgeons in Paris work on her, and I won’t lie—they did lose her a couple of times, but she made it. Her brain function is normal, so we expect her to wake up with no problem.”