Sullivan Saga 1: Sullivan's War (18 page)

Abraham, despite his age, was a better fighter. He’d landed several blows on Zednik’s face and was winding up for another when Zednik charged him and grabbed him around the waist. Abraham fell backward and landed hard, striking his head against the bedframe. Within seconds, Zednik had his hands around Abraham’s neck. Kate abandoned her post and rushed to pull him off. As soon as she was away from the door, Zednik’s men burst in and grabbed her. She watched helplessly as Zednik tightened his grip and Abraham’s legs and arms began to flail. A sickening gurgle rose from Abraham’s throat, then he exhaled heavily and lay still.

Zednik removed his hands and looked at them. He turned to Kate, his eyes wild. He stepped swiftly past Kate and the guards and out of the room.

KATE HAD BEEN alone with Abraham’s body for close to an hour. She’d lifted him onto the bed, folded his arms across his chest and was sitting there, her hand on his, when a timid knock came at the door. A moment later, it opened slightly and Orion Zednik poked his head in. “Miss Alexander?”

Kate glared at him. “What?”

“Miss Alexander, I’d like to offer my deepest condolences.”

Kate stood and strode over to the door. “Your condolences? Where the hell do you get off, Zednik? You killed him!”

Zednik backed off and took refuge behind the half-closed door. “You have to know I never wanted it like this. I regret that I lost control in that way.”

Kate shook her head incredulously. “How many people have you had killed, Zednik?”

“Like this? None. I’ve had to have people made examples of, I’ve had to punish those who failed me. But in anger… no, none. I am not an angry man, Miss Alexander.”

Kate returned to the bedside. “You have killed a better man than you’ll ever be, Zednik.”

Zednik lowered his eyes. “Perhaps. But it cannot be helped. Caesar must protect his empire.”

“What empire?” Kate scoffed. “Two men and this rented house? You have nothing, Zednik. You
are
nothing.”

Zednik raised an eyebrow. “That’s where you’re wrong, Miss Alexander. I have you, and you’re worth a million credits right now. It’s not much, but it will be enough to rebuild. And even if I didn’t have you, I would find other ways to raise funds. You are
not
indispensable, so I would watch what you say to me. I have expressed my regret over Mr. Emerson, and I hope we can move on from this and spend our remaining time together in peace.”

Zednik departed, and a moment later his men came in and took Abraham’s body out. Zednik followed them down the stairs and to the garage. “It’ll be cool enough to leave the body in here tonight, but I want you to bury it in the morning,” he said to them. “And dig two holes. As soon as I have her father’s money in my hand, Miss Alexander will find out that it is not wise to provoke Caesar.”

8

FRANK ALLEN HAD kept a safe distance. He’d been watching the hotel from his rented car and had seen the van, with Zednik and one of his men in the front, leave in a hurry. The sound of approaching sirens probably meant that something had happened. Maybe Sullivan had made his move.

Allen had followed the van out of Phoebe and into the wooded hills east of the city. The van had turned onto a narrow road leading into the forest, and it was there that Allen stopped. He pulled up a satellite image on his tablet and looked at the surrounding area. There were seven cabins along the road, spaced about a third of a kilometer apart from one another. The road dead-ended at a lake with a jetty and a few small fishing boats tied to it. If Zednik took to the lake, he could get away.

Allen pulled his car from the side of the road and turned into the woods. He drove slowly as the asphalt gave way to tightly packed gravel. He slowed as he came to each of the houses and looked for signs of the van. Finding none, he proceeded to the lake and pulled up beside the jetty. The sun was beginning to set, and the contrast between the bright sky and the dark water made it difficult to see. He raised his tablet, activated the device’s thermal imaging function and scanned the lake. The black-blue expanse of the lake was uninterrupted by the red or orange that would indicate the presence of people on the water. He’d have to go back and search the houses more thoroughly.

Allen parked his car off the road, behind a copse of large trees. The silent-running electric engine wouldn’t make any noise as he approached each house, but the gravel beneath the tires would. He’d have to make his reconnaissance on foot.

Allen walked just inside the tree line, off the road. The soft soil muffled his footsteps, and the trees would give him some cover if he encountered anyone. He came to the first house and approached it from the side. The interior was dark, but he used his tablet’s thermal imager to peer through the window of the garage. It was empty. He completed his search of the perimeter and, finding no van, moved on to the next house.

This house’s lights were on. The garage didn’t have a side window, so Allen moved to the window that looked in on what appeared to be the living room. Two men were seated on the couch. On the table in front of them were two handguns.

Certain that this was Zednik’s new hideout, Allen backed away from the window. Watching the house in person would be too risky. He’d have to plant a remote camera in one of the trees and watch that way. As Allen turned away, he felt an arm around his neck. Before he could yell, a hand covered his mouth. He was pulled off of his feet and dragged away from the house.

Allen was thrown to the ground behind some bushes. A second later, a light was shone in his face.

“Damn it!” he heard a voice say from the darkness. “What the hell are you doing here, Allen?”

“Sullivan?”

“Yeah.” The light was removed, and as Allen’s eyes readjusted, he began to make out the figure in front of him.

“How did you get here, Rick?”

“I’ve been watching Zednik for a few days.”

“So you didn’t attack him at the hotel?”

“No. But I know who did.”

“Who?”

“Eugene Brain.”

Allen got to his feet and brushed himself off. “I thought I recognized one of his men in front of the hotel, but I wasn’t sure.”

“Well, as long as you’re here, are you going to help me get Zednik?”

“I can’t, Rick. I’m actually here to stop you from doing anything stupid.”

Sullivan drew his gun. “I can take them. Zednik has two men with him. I think Kate is being held upstairs.”

“You don’t understand. I went to see Kate’s father on Silvanus. He sent me to make sure that his man arrives with Kate’s ransom.”

“He sent you ahead?”

“Not exactly. I’ll explain later, but right now the most important thing is Kate’s safety. Do you agree?”

Sullivan holstered his gun. “Yes.”

“If we go in there with guns blazing, he might do something to her.”

“What do you suggest, then? Let Kate remain his prisoner until the ransom arrives? How long will that take?”

“Mr. Alexander’s man should be here in about a week.”

Sullivan nodded. “And what about Brain?”

“I think we should keep him out of the loop for now. Kate’s safety is paramount, and I don’t trust Brain to agree with us on that.”

Sullivan glanced at the house. “We’ll have to keep the house under constant surveillance to make sure Zednik doesn’t take her somewhere else.”

“Leave that to me,” said Allen. He took a small, button-sized object from his pocket. A sharp pin protruded from one side of the button. Allen stuck the pin into a nearby tree then looked down at his tablet and engaged the feed from the camera. The house could be seen in high relief against the dark woods.

Allen handed the tablet to Sullivan and reached up to adjust the camera to center the house on the screen. “It displays a thermal image at night. When it gets light enough, it’ll switch to standard mode so we’ll be able to see more detail of who’s coming and going. They could get out the back without us seeing them, but according to my map, there’s nothing but forest for several kilometers in that direction. I think it’s safe to say that if they move, they’ll take the van, and we’ll be able to see it pull out of the garage.”

Sullivan nodded. “And for the next week, one or both of us will monitor this day and night.”

“Right. I guess that means we’re going to get to know one another better.”

Sullivan stood up. “I parked my car near the main road. I’ll wait for you there, and we’ll rendezvous downtown. You know the central plaza?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll meet you there.” Sullivan put his hand on the tablet. “I’ll take first watch.”

Allen handed it over. “Thank you for agreeing to do this my way,” he said.

“One week. Then, if Zednik still has Kate, we go in.”

“Right.”

Sullivan began trekking through the forest, back to the main road. Allen waited for a moment then turned to walk back to his car at the jetty.

9

FRANK ALLEN AND Rick Sullivan had spent the week holed up in a hotel room, taking turns watching the feed from the camera. For the most part, it was an uneventful week, with one of Zednik’s men leaving only once, presumably to buy food and other supplies. Now that he knew someone was after him, it was likely that Zednik was worried about exposing his new hideout.

Along with the ransom notice, Zednik had sent Mr. Alexander a beacon. The instructions were these: Alexander’s man would check into a downtown hotel upon arriving on Damaris, activate the beacon and remain in the hotel until one of Zednik’s men arrived to collect the ransom and deliver Kate.

Mr. Alexander had had his people study the beacon, of course, to make sure it did only what it was supposed to do. But that investigation also revealed the frequency and pattern of the signal. He’d given this information to Allen, who had programmed his tablet to pick up that signal once it began broadcasting. Six and a half days after he’d followed Zednik to the house in the woods, an icon on Allen’s tablet began flashing, indicating that the beacon had been activated. A low beeping accompanied it.

Sullivan got up from the hotel room bed where he had been resting with his eyes closed. “Is that Alexander’s man?”

“Yes,” said Allen. “Pull up the feed from our camera on your tablet. I’m going to use mine to find the location of the signal.”

Sullivan took up his tablet. “Looks like some activity.”

Allen glanced over as Sullivan held up his tablet. The van had pulled out of the garage and was travelling away from the house. After a moment, it disappeared from the camera’s view.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” said Allen. “That van will be downtown in thirty minutes.”

“How far away is the signal from us?”

“Just a few blocks. Like we agreed, right Sullivan?”

“Right.”

The two gathered their gear and left the hotel room. The plan involved keeping track of the van once Alexander’s man delivered the ransom. If Zednik was going to go back on the deal, they didn’t want to lose the van, especially if Kate was inside.

Sullivan would park outside the hotel where the exchange was supposed to occur and wait for the van to depart. Allen would go to the house in the woods and look for signs that Kate was still there. If he didn’t find her, he would then take actions to capture or kill Zednik. Meanwhile, Sullivan would follow the van in case Kate was being taken elsewhere. If she wasn’t at the house and wasn’t in the van, they’d then check back at the hotel to see if Zednik had kept his word and delivered her. Either way, the day was going to end with either Sullivan or Allen confronting Zednik.

As Allen drove back toward the hills outside of Phoebe, he kept an eye on the other side of the road. He spotted the van traveling the opposite way and tapped his earpiece to activate it. He and Sullivan were keeping an open line so he was automatically connected.

“They’re fifteen minutes outside of town, Rick.”

“Copy that. I’m in place. The hotel’s parking garage entrance is on the same side of the street as the entrance to the lobby. I’ll be able to see Zednik’s man whichever way he goes in.”

“Good. Aside from Zednik, we’ve seen two other men around the house this past week. I’m thinking Zednik’s going to be careful and only send one man to pick up the ransom. He’ll keep the other with him for protection.”

“Right. But has he sent Kate in the van, or is she still at the house?”

“I hope to know soon. I’m going to try and get a look inside.”

ALLEN PULLED ONTO the side road leading to the lake and drove his car a short distance past Zednik’s hiding place. He found a gap between the trees and pulled off the road and into the woods. He got out and circled around behind the house on foot. With the feed from his camera, he could watch the front. He decided to check the back first.

Allen found the back door of the house and peered through the glass in the door. Zednik was seated in the living room. A moment later, a man brought him a plate of food from the kitchen.

Allen heard the sound of water running through pipes. It sounded like it was coming from the second floor. Kate was probably still inside.

Allen looked up at the window above him. He picked up a small rock and tossed it against the glass. He waited a minute then tossed another one. The curtains fluttered and a face looked out. It was Kate Alexander. As she caught sight of Allen, he put his finger up to his lips and retreated back into the woods.

“Sullivan,” he said, tapping his earpiece.

“Yeah.”

“Kate is still in the house.”

“Then Zednik doesn’t plan on returning her after collecting the ransom.”

“I’d say that’s a good guess. You need to get that man, Rick. We can use the van to get into the house.”

“I’m on it. He parked on the street and went into the hotel just a few minutes ago.”

Allen looked back up at the house. Kate was still at the window, watching him. He gave her a thumbs up then gestured for her to get back from the window. She smiled, returned the thumbs up and moved away.

Allen waited ten minutes before contacting Sullivan again. “What’s going on, Rick?”