Touched by a Phoenix (51 page)

“Then find it,” he thundered.

“Wait…sir, there’s something going on in one of the offices. A transmitter of some sort may be relaying the signal through the servers.”

“Figure it out now!” John’s explosive voice echoed through the men’s earpieces.

A barely auditable voice whispered, “
Shit…,
” before bellowing, “sir, the signal is originating from an office.”

“Which one?” he shouted.

Sirens blared in the background. The ambulance must be here. He slammed the elevator button as he ran by so the paramedics wouldn’t have to wait.

“Third floor.”

“Headed there now…narrow it down.”

His muscles burned as he raced up the stairs to the third floor. Just as he was taking the last two steps, he heard, “Jessica Walker’s office.”

John stopped in stunned disbelief…no, it couldn’t be. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir.”

He slowed as he entered the corridor…drawing his gun. He had no idea what to expect. Against Brad’s wish’s, they had dug deeper into Jessica’s background and financials than any other employee. She became the primary suspect simply because she worked so closely with Brad for so long and she knew more than anyone else did. Nothing—absolutely nothing indicated she had anything to do with this mess.

He reached for the doorknob and turned it as quietly as possible. He wanted to take her by surprise if he could. He needed her alive. Deep in her work, she didn’t notice him enter the office. He stalked his prey, approaching with stealth softness until he was behind her. Quickly he wrapped one arm around her neck. In his other hand—he held a glock against her temple.

“Where is the transmitter?” his vicious voice loomed in her ear.

Her voice shook, “What transmitter?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” his commanding voice even harsher than before.

Two men rushed through the door. John yelled, “Check the computer.”

John pulled her up and away from the computer by her neck…choking her. Jessica’s hands clawed at his forearms trying desperately to loosen his hold on her throat.

Luke shoved the chair aside as he began searching the computer. The further John moved her away from the computer, the weaker the signal became. “Sir, bring her back over here.”

“Hell no, I don’t want her anywhere near that computer.”

“Sir, I don’t believe it’s on the computer. I think she’s the transmitter.”

“What do you mean?”

“The signal fades the further away you get with her.”

“Bloody hell.” He pushed her in front of him towards the computer.

“There sir, it’s her!”

John spun her around and pointed his gun directly between her eyes. She was either very good or very stupid…and right now, he didn’t know which.

“I’m going to give you the opportunity to tell me where the transmitter is. Every time you lie to me, I will shoot you…until you tell me what I want to know.”

The sheer panic that filled her eyes told him she had no idea what he was talking about. What now? He didn’t think she knew but he had to be sure. He fired a shot into her thigh.

“Where is it?”

She dropped to the floor, screaming. He knelt to check his shot…as planned, through-and-through. She would be fine.

His growl was low and threatening, “Where is it, Jessica?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she sobbed. Even through the tormenting pain, she recognized John’s tone held the threat of death…it scared her. He wasn’t playing.

“The transmitter.”

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His eyes held a nefarious purpose to them. He had to get the answer now. He pressed the still smoking barrel of the glock into her shoulder—at the joint. Her thin blouse did little to absorb the heat from singeing her skin. “Do I need to take another shot?”

“No…no…please. I don’t know,” she screamed.

“Sir, does she have anything in her pockets. Ink pen, jewelry…anything that could be used to hide the transmitter?”

John knelt down.
A necklace—the locket…damn…
it had been staring him in the face the whole time. He grabbed it…ripping it from her neck. As he walked towards the computer, the signal increased.

“That’s it,” his man exclaimed.

John dropped it on the floor and crushed it with his foot. He looked up at the young man. “Is it gone?”

“The signal is fading sir,” the silence hung like death in the air.

The minute the signal died, John heard a resounding, “Gone.”

On one knee, he leaned down…very—very close to Jessica and whispered in the most foreboding tone, “Where did you get the necklace?”

“It was a gift,” she trailed off.

“From whom,” he roared.

“Stephen,” she sobbed.

John’s voice was low as he whispered in her ear, “If I find out you had anything to do with this…I will drop you where you stand.” He pointed to the guard standing at the door, “Keep an eye on her. If she so much as moves…
kill
her.
”

“Get me a secure line to Brad and not to his cell. It’s probably been cloned. Patch the call through to Alexis’s office.”

As he ran, he tapped his earpiece, “Shut the building down. The servers—phones, everything…now. Collect every cell phone on the way out…personal and company. No electronics leave this building. I want the building cleared in less than thirty minutes.”

“Sir…are you sure?”

“Cut the lines…
now,
” came the ominous roar.

He slowed his pace as he entered Alexis’s office. The paramedics were transferring Alexis to a stretcher. Her line rang. John reached to pick it up.

“Sir the secure line is ready.”

“Get me Brad.”

“Hold while I patch you through.”

He put the call on speaker.

“Hello.”

“Brad, it’s John.”

The line went dead.

“Get him back.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Sir, he’s not answering.”

“Keep trying.” John placed both hands on the desk as he looked down. “I’m sure he has been warned not to contact anyone. I’m going to Andrews.”

He looked at Phillip. “I’ll call you as soon as I know what’s going on. I’ll have a secure phone sent to the hospital. From here on out, do not speak to anyone except me.”

“John, who did this,” his voice was anguished.

“We tracked the transmitter to Jessica. Looks like Jones is behind it all.”

“Stephen Jones?” Phillips voice registered shock.

“Yes.”

“You’ll need a base of operation.”

“I have shut the building down and cut the hard lines. Security is escorting everyone out now. They want something from Brad and they’re using Alexis to make him give it to them. He is probably on a tight time frame. I need the building clear so we can do whatever we need to do.”

John watched Phillip age ten years in just a few seconds.

Phillip nodded, “John, do whatever you have to do…just save her,” as the tears slipped down his cheeks.

He put his hand on Phillip’s shoulder. “I’ll call you as soon as I talk to Brad, my friend.”

The line was dead.

An inexplicable pain consumed him. He felt everything...all at once. Love. Helplessness. Pain. Anger. Hatred. An all consuming emptiness. His chest filled with pressure so heavy he was sure it would explode.

He felt her love—sensed her presence. He thought he heard her whisper, you will never lose my love…I will always be with you. Despair set in until numbness washed over him. He had done this to her. This was his fault; she was going to die because of his arrogance.

Fuzziness began to fill his brain, his heart pounded—too fast. Panic began to overwhelm him; he could not live without her. The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach began to churn. Then it lurched. He rushed to the latrine and vomited.

He was lonelier than he had ever been. Isolation washed over him. How strange he thought. Before Alexis, he had craved isolation. His loneliness motivated him, drove him, and allowed him to work like a madman with nothing to interfere.

The moment Alexis entered his life…everything changed. Purity like he had never known surrounded his heart, giving him her love. Her irresistible charm was unlike anything he had ever experienced and she had fallen in love with him. Not who she wanted him to be but who he was.

His heart shattered into a million pieces. He closed his eyes and did something he had not done in a very long time—prayed.

Guilt racked him. He had to get to her. He had to stop this madness. Out of despair rose a voice that whispered,
There is something you can
do
.

“Hang on, my sweet angel,” the words erupted from his mouth before he realized he had uttered them aloud.

John was very careful leaving AAS, changing cars twice, and taking side roads. All the while, keeping one eye in the rearview mirror making sure no one followed him. He could not risk antagonizing Stephen further. He didn’t know how far he would go to get what he wanted.

John became even more vigilant upon entering Andrews, making multiple stops at various buildings as if he were making deliveries. He parked as close as he thought reasonable to the hanger and walked the rest of the way darting in and out between buildings heading for the hanger where Brad and the drones were located.

Based on Brad’s reaction to his call earlier, he believed Brad was already aware of the situation, but nothing prepared him for what he witnessed as he entered the back-office area. He expected a grief-stricken man—a shell to be sitting before him. Instead, a man driven by the power of sheer determination, worked furiously.

Brad moved back-and-forth between the computer and ACE.

“Brad,” he called.

Brad stopped in mid-stride. “John, you can’t be here. They’ll kill her.”

“Whoa, hold on. Alexis was airlifted to the hospital in Fairfax. We stopped them.”

“No, you don’t understand…she’s been poisoned.”

“What do you mean poisoned?”’

“She will die in less than thirty-four hours if I don’t deliver ACE and the technology for replication.”

Nothing Brad said made any sense. “Brad what do you mean…poisoned?”

“The locket. I must get the antidote if I want to save her.”

“What antidote?”

Uneasiness flooded John’s senses; he needed more information. The doctors would need qualified data to treat her properly.

“The key,” Brad prattled on.

He couldn’t afford to keep playing this game. He hated to do this, but he didn’t see any other way to bring Brad to some sense of reality. John threw one controlled punch, landing it squarely against Brad’s jaw. The blow wasn’t meant as a knockout punch, just to shock him back into the moment. He needed answers and he needed them
now.

“What the hell,” Brad’s body tensed, his fist balled tightly.

John looked apologetic as he placed his hands on Brad’s shoulders. “Time-out, I need you to start at the beginning. I need to tell the doctors everything we know so they can help Alexis.”

Brad sank down in the chair. “I was working at the computer when a video of Alexis came up. She read a card and then opened the package. She put a locket around her neck…then she jumped as if something pricked her. The man said he poisoned her.”

He was quiet as he collected his thoughts. “I told him I would give him whatever he wanted—he didn’t have to do this. John, I watched her collapse and there was nothing—absolutely nothing I could do to stop him from hurting her,” his voice laced with both sadness and guilt.

“What kind of poison?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on Brad, think—what else can you tell me?”

John was beginning to panic. He had seen some nasty stuff in his career—skin melting off…acid eating you from the inside out. Lord, it was enough to turn his stomach. He couldn’t let that happen to Alexis, even if he had to put her out of her misery first.

“Whatever he did to her…paralyzed her first. He said it would make her temperature rise until her blood boiled and scrambled her brain. She will die if I don’t stop him.” Desolation filled Brad’s voice.

“Brad, I know this is tough, but I need you to suck it up for a minute…help me…help her! What else?”

Brad’s eyes lit up. “He showed me a time-lapse video of the man he used the same poison on. He stopped the video at various phases telling me what would happen to Alexis. He wanted me to be ‘properly motivated’, he said. He explained that Alexis didn’t have as much time as he had originally thought. Something about exerting herself, crying, and having wine at lunch.”