Touched by a Phoenix (54 page)

He knew differently, while this was a great accomplishment, he would become a murderer tonight. Without a doubt, once he saved Alexis, he would hunt Stephen down and kill him. It didn’t matter if the man he was hunting was an enemy to the state…a terrorist, or not…the rest of the world would see him as a killer.

He shook his head. He did not have time to dwell on that now—Alexis…he had to save her. The ringing phone startled him from his thoughts. He rushed over and answered as a rush of air expelled, “Hello.”

“Are you finished?”

“Yes. I need to load the truck. I’ll leave in about ten minutes.”

“When you leave the gate, take a left, and head towards I-495. Once the base is out of your rearview mirror, pull over and text me at this number—55834. I will send you the delivery address.”

“How is Alexis?”

“She is running out of time, Brad. Her temperature is 106.3˚.

The line went dead.

“Jim, stay here with Rescue One. I’ll call you when I need the hanger doors opened.” He shook Jim’s hand. “Thanks.”

Brad took a few steps towards his greatest success or his greatest failure. He wasn’t sure which.

“Rescue One, I need you to track the duplicate DNA. We will fly shortly.”

“Yes, Brad.”

He gave her a loving pat and walked to the truck.

“John, keep this safe,” as he handed him a bag with a laptop inside, “I will let you know as soon as I have a meeting location.”

“When you’re in the truck, test your earpiece one more time.”

“Sure thing.”

Brad climbed up into the big semi; he had never driven one. John had given him a crash course on how to drive a semi but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get very far. He cranked the engine…hell, how hard could this be.

“Testing…John, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” John paused, “good luck my friend. I’ll pick you up as soon as the truck is out of sight.”

Seconds went by with nothing, then a quiet, “Thank you, John.”

Brad put the truck in gear and pulled out of the hanger. Lord, he was glad he knew how to drive a stick shift. He chuckled to himself. You idiot, what in the hell were you thinking? You had better hope like hell you don’t have to back-up.

He slowed as he approached the gate and he held his breath praying they wouldn’t stop him. His heart pounded, the guard waved him through.
Whoosh
…he expelled the breath he had been holding.

“John, I just exited the base.”

He turned the huge wheel to the left taking it a little too wide. Thank goodness this is a four-lane road because that was a little too far out, he thought.

“All right Brad, you’re doing just fine. Keep her between the lines and you’ll be fine.”

“Easier said than done, my friend.”

John had told him that he’d drive about a quarter-mile and he’d be able to pull over. He kept an eye on the side view mirror…waiting for the base to disappear.

There was the turning lane. Brad slowed the truck and pulled over, coming to a slow stop. Once he put the truck in park, he sent Stephen a text:

Here—what next?
and hit enter.

He waited….

The response stated—
Take I-495S, Exit 3, Right on Indian Head Parkway. I will meet you in the Eastover Shopping Center in 20
minutes
.

Right
.

He took a long deep breath, gripped the wheel, and pressed the gas. The truck jerked and sputtered a few times before moving forward.

“John, I’m heading to Eastover Shopping Center off Indian Head Parkway. I’ve got twenty minutes to get there.”

“It’s all right Brad, it’s late, and traffic should be light. I’ll be coming in from a different direction, but will be there before the meet. Just focus on the mission.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

B
r
ad pulled the
big truck into the plaza.

The loud hissing of the airbrakes sounded harsh in the night air as he brought the truck to a stop. The sound of an old steam engine flickered in his mind. He thought if he and Alexis made it out of this mess, perhaps he would take her on a train excursion one Christmas.

Lights flashed from the shadows at the far end of the lot. He gently pressed the gas moving the truck forward slowly. He stopped within fifty feet of the dark SUV and shut the engine down.

What if they killed him when he stepped out of the truck? Alexis would die. And if he didn’t step out…she would die anyway. His chest shuddered as he reached for the door handle.

John’s voice came over the earpiece, “Steel yourself, Scott. Remember, you have to act surprised. You cannot let on that you know Stephen is behind this.”

Four men exited the SUV. He stepped down and faced the men walking towards him. They were heavily armed…with automatic weapons.

Brad forced himself to remain calm. Relaxing his arms, he allowed his hands to fall open. He didn’t want to be shot for no reason. Two of the men stepped forward, one searching him for weapons, while the other held an M4 carbine at his chest.

Finding no weapons, the one man nodded towards the SUV. A fifth man stepped out of the vehicle.

As the man stepped into the light…Brad’s face registered pure…raw…hatred. The blood pounded in his ears as he came face-to-face with the man who had declared Alexis’s life devoid of value. All of Brad’s repressed anger boiled over.

A slow, deep growl began from the depth of his core. The sound escaping his lips did not resemble a human—it was too full of malice. Death flashed in his eyes as he lunged at Stephen. One of the masked men leapt between Brad and Stephen, taking Brad to the ground.

With guns pointed at his head, he spat, “You bastard, I trusted you!”

“Now, now Brad. We don’t have time for all this emotional bullshit. Not if you want to save your precious Alexandria. Did you bring me the drone?”

Brad pushed the man off and rose to an elbow.

John whispered through the earpiece, “We’ll get him later, Brad. Right now, we need the antidote.”

With guns pointed at his head and John in his ear, Brad bore a look of defeated resignation. If he died…so would Alexis. He rose to his feet and walked to the back of the truck, opening the doors.

Stephen nodded to two of the men, “Sweep both the truck and the drone. We can’t have him tracking, us now can we?”

Brad handed Stephen the thumb drive. “Give me the antidote.”

“How do I know you’ve given me everything I’ve asked for?”

“How do I know the antidote is going to work?”

Stephen replied smugly, “I’ve already told you I’m not a killer.”

“And you know Alexis is my life, so you got what you asked for…but Stephen…,” his eyes flashed with a tightly controlled, but violent anger, “if she dies…I will hunt you down.”

Stephen smiled snidely, “Good luck with that one, my friend. Fifty-million goes a long way.”

“The hell with you.” He moved a little closer to Stephen and lowered his voice. His tone was coldly taunting as he promised, “Know this,
my friend—
when this is over, I will come for you.”

Stephen paled just a bit but then thought about the plan. Brad wouldn’t make it out of this alive. He had nothing to worry about, “Yeah, whatever,” he returned all too smugly.

“You have what you asked for, now give me the key to the antidote.”

Stephen handed him an envelope, “The antidote is in locker number 207.”

Brad ripped the envelope open. Inside…a key with the address.

Stephen climbed up into the truck. “Nice working with you, Brad,” he smirked as the door slammed.

The truck pulled away with Stephen and one man inside, the others following in the SUV.

Brad stood alone in the middle of a dark empty plaza.

“John, where are you?” Brad’s voice was filled with urgency.

“Head south. I’ll meet you on the way.”

Brad turned and headed south in a dead run with a death grip on the key and address.

The black SUV screeched to a halt a few feet in front of him. Brad opened the door and jumped in before it came to a complete stop.

“Where to?”

“South Van Dorn Street.” Pure rage flickered across his face. “That bastard will die tonight!”

The depth of Brad’s anger shocked him, “What?”

“The antidote is in my damn gym locker.”

Tires screamed and gray smoke billowed as John sped away.

As soon as they exited onto I-495, he tapped his earpiece. “Boys we’re on I-495 south heading towards Alexandria, Virginia. Meet up with us ASAP.”

“We should catch you in about 30 seconds,” was the response.

The race was on.

“What’s Alexis’s temperature?”

“106.5˚ and climbing.”

Brad slumped in the seat. “We’re not going to make it are we, John?”

John just grinned, “Brad, you are very good at what you do. Now sit back and let me do what I do best.”

The night sky began to lighten with colors of blue and red as John looked in his rearview mirror.

“Here comes the cavalry.”

Black SUVs were closing in fast, eight of them to be exact. Big black SUVs surrounded them within seconds. The red and blue lights flashed harshly against the night sky, the deafening sound of sirens blared.

In a split second, Brad’s head was thrown back against the headrest as John continued to increase his speed. Brad glanced at the speed odometer and watched John bury the needle at 120mph.

The road before them began to clear as vehicles moved left and right to avoid the tightly grouped vehicles as they blazed a trail down the interstate.

Briefly, Brad wondered what people must be thinking as they crossed the Potomac River into Virginia. All these black SUVs with lights and sirens speeding down the highway. If he had to guess, he’d say…

FBI’s on the move.

The high rate of speed reminded him of the first time he drove Alexis to the airport and she wanted to know how fast his little sports car would go. She was exhilarated with the ride as he hugged the curves and flew down the highway. This time was different. Alexis wasn’t with him and they were racing against time…to reach her.

John slowed just a bit as they approached the exit. Tires screamed as they rounded the curve.

“You’ve got a sharp left onto Eisenhower at the light,” Brad said as he clutched the grab bar. Flashing lights came into view as they straightened. “You’ve blocked the road?”

“Yep. They’re lined up and ready to move into place all the way to the hospital.”

The minute the truck straightened on Eisenhower, John pushed the pedal to the floor. At breakneck speed, they raced through the city streets of Alexandria.

“You’ve got a left curve up ahead, and then a sharp right onto Van Dorn. We won’t make the turn at this speed.”

John remained quiet, focused on driving, but Brad noticed he slowed slightly.

As they approach the curved intersection, four black SUVs with light flashing and sirens blaring were blocking traffic. They had the entire road to themselves. John took the turn like an IndyCar driver at the Brickyard. As soon as they cleared the intersection, a set of SUVs passed them, heading for the next intersection.

“Less than a mile to the gym—we have to make a U-turn at the intersection.”

“Right.”

Brad thought John would slow down, but damn if he didn’t speed up. They were approaching the intersection way too fast.

“John slowdown, we’re gonna miss it.”

Realization hit Brad right between the eyes…
damn
…he wasn’t going to slow down.

Suddenly…John turned the wheel hard left and damn if he didn’t apply more gas. John depressed the brakes lightly causing the vehicle to begin sliding, then he slammed the brake to the floor causing entire rear-end to swing around, leaving a cloud of gray billowing smoke in their wake.

Shit…his life flashed before his eyes. At this rate, he’d never see Alexis again. As soon as John made the turn, he straightened the front end and accelerated preventing the SUV from flipping over. Brad released his breath in a rush.

“What…you didn’t think I could drive?” John asked sarcastically.

“Dammit John, I want to get there, but I’d like to be alive when we arrive!”

“Brad, trust me, I’ve got this part.”

The SUV barely skidded to a stop before Brad jumped out. He was in a dead run, racing towards the entrance doors with John on his heels. They tore through the gym straight to the locker room.

He grabbed the lock and started inserting the key when John yelled, “Stop!”

His head came around with a violent jerk. “Why?”

“Let me take a look first.”

John inspected the lock before moving to the locker. He hit his earpiece, “Chris, you and Will get in here…and bring the bag.”

Brad looked at John. “What are we doing, we need to move.”

“Brad, the locker is rigged to set-off something, but I can’t tell what without the equipment. We have to wait for Chris to take care of it.”

Brad’s entire body tensed until his muscles felt like they might snap into. Alexis was running out of time. His fist clenched tightly, he pounded the locker.

John was in Brad’s face. Nose-to-nose, the experienced veteran yelled at him, “Brad, we don’t have time for this shit right now. You’ve got to keep a clear head until we get out of this mess. Then you can do what you need to do.”

Brad ran his hand through his tousled hair, stopping at the back of his neck. “John, I’ve failed her,” as he let his body fall back against the lockers.

John didn’t have time to respond as Chris and Will burst through the locker room door. Chris was the first to reach the locker. Dropping the bag on the floor and unzipping all in a single move. Will grabbed a flexible scope camera and pushed it through the locker vent to inspect the contents.

“It’s not explosive…some sort of gas canister.”

“Give me the mask and get everyone out,” John barked.

Chris looked alarmed. “Sir, you need a suit. I don’t know what this stuff is.”

“We don’t have time for that. Give me the mask and get everyone out,” he bellowed.

He turned to Brad, “Give me the key.”

Brad hesitated, “John….”

“It’s all right, Brad. I’ve got this. Give me the key. I’ll meet you outside in a minute.”

Brad’s thoughts raced, they didn’t know what kind of gas or what it would do, it could kill him. What was he supposed to do? How could he let someone else risk their life for his arrogance?

His eyes glazed over as he took a deep breath, “No John, I’ll do it. Give me the mask. Just promise me that if anything happens…you will get to Alexis before it’s too late.”

John saw humility flicker in Brad’s eyes as they glistened with water. A love like theirs was too rare. He couldn’t let it slip away from this world unfinished. Besides…his thoughts trailed off. He couldn’t think about that now.

“It’s been real, my friend,” he remarked as his left hand balled into a fist at his side. He extended his right hand to shake Brad’s and as soon as the two hands came together, John sucker punched Brad in the gut. Brad gasp for air as he doubled over.

“Get him the hell out of here now!” John screamed at Chris.

As big as Brad was, Chris was bigger. He threw Brad over his shoulder and carried him out of the locker room.

John yelled, “Chris, if this goes bad, you’re in charge. Get Brad and the antidote to the hospital.”

Chris dumped Brad on the hard ground as they exited the gym. It was a long painful few minutes before John emerged from the locker room…antidote in hand. He was coughing and sputtering as he removed the gas mask.

Chris rushed over to his commander. “Sir….”

“Chemical warfare…there are no markings on the canister…,” John managed to say before he collapsed.

Brad’s mind screamed
noooo.
His feet were frozen to the ground. He couldn’t move no matter how hard his body tried–his mind wouldn’t let him.

Chris was screaming, “Get the ATNAA Kit.”

Brad sank to his knees as he watched the horrific scene unfold.

Will ran to the SUV, grabbed the kit, and returned within seconds. Chris grabbed the large vile and raised it high above John’s chest and came down with such force he thought he heard bones break.

“Will, get him to the hospital. The rest of you come with me.” He grabbed Brad’s arm and pulled him to his feet, “Let’s go.”

Brad’s mind was numb, how could they just leave him. Brad jerked his arm away.

“No, we’re not leaving him.”

Chris stopped at the forbidding tone, “He made me promise to get you out of here.”

“We’ll take him with us but I won’t leave him here.”

“We don’t have time for this shit.”

Brad was more forceful than John was when his rage hit full explosion mode. “I won’t let one die just to save another.”

“We’re not leaving him, he’ll be right behind. Now move!”

Everyone was in motion. Suddenly, John gasped for air but didn’t move.

This was the craziest scene Brad had ever witnessed.