White Winter (The Black Year Series Book 2) (33 page)

Jonas cocked his head. “Okay, Chief. I’m waiting for the punchline.”

“No one died, and they didn’t take one of our vehicles, sir?”

“Stop stringing him along, Lawrence,” Alice said walking up behind Jonas.

Grady’s face dropped. “Yes, ma’am. Thing is, sir, we implanted two trackers under Mr. Fangston’s skin. Standard procedure with high-risk prisoners. He knew that, and whoever was in the ambulance cut them out of him. The first one stopped functioning around Hell’s Kitchen. The second one went offline as they came out of the Lincoln Tunnel.”

“So we lost them,” Jonas said.

“We would have, sir. Their rescue team probably felt pretty clever, too, except we’d given Mr. Sorensen the same treatment.”

Jonas turned to his mother. “You knew he was a traitor?”

“I suspected,” Alice said.

“It showed up here,” Grady said, waving at one of the operators. A map of the five boroughs appeared on the main display. A cluster of buildings in Greenpoint, on the East River, was highlighted.

“So that’s the Order’s base of operations?” Jonas asked.

“It is,” Alice said. “We strike at nightfall.”

♘

Jonas followed Alice to her office. He closed the door behind them.

“This isn’t going to be like the time you came for me, Jonas. You were facing raw recruits, you had the element of surprise, and you were able to use a specter,” Alice said, unbuttoning the top of her utilities. “These will be trained soldiers in a prepared position. They’ll have wards set up, and they’ll see us coming.”

“Okay,” Jonas said, not really sure what she was getting at.

Down to a t-shirt, pants, and boots, she walked over to her weapon wall and started pulling armor off a stand. “What I mean to say is that you have a very long life ahead of you, Jonas. I know you’re attached to your men, but I want you to understand people are going to die tonight, and it would be foolish to trade your lifespan for theirs.” She strapped black plates over each boot, then snapped greaves around each of her calves. She put on a codpiece and belt next, which wasn’t exactly comfortable to watch, then she snapped the thigh armor in place and strapped it to her belt. Her motions were fast and sure.

“Are you suggesting I hide behind Frank and the others?”

“No,” she said, smiling. “That’s a sure way to get everyone to shoot at you, including your own men.” She pulled a black padded coat on and Velcroed it tight along the front and at the wrists. She transferred her rose pin from her utilities to her gambeson’s collar. “Help me with the breastplate.”

Jonas walked over and pulled the torso up and off the armor stand. It was already connected on the right side and shoulders. Alice ducked into it, and he hooked the left side shut. “So what am I supposed to do?”

“Your part and nothing more. Trust your team to do their share, don’t stand out unless someone’s life depends on it, and try not to lose yours in the process.” She pulled arm harnesses over her arms. “Next time, don’t hide bad news from someone. But keeping your ward on when those werewolves ambushed you was the right thing to do.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” he said, feeling a lump in his throat. “Amelia doesn’t think so.”

“Yes, well… Guilt is the privilege of the living. Spaulders,” she said, pointing at the armor stand.

He tied each shoulder guard to the breastplate, then hooked them to the arm harnesses while Alice pulled on gauntlets. Everything fit perfectly. She grabbed a padded hood from her desk, pulling it over her head. Jonas went ahead and grabbed the helmet. It was a sallet, a helmet that extended to cover the back of the neck with a visor and a separate face guard. He was surprised to see there was a radio set installed in it. “Are you really going to fight in that?” he asked.

She took the helmet from him and put it on. “Bevor,” she said, extending her hand. He handed her the face guard; she snapped it into place on the helmet and breastplate, then lowered her head. The visor slammed shut. “This is Black Army full plate, Jonas. German engineering, but we were all part of the same empire back then.”

“It looks heavy,” Jonas said, not convinced.

“Of course,” she continued, “I’ve improved it a bit, over the years.” She rotated a band on her left forearm and slid a piece into place like a Japanese puzzle box, completing a ward. The armor constricted around her, sealing any gaps except for the inside of her arms and the back of her legs.

“Whoa,” Jonas said, taking a step back.

Glyphs and wards were activating all over the armor, like it was booting up. He wasn’t sure what other people would see, but to him, it looked like the wards that protected the walls of TR-5, only more complex. Golden traceries formed patterns of force that looked like they’d deflect anything that came at her. She moved her arms and legs, then rotated at the waist, checking her range of motion. As she moved, the wards interacted with each other, reinforcing the areas she exposed. The thing was a walking tank, though he still wondered how fast she could move in all that metal.

She grabbed her sword off the wall and reached over her left shoulder. The sword snapped into place on her back like the armor was magnetized. “Let’s go kill people,” she said.

♘

Frank waved his hands. “So then, Jimmy says, ‘Handle your girlfriend, Jonas.’”

Kieran chuckled. “I remember that.”

“He didn’t!” Carlyle said.

“I did,” Jim said, grinning.

Jonas leaned into the straps as the van took a turn. He fought the urge to check his weapon one more time.

“Anyway, Gallagher’s getting angrier and angrier, and Jonas is saying something along the lines of, ‘Guys! Eve’s so cool, why don’t you be nice to her?’ I get that right, Jimmy?”

“Perfect,” Jim said.

Jonas winced.

“Then
Billy
says, ‘She’s just a kid! What could she possibly-’” Frank flopped forward, mouth open, eyes rolled up liked he’d passed out.

“Ohhh!” Carlyle hollered, punching Billy in the shoulder.

“Now, wait just a goddamn minute,” Billy said.

“That was Steve, Frank,” Jonas said.

Frank looked at Jonas. “No! That was…” He looked at Jim. Jim nodded. Frank sat back, hands on his head, and said, “Shit. That was Steve.”

“Who’s Steve?” Carlyle asked.

When no one answered, Jonas said, “Young guy, just a couple years older than me and Kieran. He didn’t make it.”

Carlyle looked at the others, then back at Frank and said, “Aw jeez, Frank. I’m sorry. I didn’t-”

“It’s fine, Carlyle, you couldn’t know,” Frank said. “To missing friends,” he said, rapping the bench with his knuckles.

“To missing friends,” Jonas said, under his breath.

As they got closer to the target, Frank pulled a map out from behind his plate carrier. “Alright gents, huddle in.”

Jonas leaned over, and Kieran crowded in to look over his shoulder; Billy and Jim were on one side, Carlyle and Thompson squeezed in the other.

Frank cleared his throat. “Our target is a set of 14 commercial buildings south of Hunter’s Point and north of the Williamsburg Bridge. The area is bounded by the East River on the western side and Franklin Street to the east. You’ll recognize Franklin because it’s where the residential buildings begin.

“Cordon will be set at the lumber warehouse to the south and the warehouse north of Transmitter Park, here and here,” he said, pointing at the map. “Law enforcement will be one street beyond that to process any civilians you send out of the area and get them clear.”

“Is that safe?” Jim asked.

Frank shrugged. “Edwards volunteered his men to hold the checkpoints. It’s the best we’ve got. We can’t afford to commit more people to this operation with what’s going on in the city.”

“Got it,” Jim said.

Frank nodded. “We’ll be entering from the east, along with four other teams. Viviane and Damien’s teams will be going in loud to clear the four warehouses on the northern side, so I’m confident our right flank is secure. Water towers here and here will be cleared by ‘unspecified assets.’” Jim raised an eyebrow. Frank shrugged. “Charlie and Kilo teams will move with us to infiltrate the main complex.”

“What about the south? That’s a big open area, Frank,” Billy said.

“The Director will be coming in from the south.”

“How many teams?” Billy insisted.

“Just her. Look, I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what Chief Grady said. I asked him how, if we were coming east to west, and she was coming south to north, we weren’t going to end up shooting each other. He said not to worry about it.”

Frank looked at the others to see if they had other questions before continuing.

By the time the van stopped, Jonas had a pretty good idea of what was supposed to happen.

CHAPTER 32

Jonas was in the lead. They moved west on Milton Street at a fast walk, staying on the left, close to the buildings. Light snow drifted down in the streetlight; a few hardier residents looked on with more curiosity than concern. Toyotas and Fords were parked in front of every building, dusted in white, and there were even a few Lexuses. It was a completely different feel from the Van Dyke buildings.

He could see the Milton Street water tower, dark against the city-lit sky. There were trees planted at regular intervals along the street, but the bare branches didn’t offer much concealment from the Order sentry at the top of the tower.

He’s coming around
, Madoc said.

Jonas raised a fist and pointed at the parked cars. The team took cover. Even the most warm-blooded citizens took their cue to walk in the other direction or head indoors.

After a tense minute of waiting, Madoc said,
Clear
.

Jonas waved his hand forward, and all three teams followed. They made it to the release point before the lookout could complete another cycle.

“Bravo, Charlie, and Fox in position,” Frank said on TAC 1, his breath fogging the air. The temperature had plummeted since sunset.

They waited in silence. Finally, Jonas heard, “Alpha and Delta, in position,” over the radio.

“Black Queen, in position,” Alice said over the radio.

“This is Rook. All teams, proceed with Alaska,” Chief Grady said.

Frank took the lead, and Jonas fell in behind him. They had codes for each step of the plan. State names were good things. Fruit was bad. The word mango had never seemed so threatening.

They reached Franklin Street and took cover behind cars.

“What now?” Billy asked.

Jonas shrugged. There was no way of crossing the street without being seen.

“Look!” Frank said.

Someone was climbing the tower. The small, black shape shifted up the 100-foot water tower in small bounds. The guard came into view, and she swung up behind him before slipping something around his neck.

“Let’s go,” Frank said.

They ran across. Jonas could see the Greenpoint terminal warehouse at the end of Milton Street. He looked right and saw Alpha and Delta teams crossing at the same time, one block to the north. Eve was with Alpha; he hoped she’d be okay.

Frank reached the fence and punched his arm out to the right. Fox team split off. Jonas’ team and Charlie team followed Frank through the gate and straight across the unlit basketball courts. Once they were out of the streetlight, Kieran transformed, his tactical gear stretching to fit his frame.

“All teams, check in,” Chief Grady said.

“Alpha, green,” Viviane said.

“Bravo, green,” Frank said.

The other teams checked in. No one had been spotted yet.

“Fox, clearing objective.”

Jonas and the others went through the gate to the squash court. Jim pulled the bolt cutters out of Billy’s pack.

“Jonas, see if you can help Fox out,” Frank said.

Jonas nodded. He touched the pendant, anima flowed, and he could see through the buildings around him. It was getting easier each time he did it. “Fox team, two bad guys in the room above you. Seated facing the windows, not the door; weapons within reach.”

“Fox copies all.”

Billy snickered.

“What?” Jonas whispered.

“You said ‘bad guys.’”

Jonas blushed. “What was I supposed to say, ‘People we disagree with on morally neutral grounds’?”

Frank cleared his throat. “Targets or tangos is the common practice.”

“Oh,” Jonas said. Viviane never let him use Madoc during her simulations, so he’d never gotten the chance to call out… targets before. He supposed he’d heard others do it, he just hadn’t thought about it.

“We’re through,” Jim said, stowing the bolt cutters in Billy’s pack and bending the cut portion of fence out of the way. Frank climbed through first; Jonas followed. Jim came last, after Kieran, Thompson, Carlyle, Billy, and all of Charlie team.

Jonas glanced at the base of the water tower. A body lay crumpled on the ground. There was no sign of the “unspecified asset.”