Brett Battles - Shadow of Betrayal

“… id yo … lose it?”

Quinn thought about it for another second, then reached out and flipped the lever up.

For a moment there was nothing. Then, “… aaa. That d … ome … down. Come …”

Quinn raced back down the tunnel. At the bottom he found Nate standing near where the tunnel had ended. Only now the artificial wall had moved out of the way.

“Closed circuit,” Nate said. “All you had to do was close the door.”

Quinn thought about telling him it had nothing to do with whether the door was open or closed at all, but decided to save it for later. It was good for Nate to feel like he’d accomplished something. It had been a good guess anyway. And if Nate hadn’t suggested it, Quinn would have never seen the lever.

“And you’re going to love this,” Nate said.

He shone his light through the opening. The tunnel went on for another ten feet, but straight and level now.

And at the end, a door. A real door.

“I think we’ve found the way in.”

CHAPTER

30

TUCKER LOOKED AT HIS WATCH. IT HAD BEEN THIRTY minutes since the prisoner had been taken to his cell. He would have liked to leave the guy sitting in the dark a little longer, but there was no time for that.

It wouldn’t be long before he and his team would have to pitch in on the final preparations of the shipment. And by this time tomorrow he would be on his way to Bali, the job complete, and his final payment sitting safely in his offshore account.

He wasn’t even worried about what would be next after that. At some point he would have to find more work. But his pay on this one had been pretty damn good, so it would be a while before he’d have to make any calls.

He radioed one of his men to meet him near the detention cell, then pushed himself away from his desk.

It was time to find out what the asshole knew.

The door from the tunnel let out into a wider corridor. Quinn went through first, his SIG with suppressor attached in his right hand. Nate, also armed, stepped out of the tunnel as soon as Quinn was clear.

Quinn signaled to his apprentice to leave the tunnel door cracked open in case they had to make a quick exit, then leaned forward just enough to peek around the corner.

Empty, both ways. He stuck his head out a little farther for a better look.

His first impression was that they’d suddenly found themselves inside a naval ship, or more accurately, perhaps, a submarine. All the walls were metal, and thick with layers of gray paint. Along the ceiling and hugging the top of one wall were pipes of various diameters running lengthwise down the corridor. Lights hung down between the pipes every ten feet or so, and gave the hallway plenty of illumination.

To the left, the corridor went another fifty feet, then turned to the right, out of view. To the right, it continued half again as far before dead-ending at a closed door. Somewhere in the distance was the sound of a door closing. He paused, listening, but there was nothing else.

He pulled out the Yellowhammer blueprints from his backpack and located their position. This particular section was at the north end of the facility. The corridor to the left that made the ninety-degree turn ended in what appeared to be a storage room. The rest of the base lay to the right, through the closed door.

The map showed that just beyond the door was the main east-west corridor. Compared to the passageway they were in, there was a much greater chance it would be occupied.

He folded the printout and put it into his pocket.

“Stay here,” he mouthed to Nate.

He could see the reluctance in his apprentice’s eyes, but Nate nodded anyway.

Quinn approached the door at the end of the hallway. The handle was a lever, not a knob. Down to unlock, up to lock. Quinn pressed his ear against the door, his free hand resting on the handle. Quiet.

Slowly he pressed down on the lever. There was a muffled groan as the bars holding the door in place moved out of their sockets. Once they were free, Quinn paused. If anyone had heard the noise, they’d show up any second.

When no one did, he pulled the door back a few inches, testing the hinges. They were smooth and silent.

The corridor beyond was much like the one he was in, only larger. Again he listened for sounds of life, and again he was greeted with silence.

He pulled the door open farther, then stepped over the threshold.

He knew from his examination of the blueprint that there was another corridor about twenty yards to the east that led to the elevator. It was the only way to the facility’s main exit. Beyond that, the hallway he was in disappeared around a bend to the left. To the west, there was another intersecting corridor running to the south. No elevator down this one; it led to living quarters from when the base was fully staffed.

The majority of the facility was to the west, so if there was any activity, that’s where he would find it. Quinn ducked back into the hallway where he’d left Nate, then motioned for his apprentice to join him near the door.

“I’m going to see if I can find Peter’s friend,” Quinn said.

“You want me to come with you?”

“No. Stay here and watch my back. Let me know if anyone comes down the hallway.”

Nate didn’t look happy with the answer.

“Problem?” Quinn asked.

“No. It’s fine.”

“Good,” Quinn said. “I’m not sure how well our radios are going to work down here. If we lose contact for more than twenty minutes, get back into the tunnel. Give me another fifteen, then get the hell out of here.”

As Quinn started to open the door again, he heard a metal groan somewhere in the distance. Immediately he pulled the door closed, leaving the barest of cracks so he could hear what was going on.

A door farther down the hallway shut, then there were steps moving toward Quinn’s position from the east. The person’s pace was steady, not rushed. Quinn soon became aware of a voice, too.

“… him now. Have two men meet me there, then the rest of you should go downstairs and help get things ready to go.” Male, with an accent. Australian, and unforgettable. Leo Tucker. Just like Hardwick had promised.

“Okay,” a second voice said. It was tinny, coming over a radio.

Tucker was close now, within twenty feet.

Just keep walking, Quinn willed him. Just keep walking.

“Once I finish with him, I’ll join you in the lab,” Tucker said.

“Petersen and Linden are on their way to you.”

“Good.”

Quinn wanted to peer through the crack to see if he could get a look at what was going on, but he resisted the urge, and instead held the door steady so that Tucker would have no reason to notice it wasn’t closed.

Tucker continued past without breaking stride. Quinn waited until the footsteps began to recede, then pulled open the door and looked out.

Tucker had almost reached the west end of the hallway where it turned to the south.

Quinn looked back at Nate. “Twenty minutes,” he whispered, then began following the Australian.

Tucker couldn’t help feeling a bit of respect for his captive. The man was good. He’d clammed up tight and was refusing to speak again.

“Torture, is that what you’re waiting for?” Tucker asked the man. “Maybe some bamboo shoots under the fingernails? A few good kicks to the kidneys?”

The man did what he’d been doing for the last fifteen minutes. He smiled, a grotesque fake smile that made Tucker want to pistol-whip him.

“Well, hate to disappoint,” Tucker said. “But torture’s not something I’m into.”

This time he was the one who smiled, then he moved his gun away from his side and shot the man in the knee.

“Oh, wait,” Tucker said as the man howled in pain. “I forgot, I am into torture. I just don’t like to work at it.”

He shot the man in the other knee.

The prisoner screamed, then fell off the chair onto the floor.

“Who the fuck are you?” Tucker said.

The man writhed in pain, unable to respond.

“Perhaps I’ll do your elbow next. Is that what you want?”

“No,” the man gasped. “Please.”

“You answer my questions, and we’ll bind those up for you. Give you a little something for the pain, too. How’s that sound?”

“Please,” the man repeated.

“Who are you?”

“Furuta,” the man said, his voice labored. “Kevin Furuta.”

“All right, Mr. Furuta. This is progress. Who do you work for?”

“Please. My legs. Help me.”

“You answer my questions first, remember? Questions with an s. That makes it plural. You know what plural means, right?”

“The Agency,” Furuta said. “I work for them.”

“Now, that’s interesting. Why would the CI-fucking-A have an interest in us?”

Furuta said nothing.

Tucker raised his gun and pointed it at the man’s arm.

“Come alone, did you?” Tucker asked.

“No,” Furuta said.

But the answer came too fast, and Tucker knew it was a lie.

“There’s a strike team waiting close by. If they don’t hear from me soon, their orders are to attack.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. Where did you get that line? Out of some fucking Bruce Willis film? You’re alone, Mr. Furuta. And you’re royally screwed.”

“No. Really, they’re there.”

“Enough,” Tucker said.

He shot the man in the left elbow. Furuta screamed again, then fell silent. Tucker kicked him to see if he was still conscious, but the man had passed out.

“Patch him up?” Petersen asked.

“Fuck no,” Tucker said. “Let him bleed out. He’s no use to us anyway. Even if the CIA is interested in us, we’ll be gone before they can do anything about it. You’ve got to love bureaucracy.”

Linden opened the door and let Tucker pass through first. Once they were all in the hallway, Tucker glanced back at the room Marion Dupuis was in.

“Are we bringing her along?” Petersen asked.

“No,” Tucker said. “Leave her to rot. She’s caused us enough problems.”

“You’re in a generous mood tonight,” Linden said.

“Thanks for noticing.”

They exited the short hallway and shut the door behind them.

CHAPTER

31

MARION HAD HEARD THEM BRING THE OTHER ONE in. At first she thought they were coming for her again. Either they had decided it was time for more questions, or had realized she had nothing to offer so were coming to get rid of her. Oddly, it was the former she feared most. At least if they had decided to kill her, she’d have nothing to lose. She could fight with all she had left, and if by some miracle she freed herself, she could try to find Iris. She knew there was zero chance of that happening, but she clung to the idea, thinking maybe, just maybe …

She had pressed her ear against her door, hoping to hear what their intentions were. But the men had not come to her cell. Instead, she heard another door open down toward the main exit. Feet scuffled across the floor, then someone barked, “Get the fuck in there.”

This went on for over a minute. A struggle of some sort. That much was obvious. It ended with a smack and a grunt. Then the door slammed closed.

“Asshole!” someone yelled. The voice had come from inside the hallway.

“Chill,” a second voice said.

“You see this? I’m bleeding.”

“Just a scratch.”

“Fucking asshole!” the first voice yelled again. “When we get the word, I want to be the one who offs him.”

“Come on,” the second voice said.

The door at the end of the hallway opened, then shut. A second later, all was quiet again.

Another prisoner, she thought. Somebody else with a child? Some one who had been able to put up more of a fight than Marion had?

When they had taken her out earlier, she had counted two other doors, both on the same side of the hallway as the one to her cell, and behind them rooms she imagined were very much like her own. The door that had slammed shut hadn’t sounded close enough to be from the room next door. So whoever their new captive was, he or she had to be in the room nearest the exit.

If there was just some way she could communicate with him. She thought for a moment, her eyes searching the blackness for an answer. The idea that came to her wasn’t perfect, but it was something.

She removed her tennis shoes, then began tapping one against the metal door. Maybe the other person would be able to hear it.

Tap-tap-tap.

Silence.

Tap-tap-tap.

Still nothing.

Tap-tap-tap … tap-tap-tap … tap-tap-tap … tap-tap—

She stopped. Had she heard something?

She waited, but the only thing she heard was her own breathing.

Tap-tap-tap … tap-tap-tap … tap—

Clank.

Clank.

Clank.

Marion almost cried. The other person had heard her.

For the next five minutes they tried to communicate with each other, tapping back and forth but with no more meaning than an acknowledgment that they knew the other was there, confirming that they were not alone, but little more.

The other prisoner’s responses began to lag, then finally stopped altogether. Marion continued tapping for several minutes, trying to get him to return her signal, but he had either lost interest, or worse, lost consciousness.

As a last resort, she found the crack between the door and the frame with her finger, then moved her mouth over.

“Can you hear me?” she yelled.

But she knew it was useless. Where the door had transmitted and amplified the tapping of her shoe, it also acted as an effective buffer, bouncing her voice back into the room and letting very little of it pass through.

She slumped to the floor, knowing that nothing had changed for her. In thirty minutes, in an hour, in a day—at some point they would come for her. She stared at the floor, almost numb to the possibility now.

When the hallway door opened again sometime later, she thought this time was it. Her turn to die. Only once again it was the door at the other end of the hallway that opened, not hers.

She could hear raised voices, but could not make out the words. She figured they were giving the new prisoner the same treatment they had given her.

Then a loud crack reverberated down the hall, and a few seconds later, another.

Gunshots. She had heard them in Africa, only more at a distance. Here the source of the sound was only a couple dozen feet away at most, and the metal hallway didn’t help, enhancing the noise instead of dampening it.

Marion scrambled into the corner, pulling her knees to her chest and pressing her hands against her ears. She didn’t want to hear the screams of pain, but they seeped through her fingers anyway.

When she thought it was over, a third gunshot rang out.