Black Brick - Part Three Read online

After hesitating, I opened the email. Not opening it wouldn't keep Beltran from reading it. If she mentioned the nightclub, the situation could easily spin out of control if Beltran didn't hear about it from me first.

  I almost laughed when I read it. Kris had taken a completely different tact. So according to her I'd visited last week and left something, huh?

  I considered blowing it off, but I wasn’t sure that I hadn't left anything at the club. The night had been a blur. Thinking about the pistol I’d lost on the train and not wanting another lecture from Beltran, I replied back that I’d meet her in the library.

  Instead of getting in with Cherry and Tom at the elevator, I headed for the stairs.

  “Where you going?” Cherry asked. “We need to debrief.”

  “To check on something,” I said. “I'll be back in a few.” The college campus was a ten minute walk and before leaving, I stopped off at my room in Black Brick and changed clothes, doing my best to try to look like I hadn't been involved in a gunfight and been on the run all day.

  Before I left, I checked the news to see if there had been any photos of us snapped during our escape from the police. If there were, they hadn’t been published yet, which meant that it would be safe enough to leave Black Brick.

  I was close to the library when I heard a voice that made me cringe.

  “Sam!” Thor said. “Hey, you weren't in class yesterday. You should've been there, Peck went on a rant about big government. “

  I tried to avoid rolling my eyes, but wasn’t sure if I succeeded. “Course he did, that's his job. Sit in his tower and tell everybody else in the world what they're doing wrong.”

  I couldn't imagine Peck making the type of decisions that I made on a daily basis. People died because of what I did. Ridiculous hypothetical situations meant to test ethical waters couldn't come close to dealing with reality.

  “Yeah, that's the problem with the real world and academia,” Thor said. “Little connection between the two.”

  Thor was a scrawny kid who couldn't have been more poorly named and came off as kind of slow. Could it have been an act? I couldn’t deny that Thor, like Kris, had an unhealthy amount of interest in me. I hadn't suspected Kris of anything until she'd pointed a gun at me. Her pretty face had blinded me to the obvious. Was I letting Thor’s small size throw me off?

  “Guess so,” I said. “Well gotta go, catching up with my study partner.”

  “Oh really, what class?”

  I had to think to make sure that Thor wasn't in any of my other classes; it was obvious that he was going to try to come along. I couldn't be sure if he shared any other classes, so I tried a different tactic.

  “Not planning on doing much studying, just going to hang out.”

  “Where at?”

  “Don't know, kind of leaving it up to her. It’s the girl I usually sit by in class.” I smiled and winked, he didn’t know about Shannon’s disappearance.

  “Do you mind if I tag along? I have a couple of hours before my evening class.”

  How daft was this kid? “Actually, I'd rather you didn’t, kind of hoping . . . you know.”

  Thor had a blank look.

  “Thinking of this as a date.”

  “Oh! Sorry.”

  “Maybe another time.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  To rid myself of Thor, I pulled out my phone and said I needed to make a call before I went into the library. As Thor began to saunter away, I tried to keep my composure. I wish I knew how to get rid of the guy for good.

  Once he was out of sight, I put my phone in my pocket, entered the library and went to the second floor. I circled around the shelves of books so that I could approach Kris from behind.

  I’d told her to meet me at the desk I’d been using when we’d first met, but when I got there, it was already occupied by somebody else. Kris was sitting in a seat several tables back. The guy that was in the seat I’d used before had his head bent over a book and I could see the orange tips of earplugs in his ears.

  I approached, keeping one hand in my pocket on the hilt of my pistol. I wasn’t taking any chances. She turned when I was several feet away.

  “We need to talk,” Kris said.

  “Isn’t that why I came?” I asked.

  “Not here. I guarantee you don't want this overheard.”

  I smiled. “There's nothing we can't talk about here.”

  Kris shook her head. “Just remember, you asked for this. I’ve been tracking the guys that have her.” She pulled out a picture of Shannon strapped to a chair. Her hands and feet were bound. The gag running through her mouth was bloody. “I can help.”

  I yanked Kris out of her chair and pinned her against the wall before I had a chance to realize what I was doing. My pistol was out and pushed into her gut.

  “Where is she?” I demanded, remembering at the last moment to keep my voice quiet.

  “Careful, people will see you.” The person sitting at the desk in front of us hadn't looked back. I was a bit surprised he wasn’t more bothered with all the commotion I was causing. Even with his earplugs, he should have heard something. I suppose he was just too focused to pay attention. I could sometimes be that way too.

  “Where is she?” I whispered.

  “Let me go.” Kris jabbed me lightly with something sharp and pressed a knife into my stomach. “I didn't take Shannon, but I know where she is.” I moved quickly and neutralized the knife before Kris could react. It fell to the floor, the carpet deadening the sound of the fall.

  “I'm trying to help you. Killing me won't get Shannon back.”

  I pushed the pistol into her stomach, not caring if it hurt. Kris inhaled sharply and turned away as best she could. She’d known my real name and had revealed she knew Shannon’s as well. I shouldn’t have blown her off last night.

  “Relax. I’ll tell you where—even take you there—but I need you to listen first.”

  “Thirty seconds.” My voice was getting louder. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I should be more careful, but after everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, I wasn’t really in the mood to think things through.

  “That kid’s going to hear you.”

  “Twenty seconds,” I snapped.

  “Jake, you don’t work for the government.”

  “Time's up. Where is Shannon?”

  “Did you hear me?”

  “Shannon. Tell me now.”

  “Aren't you curious how I know her real name?”

  “I don't care if you know how to get into Fort Knox unless Shannon is there.” I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the back of library. The kid with the earplugs had never turned around. I was grateful for that, but didn’t dwell on it. “If you're lying...” I left the thought unfinished.

  I dragged her into the stairwell and pushed her up against the wall and held the pistol to her neck. Kris stared back into my eyes as if I wasn't armed.

  “How did you find her?”

  “Jake, I have resources that pale in comparison to Beltran’s.” So she knew about Beltran too.

  Why was she claiming that I didn’t work for the government? Did she know something I didn’t?

  The questions were pushed out of my mind when a thought occurred to me. “How long have you known where she is? Did you know last night?”

  “No,” she said, but her face betrayed the lie. I let it go, for now.

  “Think about it Jake. Think of all the death you've seen working for Beltran.”

  “I don't know what you're talking about,” I said. “My name's Sam.”

  “Have it your way, Sam,” she said. “This way.” She pushed me away and stalked off.

  Half an hour later, Kris pointed to an apartment complex. I tuned her out and focused on absorbing everything. It was an older building that was outfitted with fire escapes. The lobby had a doorman, who I assumed would be working for Martinez.

  “You can't get in from the front,” Kris said. “The lobby is under surveill
ance. We’ll go around the side.”

  “Cameras?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “The doorman?”

  “He's clean.”

  “Why are you doing this? What's your angle? Martinez screw you?”

  “Now you want to talk?”

  “Never mind,” I said. “Which side?”

  Kris stepped away and put her hand up. “I'm willing to help you, but you have to listen to me after we are done.”

  “You FBI?”

  “Does it matter?” She sighed.

  I pulled the photo of Shannon out of my pocket. It looked so real. If it was a fake, a lot of time had been spent doctoring it.

  “I'll listen,” I said. “After Shannon is safe.” I followed Kris down the side of the building where she led me to a window that was at the level of my chest. Kris stood on her tiptoes and knocked softly on the glass.

  My phone rang. I didn’t answer and put it on silent. The call was from Beltran, probably wanting to know where I was. I’d ended up being gone longer than I thought, but I wasn’t about to pass up on a chance to get Shannon back.

  The window opened and a man held a hand out to Kris and pulled her in. He offered me a hand too, but I refused, grabbed the window ledge and climbed up.

  There were three men in the room; all were armed with pistols and body armor. None of them looked surprised to see me, which probably meant that Kris was wearing a bug and that they’d heard our whole conversation. I hadn’t thought to check her before we set out. Several had hands on their pistols and watched me with wary eyes.

  There was a twin bed in the corner with a stained mattress that was falling apart and I caught a whiff of a stench that I didn’t dwell on. In the back of my mind, I became concerned about some of what I’d let slip when talking with Kris. I should have considered the possibility that our conversation was being recorded. At the moment though, I was too worried about rescuing Shannon to care much beyond recognizing that I needed to be more careful.

  One of the men, held his hand to an ear. “They’re moving the women.” He had a good couple of inches on me and was wider than me by half. The muscles in his arms and chest gave away the fact that he spent a lot of his time working out. The other men were of a similar build, though one was substantially shorter than the others.

  The short guy was regarding me with open hostility. I didn’t blame him. I’d react the same way if somebody had been threatening a member of my team in the way I’d done to Kris.

  “They know we’re here?” Kris asked.

  “Uncertain,” the big man said, with a menacing glance at me. “This way.” We walked out of the bedroom into a small living room with an adjoining kitchen. The place smelled of Clorox and Pine-Sol. The shag carpet was stained in several places and the furniture was falling apart. The table legs looked like they’d been chewed on by a dog; one looked like it could break at any moment.

  “The man that lives here was arrested a couple of days ago,” Kris said, when she noticed me taking in the room. I noticed a dog in the corner with its head down. It looked like a cross between a lab and pit bull. It was still breathing, so I assumed that it had been tranquilized.

  We followed the big man out of the apartment and down the hall until we came to a stop just before the end of the hallway. Another hallway was to the left and thirty feet down I could see an exit sign hanging above a door.

  “This is where they’ll bring her,” Kris whispered. “Shannon and the others can't know you had help. If you get into trouble and can’t handle this, we’ll come to your rescue. You don’t want me to do that though because I’ll have no choice but to take you all into custody.”

  “Not FBI, huh?” I pulled up my pistol. She didn’t take the bait.

  “Be in touch,” Kris said as they disappeared back the way they’d come. The short guy gave me one final glare before following the others into the room.

  I moved to the side of the wall and listened. Several minutes later, I heard footsteps and waited until I heard the exit door open. When I came around the corner, I saw a man pushing Shannon through the exit. She looked worse than she had in the picture. Her head was hanging forward and she was walking with a limp. There was a cut down the side of her face. I felt my chest tighten with fear, but held off until they were out the door before I started to run.

  I’d covered half the distance to the door when Payne came around the far corner, escorting Lisa. He cried out in alarm and pulled her back around the corner, firing off a shot. The bullet flew by to the side, leaving me untouched. I let them go and pushed through the exit.

  Shannon’s captor was swinging his pistol my way as I fired. The shot took him in the chest, but I quickly touched off several more to make sure he went down. Shannon grabbed his gun and pushed him to the ground. I slammed the exit door shut behind me, realizing too late that it was locked from the outside.

  Shannon kicked the dying man in the head. I put an arm around her waist and pulled her back. “He can't hurt you.”

  Shannon pulled away and kicked him again.

  “Come on, we need to get Lisa.”

  “She's one of them,” Shannon said in between kicks.

  “Are you sure?”

  “She’s with them!” she said, snarling.

  I put my arm around Shannon and pulled her away from the dying man. She turned to me and I let go. Her face was contorted with rage and for a moment I was afraid she was going to attack me.

  After a long pause, she turned away from her former captor.

  I encircled her in my arms, but she remained rigid, so I let go of her. There were multiple bruises on her arms and her face was covered in dried blood. Her right eye was puffy and a deep purple ring encircled it. There were a series of red marks around her neck.

  “What did they do to you?”

  Shannon didn’t respond.

  My phone vibrated. Beltran. As I answered and brought the phone to my ear, I noticed Shannon looking back at the man whose body lay in the doorway.

  “Never again,” she whispered.

  Chapter 3

  I paused outside the door to the classroom, not wanting to go in. We were ten minutes late and my inclination was to skip it altogether. Shannon shrugged her shoulders as if to say that the decision was mine. There was a world of difference in her appearance now versus several days ago when I’d rescued her. Much of that was due to makeup, but it was nice to see her doing better even though she was keeping her distance from me. The scar was scabbed over and unfortunately it was wide enough that I figured she’d have a hard time covering it up with makeup. Perhaps a plastic surgeon would be able to do something about it for her.

  Nothing would have made me happier than to skip class, but I didn’t want to give Beltran any additional reasons to be upset with me. He’d been furious that I’d gone after Shannon alone.

  I opened the door and walked in. Heads turned our way and I immediately thought better of it.

  “Mr. Chever,” Peck said. The entire class turned their attention to us. Kris smiled and gave me a little wave. Normally, Shannon would have bristled at the attention, but she didn’t react. “I haven't seen you in some time. Have you been well?”

  “Been visiting family.”

  “Well, I'm glad you're here because I haven't had a chance to follow up with you on our topic last time. Did you read the articles I sent you?”

  I remembered that he’d given me a personal reading assignment at the end of the last class I attended, several weeks ago. Peck had sent the email, but I had never opened it. Enough had happened in the mean time that it felt like months had passed.

  “Never got around to it,” I said sitting down beside Shannon at the back of the class.

  “I see. Please have the reading prepared for next time.”

  I nodded my assent and pulled out my tablet and stopped paying attention.

  “She's looking at you again,” Shannon said a few minutes later. “It's time you did something about this
.”

  I looked at Kris who rewarded me with a big toothy smile. “Forget about her, she’s a girl with a crush.” I felt bad lying to Shannon and wondered how she would react if she learned Kris had been instrumental in her rescue.

  “You're clearly with me,” Shannon said. “Why can't she see that?”

  I rolled my eyes but didn’t answer.

  Out of sheer boredom, I finally opened the email from Peck. There were several attachments and a brief message instructing me to be ready to discuss the material during the next class. I was about to switch to something else, when I noticed that this email was in my Black Brick inbox, not my school inbox.

  How did Peck get that email address? I looked closer and noticed that Peck hadn’t used his school email address and that he was on the same email network as the rest of us from Black Brick.

  This was an interesting and surprising development. Coincidence indeed that he’d singled me out on questions about assassination.

  When class ended, Shannon was staring in the direction of Kris.

  “Don't do it,” I said, “it's unnecessary.”

  Shannon glared at me. “I don't like it. A girl like that shouldn't be interested in you.”

  “I'm trying not to be offended.”

  “Please, you're an oaf and you know it. You're lucky to have me. There is something off about this.”

  “You’re the lucky one!” I said, trying to sound playful but the tension between us caused it to fall flat. “She's probably just out of high school and the last thing that she needs is an agent shaking her down.” I tried to not sound sarcastic as I said agent, but Shannon must have noticed because I received a curious look. I hated it when I got those looks from her. It usually meant that I was in for some uncomfortable questions later on.

  “Mr. Chever and Ms. Prosser,” Peck said, referring to Shannon’s alias, Jennifer Prosser. “Please stay. We need to talk about your absences.”

  “You don’t think we work for the government?” Shannon asked when Peck had turned his attention to somebody else. “What proof do you have?” By her tone, I could tell that she had her doubts as well.

  “Now isn't the time. We'll talk about this later. Promise.”