After the gloom of the warehouse, the bright sunlight outside was actually painful. Ryan shielded his eyes with one hand as he pulled the white van around the front of the building. Hawkins came running out and hopped into the passenger seat, wiping the blood from her hands on the front of her shirt. As soon as she pulled on her seatbelt, he gunned the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. Glancing over at Hawkins, he saw the bloody chunk of flesh sitting in her lap.
“Jeez Hawkins! Can you cover that up or something?”
“Oh, don’t be such a wuss. I didn’t make you cut it out, did I?” Hawkins retorted.
“Seriously, I can’t concentrate with that in the corner of my eye all the time. I swear, I’ll drive into a pole.”
“Fine,” Hawkins grumbled.
Rifling through her backpack, she extracted a cloth, and gently wrapped her pilfered RFID chip, hiding it from view.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. It’s probably best to cover it anyway, we wouldn’t want anyone seeing that through the window.”
Ryan looked over at her, the front of the shirt he’d given her was covered in Blake’s blood, and the arm she’d injured was oozing blood through its makeshift bandage, soaking through her sleeve. She looked like a horror movie extra. More specifically, a dead one.
“Oh yeah, now we look completely inconspicuous,” Ryan rolled his eyes.
Hawkins glanced down at the dried blood encrusting her hands,
“You may have a point,” she chuckled. “Hopefully we don’t get pulled over.”
“Yeah, we don’t really have time to be arrested, do we?”
“Not so much.”
The lighthearted banter thinly masked the fear he knew they must both be feeling. Hawkins reached into her bag again and covered her bloody hands with a pair of dark gloves, then she slipped on her coat to cover the stained shirt.
“Better?” she asked.
“Much,” Ryan replied with an eye roll.
Hawkins smoothed the front of the jacket, fussing with the cuffs and the collar, studiously avoiding his gaze. Ryan was getting impatient. He could see it in her face, she had a plan, but she was hesitating to tell him, and he needed to know why.
“What’s your idea, Hawkins?”
“Oh, that,” Hawkins bit her lip. “You aren’t going to like it.”
“You always say that.”
“It’s always true.”
“Since I met you, I haven’t liked much of anything, why should today be any different?” Ryan sighed.
Hawkins laughed,
“Alright. Let’s review what we know for sure.”
“I already know what we know, Hawkins. By definition,” Stone interrupted, irritably.
“Look, the context is important here, ok? Just hear me out.”
“Fine,” he gripped the wheel tighter.
“We know that Darien has a biological weapon inside the building, with enough weaponized anthrax to kill everyone in there, and half the city on top of that. The entire building is in lockdown. There is no way that we can get in touch with the people inside and no way for them to get in touch with anyone on the outside. No help there. Also, every law enforcement agency in this city has likely been informed that the two of us are murderous traitors, so no help there, and even if there was, it would take too long for them to get anyone here, and really, what could they do? Cross isn’t answering his cell. So, that leaves just us, agreed?”
“I’m with you so far.”
“Cross’ sister and the device are in the basement, in the kitchen that serves the holding cells. Darien is also likely in the basement, in the surveillance room. He’ll be watching everything from there and he has a remote detonator for the device. Which is why we can’t just go in and disarm it.”
“Are we getting near to the point, Hawkins? Because we’re almost there,” Ryan was getting edgy, they were only about 5 minutes out and he needed to hear her grand scheme if he was going to be a part of it.
“Well, the way I see it, there is only one way to get to that device undetected. Someone needs to distract Darien while the other person disarms it.”
“That would be impossible,” Ryan didn’t know what she was thinking, what she was suggesting was obviously impossible. “This is everything to him, this plan, this moment, it’s his life; you know that. What could possibly pull his attention away from it?”
“Nothing less than something else he lives for, obviously. Fortunately for us, we happen to have that.”
“What do you mean?” Ryan asked cautiously.
“You know what I mean,” Hawkins looked over at him. “Me, Stone. He’ll want me.”
“You can’t be serious,” Ryan stared at her in disbelief.
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“Dead serious,” Hawkins murmured. “He chose me. Even though he moved on, we both know that the challenge was on the table. He’s pissed off that I fooled him and once he knows that I also identified him and slipped his noose, he won’t be able to let it pass. If I show up there, it is a direct challenge, and he will need to prove to me that I could never have beaten him, that he is my superior. He needs me to know that everything I have done was for nothing. It’s why he does this in the first place; it’s what he gets from his kills, so he won’t make it quick.
“He’ll need to break you first,” Ryan whispered. “Like the others.”
“Exactly. Which means that I have the unique ability to keep him occupied for a little while. Hopefully long enough for you to disarm his device. If I can keep him focused on me while you work unnoticed, this might succeed. That’s the plan.”
“Keep him occupied?” Ryan repeated incredulously. “Do you know what you’re suggesting?”
“Of course I know,” she said softly.
“You are volunteering for torture, Hawkins! And once he’s broken you, he’ll kill you.”
“I know,” Hawkins repeated.
“This isn’t a plan, this is insanity. Hell, it’s suicide!”
“It’s also the only way, Stone,” she replied, there was a grim determination in her voice.
“There has to be something else we can do.”
Hawkins shook her head slowly,
“This is our only play. Unless you have a better idea, we are out of time.”
He didn’t respond. Hawkins continued,
“This is our last resort. But I need you on board for it to work. So, the question is, are you in?”
Ryan paused for a moment. In all honesty, he wanted no part of this; the thought of walking into that building scared the hell out of him, because even odds were that he wouldn’t be walking out again. Under any other circumstances, to any other person, he would have said no. What she was suggesting was ludicrous and hinted at some very self-destructive tendencies. He was also afraid that her true motivation was her need to face Parabellum, Darien, herself, whatever the cost, and he worried that it was clouding her judgement. But studying her face, he could see the fear in her eyes. Fear was a good sign, any sane person would be afraid in this situation, and at least it meant that she wasn’t so focused on revenge that she wasn’t considering the consequences. No, Ryan had gotten to know Taylor Hawkins, at least a little bit, in their time together; he knew that she had weighed their options, and this was what she thought gave them the best chance of getting out of this alive. And though he hated it, he couldn’t think of any better options. So, Ryan Stone made his decision; if she was willing to bet her life on this plan, how could he offer anything less?
“I said I had your back. I meant it. How do you suggest we do this?”
Hawkins had been holding her breath the entire time he was deliberating. Now she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Couldn’t have done it without you,” she clapped him on the shoulder. “Alright, pull over here.”
Ryan pulled the van over on the side of the road; they were about a block from the back entrance of the agency, now. Hawkins reached into her bag again and extracted a pair of walkie-talkies.
“Take this,” she handed one to him.
“Where the hell did you get all of this stuff?” Ryan asked.
“Oh, I packed this bag when I was getting things from my apartment. You always need to be prepared.”
“What are you a Girl Scout leader?”
Hawkins ignored him.
“I am going to go in right now. Give me ten minutes, then you follow. I’ll jam the door open for you, so you can get in. Once you are, head straight for the kitchen, the path will certainly have been left open for Ethan, so it should be no problem. Then all you have to do is disable the two detonators so Darien can’t trigger his device.”
“I’m not exactly a bomb tech, Hawkins,” Ryan warned.
“Yeah, well neither are Blake or Darien. Those plans lay everything out very clearly, they likely used them to assemble the device in the first place. Once you have the device in front of you, you should be able to use the plans to find the connecting wires and disable the two detonators. Cell phones won’t work in the building due to the lockdown, but radios will. When you’re done, radio me so I know I can act against Darien. If I can still act. Do not, under any circumstances, radio me before that, Darien cannot know that you are with me, or this will all be for nothing, understood?”
“Yeah, sounds simple enough,” Ryan replied weakly.
“There are a few things that may complicate this, though,” Hawkins warned.
“This? Complicated? Don’t be ridiculous. What could possibly go wrong?” Ryan was beginning to notice that he got very sarcastic when he was nervous.
“Nevertheless, I need to know that you can handle this. I know that you care about Amanda Clark, Stone, and whatever Darien and Blake have done with her, she’ll be in rough shape. Are you going to be able to ignore that and do what you need to?”
Up to this point, Ryan had been trying not to think about Amanda at all. Ever since he had seen her bleeding and bound on Blake’s phone, he had been terrified for her. He had known from that moment that there was a possibility that she would not make it out of this, and the thought hurt him more than he had believed possible after knowing her for such a short time. He wanted to protect her desperately, but he also knew that he needed to put that out of his mind and focus, or he would fail in his task, and she would die anyway.
“I’ll be fine,” he replied.
“Good, because there is one more thing you are going to have to watch out for. It’s been 20 minutes since Blake got that text from Darien, he expected Ethan to get there in 45. I need 10 minutes to get in there and get his attention. That leaves you only 15 minutes before Ethan arrives, and that’s if he’s on time. If he gets there before you finish…”
“I am in some serious shit,” Ryan finished.
“Yeah,” Hawkins sighed. “So, be fast, and watch your back. Ethan thinks you are a traitor and if he finds you there, with his sister, whom he knows has been taken by Parabellum… Well, I doubt that there is anything you will be able to say to convince him you aren’t the bad guy. If it comes down to it, do whatever it takes to keep him from opening that door. Whatever it takes. All our lives depend on it.”
“Hopefully it won’t come down to that,” Ryan replied grimly.
“Hopefully. But be ready if it does.”
“I understand. Now I have some advice for you.”
“Shoot.”
“James Darien is a sociopath with an extreme need to prove his superiority over others. He has been singling out, torturing and murdering the best agents NIA has to offer, for decades. The torture element of his signature is designed to get his adversaries to break down, to beg for their lives, to admit that they are inferior to him in every way, and to prove that through their weakness. That is what he will want from you, too. He has to make sure that you know that he beat you. To make you taste despair. The instant you admit defeat or beg for mercy, he has what he needs, and he’ll kill you. So, you need to avoid that, at all costs. Try being smug and insufferable, you should be good at that. Just don’t give him the satisfaction, and he’ll keep you alive, at least for a while. Got it?”
“I’ve got it. I’ll keep him busy as long as I can. No matter what.”
Ryan looked away from her, trying not to picture what that was going to entail. Darien was imaginative and thorough, a bad combination in someone with his interests.
“Just don’t get yourself killed, alright?”
“I’ll do my best,” Hawkins opened the car door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. “There is no more time to be chatting about this. If it’s going to happen, it needs to happen now. Give me a few minutes, then follow.”
“Good luck, Hawkins. And be careful.”
“You too, Stone. See you on the other side.”
With that, Hawkins slammed the door and jogged off towards the building. Ryan watched her go. He wasn’t sure if he thought she was brave or crazy, but he knew for sure that he was crazy for agreeing to this. Either way, it was far too late for cold feet now.
“The other side?” he muttered to himself. “I guess we’ll see.”