CHAPTER 44

I can make the shot.

That’s what Addy’s brain kept repeating as she stared down the sights of the knockout gun at Ofeibia Xi, who was in turn, staring down the sights of a flechette pistol at her.

It wouldn’t even be difficult: Xi was maybe five meters away, there were no obstructions in the way, and unlike Gwen and Tapper, the weapon she’d picked up wasn’t from the syndicate leader’s goons.

Except for one pesky fact: fast as a stun field was, it wasn’t faster than someone pulling a trigger. Sure, Addy might take Xi down, but there was a good chance she was going to end up with several metal darts in her, and that was going to be considerably less pleasant than being rendered unconscious. And that was if Xi wasn’t wearing a disruption matrix to counter the stun field, as her people on the Queen Amina had. As bets went, it was a bad one.

She didn’t dare let her eyes slide to Taylor, but her widened awareness took in the commander, and she felt like she saw a flicker of movement in her peripheral vision that, much as she wanted it to be a nod, looked distinctly like a shake of the head.

And the worst part was that she couldn’t even contain her relief.

Who the hell are you? Addy of six months ago would have pulled the trigger and damn the consequences, but all of a sudden here she was considering consequences. Somewhere up there, she could hear old Boyland chuckling, maybe with a self-satisfied “I told you so”.

Because she knew what had changed: she had something to keep living for. Her team – her family. Brody and his bacon, much as she hated to admit it.

Fight another day.

Without breaking eye contact with Xi’s violet gaze, she lowered her arm and then tossed the KO gun onto the foam-sodden carpet, where it landed with a splash-thud.

“Thank you,” said Xi. “I do appreciate your reasonableness. Now. Walk.” She gestured with the gun towards the door leading to the baggage car.

This time Addy did find Taylor’s eyes, and the commander lazily inclined her head. Addy hoped to hell the other woman had a backup plan, because they’d left the original far behind.

With a barely concealed grunt of frustration, Addy turned and started walking through the ankle-deep foam towards the door. She could hear the slosh of other footsteps behind her as the rest of the team fell into line.

Good, we’re lined up, so Xi can just shoot through all of us at once. Glad we’re helping her conserve ammo.

Addy’s mind raced as she stepped into the connecting compartment. The temptation to press herself to the side, out of the line of fire, and try to ambush Xi was high, but the crime lord still had a clear view. She’d just be condemning the rest of her team. What they needed was something outside of the woman’s control, some variable that Xi wouldn’t expect.

Patience. The cautionary voice in her head still sounded a bit like Boyland, even all these years after his death. But the dead man was right; there was a time for violence of action, and it was in service of a plan.

“Don’t be too hasty, Madam Xi,” said Taylor as she stepped into the compartment with the rest of them. “This deal can still be mutually beneficial.”

“I don’t think your friend here would agree,” said Xi, her voice all icy calm. “She’s not about to walk away from this, are you, Special Agent Rhys?”

Gwen’s gaze was locked to Xi. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, no.”

“See? That’s the problem with law enforcement – the ones you can buy off prove they can’t be trusted, but the trustworthy ones are so… inflexible. Alas.”

Addy let out a sigh even as her pulse continued at double time. “Just kill us and get it over with. I’m good on monologuing, thanks.”

“Oh, Adelaide,” said Xi with a tsk. “Ever so impatient. I’m not going to kill you. We had a deal, and I intend to honor it to the letter.” The door to the Coire Ansic’s car slid closed behind her, leaving them all closeted in the connecting compartment. “Besides, I’ll need your help unloading all my money.” She waved her pistol at Taylor. “Now, Major Vinson, I believe we’re approaching the branch line; if you’ll kindly activate the remote switch while Adelaide decouples the cars, we can get on with it.”

For a brief moment, Addy started to contemplate simply not doing what Xi asked, leaving the cars attached to the rest of the train as they barreled their way to Stranraer. But the end of that plan trailed off into a series of question marks. Xi would be pissed and, despite her protestations to the contrary, Addy had no belief that the woman would simply let them go. They’d all be stuck on the train together for the rest of the trip, and it would go a bit beyond awkward.

Stiffly, she marched over to the access panel and pulled it open, revealing a large red lever surrounded by warning signs in bold print, small print, and everything in between.

Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Gwen stiffen suddenly, her eyes unfocusing as though she were listening to something the rest of them couldn’t hear. After a split second, she blinked, and her eyes went to Addy, sparkling with something that looked suspiciously like amusement, before turning to Xi.

“I have to say, Madam Xi, you’re being awfully cavalier about all of this.” The redhead raised her eyebrows significantly.

Addy froze, hand clutching the lever. Brody. He was alive – and on the Cavalier. A swell of relief broke over her. Despite all of Xi’s posturing and threats, he’d squirmed his way out of yet another improbable situation through, what… force of will? Sheer dumb luck? She should take him to the casino if they got out of this.

Her heartbeat amped up as suddenly as if she were standing on the edge of a precipice, teetering.

“It’s not my first time being threatened with arrest, Agent Rhys,” said Xi calmly. “But nobody’s ever managed to seal the deal. And I’m still the only one holding a weapon.”

Tapper snorted. “Like none of us have ever been held at gunpoint before. Big fucking deal.”

Clearing her throat, Taylor raised her arm. “If you’re all finished, maybe we can proceed with this job and everybody can go home without getting shot?”

Xi inclined her head. “A most reasonable position, major. Please.”

Locking eyes with Addy, Taylor nodded her head. “Sayers, go ahead. Hold on tight.”

Turning back to the access panel, Addy drew a deep breath. Here went nothing. One hand flipped off the safety catch, the other, damp with sweat, gripped the lever.

She yanked it down.

The compartment’s lights shifted to red, and she heard a click as the door to the Coire Ansic’s car locked, followed by a deep ka-chunk as the coupling released somewhere beneath them. They all rocked backwards as the car started to lose its speed, going from being propelled forward to just coasting on its own momentum.

Taylor had her eyes locked to her sleeve, and Addy could see her mouth forming numbers as she counted down the seconds until the rest of the train was clear of the track branch. “Activating switch… now.” She tapped something on her sleeve, and a moment later they all leaned to one side as the car veered off onto the spur track, headed for Fort Mull.

And Xi’s welcoming committee.

“Excellent work, everyone,” said Xi, looking around with a smile all the more fake for its broadness. “I knew we could do it if only we worked together. How long until we reach –”

The crime lord didn’t get to finish her sentence. As soon as Xi had looked away from Taylor, she’d looped her arm through a railing and then tapped on her sleeve again.

Hold on, thought Addy in a panic, she said to hold on. She grabbed the decoupling lever with both hands, as though her life depended on it, just a split second before the car’s brakes engaged.

The front of the car came to an abrupt stop, throwing them all violently forward, and Addy’s arms were stretched to their limit as she held on to the lever. Tapper and Gwen careened towards Xi who, as the person closest to the front of the car, was slammed into the now locked door with tremendous force. The normally self-assured expression on the syndicate leader’s face was wiped away with wide-eyed, visceral fear, and the gun she’d been holding a moment earlier spun from her hand as the breath wheezed out of her.

Tapper and Gwen each grunted as they hit the floor, but they both managed to tuck into a roll along with the momentum. Almost gracefully, they popped out of the rolls and threw themselves at Xi, each grabbing ahold of one of the woman’s arms.

“Let go,” she snarled, struggling to escape their grasp, but they’d pinned her to the floor.

Addy let go of the lever, her biceps feeling like limp noodles. Between that and my little rock chimney exercise in the baggage car, I think I can skip arm day. Stalking up to Xi, she looked the syndicate boss up and down as she struggled against Tapper and Gwen’s grip, and saw for the first time what all the elegance was masking: rage and, yes, more than a little bit of fear.

“You know I will come for you,” Xi said, looking around wildly. “All of you.”

“Oh, shut up,” said Addy, rolling her eyes. She hauled back and, even with her arm as sore as it was, socked Xi straight in the jaw. The crime lord’s head bounced off the metal door and she collapsed into a heap of fashionable clothes.

Tapper let out a whistle as Addy massaged her sore fist. “Long time coming, huh?”

“Too damn long,” Addy muttered.

Gwen produced a pair of quick cuffs from somewhere and looped them through a handhold and around Xi’s wrists. “You all had better get going. Brody’s on his way in. I can take Xi and Flores from here.”

“What about the money?” asked Tapper, casting a glance to the rear of the car.

“Evidence, old man,” said Gwen. She raised an eyebrow. “Unless you want me to take you in for theft too?”

“We need to know where it came from at least,” said Taylor, crouching down by Xi. The crime lord was still down for the count, but the commander seemed less interested in her than her jewelry. Unclipping one of the woman’s many bangles, she slipped it in her pocket, before sparing a glance for Gwen. “Sorry, Agent Rhys, but we’ve all got our priorities.”

The agent put up her hands. “I just collared two of the biggest criminals in the galaxy; let’s call it a fair trade. I’ll patch you through to Brody’s comms. Just do me a favor and, as soon as you get clear of the sandstorm, put in a call to my colleague Agent Liang and let her know I’m out here. Before I, you know, starve to death in the middle of the desert.” She waved her arm in Taylor’s direction, and the commander’s sleeve pinged.

“Can do,” said Taylor, with a businesslike nod. “Thanks for your help, Agent Rhys.” Walking over to the overhead access hatch, she climbed up the ladder and keyed it open.

“Guess this is it,” said Gwen, looking around.

“C’mere, lass,” said Tapper. The weathered sergeant wrapped the woman in a bear hug. “I’ll be in touch.”

“You’d better be,” said Gwen. “Maybe next time we can have a visit that doesn’t involve a train robbery.”

Tapper grinned. “What do you want to rob instead?” He gave her a wink, then followed Taylor up the ladder to the train car’s roof.

Addy tipped the other woman a two-finger salute. “Pleasure working with you, Gwen.”

“You too… and Addy?”

“Yeah?”

“Keep an eye on Brody. He’s lucky to have you.”

Addy flushed a red only slightly paler than Gwen’s hair. “I’ll do my best.” And then she was up the ladder before she could say anything more embarrassing. Jesus, does everybody know about us?

On top of the train car, the wind was still whipping sand and dirt around them, and Addy raised a hand to shield her eyes. At least it was slightly calmer when you weren’t also going five hundred klicks an hour.

There was a loud roar as the familiar shape of the Cavalier broke through the clouds and came to a slightly unsteady stop overhead, wavering back and forth on its repulsors like an ice cube skittering on a hot metal pan.

“Hey team,” said Brody’s voice, filtering over Addy’s earbud and filling her with a wave of relief. “I think I’ve had my fill of sand. What do you say we get the hell out of here?”