“Execute.” The command from Steve came through Mint’s earpiece.
Steve and Bradley took out the two men flanking Elizabeth Caulder. Mint waited while Brent realized what was happening and then said, “Let’s go,” in a low voice he hoped wasn’t audible over the phone.
He ushered the man to a room off the main ballroom of the hotel. A quiet place that looked like a work area for professionals traveling. Or a meeting room.
He wasn’t under any illusion that the blackmailer—or persons in his employ—weren’t watching the whole thing. Whoever it was would likely know right away that they had intercepted the situation and resolved the danger. But the risk of exposure was worth it to secure Elizabeth Caulder and eliminate the threat against her that was being used to coerce her husband into doing the blackmailer’s bidding.
Brent had the phone to his ear. He blanched, listening to the person on the other end. Mint waved for the phone, put it on speaker and laid it on the table.
“So nice of you to join us, Mr. Davis.” The voice on the other end was distorted, probably male, and heavily disguised. There was no way to find out who it was without a sophisticated computer system.
“Where is Emma?”
Brent stood, listening, while the blackmailer said, “On an important assignment for me.”
“Because you threatened her into doing it?” Mint balled his hands into fists. “You haven’t tortured her enough so you thought you’d get your jollies doing it one more time?”
“My work is far more important than jollies, as you so call it.” Disdain dripped from his words. Either he had a high position in life and so expected people to just defer to him on everything, or he was naturally completely condescending.
Either way, Mint figured the man believed this was the only way. But to do what? They had no idea what his endgame was.
Mint glanced at Brent Caulder. Did this man know? Hopefully Brent could shed some light on all this.
“Which brings us back to the point,” the blackmailer said. “Mr. Caulder, the code if you please?”
“No.” Caulder’s chin lifted. “My wife is safe now. There’s no way I’m letting you in my lab. Not now and not ever.”
“Hmm. That presents a problem, doesn’t it?” The blackmailer paused for a few seconds. “If you’ll direct your attention to the phone on the table. A text just came in.”
Mint’s whole body jerked. The blackmailer couldn’t just hear, he could see them? Mint had shut the door. There was no one else in the room with them.
He spun around and glanced at the walls. High up in one corner was a security camera.
“Smile. You’re live.”
Mint figured that was an expression, not that he was actually live on some website. Not that he cared. Who would watch a video of two guys staring at a phone? He snatched up the cell and swiped through to the text without ending the call. The number was unknown, the text—a photo. Emma.
“That’s the lab,” Caulder said, looking over his shoulder. “Or the hallway outside it, anyway.”
The blackmailer’s voice came through the line. “And so we move from one bargaining chip to another.” He paused a second. “The code, or Mr. Davis’s charge—who he hasn’t been keeping close tabs on I might add—meets a disastrous end. Though, I’ll let you pick, Mr. Davis. Death or life in prison.”
“You hurt one single hair on her—”
Laughter rang out. When the blackmailer was done being amused, he said, “Perhaps if you care so much for her well-being, you wouldn’t have allowed her to slip out from right under your nose. Twice, if I recall.”
This man had been watching the entire time. The realization washed over Mint as he ran through the how and why of it all. They could unpack that later all they wanted. Right now there was a major problem to solve.
He said, “We’re not going to allow you to leverage someone’s life, and their future, for your own gain. Whatever you’re trying to do, there’s no way Emma would want that to happen. Whatever you have planned, it’s not going to work.”
Mint felt pretty good about that. Or at least, he wanted to. Inside, his stomach was roiling, and he wondered if he was about to lose his lunch all over the floor. With the blackmailer and a doctor he didn’t know watching. That would probably amuse the blackmailer to no end.
The truth was, the man had a huge amount of leverage.
There was no way Mint wanted Emma to lose her freedom, her future, or her life. And he would do everything he could to make things okay again for her.
“Mr. Caulder?” the blackmailer said. “Your device, or this woman’s life?”
Brent shifted.
Mint glanced at him. He wanted to shake his head, to tell Brent not to do it. Emma wouldn’t want it. But despite what he’d said, Mint realized he didn’t have it in him to convince someone else. Even though he wanted to.
Brent swallowed. “What difference does it make who is in danger? My wife, or a woman you care about?” He asked the question in a low voice, but not so low the blackmailer couldn’t hear.
“She wouldn’t want this.”
“If he gets his hands on my device, he could destroy infrastructure. Entire buildings. Lives will be lost, if that’s what he wants.”
“So this guy is a terrorist?”
The blackmailer laughed again. “So quick to label everyone a terrorist. That’s what’s wrong with the world these days. Real terrorists are called religious extremists, and we’re supposed to tolerate their beliefs. Anyone with an agenda is labeled a terrorist, even if their agenda is just to own a whole lot of guns.”
Mint wanted to know why this scientific research doctor had made a device that could topple buildings and kill people. Whatever it was, why make it in the first place? Especially when it was vulnerable to being stolen by blackmailers.
“The code, Mr. Caulder.”
Brent said, “If he takes it, you have to get it back.”
“Don’t let him get it,” Mint said, torn between safeguarding national security and Emma’s life.
“Tick. Tock.”
Brent turned to the phone, as though he couldn’t look Mint in the eye and give the blackmailer the code at the same time. It wasn’t weakness. Not when lives were on the line. And it wasn’t strength for Mint to allow Emma to be hurt, or die, just to keep some device safe. Mint didn’t know what it was. He just knew he didn’t like being forced to make the decision, the same way Emma wasn’t going to like the outcome. No matter which he chose, it was going to cost all of them.
Mint ran his hands down his face while Brent listed off a series of numbers, letters and punctuation. Then said, “That’s it.”
The line went dead.
Mint said, “What is this device?”
Brent turned to him, defeat written all over his flushed face. “A sonic—”
The door slammed open. An armed man breached the doorway. Mint snapped into action, even before his eyes registered the man’s weapon out, pointed at them. He slammed into Brent Caulder, and they both hit the ground.
Shots went off.
Mint pulled his gun, rolled to face the gunman and squeezed the trigger.
A bullet slammed into his chest.
Emma typed in the code. Her hand shook so badly she almost fumbled a couple of the numbers. But she managed to get it all in. She pressed enter and the light turned green, so she pulled on the door handle.
The door opened and with it came a whoosh of air, like the room had been pressurized. Sterilized, maybe, so dust didn’t get in. Something like that.
In the center, on a table, was a silver thing that looked like some kind of weapon. Like one of those rocket launcher things they put on their shoulder and fired in movies. Or some sci-fi movie ray gun. She knew nothing about weapons or rockets. But she knew they were used to kill people.
What was this thing doing in a place dedicated to medical research?
The phone buzzed in her hand. It snapped her out of her thoughts so hard she almost dropped it.
Fifteen seconds.
She lifted the device…whatever it was. Heavier than it looked. Her arm muscles strained, but she figured she could carry it outside.
When she handed it off, would they let her go?
Emma couldn’t help thinking she was going to her death. But was that preferable to going to jail because she got caught by security? Either way, it would cost the lives of other people. Lives she wasn’t willing to risk. Her mom. The man she had always called “Dad”, even though he wasn’t her father. Mint. The rest of the team at Double Down.
The blackmailer had threatened to hurt them one by one. And where would he stop? If she didn’t do this, there was no telling how many people would die.
Emma backtracked through the halls. On the way, she got two more texts to avoid the security guard. Fear was a tang in her mouth, like a metallic aftertaste. She clutched the weapon to her chest. Maybe she would inadvertently press a button and wind up killing herself when it went off. At least then she would no longer care.
But what would her life have counted for? Nothing but a whole bunch of mistakes and wasted time. She needed to get past this so she could finally build something good. She wanted to ask Mint what he thought about her ideas, because there had to be a way to put her skills to use that would benefit people’s lives. Otherwise, she was just being selfish.
There was nothing wrong with wanting to earn enough to have a good life, but if she didn’t give of her time and money to people in need, how could she say she believed loving others more than herself was the truth? Her mother talked—a lot. Emma wanted to do something.
The SUV was still parked in the same spot, but behind it a car had pulled up.
A suited man spoke with the two gunmen. He had silver hair and was probably in his sixties. Accustomed to giving instructions.
When she walked up, the man turned to her. “I’ll take that.”
She didn’t move. It was like her arms didn’t want to release the thing. The fear of what it would be used for was simply too great. Why had she been dragged into this? Certainly not because she was strong enough to put it all on the line and stand up to them.
She should just drop—
Emma let go and stepped back in one move.
The weapon fell to the ground with a thud. One of the men rushed forward. The other one who’d been in the SUV strode over.
She backed up, but he caught up to her. He punched her in the stomach.
Emma doubled over, coughing. It took a good few seconds before she could push the pain and breathlessness aside enough to straighten again.
The older man who’d shown up in the car was grinning at her. “Nice try.” He turned to the one who’d picked up the device. “You can put that in my car.”
“Yes, sir.” The man did as asked. More like commanded.
Was this the blackmailer?
It was a shame the device hadn’t gone off when it hit the ground. Hopefully it was broken now. Though nothing had fallen off with the impact.
Emma took another step back. Ready to run. The man’s eyes gleamed. He shifted and pulled back one side of his suit jacket. On his belt was a badge. FBI. This guy was an agent? “Secure her and put her in my backseat. I’ll get her booked for breaking into this facility.”
“The weapon is in your car.” Emma glanced between the three of them, trying to figure a way out. “It’ll be obvious you stole it.”
“No one’s going to check.”
“I’ll tell them it’s there!”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Gentlemen. I need to get back on schedule.”
Emma turned and darted away. She got two steps before someone tackled her. They landed on the ground, and the weight of another person landing on her back drove all the air from her lungs in a whoosh. She cried out, struggling to get free.
Then she heard the rustle of clothing, but not from the man on top of her. The agent’s voice came again, this time closer. “Take care of this.”
She wriggled, pinned by the weight of her captor. Managed to see around him. The FBI agent moved away and headed for his car. He was leaving?
The man on her shifted his arm from under her. Emma had a split second to realize what was happening, and then both his hands were wrapped around her neck.
She kicked out with her legs, but his weight pinned her hips to the ground. Rocks bit into several places at her back. She got enough leverage to kick him and ended up expending breath and energy trying to get him off her.
She grabbed his wrists and tried to pull him off, but she had no strength.
Then there was no air left in her lungs. She choked, trying to draw breath. His fingers around her neck tightened.
A car started, and the sound of the engine moved away along with tires on gravel. Her vision swam. She let go of his wrists and felt around on the ground, knowing it was her last chance.
She was dying.