The mention of the sharks only amped up his fear, to the point he felt like a cotton ball was surrounding his head, the sounds dampened from the outside as his ears began to ring.
They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Chen said, “We’re going to walk to the car on the jogging path across the canal. If you see someone, remember to act natural.”
He nodded, feeling like he was going to vomit. His face crossed into the light of a bulb above the stairwell and Chen said, “Are you okay?”
Zhi turned around at the words, and the pent-up fear Jake felt exploded out. He gave a banshee scream, throwing himself on top of Zhi and knocking her to the ground. They rolled in the grass and he leapt up, diving into the bushes, then running as fast as he could out of the yard to the canal. He heard a shout behind him but didn’t dare look back.
He found the footbridge and was running like his life depended on reaching the far side.
Because it did.
He heard nothing but his feet slapping concrete, then a shout behind him. Soon, he heard their footsteps echoing off the concrete as well, gaining on him. He tried to increase his pace, his lungs burning in protest. Carrying forty pounds of hamburgers and donuts from a sedentary life, he began to weep, begging whatever gods existed to let him make it.
He was almost to the far side when he glanced back, and saw Zhi right behind him, closing fast. He shouted in fear and jumped over the railing into the canal, desperately trying to get clear. He landed in the marsh of the bank and began thrashing through the bushes, trying to hide in the dark, his noise doing nothing to help him.
She followed, launching herself over the railing and slamming into the muck right behind him. She stalked through the reeds like a jungle cat. He started to scramble up the bank, and she grabbed his leg, jerking him back down to the water. Frozen in fear, lying on his back, he held his hands in front of his face and said, “Don’t! Please don’t.”
She slammed his head into the dirt, her eyes flashing in insane anger. She put her wicked nail on his neck and he heard, “Zhi!”
He looked up and saw Chen at the end of the bridge. Zhi hissed, then traced the nail on his cheek, drawing blood. She said, “You are lucky. The car is just up the hill. Next time I will kill you. And not quickly.”
He nodded and she stood, saying, “Get up.”
He did so, and then saw her eyes again, radiating a bloodlust. She wanted to kill him, for no other reason than that it would be fun.
Chen saw it as well, saying, “Get him up here. No more damage. We have a boat to catch.”
I heard Jennifer’s calls as the group descended the stairs. When she said, “I have control,” I motioned to Knuckles and Brett, saying, “When they take the shot, we clear the rest of the house.”
They nodded and we stacked on the door, waiting on the hit. I heard the call of stand by and raised my weapon, waiting on the shot like a stallion in a stall anticipating the gate.
It never came. Instead I heard a scream, then,
Koko: Jesus Christ! Veep, Veep, I have no shot.
Veep: I have a shot. I have a shot, but not on the female.
Koko: Take it. Take the shot.
I looked at Knuckles, incredulous of what I was hearing. We waited a beat, then heard Veep come on: “They’re running. They’re running. They’re in the street.”
Jennifer said, “I’m on them, I’m on them.”
Snapping back into team leader mode, not knowing what was happening outside, but knowing for sure I didn’t want to split the team into two different operations—especially since we still needed to eliminate the threat in the house to protect them—I clicked on and said, “Stand down. Stand down. We’re clearing.”
I flicked my head to Knuckles and he flowed out, Brett right behind him. We raced down the hallway, entering a kitchen area and seeing a family room to the left, a man standing next to an open door, looking out at the location of the scream.
He turned, and Brett put four rounds into his chest, the small caliber of the pistol not showing much damage, but he dropped with his eyes wide in shock. I turned into the room, seeing another man leap up, scrambling for something on the couch. I paused, tracked his movement, and squeezed the trigger twice, hitting his head. He flopped onto the floor, his skull cracked open like someone had used a clawhammer.
Knuckles continued on, clearing the final room, a kitchen closet. He came back out, shaking his head. I nodded and said, “Start SSE. We need to get out of here in under five minutes.”
They went to work, and I called Jennifer. “Koko, Koko, status?”
“We’re good, but the target is gone. We have no jackpot.”
“What happened?”
Veep came on, saying, “Pirate freaked out. They reached the bottom of the stairs and he dove on top of the woman, then took off running. He cleared the edge of the yard in about a millisecond with the woman right behind him, and my target jumped to follow.”
He paused, then said, “I held my shot.”
I knew he was asking if he’d failed. Or owning up to failing, which was stupid, because he hadn’t. I said, “No issues with the decision. We didn’t need a firefight. Where’s Pirate?”
“Pike, this is Koko. I followed to the road. They’re across the canal. They’re in the wind. I have no idea if Pirate is still on the run or under control.”
With Knuckles and Brett still searching, I said, “Koko, Veep, collapse inside. We’re leaving out of the back.”
They came up the stairs, entered the room, and Veep said, “We really had no chance. When he went nuts—”
I held up my hand. “Stop.” I turned to Jennifer and said, “What do you think?”
Veep believed I was looking for a scapegoat. Jennifer knew I was looking for solutions to the problem. He’d learn that eventually, but I didn’t have the time to pat him on the back to make him feel good.
Jennifer said, “I honestly don’t know. He’s obviously hip deep in this, but I’m not sure it’s because he wants to be. I tracked him all the way down the stairs, and it looked like he was having a panic attack. I was squeezing the trigger on the woman, and he literally freaked out, diving on her like he was jumping off the stage at a goth concert. He punched her in the head and then took off running like a scalded dog. It didn’t even look like he had a destination. He just went nuts.”
I nodded and said, “So we have a traitor who may not be a traitor?”
Jennifer thought for a minute, then said, “No. He’s a traitor. I think he’s a traitor who didn’t know what that actually meant. He’s scared because of what he has. What they want. That’s what I think.”
I nodded, saying, “I think you’re right. What’re the odds they found him?”
“Good. Really good. I’m sure he didn’t get away. He was running blind, and they were right behind him. Panic can’t compete with skill. They have him.”
I nodded and said, “Maybe they’ll come back here.”
Veep said, “They were leaving for a reason. I don’t think they were ever coming back here again. We need to find that location.”
I heard the words and said, “I think you’re also right. For once.”
He smiled, taking the backhanded compliment, then said, “I think they were leaving the country.”