Brothers in Arms

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Drake let the bikers close the doors to the hangar before dragging the three kidnappers they had abducted out of the back of the car. They had been physically thrown into the trunk, a tangle of arms and heads oozing blood, and now they were deposited onto the rough concrete the same way, without regard for their injuries.

“I want answers.” Drake kicked his way among them. “And the first wanker to start talking gets his wounds tended to.”

The suit with the thigh wound writhed. No doubt feeling precious life draining from him, he spoke up first. “We don’t own this ring. We’re just a part of it. Please—”

“Keep going.” Alicia came up now, closely followed by Lomas and Dirty Sarah.

“It’s big. We’re a small part. Nothing more. The chain starts down the coast of Spain. All the cities down that way are targeted. The sleepers are sent to a halfway house in Barcelona before being brought here and then transported, by train, to Moscow.”

“Interesting term.” Alicia picked up on it instantly. “Sleepers.”

“It’s what the Russians call them. It’s said the captives are put to sleep somewhere by the Koreans. For months. Years. But mostly — forever.”

“Because they die en route? From wounds you give them?”

“No. It is the sleeping that kills the bulk of them. I don’t know why.”

“Experiments.” Drake kicked a man in frustration. “You are providing human beings for experimentation. I’ve seen the other end of the chain. It’s sickening.”

“We are just a cog.” The German clearly sensed his anger. “Nothing more.”

Drake drew his gun and flicked the safety off. “Like fuck you are.”

“Wait.” Lomas stepped forward before the Englishman could pull the trigger. “If we kill the one who talks, we risk losing them all.”

Alicia nodded. “Spoken like a true inquisitor.”

Drake fought the darkness back. Thick black winds receded slowly from his vision and his soul. Think of Mai, he repeated the adage again and again. At last, he managed to lower the weapon.

Now Lomas signaled to Whipper. “Got some use for you, darlin’.”

The leather-clad woman stalked forward, boot heels clipping across the floor. In her right hand, she held a thin black object. When she stopped she let it unfurl.

A bullwhip. A single-tailed length of braided leather with a twelve-inch, intricately formed leather handle. There was an even thinner piece of nylon cord at the whip’s end, which allowed the weapon, if thrown properly, to exceed the speed of sound and send back a sonic boom.

“Now.” Alicia grunted with malice in her voice. “Now you’re in trouble.”

One of the captives rose to his knees, shouting in defiance. Without warning, Whipper flicked out, arm muscles straining. The meat of the leather cracked the man across the face. The cracker snapped about a foot behind him. The clap of the sonic boom made everyone except Lomas jump.

The man, defiant no longer, thrust a palm against his cheeks as they parted in the middle. Blood poured between his fingers and dripped to the floor in a red torrent.

The suit stared, aghast. The words spilled from him faster than the other man’s blood. “The orders come out of Korea. And…and from the States.”

Drake’s ears pricked up. “What about the States?”

“It’s all I know. A powerful man is involved. An American. That’s all. He has contacts in Europe. They direct us to where the expat Americans end up living.”

“The Barcelona address,” Alicia said. “Let’s have it.”

Whilst the man reeled off another European address, Drake fished out a cellphone and dialed Hayden. The new boss of SPEAR answered on the first ring.

“Drake. Thank God.”

“Aye up. You guys still alive?”

“Barely. It’s war over here, man.”

Drake strode over to a quiet corner of the hangar, head down. “What’s going on?”

“First off, we’re all okay. But the HQ suffered major damage. The enemy attacked en masse. Dahl and the others are pulling up to a safe house as we speak. And Drake — Ben didn’t take the fight well. He’s totally freaked.”

“Damn kid needs to go home,” Drake said before he could stop himself. But he didn’t apologize. He wouldn’t apologize for Ben anymore.

“Keeps saying he’s got blood on his hands.”

Drake flashed back to the scene aboard the Destroyer after the Blood King vanished and started the blood vendetta. He saw Ben holding Kennedy’s body, blood everywhere.

“He’ll be right.”

“Well, Mano and I are nearing the hotel.” She paused, then rushed on. “For work. It’s where this whole thing began. Looks as though a Korean general and an American got scared when a bunch of strangers accidentally saw them together.”

“That’s it?”

“Pretty much. As it happened, they had nothing to fear. But they didn’t know that. Paranoia, my friend. Along with guilt, it’s our best psychological weapon against the madmen who aspire to rule our world.”

“We’re starting to realize from this end that the kidnapping ring is directly connected to the island and even your American. And if the island is connected to your general, then he’s been involved in this thing for years. Not weeks.”

Hayden was silent for a moment. “Clearly, we’re still missing a part of the puzzle. Somebody has to find out what really goes on at that island.”

“Have you heard from Mai?”

“Not yet. But she’s our best, Drake. She’ll be okay.”

Drake stared into space. “If you guys have been openly attacked at the HQ and even on the road, it sounds like our American and Korean friends have started their endgame. I’m getting on a plane today with Alicia. You need us.”

The relief in Hayden’s voice was palpable. “Don’t be long, Matt.”

Drake stalked back to the interrogation. “Everything’s gone to shit,” he said. “New plan. Alicia — you and I need to head back to Washington. Romero — you and some of the local troops need to organize a raid on that house in Barcelona. You up for that?”

The marine looked surprised but agreeable. “Sure, man.”

Lomas met Drake’s eyes with a keen stare. “And us?”

“Go home,” Drake said, “with my eternal thanks. We couldn’t have done this without you.”

“We’re going back?” Alicia was saying. “Right now?”

“Well, there’s a Dinorock answer to that. ‘Good Girls Go to Heaven, Bad Girls Go to Washington D.C.’ Something like that.”

“How about ‘Born to be Wild?’” Alicia pursed her lips as Lomas questioned her with a look. “You heard of that one?”

“If you’re still a part of this team, you should come with me.” Drake saw now that his old friend had no agenda other than to follow her heart. She wasn’t playing anyone. She didn’t even know what she wanted from life herself.

For the first time, he found himself wondering what had happened to her. What made a young girl aspire to become an elite member of a world-class Special Forces group?

Maybe a story for another time.

He waved a hand. “If not, you should stay with them.”

He walked away. Alicia threw a stone at his back and then grabbed Lomas by the hand, leading him toward his Ducatti Monster.

“Fuckin’ hell, Drake. I just meant give me ten minutes.”