Broken (14 page)

“
Yeah,” Zack said, indifferent. “No kidding. I felt it, you know. I took her hand before I left, when I was saying goodbye. I got all lightheaded when I tried to stand up but I had no idea it was from that. I figured the pain in my hand was just delayed from when I tangled with Wolfe.”

“
And by tangled, you mean when you got your ass kicked.”

“
Yeah,” Zack said. “So anyway, what was the deal?”

“
When she was in containment,” Kurt said, and looked around, as though there were someone in the car with them, “Winter had me go down there to taunt her, goad her, then offer to spring her. He wanted me to play on her guilt from being able to see everything that was happening on the news. He told me what to say, how to say it.” Hannegan shook his head. “They’ve been feeding her a steady diet of misery while she was down there, making her feel guilty.”

“
Who?” Zack looked at him with unconcern. “Ariadne?”

“
Maybe her, too,” Kurt said, waving him off, “but definitely Winter. He wanted her to know what was going on, how many people were dying. And then he goes and tells me to help her get out. I dunno whether he wanted to see if she’d try or if he really wanted her outta here, but he told me to help her escape, and take her wherever she wanted to go if it was here in the cities. So I did. Dropped her off at her house. Turns out he’s trailing us the whole time with a squad.” Hannegan shook his head in amused disbelief. “We see Wolfe go into her house from a couple blocks away and he just keeps us at a distance. He’s got the place bugged from top to bottom, and he’s sitting there with one of the tech guys as everything’s going on, that stoic face of ice.” Hannegan’s expression changed, and he smacked his lips together. “He sent her there to die, man. I wouldn’t get real attached to that girl, cuz Winter already tried to throw her to the undertaker once.” There was almost an expression of guilt on Hannegan’s fat face, furtive, almost ashamed. “I mean, she’s a little bitch, but—”

“
Yeah, that sucks,” Zack said with all the interest he might give a pronouncement about the weather.

“
Yeah,” Hannegan said. “You’re not concerned?”

“
She’s just a job, pal,” Zack said, and looked back to the steering wheel. “I do what I’m told. Like playing undercover, y’know. Acting.”

“
Yeah,” Hannegan said, “but didn’t he tell you he wanted you to get close to her to get her to stay?”

Zack nodded. “Yeah. And?”

“
But then he had me help her throw herself into the path of Wolfe?” Hannegan gave Zack a knowing look. “What do you think the old man’s playing at? One minute he saves her, the next he tosses her to the wolves—err … Wolfe?”

“
Who knows?” Zack asked with a light shrug. “It’s a job. A weird job, but a job. Pays better than being a city cop, or even an FBI starter like my college roommate.”

“
Yeah, but if he’s that quick to toss one of his own under a bus, do you think he’ll ever pull that with either of us?” Kurt eyed Zack, watching for a response.

“
I dunno,” Zack said. “Probably tends to make me look over my shoulder a little more carefully, though.”

“
Smart move,” Kurt said, shifting his bulk in the car seat to look straight ahead again. “Seriously, though. I wouldn’t get attached to the girl.”

“
It’s just a job, man.” Zack put his hands on the wheel. “In addition to being the death of me if I touch her for very long, she’s not really my type.” He frowned. “And immature. Maybe a little crazy, locked up all those years. Who knows?”

“
Yeah, well,” Kurt said, “I’m just trying to watch your back, y’know. Somebody should around here.”

“
I gotcha, buddy,” Zack said with a wide, exaggerated smile. “And I’ll watch your back, too. We’re humans in a meta world; we need all the help we can get, right?”

“
I suppose so,” Kurt said, and turned his eyes back out the windshield. “I will tell you, though, I’m glad the girl won in that bout with Wolfe. If she kills that bastard in the metal suit, I might almost like her.”

“
I doubt it,” Zack said. “You don’t really like anyone.”

“
I liked you well enough up til now, you jackass.”

They both laughed, and the dreamlike quality of the world around me faded into an insistent buzzing sound. I came back to consciousness, in the car, the drowse of sleep clinging to my eyes as I forced them open. A streetlight overhead shed light on me, giving me a view of the parking lot of the bar. I was still here, and when I glanced back, I saw that the place was closed, all the lights off now. Snow had started to fall while I was unconscious, and there was a light dusting already on the ground. I wondered how long I had been asleep when my cell phone buzzed again in my coat. I picked it out of my pocket and thumbed it on, then hit the message indicator. The text was from Kurt, and was as simple as could be.

Meet me at Carlson HQ off 394 and 694 ASAP. Winter is leaving the country TONIGHT. One last chance to get a shot at him and then he’s gone; destination unknown
.

17.

The car bucked slightly as I pulled it into the parking lot at the Carlson towers. The only other one here was Kurt, leaning up against the side of his car as snowflakes fell around him, illuminated by the lamps in the lot.

I pulled up next to him, keeping myself from actively running him over. I felt a surge of numbness coupled with faint irritation at the sight of him. The fact that it didn’t exactly translate into an instant desire to harm him gave me little hope for what was left of my soul, especially since I’d so recently done so much killing.

I threw the door open and took a long sniff of the night air. As I got out, the flakes came down on my shoulder and I felt the tingle on my head as they caught in my hair and started to melt. “Well?” I asked expectantly.

His face was shadowed, his acne scars even more prominent in the darkness. “Well, you’ve done it now. Eve got away and warned him, so now Winter’s fleeing the country. He’s out of here in less than an hour.”

“
Didn’t know I could scare him that bad. No idea where he’s going?” I asked. I felt a sense of caution; after my most recent dream, I wasn’t quite sure where I stood with Kurt.

“
Nope.” He shook his head. “But he’s lost the rest of his security detail except for Eve and Bastian. The other guys bailed on him; Jackson talked them out of showing up.” He let a half-smile. “Told ‘em it’d be hazardous to their health if they got between you and Winter.”

“
Remind me to write him a thank-you note after I finish murdering the last of my enemies,” I said acidly, and Hannegan’s smile disappeared. “Where are they?”

“
The airport in Eden Prairie,” he said, and any mirth he’d shown was gone. “It’s just down the street—”

“
From the mall,” I said. “I know.”

“
He chartered a plane,” Kurt said soberly. “Like I said, dunno where he’s going, but he’s getting gone. Eve and Bastian are going with him.”

I let out a sordid smile. “I guess Eve really does care more about saving her ass than her girlfriend’s.”

Kurt didn’t really know how to take that. “You killed her, didn’t you? Ariadne?”

I rode right past that one. “They got any weapons?”

Kurt looked uneasy, but answered anyway. “Whatever they’d normally have. Probably pistols. Hard to imagine them toting much bigger around the airfield, but I suppose it’s possible. They’re there now; you might wanna hurry.”

“
Okay,” I said. I turned back to my car, not wanting to look at him as I said the next thing that was on my mind. “You knew all along he was gonna screw me over again, didn’t you?”

Hannegan flinched; I could hear it in the pause before his reply. “You found about that first time, huh? With Wolfe? I didn’t know he’d do it again. Not for sure, anyway. But then again, with Winter … no one knows what’s going on in his head.”

I nodded slowly as I turned back to face him. I took a step closer, inches from him. “Let me tell you what’s going on in my head right now. I’m gonna take this information you’ve given me, and I’m gonna make a run at Eve, Bastian and Winter. If I can, I’m going to kill every last one of them. If I fail and they kill me, that’s fine. That’s the name of the game. If I succeed but they kill me, that’s also fine. But if I fail … and I fail because you’ve screwed me in some way … “ I leaned closer and let my bare palm caress Hannegan’s pockmarked cheek, “I’ll be adding another name to my list.” I let him go and walked back to my car.

“
It’s legit info,” Hannegan said, and I stole a look back as I got in the car. He was massaging his face, as though I’d actually hurt him with my touch. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

I stared back at him and let my glare hang between us. “Again, you mean.” I watched his face dissolve from anger, watched it fall. “You mean you wouldn’t do it again.” I slammed the door and started the car, and I didn’t spare him another look or another thought as I pushed it into gear and down the snow-slicked roads toward Eden Prairie.

18.

The airfield was on a bluff, looking out over a beautiful valley that stretched over the horizon. On a clear day you could see Valley Fair from the top of it. It was a great view, one that Zack and I had enjoyed more than a few times, driving down the road next to the airport and making our way down the slow cliff-road at the far side of it.

I couldn’t see any of it in the dark. I made my way to the high fence as the snow continued to fall. It had slowed my drive, taken it down to a slog, twenty miles per hour the entire way, even on the freeway. The plows had yet to start dealing with the mess that Mother Nature had started to dump on the state of Minnesota, but I wasn’t sure I cared. I could see a plow running on the airfield, clearing one of the lanes, its big orange front end plow pushing the snow in front of it as it endeavored to make a space for a plane to take off.

I had parked down the road at a gas station and run the rest of the way; with the snow and the cold, I figured I had made it almost as quickly as if I’d driven up to the front gates. I presumed the field was normally closed at this time of night, but they were either making an exception for Old Man Winter or he was ensuring he was the first one to leave in the morning. I didn’t really care which, I only cared that he wasn’t going to be leaving alive.

I cleared the perimeter fence with a mighty jump and landed in the snow, sparing myself an embarrassing fall by maintaining my balance and footing. It didn’t really matter if I faced off with Old Man Winter while covered in snow, I supposed, but my seething fury made me think I’d look more dangerous if I wasn’t covered in fresh powder.

There were a cluster of hangars ahead, corrugated metal buildings that screened me from sight of the main runways. I hurried over to them, keeping myself bent low. I had no idea where Eve or Bastian were, or Old Man Winter himself, come to think of it.

My feet crunched in the snow as I ran. A few lights hanging off the sides of the buildings were the sole source of illumination under the dark, snow-filled skies. I listened as I went and paused at the back of the building. I heard something around the corner, footsteps, and I halted, my hands going under my coat as quickly as I could get them there. They emerged with an M4 rifle that I’d pilfered from Parks’ stash. I’d carried one from time to time in training and was familiar with it. It had a much better range than any of the submachine guns but wasn’t as good at distance as the sniper rifle I’d picked up. That was okay, though. I wasn’t planning to be at long range.

I wanted to be up close and personal.

The footsteps edged closer and I held my breath. I needed to be quiet; whoever it was absolutely could not scream, and I needed them to get off a shot like I needed to throw up a fireworks display that announced, “Sienna is here!” I wished briefly for a knife but instead came up with a simple solution, one that would surely have been approved of by Parks had he been here.

I stayed still against the side of the building as the footsteps came closer, light, crunching in the snow. I saw the barrel of a shotgun first, followed by a person, a flash of blond hair as a face ratcheted toward me in shock, a surprised expression plastered across it. By the time it was fully formed, I had already arced the butt of my rifle out and hit Eve Kappler in the temple.

I heard the crack of bones as her skull fractured and her knees failed. I carried through and caught her as she fell. I plunged to my knees in the snow on top of her, ripping her shotgun out of her hand with my free one and sending it skittering against the side of the building I had been leaning against. I cast a furtive glance over my shoulder along the path she had just walked, but no one was behind me. I grabbed her around the throat and dragged her behind the building, holding her tighter than was probably necessary.

Once I had settled her, I kept my fingers coiled around her throat. She was in a daze, barely conscious, but I was choking her. I kept my hand taut around her neck, and watched as her eyes rolled in her head, then burst open as she came back to consciousness. I had my right knee anchoring her left arm into place even as she tried to get it free. My left hand had hers in a vice grip, and my whole weight was distributed across her. She was pinned in the snow, her blond hair pushed down in the mush as I throttled the life out of her while I waited for my power to take effect.