Involuntary Control (Gray Spear Society) (7 page)

He nodded somberly. "Speaking of God, Aaron mentioned he felt His presence when he received the ability to spit acid. Did you have the same experience?"

She raised her index finger and forced a drop of venom to form at the tip of her sharp, black fingernail. The clear liquid gleamed in the sunlight. "Yes."

"What was it like?" He leaned forward eagerly.

"The Lord was very angry. I felt no love in Him that day. He gave me these fingernails so I could destroy His enemies. It was an important moment in my life, obviously, but I can't say I enjoyed it. It was absolutely terrifying, humbling, and painful."

"Painful?"

She rubbed her fingers and felt a sharp tingle. "It still is. The venom is a distillation of His burning rage."

"I hope I get a gift from God someday." He sighed.

"Stick around long enough and you might. It generally happens at moments of greatest need. But don't depend on it. The Lord judges most
legionnaires
not worth the trouble of saving. Of course being stupid, sloppy, or lazy won't improve your chances."

"Why were you and Aaron chosen?"

She shrugged. "I wish I knew. I certainly have my flaws."

He frowned.

"What's wrong now?" she said in a tone of exasperation.

"You two don't seem very... spiritual," he said. "You never even pray. Yet you have this profound relationship with God. No offense, but I don't get it."

"There are many forms of prayer." She drew a serrated dagger from up her sleeve. "My sermons are written in the blood of His enemies. They speak about the fleeting nature of life. Aaron uses a sniper rifle to demonstrate the power of God over man. You can't get more spiritual than that."

Smythe returned with a small, steel briefcase and three flashlights. Marina and Norbert each took a flashlight. Smythe kicked open the access panel on the side of the house. He crawled into the dark hole without hesitation. Norbert followed immediately. Marina needed a moment to gather her courage before bringing up the rear.

The crawlspace under the house was as unpleasant as she had feared. The ground was moist, dark dirt littered with insect husks. The wooden beams above were so low she had to wriggle on her belly. Spiders watched her from their webs as she scooted past. Crickets chirped, and she almost squashed a centipede with her hand.

Smythe selected a spot near the middle of the house. He opened the briefcase and took out a block of C4. Using his fingers, he pinched off several wads the size of a quarter and stuck them to the wood above his head. He wired the charges to a timer.

"Three minutes." He pressed a red button on the timer. "Move back."

Everybody backed away quickly.

The explosion sounded loud to Marina, but she was in an enclosed space. She didn't expect the neighbors would hear it.

Smythe crawled forward into a cloud of dust and looked up. "Perfect." He climbed through the new hole into the house.

Norbert and Marina followed.

She found herself in a dark, empty bedroom. She had to assume it was a bedroom because there was no furniture at all. She shined her flashlight around and found no evidence of habitation.

She grabbed her gun.

The next room was just as empty. There were marks in the carpet to show where a couch had once stood, but an even layer of dust indicated it had been removed a while ago.

"I don't understand," she said. "Why install so much security on an abandoned house?"

"In here," Norbert called.

She followed his voice through a door into a kitchen. A heavy wooden table stood in the center of the room, and a great pile of equipment covered the surface. She counted several tall computers amid an insane maze of connections. Thick bundles of wires came up from holes in the floor. There were so many fans it sounded like a jet engine. So many green and red lights blinked it seemed like Christmas had come. The room was noticeably warmer than the others.

"Here are the hacker's computers," Smythe said, "but where is the hacker?"

"I bet this is a firewall," Marina said. "He knew if people came looking for him, they would come here first. He must have some kind of remote access. Very smart."

Smythe walked around the table. "I'm not an expert, but even I can tell this is expensive hardware. At least we know we're on the right track. What's the next step?"

"I'm not sure." She frowned. "Let me think for a minute."

She knelt down and shined her flashlight through the holes in the floor where the cables came up. She saw white plastic conduit emerging from the ground below.

"Look!" Norbert pointed towards a corner of the ceiling.

She shined her flashlight and saw a tiny surveillance camera. "Shit."

Flashing red and blue lights caught her attention. She ran to the front of the house and pulled aside a curtain. Two police cars were parked on the street.

"We have company!" she called out.

She wished Aaron were here. He was a genius at coming up with quick and clever solutions to unexpected problems.
But he's not here,
she thought.
I have to be clever instead, just like the old days.

"Norbert," she said, "remove your weapons. Completely disarm yourself."

"Why?" Norbert said.

"Because the police are going to bust in here in a minute. I don't want them to freak out when they arrest you."

"I don't understand."

"Smythe and I are leaving," she said, "but you're not. Your job is to keep the cops busy. Smythe, move! We're going back down."

Marina and Smythe ran back to the bedroom. They went down through the hole into the crawlspace.

An amplified male voice boomed. "We have you surrounded! Come out with your hands up! Don't make us come in there!"

Marina heard Norbert's footsteps as he walked across the house.

"He needs to work on moving silently," Smythe whispered. "He sounds like an elephant up there."

Marina waited impatiently. She used the butt end of her flashlight to squash a spider.

The police busted into the house and started screaming orders. It sounded like they had kicked down both the front and back doors at the same time.

She scooted over to the hole where they had originally entered. Carefully, she poked her head outside. There were no cops in sight.

"All clear," she whispered to Smythe.

She jogged across a side yard and ran around a neighboring house. He followed close behind. They squatted down behind a bush. The setting sun cast long shadows that provided additional cover.

"What now?" he whispered. "Are we going to let the cops take Norbert to the police station?"

"It's a tempting idea," she said. "Going through the booking process would be educational for him. Every Spear needs to be arrested at least a few times just for the experience."

"I've only been through it once. How many times for you?"

"Many. I like to use knives as a fashion accessory, but for some reason the authorities don't appreciate my style." She shrugged innocently. "Busting Norbert out of jail will take too much time. We have to rescue him now. Follow my lead."

She brushed off as much dirt from her clothes as she could. Then she calmly walked out to the street and surveyed the situation.

Norbert stood near the police cars with his hands cuffed behind his back. One officer was interrogating him while another watched warily. The door to the house was open. Marina assumed one or two more cops were searching for evidence inside.

Several neighbors had wandered out of their homes. They were about to get a rare treat: watching Gray Spear Society
legionnaires
at work.

"You want to do this in front of all these witnesses?" Smythe said. "Isn't that against the rules?"

"It's a borderline case," Marina said. "As long as nobody gets seriously hurt, I think we'll be OK. We don't have any choice. I'll handle the two cops with Norbert. I want you to guard the front door of the house in case somebody comes out. We'll escape in my car."

"What about the other two cars?"

"We'll get them later. Until we're clear of this mess, we should stick together."

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

Both of them walked forward at a relaxed but steady pace. She kept her hands at her sides in a non-threatening manner. Her expression was one of mild curiosity.

The two officers noticed her. The bigger one said, "Ma'am, please stay back! We're in the middle of an arrest."

"This is our house," Marina said. "What's going on?" She continued approaching.

"You live here?"

"We own the place. What happened? Why is the door broken?"

Smythe took his position by the front door. Norbert watched the proceedings and kept his mouth shut.

"We received a 911 call about a burglary in progress," the cop said. "We found this man inside the house. Please, ma'am, don't get so close."

Marina smiled as she put her hand on his neck and injected a dose of venom into his carotid artery. The move was so casual it looked like a friendly gesture. Venom went straight into the officer's brain, and he passed out immediately. She caught him to keep his head from striking the pavement.

"What's going on?" she said anxiously. "Is something wrong with him?"

The other cop hurried over for a closer look. She grabbed his wrist and injected venom into his veins.

He yanked his hand back. "Ow! What the fuck?" He looked at his wrist. "I'm bleeding. What did you do?"

She grimaced. "Sorry. I must've scraped you with my fingernails."

He put his hand on his forehead. "I don't feel good." He slumped over.

She eased him to the ground. She quickly found a handcuff key on the officer's belt and freed Norbert.

Another cop came out of the house. Smythe knocked him out with a nicely executed kick-punch combination.

"Come on!" Marina called. "Let's go!"

Smythe ran over. The three Spears got into her car with Marina behind the steering wheel. She drove off, passing surprised bystanders along the way.

"That went smoothly," she said.

"Yeah," Smythe said. "If only all our problems were that easy to fix."

"Sometimes we catch a break."

She headed towards the nearest highway. She needed to get far away from the crime scene as quickly as possible. Once she was at a safe distance, she would find a place to hide until the heat died down.

She glanced at Norbert, who sat in the front on the passenger's side. He was glaring angrily out the window.

"Is something wrong?" she said.

"You used me as a decoy," he muttered.

"You just figured that out?"

He turned away.

"You're alive and safe," she said, "so be happy. I'll make a deal with you. As soon as you're not the weakest member of this team, you can stop being the decoy. Is that fair?"

He was silent.

"I asked you a question," she said. "Is that fair?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She rolled her eyes. "Our hacker made a 911 call to the Lemonseed police a few minutes ago. Find out where it came from."

"I'll call Aaron," Smythe said, "and he can call Wendy. I bet she can get that information for us." He took out his phone.

Marina kept her eyes open for trouble. She saw flashing blue lights approaching rapidly from ahead, and she diverted the car onto a side road. In her rear view mirror she saw two state police cars shoot past. She proceeded forward instead of turning back. She would use one of the many farm roads to escape.

After a few minutes Smythe said, "I have the information. The 911 call came from a cell phone. Tower triangulation has it somewhere in the one hundred block of Maple Lane."

"We just came from there!" Marina said. "I bet it was one of the neighbors who came out to watch. The hacker was looking right at us! Shit. I should've paid more attention."

"I guess we're going back. We need to pick up the other cars anyway."

"Not right now. There are too many cops around there. What time is it? Six? We'll go back when it's dark, quiet, and safe."

"What will we do until then?" Norbert said.

"We'll find a motel," Marina said. "I like to take a long nap before working a late shift. A hot shower is always nice, too. Once things get busy, there may not be much time for sleep."

Chapter Five

Marina parked her car in the shadow cast by a tree. She saw no sign of activity on Maple Lane but she watched for a few minutes anyway. She wasn't in a hurry.

When she was satisfied it was safe, she turned to her companions. Like her, Smythe and Norbert had changed into dark gray tights with a camouflage pattern printed on the fabric. Their weapons and equipment hung from utility belts. There was no reason to wear a disguise when they had no intention of being seen.