The Air Singer (The Cantors) (19 page)

Just as
she turned to walk toward the door, an explosion came from the top of the stairs. They stayed in the shadows as they crept toward the library. Four Spina agents entered the room from the stairs.

“Only
four?” Roland whispered. “Haven’t they learned anything? Oliver and I took out four of them by ourselves!”

“Don’t get cocky!” Anna chided. “When the shooting starts, I don’t need a smart ass watching my back!”

“Fine,” Roland pulled the slide back on his pistol. “Time to get stupid.”

He aimed his gun at the Spina agent nearest hi
m and fired. Two blasts from Anna’s shotgun followed. The agent collapsed to the floor as the other three scattered, firing blindly at the dark hallway. The wingback chairs were thrown on their sides along with the end table as the agents looked for cover. Anna signaled Roland to close in on the agents. He stayed low as he inched toward the library. Shots rang out and plaster flew from the wall next to him. He crouched on the floor as Anna sent a spray of lead shot into the room. Two agents scrambled into the kitchen while the third filled the air with bullets.

The gun blasts stopped and Roland took advantage of the pause. He rolled into the room and rushed at the agent still hiding behind a large chair.
The man shot at the paladin as he made his way closer, sending books falling from the shelves against the wall. Anna returned fire in an attempt to give Roland some cover. Roland dove behind a toppled wingback and aimed his gun waiting for the agent to return fire. His patience paid off when a head peeked over the tufted leather. Roland squeezed the trigger. A quick splash of red behind the agent’s head confirmed a good shot.

Roland rushed to the wall near the entrance to the kitchen. He glanced inside. The two agents hid behind the dining room table. Leaning flat next to the doorframe, he nodded and gestured for Anna to join him on that side of the room.

Anna snuck across the books and fallen furniture.

“Two down,” Roland dropped the clip from the handle of his pistol and replaced it with a fresh one.
“Two more to go.”

Anna shook her head. “We saw six on the camera. Only four came down here. I don’t like not knowing where the others are.”

“What’s the plan then?” Roland asked. “Do we finish up down here and take care of these two or head upstairs to face the others and let the self-destruct handle our guests?”

Anna closed her eyes. “Let’s head upstairs, but let me retrieve the server first.”

Roland nodded and glanced into the kitchen again. The agents didn’t move from their hiding spot. He gestured for Anna to make a break for it. She moved along the perimeter of the room. As she reached the center book case, a single shot rang out. Anna whipped around to see two agents on the stairs and two agents creeping up on Roland from the kitchen.

Roland quickly aimed his weapon at the two agents crouching on the stairs. Before he could pull the trigger, the cool steel of a gun barrel touched the base of his skull. He brought his hands up and his gun
was removed from his grip.

“Don’t shoot him,” the taller agent on the stairs instructed. “He can help us find the singer.”

Anna pumped a new shell into her shot gun.

“Let’s not make a bigger mess,” the agent aimed his pistol at the old paladin. “Now place that on the floor nice and slow.”

Anna looked at Roland who nodded slightly. She knelt to the ground inch by inch until she could lay the shot gun on the floor in front of her. She kept her eyes on the Spina agents in the stairwell and took hold of a leather bound book that had fallen in the earlier gun battle. Her arm blurred as she hurled the hardback at the head of agent across the room.

Roland brought his elbow down hard against the Spina agent behind him while he stepped to the side to get out of the line of fire. The second agent grabbed him while the other recovered.

Anna ran toward the computer room. A series of shots whizzed by her head as plaster pelted her when bullets embedded themselves into the wall. She stopped when the agent from the stairwell reached the hallway first. He smiled as he brought his gun level to her head.

“Tie them both up!” he commanded. “Take the paladin into the kitchen and find out where the singer is. James and I are going to find out what is so important down this hall.” 

The large man named James retrieved the shotgun from the floor before escorting Anna down the hallway.

Anna surrendered to her fate. Her only comfort was the possibility that Oliver would escape with Tally before the Spina found her.

Tally tried to control the butterflies in her stomach as the jeep neared the antique store
. For almost a month, she’d dreamed of seeing Roland again. Part of her wanted to scream at him for leaving, part of her never wanted see him again, another part just wanted to hold him, but her entire being pulsed at the anticipation of being close to him again.

Kate sat in the back seat admiring the scenery as Oliver drove down
the highway. “This place is beautiful. It would be perfect for a romantic weekend. I should get Clyde to take me here.”

Tally turned in her seat in order to talk to Kate. “That would be great
. I could meet this new man of yours.” 

Oliver shook his head turn
ed into the parking lot and noticed three large sedans in addition to Roland’s truck. “Business is good today.” 

Tally looked
toward the door and noticed the sign on the door. CLOSED. “Mike must be sick today. Anna forgot to turn the sign around.”

Oliver slammed on the brakes
. “Mike’s truck is here. Something’s not right.”

Gunshots
rang out from the back of the building. Oliver put the jeep in reverse. He sped back to the highway leaving clouds of dust settling in the parking lot.

“What the hell
? Where are you going?” Tally yelled.

“
In case you didn’t recognize that sound, those were gunshots.” Oliver answered. “I need to get you somewhere safe.”

Tally screamed, “Stop
! Roland’s back there!”

Kate leaned forward from the backseat. “Tally, I hate taking sides, but
the farther away we are from gunshots, the better.”

Tally glanced back to make sure Kate’
s seatbelt was on.

“Hold on!” Tally yelled just before causing the front right tire to blow.

Oliver fought to keep control of the jeep and slid to a stop on the shoulder in a cloud of dust.

“Have you lost your mind?” Oliver yelled.
“You could have killed us!”

Tally unfastened her seatbelt and
jumped out of the jeep. “I’m not leaving them.”

Oliver slammed his fists against the steering wheel. “Damn it
! Roland will kill me if something happens to you!”

Tally started sprinting back
toward the facility. “You better keep up then,” she yelled over her shoulder.

Kate fumbled with her seat belt and climbed out of the jeep to run after her friend
. Oliver followed close behind.

Tally stopped running when she arrived in the parking lot.

Oliver and
Kate caught up seconds later. Tally turned to her friend. “Kate, you should go back to the jeep. It’s not safe.”

Kate smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “
Even more reason to stay with you. Better odds if two people are watching your back.”

“We need a plan.” Oliver whispered.
“The weapons are in the control room. If you can get me there, we have a better chance of saving Roland and Anna if it’s not too late.”

“Don’t say that!” Tally snapped at him. “They’re not dead.”

Please don’t be dead!

“If you can get me through the store, I’ll get you to the control room.”

Tally immediately felt the numbness that protected her from the nauseating energy of the antiques. 

She took a deep breath and tried to prepare herself for anything
. The small group walked slowly to the front of the building. Oliver cracked the door and peered in. The store appeared empty. He nodded and the two women slipped inside with him close behind. 

They made it to the back of the store when they happened upon Mike
. He lay unconscious on the floor near the back office door. Oliver checked for a pulse and nodded to Tally that he was still alive. The door and office were charred and smoking due to a small explosion inside. Tally swung the door open and realized the force of the explosion exposed the stairwell by throwing the desk and file cabinets against the wall. 

Oliver grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him
. He proceeded slowly down the stairs. When he reached the bottom he scanned the room for any movement. Satisfied that it was safe, he allowed Tally and Kate to follow. 

Tally observed the damage
. The large wingback chairs lay on their sides riddled with bullets. Open books with pages ripped and torn littered the floor with their ornate leather bindings damaged from the gun battle. “Where is everyone?”

A loud thump coming from the control center answered her before Oliver could
. The three began heading down the hall when the sounds of a scuffle came from the kitchen. Tally stopped and focused on the energy around her. Immediately she became aware of Roland’s presence in the kitchen along with two other darker energies. Anna was in the control room.

“They’re split up
. Anna’s in the control room and Roland is in the kitchen.” She whispered. “They both have company.”

Oliver nodded. “
We rescue Anna first and I arm up. Then we get Roland.”

Tally reluctantly agreed.
She hated the thought of Roland dealing with his captors any longer than necessary, but knew that Oliver was right. The three of them started down the hall. When they reached the door to the control room, muffled voices became clear.

“Give us the password bitch!” A male voice yelled.

Silence was followed by the sound of someone being thrown against the wall. Oliver peered into the doorway. A shotgun lay on the center table with a plethora of papers and maps. Anna lay crumpled against the wall. A large man stomped toward her and grabbed her by the hair dragging her back to the computers.

“Easy with the old bag, James
. She is only useful if she’s awake.” A man’s voice came from the other side of the room.

Oliver
turned to the girls and whispered, “There are two of them. Tally, you create a distraction and I will try to save Anna and get to the armory.”

Kate dug in her purse and pulled out a
small pepper spray canister. “What do you want me to do?”

Oliver covered her hand with both of his and pointed the spray
toward the floor. “I want you to be careful where you point that. In the meantime stay out here until Tally and I get those two under control.”

Kate began to argue when Tally interrupted. “He’s right
, Kate. I don’t want anything to happen to you. If it doesn’t look good, get out of here as fast as you can.”

Tally looked back at Oliver who gave her
a nod that he was ready. She felt the familiar vibration come over her and focused on the room. 

Anna s
cowled when a whirlwind of papers began flying through the air. James, a rather large Spina agent, turned away from her to watch in amazement. Oliver and Tally burst into the room. Oliver charged at James, landing a solid punch against his jaw. The Spina agent recovered in a second and returned the blow, but missed as Oliver dodged his fist and swung at his nose. James blocked Oliver’s second punch and followed with jab to his face.

Anna
stood up from the computers and ran to retrieve her shot gun from the table. A blast rang out from the other end of the room followed by a gut wrenching scream. Anna collapsed to the ground, a bright red stain forming on her skirt near her right calf.

Tally
whipped around to see a tall thin man aiming a pistol at the old paladin. Her anger surged and an unseen wind threw him against the wall of illuminated screens. He dropped to the ground, pummeled by two large monitors that broke away from their brackets. 

Tally turned to
see Oliver take a punch to the face and stumble backwards. He slammed into the wall before regaining his balance. James took advantage of the moment and snagged the gun at his waistband. He pointed it at Tally.

Everyone froze in place
. Oliver snarled at the Spina agent, but remained still. Anna groaned in pain, gripping her leg.

Tally’s eyes shifted between James and the end of the gun
he trained on her chest. Her whole body went numb as she realized that she may never see her friends or family again.

The agent glanced at his friend buried under the fallen monitors.
“Hey, Eddie? Are you okay?”

No sound came from the unconscious agent.
James’ attention returned to the singer. A sinister smile appeared on his face.

“You must be Tally
.” His gaze ran over her body. “So much power in such a pretty, little package.”

Kate watched the scuffle from the doorway. Her breath caught in her throat as her friend stood at the wrong end of a gun. She’d told Tally she’d run if things got bad. Taking a deep breath, she waited to make sure the thug’s back turned toward her and made her move.

“Where the hell is
the ladies room in this place?”

James whipped around
to see Kate behind him. A burst of pepper spray assaulted his eyes and Oliver jumped at the chance to grab the gun from the distracted man.

“On your knees!”
Oliver demanded. James obliged as he fell to the floor, his eyes swelling shut. 

Oliver looked up
, quickly assessing the situation.

“Kate, lock the door so we don’t have any more surprises,” he instructed her. “I’m going to need to bind this guy’s hands. Check the drawer to your left for some zip ties. I use them to keep cords in this place from getting out of hand, but they will work well as handcuffs.”

Kate bolted the door and returned with the zip ties. 

Tally r
ushed to Anna’s side and lifted the skirt away from the woman’s bloody leg.

“
It’s not as bad as it looks, but you need to apply pressure to the wound,” Anna instructed. “There are scissors in the cabinet. Use them to cut the hem of my skirt. You can use the material to fashion a bandage.”

Tally found the scissors just as Anna said
. She cut three inches from the length of her skirt and ended up with a strap of material six feet long.

“Oliver
, I need your shirt!” Tally yelled.

He
pulled his shirt over his head and threw it toward Tally who gathered it into a small mass and pressed it to Anna’s injury.

“This is going to
hurt,” she warned.

Anna nodded and Tally tightened the bandage to her leg with the skirt material, securing it in place
. Anna winced at the pain shooting through her body, but remained silent.

“Sorry!” Tally apologized.

“Oliver!” Anna ignored Tally’s apology. “Why did you bring Tally? You should be getting her as far away from here as possible!”

“You
’re welcome!” Tally interrupted her and stood up. “If you didn’t notice, we just saved your ass.”

“And in the process put yours in danger!” Anna snapped back. “You are more important than any of us
. You need to leave now! This place is going to implode in about fifteen minutes.”

Oliver
ran over and lifted Anna to her feet. “Kate, I need you to help Tally take Anna out of here and get to the jeep.”

Tally began to protest but Oliver continued, “I will get Roland and meet you there in a few minutes.
” He handed Kate the keys to the jeep and grabbed the shotgun from the table. “Now hurry and be quiet.”

Tally indignantly put one of Anna’s arms over her shoulder as Kate took the other
. They started toward the door when Anna started struggling.

“Wait!
The server! We can’t leave the server!”

The trio stopped.

“Where is it?” Tally asked.

“I got it.” Oliver pulled the brief case size
box from the side of the large console at the end of the room. Tally needed both arms to carry the weight of the portable server.

Oliver
cracked the door, checking for any Spina agents lurking in the hall. He opened the door the rest of the way and led the women to the stairs. Kate helped Anna up first. Tally followed, but stopped half way.

She
turned to see Oliver watching from the base of the stairs with the shotgun at his side. He gave her a reassuring wink and motioned for her to continue out of the facility. Tally smiled back and silently prayed that she’d see him and Roland again.

Oliver made his way to the kitchen and leaned flat against the wall
. He listened to the Spina agents questioning his friend. He didn’t dare try to look in, but counted two different agents’ voices coming from the room.

“Where’s the bitch? Where’s the
singer?”

“I haven’t seen her in
weeks.” a tired Roland answered.

Smack!

Oliver winced at the sound of his friend being hit. Taking a deep breath, he burst into the kitchen pointing the shotgun at the two agents standing between him and Roland.