Diesel Page 6

  “Won’t be for long,” Marge said. Her plate was already heaped high.

  It was noodles and who-only-knows what else, but she didn’t care. Eva held out her empty plate, and Diesel pointed at the food and said, “Serve yourself.”

  She helped herself to a decent portion, then sat down. “I feel so much better after a shower,” she said, “but it also made me more tired.”

  “To be expected,” he said. “After eating, you can go to sleep.”

  “Good. I’m looking forward to it,” she admitted. “As long as we’re safe, then hopefully I’ll sleep.”

  “We are right now. We’ll run guard on four-hour watches,”

  She stared at him. “And that implies that it’s not safe then?”

  “Safe enough,” he said. “This is a precautionary measure.”

  “I hear you,” she said, “but it doesn’t sound very precautionary. It sounds proactive and defensive.”

  He just grinned and said, “Let us worry about that.”

  “I guess I will, since you’ve done well so far.”

  “Exactly,” he said, “this is what we do. Remember that.”

  She nodded slowly and looked over at Marge. “How are you doing?”

  “I’ll be a lot better when I’m back on friendly soil, like I said before,” she said. “But food is helping, not being in that damn lab is helping. And the fact that I know a shower is right around the corner and a comfy bed makes it even better.”

  “Right,” Eva said, “the beds in that place were terrible.”

  “Just cots, I presume?” Diesel asked.

  “Exactly, they didn’t care about our comforts at all.”

  “No, and why would they?” he said quietly. “You were expendable.”

  She winced. “Do you really think they were looking at it from that point of view?”

  “I would think so,” he said. “Either you performed or you didn’t, and they would get someone to replace you.” He looked over at Marge. “How many captives did you see?”

  “Several,” she admitted. “Sometimes the guards told us what happened. Sometimes they didn’t. The people were just there, and then they were gone.”

  “And then I arrived,” Eva said.

  “You were the latest, yes,” Marge said, “but in no way is it done.”

  “Right.” Eva nodded and continued to eat.

  Marge quickly finished off hers and said, “I’ll go have a shower now.” She got up and excused herself.

  The men looked over at Eva. “Are the two of you okay?”

  “We’re fine. We’ve been through a lot together, but I was a relatively new acquisition for the captives,” she said, “so I don’t really know how much Paul and Marge have gone through themselves.”

  “Right.” The guys didn’t say anything more.

  She smiled and said. “Are you worried about her?”

  “Of course,” Diesel said. “There are a lot of reasons to be worried. But the bottom line is, you’re here now, and we’ll do our best to get you back to the US safely.”

  She had to be happy with that.

  Diesel didn’t think Eva really understood how ill Marge was. She had probably made a point of not letting Eva know. It was also possible that Marge didn’t know how ill she was, but there was a yellow tone to her skin. The whites of her eyes were not a healthy-looking white. And he’d seen what appeared to be a tumor on the back of the woman’s underarm area. And one under her jawline, probably resting at the top of her throat. She needed medical attention. She needed it fast.

  What he also didn’t know was whether she had contracted whatever it was that was hurting her at the lab. Was it possible that the Chinese lab was actually utilizing these scientists as lab rats as well? That didn’t bear thinking about. But, of course, his mind now didn’t want to let it go. As he sat and waited for Eva to finish eating, appreciating the fact that Eva plowed through a decent amount of food, he said, “The stress will calm back down, once you’re safe.”

  She raised her gaze from her plate, looked at him, and smiled. “I’d like to think so, but it won’t happen anytime soon. Every time I close my eyes, even right now, all I can see is the guards,” she said softly. “There’s that sense, even when you’re locked up in your room, that you are waiting for something to happen. And, of course, in our case, we were waiting for them to open the door, without notice, to either bring food in or to let us out, but letting us out would only take us back down to the lab again. There was no freedom. There was no sense of peace inside. Always this tension that just coiled up tighter and tighter and tighter.”

  “And so you can understand why Paul may have done what he’d done?”

  “If he did that,” she emphasized the last bit of it, “then yes.”

  “Do you think Marge would have?”

  She raised her gaze again, looked at him, smiled, and said, “In a heartbeat. Marge needs to get out of here.”

  “We’re taking her home.” He nodded at the food. “Do you want some more?”

  She shook her head, patted her tummy, and said, “I’m fine. I don’t want to get woken up because I can’t digest the food that I’ve had.”

  He stood and started packing up the food to put away in the fridge.

  “How long are we staying here?”

  “Not long,” he said. “The faster we move and put some distance between us, the better.”

  “I’m actually surprised we’re here, sitting in China still.”

  “Yes. But, if you think about it, they’ll also expect us to make a run for it.”

  She nodded. “I would love to make a run for it.”

  “But now we have the Russians and the Chinese involved.”

  “I don’t understand how the Chinese got involved, and now I really don’t even understand how the Russians got into this.”

  “And we’ve sent out messages, letting them know that their Russian scientist didn’t make it, hoping that will call off the Russians again, but there’s no guarantee.”

  “I know,” she said. “I just … To realize that you’re in trouble with one group, only to find out you’re in trouble with two, is a whole different story.”

  “The Russians, even if they had found you, may have completely ignored you,” Diesel said. “You have to keep that in mind. They would have rescued their scientist and not likely done anything for you guys.”

  “They wouldn’t even let us out?”

  “They might have. No way to know. They might also want to keep this quiet, and they could have shot you.”

  At her shocked gasp, he nodded grimly. “Often in scenarios like this, it’s a best-kept secret, but that means that everybody needs to be incapable of telling opposite tales.”

  Looking a little green, she stood and said, “I think, on that note, I’ll go lie down.”

  “You do that,” he said. “And, if you need anything, let us know.”

  She turned, looked at him, and said, “Thank you.”

  Surprised, he smiled and said, “You’re very welcome.”

  “I mean it. I kept hoping that there would be a rescue. I kept hoping and telling the others that somebody would come, but they’d heard it all before. They’d had all their own hopes and wishes dashed for months and months on end,” she said. “So I knew that they didn’t believe me, even though I was trying so hard to be positive, but it is hard to be positive in that situation.”

  “Absolutely it is,” he said, “but it’s all good now. Don’t worry about that.”

  She smiled, nodded. And, on that note, she turned and headed to her bedroom.

  As he returned to the empty table and brought his laptop back out again, Jerricho joined him.

  “What do you think?” Jerricho asked Diesel.

  “I don’t like Marge’s health at all,” Diesel said.

  Jerricho nodded. “I saw that. I don’t know if she’s even aware. She’s not quite there yet mentally.”

  “Well, she’s been through extreme tr
auma, stress. This kind of pressure can really play on you. Even if she is aware, she also knows there’s nothing that she could have done about her health in those conditions.”

  “How do you want to get back home again?”

  “Safely,” he said. “There’s no rush, other than a doctor to see about Marge, and we just have to stay low.”

  “No word that the Chinese have heard about Eva’s rescue. Which confirms our theory that the gunfire we heard in the lab was the Russians taking out everyone in that place.”

  “Anything from the Russians?”

  “Confirmation of the message about their dead scientist, but that was it.”

  “That’s not helpful.”

  “No, but it is what it is,” Jerricho said. “I’ve just brought up a series of exit options for us. We can go through mainland China. If we want to take a really long and slow route, we can cross over to Thailand, take an international flight or do some hopping across Asia, or we can go via water.”

  Instantly Diesel said, “Water.”

  “I agree with the water thing, but it’ll take time.”

  “But we’re also not in a rush, given a doctor on board, and then, if we could hook a ride on something that’s got enough security, we wouldn’t have to worry about being attacked.”

  Jerricho looked at him in surprise. “What are you thinking?”

  “Well, I don’t suppose a US sub or destroyer is around that we could hitch a ride on?”

  He shook his head and laughed. “Let me ask.” He went to the chat, opened it up, and immediately made a request for a pickup via naval vessel. There was no immediate response. He looked at Diesel and said, “I’m not sure that they liked the idea.”

  “I don’t think liking it is an issue,” he said. “I think it’s a case of checking to see who and what’s in the neighborhood and what their routes are.”

  “Even if we could get one back into Europe …” he said.

  “We’ll do the usual—dye everybody’s hair, change their clothes. Get them some camouflage, so that the Chinese won’t pick them out immediately. Help us gain a few hours. And see if we can get them somewhere safe.”

  At that, the chat spit out information, and the route that came up made Diesel laugh. “That’s the same destroyer I came in on,” he said. “And we’ll rendezvous with a sub, and go the last several hundred miles that way.”

  “Perfect,” Jerricho said. “Although it’ll be very close confines for the women.”

  “But there should be a good medical center on the destroyer. Maybe we can get Marge looked at.”

  “Good point,” he said. “But, if they find something critical, she’ll need faster medical care than a slow-winding journey.”

  “Then we’ll leave her with the destroyer, and they can take her on and off as they need to.”

  “That should make her happy.”

  “We also have to understand that the Russians and the Chinese may not stop looking for Eva or Marge or their next replacements, just because we’ve left,” Diesel said.

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning, I’d like to blow up the lab,” he said bluntly.

  Jerricho looked at him and then nodded. “I wanted to do it on our way out, but we had extra baggage with us.”

  “Which is why I was thinking this morning.” He checked his watch and said, “As in, I would suggest six hours.”

  “Do we have enough C-4?”

  “Only if we’re smart with it,” he said.

  And, with that, they brought out the blueprints again on the building, where the labs existed. It took them an hour to work out a route and another hour to work out the logistics of how to maximize the ability to take down the entire building. As they sorted through their gear and stacked up and packed what they needed, Jerricho asked, “Did you consider other people could be in the building?”

  Diesel nodded. “I did. If it’s part of the lab, employees, that’s one thing, or even guards,” he said. “I just don’t want there to be more scientists.”

  “What about clearing the building first?”

  “We could. Smoke in the HVAC system?”

  “That’ll just knock them all out, still inside. We could do a prep bomb first, send out a warning, and, if anybody wants to run out, they can,” he said.

  He stopped, looked over at Jerricho, and said, “Wait, hang on. We should get some heatsink alerts from the satellites to let us know who and what’s there.”

  “I don’t know about through the satellite,” he said, “but we should find out just what heat is inside the building now.”

  Diesel walked back to his laptop and started rapping out orders, looking for information on occupants within the building.

  Shane came back with Give us a minute. A few moments later he texted, The building’s reading empty.

  He looked at Jerricho and said, “As far as I’m concerned, that means we need to go now, before they start refilling it.”

  “Taking the building down doesn’t mean they won’t just take over another building for their purposes,” Jerricho reminded him.

  “Maybe, but it also lets them know that people know what they’re doing and won’t stand for it.”

  “Symbolic?”

  “If symbolic works, I’ll take it,” he said.

  With that, they packed up and prepped to leave. As they checked and synched their watches, Diesel heard a voice behind them, turning to see Eva, standing in her bedroom doorway. “Hey,” he said. “Couldn’t sleep?”

  She frowned as she looked at the gear they had on and their duffle bags near them. “You’re leaving?”

  “Yes, but not for long,” he said. “We’ll make sure the lab can’t be used anymore.”

  Her eyes lit with understanding. She smiled and said, “Thank you for that. I wanted to destroy it but …” And then she stopped, shook her head. “It still won’t stop the system.”

  “No, but it does send a message that they will be found out and stopped, if they do it again.”

  “I don’t think they’ll care,” she murmured.

  “Maybe not,” he said. “Are you against us doing this?”

  “No, of course not,” she said. “I’m definitely for it.”

  “Good,” he said. “Stay inside. We’ll lock the doors, and, with any luck, we’ll be back in less than an hour.”

  “And you’re not expecting anybody to come?” She looked nervously at the front doorway and around the apartment.

  He shook his head. “No. Throw the bolts, stay locked inside, go back to bed.”

  She took a long slow deep breath and said, “I guess that’s the thing. Nobody knows we’re here, do they?”

  He shook his head. “No, you’re free and clear here.”

  “Okay, good then.” As she headed back to bed, she stopped, looked at him, and said, “You’ll be safe, right?”

  He looked at her and smiled. “We’ll be fine,” he said. “And so will you.”

  She beamed a smile, walked over, gave Diesel a great big hug, and said, “Thank you.” She walked to Jerricho, gave him a hug, and said, “And, please, both of you come back. I can’t imagine what we would do if you didn’t.” And she turned and walked back to the bedroom.

  As they walked out and locked up behind them, Jerricho said, “I see she goes to you first.”

  “I was closer,” he said in a noncommittal voice. No way he would let Jerricho know that he had thought the same thing.

  “Ha!” he said, “This is good. This is really good.”

  “No, it’s not,” he said.

  “Absolutely it is. I heard all about the pairings going on with the Mavericks.” He said, “I figure, by the time it’s my turn, maybe there’ll be a partner out there for me.”

  At that, Diesel turned and looked at him in surprise. “You want a partner?”

  “Hell yeah,” he said. “Been alone for a while. I had started a new relationship not long ago, but then I was called out on another mission and just realized how
impossible it is. But all the Mavericks seem to be making it work.”

  “And I’m not exactly sure how that is either,” he said, “because, when I was the second in command, I was always in the background. Now it’s my mission, and I don’t know what comes after this, with the Mavericks.”

  “That’s okay,” Jerricho said. “I think that’s part of the joy. Just let it be.”

  “Maybe. At the same time, it’s a little bit unnerving to not know what comes after this.”

  “Must you have your future locked down?”

  The men quickly exited the safe house building, finding a new getaway vehicle awaiting them, courtesy of the Mavericks. They drove back to the warehouse district of Shanghai, parking several blocks away, and skulked through the shadows. When they arrived at the corner, the building in front of them, Diesel shook his head and said, “To your question, no, absolutely not. I actually prefer a little bit of surprise in life.”

  “So then be open to a little more surprises,” Jerricho said.

  And the two of them raced through the night.

  Chapter 5

  Eva woke several hours later to an odd sound in the apartment. She bolted out of bed and hid behind the door. It took that long for her brain to remember that the men had gone out to demolish the building where they’d been held. She hadn’t heard any explosions, but would she, this far from Shanghai? Probably. With enough dynamite, right? She trusted that these men could do the job.

  After what she and Marge had been through—and Paul and everybody else—she was more than happy to see the lab go down. It wouldn’t stop the system but … Then she heard another footstep in the hallway. Was it them? How could it be anybody else? She peered around the corner. As soon as she saw Diesel, she cried out in relief.

  He looked at her, smiled, and said, “We’re back, and it’s just us.”

  She raced forward, shaking in relief. “I was so afraid,” she said. “I woke up to a strange noise, and I didn’t know what I heard.”

  “It’s just us,” he repeated. He reached out, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tucked her up close, and said, “If you’re tired you can go lie down. You’ve still got few hours yet until morning arrives.”