Each room they examined stood empty.
At the end of the hallway, one more door sat barring their way. Peering through the door’s window, he saw a much larger room beyond, bigger than all the others. In the center of that room was a metal table equipped with metal rings where victims could be tied down.
Gerrit’s gut tightened. He knew how they used this room-to torture and interrogate prisoners. A chill swept through him as another thought came to mind.
Where is my uncle?
If Kane brought Joe here, this is where they must have tried to make him talk. The place was empty and spotless.
“No one here.” Gerrit glanced at Alena. “Except for the four upstairs, this place is a ghost town.”
Alena looked around her. “And where is Joe? This is where I thought Kane would take him.”
“Maybe he was here at one time. But Kane must have moved him. So, where do we start looking?”
“Let’s get back upstairs and check in with the others.” They rode the elevator and just stepped out when Stafford approached them. “What did you find?”
Gerrit shrugged. “Nothing. Everyone’s gone.”
Willy’s voice came over the radio. Excited. Urgent. “Mr. G., can you copy?”
Gerrit keyed his mike. “Go ahead, Willy.”
“Got another bogey you guys overlooked.”
Gerrit looked at Stafford and Alena. “Where?”
“About a hundred yards west of your location. And she’s armed.”
Collette.
“Can she copy our transmissions?”
“Of course she can’t.” Willy sounded hurt. “After I got these radios from Stafford, I encrypted our system myself.”
Stafford frowned. “They were encrypted, Willy.”
“Sorry, Spy Man. I had to make sure.”
Gerrit cut in. “Well, we’ll-”
“Get out of there now. Now!” Willy screamed into the radio.
Gerrit sprinted to the door, yelling at the others. “Follow me.”
He cleared the front door, sprinting toward the nearest tree line, Alena and Stafford a few feet behind. A split second later, he and the others were hurled across the grass like limp dolls as an explosion rocked the mansion.
Gerrit felt himself land on the ground. The only sound he heard after the blast was an incessant ringing in his ears. Alena and Stafford lay nearby. Both were moving.
Alive.
He looked back at the building and saw rubble piled up where the house once stood. Fires broke out among the debris. They had to get farther away in case of secondary explosions. Gas. Explosives. Who knows?
He helped Alena to her feet and they sprinted toward the trees about a hundred yards away.
“We’re okay, Willy. Copy?”
“Oh, thank God.”
Gerrit keyed the mike again. “Give me a fix on this fifth person. Maybe a spotter?”
“Mr. G, I think she is the one who triggered the explosion. And she has a sniper rifle aimed at your position. Take cover!”
Chapter 57
Gerrit and the others zigzagged a path beyond the first row of trees. Collette must not have a clear shot and didn’t want to give her position way. That bought them a few minutes.
All three caught their breath before Gerrit spoke. “Okay, you guys stay here. I’m going to break off and work my way around her with Willy’s help.”
Alena placed her hand on his shoulder. “No, Gerrit. This woman is mine. You guys provide a distraction.”
“No, Alena, I can’t-”
“Because I’m a woman?”
“No, I-”
“There is a lot you do not know about me, Gerrit. This is something I am good at. Trust me.” Without waiting, she melted into the darkness.
He glanced at Stafford. The agent just shrugged. “I think she knows what she’s doing, O’Rourke. Let’s try to take the heat off her.”
Gerrit activated his mike. “Willy, feed us any information on the target. Al’s going to take point. My partner and I will be the bait. You’ll be Alena’s eyes and ears until this is over.”
“Gotcha, Mr. G.”
Gerrit turned to the agent. “Well, let’s keep Collette busy.”
Alena moved from tree to tree through the shadows. “Willy, guide me in,” she whispered into the mike. She heard several clicks. After activating her night-vision glasses, she worked her way in a wide circle around where she believed Collette lay hiding.
“Alena, you copy?” Gerrit’s voice seemed like a scream compared to the quietness surrounding her.
She responded with two clicks.
“Be careful.”
She smiled to herself, suspecting that Gerrit did not think she could take care of herself. In a way, that was sweet. If only he knew half the operations she’d been in, he would not have to worry as much. But her past she tried to keep locked away. Only Joe knew most of her history. And that was one person too many.
Stealthily, she wove through groves of trees that surrounded Kane’s complex, targeting a hill that lay beyond Collette’s position. Alena could crest that hill and work down the slope, giving her the high ground and-hopefully-the element of surprise.
It seemed forever before she reached it, clogged with low-lying brush and winter-bare trees. Some were evergreen, but not enough for good cover. She was thankful that whatever noise she made up to this point would not be carried down the hill to Collette’s hiding place. At least until she slipped over the crest and began her descent. At that point, she hoped Gerrit and Stafford would kick up some noise.
Just as she reached the apex, she heard Collette fire two quick shots.
Hugging the ground, Alena waited to see where the shots had been aimed. The rifle’s blast would not necessarily divulge direction. Only that it had been fired.
“Stafford,” Gerrit’s voice carried over the radio. “Move to your left, and I’ll try to flank her. Don’t give her a clean shot.”
“Watch your own hide, O’Rourke. I can take care of myself.” Stafford sound annoyed.
They were giving her the time she needed to make a move.
She started downward while scanning below for any sign of the target. Moonlight made the hillside light like day through the night-vision glasses. Movement caught her eye. There, behind a rock, facing away. Alena edged forward, using tree trunks as cover wherever possible in case Collette spun around.
Several more shots fired. Those came from Gerrit’s position. For a second, she was angry that he fired in her direction, and then she heard one of the rounds zip overhead. He was firing high for distraction.
Stafford fired several shots.
As the sound of rifle fire echoed up the slope, she used the noise as cover to dash down the hill, closer to Collette’s position. She jumped behind a tree trunk and waited to see if the woman had heard her. Nothing but silence. She peered around the trunk. The woman lay prone about ten yards away. She could kill Collette from here, but taking her prisoner was a higher priority. The woman knew where Joe might be.
Alena reached down and keyed her radio twice, hoping Gerrit would understand. She held her breath and waited.
