Gerrit tried to follow the sound of the man’s voice. There was a gap between a row of storage boxes and the next shelving above them. In this space, he thought he might see a figure, standing just to the left of his uncle. He would not be able to get a clear shot.
“Yeah, right. I come up there and you shoot us dead. Not a good proposition for any of us-except you.”
The shadow shifted closer to his uncle. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw more movement. It must be Alena, getting closer to the target.
“Believe me, Gerrit. I don’t want you dead. You have too much to offer for me to waste a bullet on you.”
“And if I come out in the open. What’re you going to do?”
“I want you and your girlfriend to put down your weapons. Sit down and talk about this. We parted ways last time without talking this out.”
Gerrit heard gunfire above him. Several explosions shook the building. “Sounds like your guys are in a world of hurt. Maybe you ought to just give up.” He edged closer, using the shelving to block his silhouette. Two rows away from getting a clear shot at Kane. “What do you say? Give up and we’ll let you live.”
“Don’t come any closer. You think I am an idiot. I got my gun trained on your uncle’s chest. There is no way I can miss from here.”
Peering around the edge of a gray metallic shelf, he saw Joe’s battered face. Gerrit gritted his teeth when he saw what they had done to his uncle. Joe looked back, then shifted his gaze to Gerrit’s right. Following Joe’s look, Gerrit saw that Alena had sneaked to the first row, one shelf of boxes separating her and Kane.
He swung back toward his uncle, searching the shadows for Kane. The man must have drawn back out of the light altogether, standing just out of sight, watching for them to approach.
There. He saw movement in the shadows. Kane must be getting restless.
Gerrit caught Alena’s attention, pointing to where he last spotted Kane. She nodded raised her rifle to eye level.
Kane must be drawn out into the light.
“I’m coming out, Richard. I wanna check on my uncle.” Gerrit started to step from behind the shelving.
“You come any closer and he dies.” Kane’s voice seemed strained, nervous.
“Let me just check on him. You’ll have both of us covered-”
Four rapid shots rang out and he saw his uncle twitch. Joe’s eyes widened. Blood oozed from a chest wound. Two of the shots came from Alena’s direction.
“Kane’s down,” she said.
“Joe’s hit.” Gerrit dashed to where he last saw Kane. The man was lying on his back, gun lying next to him. Gerrit scooped up the weapon and stuck it in his waistband, then patted Kane down for other weapons.
Clean.
He moved toward his uncle. “Cover me, Alena. I think Kane’s unarmed, but keep an eye on him.”
Easing the tape from Joe’s mouth, Gerrit looked at his uncle’s wound. It appeared to be one shot-a grazing chest wound-sliced the skin enough to cause blood to seep onto his clothing. Kane’s second shot must have missed. Relieved, Gerrit pulled out his knife and sliced the tape binding Joe’s wrists.
Seeing the older man could function, Gerrit turned and strode over to where Kane lay. The man had been hit twice, once in the chest and once in the gut. Kane was dying, painfully.
Gerrit felt Alena draw near. Kane looked up at them, gaze shifting from one to the other, finally focusing on Alena. The man’s eyes, even in death, seemed filled with anger.
“So this is how you repay me, Alena. After all I did for you.” Anger from his eyes carried over into his words, weak but harsh in his last remaining breath.
“I owe you nothing, Richard. You brought this on yourself.”
Gerrit looked from one to the other, puzzled. “You knew him?” He searched her face for an answer. “You worked with him?”
“Not anymore,” she said, walking over to Joe.
Kane turned his gaze toward Gerrit. “Ask her about your father. She has blood on her own hands.” The man struggled to raise himself one last time. He wheezed, “Gerrit, your parents…only following orders. Only following orders, boy.” The man’s last words seemed to take all the strength he had left. Kane closed his eyes and stopped moving.
Gerrit knelt and felt the man’s carotid artery. No pulse. He looked over at Alena. What was Kane trying to tell him? Others ordered his parents’ killed? More questions left unanswered. More paths to follow. Never ending! He hung his head.
One thing was for certain, Richard Kane was no longer a threat.
Chapter 65
Gerrit heard a blast at their level. One of the doorways breached.
Willy.
“Alena, sounds like they blasted their way to where we left Willy. Keep Joe covered. I’ll check to see who’s coming our way.”
He dashed through the front until he came to the door separating him from where they left Willy. Reaching the doorway, his back pressed against the cinderblock wall to the left of the door, he reached down and quietly turned the knob with one hand. He slowly pulled on the door, opening it just a crack to allow him to see into the next room.
A man yelled across the room. “Gerrit. Hold your fire and stand down. Beck and Jack sent us to save your butt.”
Relief swept through him as he opened the door wider. “Show yourselves.”
A man in camouflage gear rose from behind one of the consoles and walked toward him. “The place is secure. All hostile fire has been dealt with. What’s your status?”
“Main target dead. One friendly in need of medical help. Half dozen of Kane’s technicians are cuffed and cornered in this room.” He pointed with his chin.
“Don’t shoot!” Willy shouted, rising from behind a computer console, hands held high.
“And that,” Gerrit said, “is our computer genius. Whatever you do, don’t shoot him.”
Gerrit propped the door open. He returned to where Joe still sat in the chair. His uncle seemed weak, badly shaken.
“How you feeling, Joe?” Gerrit’s chest tightened as concern broke through his resolve. How much pain and injury had Kane inflicted on his uncle? Anger gripped him like a steel vise.
Joe grimaced, his face even whiter under the harsh glare of a fluorescent bulb. “I’m breathing, Gerrit. That’s a whole lot better than what I thought might happen.”
Patting his uncle’s shoulder, Gerrit looked at Alena, standing next to them. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”
She gave him a hard look, then shouldered her rifle, abruptly turning away without saying anything.
He started to follow, but Joe tugged on his sleeve. “Gerrit, wait. Hear me out. I heard what that creep said.”
“Is it true?” Gerrit asked, trying to mask his anger, staring down at his uncle. Only his hands shook. “Is my father’s blood on her hands?”
Footsteps could be heard drawing near. Several men approached with a stretcher. “These guys are going to check you out and then move you to the chopper.”
Grasping Gerrit’s wrist, Joe clung to him for a moment. “You have to hear the whole story, son. We all make mistakes. Alena has changed. Just give me a chance to explain.”
A medic appeared and began a cursory check of Joe’s medical condition.
“We’ll talk later. Just let these guys take care of you and I’ll see you topside.”
Joe tried to push them away. “I’m just fine. I don’t need to-”
“Do me a favor, Joe. Let them check you out and get you upstairs. You’ve been through a lot.” Gerrit backed away, allowing the men to cluster around Joe as they began to care for him. Seeing that his uncle’s needs were
