Langley, VA
DARREN CHESTERFIELD SNAPPED awake, his head spinning. The alarm claxons sounded throughout the building as he spun in his chair, confused. He fought to concentrate as sleep tried to lull him back into its dark embrace.
He forced himself up from his chair and stumbled to the door. He grabbed at a woman rushing by, stopping her. “What’s going on?”
“Security alert.” She looked panicked as she scanned the area. “Unknown number of perpetrators breached the building.”
Darren’s eyes widened, his mind clearing instantly. “Where are they? Are they apprehended?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just know what I’ve heard, and that may not even be accurate.”
Darren launched from his office, his coat in hand. He hit the security door to the stairwell and nearly bounced off of it. He stared at the steel door then turned to the others gathering nearby.
“They’re locked down,” a black man stated, rubbing at his wrists. Apparently he had hit the door hard trying to get clear of the floor.
“Lockdown?” Darren shook his head then rushed back to his office.
He slammed his door shut and reached for the phone. Just as his hand grasped the receiver, the base echoed the digital ring. He knew who it was before he lifted the receiver.
“Colonel. Do you know what’s going on?”
“Apparently your Mister Bridger decided to play the odds and infiltrated us during the night.”
“Are you sure it’s him?” Darren knew better than to ask.
“Of course it was him. Probably aided by his friends with Baba Yaga, if I were to hazard a guess.”
“Are they still in the building? Do we have them?”
“I don’t know and…I don’t know. I can’t get a straight answer from our security contractor.”
“Fucking Cerberus,” Darren swore under his breath. He never cared for their gung-ho cowboy attitudes and now they were the ones who had egg on their face. “I’m locked down. I can’t…” He paused, his eyes pulled to the window.
“What’s that?” Colonel Nelson asked.
“Outside.” The phone slipped away from Darren’s ear and he stepped closer to the window. “I don’t fucking believe…” He felt anger rise up in his chest and he slammed the phone against the corner of his desk. For just a moment, he’d forgotten who was on the other end. He lifted it back to his mouth quickly. “Colonel, I’ll have to call you back.”
27
Langley, VA
“THEY KNOW!” STEVE’S voice screeched across the earpieces. “Bug out!”
Bridger braced himself as the van slid to a stop. “That’s our cue, boys! Move!” Deric threw the van into park as Jim pulled the pins releasing the faux interior side panels.
Bobby scooted to the far forward edge of the compartment and tugged at the false wall separating the rear compartment from the forward compartment.
Deric ran to the rear of the van and pulled the wide double doors open and swung them out to the side. “Move it!” Steve’s voice warned as the men climbed into position.
Jim glanced through the wide front glass of the van; dozens of armed men dressed in black poured out of the building and headed straight for them. “Outta time guys! Go!”
Deric hit the electric start on his motorcycle and kicked it into gear. One by one, the enduro motorcycles shot from the rear of the van and jumped the curb of the parking lot.
Bobby pulled the visor down on his helmet and suddenly the markers painted on the trees came to life. They practically glowed through the special coating and he pointed the motorcycle in the right direction.
Deric glanced back at the security personnel gathering near the van and prayed that they could put effective distance between them before they opened fire. He turned back to the glowing directional markings when his left side mirror exploded.
“They’re firing!” he shouted over the scream of the engine. He twisted the accelerator farther and kicked the bike down a gear, trying to put as much distance between him and the shooters as possible.
Each of the riders lined up with the narrowing arrows painted across the grounds and Bobby’s eyes widened when he saw the placement of the ramps. He goosed the throttle just before his front tire hit the metal incline and heard the engine rev past its limits when the bike took to the air.
He landed hard right behind Jim and nearly lost control as he pointed the bike through the woods. “Remind me to kiss Jay’s wife for this!” Jim yelled.
“Bridger, you can kiss Roger,” Deric laughed.
“Kiss him yourself,” Bobby shot back, just as the trees cleared and the hole in the chain link fence shot past. He applied the brakes hard, but the bike went over the embankment, falling to its side and sliding down the soft dirt with Bridger scrambling behind it.
He came to rest at the bottom of the embankment near the paved road where Ryan stood patiently with the black SUV. Bridger scrambled to his feet and started the bike again, riding it up and out of the ditch.
Ryan watched the three men navigate into the abandoned-looking garage and Jim locked the padlock behind them. “Where’s Steve?”
Ryan glanced at his watch then pointed toward the road. “I believe that’s him.”
The trio turned to watch as Steve trotted up the pavement, most of his security uniform missing. A column of black smoke rose over the crest of the hill behind him. “They’ll get around that quick enough.” Steve pulled the door open to the SUV and yanked his suit coat and tie out of the rear seat. “Shall we?”
He held the door while the three men in coveralls crawled inside. Ryan started the truck and pulled carefully onto the road. “No rush there, bud, but I think the entirety of the US federal fucking government is looking for us,” Bridger shouted from the rear.
Ryan smiled coyly. “As they have been since this shit-show started.” He continued down the road then turned
