Jordan watched, silently urging her not to give up.
O'Reilly's girlfriend crawled to where Jordan hung, but she still couldn’t stand long enough to unchain him.
She paused to cry some more, then she used his legs to pull herself to her feet. She slipped the key into the slot and turned. Jordan’s right arm was now free.
They looked over at the sound of the door opening.
Footsteps began to descend the stairs.
76
“SORRY GUYS, THAT was my wife—” Kent stopped speaking when he saw Jordan fumble with the key to get his other arm loose.
Jordan managed to unchain himself and fall to the ground with a soft thud.
“Really?” Kent said with a smirk.
“I’m going to kill you,” Jordan hissed. “You killed Duke.”
Kent saw the anger flash in the reporter’s eyes.
It was amusing.
“Go ahead, then,” Kent taunted, spreading his arms. “You want to fight? I’m right here.”
With a growl, Jordan lurched toward him, but Kent managed to dodge out of the way. Jordan ran headfirst into the wall.
Kent grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled him to the ground and kicked him in the face, then kicked him again.
He continued kicking him until Jordan managed to block one of the kicks and pull Kent on top of him. They rolled along the floor until Kent found Jordan’s neck and began squeezing.
“I don’t have time for this,” he hissed.
Jordan grasped at Kent’s hand, but couldn’t get him to let go. Finally, the reporter passed out. After making sure his old friend was still breathing, Kent dragged him back to the wall and heaved him to the chains to secure him.
He turned to face Cheyenne, who had curled herself in a ball against the far wall.
“That was a mistake.”
“Please,” Cheyenne whispered as he neared.
Ignoring her, he kicked her in the face.
“You must be punished.”
He walked over to Jordan.
“For attempting to help Mr. Hero escape, he will take the punishment. And you have to watch. Then I think I’ll take off early today. The wife wants me to run a few errands for her.”
He looked at Jordan, who was slowly coming to.
“You ready for your punishment, buddy?”
“You’re insane,” Jordan replied, his voice above a whisper.
“Well, that’s not a very nice thing to say.” Kent turned his lips to a frown. He grabbed the tire iron and swung it across Jordan’s knees.
The reporter cried out in pain.
“That’s so if you do manage to get out of your chains again, you won’t be able to walk. You’ll crawl. Like the disappointing slug that you are.”
Kent hit him again.
“You know,” he said after Jordan finished screaming, “at first, I didn’t want to let you in on my little secret because I really liked you. But truthfully, I think this brings us closer together, right?”
Jordan glared at him. “You know what, buddy?” he said through his teeth, “I feel sorry for you. I feel sorry for whatever happened along the line that made you become pathetic.”
Kent only laughed. He looked back at Cheyenne. “Can you believe this guy?”
He began walking toward the agent’s girlfriend. As she whimpered, he pulled her back to where he had laid the tarp and tossed her on top.
“No one made me this way,” Kent said, his eyes on Cheyenne. “A man has needs. You know, like you need to feel important at the top. Agent O’Reilly needs a chill pill. This is mine.”
“You need to grow a pair,” Jordan exclaimed.
Letting his shoulders rise and fall, he said, “I need to finish up so I can take off.”
77
THE TRACE ON Kent’s cell phone led the agents to the West Lake subdivision. They pulled their vehicles to the next neighborhood. They didn't want to risk tipping Kent off by moving in too close. It was still daylight, so they didn’t have a lot to their advantage.
Shaun and Aidan, along with a few other federal agents and members of the SWAT team, put on their vests and began to trail along the sidewalk, weapons ready to fire if needed.
Aidan hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but they were given the authority to use whatever force necessary.
Aidan spotted a little girl peering out her window in the house at the left. A few seconds later, an older boy looked out, then jerked her by the arm to pull her away. Aidan instructed for some of the agents to start clearing nearby houses. Aidan didn’t want to chance they would find themselves in the line of fire.
They were now at the front of the house. Ten agents and SWAT members circled the back of the house, five taking the sides and the rest, including Aidan and Shaun, were stationed in the front.
Aidan reached over and tried the knob slowly, but found it was locked.
He nodded to the men holding the battering ram. Once they rushed the door, flash bangs were tossed inside, then the agents filed into the residence.
They continued to maintain radio silence as they spread throughout the house.
Inside was dark and cold—Aidan could see his breath climbing the air.
A few men headed up the stairs while the rest took the bottom level. Shaun noticed the door by the staircase.
Standing to one side of the door, Aidan held his weapon at the ready and he let Shaun reach for the knob.
Then the lights went out.
Except for Jordan’s arrival and stupid attempt to escape, Kent decided things went pretty well today.
He was happy.
And the escape attempt allowed his adrenaline to rush. It was exhilarating.
Turning to face the reporter, he said, “You’ve been quiet, my friend. I’d almost forgotten you were here.”
Jordan didn’t seem to
