Despite the Americans’ best efforts to disguise themselves, Becker knew that they weren’t the Muncies. The facial recognition camera had told his staff as much when Alex and Black walked through the door. But Becker was curious about their identities and what their reason was for being here, allowing them to proceed unimpeded for most of the night. However, when they tried to get away with his phone to contact Obsidian, he decided it was time to not only take his phone back but also to send a message to whoever was handling them. The phone didn’t really matter since every week a new number was assigned as well as a new device to call her on. But it was the principle of the situation that mattered to Becker. He was going to right a few wrongs. No longer was he pretending to be the scared and meek scientist.
Becker narrowed his eyes and set his jaw. “How dare you enter my house and make demands of me. You’re only alive because I wanted to see what you were up to. Now, it’s time for payback.”
Becker whipped a cropping stick from his belt and pounded it into his left hand while continuing to circle his captives.
“So, any volunteers for who would like to go first?”
He looked down at them, and neither was responding, let alone moving.
“In that case, I’ll choose Mrs. Muncie.”
She mumbled something that he couldn’t make out. He knelt down next to her.
“What was that, Mrs. Muncie?” he asked again.
“I said, I can’t hear you.” She curled up into a fetal position, covering her head with her arms and almost disappearing.
Before Becker could respond, a piercing pain resonated in his ears. He staggered to the ground and gritted his teeth to fight through the pain.
CHAPTER 9
ALEX KNEW WHAT THE NOISE was as she’d tested it on herself in the Phoenix Foundation lab one day when assessing the device’s usefulness. The ear-splitting sound emanating from the tiny box was something Hawk had deployed in an effort to make his extraction mission run more smoothly. She raised her head to see him running down the corridor, firing shot after shot at the guards. When all four crumpled to the ground, Hawk flung a canister of smoke in her direction.
She knew what he was doing, creating a smokescreen in case reinforcements entered at the opposite end of the hallway. But he didn’t see Becker still trying to fight through the noise.
“Becker’s still alive,” she warned over their coms. But it was a pointless plea. The high-pitched blast rendered their coms useless.
She looked over at Black, whose hands were cupped tightly against his ears. He grimaced as he looked back at her.
Staying on the ground, Alex heard the sounds of bodies dropping to the floor. Counting them as they fell, she was concerned when the number stopped with four. She glanced around and saw Becker refusing to succumb to the ear-splitting sound.
Alex strained to see through the smoke that had now wafted throughout the corridor, making it difficult to see in either direction. Seconds later, the gas cleared away enough that she could make out Hawk's silhouette down the hallway. She nodded toward the opposite doorway, gesturing the direction they needed to go. While pointing would've made it so much easier, she wasn't about to remove her hands from the side of her head for even a second.
Hawk gave her a subtle nod, and she started to run toward him. However, she didn’t go more a few feet before she felt herself getting pulled backward. Spinning around to see what was holding her up, she noticed Becker’s hand clutching a fistful of her shirt. Black didn’t hesitate to help, lowering his shoulder and ramming Becker against the wall. But he didn’t relinquish his grip that easily and slammed Alex into the hard stone also.
Becker tried to train his weapon on Black, but Alex jerked back and forth, making it impossible for the scientist to steady his hand to get a good shot. He fired anyway, the bullet ricocheting off the ceiling. Alex delivered a solid kick to Becker’s midsection, enabling her to get free of his grip.
Almost all of the smoke had evaporated, and Hawk was only a few meters away. She turned and ran toward him, praying that Becker wouldn't be able to get a shot off. As she looked ahead, she noticed Hawk sprinting with his gun aiming just to the left of her head. He squeezed off two rounds.
Alex shot a final glance over her shoulder to see what happened to Becker, but he was gone. Hawk grabbed her hand and told her to run, while he backpedaled with his weapon, ready to fire if Becker reappeared around the corner.
The crippling sound device ended, allowing them to speak to one another for the first time.
“We have to move quickly,” Hawk said. “There are more guards out there, and they will pin us down if we aren't careful.”
“We need to take Becker with us,” Alex said. “He knows what’s really going on.”
“No,” Hawk said. “I’m nixing that idea.”
“This is our chance, Hawk. He’s obviously not just some low-level delivery boy like he wanted us to believe. My gut tells me that whatever Obsidian is up to, Becker is playing a pivotal role in it all.”
“We don’t have time,” Hawk said. “We need to go now.”
“But Hawk—”
Hawk grabbed Alex’s arm. “Now.”
She huffed as she withdrew from his grasp before spinning toward the door. As she looked down, she noticed a cell phone lying on the ground, the same one she’d swiped from Becker earlier. Alex knelt down and picked it up.
“Come on, Alex,” Hawk said. “This is deadly serious.”
“I’m coming,” she said with a growl.
* * *
WHEN THE GUARDS started dropping, Becker knew he was in for a fight. But
