Into the Mist

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Tyana slept fitfully and woke to find Damiano sitting on the end of her bed watching her. He seemed thinner, and it reminded her too much of the boy he’d been instead of the bulky man he’d grown up to be.

“Hey,” she said in a husky voice as she sat up and drew her legs to her chest.

“Hey yourself. Feel any better?”

She craned her neck back and forth to work out the kinks, and to her satisfaction, the headache was gone.

“Yeah, I do.”

He studied her, his eyes holding a multitude of questions. And finally he asked one.

“Was Mad Dog right? Do you love him?”

Tyana sighed. “You don’t ask the easy ones, do you?” She reached over and took his hand, twining her fingers with his and squeezing. Just being able to touch him made her feel better. It seemed they’d been separated for too long.

“You were the first person in my life that I loved,” she said honestly. “Jonah and Mad Dog were the second and third. Beyond that, I’ve never loved another human being. Love is…scary. What scares me more than the thought of…loving—” she nearly choked on the word, “—of loving him, is the fact that I need him.” She looked up at Damiano. “I need him, D.”

“Then I’m glad to help you save him,” Damiano said. “You deserve to be happy, Ty. If he can make you happy, then I want that for you.”

She turned her legs over the side of the bed and scooted down against him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her.

“Did they find him yet?” she asked anxiously. “You’re in here and not pecking away on your computer so I can only assume you’ve done your part and Jonah and Mad Dog are off drawing up the tactical plans?”

He nodded.

“Where?” She held her breath.

“My computer skills weren’t really that necessary. Yet. Tits actually came through on this one. He tagged Esteban after the deal went down in Germany. Monitored his movements. He hoofed it into Switzerland immediately. His pharmaceutical company owns a large research facility in a remote region of the Alps. We believe he took Eli and his men there.”

He stroked her hair soothingly as he spoke.

“If he’s there, Ty, we’ll get him. You know when Jonah sets his mind to something, he simply won’t accept any other alternative but success.”

She pulled away from Damiano and looked him in the eye. “Are you angry with me, D?”

His cheeks puffed as he blew out his breath. “No, Ty, I’m not angry. Well, I guess I am in a way. I’m pissed that you’d risk your life for me. You have to know that I could never accept that my recovery came because of your death.”

“And yet you’d do the same for me,” she said softly.

He gave a half laugh. “Yeah, I would. In a heartbeat.”

“Hey you, two,” Mad Dog said from the door. He leaned in, bracing one hand on the frame. “Jonah’s called a meeting. We’re almost ready to roll.”

Tyana surged up and hurried to the door. Mad Dog didn’t move right away to let her pass.

“It’s good to have you back, Ty,” he said in a serious tone.

She punched him in the gut. He grunted and doubled over.

“It’s good to be back,” she said as she walked by.

His chuckle carried after her as she headed toward the living room.

Armed with satellite imagery of the medical facility, Falcon moved in. They knew where guards were posted, where security cameras scanned the perimeter and how many men were on the outside.

Damiano stayed behind in the high-tech military vehicle Tits had provided to monitor communications between the team members and to direct Falcon’s movements once they were inside.

Jonah ordered the secondary to move in and disable the guard towers. They worked quickly and efficiently while Damiano hacked into the surveillance system so he could see inside the facility.

“All systems go,” Damiano said.

Tyana, Mad Dog and Jonah checked to make sure their earpieces were secure.

“Falcon one ready,” Jonah said.

“Falcon two ready,” Mad Dog spoke up.

“Falcon three ready,” Tyana added.

The three stood outside the wall surrounding the facility, heavily armed, awaiting Damiano’s next instructions.

“Guard towers are down. Outside surveillance is down,” Damiano reported. “You’re cleared for go.”

Jonah pointed at Mad Dog and Tyana. “As we discussed. This is an in and out operation. Mad Dog, you take the south entrance, I’ll take the north. Ty, you enter through the west wing. If D’s intel is correct, they’re being held in the innermost sanctum. This isn’t a time to get soft. Shoot first, ask questions later, and if things go bad, get your asses back to the rendezvous point.”

Mad Dog and Tyana both nodded.

“Then let’s do this,” Jonah said grimly.

Adrenaline surged through Tyana’s veins, rushing like a river. She had every confidence in Falcon’s abilities. Jonah hired and trained the best. With the outside guard taken out and the Falcon secondary already working through the building to secure the exits, getting in to recover Eli and the others should be just another day on the job.

They split up, Jonah and Mad Dog heading in opposite directions. Tyana detached the rope and hook from her vest and slung the hook over the wall. She yanked to make sure it would hold and then she began to pull herself up and over the wall.

She dropped down on the other side and pulled the strap on her gun until the stock slid over her shoulder and into her hand. She moved quickly to the west entrance, and to her satisfaction, saw two fallen guards at the door. Falcon secondary had done their jobs.

When she entered the building, two things struck her. The god-awful chill and the deafening silence.

“Talk to me, D,” she murmured. “Where am I going?”

The three of them wore tracking devices, and D had the schematics of the building uploaded to his computer so he could monitor their location and guide them on the most expedient path to the center. And thank God, because there was a veritable maze of hallways and corridors. Someone could wander for hours and never find their way in or out.

“Keep moving forward, Ty. Pass two more hallways and take a right. I’m not picking up shit on the infrared. Are you hearing anything down there?”

That would explain the chill. Was it to cloak body heat? Still, he should be able to pick up something.

“Now take a left three hallways down. Once you make that left, you’re going to make an immediate right then an immediate left again.”

“You’re making me dizzy,” she muttered.

D paused then spoke again, this time to Jonah and then to Mad Dog as he gave them instructions. All communications went through D. Less distracting than having them all talking over each other.

“Okay, Ty, you’re doing fine. Take your next left. You’ll land in a circular corridor. There are three of those. One in each wing. Jonah and Mad Dog are closing in on their locations. If your guys are being held here, they should be in one of those inner rooms.”

God, let them be here. Don’t let me be too late.

“Okay, I’m here.”

She entered the hallway and saw a door right in front of her. She reached into her vest and pulled out the small explosive device and stuck it on the security panel.

“I’m blowing the first door,” she said. “Tell Mad Dog and Jonah heads up because if they don’t know we’re here already, they’ll know in a few seconds.”

“Be careful, Ty.”

“Always.”

She set the timer then raced around the bend to the next door where she set her next explosive.

“How many doors am I looking for?” she murmured as she set the timer.

“Three more,” D replied.

She crouched next to the current door and waited for the first to blow. The explosion rocked the hallway, and she put her hand out to balance herself. She shot up and ran around, her rifle up.

Two men in lab coats staggered out of the room, waving their hands in big, exaggerated motions. She fired two rounds and they both dropped in their tracks.

She stepped over their bodies and went into the room. Fuck. It was empty. Just a bunch of lab and computer equipment.

“Room one clear,” she reported back. Then she hauled ass back into the hallway to see if the noise had startled any of the other rooms into action. As thick as the damn walls were, though, it wouldn’t surprise her if the explosion hadn’t even been heard inside the other rooms.

Big advantage to her if that was the case.

She sprinted back to room two and hit the start button as she skidded by en route to room three. She slapped the explosive on the panel and entered the time again.

Again, the explosion sounded, and she backtracked to the room. This time, no one hit the hallway so she slowed and raised her rifle. Back to the wall, she eased around the doorway then bolted in, ready to shoot the first person who moved.

Her heart fell to her feet when she saw Eli, caged in a clear, plexiglass square that looked to be airtight. A long tube ran from the ceiling and was attached to the top. Was it to pump in oxygen? Was this how they prevented him from escaping if he shifted?

Rage made her tremble, but she forced herself to calm down and move quickly to the box. He opened his eyes when she approached, but his vision was unfocused. He looked to be heavily drugged. Fuck.

She couldn’t blow it without risking injury to Eli. She could shoot it but it could send pieces of the plexiglass into his body.

“Goddamn it, D, I need you,” she said in desperation. “I found Eli. They’ve got him in some kind of a damn box. It looks like it’s linked to their computer system. Can you figure out how to open it?”

“Give me a minute, Ty. I’ve locked on to your location. Let me see what I can do.”

A few seconds later, the security pad on the face of the box lit up and then the top popped up with a whoosh as the airlock was broken. She ran over and looked down over the edge.

Eli stared up at her, anger glinting in his dark eyes. She didn’t have time to hash it out.

“Get your ass up,” she hissed.

She reached down to tug at his arms. He was heavy and lethargic. He struggled to get to his knees, hanging on to the edge with white-knuckled hands.

She tossed one of his arms over her shoulders, careful to keep her gun up with her free hand.

“Step over, I’ve got you,” she said.

She staggered under his weight but refused to let go. She held him up by sheer force of will.

“Why are you here?” he rasped, his voice hoarse and pain-filled.

“I don’t have time to get into it with you, Eli,” she said as she hauled him toward the door. “I’m more concerned with saving your ass, so shut the fuck up and help me out here.”

Damiano chuckled in her ear. “Rock on, girl.”

Damn. She’d forgotten D could hear everything she said.

They ducked into the hallway, and she looked both ways.

“I need you, D. Help me get him out of here.”

She listened intently and navigated while dragging Eli along. What the hell had they done to him? Fear clogged her throat.

As they veered into another hallway, Tyana looked up to see an armed guard pointing his rifle right at her and Eli. Reacting quickly, she shoved Eli to the floor and shot at the same time the guard did.

Pain slammed into her leg, and her knees buckled. The guard went down with a thump. Her aim had been truer than his.

Jesus, it hurt. She looked down to see blood pouring from a hole in her upper leg. Another few inches and it would have hit her femoral artery, and she’d be on the floor bleeding out.

“Ty, talk to me, goddamn it. I heard gunfire. What the fuck is going on?”

“I took a hit,” she said faintly.

D swore viciously in her ear. “Get the hell out, do you hear me, Ty?”

“D, I’m okay. Took a round in the leg. I can make it. I’m coming with Eli.”

She staggered over to the guard and used her knife to cut his shirt off. She quickly fashioned a long bandage and wrapped it tightly around her leg several times to apply pressure and slow the bleeding.

The adrenaline buzz was fast wearing off, and her entire leg felt like someone had tossed her in petrol and lit a match.

She made it back to Eli who was trying to pull himself off the floor.

“That…was…stupid,” he growled. “Leave me, Tyana. You can’t make it out with me.”

“Listen to him, Ty,” Damiano urged. “I’ll send Jonah and Mad Dog to get Eli.”

“Fuck that,” she snarled. “I’m almost there. If Eli will shut the fuck up and get moving.”

She looped his arm back over her shoulders, and ignoring the searing agony each time she moved her leg, she started forward again. Eli was gaining strength. He seemed to be helping her along more.

“Can you shift?” she asked. Damn sure would make it easier to get him out if he could.

“No. Too drugged. They used a paralytic. Only reason I can move at all right now is I was due for another injection and the last one is wearing off. You showed up before they did.”

“Lucky you.”

They burst out of the exit, and she did a quick survey to make sure they weren’t walking into more trouble. She hobbled to the wall where she’d climbed over. No way was she going to get Eli over that wall. Fuck.

She eased him behind a hedge of greenery and laid him on the ground. “Talk to me, Eli. Where are the others? Do you know?”

“Ty, forget the others,” D barked in her ear. “You get your ass out of there and let Jonah and Mad Dog find them.”

“Shut it, D, or I swear I’ll turn your ass off.” She grabbed Eli by the shirt and shook him. “Think, Eli. Tell me where the others are.”

“They couldn’t have been far,” he said. “I heard them once when my door was opened.”

“You stay here,” she said as she shoved him back down on the ground. “D, I’ve stashed Eli where I went over the wall. Make damn sure someone comes for him. I’m going back in after the others.”

Damiano’s curses fell on deaf ears as she walked back to the entrance, half dragging her leg. She gritted her teeth against the jarring pain that snaked up her body with each step.

Suck it up. It wasn’t the first time she’d taken a bullet, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

“I’m working on memory here, D. Tell me if I’m going wrong.”

“You’re fine.” D’s voice was firm, and she needed that strength. Grasped onto it with both hands.

She made it back to the door where her explosive was set and ready to go. Then, she thought better of having such a short timeframe and added another three seconds to give her more time to move out.

She forced herself up, put the stock of her gun down on the floor to act as a crutch and hauled her ass as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

“Jonah and Mad Dog are taking fire, but they’ll be there to back you up as soon as they can,” D said in her ear.

She gritted her teeth and rounded the bend just as the explosion rocked the hallway.

Gun up, she hurried back, her rifle sight trained on the doorway. When no one was forthcoming, she ducked in.

“Shit.”

“What is it?” Damiano demanded.

“Cats,” she replied. “I wasn’t counting on them being in fucking jaguar and panther form.”

D was uncharacteristically silent.

The two cats were caged separately. Iron bars and a simple padlock were her only obstacles, so this was something she wouldn’t need D for. Well, that and the keys were lying on the table three feet from the cages.

Taking a deep breath to ward off her pain and fear, she collected the keys and edged over to the first cage. The panther. This was Braden if she remembered correctly.

“Nice kitty,” she murmured as she fumbled with the lock. God help her, this might the dumbest thing she’d ever done.

She threw open the cage with one arm and tightened her grip on her rifle as she backed cautiously away to unlock the other cage.

The panther jumped from the cage and crouched warily in front of her. Her hands shook as she managed to get the lock off the second cage while her eyes never left the panther.

The jaguar hissed and bared his teeth as she started to crack open the cage. Oh hell, it was now or never. She threw the lid open and backed away, tripping when her leg gave out. She let out a cry of pain as she hit the floor.

The cats circled her, intermittent growls spilling from their throats. The jaguar came closer, and Tyana closed her eyes, prepared for death.

He sniffed cautiously at her shoulder then lowered his head and nuzzled the wound on her leg. The panther stalked in on her other side and bumped her side with his head.

She stared dumbly as they continued to nudge at her. Good God, they wanted her to get up and go. She pushed herself up.

“I don’t know if you understand a word I’m saying, but we’ve got to get the hell out of here,” she said as she struggled toward the door. “Eli is out already. All that’s left is Gabe.”

The cats flanked her as she made it out into the hallway. Her leg was growing more numb with each passing minute. She hoped to hell Jonah and Mad Dog had made it over by now but she wouldn’t ask Damiano, because he’d worry that she was fading. And she was.

Footsteps, several of them, echoed in the hallway. She flattened herself against the wall with her gun at the ready. This was going to suck.

Three men rounded the corner at a fast clip. She shot the first before they even realized she was there. She managed to squeeze off another round before the third shot back.

She slammed against the wall as the bullet tore into her shoulder. The cats launched themselves at the men. “D,” she gasped. “I’m hit again.”

The sounds of the cats’ screams mingled with those of the men. Her breaths came hard and sporadic. It hurt. Fuck, it hurt. She glanced down, trying to assess the damage but all she could see was blood, red, pouring onto the floor.