“No!”
Mai cradled Grace’s dead body, the blood already blooming from the bullet hole in her back, soaking through her clothes and staining Mai’s shaking hands. Staring down into Grace’s lifeless, unmoving beautiful eyes she felt her body clutch so tightly she could not breathe. Shock destroyed her. In less than a minute a bright new world had turned to ashes.
“What… what has she done? Oh no, oh, no.” Chika scrambled over on her knees, distraught. She clutched Grace’s shoulders and laid her head down and began to sob.
Finally Mai found her voice. “My beautiful… my… beautiful…”
The word daughter was spoken in her mind only.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Mai crumpled. Grace was gone and two worlds had died with her. Two futures. Throughout her life she had known despair, but this… this… it simply destroyed her.
She collapsed onto the floor, oblivious to all else. Grace stayed with her and she would never let go. She heard Hibiki’s movements and Chika’s crying but none of it was starkly real. Only one stark truth existed.
There would be no more life for Mai Kitano.
Deep character traits bloomed up, forcing her to look at the truth, to accept the facts, showing her that moving forward was possible. But how much could one person take? How much should one person take?
“Mai.” Chika’s voice at her side. Her sister’s arms wrapping themselves around her.
She said nothing, barely able to breathe. All she knew was the lifeless presence in her arms. All she felt was despair.
And Emiko? The girl had survived all this time just to kill Mai Kitano. Now she was dead too. And Hibiki? How would he handle this?
“Mai!”
His shout penetrated her fugue only marginally. Chika was so close now her breath was hot in Mai’s ears, her tears streaming down Mai’s own face. Blood coated Mai’s hands and forearms, lifeblood.
“Mai!”
Digging deep, calling on every ounce of strength she ever possessed, the Japanese woman raised her head. Everything was blurred until she blinked her eyes and then the water cleared.
Hibiki knelt before her, holding Emiko. Blood covered his face too.
Chika knelt beside them both, horror etched so deeply in her face it formed furrows.
Mai saw her family, but still felt overwhelmed. As powerful as she was she could not protect the people she loved. None of them could. Nobody could. Disaster and tragedy lurked around every corner, every curb, every main road and every schoolyard. Not so long ago it had been safe to let a child visit the park alone. Now, even the presence of parents couldn’t keep them totally safe.
Mai looked up at the ceiling, feeling certain she would never move again.
Hibiki’s voice brought her back down. “Mai!”
She glanced at him instinctively, recognizing the tone of utter urgency. “Just leave me with her,” she said finally. “This was not supposed to happen.”
Anger raged inside. What chance did Grace ever have? And she had been such a fighter… so spirited… taking all the bad and trying to turn it to good.
“Mai! I saw her move. I saw her fucking move!”
The words jolted her like machine-gun bullets. Mai flicked from Hibiki to Grace and took it all in. The blood. The body. The eyes that had closed long ago.
“Wha—”
There! Mai saw the movement too. Grace was moving her fingers ever so slightly. The fingers of her right hand. It wasn’t a cruel vision nor a sudden spasm.
Grace was alive!
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Hayden entered the Sierra Nevada electrical substation in a sub-zero mood. It didn’t matter what anyone said, Hayden found a way to pick a hole in it. Her colleagues looked as though they’d both been hit by icy daggers. The facility’s security had been beefed up, along with two other lesser ones that were close by — but Hayden was taking zero chances. Approaching the entrance and shading her eyes from the sun and heat, the first cop who met her gave a little attitude — especially on seeing the unfamiliar SPEAR badge — and almost ended up in a heap on the floor.
Dahl intervened. “We’re a covert agency,” he said in a rush as Hayden’s fists clenched. “So covert we’re practically unknown.”
“That work out well for you?” the cop drawled, oblivious of his near-death experience.
“Almost never.”
Hayden pushed past and Kinimaka followed. Dahl forestalled any wisecracks from the cop by verifying the extra security.
“How many, bud?”
“Thirty,” the cop said. “Includes a Special Ops team.”
Dahl had been about to squawk “thirty?”, knowing that wasn’t nearly enough and dreading how Hayden would react in her current mood, when the final part of the cop’s answer registered with him. “Special ops? Now you’re talking.”
He moved off, keen to meet the elite team. Hayden stopped him inside the facility. “How many?”
“Well… they’re still counting but we do have a Special Forces team.”
“We do? Well, thank fuck for that. About time Robert Price started getting his act together.”
Dahl sauntered past, having averted the explosion quite nicely, he thought. Kinimaka’s shrewd glance didn’t go unnoticed. The inside of this particular facility was relatively cramped — a wide open space crammed full with offices, electrical boxes, small pylons, and gantries. It was a maze, but thankfully one in which you could always see all four walls.
Cops stood around in huddles, disorganized. Dahl followed Hayden to the main control room where a diminutive bank of CCTV screens minded the facility. Immediately, he saw the men he was looking for.
“Torsten Dahl.” He nodded at the group.
“How ya doin’?” To a man they eyed him suspiciously. “You in charge here?”
“Nope. She is.” Dahl nodded at Hayden. “We’re part of the other Special Forces team here.”
“What?” a man said. “All three of ya?”
Dahl conceded that point. “It’s been a rough one.”
Hayden quickly scanned the screens. “We need some of the cops outside. Those two police cars ain’t gonna be enough. Don’t these people listen to the news?”
“The important part is to prevent them from gaining access to this room,” Dahl said. “We think they’re planning to enter the system by leaving behind a back door. The harder we make it the better the chance they’ll give up. So let’s make it very hard.”
A rugged soldier stepped forward, addressing Hayden. “Where do you want us, ma’am?”
“First — the next person who calls me ma’am is gonna be walking funny for about three days. It’s Jaye or boss. I mean, do I look like a friggin’ ma’am? Second — we need to get those cops organized. I don’t want any dead officers today.”
“I’ll do it.” Kinimaka turned on his heel.
Dahl nodded at the screens. “Thirty minutes and we should have this place pretty well sewn up.”
Hayden sighed. “Yeah, ahead of the game at last.”
“Don’t count on it,” the Special Forces leader said. “You told them how many mercs assaulted the last station, yeah?”
Hayden nodded, already ahead of him. “I did. And our boss sent a few cops and you guys. No offense, but that ain’t enough.”
“And there’s a bigger problem,” the leader said.
“Which is?”
“The mercs are already here.”
Dahl reacted faster than anyone, lunging for a weapon rather than reaching for his own. This way he got among them and caused a little havoc. A weapon came free, its owner stumbling as Dahl wrenched hard. These men were not Special Forces then, and as he tackled them he immediately knew it. They were slow, and poorly trained. They were unsystematic. Dahl swung the weapon hard, connecting with the side of a skull. The first merc toppled at his feet, the second went flying. That left four, all drawing guns.