Chasing Victory (The Winters Sisters) (26 page)

Tristan returned back up the rope and found that Victory was nowhere in sight. “Victory, did you leave something in the cave?” he said, feeling a tingle of uncertainty. “Victory?” he yelled her name.

“I’m coming out,” she responded from right inside the opening of the cave. Tristan thought he picked up a trace of terror.

Victory appeared at the entrance of the cave. Her arms were pinned behind her, tied at the wrists and a gun held at her right temple. Tristan couldn’t make out who was holding the gun, but he knew the odor; it was Ken Howard.

“Ken, what rock did you crawl out from under?” Tristan asked. It was taking every ounce of his will power to stay focused on the task at hand, and not succumb to the panic that threatened to overtake him.

“Very cute Grant,” Ken replied.

“It’s Farraday,” Tristan corrected. He was trying to stall, to give himself a minute to formulate a plan, hope that Noah was still listening, or at the very least to wait for Logan to come back up the rope.

“Farraday, huh? I told Braxton that there was more to you then met the eye. Of course, he didn’t believe me. He said that you completely checked out, and you were as you appeared. Goes to show that instinct is still better than the damn computer,” Ken hissed.

“What do you want Ken?” Tristan pressed.

“I want you to untie that rope,” he replied nodding toward the ledge. I’ve got what I came to get. Now stay right where you are, if you want her to stay in one piece.”

“Let’s talk about this. You’re outnumbered. You won’t get away with this,” Tristan said, as he turned back toward the edge of the cliff and untied the rope that dangled down to the men.

“Oh, but I will. There is a helicopter on its way as we speak,” Ken said with a grin. Ken pulled up on Victory’s restraints; she grimaced in pain but refused to give him the satisfaction of crying out.

Tristan pushed at Victory’s mind only to find pain, sorrow, and fear. He tried again, more intensely this time. Then she looked up at him, anguish reflecting in her eyes.
“Focus, Victory. You’re not alone, I’m here, focus,”
he saw a slight glimmer of awareness.

“Tristan, I can hear you,”
came her response.

Confusion passed over his face,
“Victory?”

“Yes, I can hear you,”
she repeated.

“Enough with the stalling Farraday. I want you to toss your gun and knife off to your right.”

Tristan made no attempt to move. “If you don’t do as I say this very minute I will blow her pretty little brains out, and then yours; I’m leaving, and Victory is coming with me.

* * *

Noah was swearing a blue streak as he tore through Collin’s cabin. With his ear bud in and still activated he was hearing the complete exchange between Tristan and Ken Howard. He had already placed the call for a medical evac, they would have help in fifteen minutes. Far too late to be of any help to Victory, by the sound of things. While he was updating Jack, Wyatt ordered Noah to search Collin’s cabin and to retrieve all of Victory’s research, including her laptop, before starting back up the mountain. He knew his Captain was right, they couldn’t allow her research to fall into enemy hands. But damn it all, Tristan needed his help, now.

“Finally,” he snapped. Of course, it had to be the last place he looked, inside an old fishing cooler. He opened his pack, yanked everything out of the cooler and shoved it all into his pack. He was out the door and at a dead run in the next heartbeat.

* * *

Tristan decided it was best to do as Ken wanted. “You’ll never get away with this Ken. Like I said, you’re outnumbered. We’ll have you before you even start down the mountain.”

In the far distance Victory thought she was picking up a faint, whoop, whooping sound.

“Who said anything about going down the mountain?” Ken responded.

“There’s no place for a helicopter to land. The closest place is back by the cabin,” Tristan said.

Then they all heard a whooping sound, increasing in intensity. The helicopter came into view and hovered over the scene. Tristan glanced up and saw a man leaning out the open door, feet on the skids, MP5 pointed directly at him. A rope dropped from the open door and dangled a foot in front of Victory.

“As you can see,” Ken said with a sadistic smile on his face, “it’s not landing.” He shoved the gun into the small of his back, kept a tight hold of Victory’s restraints, then with his empty hand reached out for the rope and fastened it safety around himself. He yanked on the rope and grabbed Victory around the waist. They both rose into the air.

“Tristan, I have a clear shot,” Noah’s voice boomed through Tristan’s earpiece.

“No, Victory is not attached to the rope. You hit Ken, she drops. Besides the damn MP5 will take us both down,” Tristan responded.

Tristan stood there, powerless, watching Victory once again slip through his fingers.
“Stay strong Victory, I will find you,”
he pushed into her mind.

“I trust you Tristan.”
Telling him that surprised her as much as it did him.

While the scene between Tristan and Ken had played out, Victory refocused on Morgan and Logan. She listened as the events unfolded one hundred feet below them.
“I know you will find me. But first you must save Collin. Max is dead. Collin is critical. You must save him. I will be alright.”

Ken was dragged into the helicopter, and released Victory on to the floor where she laid on her side. “You have it?” he said to the man that had pulled them up. The man nodded. “Do it now,” Ken confirmed.

Victory felt a prick in the back of her shoulder.

“That should make moving her much easier,” Ken said. “How long will she be out?”

“Should last for at least eight hours,” the man replied.

That was the last thing Victory heard as her world faded to black.

“Son of a bitch,” Tristan yelled as he helplessly watched the helicopter increase altitude and fly off into the distance.

“Damn in, I’m really sorry Tristan. I was all the way back at the cabin when I heard you through my earpiece. I hightailed it as fast as I could,” Noah said.

“It’s not your fault, Noah. That dirty cop must have staked out the cabin and followed Collin and Victory right up here.”

“Tristan,” Logan yelled from below. “We need that medical evac right now if we want any hope of saving Collin.”

“What about Max? Victory said that he was dead,” Tristan shouted back as he pulled the sat phone from Noah’s pack.

“I already made that call, Tristan.” Noah looked down at his watch, “ETA is five minutes.”

“Max is gone. His head landed square on a rock, but he broke Collin’s fall,” Logan said from below.

“Alright, first we get you all up, get Collin ready for transport, and make sure he gets the best possible care. After that we locate Victory,” Tristan relayed.

“I pity that poor bastard Ken,” Noah ribbed, trying to lighten the mood.

She trusted him. Tristan still couldn’t believe she said it. Victory trusted him. He knew she had grown to like him over the last month, and enjoyed his company. But they were both acutely aware that his lack of honesty when they first met caused Victory to distrust him. He would find her, and he would kill Howard.

Thirty minutes later everyone was loaded on the medical evac helicopter and heading toward the nearest hospital.

“Tell me that was the same helicopter that Max took off in from the island?” Tristan asked his team.

“I think it was,” Noah replied as he dug through his backpack. “Damn it.”

“What’s the problem?” Logan asked.

“The receiver must have dropped out of my pack while I was digging out the phone. I wasn’t watching what I was doing; I was in the cabin, then hauling ass back up the mountain.”

For the first time today Tristan reached out for his brother.
“Wyatt?”

“I’m here Tristan. Give me the status, I know about Collin,”
Wyatt answered.

Tristan relayed the events of the day ending with the loss of the receiver.

“Let me get with Jack and see what he can do. I’ll have him call you. I’m going to start working on our next plan of attack. I want your team back at SOCOM.”

“Wyatt, I don’t want to waste any time locating Victory,”
Tristan argued.

“Consider that an order,”
Wyatt responded.

“Yes sir,”
Tristan hissed back.

“Tristan, don’t worry. We’ll get Victory back,”
Wyatt confirmed.

Noah’s phone rang. “What’s up Jack?”

“I’ve located that helicopter you tagged.”

“How?” Noah looked at Tristan, who smiled back at him. “Those two give me the creeps sometimes,” Noah said, shaking his shoulders up and down.

“Tell me about it,” Jack said. “Anyway, the helicopter is heading west, looks like they are going back to the complex on the San Juan Island.”

“That guy has got some balls,” Noah said, and relayed the conversation to the team.

TWENTY-SIX

Everyone’s eyes were glued to the screen on the wall of the Situation Room, as Jack reviewed all the information he had acquired. “So, we know that Braxton is out of the country. Our best guess is that he is meeting with the Kaleidoscope Group, probably to inform them of their loss on the Hawaiian island. We have been monitoring all types of communication, nothing has come out of there.”

“You think Braxton is unreachable?” Logan concluded.

“Either that, or they have instructions not to contact him,” Wyatt said.

Jack was busy, fingers flying over his keyboard. “I have picked up some cell phone texting. They are expecting Braxton back on the island late tomorrow afternoon,” Jack continued.

“Kinda sloppy, don’t you think?” Noah asked.

“Probably,” Jack said. “But they’re cocky bastards, and they’re playing the odds. They have such a large number of facilities; they are probably assuming we are chasing our tails trying to figure out which one they took Victory to.”

“Okay guys,” Wyatt jumped in. “Our preliminary plan is to night drop the three of you onto the island. We need to work out all the details, including mapping out the security grid and layout of the complex. There’s no time to let you leave and grab some R&R, but I want the three of you to have some down time. Go over to the officer’s barracks and get some sleep.” Wyatt looked down at his watch, “it’s five now, you have six hours to sleep, and shower. Then I want you back here. We’ll have a hot meal waiting for you when you return. You can eat while you get filled in. I want wheels up at Oh-one-hundred.”

Wyatt recognized the look on his brother’s face and knew he was in for an argument, so he made the first move. “Have you been able to reach Victory yet?”

“I’ve been trying, but I don’t get anything. Best guess is that son of a bitch Ken drugged her. I lost all contact with her as the helo went out of sight,” Tristan said.

“She’ll come too soon. Go take a break,” Wyatt said, nodding his head towards the door.

Tristan started to argue but Logan tapped him on the shoulder. “Come on Tristan. You have been on your feet for the last forty eight hours. You need a break. Victory is going to need you at the top of your game.”

At exactly eleven that evening the team was once again assembled in the Situation Room. Everyone was enjoying the spread that Jack had catered in, everyone expect Tristan who was itching to start the mission.

“Wow, Jack,” Logan said between mouthfuls of prime rib. “You can cook for me anytime.”

“Okay, Jack,” Wyatt jumped in before the two started ragging on each other. “Let’s hear the rundown.”

“As you are all aware, we already had the basic layout of the island and compound from your first mission a few weeks ago. I was tasked to dig deeper, make sure we weren’t missing anything crucial. Frankly, I was surprised by their security, nothing outstanding, not like on their Hawaiian island,” Jack said.

“Let’s hear it,” Tristan said abruptly. He was edgy and ready to go.

“You are all aware of the electric fence surrounding the compound. Treat it with respect, it won’t merely knock you on your ass, it will stop your heart. Nothing on the grounds, but there is both heat and motion detection in every building. Doors have electronic locks, nothing fancy, number pads. They have a four man security team, rotating out every five hours and about a fifteen minute overlap as the teams change.” Jack stopped to take a sip of his coffee.

“What time is the next change?” Logan asked.

“They are due to change teams at midnight, about thirty minutes from now. By the time you reach the island there will only be the four man team, about two hours into their shift.”

“Probably done with their initial grounds check and settling into their warm, cozy chairs with a cup of coffee,” Logan said.

“Don’t get sloppy,” Wyatt said. “We want you in and out of there before anyone knows.”

“Yes sir,” Logan said.

“Noah, you are in charge of bringing down the building security and getting those doors open. Then, you get a fix on the boat launch and make sure the team has a clear retreat to it. Logan, I want you to get into Braxton’s office. You need to locate any and all information you can about Kaleidoscope and any additional research on the genetics study. Tristan, you find Victory. Remember, this is not a grab and go. Victory is your first priority; your second is to obtain that information. Any questions?” Wyatt asked.

“No sir,” they all answered in unison.

“Good. Then get yourselves ready to go. We have a brand new C-27J Spartan idling out on the tarmac, wheels up in thirty minutes. Good hunting men.” Wyatt said, as Tristan, Noah and Logan left the room.