Chasing Victory (The Winters Sisters) (27 page)

The three men were all sitting in the C-27J Spartan, heading towards the San Juan Island and the Biotec complex. They were all dressed in black from head to toe. All three of the men were leaning their heads back against their seats, eyes closed.

“Victory,”
Tristan pushed.
“Come on Victory, wake up.”

Victory felt the chemical pull trying to keep her down. It would be so easy to succumb to the feeling of floating. She started slipping back into her dream world.

“Come on Victory,”
Tristan pushed harder.

“Tristan,”
came her slurred thoughts.

“I’m here. Are you hurt?”
he asked.

She opened her eyes and looked into the blackness enveloping her. She took stock of her body, but remained still on the bed.
“No, but I have a whopper of a headache.”
She could feel the relief in Tristan.
“Really, I’m fine. I have no idea where I am though.”

“You’re back at the Biotec complex on the San Juan Island. What do you hear?”

Victory took in a cleansing breath and cleared her mind. She closed her eyes and reached out with her hearing.
“It’s pretty quiet. I hear snoring down the hall, and what sounds like a man on a cell phone-yes, he’s talking to a wife or girlfriend.”

“That’s your friendly guard, and it sounds like he’s being  lax,”
Tristan said.
“We are approximately forty five minutes from
the island. I need you to get yourself ready to leave. But no lights.”

“Got it,”
she said.

“I need to update the team. I will contact you right before our HALO jump.”

“HALO Jump?”
she asked.

“Yes, we are coming in via air, approximately thirty five thousand feet up, so that we won’t be heard from the ground. From this height we will be doing a HALO jump, High-Altitude-Low Opening. Be careful Victory, and stay put,”
he said as he severed their connection.

Victory felt a real sense of emptiness after Tristan withdrew; this was not a good thing. What would happen after this whole nightmare was over and she returned to her normal life? Would she still feel this gaping hole in her mind, and yes, in her heart? She shook the thoughts from her mind, this was not the time, nor the place to examine these issues. She attempted to orient herself. Her eyes were beginning to adapt, and she could see numbers a few feet away from her. It was a clock, and it looked like the time was one in the morning.

* * *

“ETA five minutes,” said the pilot.

“Yes,” Logan said. “Time to dance.”

The three men had previously checked and rechecked their gear. Now the team pulled on their oxygen masks, checked their gauges and put on their helmets. They walked to the tail of the plane where Noah pushed a button and watched the floor of the plane open up to the inky night sky.

“Go,” came the command from the pilot.

Noah looked at Tristan and Logan; all three gave the thumbs up sign. Noah took three steps forward and free fell from the plane, followed closely by Logan.

Tristan was moving towards the open space to take his turn.

“Tristan, abort,”
Wyatt commanded.

Tristan stopped mid stride.
“What’s up Wyatt?”

“Jack has received confirmation that there is a helicopter approaching the island. It’s due to land in twenty minutes.”
Wyatt informed him.
“We believe Braxton is on that aircraft.”

“Probably a good bet, but we can’t abort. Noah and Logan have already jumped.”
Tristan fell from the plane,
“and I’m right behind my team.”

“Then for Christ sakes, get yourselves down there and stay out of sight until you verify the arrival of that aircraft.”
Wyatt said.

“Roger that,”
Tristan replied and severed their connection. He checked his altimeter. At fifteen thousand feet he removed his oxygen mask and contacted his team.

“Noah, Logan.”

“What’s up Tristan?” Noah said.

“Logan?” Tristan repeated.

“I’m here,” Logan confirmed.

“I got an update from Wyatt right before leaving the plane. Seems we will be having company in ten minutes. We need to hit the ground, stow our equipment, find a place to hide out and regroup.”

“Roger,” both men responded in unison.

They landed a few yards from the helipad and were lucky to find a supply shed nearby. The team had barely stowed their equipment and found hiding spots when they saw the lights of the helicopter come into view.

The lights surrounding the helipad came on as Logan was shutting the shed’s door. “Gets your blood pumping, doesn’t it?”

The helicopter touched down and then the motor shut down, the blades spooling to a stop. The passenger door opened and Dave Anderson stepped from the craft. He held the door as Braxton stepped out behind him.

“Give me thirty minutes then bring her to my office,” Braxton said.

“Yes sir,” Dave answered.

The two men headed for the main building. The pilot stepped from the helicopter, made a quick check around the craft and followed behind.

“So, how are we going to play this?” Logan asked.

“We stick to the plan,” Tristan said, “with a few modifications. Braxton wants to meet with Victory; he is probably going to lay the ground rules. It’s two in the morning, I’m sure it will be a fairly short meeting. Logan and I will shadow them to Braxton’s office. Logan will wait until Braxton leaves the office then he will proceed with his search and seizure. I’ll follow Victory back to her room. After Dave leaves I’ll get her out.”

“Victory,”
Tristan reached for her.

“Are you here?” s
he responded immediately. A few minutes before she had felt Tristan’s adrenaline rush, it flooded her body as if she herself jumped from the plane. She knew the very fraction of a second he had jumped out of the plane. 

“Yes, but we have a slight change of plan. Braxton and Dave Anderson arrived on the island, nearly on top of us. Dave is on his way to pick you up for a meeting with Braxton.”

“Terrific,”
she said.

“Play along. I’ll be close by. After Dave returns you to your room I’ll make my move,”
Tristan said.

Victory heard the tapping of buttons at her door.
“Seems my escort has arrived,”
she said as she sat up in her bed.

Dave opened the door and turned on the lights. “We meet again Ms. Winters.” As the room flooded with light she realized that she was in the same room they had put her in when she was brought to the island the first time.

“Unfortunately,” she responded. “What do you want?”

“Pull yourself together,” Dave nodded to the bathroom. “Mr. Braxton wants to see you.”

“At this time of night? Doesn’t the man ever sleep?” she asked.

“You have five minutes,” was all he said, as he sat in the chair next to the desk.

“Good evening Victory,” Braxton said as Victory entered his office. In his normal fashion he had not looked up to greet her, but remained fixated on his computer screen. “Take a sit please. Dave, wait right outside, this shouldn’t take long.”

Victory sat in one of the wingback chairs, hands clasped in her lap and waited for Braxton to begin.

“Seems Detective Howard was correct,” he said.

“About?” was her only response.

“Tristan Grant, or should I say Farraday, was not as he appeared. His background check was impeccable, which leads me to believe he is connected with the government. So, how did the two of you meet?”

Victory sat quietly, not responding to Braxton’s question. For the first time he looked up and made eye contact with her. Something was different about her, he thought. Victory seemed to have a sense of calm or self-assuredness. He could easily change that.

“No matter. He’s not here now. I admit the two of you put a slight crimp in my plans, but nothing that can’t be fixed. You will continue with your research. I am obtaining new specimens as we speak.”

Flames nearly shot out the top of her head and her stomach clenched at the thought of another person being burdened with his serum. “Like I told you back on the island, this serum is nowhere near ready to be used on a human.”

“Yes, yes, but you have to admit, it does make you produce results.”

“They know you have kidnapped me. Someone will find me eventually,” she said.

“No they won’t. No one will even look for you. Detective Howard is currently involved in staging your death. Tragic really, you were in a plane crash early this morning, on your return to Seattle. Unfortunately it was over the Pacific Ocean, and your body was not recovered. Such a loss, you had so much to contribute to the world of science.” Braxton said with a sadistic sneer.

She sat glaring at the man. He truly was a madman. “What makes you think I won’t try to escape or contact my family at the first opportunity?”

His sadistic smile spread. “Because, whoever you call will be dead within twenty-four hours. If you escape, I will kill both of your sisters. Now, enough with this game, you will be leaving here in seven hours and taken to your new lab and home.” He pushed the button on his desk and Dave reappeared. “Take Ms. Winters back to her room. She needs a good night’s sleep before her journey. I won’t be requiring your services any further tonight Dave.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Braxton. Let’s go Victory,” Dave commanded.

Victory remained in her chair. She was looking forward to ruining Braxton’s plans once again.

“Victory,” Dave repeated.

She rose from the chair and started for the door.

“You will have your specimens in two days,” Braxton said from his desk. “I will personally be checking on your progress in one week.”

Victory did not turn to acknowledge Braxton’s comment, she continued toward the door, Dave on her heels. For the first time she noticed a small glass plate on the wall to the left of the door. The plate had two buttons, one up and one down. Three feet to the left of the plate she saw a split in the wall.

As she walked down the massive marble hall towards the elevator she heard the minutest of sounds behind her. It sounded like a door creaking.
“Tristan?”

“We’re here Victory, in the stairwell,”
he answered.

Victory filled him in on the conversation between herself and Braxton.
“They put me in the same room I was in when I was first brought to this place. It’s on the basement level, no windows obviously, room zero sixteen.”

“Did it look like Braxton would be in his office for awhile?”

“I don’t think so, he looked tired, and he cut the meeting short. He told Dave that he wouldn’t be needed anymore tonight. If I were to venture a guess, I would say he will be heading off to bed shortly,”
she answered.
“There is a door in the wall right next to his office door, my thought is that it’s a private elevator, maybe to his personal suite.”

The door to the elevator opened and Dave escorted Victory back to her room. “Someone will be back in seven hours to retrieve you. I would advise you to get some sleep. Tomorrow will prove to be a very long and trying day.” Without waiting for her reply, Dave closed the door and she heard the click of the electronic lock snap back into place.

“What do you think?” Logan whispered to Tristan.

Tristan focused on Braxton’s office and took a deep breath in through his nose. “He’s doing a lot of moving around in there. Victory said that there was a door that looks like an elevator right next to his office door, probably his personal suite.” He took another breath. “His scent is getting stronger, wait, the scent is dissipating. I think Victory was right, that is an elevator. Give him a good thirty minutes, then move up to the door.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

Noah was in the main monitor room. So far no one from the security team had shown up, but he knew it was only a matter of time. “Tristan, what’s your status?”

“I’m on the basement level. Noah is up on the top floor giving Braxton some time to hopefully fall asleep. He should be contacting you in fifteen minutes to deactivate the door.”

“What about you? Have you located Victory’s room?” Noah asked.

“Zero sixteen, but don’t take it down yet. I’m waiting for the guard to doze off, or get up for a bathroom break,” Tristan said.

“It better be damn soon. I’m overstaying my welcome here.” As if on cue, the door to the security room began to open. “Shit, I’ll get back to you, I’ve got company.” Noah silently shut the door to the broom closet, hoping the guy wasn’t a janitor coming into clean.

The man entering the room carried a walkie talkie and after scanning the bank of monitors dominating the area, he spoke into the device. “Base, this is Jim. I’ve completed my sweep, everything is quiet. Can I take my dinner break now?”

A metallic voice came through the walkie talkie. “Yeah, okay. One hour Jim, no more. I want you back in that monitor room in sixty minutes, not ninety, got it?”

“I got it. What’s the rush? Nothing is happening,” Jim responded.

“That’s right and I want to keep it that way. Dave Anderson and Mr. Braxton are on the island for the night. I don’t want them to catch us with our pants down. Your sixty minutes starts now, over.” The walkie talkie went dead.

“Well shit.” Jim stuffed the walkie talkie back in his shirt pocket and left the room. In his haste he failed to turn off the lights. Noah waited patiently in the closet. Five minutes later the door opened and Jim switched the lights off. “Damn it,” he grumbled. “Now I will only have forty five minutes by the time I make it down to the damn mess hall,” he mumbled to himself.

“Tristan, Logan, come it,” Noah said into his mouth piece.

“Status Noah,” responded Tristan.

“Almost ran into our friendly security guard. Seems his boss is a bit edgy with Braxton on the island. We only have fifty minutes to reach the boat launch. After that they will have eyes on the monitors.”

“Go ahead and pop the lock on Braxton’s office,” Logan said. He saw the lock plate turn from red to green. “I’m going in.”

“Is there any way to slow the guard down?” Tristan asked.

Noah thought for a moment as he surveyed his choices. “I could try and shut down the elevators, make it look like a malfunction. But that will probably only buy us about fifteen to twenty minutes.”

“Do it,” Tristan said.

Tristan noticed his guard pull out his walkie talkie. “Hey Don,” said Jim on the other end. “Want to meet me in the mess hall?”

“Sure,” responded Don. “Nothing is going on here. Give me five minutes.”

“Make it snappy. I have orders to be back in the monitor room in fifty minutes, seems the big boss is on the island.”

“Roger, I’ll see you in ten,” he got up from his chair and headed for the elevators.

“Noah, hold off on tampering with the elevators. My guy is on his way up to have dinner with Jim. Give me five minutes then release Victory’s door,” Tristan whispered.

“Shit Tristan, you sure like to cut things close. I literally have my hand on the button to cut the power. Her lock will be down in five,” Noah repeated.

“Victory, I’ll be at your door in five minutes.”

“Yes, I heard.”
She responded, with a smile in her voice.
“This room might be nicely decorated, but that can’t disguise the fact that it’s still a cell. I never want to see the inside of this room again.”

“Damn woman, your hearing is unreal,”
Tristan opened the door from the stairwell and headed for Victory’s door.

Five minutes on the dot, room zero sixteen’s lock plate turned from red to green. Tristan grabbed the knob and opened the door. He stood in the doorway, the lights from the hall flooding the pitch-black room.

From out of the darkness Victory jumped into Tristan’s arms. Utter surprise and joy filled him as he lifted her off her feet and kissed her with a desperate need. Something told him that he would never get enough of Victory.

“I knew you would find me,” Victory said breathlessly.

“Never any doubt,” Tristan responded as he gently placed her back on her feet.

“Don’t mean to interrupt,” came Noah’s voice through Tristan’s earpiece. “But we only have forty minutes to get clear of here.”