Crystal Clear (18 page)

S
he
suppressed a hysterical giggle.

“W
hat we do need is to retrieve the information that we gathered via our satellite.  Unfortunately, it’s encrypted.  Thanks to Agent Halverson here, we know that you have the ability to decrypt the information and retrieve codes that we need.  Now, will you cooperate, or do we need to result to less civilized means to coerce you to help us?”  The man’s hand gently stroked the t
able with the torture equipment.

Cindy wondered how long she
would
be able to hold out.  Her mind worked through several different scenarios.  If she held out, she could buy time for h
er team to come and get her.  A
tracking device
was
planted into her bloodstream before she was sent out on this mission, just in case.  They would be looking for her. 

Her thoughts strayed to Jack for a moment and a brief flash of concern passed through her mind.  She hoped he got out okay
. He was a man capable of taking
care of himself.  Her chin came up
. S
he could think of a way out of this, she just needed a little time. 

The man in the lab coat turned toward the table and started preparing the jumper cables he placed the sponge on one end and attached the other to the battery.  Her brain focused on her training.  Name, rank, and birthday, that’s all they were getting out of her.

“I’m sure that with a little persuasion you’ll be far more cooperative.”  He grinned as he turned toward her, sponge end in her hand.  She locked her gaze onto Halverson.  He was going to pay for every ounce of pain they put her through. 

The first jolt of electricity ran through her system as the sponge touched her skin.  The pain excruciating, she felt like she burn
ed
up from the inside out.  She gritted her teeth to keep herself from screaming out.  She would not let them hear her beg. 

The lab coat guy smil
ed
, “Are you ready to help yet?”  He pulled the sponge from her and gestured to the o
ther guy in a lab coat. H
e h
e
ld a laptop. 

She glared at the technician and shook her head. 

They could go to Hell if they thought a little torture
would
induce her into selling out her country.

“Special Agent Cindy Hawke, United States, July twentieth nineteen seventy nine.”  Nope, they weren’t getting a thing.

“Good, I hop
ed
you weren’t going to give in yet.”  He leered at her as he once again cranked up the voltage and placed the sponge against her bare skin.

Cindy passed out after the tenth application of electricity.  She woke some time later still tied to the
chair.  The little men had left. T
hey probably went to plot her next torture session the first man in the lab coat seemed to enjoy it a little too much. 

As she came to,
her mind went over possibilities
for escape
.  She snagged onto a plan as it form
ed
in her mind, which she had to admit was a bit sluggish right now.

If they wanted her to decrypt the information for them, she could just as easily plant a virus while she was at it.  They would have to give her access to a computer, and she could do anything with computers.  She could kill two birds with one stone.  They would also have to untie her.  She hid her grin as her plan formed. 

She would have to hold out through one more torture session, but they would think nothing of it if she caved in the middle.  All she needed to do was get her hands on that laptop, and they were giving her the means to destroy all their hard earned information.

Hmmm, yup
, she could do that.  Her team had to be on the way, Garrett
and Lucy wouldn’t let her down. I
f she had to
,
she could get out once her hands and feet were untied.  She wiggled in the chair and heard the metal scrape against the floor.  It would make a good weapon when the time came. 

She didn’t have to wait long.  They must have the room wired for surveillance, and had someone at the ready for when she woke up.  The cart rolled into the room again.  The same man in the lab coat push
ed
it, but Halverson didn’t follow.  There was another guy with a gun standing guard. 

Perhaps they took shifts. I
t would be e
asier if Halverson wasn’t there. T
he other man d
idn’t know her training as well. S
he could probably take him out fairly quickly when she was done altering the program. 

“Well young lady, are you ready to cooperate?  If you are, then there really is no reason to continue the torture.  Al here will hand you the laptop and you can get to work doing what it is you do best.  Hmmm?”  He kept his voice pleasant, but
she could tell he
hop
ed
she would not play nice. 

She was more than willing to oblige him.  She let her mouth widen into a bright smile and spit on him.

“You can go to Hell.
I’ll never sell out.” 

The man leaned over her grinning with that evil rat smile.

“I was hoping you would say that, we have a surprise in store for you.”  He stepped back to the hallway, “Agent Halverson, would you come in here please?  I believe the lady needs a special brand of persuasion that only you can give her.”  He re-entered the room
.
Halverson following close behind. 

“Since you seem to be able to withstand other types of torture, we are going to let Agent Halverson persuade you to help us.”  He grabbed his little cart and started rolling it out of the room.  They left and her fear mounted as she watched Halverson advance on her.

“All you had to do was cooperate.”  He took a step closer.  “It’s not hard.  Just use the keyboard and work your magic and they’ll have what they want.”

“Halverson, I don’t understand.
I respected you. H
ow could you sell us out? You can’t
believe what these guys do.  It
s bull and you know it.” Her best bet was to play dumb.

“Shit Hawke, you think the Agency really gives a damn about any of us?  Where are they now?”  Staring at her for a moment, he shook his head and took another step towards her, “You know what?  It’s none of your business why I did this, just shut up and do what they want.”

“You can go to Hell too, as soon as they catch up with you, you’re a dead man, and you know it.”  She glared up at him, anger and pride warring on her face.  Her head snapped back as he landed the first blow.

“You were always so damn arrogant.  We’ll see how long that lasts.”  He landed another blow straight to her gut and she doubled over trying not to throw up.

“It’s real easy to beat up a girl when she’s tied up.  Go ahead, do your worst.”  This
would
hurt, but she had to make i
t believable when she gave in.

Halverson laid into her making sure he didn’t let her pass out.  By the time her eye was swollen shut, her lip was broken, and she was pretty sure she had a cracked rib,
Cindy
gave in.

“Okay,” she said too quietly for him to hear, his ham-like fist swung again, “Okay!  I give in.  No more please.”  She put just the right amount of pain and pleading into her voice that he stopped. 

“You ready?”  His voice was clipped, and he
puffed
slightly out of breath.  His eyes excited.

“Yes,” she glared up at him through her one good eye.  “Just give me the damn laptop.” 

He exited the room for a moment and came back in with the lab coat guy following behind, laptop in hand. 

“Don’t try anything funny.  I’m watching you.”

“Of course you are.”  The real pain in her body helped her to make her act look real. 

Halverson circled around behind her and released the cuffs.  The man in the lab coat handed him the laptop which he carried over to Cindy.

“This may take a while, especially with only one good eye.”  She took it. 

“We’ll know when you’re done.”  His glance went to a spot just behind her chair
.

S
he turned her head and noted a small camera there. 

“Can I get my feet untied as well?  I don’t have any feeling in them and it’s a little hard to concentrate.” 

Halverson looked back toward the man in the lab coat.  With a slight inclination of the head Halverson turned back to her. 

“Yes, but don’t try anything.”  His
tone
gruff as he gave consent. 

Her head hurt like a hammer had been driven through her skull, and her eye ached.  She
would
need a little recovery time anyways.  She also needed time to plant the virus in the encrypted program.  He bent and untied her legs. 

“When you’
re done just look back at the camera.”

“Fine.”  Taking the laptop she set about getting to work. 

Halverson and lab coat guy left the room, making sure the door was shut behind them. 

She grinn
ed, and quickly stopped smiling. T
he crack in her lip stung.  Even better, they wouldn’t know what she was up to until it was too late.  She loved it when plans came together.  Cindy pushed the pain to the back of her mind and let her fingers fly across the keyboard.  If they wanted the information, they
would
be sadly disappointed.

She hunched over to hide the screen from prying eyes as she typed and tried not to smile.  Once she finished she would make her escape. 

God, she could really use a Snickers right about now.

Jack landed the small charter plane on the airstrip just outside of Truth or Consequences.  They touched down with a screech of tires and brakes.  Jack was in a hurry and finesse at the wheel was not foremost in his mind right now. 

Patrick touched his arm and pointed to the black SUV waiting at the edge of the strip near the end.  A man and a woman stood nearby and looked like business.  Jack could only assume it was Agents Montgomery and Garrett.  He was glad they were there.  The plane rolled to a stop at the parking area, and they disembarked.  After securing the cab, Jack strode over to the waiting agents. 

“You must be Cindy’s teammates?  I’m Jack Wilde, and this is my friend Adam Patrick.  I take it you’ve found where they’re holding Cindy?”  His gaze slid between the two agents in question. 

Agent Montgomery nodded, her long
strawberry blond
hair falling over her shoulder. 

“We located her tracking beacon while you were in the air.  She’s at a compound not far from here.  We’re sure that once they use her for whatever their purpose may be, they
will
kill her.  I’m not going to let that happen.  So, we have only one option.  We have to work together as a team and extract Hawke as soon as possible.  I’ll drive.”  She turned back to the SUV and climbed inside. 

Garrett went to the other side and got in beside her.  Jack and Patrick climbed in the back, neither man about to be left behind.

Jack spoke up from the back of the SUV, “Do you have the schematics for the compound?”

Garrett’s smile was
cold as he turned to face Jack. H
is silver eyes flashed death.  Jack wouldn’t ever want to cross this man.

“Yes,” Garrett flipped up the screen on the laptop built in to the seat between Jack and Patrick
. It
loaded with the diagram of the compound. 

“We’re going in from two different points.  There’s a small entrance on the left side of the compound near the base of the watchtower, and another toward the back of the base on the other side.” 

“The buildings are built like your standard barracks. They have vents and slots between the blocks of concrete in the walls just big enough for a man to get through.  With just four of us we can’t go in with guns blazing, so we’ll take the quick in and out method.” 

Jack silently agreed it was along the lines of what he used to do, so he was familiar with this type of retrieval.

Garrett continued, “Patrick will be on your team and Montgomery will be with me.  She’s being held here.”  He pointed to a spot in the main building.  “They have holding cells in the basement level.  If we can, Montgomery and I are going to plant C4 at strategic places and we’ll blow the building sky high as we leave.  That should alert the military nearby to their presence and they will no longer be able to use this as a base of operation.  They’re too close to the missile range to be up to any good.”

Running a hand through his hair with impatience, Jack tried not to think of what Cindy must be going through.  “Your plan sounds good
. I
t’ll take care of both problems.” 

Garrett turned to th
e front. Jack looked at Patrick. H
is friend appeared grim.