Deadly Dozen: 12 Mysteries/Thrillers (211 page)

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX

IT SOUNDED LIKE A FIRECRACKER. But Jon knew someone had fired a gun when he saw one of his wife’s security guard’s chest erupt in a crimson spray.

“Elaine!” He ran to her and Matthew, throwing himself over them without a thought for his own safety.

Another shot.

Something hit him between the shoulder blades.

His head struck the ground as he fell.

A scarlet puddle widened around him.

The last thing he saw was his wife and son kneeling over him, Elaine crying, Matthew screaming.

“Daddy!”

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN

NICK HAD TELEPORTED TO THE STAGE, but the pain was so intense he could barely see past the glowing flecks swarming before his eyes.

“Oh my God, Nick!” Hope buried her face in his chest. He thought she was crying—hard to hear with all the chaos on the stage. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face the steps where people were fleeing.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

She pointed down to Jon. “What about Pastor Hartwell?”

He lay motionless, the white shirt under his navy jacket soaked with blood. The bullet must have gone straight through his chest.

Nick had taken care of the sniper, but greater threats loomed. And if Lena hadn’t seen Nick by now, her cohorts surely had.

Nevertheless, he went over and knelt by Hartwell, who grasped his hand with icy fingers.

With a gasp, he uttered his last words.

“Elaine...Matthew...” But security had rushed them away, out of the line of fire.

The rage and sadness Nick felt rivaled the pain in his head. Lena’s heartless machinations had taken the first victims. Had he his full strength as a guardian, he might rather enjoy destroying her as he had so many of the Dark Dominion’s more formidable agents. But time was running out, as were his powers.

He had to get Hope to safety.

“There isn’t much time.” He grabbed her hand rushed her over to the steps at the edge of the stage, and crouched behind a wall of equipment crates. Catching his breath, he said, “We’re going to have to leave unconventionally.”

“Nick, what’s happening?”

“I’ll explain later, first I’ve got to get you out of here before...” He glanced up at the thousands scrambling to leave the stadium. Lena had recruited mortal and supernatural help to kill them all with the bombs. There was no way any of them could simply walk out.

“Before what, Nick?”

It wouldn’t be a complete lie if he told her that hers was the only life that mattered to him. But the thought of leaving all these innocent people to die troubled him.

“Hope, listen. I’m losing my powers even as we speak. I might have just enough to take us to safety before...”

Throughout the stadium, the sound of automatic gunfire rang out. Hernandez and Suarez men brandished assault rifles and blocked the exits, every passageway a narrow tunnel of death. A couple of brave fools rushed the gunmen but were shot before they got within striking distance.

The lights in the entire stadium went out.

Terrified screams filled the air.

Save for dim ambient light coming in from the translucent panels of the stadium dome and cell phone cameras acting as flashlights, the entire place was dark.

“Before
what
?” Hope said.

“They’ve got the stadium rigged with nuclear explosives.”

He couldn’t see her reaction, but he did hear her gasp.

“Why would anyone—who’s doing this?”

“My former supervisor. Can’t tell just how many humans and angels—or demons, rather—she’s got working with her. It turns out I was one of her unwitting recruits.”

Hope was speechless.

“We need to go, now!” A spike of pain that struck his head kept him from saying more.

The sounds of panic grew louder. Gunshots, screams, cries for help. Hope was shaking, her breathing staccato.

“All right,” she said. “Let’s go.”

But even in the darkness, their mutual pause confirmed that it was not so simple as leaving.

“Hope...”

“Are you thinking what I am?” she whispered.

“I must be insane.”

It didn’t take supernatural abilities for either of them to know how the other felt.

Or that they agreed.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT

THE PAIN IT COST NICK TO TELEPORT with Hope to a corridor across the stadium was excruciating. He could barely pick himself off the concrete with the daggers impaling his skull through his eyes and ears. Another power surge. Slightly weaker than the last one but agonizing nonetheless.

“You’re bleeding.” Hope pulled a tissue from her pocket and blotted his upper lip.

“Part of the process,” Nick said. “The more mortal I become, the more it hurts to use my powers. Especially teleporting.” He put his head in his hands. “Any idea where we are?”

As she looked around, screams and gunshots echoed through the corridors.

“All I can see is a big letter C painted by the doorway.”

Sublevel C.

“Good.” He steadied himself against the wall.

“Do you hear that?” Hope whispered.

“What is it?”

“Shhh!” In the curved concrete corridors, rapid footfalls grew louder. “Someone’s coming.”

Nothing but the blood-red glow of emergency signs lit the area. Nick got in front of her and leaned up against the wall.

“Stay close.”

“How much time do we have before the bombs go off?”

“A few minutes.”

“Do you know where they are?”

“Not exactly. I heard something about—hold on.” He felt a draft. It reminded him of the dark vapor that used to appear like a portent when he was an angel. Probably just air coming through a vent. He glanced up and saw a sign with an arrow pointing to LOCKER ROOM C.

“Come on,” he said. Hope didn’t move.

“That’s the direction where they’re coming from!”

She was right, and they were getting louder.

“If we don’t hurry, it won’t matter,” Nick said. “Nothing will.”

They ran until what looked like a pair of shadows stopped short a little ways ahead of them.

“Don’t shoot!” a trembling female voice called out.

“
Callate!
” a man said.

There was no mistaking that voice.

Nick stepped into the red light.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

“NICK? IS THAT YOU OVER THERE?”

Lito Guzman stepped into the light.

“Yes,” Nick said, straining to see. “What are you doing here?”

“Who is this guy, Lito?” The young woman with him emerged from the shadows.

Hope came to Nick’s side. “What’s going on?”

“It’s going to be okay now,” Lito said to the young woman. Then to Nick: “This is my sister, Maria.” To Maria: “This is Nick. He’s the angel that—”

“The situation is much worse than you can imagine,” Nick said.

“What’s worse than a bunch of armed Mexican drug lords trying to kill us?” Maria said. “It’s only a matter of time before they catch up.”

“We’ve no time for this,” Nick said, as he led them down the hall to locker room C. “There are two nuclear devices, one here and one in locker room B. We’re going to try to stop them from—”

“Nukes!” the former cartel leader said. “What’s going on?”

“Lito, you’ve got to get yourself and Maria out of here.” They were now in Locker Room C, where an open suitcase sat brazenly on the floor by an open locker. The device inside was beeping quietly and rhythmically while the yellow LED of its timer ticked down.

8:59...

8:58...

8:57...

Maria and Hope stared at the suitcase, too panicked to speak. Lito, however, began to mutter. About the only phrase that came through clearly was, “Why, Nick?”

“It’s an angels and demons thing, okay? Get out of the stadium, now!” Nick’s voice boomed through the curved concrete corridors. In the silence that followed, they heard the sound of running feet.

Lito grabbed his arm. “You’re a freakin’ angel, Nick. Can’t you just beam that thing out into space?”

“You think this is Star Trek or something? I’m losing my powers and getting weaker. There are two bombs. And the Suarez and Hernandez men are out there, armed and coming for us.” The running steps were close now.

“Can’t you do what you did last time and mess with their heads?”

“All right, Lito. Time to go—there may be another exit behind us, I’ll see if I can buy you some time.”

“No way,” he said. “You saved my life, I’m not leaving you on your own. Maria, you go and—”

“If I’m going to die,” she shot back, “I’ll do it helping, not running.” She and her brother exchanged a quick nod, then Lito turned to Nick.

“Tell us what to do.”

Nick scanned the locker room and pointed to an exit at the opposite wall.

“Downstairs. Locker Room B. Find the other nuke.”

“And do what, exactly?” Maria said.

“I don’t know yet. First we have to—”

He stopped, because the running steps had stopped. A cold gust from behind—the locker room door was open. He turned around to face the cartel members.

It wasn’t them.

Lena and her Nephilim stood before them.

“Nikolai, Nikolai, Nikolai,” she said. “I’m disappointed in you.” She glared at him with aloof eyes, which was perhaps her most dangerous look.

Nick leaned over to Lito and whispered, “Run.”