Delta Force Desire (15 page)

Griffin took a kick to the stomach and grabbed the man's leg, lifting him, twisting and slamming his body to the ground.

Kit heard the lock disengage on the bunker.

Throwing branches and brushing leaves from the door, she tugged on the handle. The door was stuck, rusty and heavy. She pulled with everything she had.

Griffin grabbed hold and hauled it open.

“You're bleeding,” she said. Blood ran from his cheek. It was too dark to assess his injuries fully, but he had taken every hit meant for her.

“I'm fine. Get to work. I'll guard you.”

“You're staying out here?” she asked.

“Incognito knows about the bunker, and they know who you are and that you're here. You're in grave danger. Destroy the Locker. Quickly.”

With trembling legs, Kit descended the narrow ladder into the bunker. She fell the last three feet, slipping on the metal. The small room, four by four, smelled of wet earth, but the equipment was sealed in plastic containers and vented through a pipe behind them.

“Any progress?” Griffin's voice.

She hadn't touched the computer. Focusing, she stood in front of the retinal scanner and placed her hand on the fingerprint reader. A keyboard slid out from the system. How had Incognito bypassed the biometric security on the other pieces of the Locker?

The weight of her actions pressed down on her. If she disabled the Locker, lives were at stake. If she didn't, Incognito would take complete control of it and master it, and the result was the same. Worse, they would use the full power of it against the United States.

Her heart pounded. She had to find another solution.

Every attempt to access top secret systems passed through the Locker, checking credentials. There was no other way to obtain classified documents.

If she barraged the Locker with requests for access, the Locker would register too many requests as a brute force attack and lock everything down. It would issue a warning to the system owners of the suspected attack and to take the systems it protected off-line.

Could she simulate a brute force attack and trip the Locker into lockdown mode? It would be a major problem for system administrators at the CIA, NSA, FBI and black ops. It was the best solution under the circumstances.

She searched for unsecured computers on the network, which would be suspicious to the Locker. She wrote a shell script to send requests for document access. Millions of requests, one after another from a dozen computers.

“We have more visitors,” Griffin said. He closed the door to the bunker. The only light was from the computer screen. In the lower right-hand corner was a star, a nod to the mastermind behind the Locker. Stargazer had gone absolutely stark-raving mad during the project and had been hospitalized. He'd tried to kill himself twice. The pressure this project had put on the team had been immense. Was she destined for the same fate as Stargazer and Arsenic? Either a life on the run or a life in a sanatorium?

She could hear gunfire and shouting. Was Griffin safe?

With her scripts running and generating increasing traffic loads, she scaled the rungs of the ladder and opened the hatch.

Griffin was now bleeding from his mouth. His body would be covered in bruises. Unconscious or dead bodies littered the ground around him.

“I'm finished. I am forcing the Locker to shut down access to every classified system in the United States.”

“Won't that cause a problem?”

Many angry bureaucrats and senators and system administrators. Military groups would move to their downtime procedures and be stuck using less than real-time data. “It was our best option.”

“Then let's beat feet. We're not safe yet.”

* * *

The helicopter Griffin had pinpointed as an escape method was miles away. Those miles would be dangerous, taking them back toward the main base, where the fighting had been most fervid. Griffin had nothing to disguise her. Finding a military uniform would be impossible in the chaos. Hiding could leave them cornered, and if the bombing continued, the area would lay in ruins.

Griffin had most of his rounds in his gun. He would save them for when they were necessary to protect Kit.

Jogging along the path, Kit stopped, panting, resting her hands on her knees. “I need to break. Just for a minute. I need to think.”

“If you don't run, I'll carry you. Come on, Kit, you can do this.” She had done so well. She wasn't accustomed to working in war zones, and her body wasn't primed for long bouts of exertion. He needed to keep her motivated. Surviving this was a mental game, and mental quickness and sharpness were things Kit had in spades. He tried to tap into that. “I've seen you do the impossible. Let's take this all the way.”

She accepted his outstretched hand and ran behind him. The sound of off-road vehicles approaching cut through the gunfire. Griffin pulled Kit off the main path. Branches scratched at him as he moved into the vegetation. He tried to protect her from the brush. He squatted on the ground, watching and using the leaves and green to blend.

Unmarked vehicle after vehicle passed them. Had they been deployed to protect physical access to the Locker? Were they part of the United States military or Incognito's mercenaries?

“Any chance they can undo whatever you did?” Griffin asked.

She shook her head. “I need the sat phone.”

He handed it to her and she started typing.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Checking if my plan worked,” she said. “Which it did.” Relief emanated from her voice.

“Do you have a way to show a satellite image above us? It'll be rough getting to the chopper blind.”

She twisted her lips in thought. “Overhead images were distorted by the Locker as an additional security measure. I could redirect an active satellite to fly over. With the Locker down, we can get an accurate picture.” She had a mischievous look in her eyes.

“We've pissed off most of the intelligence community today. Why not piss them off a little more?” Griffin asked.

He wouldn't make excuses for the choices he and Kit had made to protect themselves and the Locker. They had done the best they could with the resources they had. He doubted that would stand up in court if charges were filed, but he couldn't think about that now.
Treason.
It was an ugly word, but heads would roll over this and likely, his would be one of them.

When the vehicles were out of sight, he and Kit ventured back onto the path. Kit held the phone, looking at the display. She pointed ahead. “Let's continue in this direction and wait for the phone to receive the redirected input.”

Vehicle noises sounded on the road. They took shelter and waited for them to pass.

A twig snapped behind him. Griffin turned. A man in dark camo was approaching, a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. Griffin moved in front of Kit.

The assailant's dark green outfit gave nothing away. Was he with Incognito or an American?

“Not another step,” Griffin said.

The man said something he didn't understand but pointed at Kit and spoke her name. When he lifted his arm, his sleeve moved, revealing a spear tattoo. Incognito. Using his gun would bring other Incognito mercenaries running in their direction.

Griffin kicked the man's gun from his hand. It flew overhead and disappeared into the foliage. The assailant swung his knife, and Griffin dodged it. The man stabbed forward and Griffin pivoted, grabbing his arm, breaking it and slamming the assailant's forearm against his knee, forcing the knife out of his hand.

The assailant screamed in pain. Griffin robbed him of his comm device. “Kit, let's move.” No reason to kill the Incognito operative. Without his device, he couldn't call for backup. A bonus was having access to the enemy's communication system.

He and Kit kept a brisk pace. The chopper was in this vicinity, but it was increasingly harder to gain his bearings in the darkness.

Kit caught his arms. “Griffin, I messed with some big, important systems. I locked out applications that people rely on. Someone will be punished for this. Someone will have to take the blame, and that someone will be me.”

He wouldn't let her shoulder the blame. “I'll cop to it. Or you and I can disappear for a few months and let the anger die down. Then I'll step forward and take responsibility.”

Kit pressed a finger over his lips. “A few months or a year won't make a difference. My credentials were used. The government will know it was me. I'm looking at jail time, and I need to say this to you. Thank you for what you've done for me. Thank you for keeping me safe. I never expected it, but I've fallen in love with you. I love you, Griffin.”

She'd pulled the pin on an emotional grenade and lobbed it in his direction. This was an extraordinary situation, and she was scared and tired. “You're not in love with me.” If it wasn't the situation bringing emotions to the surface, it was the sex. They'd had great sex. Once-in-a-lifetime sex. Sex wasn't love, and she was confusing the two.

Her jaw slackened, and she set her hand over her heart. “How can you say that to me? You don't know how I feel.”

He sensed a fight brewing and wanted to diffuse it. This wasn't the time or place to argue. “You're right. I don't know how you feel. I think you're misinterpreting what we have for love.”

She shook her head. “You are making this hard when it's a simple thing.”

Relationships were never simple. So many responsibilities and obligations he couldn't fulfill. Beth had died. Griffin hadn't been able to protect her. “We'll talk about this later.”

Her hand sliced through the air. “There might not be a later, Griffin. That's why I wanted to say it to you now.”

Griffin shook off the heaviness that sat on his shoulders. “We'll survive this. I won't consider other options.”

* * *

A cramp in her side and a fracture in her heart. Griffin didn't love her. He never would. He didn't believe that she loved him.

Why had she said anything? Kit should have kept her trap shut and hoped that they would eventually find themselves together and out of danger. That would have been a better time to evaluate her emotions and talk with Griffin. But she'd rushed into the confession, not thinking he would outright deny her feelings or reject her.

The weight of what she had done to the Locker settled onto her. The heads of the CIA, FBI, NSA and black ops would be furious with her. They might send assassins for her. They'd want someone punished.

She doubted they'd wait for an explanation why she had made a drastic decision without consulting anyone. She hadn't had time to give a warning. She wouldn't have known whom to alert.

As for Griffin, she had spoken words that couldn't be taken back. Her sister had warned her to let her actions lead the way. Kit had instead tossed her heart to him.

They saw the hangar before they could see the planes and helicopters waiting on the tarmac. The airfield was busy. Hundreds of people running in various directions.

“How will we get to the chopper?” Kit asked.

“Confidence. There's chaos around us. Walk onto the airstrip quickly, purposefully, and get into the helicopter. Don't look around, and don't make eye contact with anyone.”

“It can't be that easy.”

“It's the best-case scenario. For us. Let's hope it works. Otherwise, follow my lead and I'll get us out of this.”

“Do you have a plan B?” Kit asked.

“Not at the moment, but we'll think of something.”

She loved his confidence. She was a planner. She liked having a schedule and knowing her tasks. This situation was ambiguous and ever-changing. Taking a page from her sister, Kit strutted onto the airstrip.

Incognito must not know of the airstrip's existence, or it must have been heavily defended, since it was not under fire. Griffin pointed to the small chopper sitting unattended.

It looked old and the paint was faded, but Griffin seemed undeterred.

Griffin took her hand and helped her into the helicopter. He climbed in after her and sat in the pilot's seat.

“Do you know what you're doing?” Kit asked.

“I'm stealing a helicopter from the United States military.”

Her heart raced at his words. Griffin started the engine. The whirl of the blades drew attention, and military men rushed toward them, shouting at them to stop.

No turning back now. Kit prayed they would make it off the island.

The helicopter lifted off the ground. Griffin put on headphones and pointed to a set in front of her. She slipped them over her ears. As Griffin moved away from the hangar, Kit considered the possibility they would be shot down. Griffin seemed to be flying erratically. Was there something wrong with the vehicle or was he trying to avoid gunfire?

Nausea rose in her stomach. “Can you not do that with the copter?”

“If I don't do that, we'll be hit,” he said.

That absolutely didn't make her feel better. Watching him guide them away from the island was watching a master at work. Instead of focusing on the unsteadiness of the chopper, she stared at Griffin's face. Intensity and concentration etched lines into his forehead. He was a handsome man, and her love for him swelled in her heart. She was certain of her feelings, but uncertain how to make him believe them.

After a time, the battle noises from the island faded. They were far enough away that explosions no longer rocked the air around them.

Griffin let out a curse.

“Is someone following us?” she asked.

“We're out of fuel. I'll bring it low, and we need to jump.”

Jump into the water when it was dark? They wouldn't know what lurked in the ocean around them. “You want us to dive into the water? There are sharks. And eels.”

“Don't think about that. Go into the back and look for a life raft and life jackets.”

With fear making her dizzy, she searched. Metal compartments were latched closed. She checked inside each one. She found the life raft and in the cabinet below, three life vests. “I found them.”