Operation London (28 page)

"Cormac, you're a liability
. You stay here with the phones and the car. If I get stuck in there, leave with the girls. I'll make it out my own way," Miguel commanded grimly, pulling a hand through his thick hair to calm his nerves.

"I don't think so, man
. I'm more a part of this than you are. Ava asked me to go in the first place. I need to be there."  The Scotsman's eyes raged a stormy blue as he stared Miguel down.

"This is no time for an argument
. You're hurt and you won't be able to fight!  What if you get stuck and someone has to get involved to help you!  You're risking everything for your pride!" Miguel said hotly. This guy was a good guy, an upstanding man, but he had played his whole life in the ring, where there were rules and codes. Out here, despite the calm ocean and the fragrant breeze, it was just a jungle. And it was Angel's jungle, which made it twice as dangerous and even more impossible for a man of honor to understand.

Cormac leaned his head back on the seat, his flooding pain fighting with his need to help
. Finally he spoke, his voice dull. "Shit, man, you're right. Go on now. But contact me for anything you might need."  He took his own bag out, handing things over to Miguel. "Here's a map of Angel's place just to set up your perspective. Wear these," he said handing over a pair of goggles. "They're linked to his underground system so you can see where you're going and what's in the next room over like a grid. I'm not sure how well they work just yet. I just hacked into the army's weaponry unit, so these are prototypes off of an early blueprint. I have connections to the outside. Don't let things go too far."

Miguel turned the goggles over in his hand, looking at the man he had just bandaged in amazement
. He wasn't easily shocked, but Miguel had managed to make his jaw drop today. "I'm sorry to leave you, man," he said sincerely, shaking Cormac's uninjured hand heartily.

"See that those two get out," Cormac said, his eyes blazing with intensity
. "And get Maggie out safe. She's a pisser and I can't even pretend that I like her much right now, but I've got too much left to say to that girl."

Miguel felt his stomach fill with icy fear as he thought of all the trouble she and Ava could have very well gotten themselves into already and only nodded, starting off by cover of the trees and shrubs to find the woman he loved and his good friend.

The skies were filled with illuminating heavens, stars and the Moon glaring down on the land. Miguel growled low in his throat. Of all nights on earth, why did this one have to be full of light and breeze?  Why couldn't there be the cover of fog or rain, anything to keep him from standing out like the lone predator he was.

But he couldn't really mind
. He had waited a long time for this hunt, the hunt that would finally end his ties to a past streaked with guilt and sadness. Recently things had become so good, Ava had made his life so bright that he couldn't imagine stopping now or letting the past hold him back. More than anything, he needed to close the chapter on his old life and start on a clean page.

And if that meant choking the life out of Angel Espino with his bare hands, that was what he was willing to do
. Living under the oppression of an old enemy weighed down on him, a coating of cement that kept his heart from beating freely. He was ready to shed it and live like a free man.

He was within clear sight of Angel's home, a small palace of lies and pain
. Miguel wasn't surprised to see the flicker of a thousand lights, torches and campfires all burning slowly.

Burning was Angel's trademark, the one thing he had always done better than anyone else
.

Miguel closed his eyes against the vision of the apartment building being licked by flames, his friends and their loved ones burnt to death
.

They never had a chance to get out and Angel lived for that
. He was a coward, hunting his enemies in their own home. Like stalking prey that was in a cage, Miguel thought. He killed indiscriminately. Age, sex, relationship, it really didn't matter. He killed what he needed power over. That alone was what made Miguel afraid for Ava's life. She had challenged something in Angel, ignited some internal spark that was way too close to any number of explosive elements.

Miguel's deep brown eyes filled with hate for the man who had taken so much life and set it on fire just to watch it burn
. He needed to stop what had started so many years ago. Too many years ago.

There were guards everywhere, watching Angel's property with crazed loyalty
. Even so, evading them was not difficult. Miguel didn't have to do anything but appear to fit in. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked around the back lazily, not even attracting a second glance from the men on the look out for something much more externally sinister and much more obviously out of place. A good-looking man in clean clothes wasn't any threat that they would pick up on.

Miguel was glad that nothing interrupted his mission
. In his state of growing resentment, he wasn't sure that he could control his need to purge, to take his revenge. It would be better if he could just be sure Angel would be on the other end of his retaliatory action.

He made his way around the back where a large, lagoon like pool filled the space, overflowing with waterfalls and naked, swimming bodies
. Droplets of water beaded on the warm flesh of the swimmers who coaxed one another into the simulated waves. The eerie glow of underwater lights made the shadows longer and better to hide in. The sensual swimmers probably wouldn't have noticed Miguel's presence in broad daylight, but he was wary anyway. He made his way to the pool house, fashioned to resemble a Tahitian hut. Inside the low rumble of the motors brought him into a different world, one of efficiency and service. It was in this small nook that Miguel found the trapdoor he had been looking for and eased himself under Angel's gleaming white palace to follow the path that would lead him to his fate.

The air was cold but heavy and oppressive
. Like a stale refrigerator, running too many years without being used. The sweat that had clung to Ava's body suddenly dried up, sending a slight chill over her limbs. Or was the chill from her impending fear?  She wanted to block it, to forget how afraid she really was, but it was impossible to lie to herself. She took a moment to let it pass, to let it be converted inside of her until it became a tool. A tool she would soon use to find Marie Deltore and bring her home to her mother.

The floor was coldly tiled, the walls cool to the touch as Ava sidled to the door and gripped the handle quietly, praying that her next step wouldn't leave her deposited in the middle of some mess she couldn't handle
. But the door swung open easily, as if it had given up on any fight it might have had.

One fluorescent light buzzed noisily in the tiny room
. It was quiet as a tomb, dark and cluttered. Cartons from food lay all over, as well as dirty clothing, beer bottles, cigarette butts and used condoms. Ava felt her nose wrinkle in disgust. There was one dingy couch with an old throw on it. A television set was on and a dance marathon played gaily on the screen, though the sound was muted. The absolute silence made the hairs on the back of Ava's neck stand up. There was a real feel of decay in the room. Ava closed her eyes tightly to rule out the possibility that the odor might have something to do with Marie.

Where was she?

Ava scanned the small room, making her way to the countertop where old food stains and a scale to weigh drugs were perched. The refrigerator door was left open, showing a few cans of beer and several containers of yogurt. Pots with scoured sauces littered the range top. But Ava saw no trace of recent life.

Turning slightly she noticed a door opened a crack
. Just enough to allow some light to pour out, again the dirty metallic light of a fluorescent bulb. Ava could feel her heart pounding in her ears as she walked over. She had to stop her hand before it moved to open the door.

Again she closed her eyes, set her mouth firmly
.
Do this!  Do this for Marie!
she told herself firmly, ignoring the incessant shake in her clammy hands. The refrigerator door creaked open and shut on it's rubbery hinges, making her whirl around in fear.

Her heart pounded a mile a minute, robbing her of her edge
. She needed to get to that door and find Marie before this place dragged her down into the dingy evil that it had been set up to produce. Nervously she put her hand on the doorknob.

Magdalene's breath caught in her throat
. "Lucia?" she asked shakily, trying to crane her neck as the fist pulled at her hair harder.

"Shut up!  Just shut up, OK!"  Lucia's voice wobbled with emotion even as she tried to make it sound cool and intimidating
. "Listen my brother don't want nothing to do with you, punta!   You're mine now."

"Trust me, Lucia, I don't want anything to do with Angel," Magdalene reassured her hotly
. She'd be damned if this little princess was going to hold her up with a knife. She'd learned to kick box from one of the world's best and she certainly wasn't shy about showing off some of her stylings right away.

"Well, what are you doing here then?" Lucia challenged, digging the knife blade in just deep enough that it began to tear the filmy threads of Magdalene's skimpy outfit and pierce her soft skin.

"Get that knife out of my back and maybe we can talk," Magdalene hissed. "I'm pretty sure my purpose for being here would be.....very interesting for you."  She allowed her voice to dip, to take on the conspiratorial note that would make Lucia's curiosity pique.

"What in the hell do you know about me and my interests?" the girl spat
. But the knife moved away, if only by a fraction.

"I know that you went to the headmaster of Lincoln Academy
. I know that he said some things that made you very angry," Magdalene said, wriggling free of Lucia's weakening grasp.

"How could you know about that?" Lucia asked in a hushed whisper
. "No one knows about that!"

"I know it all," Magdalene said, moving swiftly to turn around and meet Lucia's eye
. "The girl in the asylum, Angel's gang involvement, Piper's gym. And now Marie Deltore. Which brings me very close to my point for being here," Magdalene said, making sure that her gun was still in her thigh holster, where she'd been able to shove it quickly.

"What do you want with that whore?"  Lucia asked, her eyes wide.

Magdalene took her time looking Lucia over. There were certain tiny clues that all was not right with her. She looked almost gorgeous. Almost. But even the best makeup couldn't cover the dark circles under her eyes and the deep lines setting in on her brow and around her mouth. Her skin looked sallow and it hung from her body rather loosely, as if she had lost too much weight too quickly. In fact, her entire appearance was like that of a shiny balloon slowly deflating. She was shriveling under whatever pressure or hardship was foremost in her life.

"That whore, as you call her, is just a young girl being used and abused by you and your
brother. I'm tired of all of your bullshit, so I've come to bring her home."  Magdalene put one fist on her jaunty hip and pursed her pink lips. With the cock of one brow, she challenged Lucia to defy her.

The dark haired beauty trembled, looking as if a fury were about to overtake her
. But before she could get up enough steam, the light went out. She sank back against one of the cold terracotta walls in the dismal hallway and closed her eyes, her body wracked with the shaky beginnings of sobs.

"You're right
. She didn't even want him. Neither did Emily. Em was my friend, too!  And he knew that, but we were too afraid to say no to him!"  She rubbed her temples with her small, delicate hands. A wave of dismay went through Magdalene as she realized who Emily was.

"Emily, your friend, wound up in the asylum?" she asked quietly.

Lucia nodded, squeezing the bridge of her nose tightly and gulping on her short, nervous breaths. "Why did he have to do that to her?  There were so many other girls, and Em was so shy. She never had no boyfriends or anything. I don't think she ever even kissed a guy before...."  She paused there, unsure of how to go on.

"You don't have to tell me this," Magdalene said, reaching out a hand cautiously
. Lucia didn't make any attempt to shy away, so she put her hand on the petite girl's shoulder.

"No!  I need to tell someone," she said shakily
. "So one night we're just watching videos and doing our hair and Angel comes in. And he says we should play a game, like Truth or Dare. And I knew from how he looked that he was up to no good!  He'd been making me do more things with him, sex things," Lucia said. Magdalene tried to keep a calm face as her eyes bulged with shock. He had molested his own sister?  "But Em didn't know, and she was kinda crushin' on him. So he dared us to kiss each other and stuff, so we did. Then he said Em had to come with him alone in his room. He said there was something for just the two of them."  Lucia shook her head, tears now squeezing out of her closed eyes and making dark lines of moisture down her cheeks.