Scarlet Angel (32 page)

Scarlett rolled a third time, pulling the man she’d
just kicked on top of her. The remaining guards fired before they
realized what was happening, killing their comrade. From under the
protection of her human shield, she squeezed the trigger on each of
her guns and finished off her last two opponents.

Her arms fell to the floor, heavy and exhausted.

She shoved the dead man to the side and climbed to
her feet. “Jesus. Do you think you guys cut it close enough?”

Together, Jules and Dax replied. “What?”

“
Nevermind.” She took out the data
cube and stared at its almost hypnotic glow.
All of this death
and destruction for this. Well, I guess it’s not just for this.
She shook her head and shoved it back into her pocket. “Now...
Where’s Derrick?”

Chapter 48
Derrick

Reunions with psychotic exes... I strongly recommend
against them.

* * *

Dax zipped up his fly and flushed. He stepped to the
sink and looked at himself in the mirror. Sweat soaked his blond
hair. Darkened skin surrounded his eyes; his face was unshaven.

Jesus, I don’t think I’ve slept in thirty-six
hours. No wonder I look like shit.
He splashed his face with
cool water. Dax had gotten himself into some pretty rough
situations. But somehow, even being hunted by Zinchenko and his
goons was not nearly as stressful as what he was going through
now.

Back in his saferoom, he locked his fingers together
and bent his hands backward, cracking his knuckles in a chorus of
tiny pops. “How’s she doing?”

Jules kept her eyes on her holodisplay as she
replied. “She’s almost there. I think she killed another pair of
those security guys.”

Dax plopped down into his chair. He twisted his head
one direction then the other, making another series of cracks.

“
Ew... do you have to do
that?”

He chuckled. “Stress reliever.”

“
It’s gross is what it is. And,
it’s not good for you.” Jules glanced at him from the corner of her
eye.

“
I can give you a picture if you’d
prefer.”

Jules’ head snapped to the right to look at him.
“W—what?”

“
You keep looking at me.” Dax
smiled. “I know I’m good looking, but you don’t have to make such a
big deal.”

Her face turned beet-red and her mouth twisted. Dax
wasn’t sure if it was from anger or embarrassment. He decided to
believe the latter.

Jules huffed and turned back to her holodisplay.
“You’re so full of yourself. Which makes perfect sense since you’re
also full of shit.”

Dax chuckled again and turned to his own
holodisplay. “What’s the status of the virus?”

Jules scoffed. She grabbed the small terminal window
made of light hovering at the top right of her display and enlarged
it. The computer Dax had loaned her beeped a few times.

He turned to see her face wrinkled. Dax leaned over
to get a better view. “What? What’s wrong?”

“
Nothing’s wrong, per se. It’s
just... Your virus is spreading through the station a lot faster
than we expected.”

“
See? Told ya.” He smiled and went
back to his own display. “It’s just ‘cause I’m that
good.”

Jules scoffed again and waved her hand at the
window, shrinking it and sending it back to its corner.

* * *

Scarlett kneeled over the unconscious woman behind
the large desk. The small lobby outside of Derrick’s office was
quiet except for the station’s klaxon and vastly different from the
rest of the station. Above her head hung a sculpture that looked
like a series of glowing twisted tentacles. Her fingers sank into
the plush carpet as she glanced around the office.

A memory crept to the forefront of her mind. Even
when she dated Derrick, he’d insisted on simple and modest décor.
His apartment back then was homey and comfortable. Now, she looked
at the posh outer office and shook her head.
How much you’ve
changed.

She plucked the woman’s identification badge and
held it up. She had imagined Derrick’s personal assistant to be
younger and prettier. The woman was a few years older than Scarlett
was.

Does this woman know the truth about the accident
that almost killed me? Does she know what Derrick was really up
to?

“
Everything okay?” Dax’s voice
brought her back her present situation.

She blinked. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“
Just checking.”

“
What’s the status on Neil’s team?
How far away are they?”

Dax’s computer beeped several times. “They’re on
their way. I show them still about five minutes away. You know,
it’s not too late to get you out. You don’t have to do this.”

“
I do. All three of us are in too
deep now. You know as well as I, Derrick and Neil will track us
down. Besides, if I’m lucky, I can get this done before Neil gets
back.”

In the distance, Jules’ voice piped up. “Won’t he
just hunt us down later?”

Scarlett shook her head. “No. If Derrick is dead,
then Neil won’t care. He’s only interested in the job. If there’s
no client, there’s no job.”

“
Ah. I see.” The hesitation in
Jules’ voice said she did not understand, but she didn’t push the
issue.

“
Listen, guys...” Scarlett lowered
her voice. “If something happens, and I’m wrong about Neil or I
don’t get to finish this...”

“
Don’t say that, Scarlett. You’ll
be fine. You’ll... you’ll kick his ass.”

Scarlett smiled. “I appreciate your confidence, but
there is a real chance that I won’t be coming back. If that
happens, take Agent Barnes to my apartment and insist he put you
into protective custody. That will be the best protection you can
get.”

“
Yeah, okay.” Dax
sniffled.

“
Alright. Time to go.” Scarlett
stood and faced the cherrywood door leading into Derrick’s office.
She stepped up to the entrance. Her heart pounded and her stomach
fluttered. She took a deep breath. “Okay. Open it.”

Dax’s computer beeped in her ear. The door
clicked.

Scarlett drew both her weapons from her waistband
and kicked. The door exploded inward, sending shards and splinters
of wood across the room. Scarlett’s gaze followed the deep red
carpet across the floor to a window in place of the far wall. From
the floor to the ceiling, the window opened up to the vastness of
space and the giant blue sphere the station orbited.

She marched through the doorway and turned to her
right, keeping her plasma pistols at face level. Scarlett sighted
her weapons on Derrick seated behind a wide cherrywood desk, just
twenty paces ahead.

The alarm klaxon silenced.

Derrick was focused on comparing papers to a
holodisplay image. He scribbled some notes on the page and swiped
the display. “You like the view?”

Scarlett slowed to a careful stride. She kept her
weapons trained on him. A tickle in the back of her mind grew at
the sound of his voice.

His casual voice, his golden hair... Memories rose
up from the depths of her subconscious. A tidal wave of anger, hate
and loss slammed into her, threatening to make her break down.

Derrick paused in his scribbling. His eyes continued
to scan the page. “You know, it seems to be getting increasingly
difficult to find decent researchers.”

Her feet inched forward until she stopped just a few
feet from his desk. She wanted to say something. She wanted to call
him a son of a bitch, to scream a list of obscenities at him, but
her voice betrayed her.

He looked up and their gazes locked. “That was one
thing I missed about you. You were a damn fine researcher, among
other things.” He stared at her for a long moment and tilted his
head.

“
Nothing to say?” Derrick rose
slowly from his seat. He wore a midnight blue pinstriped suit and a
red tie. The last time she’d seen him in a suit was when he
accepted the lead position of Project Centarus.

“
Fine, I’ll start.” He turned from
the window back to her and looked her up and down. “You look good
Jill, or... I guess it’s Scarlett now, huh?”

Scarlett swallowed hard.

Derrick nodded at her guns. “Oh, and incidentally, I
would not recommend using those in here. The window is eight inches
of sapphire-glass. I’d rather not test it against a plasma
bolt.”

She swung her left arm and aimed at the window. A
tear trickled down the side of her face.

He wrinkled his brow and twisted the corner of his
mouth. “You do know you’ll die too.” Derrick stared for a second
then arched his eyebrows. “Although, I suppose you wouldn’t be here
if you weren’t ready to die.”

“
Why?” Scarlett’s throat scratched
as the word eked out from between her lips.

“
Scarlett…” Dax
whispered.

Derrick chuckled and sat back down in his chair.
“You think you deserve to know? Or are you just trying to get me to
say something so your friend back on Earth can record it? Either
way. No. I don’t think so.”

“
Scarlett, kill this psycho now
and get the hell out of there.” Dax whispered again.

Derrick leaned back. “Although I will say, you’ve
been a real pain... reporting on me to the FBI. I’m curious, did
you really lose your memory? Or are you still with the Feds?”

“
All this shit, you trying to kill
me... destroying my life... It was all for nothing. I never worked
for the FBI. Aimee Lackston was your mole.”

“
Aimee Lackston?” Derrick’s brow
wrinkled for a second and he leaned forward. “Aimee Lackston was
too dim to be the mole. Not that it matters. I know it was you. And
even if it wasn’t...
If
someone wanted you dead, it was
probably to remove any suspicions, any witnesses either way.
Nothing personal.”

Scarlett’s brow furrowed. “
Nothing personal?
”
Adrenaline-fueled anger flared into rage. She shifted her grip on
her guns and stepped up to the edge of the desk. “Nothing
personal?”

Derrick arched his eyebrows then smiled again.
“Please, Jill—Scarlett. We both know you’re not going to shoot
me.”

Scarlett’s eyes burned. She made her gaze bore into
Derrick. She wanted him to feel the pressure of her hate just by
being near her.

Her voice shook but her hands were steady. She spoke
through clenched teeth. “I’m not?”

“
No.” Derrick’s gaze
shifted.

Scarlett’s mind screamed danger and her anger
evaporated. Panic jolted her muscles into action. She spun around,
her fingers squeezing both triggers.

Elongated balls of green energy spewed forth from
her weapons, cutting an arc of destruction across two walls. She
scanned the room as she fired, seeing books and paper erupting in
flame on their shelves. The wood and glass display case at the back
of the room exploded into shrapnel.

A blur of movement shifted to her right. Neil’s
charcoal grey body armor twisted, staying at the edges of her
peripheral vision. Scarlett continued to fire, trying to catch up
with him. Her blasts ricocheted off the giant window, carving
melted scars into its surface.

Neil rolled across the ground and rose up just a
couple feet from Scarlett. His fist came up first, landing squarely
in her diaphragm. In one fluid motion, he twisted around and
slammed his elbow into her back.

Scarlett dropped to her knees as the air fled her
lungs. She gasped for breath in vain. In desperation, she swung her
arm to take aim at Neil, only to have him wrench the weapon from
her hand.

She fell to her side and raised her other gun. Neil
stepped aside, letting the shot scorch a piece of wood paneling
behind him. Scarlett tried to take aim again, only to have him kick
the weapon from her hand.

Scarlett’s chest heaved, sucking in every bit of air
she could get. The floor thumped softly in time with her pounding
heart. Footsteps grew closer until a pair of shiny black shoes
stepped up to her face.

A powerful hand seized her hair and yanked her up.
She grabbed for the hand holding her and scratched at the carbon
nanomesh gloves. Neil held her up and pressed something against her
skull behind her ear. The device’s surface was cold. She heard a
faint beep.

“
Scarle…”

Dax’s voice was drowned out by the sound of her own
scream. Pain ripped through the side of her head. Static roared in
her ear. The static howled over everything else, even overwhelming
her own voice.

Then, her left ear went silent.

Neil’s hand released her hair and she collapsed to
the floor, still screaming. Her hand flew to the side of her head.
The skin behind her ear was scorched and blistering. Something wet
dripped into her hand and she pulled it back. Red ran down her palm
onto her forearm.

Scarlett’s screams turned into sobs. She looked up
at the two men standing over her. Derrick smiled down at her, every
square inch of his face mocking her.

Neil stood motionless, holding the gun he’d taken
from her. There was no anger, no rage, no malice in his expression.
Neil’s face was like stone, flat and impassive.

This is it. My comm is fried... Neil just kicked
my ass...
Scarlett’s sobs faded. A strange calm took over as
she waited for Neil to raise the gun and fire.

Derrick’s mouth moved. At first, his voice came in
unintelligible echoes to her right ear. From her left, she heard
only the strange whine of absolute silence. Scarlett pieced
together the words from his lips and the distorted sounds.

“
See.” Derrick’s smile widened. “I
told you you wouldn’t shoot me.”