Dark Days Read online

  He pointed to the SUV abandoned at the side of the intersection. “Check the SUV. Grab their comms. Anything that might ID them. Go, go.” He turned to the last man, bent, collected the earwig, searched his pockets, rose, and ran toward the SUV. Lilly was inside leaning over the driver’s body.

  “Lilly. Come on.”

  “Adam. He has our photo.” She turned around and held out the Smartphone. The screen was cracked, but he recognized his face on the screen. She swiped it sideways; her face came on. “Adam, these are our agency ID photos. Why would they have our photos? Why would they need our photos? Adam?”

  He took the phone from her hand, and swiped it sideways: his face, Lilly’s face, Shirin’s face.

  “Adam? Why would they have our photos?”

  He pocketed the phone, reached out to her and helped her from the SUV. “We have to go.”

  14:09:41

  Walter Crisp watched the soundproof divider slide into position, separating the cabin of the limousine from the driver. He smiled and pulled the cell phone from the inside of his jacket. He played with the outcome of the impromptu meeting. They wanted him to spy on Zelig, and they would promote him for it. More importantly, their request indicated something far more significant; they had no idea he already had a man in place.

  14:10:11

  “Adam. Why would they have our photos?” Lilly turned to him, watched him hot-wire the sedan. “Adam!”

  She searched his face as he glanced toward her, “There’s only two reasons.” She waited while he steered off the parking lane into traffic. “They might have been sent our photos so they’d know we were not hostiles.”

  “And the other reason?”

  He glanced at her again. He didn’t have to say it. She knew.

  “So they were ordered to kill us too? But why?”

  “It’s only one option, Lilly. We don’t know that yet.”

  “But it’s what you’re thinking, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh shit, Adam! The Agency wants us dead?”

  “Until we can prove otherwise…we have to assume they do.”

  “So what do we do now? Where do we go?”

  “You have family?”

  Lilly gasped. “No, but Adam, you do. They wouldn’t go after your family too, would they?”

  She watched his knuckles turn white as he squeezed the steering wheel. They would…

  “Adam, I didn’t think much of it at the time, but they said they were monitoring my login… that’s how they knew where Shirin would be, where we would be… It means they would also be tracking our phones. Tracking your wife’s phone. If you call her, they’ll know.”

  14:12:02

  Shirin felt the cell phone vibrate in her back pocket. She ignored it, leaned forward over the gas tank of the Kawasaki motorbike and pulled back harder on the throttle.

  Albert Trickle. Thirty minutes. He would lead her one step closer. Then, like the rest, he would die.

  The phone buzzed again. She ignored it. It stopped, then buzzed again. Dammit! Marcus.

  She pulled over, screeched to a stop, and pulled out the cell phone. “Marcus, I’m busy.”

  “Shirin. You need to hear this. That man who tried to kill you twice today, he’s an agent.”

  “I don’t recognize him.”

  “He’s only been in-country eighteen months. Trained in Europe. Seriously, Shirin, you have to lay low.”

  “I’m not going to stop, Marcus!”

  “Would never ask you to. But you can’t keep going the way you are. If this guy doesn’t get you, they’ll send another, then another.”

  Shirin swiveled, looked up and down the road. “You got his name?”

  “Adam. Dark.”

  “Status?”

  “Active. According to his file, he’s a Grade 2. Running his own team. I can’t get to his mission files yet, but a Grade 2, he must be good.”

  “Forget the mission files. His real work won’t be in them. Why was he transferred out of Europe?”

  “No indications in the file.”

  “You got an address?”

  “Yes. Riverside Village, ten minutes out of town. Remote. Opposite direction from Trickle…”

  “Can you get eyes on it?”

  She heard Marcus tapping at his keyboard; he spoke slowly, as though waiting for the computer to catch up to him. “Possibly. I might be able to hack a weather satellite, the images wouldn’t be great.”

  “How remote?”

  “Like a gated neighborhood with only one access road from town kind of remote.”

  “Good. See if there are any security CCTV cameras around you can hack. Does he live alone?”

  “No. File says there’s a wife and daughter, but Shirin, I really think you need to leave this one. Lay low, come back and get Trickle later, quietly.”

  “Send me everything you can on Adam Dark, full package. It’s time he and I had a chat.”

  14:14:41

  Adam pulled hard on the wheel, took the corner too fast, recovered, straightened out, glanced at Lilly; her eyes were squeezed shut. “Hang on.” He pressed the accelerator to the floor, swerved out into the parking lane, overtook the car in front and swung back.

  She squealed as he skidded around the next corner. “What’s your plan?”

  “Get my wife and daughter somewhere safe. Then figure out what the hell is happening!”

  “And what are you going to tell them? They have no idea who you really are, do they? If we’re wrong? If the Agency isn’t trying to kill us? And you tell your family? They’ll be in danger. And if we don’t report in soon, they’ll know something isn’t right.”

  He nodded. She was right. “The safe house, it’s three blocks south from here. Can you remotely log into the security cameras of the block?”

  “Without Agency software? It’ll take me longer, but I can.”

  “Can you route a call through the safe house back to the Office?” He glanced at her quickly. She looked deep in thought.

  "Without the agency laptop…"

  “Can you do it?” he asked again.

  “Yes. Yes, I can.”

  “Good.” He glanced down at Lilly’s feet, and gestured toward the Go-Bag. “You need to empty the bag. There’s a tracker sewn into the base.”

  14:17:29

  Zelig pressed the cell phone firmly against his ear. “Have they checked in yet?” He stared blankly at the circus of lights: blue, red, white, flashing with sirens screaming as smoke continued to billow into the sky. Behind the tinted, reinforced glass, the sounds were faint but the destruction was clear. It didn’t go as he’d hoped, but the media frenzy would feed on his message. The pressure on the politicians within state office and within the Agency itself would bend them to his will.

  Fear. The currency of change.

  He turned his face away from the window. “Leak the safe house location to the gangbangers. When Dark checks in, contact me immediately.” His official government car was waved inside the cordoned-off restricted zone. “And news of Shirin Reyes? No, don’t waste time or resources. She’s in the wind. We know where she’s going. The accountant would have given her Trickle. Have the teams prepped and ready.”

  He saw the press corps pushing against the barriers to get better photos and scream questions out to the Chief of Police as he directed his officers and coordinated with the Fire Chief. Zelig smiled. Dark and Lewis weren’t martyred, but this worked too. “Oh, and Smith, make sure no-one survives this time.”

  He ended the call and flicked through the files on his lap. Adam Dark, a highly skilled assassin. Lilly Lewis, a competent tech assistant. Had he underestimated them? Or had they just gotten lucky? He closed the files and looked away; didn’t make much difference in the end.

  He dialed another number. “Caitlin, you’ll need to adjust the press releases.”

  14:23:09

  Smith placed the phone carefully o
n the stainless steel bench top. Beside it, a bloodied ice pick rocked side to side. The panting breaths of the men secured to structural beams in the cellar filled the underground space with a dank moisture peppered with the smell of urine, vomit, and terror.

  “Well… looks like your comrades are on their way to avenge your deaths.” He feigned shock, “Oh, didn’t I tell you?” He walked between them. They struggled in vain against their restraints. “At 2:00 p.m. today, you attacked a decorated undercover police officer in broad daylight. Unfortunately for you, none of you survived…”

  He twirled the ice pick in the air. “Those men were in fact undercover agents, impersonating you…but since they’re all dead, our original plans for you have had to change. Seems there’s not much use in keeping you alive, since you’re officially dead already. However, I would like to ask you a few questions before you die.”

  Smith walked back to the stainless steel table, placed the ice pick down, turned and faced the beaten men. “The first man to give me the information I need will die quickly and painlessly. The rest of you, I’m afraid, will not.”

  14:25:56

  Adam pushed the chair close to Lilly and leaned in to watch code run across the computer screen. “How much longer?”

  “Soon.”

  He twisted in the chair and looked over his shoulder into the busy cafe. The ebb and flow of patrons revealed nothing significant. They were safe for the moment. There was a security camera over the cash register, none in the area where they now used the café Internet hub.

  Lilly bumped his hand. “I’m in. Accessing CCTV. Got it.”

  He leaned in close and studied the screen. “The front entrance?” He waited for Lilly to identify the feed, stared deeply at it. Clear. “Foyer?” Clear. “Elevators?” Clear. “Any cameras covering the safe house floor corridor?”

  “Doesn’t look like it…wait. Got it!”

  He examined the live security camera image, nodded, picked up the Go-Bag and rose from the chair.

  “Adam.” Lilly handed him the sat-phone. “I’ve hacked the firmware, leave it in the room. Be careful.”

  He nodded and left.

  14:27:18

  Lilly flicked through the camera feeds. She saw Adam enter the foyer, then walk from view. She scanned to the next camera, the lift; it was empty. She watched him enter, hit the buttons on the side panel. He looked up at the camera. She moved to the next feed of the corridor; it was empty.

  “Corridor clear.” She spoke softly into the earwig.

  “Copy that. Stay on the corridor.”

  “Will do.” She tapped at the keyboard, split the screen into four quadrants, kept the corridor to the safe house in the upper right quadrant, brought up the entrance foyer, elevator, and fire escape feeds on the rest of the quadrants.

  She saw Adam enter the frame on the corridor. He paused outside the door of their safe house, then bent down inspecting the door handle. He stood, looked up and down the corridor, withdrew his pistol, opened the door and rushed inside.

  14:30:02

  Adam covered the small two-bedroom unit quickly. He was alone. Nothing out of place. No one had been in the rooms since he’d left it. He dumped the empty Go-Bag by the master bedroom door, planted the sat-phone by the dining table, and checked the window overlooking the street below. If the Agency were tracking him, or watching the safe house, they’d know he was inside.

  “Lilly, done. Ready?”

  “Corridor is clear. Good to go.”

  He opened the door, cast a last look over his shoulder. There was nothing left behind that could compromise him, or Lilly. He walked briskly through the corridor, entered the stair well, and ran up the stairs.

  On the top floor, he readied his weapon and pushed into the anteroom. He crossed the small space, climbed the cast iron ladder to a metal landing, and approached the closed door leading to the roof.

  “Lilly?”

  “No action on my end.”

  “I’m at the roof. Make the call.”

  “Patching it through the sat-phone… Paired. On your cell now.”

  Adam looked at the display on his cell phone, then placed it against his ear. The sound of the line connecting was muffled but distinct. “Got it.” It was answered on the fourth ring.

  “Access code please.” The operator’s voice sounded mechanical.

  “One. Four. Zero. Nine. Two. Nine.” He heard the click, and the line being transferred.

  “Adam.” Lilly’s voice over the earwig drew his attention. “Adam, we have company. Ten men. They look like gangbangers. Heavily armed, unconcealed. Coming through the foyer now. You have to get out of there.”

  “Agent Dark. This is Case Manager Trivo. Status?” The man’s voice sounded distant over the cell phone.

  “Status functional. Arrived at safe house, ready for debrief or reassignment.”

  “Acknowledged. Maintain position. Instructions to follow.”

  “Unable to comply. Safehouse compromised.”

  “Threat?”

  “Imminent.”

  “Hold.” The line went silent. Adam muted the call and adjusted the earwig. “Lilly?”

  “Six in the elevator, weapons ready. Two in the foyer. Two entering the stairwell.”

  The cell phone crackled. “Agent Dark, orders are to hold position. Support team en route.”

  Adam frowned, deactivated the mute, and spoke into the cell. “ETA on support team?”

  “Nine minutes. Acknowledge.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  “Good luck, agent.”

  Adam turned the cell off, slipped off the back cover, withdrew the SIM card, and discarded it with the battery. “Lilly. Get out of there now.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “It’s a setup. The Agency wants us dead. Get out of there now. Meet me back at the rendezvous.”

  “Adam, these guys are not Agency.”

  “No. They’re the distraction. The cover story. They’ll have another team watching the building.”

  “Oh no. How are you going to get out?”

  Adam looked at the door handle leading to the roof. “The only way I can.”

  14:34:42

  Perched on an insulated combat blanket, the man took a deep, slow breath. The sniper rifle felt comfortable pressed against his cheek. He inhaled calmly through his nose. Exhaled through pursed lips. His right index finger brushed against the cold steel of the trigger.

  Three blocks away, the apartment complex roof looked sharp and clear through the Zeiss scope. Zeroed in on the access door, he watched the door handle intensely. Waiting for it move. Waiting for his targets.

  14:35:02

  Lilly deleted the browser history, cleared the caches, and closed down the computer. She wiped the keyboard, cleaned the mouse, grabbed her handbag, and backed away. She glanced around the cafe. No one seemed to notice her. She adjusted her long, light brown hair, and let it fall against her face. At the counter, she kept her face low, ordered a chai latte, paid, slipped on large shaded sunglasses, and walked out the front door.

  She sipped from the large cup absently as she walked. She scanned the reflection off parked cars looking for a tail. She couldn’t see one. But she knew that didn’t mean much, not when the Agency was involved.

  At the corner she glanced right, then left, crossed the road and headed for a bus stop. Several people were standing, waiting. She took a position behind the crowd and scanned the streets she’d come from.

  To her right, she heard the engine, then saw the bus approach. She glanced back to the streets leading from the cafe. There! She saw a woman pull a phone from her pocket and speak urgently into it. It was subtle, but she’d seen it. It was the look of an agent about to lose her target.

  Shit!

  “Adam, I’ve got a tail. Watch your six.”

  The bus pulled to a stop directly in front of the queuing crowd. It blocked her view of the agent follow
ing her. She looked around her in all directions. Made a decision.

  Hidden by the bus, she dropped the latte, turned and sprinted toward the shop front forty feet across the paved esplanade. She was exposed, prime for a sniper. The thought terrified her. She tried to block it from her mind, pushed harder, ran faster, almost fell, recovered, her lungs burned, one last burst.

  Inside the entrance to the mall, she lurched sideways, ducked behind the entrance doors, and leaned heavily against the concrete wall, puffing.

  Her hands trembled, her body shook. She wanted to cry, but held it back. She peered around the edge of the tiled wall. The bus rolled forward and left the station. No one ran toward her. The woman who had tailed her watched the bus leave. She was still on the cell phone, talking. She stared at the bus, pocketed the phone, then turned. A car approached quickly from behind her. It pulled to a stop parallel to her. She jumped in and the car took off in the direction the bus had gone.

  “Adam. Lost them. How you going?”

  “Working on it.”

  14:37:23

  Adam pushed down on the levered door handle, readied his weapon, blocked the door open with his heavy boot, and peered around the narrow opening.

  Halfway down the long corridor, the door to the elevator chimed closed. Four large men stood by the door to the safe house apartment door. The man in front waved a security passkey over the panel on the wall, pushed the door open, and rushed inside. The three other men poured in behind him.

  He saw two shotguns and two semi-automatic machine guns.

  He flung the door open and charged into the corridor. The door to the apartment started to close. He could hear the men shouting and swearing inside the apartment.

  Twenty feet, ten, five, he lunged forward, kicked the door open just before it closed shut, lifted his silenced Glock, fired a double tap into the first man by the door, a double tap to the second man as he turned.