Simon Hawke - Hellfire Rebellion

Carruthers sat on the floor, clutching his middle and gasping for breath.

Hunter moved back against the wall, his gun moving back and forth, keeping them all covered. He centered his aim on Andre. “Don’t try anything. Priest, or I’ll put one right through her, so help me.”

“All right. Hunter, take it easy… “

“There could be more of them.” he said. “Carruthers said he had only two men in that apartment…” Delaney’s voice trailed oil as he realized what that meant. “Damn it! They’ve got Steiger!”

Ignoring Hunter. he bent down over Carruthers and dragged him to his feet. “Where’s Steiger, you son of a bitch? Where is he? What’ve you done with him?”

Carruthers couldn’t talk. He was still struggling to get his breath back. Delaney slammed him hard against the wall.

“Talk, you bastard!”

“Hold off, Finn,” said Lucas. ‘Give him time to gel his breath back.”

“Get his warp disc.” Hunter said.

Delaney grabbed his arm and pulled the warp disc off his wrist.

“Toss it here.” said Hunter.

Delaney glanced at him. “Like hell I will.”

Hunter fired. The pistol coughed and Andre cried out, grabbing at her shoulder where the bullet had just grazed her flesh.

“Do as he says, Finn.” Lucas said quickly.

“Toss it on the bed,” said Hunter.

Scowling, Delaney threw the warp disc on the bed.

“Stay right where you are. Priest,” Hunter said, keeping his gun steady on Andre. “Please. Don’t force me to do something I don’t want to do.”

“All right, Reese.” said Lucas. “Stay cool. You’re calling the shots for now. We had a deal, remember?”

“Yeah. I remember,” Hunter said, edging over carefully and picking up the warp disc without taking his eyes off them. “I just want sonic insurance.”

He fastened the warp disc around his wrist.

“When you deliver me safely to that confluence point, you’ll get this back,” he said. “Meanwhile, I’m not going anywhere until I’m good and ready. Now I believe you wanted to ask that man some questions. Go ahead. I’ll wait.”

Delaney and Lucas exchanged glances. Lucas nodded.

“All right, Carruthers.” Delaney said, holding the man up by his shirtfront. “Talk, Where’s Steiger?”

“You go to hell.” Carruthers gasped.

Delaney brought his knee up sharply into the man’s groin. Carruthers made a brief, high-pitched keening sound and sagged in his grasp. Delaney lifted him up effortlessly and slammed him against the wall again.

“You tell me what you’ve done with Steiger or I’ll break every bone in your body.” he said.

Carruthers shook his head. Delahey brought his fist back and smashed it into his face. Blood splattered on the wall behind Carruthers as his head snapped around with the force of the blow. His nose was broken.

“Your ribs are next,” Delaney said. “And then your kneecaps. Where is he?”

Carruthers coughed and drew a ragged breath. “If I tell you. I’m dead.”

“You’re dead if you don’t tell me.” said Delaney. “Did you kill him?”

Carruthers shook his head. “No… we’ve got him…

“ Where?”

Carruthers shook his head again.

Delaney drew his fist back once more and drove it with pile driver force into the man’s chest. Something cracked. Carruthers made a grunting, wheezing sound and sagged down once again. Delaney let him fall. He knelt over him, his knee over the man’s leg, his hand grasping the back of his calf.

“Okay, hard guy, your knee goes next. I can keep this up all night.”

“Do your worst, damn you,” Carruthers said in a croaking voice. “But if you kill me. Steiger’s had it.”

Delaney was about to yank up on the man’s leg when Lucas stopped him. “Finn, wait! Forget it. Let him go.”

Delaney stood up. “I’ll make the bastard talk,” he said.

“No. It’s no use. We’re not going to get anything out of him this way.” Lucas said. “Let’s clock him back to headquarters and let the I.S. D peel back his mind and take a look inside.”

Carruthers suddenly lunged toward the bodies of his two men. His fingers closed around one of the pistols they’d dropped Hunter shouted a warning and fired. Carruthers collapsed to the floor, a bullet through his shoulder. Before any of them could respond, he pulled the pistol toward him, put the barrel in his mouth, and squeezed the trigger. His cheeks seemed to light up and a thin beam of light came up through his skull. He fell down, dead.

“God damn it!” Delaney swore.

“I’m sorry.” Hunter said. “I couldn’t get a clear shot at the gun …”

“It wasn’t your fault.” said Lucas.

Hunter shook his head. “Yes, it was. It’s my fault all this happened in the first place. I wanted a crack at Drakov and now I’ve got you in a real mess.” He sighed. “I’m sorry about the shoulder, Andre, You all right?”

She nodded. “It’s just a minor flesh wound. But I’m glad you’re a good shot.”

Hunter grimaced. “What happens now?”

Lucas gave him a long look. “I guess that’s up to you.” he said. “You’re the one who’s got the gun.”

Hunter glanced down at the gun, then tossed it on the bed with disgust. “What the hell are we doing?” he said, a note of genuine confusion in his voice. He shook his head. “You’re supposed to be the enemy and here I’m trying to help you. You don’t trust me and meanwhile your own people are trying to kill you. This whole thing is a fucking joke.”

“Nobody’s laughing,” Lucas said, “Except maybe Drakov.”

“Look,” said Hunter. “you’re up against both Drakov and the Network now. They’ve already got Steiger. Frankly, far as I’m concerned, they can keep him, but if we don’t work together on this, Drakov’s going to win and then everybody loses. We can’t afford not to trust each other. The bottom line is you’re going to need my help, whether you like it or not”

“He’s right. Lucas,” said Delaney. “We’ve got no choice now. We have to find Steiger, fight the Network, and stop Drakov. We’re spread too thin. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“Yeah,” said Lucas, nodding. “It’s time to send for some reinforcements. Andre, you clock back to headquarters and tell Forrester what’s going down. Get him to send as many teams as he can spare. We don’t know for a fact how many Network people there are back here, and they know about this place and our rooms back in the Peacock Tavern. Hunter, we need a secure location for a transition point. You got any suggestions?”

“Yeah.” Hunter said. took the precaution of arranging a safehouse for myself, just in case you people tried to double-cross me. It’s where I had the gun stashed and a few other things, besides. I always clocked directly there from this place, so I don’t think that Steiger or anybody else watching me could’ve known about it. It should be fairly safe.”

“All right, where is it?”

“I’ll give you the coordinates. It’s a small house near Hudson’s Point, on Lime Street, by the cemetery and the foundries. And speaking of-coordinates…” He took off the warp disc and tossed it to Lucas. “Call it a gesture of good faith.” He picked his gun up off the bed and tucked it in his breeches. “Now I strongly suggest we dispose of those bodies and get the hell out of here before the Network finds out that three of their people have been wasted.”

Johnny Small was feeling an exhilaration unlike anything he’d ever known. Consciously, he put it down to finally being included among the members of the Sons of liberty, but subconsciously, it was much more than that. At the age of seventeen, he was beginning to experience sexual awakening and he had fallen in love. He could not get Andre out of his mind.