Almost midnight – San Joaquin, Mexico
Abby surveyed the structure in front of her. She already knew from their reconnaissance that she had to get up to the roof to access the air vents and that in order to do that, she had to avoid the invisible laser security grid that ran across the grounds, avoid the guard dogs and not be spotted by the eight man team that patrolled the property with automatic weapons.
"Ready?" Tom asked, watching her.
"Ready," Abby turned toward him and waited for him to put his hands together so he could give her a boost into the tree. Instead, Tom grasped her arms and turned her toward him. "Be careful, Abby. We want to keep this a team of four. We've talked about it. The four of us belong together."
Abby paused, absorbing what he said. She nodded. Tom boosted her into the tree. Abby quickly climbed the tree to the branch that put her above the roof of the building. She pulled the device from her back that would shoot a grappling hook onto the roof and give her a direct line to where she needed to be. She waited for the guard to cross the porch facing her location, and counted to ten when he rounded the corner to make sure he wouldn't hear the hook grab the stone.
Abby pulled on the line to make sure it was secure. She removed a hook and slipped it over the line. She could be across in under 20 seconds, and she didn't have any time to spare before another guard would look out the second story window. She pushed off from the tree and slid down the line.
She turned and signaled Tom when she landed. She unhooked the line and watched as he retracted it so no one would see it while she was inside.
Abby removed the screws from the air vent and quietly removed the cover. She slipped her backpack off and reached inside for a band that fit over her head with a light that would allow her to see; but keep her hands free.
She climbed into the air vent and started toward the room she needed.
"Everyone is still in the study," she heard Wiley confirm through her ear piece. She took a moment to reach into her pocket and click the receiver twice to let him know the information was heard.
She knew Wiley would now be moving. The goal was for him to retreat back to the van where Jack was running the technical portion of this mission. As soon as he disabled the alarm system in the room they'd be on their way back to the hotel room to pack them up to leave Mexico tonight.
Abby reached the room that was her target. She removed the air return vent slipping it into the ventilation system with her. She reached into her pocket and clicked the receiver once, paused and clicked it three more times.
Jack typed a code into the laptop to disable the alarm system in that room, the lights in the building flicked for a second. That wasn't supposed to happen.
"Abby, abort," Wiley whispered over the audio system that kept them all connected.
"Negative," Tom said. "She's too close. I'll cause a distraction."
"Abort," Wiley hissed.
Abby clicked the receiver twice acknowledging the information.
Abby slipped into the room, knowing she needed to move fast. She slipped away the picture to access the safe. She removed a small electronic device to help her find the combination. It blinked green when she hit the first number. She switched directions and slowly turned the dial until the device blinked green again. She was finally able to open the safe. She removed the documents she'd been sent to retrieve; but rather than close the safe, she reached into the back of the safe to look at the other contents. She flipped a couple of pages, skimming the material. Her hand froze as she went to flip to the next page. For a brief moment she thought she might be physically ill. She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.
Abby stuffed the material into her backpack and moved back to the air vent. She didn't bother to close the safe, it didn't matter anymore. She hadn't made it very far before she heard a hissing sound, gas being released into the air vent. They knew she was here. The faint scent of lilacs had her reaching into her pocket. She withdrew the needle and quickly pulled the cap off with her teeth while her other hand found her pulse in her neck. She quickly measured two fingers and felt the small knot. Marella had been kind enough to help put a set marker into her vein just for this emergency. The medication had to be inserted directly into her neck as close to the brain as possible before the full effects of the toxin could overpower her. Abby pressed the needle into the hard device and quickly depressed the plunger. Marella had told her if she did it right her world would go topsy turvey for a few seconds. Abby felt her heart rate accelerate when she didn't get dizzy, she'd done it wrong. She started to move to try and beat the toxin out of the air vent knowing it was futile when her world started to spin like she was on a merry-go-round.
She laid down and gave it a minute to pass. Relief flooded over her, even as she closed her eyes so as not to lose her lunch. She was moving again in a few minutes. She changed directions and avoided the roof. They knew she was here; speed was the priority now.
Abby dropped from the concrete wall as the first bullet chipped a piece right next to her hand. She dropped down and quickly disappeared into the dark. She knew the team would be waiting at the rendezvous point; but if the material in that safe was real, there was somewhere she had to go first.
The middle of nowhere Mexico
Abby peered through the scope of her high profile rifle. She scanned the area slowly, looking for the opening of the bunker she knew had to be there. She finally found it on her second pass. She slung the rifle over her shoulder and slowly made her way toward the entry.
"I would have never guessed it was you," Abby said, as the man walked out of the bunker. "Was Tyler working with you, or was he just some pawn you set up to take the blame?"
"He was on to me. But he didn't have all his information correct. He thought Michael was feeding me information. He went into that building expecting to find a traitor; instead I'd set him up as one. Thankfully, Michael shot first rather than ask questions."
"It's over." Abby said, her voice quiet, but her rage and disgust still evident.
"It was a very good run."
"Turn around and put your hands on your head."
He turned so his back was to her and put his hands on his head.
Abby slowly moved forward, watching him for even the slightest movement. She removed the handcuffs from the pouch on her hip. She reached up for his right hand securing the handcuff around his wrist. She moved his arm down behind his back, but as she reached for his left hand he jumped back, knocking them both to the ground.
Abby quickly shoved him off of her reaching for her gun, but she never got a chance to get it out of her holster before she had to use her hand to block his punch. They rolled around on the ground for several minutes exchanging punches, each trying to reach for a weapon to get the upper hand.
She managed to get to her feet, but so did he. He lunged at her. She felt the rush of warmth against her side before she caught the glint of the metal from his knife in the moonlight. He lunged again, but this time she deflected the strike and managed to grasp his wrist, quickly pivoting to jam her hand into the back of his elbow, popping it backwards.
He cried out in pain and dropped the knife, but before she could level her gun, he charged her, tackling her to the ground, the gun falling a few inches from her hand. He had her by the neck, his thumbs pressing into the soft area of her throat, cutting off her oxygen supply.
She stretched her arm out as far as she could, but her fingers didn't even brush the handle of the gun. Spots began to appear in her vision.
How could she have missed this, her brain wondered as she stared into the eyes of the man intent on taking her life. She pulled her leg up and he shifted his weight to keep her from getting the needed footing to flip him off of her. She twisted her leg and strained to reach her pant leg, she pulled her leg closer, the knee screaming due to the odd angle.
Colors were starting to fade as her vision greyed. She felt what she needed.
"Sorry, Abby," he whispered. "I really did like you."
Abby pressed the barrel of the gun up under his rib cage. His eyes widened in horror as he realized what was happening. Abby pulled the trigger, the force of the bullet pushing his body away from her. She pulled it again, and then again. She felt the pressure on her neck release. She barely had the energy to push his body the rest of the way off her. Her backpack sat a few feet away. She rolled over to try to get up to get to it, but another gush of blood soaked her side and made her vision wavy.
She tried to swallow, but the swelling her throat didn't allow the liquid to go down her throat, it drooled out of her mouth onto the dry dirt. Abby closed her eyes and felt like she was spinning down a hole.
She forced her eyes to open. She had to get to her backpack. She pulled herself forward, and cried out at the pain the movement caused her. She fought the urge to throw up, the pain was so intense. She tried to pull herself forward again, but this time wasn't able to stop the lurching of her stomach, nor the blackness that overwhelmed her.
Abby blinked, she wasn't sure how long she'd been unconscious, but she knew she needed to get to her backpack. She pulled herself forward again, trying to keep her focus on the black bag that was her only chance at survival. When she moved forward again, she felt the blackness starting to overtake her. "No," she moaned, willing herself to remain conscious.
Her hand finally touched the rough canvas material of her backpack. She just needed to get a little closer. She squirmed in the dirt, willing her body to move forward, just another inch.
Her fingers reached into the side pocket and removed the small homing device. She tried to flip the switch to activate the unit, but it slipped from her fingers. She felt the tears filling her eyes. She'd never experienced pain like this. It hurt to breathe.
She laid her head in the dirt. It was too late. She closed her eyes. After several seconds she opened her eyes. She reached out her arms and pulled her body forward. She grasped the homing unit and flipped the switch to turn it on.
She laid her head back down. Was this what Sam felt like, those last few seconds she wondered. No, he wouldn't have felt this incredible sense of betrayal. Abby felt another gush of warmth and didn't fight this time as the blackness over took her.
The middle of nowhere Mexico
"Where are they?" Wiley asked, leaning forward to look out another window.
"Another 10 miles," Marella said, looking at the signal on her radar screen.
"Thank you for calling me," Michael said, leaning forward himself to look out the windshield of the helicopter.
"When neither one made it to the rendezvous point, we went back to check the complex where we'd been trying to retrieve the information. They were too calm to have captured them. We didn't know who else to turn to."
"There," Marella pointed to two figures on the ground.
"Oh my God," was all Michael said.
Marella quickly landed and they all exited, rushing toward the bodies.
Jack bent down and rolled over the first body he came to. "It's Tom," he said, closing his eyes at the sight of his friend. "He's dead."
"She's alive," Wiley said, placing his fingers on Abby's neck. "Barely."
"What happened?" Jack asked, looking at the scene.
"I don't know," Michael said, holding Abby's backpack in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. "But we'll find out. Right now, let's get her loaded into the jet and back to the US to a hospital."
Jack and Wiley carried Abby to the jet and placed her on a stretcher that Marella had set up. She worked on getting an I.V. started and doing basic emergency medical care while they retrieved Tom's body. Michael alternated between watching the machine monitoring Abby's vitals and reading the paperwork in her backpack as Marella flew them back to the US.