6
"Arrrgggh! You bastard!" Janet spat when Chris released her wounded upper arm. Chris crouched down in front of the bound woman as she struggled in the chair
"Now. Let's try again. Where are you keeping Claire?!"
"I told you!" Janet sneered "I don't know! My employer didn't tell me. All we did after our call was pass her over to another team!"
Chris stood and turned his back
"Your employer huh?" Chris turned back around and crossed his arms "and who would that be?"
"I don't know"
"Do you seriously expect me to believe that!" Chris growled.
He began to approach Janet when the sound of a vehicle outside caught his attention.
"Perhaps you could ask John?" Janet Grinned
Chris immediately grabbed a firearm and trained it on the front door as it swung open
"WHOA!" Leon shouted, startled as he held his hands up "ease up on the coffee, eh, Redfield"
Chris let out a breath, relieved to see his friend, as he dropped his aim
"Did you have to drive back in a goddamn van? I thought you were that big bastard!"
Leon shrugged as he passed the BSAA agent "It's all I could find. I was kinda pressed for time. And, with his current condition, I doubt big John will ever drive anything again"
Janet suddenly growled in frustration
"That luck of yours will run out one day, Kennedy! For both of you! My employer has eyes and ears everywhere within your organisations" She spat as the ex agent leaned against the opposite wall
Chris turned back to Janet and crouched once again in front of her
"Where were we? Oh yeah, your employer..."
Janet looked around the room, her confident gaze now replaced with panic
"I was telling the truth! And I'm certainly not getting paid enough for this shit..." she finally answered
"So, you're a mercenary?" Chris questioned
"I prefer the term free agent..." Janet replied
"Then, tell us what you do know. And I'll consider whether or not to let you walk away from 'this shit'..." Chris answered
Janet locked eyes with the BSAA agent as she considered
"I may not have met my employer face to face, but what I do know is that I'm a dead woman if I tell you anything!"
"If you don't tell me what you know then you're a dead woman anyway" Chris shrugged "the difference is that you'll have a chance to escape your employer"
Janet stayed quiet for a few minutes, Chris was about to begin another threat when she began
"After receiving contact through the dark web I made my way out to a hidden complex roughly thirty miles from here, where my skills were assessed. A job interview, if you will. It was then that I was teamed up with John and we were offered what they stated as a ground breaking super serum, to help with the job at hand"
"That explains John's abilities then...but not your lack of them" Leon piped in
"The woman in charge of our induction explained it was experimental, hence my reluctance to try it..." Janet replied "they were aiming for the serum to grant permanent strength and regeneration capabilities, but hadn't yet achieved that goal, which is why John had to inject the stuff into his system before a combat situation"
"Okay. So experimental lab about thirty miles out..." Chris nodded to Leon
"Always a lab..." Leon sighed
"While I can't guarantee it, there's a good possibility Miss Redfield will be held there" Janet responded "to my knowledge there are no other sites nearby, and that's where we had her when we organised the call"
"Its a good place to start as any" Chris stated then turned back to the bound woman "Your employer...tell me as much as you know, then we'll finish this business and you can be on your way"
Janet sighed
"We communicated via email, or sometimes video call, but he never showed his face. Even when we were summoned to meetings, we never actually met face to face, but his voice is enough to send a chill down your spine"
"I don't suppose you know what he wants with me?" Chris asked
"No" Janet replied "but he knows an awful lot about you and your sister...I daresay you'll probably know him when he finds you..."
"Claire...is she alright?" Leon suddenly cut in
"We had strict orders not to harm Miss Redfield, so she was never in any danger when we had her, despite my threat when I first spoke with Mr. Redfield. I cannot, however, guarantee that's still the case "
"Which is why its time we got a move on" Chris stated as he cut the bonds from Janet's wrists. Janet rubbed her sore wrists and went to stand but Chris slammed an arm onto the back of the chair and drew his face close to hers
"Don't make me regret this" he threatened "otherwise you'll find out why your employer is reluctant to show himself"
"Rest assured, Mr. Redfield. I'm done with this sordid business. But I believe you may have misunderstood. My employer is certainly not afraid of you, which I'm sure you will soon find out"
"How the hell did the BSAA miss this place?" Chris growled as he handed the binoculars to Leon whilst, simultaneously pulling his hood up against the biting snowstorm. Janet's information had been accurate and the pair had located the hidden complex nestled away in a snow swept valley
"Funding cuts maybe?" Leon shrugged as he watched the patrols around the perimeter of the compound "or corruption on the inside, you heard what Janet said...seems to be the trend these days"
Chris glanced over at Leon
"Is that why you're done with it all then? You know, this would have been so much easier if you were still DSO..."
"And what makes you think the DSO would help anymore than the BSAA have..." Leon retorted
"They'd have your goddamn word, that's why" Chris spat. Leon knew Chris was right, and still regretted the timing of his decision to desert, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
Chris sighed at the silence "I still don't understand why you couldn't just quit like a normal person. Guess you've always liked to cause a scene"
Leon pulled the binoculars away from his eyes and shot Chris a scowl
"Ever tried to quit Redfield? Leon hissed and brought the binoculars back to his eyes " of course you haven't. Mr. I don't question orders... "
Chris suddenly snatched the binoculars from Leon
"I question orders!" he growled "what I don't do is turn my back on people that need protecting!"
"Right..." Leon scowled as he lay back down behind the small snow wall they had erected "good job on protecting those innocent civilians at Glenn Arias' wedding when the government decided to drop a caring gift on their heads..."
Chris suddenly lunged at Leon and grabbed him by the lapels of his thick winter coat, pushing him into the snowy wall
"You were there with her! You could have protected her better with the resources you once had! But you failed, all because you chose to run away!"
There it was. Leon had been waiting for weeks for the blame game to start. He guessed the tension of not knowing if Claire was still okay had finally triggered it in Chris as he continued to vent his frustrations on the ex agent
"The only reason I haven't dragged your ass back to the U.S is because Claire needs our help, but believe me, it's the first thing on my list as soon as she's safe"
"Try it..." Leon said dangerously
The men stared, refusing to be intimidated by the other, when the sounds of the patrol changing shifts caught their attention
"That's our cue!" Leon said suddenly, pushing Chris aside and vaulting over the snow wall, quickly making his way towards the perimeter
Chris growled to himself as he hurried to keep up, he decided then and there that he did miss his team after all. He crouched quickly down behind Leon, covering his back, as the ex agent made quick work of cutting through the outer fence. Chris watched the soldiers over near the gate as they conversed
"These guys are too laid back to be regular army" Chris said quietly over his shoulder
"More mercenaries most likely" Leon replied as he cut through the last of the wire and pushed a hole through
"Reckon the Siberian government know anything about this?" Chris commented as he followed Leon through the gap. He immediately regretted the question upon seeing his partners reaction
"Who knows!?" Leon quipped as he shrugged sarcastically
"C'mon" Chris stated as he stood alert to his surroundings "let's find Claire and get the fuck outta here"
Claire sighed then started shouting again. She had woken up in the centre of a poorly lit, white washed room and was tied uncomfortably to a metal chair which faced a huge, two way mirror. She flinched when her struggling tensed the sore muscles in her left arm.
When she'd first woken in this place she had been dressed in scrubs and was subjected to being held down and having blood forcefully extracted.
How long had she'd been here now? Three weeks? Four?
It was hard to tell when you had no concept of time.
At least she'd been moved somewhere new after the brief call with Chris. She worried for her brother and the trap he may have fell Into. She silently wondered if he was somewhere nearby, stuck in the same predicament...
"HEY! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!?"
No answer
"Great" Claire sighed again
On the other side of the glass a man stood watching her in fascination and silence.
He approached a small button beside the glass and pressed it, speaking into the built in microphone
Claire's gaze Immediately sought the speakers in her cell at the sound of the static
"All will be revealed in time, my lovely dear heart..."
Claire felt the blood drain from her face as fear gripped her stomach