Jack bent over the corpse of the round man in the pinstripe suit. He never did know the dude's name, and honestly, Jack didn't care. He'd been zapped by a tight three shot cluster perfectly over the man's heart-professional soldiers or mercs. He stood up and glanced at Riley who was glancing at some of the files on the smaller desk and tossing the data onto the floor.
"These are all accounting sheets," Riley announced. Jack crossed to the door and peeked out. They hadn't met a single person since they'd left the server room, the quiet set Jack's teeth on edge. Something was about to go down.
"Makes sense. Sally told me that our friend Chester was the accountant for Tantalus. She and Mac think that he's the one who got the Jins the $40,000."
"They did seem pretty close."
"The problem is where he got his little Valentine's gift. Mac thought they might have tried black mailing the mob or embezzled it." Riley stared at him open mouthed.
"If they did…"
"They have a hell of a bullseye on their backs, yeah."
"Dammit!" Riley growled throwing a handful of papers to the ground. "There's nothing here about a formula." Jack had given the entire consulate a quick search finding no samples on site. Jack hadn't expected there to be. It was always a bad idea to keep the smoking close when committing crime. Jack pursed his lips in thought.
"Chester and Fai have to have a sample." He thought out loud. Riley looked over at him puzzled. "How else could they blackmail the entire CIA/ mafia network? A formula by itself wouldn't prove anything." Riley nodded her eyes widened.
"What if that's what happened to Mac?"
"What?"
"What if they had a case or whatever at the pharmacy-"
"And put it out by mistake! Riley, you're a genius. We have to get there."
"What about Matty and Bozer?" Jack huffed and ran a hand through his short hair. He glanced over at the body then frowned. A small piece of paper was folded and dropped on the floor.
"Hello," Jack said with a smile. He crossed and grabbed it. Riley leaned over his shoulder watching as he unfolded. Riley frowned.
"Housekeeping? What does that mean?" Jack dropped the paper and turned to Riley.
"It means they're tidying up loose ends. Can you crash the servers?" Riley shook her head.
"Not permanently. Loose ends? Like Matty and Bozer?"
"And us...and Mac." Jack's breath caught.
"He's safe at Phoenix." Riley protested. Jack nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. We have to get rid of those servers, and they'll want to
download them before they waste this place. Why don't we-" Jack trailed off and cocked his head. He heard the unmistakable sound of rubber soled shoes coming their way-a lot of them.
" Jack?" Jack put a hand across Riley's mouth and held his finger up to his.
Riley nodded. Jack crossed to the door. The footsteps were close. Jack glanced up and down the hall. Jack smiled. Down the corridor to the right was a door marked "Authorized personnel only." Jack had followed Mac into enough housekeeping closets to know one when he saw it. He nodded over at his shoulder at Riley. She followed him as they scurried to the door.
"Shit!" Jack hissed unlimbering his M5. "Locked." His tone had an apology. Riley smiled reaching up to grab a bobby pin from her hair. She shoved him aside. Riley wasn't as fast as Mac; it took her a whole extra five seconds before the lock clicked open. Jack shoved her in, shut the door and locked it. They stood close in the near total blackness silent. The soft shoes thumped past them. All the voices sounded the same, and Jack heard the crackle of tac mics. It had to be the army of Mr. Smiths, probably CIA cleaners.
When it grew quiet in the hall, Jack slowly unlocked the door wincing at the soft click it made. He opened the door a crack. Two identical Mr. Smiths stood silently staring along the corridor. Jack leaned back after closing the door. Jack sniffed and smiled. He reached out blindly until he found a light switch. He turned it on and studied the contents of the closet. In the small tub behind them, a group of dirty mops leaned against the wall; a yellow bucket sat drying upside down into the cleaning floor sink. On a small row of shelves of them were rows of chemicals. Jack grinned at Riley who frowned and looked at the chemicals back to Jack shaking her head. Jack pulled down any chemical marked as flammable.
"Jack, what are you doing?" Riley hissed.
"You aren't the only one whose been watching Mac."
"You don't know what you're doing."
"How hard can it be? You mix them up toss them then light them, simple." Riley rubbed her forehead.
"Jack…" Jack shoved a pile of spray bottles into her arms. Riley tried again. "Jack, you could poison us." Jack looked at her and paused considering. Jack then gave her a cocky grin.
"There might be a few bumps, but we're going to be fine...follow my lead." Jack lifted the wheeled yellow bucket out of the sunken tub and set it on the ground.
"Jack!" Jack took the M5 off its sling, looked at Riley and silently counted down from three. At three he pushed the bucket out into the hall. We are so dead, Riley told herself as she held onto the chemicals forcing herself not to breathe too deeply. Jack crouched behind the door listening intently. They crept, probably silent enough for most situations, but Jack was a trained predator. He waited until he heard the two Smiths right outside the door. Jack slammed it open catching one in the face. He leaped out and rammed the butt of his rifle into the gut of the other. The man bent over his breath whooshing out; Jack kept his momentum going and slammed him across his head. Smith fell unmoving.
Jack whirled and ducked back as the other Smith swung a fist. Smith howled as it hit the edge of the door. Jack grabbed the door and slammed it forward hitting the man in the face again. The man stumbled back. Jack followed him, pivoted and slashed the man across the back of his neck. Jack wasn't sure if he'd killed either man, but they were down, and that was enough.
"C'mon." Jack waved at Riley and led the way as they ran back to the server room. Jack pulled Riley through the door and shut it. He heard soft footsteps moving around the corner. He leaned against the door listening intently. It sounded like most of them passed. Jack frowned at the soft murmur of voices; some stayed outside the door. From the sound of it, they were waiting for some nerd to come up and strip the servers. Jack slung the M5 over his shoulder and grabbed a handful of bottles out of Riley's hands. He ran toward the servers and froze when he saw that Riley stood and stared at him.
"What are you waiting for? C'mon we don't have much time." Riley shook her head.
"We are dead." She muttered. Jack smiled.
"That's the spirit." They managed to cover most of the servers with the chemicals. Both coughed as the mixtures mixed in a putrid stink.
"Go ahead." Jack coughed unlimbering his rifle. Riley gaped at him.
"Go ahead and what?"
"Light it up."
"With what?" Jack stared at her.
"You don't have a lighter?"
"Why would I have a lighter?" Riley's voice raised a couple of octaves. "Why don't you have a lighter?" Jack growled.
"Fine." He turned and shot at the servers. After about half a clip later the electric servers whooshed into a thick black smoking flame. Riley and Jack coughed eyes widening in surprise at how fast the fire moved.
"Jack!"
"Screw this, time to rock 'n roll," Jack said opening the door and diving out into a neat low roll. He settled on his belly and shot at the small herd of Mr. Smiths clogging the hall. Unfortunately there more of them than bullets. The smoke was filling the room. The Smiths began to pepper the corridor with bullets. Having no cover, Jack did the first thing he could think of, he stood and ran full tilt at the men. He grunted taking twin hits in his chest armor. His step faltered, he managed a feeble leap into the group of identically suited men. Jack swung up but was off balance. He fell to one knee missing his target completely. Jack fell on all fours as a pistol but slammed into the side of his head. He tried to shake away the cobwebs. A solid kick in his side spun him onto his side. Another stole his breath.
Suddenly there was a cold cloud shooting at them. Jack recognized the smell of fire extinguisher. He rolled onto his belly and pressed his face into his bent arm. The cries above him showed that the Smiths weren't so lucky. He heard Riley roar like a lioness and the sound of something heavy hitting flesh. Jack peeked up and smiled at Riley standing over him breathing hard. All the Smiths were on the ground.
"That's my girl!" Jack gushed accepting Riley's help to stand. Riley rolled her eyes and coughed at the thickening smoke and lingering foam.
"Plans, Jack! They aren't just for houses!" Riley growled as she grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him back the way they had first entered. They had to duck aside twice, but soon they were running out to the motor pool. Jack moved to exit so they could run back to their car. Riley grabbed him by the back of his armor, spun him and shoved him toward a limo with diplomatic plates.
"Wha-" Jack mumbled closing his eyes against the spinning world. Riley grabbed his rifle and yanked it off pulling more than a few hairs on the back of his head. "Ow! Ri-" Riley turned it around and smashed the driver's window with it. She tossed the M5 back to Jack who caught it automatically. "Ril-"
"Get in!" Riley yelled reaching in to unlock the door. Jack blinked stupidly. "NOW!" Jack shook his head and climbed into the passenger's seat. He opened his mouth to complain, but Riley sparked the car alive and stomped the gas pedal. Jack slid across the seat and slammed the door.
"Riley!" Riley glanced over at him as she skidded across four lanes of traffic. Jack managed to hold onto the dash and closed his eyes his heart jackhammering in his chest. "Riley!"
"Put on your damn seatbelt!" Riley shouted as she spun the car onto the freeway. Jack pulled himself upright and managed to click his seat belt after a few tries.
"Ril-" Jack screamed pointing at a car they were heading for, Riley spun the wheel, and the front of the car veered away. The rear end fishtailed and slammed into the car knocking it into the car beside it. Jack watched open-mouthed as a multitude of cars slammed into each other. He looked over at Riley wide-eyed. Riley shrugged.
"Diplomatic plates." She said as if that explained everything. Jack sucked in air as his boot hit the carpet trying to break by instinct. The limo scraped through the small gap between cars. Jack looked over at the frightened face of a massive man. Jack smiled a weak apology and turned away when the man flipped him the bird.
"Who taught you how to drive?" Jack said bracing as Riley hit the bumper of a car in front of them with a surf board. Jack heard a snap, and the surf board came flying toward them. Jack ducked his hands covering his head. The surf board hit with a loud thud then scraped a path up the windshield causing it to spider web. The board screeched across the roof then flew into the car behind them. Jack watched it and turned to Riley sucking in a terrified breath. He found Riley glaring at him.
"Who taught me how to drive, seriously?" Jack tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry he pointed out the windshield.
"Watch the road!" He wheezed. Riley rolled her eyes and spun the wheel narrowly avoiding a cement barrier. Several cones went flying, and a four member crew of highway workers jumped off a pick up as she side swiped it.
"Who the hell do you think taught me to drive?" Riley roared. Jack looked at her and vaguely remembered letting the young Riley drive his GTO. Evidently, his forgetting pissed Riley off because she began to aim for cars in her way giving up on trying to scoot around them.
"Oh hell." He muttered, he closed his eyes and started to babble every scrap of a prayer Jack remembered from Sunday school, as he braced for another impact.