Chapter 18

Harve led the way to the fort, his ragtag militia surrounding Michael, Sam and Jesse on the road. In the end, they decided not to use Vivien in their plan. Her bad ankle could hamper them if it turned out she was one of the good guys and they all needed to escape quickly. To make it look good, they tied their hands with rope in such a way that would let them easily free themselves at the right moment. As they walked, Michael scoped the area around them, gauging how the air support would come in to assist.

Sam looked around at the trees and the limited escape route. "I sure hope this works, Mike. We could be walking into a bloodbath."

"I know, Sam. But our support will come from the air and the ground." He spied a camouflaged helmet in the ditch near the gate. "Ground support is already here."

Sam followed his line of sight and saw several troops moving about the forest, getting into position. On the right side of the road, there were more. "Okay, I feel better now."

"It's gonna be okay, Sam," Harve assured him with a nod. "Me and the guys all got your backs."

Sam smiled. "Thanks Harve. You're a good man to have around."

"That's what my wife says," he joked.

"Okay, okay. It's time," Michael spoke softly. "Harve, you know what to say."

Harve nodded and moved to the front of the group. He looked up to the guard towers. "Hey! Hey, we've got some people here your boss has been lookin' fer! Open up!"

One of the guards looked down and examined the group intently. Then he put a walkie talkie up to his lips. He spoke into it, listened, and replied, "Where's the girl?"

"She's...she's dead." He glanced at Sam with wide eyes, unsure if he'd said the right thing.

Sam responded with a slight nod.

"Okay, bring 'em in." The gate opened and Harve's small band of men hovered around their fake prisoners as they were led to the command center as expected.

Even before they approached it, a figure stepped outside and stood at the top step. Anson's smiling face gazed down at him. "Well, Michael. It's so nice to see you again." He paused and eyed Sam and Jesse. "You brought your friends, too. How nice. But you know it wouldn't be a complete party without your nearest and dearest." He stepped aside.

The command center door opened, and Madelyn stumbled out, pushed none too gently by a guard. Anson hoped for a reaction on Michael's face, but the spy remained stone faced. Sam and Jesse, however, were not immune to the shock of seeing her scared face. It only got worse as she was followed by Nate, his wife Ruth, and their child.

"And how could we forget the dear Fiona?" Anson swept his arm out dramatically, and Fiona appeared with her hands bound by cuffs in front of her. Her eyes bored into Anson as she passed, then locked onto Michael's as she stopped where they held her on the edge of the porch. She tried to hide her happiness and relief at seeing him, but it was impossible. "Ah, such a sweet reunion. Too bad it's such a short one."

"Anson, there's no need..." Michael stepped forward, pushing through their escorts. "I'll come work for you. You don't have to kill them."

"What's this? A bleeding heart beats in the great Michael Westen's chest after all? Who knew?" Anson smiled briefly, then his hard expression returned. "No, you don't get to decide, Michael. This is my show." He turned to one of the guards. "Grab Sam and Jesse, and take them all out to the promenade by the fence over there."

"Yes sir." The captives were rounded up and herded to the space between the cell where Sam and Vivien were kept, and another building. Everyone watched as they were lined up.

"Come on," Michael muttered.

"Where are they," Harve whispered.

"They're here." Michael knew when he saw Nate's head turn toward the back stockade fence. Their ground support came in from the back so silently, the amateur soldiers were no match for their numbers and firepower. Some fired muskets at the troops coming through the front gate, but it was useless. For their efforts, they received a volley that cut them down where they stood before they could even think of reloading.

It was a bloodbath alright, but not on his team. He heard the thump thumping of chopper blades overhead and looked up to see several hovering, with snipers ready to take out anyone who tried to kill them.

"No!"

Muskets cracked and Sam and Jesse, who were on opposite ends of the line, went down.

"Nooooo!" Michael heard the scream and the roar of an engine. He turned his head and gaped as Vivien and Liza came in riding one of the ATVs they left at Harve's cabin. Liza ducked and steered while Vivien rode behind her with a Sig rifle they left behind. She strafed the shooters and they went down. He expected her to stop, but she and Liza kept going. Only when she reached the command center did she park at the foot of the stairs.

"Anson! This is over!" She aimed directly at his heart. "Give it up now!"

"How can I, when I still have the upper hand?" He raised his hand in seemingly dramatic effect, but it was a signal.

Vivien's breath rushed out of her as the bullet hit her in the back and she fell off the ATV. Liza screamed, and Harve reached for her, dragging her away from the target. She clung to him, her face buried in his chest.

Anson grinned as he looked upon the carnage in the promenade. Three of the people he wanted dead were down, and with a wave of his hand, the rest would lie in a pool of blood. The snipers in the helicopters were too busy trying to keep that from happening. He savored the moment, slowly raising his hand one more time. The firing squad members who were still standing took aim.

A percussion sounded above the chaos. The bullet entered his abdomen at an angle and traveled up, up through his body and lodged somewhere in his upper body. In the process, it pierced his heart. He wore a shocked, wide-eyed expression as his body fell lifeless to the porch.

It seemed like it happened in slow motion. The firing squad turned, gaping at their leader as he bled out on the floorboards. Everyone's eyes focused on the scene. No one saw Sam and Jesse sit up. Sam winced as he rubbed his chest where the bullet proof vest stopped the musket ball. Sure, there wasn't as much velocity in one of those suckers, but it still hurt! He stood and peered over the shoulders of the militia.

"What the...who shot him?" He parted the two men in front of him and started walking toward the scene, followed by Jesse, Fiona, and Michael's family. "Vivien."

He picked up the pace and ran to where she lay. The barrel of the Sig was still warm from the last shot she took that ended the terrorization of Michael's life and that of his family. He reached out and touched her back, his hand stained by her blood. Despite all her lies and coverups, his gut wrenched at the sight of her lying motionless, her eyes closed. Despite everything, he was still in love with her, and to see that love die, it killed him inside. He bowed his head, pressed a bloody fist to his forehead, and wept.

"Sam," Maddie whispered, but he ignored her. So she tried again. "Sam. Look! She's not dead!"

Sam raised his head in time to see Vivien's eyelids flutter. They opened, and she turned her head enough to see his face.

She smiled slightly. "H-how'd I do, Sam?"

"Dead shot, Viv." His voice shook with emotion. "You would make a great SEAL."

"Thanks." She lost consciousness. Before Sam could worry about her slipping away, a medical team swooped in and attended to her.

Michael stood beside him and grabbed Sam's arm, gently pulling him to stand. "Come on, Sam. Let's get out of their way and let them do their job."

"Yeah." He nodded. "She...she didn't betray us, Mike."

"No, she didn't. She said she worked for someone who wanted to see Anson stopped."

Sam turned to him. "Yeah. You know who that is?"

"It was me, Sam. With a little help from Pearce and the CIA." He smiled. "She was working with us, the CIA, the whole time."

"Then why all the zigs and zags in her story? And why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"We needed to keep you in the dark. When your plane went down and we didn't know where you two were, she knew what she was supposed to do if something like that happened." Michael paused. "I'm sorry, Sam. I should have told you everything from the beginning, but I was afraid if you knew too much, Anson would take you out before our plan could be completed."

"He did try to take me out with that plane crash!"

Michael nodded. "You and Vivien. Which goes to show we've got a leak in the agency somewhere. So this isn't over yet, Sam. We've got to find that leak."

"At least you won't have any more scumbags trying to recruit you. You're in with the agency now, right?"

"Yes. And I would bet that you've moved higher up in their minds, thanks to this mission." He smiled at Sam and threw his arm around his shoulders. "Come on, let's get out of here. I want my family to go back to Miami and maybe they can all finally relax."

"I second that."