Chapter Five:

Surrounded

Karen backed up. "What flash drive?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb," the captain said. "We saw you slip it into your pocket. That is potentially important evidence in a murder case, so I am ordering you to hand it over now."

A couple of officers tried to grab Karen by the arms. "I don't have anything," she said, brushing them off. "I let you see my pack, now I'll thank you to let me get back to my mom."

She headed straight for an open spot to her left and was met by a strong punch to the gut by a female officer from the sixteenth precinct. A male officer behind her grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back, another forcibly placing his hand over her mouth. Karen struggled, but more and more moved in on her, the captain standing back and ordering them to get it.

Karen fought hard. Her self-defense taught to her by her dad, coupled with her police training, kicked in. She swung with her right foot, catching an officer right in the face, before she bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth and spun to punch the man holding her arm right in the face. She elbowed one and threw her head back to smash the nose of another, finally managing to break free and extricate herself from the crowd, running as fast as she could back toward her car.

She heard a loud gunshot, and a bullet whizzed past her as she ducked under the police tape. She instantly dropped and rolled, looking back with her eyes wide. They were shooting at her? What was this, the 2010s? She ducked behind the line of cars as more bullets shot her way. Finally, she came to her car and fumbled with her keys only to stop when she realized all four of her tires had been slashed. A faint ticking sound made her look under the car to see a bomb wired into her ignition, set to go off the moment she started it.

"Oh, my," Karen managed. She got to her feet and started running. Across the street, she could see a handful of civilians just leaving the park. "Run!" she shouted, waving to them. "Get out of here!"

The civilians just kept watching her, reaching into their back pockets and pulling out rubber masks that they slipped over their faces, stepping off the sidewalk and coming toward her. Her eyes widened, and she bolted past them, running as fast as she could for the end of the block. Just when she was about to reach it, a large white van sped into view, nearly hitting her and blocking her exit. The door slid open and even more people in rubber masks spilled out, all carrying heavy machine guns.

Karen dove between two cars just in time to avoid the hail of bullets that came her way. She crawled between the cars and out onto the sidewalk, hoping to slip around the van and out onto the side street, only to find even more rubber masks standing in her way. She looked back to see even the officers were wearing rubber masks now.

Dad, what did you get yourself into? she thought to herself.

A faint whistling sound met their ears, just as a missile struck the back end of the white van, blasting it forward and tossing goons everywhere. An armored red vehicle sped around the corner, barreling through Karen's aggressors and pulling up beside her.

"Get in!" Gordon Cherry shouted, fully decked out in his ranger gear. Karen dashed for the car, jumping in as bullets whizzed around her. "Get down and hold on," Gordon said. He put the vehicle into gear and sped forward, weaving through the crowd and trying to avoid them as they came at the car, beating at its hood and firing their guns. One bullet came dangerously close to Karen's head, making her duck down even further.

Gordon veered his vehicle away from the crowd, up and over the curb and down into the park. The vehicle flew across the grassy terrain and up the other side, onto the next street over, and blazing away at high speed, the gunshots fading into the distance.

Karen lifted her head and let out a long breath. "Thank you," she said.

Gordon turned to her and nodded. "What's going on?" he said. "Rio checked out your dad's office and found the place ransacked, almost all of his files destroyed. I thought I should come check on you."

Karen shook her head. "I don't know." She dug in her pocket and withdrew her dad's flash drive. "But I know they were after this."

Gordon looked at the drive for a minute. "I don't imagine you want to head back to the hospital?" he said.

Karen looked at him, then looked down. "No," she said. "We can't. They'd probably be there waiting for me."

Tears welled up in her eyes. She thought about her mom, all alone there with her dad's body, her daughter nowhere to be found. She hoped someday she'd be able to forgive her.

Gordon turned down a new street. "We'll go to headquarters," he said. "You'll be safe there."

Karen nodded, settling back in the seat beside him. She held up the flash drive and turned it over in her hands, mentally repeating the question again: What were you into, Dad?

Back in his office, Vernon Axelrod stood at his desk, his phone up to his ear. "A ranger got her out?" he asked. "You're sure?"

"Yes, sir," the captain replied.

Vernon cursed. "And she saw all of your faces?"

"Yes, sir."

Vernon breathed out, bristling his mustache. "Take some time off from your precincts, all of you. Until she's been dealt with. I'll cover it with your supervisors. We can't let our operation be exposed. Not now. Not when we're so close."

He hung up the phone, looking frustrated. He looked up at the person sitting across the desk from him, the same tall assassin with a metal arm that he'd sent after Tobias. "Seems your old friends have gotten themselves involved," he told the man. "Care for a little reunion?"

The man glared at him with disgust. "Your operation is a disgrace," he said. "Is this how you handle keeping a basic secret? The Black Cross knew how—"

"The Black Cross is dead," Vernon growled. "As were you when we found you. So, watch your tongue."

The assassin rolled his eyes. Vernon scowled, pressing a button inside his sleeve that made the man tense up with pain, clutching the back of his neck. Vernon ran his finger along the button, and the man's metal arm responded to his control, working its way up to dig into its owner's neck. After a few seconds, he removed his finger, and the man regained control of his own body again.

The assassin glared up at Vernon. "Of course," he said, his eyes full of hate. "I meant no disrespect."

Vernon smiled. If only he could get that level of obedience from the officers and criminals he dealt with every day.

"Now," he said, sitting down behind his desk. "The ranger is likely to take Miller back to headquarters, where they will surely soon learn everything Tobias had gathered about us on that flash drive. I want you to do whatever it takes to ensure they don't interfere with Project Messiah's launch in two days. Don't touch the target's mother. I'll handle her."

The assassin nodded, flexing his metal bladed fingers. "Of course."