Page 44 of The Ghost

The leader of our little group kicked open the stairway door and poked his gun inside. I pushed Z up against the wall behind me, making sure she stayed out of the line of fire. I listened closely for any sounds that might be coming up from below or down from above, but there was only silence.

The Dark Sparrow forces eased their way into the stairwell with Z and me close on their heels. We hustled up the stairs to the first subterranean level. This was where the command center was and where Lukas was reported to be.

Sure enough, once we came out of the stairs, another small group of friendly fighters was there. Lukas looked up from where he was crouched near the door. Judging by the amount of bullet holes in the wall beside him, I could see that a serious firefight had just taken place.

As if in answer to my speculation, another hail of ammunition rained down on us, causing everyone to drop to a knee. Lukas waved his gun at the hall behind us, indicating that we should try to escape that way.

“Where’s Clark?” Lukas asked, drawing level with me as the whole group of us retreated.

“She’s downstairs,” I answered, not knowing if that was still the case. She might have been taken somewhere or have escaped deeper into the Dark Sparrow base. For the time being, I had no idea what was happening, and I didn’t like that one bit.

“Is she okay?” Lukas pressed me for information I didn’t have.

“Yes,” I assured him. No matter what, I had to assume that Clark was okay. It was the only way I could continue to function.

That seemed to be enough for Lukas. He obviously had the same level of trust for Clark and her abilities as I did. And his relationship with her allowed for a little bit less emotional baggage than mine. She was a sister and a fellow operative but not someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. I almost envied his detachment as we made our way toward the hangar.

Bullets sang through the air around us. We returned fire, keeping the enemy at bay. There were nearly a dozen of us, hightailing it through the hallways together. Lukas, Z, and I gravitated toward each other. It felt right to surround myself with people I trusted, whether Clark was with us or not.

We burst into the hangar, surprising another squad of troops. Lukas leaned into the door as soon as the last of our people sailed through. He locked it securely, and for a moment, we were able to relax.

“How did they infiltrate the base?” I demanded, taking a deep breath.

Lukas shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Where are the leaders of the CIA and MI6?” I asked.

“Already evacuated,” Lukas answered. “We got them out at the first sign of trouble.”

“Well at least you’ve got your priorities,” I said sarcastically.

Lukas narrowed his eyes. His look told me that he wasn’t interested in arguing. I clamped my jaw shut, appreciating the tight spot we were in and the need to get on the same page. But I couldn’t help worrying about Clark.

“Everyone in the chopper,” Lukas announced, motioning toward a helicopter that was prepping for takeoff.

There were massive bay doors open to the sky, allowing all kinds of vehicles to evacuate the base. I half expected to see bombers swooping in on us or light combat aircraft capable of killing us all where we stood. But whatever New Dawn had planned didn’t involve heavy artillery. They were obviously counting on their ground troops to do the job, allowing us an easy exit now that we were topside.

“Get in,” I instructed Z.

She gave me a worried glance before heading over to the chopper. Climbing inside, she waved at me. I was torn. I couldn’t abandon Clark to the enemy, but what other choice did I have? Was it really worth going back to the second floor myself? I had no idea where she was, and I could lose my way quickly if I attempted to go it alone.

“Lukas!” I shouted, jogging over to where he stood, directing the flow of troops to different evacuation vehicles.

“Get in the chopper!” he told me.

“I can’t leave Clark!” I announced.

Lukas stepped between me and the door, as if sensing that I needed a little more encouragement to follow orders. “She’ll be all right.”

“It was Ryan,” I shared. “He’s the one that brought them here.”

Lukas nodded. “I should have known.”

“There was something screwy about him,” I agreed, “but the CIA had his back. You couldn’t have seen this happening.”

“No,” Lukas agreed, “but I should have taken precautions. Just allowing anyone in here was a big mistake.”

“We can talk about that later,” I suggested. “Right now, I’m going after my girlfriend.”