Page 37 of Knight Watch

“Better than remaining inside. Cain, Mason, Cait, keep them occupied for the next two minutes, starting now!”

James rushed toward the glassless window before reaching his hands up. Kingsley took Sydney in his arms and passed her to James, praying that for the few seconds they were helpless the bad guys had better things to do.

James took her in his arms and Kingsley had just put one leg out to follow when someone barged inside the tiny office space. With less than a second to spare, he pushed away and fired, and the attacker retreated.

Sydney called his name, but instead, he focused on James. “Get her out of here and keep her safe!”

In an instant, he blocked everything out, and his mind reverted to the familiar consciousness of a soldier. It was a state that was hard to explain, similar to having everything slow down around him, and becoming hyper-aware of his surroundings.

When he rolled past the door, Kingsley’s shot was deadly accurate, and the thin man behind the door dropped to the floor before he even realized he was dead.

“James and Sydney are gone. I’m still in the building. State your positions.”

Cain was still outside, checking the entrances and any possible incomings. Caitlin was in position and about to take down two of the intruders inside the building. Mason was in trouble though. He’d been cornered behind some rusty machinery that didn’t offer enough cover.

“Mason, I’m headed your way. Try not to shoot me, okay?”

The former SO14 and Secret Service agent sneered at his joke. Not a surprise as Mason was stiff as a board, which probably stemmed from all those years guarding the Royal family. “Shut up and get your butt in here, King.”

His voice was low, a sign that the targets were looming close. The battleground was anything but simple, as sound reverberated into the empty space, making it difficult to pinpoint locations, and the internal brick walls that remained blocked the view every other step.

Moving stealthily was hard as the ground was full of rubble and grit, announcing his arrival, but also helped in locating Mason’s stubborn guests.

When Kingsley finally found a secure hiding place, one of the men had shifted and was unreachable. The second one was in his sights, but if he fired, he would reveal himself.

The first man moved again, attempting another angle to kill Mason, and Kingsley knew he had the opening he wanted.

He only had seconds to make his move. He was silent as a ghost as he moved into position behind the man and swiftly broke his neck.

Keeping quiet, Kingsley carried the dead man back to his hiding place and searched him. No comms on him, but a wallet. He didn’t have time to check so pocketed it, as well as the man’s cell phone after making sure it was turned off.

He could hear more shots being fired in the distance, and Kingsley used the sudden burst of noise to burst around the corner. The remaining man was about to take a shot at Mason just as he tackled him to the floor. The silence was broken as the man shouted and grabbed Kingsley roughly by the collar.

Kingsley punched him hard in the kidneys, but the man was made of stone. Unable to evade the elbow to his temple, Kingsley saw stars for a second but pushed back as hard as he could and his attacker’s skull hit the ground with a sickening crack.

Rolling toward the wall, he shook his head, trying to clear his vision when someone rushed to his left side. His body reacted, his gun went up, but a familiar voice stopped him from pulling the trigger.

“You all right, King?”

He offered his hand to Mason who pulled him to his feet. One quick check confirmed that blood trickled from his scalp, but he wasn’t worried. He’d suffered worse wounds in his line of work, and once the room steadied, he was good to go. Mason had blood on his arm too, but it looked superficial.

They were on their way to Caitlin, when she found them. “I’m clear.”

Kingsley nodded and touched his ear. “Cain? Sit-rep.”

Cain answered immediately. “Nobody outside as far as I can see. Everyone just vanished.”

“We’re coming out.”

The three of them, all still on high alert, joined Cain as he patrolled outside.

“Nobody else is inside. Mason, check on James and Sydney. I want to make sure they got away.”

As Mason pulled out his phone, Kingsley held his breath. Had he made the right decision in sending them away? Or had he sent them straight into danger? His heart in his throat, he looked around pretending to scan the area while fighting his instinct to run to the forest where Sydney had disappeared.

Mason closed his phone. “James stumbled on one of their cars by the road and stole it. They’re on their way to the airport. I told James to take the plane and keep going until they were back in Miami and safe at Alliance. I said to tell Sydney that you were fine, we all were, and would make our way back as soon as we could.”

The tension flew out of him now he was reassured Sydney was safe. He would have preferred to be the one ensuring her protection, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

He made his way back to his smoking car and sighed. “Hell. I liked that car.”

Cain snorted, and Caitlin rounded the wreck as Killian danced around her heels. “Did they throw a grenade on it?”

With his experience with bombs, Kingsley knew it wasn’t a grenade. He dropped down to look underneath what was left of the car. “They put something underneath. That means they knew from the start where we were going.”

Mason crouched beside him. “It’s not surprising. If Rutherford was close to Sydney’s parents, then he knows about the farm and this mill. Especially as the mill is so close to the farm. I suspect he ordered men to come straight here and wait to see if we showed up but as we came straight from the airport, there is also the possibility they followed us from there. We would have stood out as we don’t exactly look like tourists, especially having Killian with us, and arriving on a private plane. Our only advantage was that we used a different entry point. Has Sydney figured out what the key is for?”

Kingsley brushed his pants from all dirt. “It unlocked a drawer in an old filing cabinet, and we found a file named ‘Princess Pea’. Apparently her father used to read her the story. They attacked before we could see what was in it. Whatever information it contains is bad enough Rutherford hired professional mercenaries to silence his niece. That bomb was not handmade, but the person who installed it probably wasn’t a professional. I would need to examine it properly, but a quick look tells me it was supposed to go off when I started the car. It’s a safety precaution that obviously didn’t work. As they were here before we arrived, I would check your own vehicles, they’re probably rigged as well.”

Caitlin nodded. “You plan to call the police?”

Kingsley shook his head. “I’ll have my car removed first. We’re a long way from the nearest house, so I doubt anybody heard anything. I don’t want anything here that will implicate the Agency or Sydney. So we clean up, and we fly home. I’ll make a call to Shane and get him to arrange another plane and pilot for us. I have a feeling that Rutherford will shift his focus when he learns his niece is still alive and has information that could possibly sink him like the Titanic.”