Caleb sat at the kitchen table with Ellie and Mary. If Jane hadn’t whispered to him about what she had done to the middle-aged woman he would have been very worried. But as it was, watching Mary’s delighted face during the conversations with her imaginary uncle was almost amusing.
Ellie sat quietly as she drank her tea, and Caleb could only guess at what was going on inside the girl’s head. She seemed to trust Jane unconditionally and even the confusing sight of the brainwashed Mary did not seem to dissuade her.
Deep down it bothered Caleb that Jane hadn’t been completely honest with him. She had showed him some extent of her abilities, but definitely not the entirety of it. Illusions, ripping minds out of bodies… what else could she do that ran so very contrary to the normalcy of life?
Right now it didn’t matter, Caleb decided. He had to focus on the plan. After all, it wouldn’t be much longer before his client set it all into motion.
Caleb thought back to their conversation in Jane’s hotel room the day before. He went over each and every word she had spoken to him.
“When I was born they inserted a small chip in my spine. At first that chip was only designed to do one thing. It is connected to the device that Agent Bradford carries, the button. When he is within range and pushes it, strong electrical currents run up my spine. They will cause a great amount of pain, and they will knock me out.
“Before my outplacement they adapted the chip to double as a tracker. It is connected to an app that runs on my handler’s phone. If I am more than a hundred miles away from my handler the app loses touch with the chip. That’s about an hour and fifteen minutes by car on the highway. I am not allowed to leave my working location, however; to do so would be suicide.
“The elite group that is on call to take me down is roughly half an hour away from my current location. That means that should I decide to go AWOL, the team is always present far before I can actually escape the reach of the tracking app. They will find me and they will detain me.
“But Caleb… if I manage to get far enough away from the tracking app, I am free. They won’t be able to find me. So what needs to happen is, that team has to meet up with Agent Bradford and come to me. If we can take them out, all at once, there will be nobody left to chase me.
“This is the arrogance of Dr. Greer, and it’s the only chance I have. He thought he knew everything I was and everything I could do. He thought that he created a perfect system within which I couldn’t make a move. And for a long time that was true, until I found you.
“I will make sure to befriend Arthur Toaves, and we will use his mansion. You’ve seen how big it is. It’s one confusing mess of a house. If you can map it out, you can pick off the members of the team brought in to come and get me, one by one.
“Most likely Agent Bradford will find me before you succeed, and he will push the button. After you take him out I will rely on you to get me to safety. I won’t be conscious until hours later.
“I know I’m asking a lot, Caleb. But this is the last chance you have at backing out. Once it goes down, it goes down. You can’t turn back then because they will come for you all the same. So you need to make up your mind. You have to decide. Either way… we’re cool. I won’t force you to help me.”
Afterward she had put a gun on the table for him to take. If he wanted it.
Caleb had asked her, “What will you do about that demon here in Brettville? Or will you just leave?”
“I’m going to try and take care of it. I don’t know if I can succeed, or to what extent I can, but I want to try. I… I’m going to have to do a few things I’m not exactly proud of tomorrow. I would like to balance that a little by doing something good in return.”
“You don’t owe the world that,” Caleb had said.
“I don’t?”
“You don’t owe anybody anything.”
She had looked at him then with those deep, dark eyes and Caleb had known he would never desert her. Her head had been tilted gently, as if she gave his words great consideration, and in the privacy of her hotel room she had seemed vulnerable. Human. It was then that Caleb had taken the gun.
“I don’t want to leave Baal free to do whatever he wants with this place. It won’t end there. He is so desperately hungry, and chronically bored, he won’t be able to stop with just one town. He will burn the country down if he’s given enough time.”
It hadn’t been until after Ellie recovered, and Arthur told his horrible story, that Caleb had realized what it all meant. To take care of the demon, Baal, he would have to be torn from his host first.
Baal had been the old man’s life force in that crucial moment before certain death. What would happen to that frail body if the demon was removed?
In the privacy of Ellie’s hospital room Jane had said that she wasn’t certain. That anything could happen but that it was definitely a risk. Caleb knew that she had said those words for Ellie’s benefit. Somehow he had sensed that Arthur was going to die.
So now Caleb sat silently at the kitchen table. Trying not to look at the brainwashed Mary Holsworth. Trying not to look at young Ellie, who would soon suffer another loss. He focused instead on the map of the mansion he had constructed in his head over the last few hours.
There were four main entrances to the mansion, but an elite team would never split up that way. They would go in together and slowly advance from hallway to hallway and from room to room. They would check every corner and cover each other with high-grade automatic weapons. It was entirely possible that they would be in heavy armor and wearing helmets.
A painful flash of doubt shot through Caleb’s mind. Was he crazy? It had been years since he last saw a combat situation, and it had been so scarring that he still hadn’t recovered. He was out of shape, hadn’t held a gun in years, and… he was afraid.
These guys wouldn’t be afraid. They were animals looking for a fresh kill. Armed beasts that wanted nothing more than to get into the biggest, dirtiest fight they could find. They lived for this.
But Caleb had the map inside his head. He knew the corners that couldn’t be adequately covered. He knew the doors that led to those hidden spots where he could strike from behind. He knew where the body armor had its structural weaknesses.
If everything went exactly right, he had a chance. It was a small chance, but a chance all the same. He, too, had once lived for this.
Jane’s voice welled up from the back of his head. It tugged at him gently for his attention before whispering to him.
I’m beginning very soon. Will you please take Ellie and Mary to the room we discussed? The two maids that remain are already in there. Then get into position, Caleb. It will all go down very soon now.
Caleb didn’t say a word. He just got up from his chair and gently reached for Ellie’s shoulder.
The girl asked him, “Is it time?”
“It is time.”
In the back of Caleb’s head, barely audible, he heard one final message.
Thank you, Caleb. Even if I don’t make it.
She would make it. Caleb had made the promise to her in her hotel room and he repeated it now. He wasn’t going to fail. The bullies wouldn’t win today.
Agent Bradford had made his way to the open gate of the Toaves mansion. The tracking app told him that she was holed up in there and hadn’t moved in hours.
He contemplated going in by himself to find her and push the button, but the risk was too great. Not only had the girl displayed abilities that he didn’t even know she had, there was also the bodyguard with her.
No, he had to rely on the backup team to assist him. Together there would be no stopping them. Not even the amazing Specimen #8 could attack all their minds at the same time, and certainly a washed-up army reject was no match for them. But how to get Dr. Greer to send in the team? That was the real issue.