Eun uttered a curse in Korean. “We’re not going to go along with that! If we know where they are, we go right now and get Abby back!”
“I agree, Chief,” Morgan said. “And we find some way to get there that they won’t be expecting. There’s an access grate not far from there that goes into the sewer. I bet we could find a way to come up right under the old warehouse that’s on the pier. That’s bound to be where they’ll be holding her.”
Lazarus looked contemplative, tapping his chin with his right forefinger. “It’s obviously a trap but I don’t see where we have any choice. Morgan, I like your line of thinking but I think we can tweak the plan a bit. Eun, you’ll come with me through the sewers. The rest of you will walk right up to the front door like they want.”
“We’re going to be the distraction for you and Eun,” Morgan realized.
“Right. It’s going to be most dangerous for all of you,” Lazarus said, looking somewhat unhappy about that part of the scheme. “But I think it’s the best course of action.”
Eun touched his employer’s sleeve. “You sure you want me with you, Chief? I mean, maybe I should be out front if that’s where the shootings likely to be.”
“It won’t be easy for us, either,” Lazarus pointed out, knowing that the young man was hesitant to let others be in harm’s way on his behalf. “And I want you and your hand-to-hand skills with me. Once we’re inside their base, there’s bound to be some combat in close quarters.”
Satisfied that Eun would do as he had been asked, Lazarus looked towards the rest of the team. For a brief moment, he thought about asking Samantha to stay behind, given the lingering effects of her drugging. But she’d done well posing as an assassination victim and she’d bristle at being left out of the dangerous affair.
“Let’s go,” he said and he was pleased to see that they quickly set about making their preparations. Not for the first time, he thought how lucky he was that the man he had once been — Richard Winthrop — had died on the shores of this city. For here he had made new friends and forged a special kind of family.
Abby groaned as consciousness returned to her. Her head throbbed something awful and a gag had been tied tightly around her face, shoved so far into her mouth that she could barely swallow. Her hands and feet were tied together, forcing her to lie on her side on the cool concrete floor of the warehouse.
The lovely brunette opened her eyes, studying the small room in which she was being kept. Though she had no idea where the building was located, it didn’t take a genius to ascertain that it was some sort of warehouse — the open door showed a large storage area, piled high with cobweb covered boxes and crates.
“Looks like sleeping beauty has awakened.”
Abby strained her neck to see the man who had spoken. It was Doc Pemberley. He wore a long white lab coat over his shirt and tie. He knelt beside her and took her pulse, nodding when he was done. “She’s got a strong metabolism. Most women wouldn’t be this alert so soon.”
Constance stepped into the room, followed by two of Femi’s shambling monsters. The veiled woman studied Abby without speaking but Abby could sense that she was unhappy about something. “She’s very pretty,” Constance said at last.
“As you will be soon,” Pemberley replied. He stood up and seemed quite pleased with himself. “Between my surgical skills and Femi’s restorative blood, you’ll be back to your old self before you know it.”
Constance turned away, shoving past the mummies. “I wish we had time to go ahead and do that, Melvin. I’m so ready.”
“It was your decision to go forward with the assault,” Pemberley pointed out. He followed Constance out of the room but Abby could still hear them quite clearly.
“Not quite. Klee forced our hand. We had a plan — take out their members one by one. By leaving Lazarus without his aides, we could then take him down by overwhelming force. But that idiot couldn’t wait!”
“Forget him,” Pemberley cautioned. “Femi’s got a dozen of these undead soldiers and Davis is convinced he’ll be able to sense Gray’s movements. We’re going to win this time. I can feel it.”
Abby rolled her eyes as she heard the hope in Constance’s voice. It was sickening listening to these two talk about the possible deaths of her friends. While they consoled one another, Abby took stock of the bonds she was tied with. Over the years, she’d found herself in similar situations, forcing her to become rather adept at escape artistry.
Despite her situation, Abby felt a sense of calm. She could free herself, given enough time. And once she was back on her feet and able to cast her spells, she was going to make all of these people pay.
She couldn’t wait.
Chapter V
Checkmate!
The sewers beneath Sovereign City were every bit as disgusting as Eun had imagined. The stench was nearly unbearable, even through the bandana he’d tied around his nose and mouth. The waters were knee high in places and the foul water flowed in through the tops of his boots. He almost wished that he and his employer hadn’t outfitted themselves with industrial strength flashlights — if they’d been in the dark, Eun wouldn’t have had to see the stuff that floated by in those waters.
“You sure you don’t want something to cover your nose?” Eun asked.
Lazarus gave a curt shake of his head. He seemed unaffected by his surroundings and Eun felt a twinge of jealousy. He wished he could be so stoic sometimes.
“Chief, can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“It’s never happened but it seems inevitable. What are we going to do when one of us is killed?”
Lazarus glanced over at him. “What do you mean?”
“We all know that you prefer to bring the bad guys in alive but if we get there and Abby’s dead… Are you going to let us kill them?”
“Killing them won’t bring Abby back to life.”
“No. But with the way the legal system in Sovereign works, these guys are liable to be back on the streets again sooner rather than later. Not to mention people like Femi! She’s died at least twice so far and keeps coming back! When are we going to do whatever it takes to stop that?”
Lazarus stopped and turned his mismatched eyes upon Eun. “About Femi — I think you’re right. We need to find some way to hold her in place and then I can find a spell to keep her from returning. As for the rest of them, I’d still prefer to let the justice system run its course. You remember when we met The Peregrine and he told us about his trouble with the Law, all because he was acting as Judge, Jury and Executioner in Boston?”[5]
“Sure.”
“Then you know why we have to temper our emotions. It’s all too easy to forget that we’re not above the law. Sometimes our foes force our hand, but we should never go into a situation expecting for lethal force to be required.”
Eun fell back in step with Lazarus as the trek resumed. If anyone else had said those things to him, he would have been angry, thinking they were somehow acting better than him. But Lazarus never had that effect on him. He knew that Lazarus never judged him and rather than growing resentful, Eun always felt inspired to be a better man after their talks.
Eun had lost a lot in his life — like everyone in Assistance Unlimited. But none of their losses could compare to what Lazarus had suffered through. He’d lost his very identity and even after his memories had been partially restored, they were vague, as if they had occurred to someone else. Eun couldn’t imagine how Lazarus was able to cope.