What the hell was she doing? Zach held the night-vision goggles to his eyes. From his position near the edge of the woods he had a good view of the main buildings of the compound. It was a little after nine he'd just done recon deep in the woods to the east, where the group members had constructed a massive bonfire in a clearing.
Most of them wore white robes and huge masks of animals that covered their entire heads. A motley ensemble played discordant music on guitars, tambourines and recorders, while others danced around the bonfire with their jack-o'-lanterns, laughing and singing, obviously enjoying this rare respite from their labors.
As he peered through the goggles, night became green tinted day. He watched a lone figure skirt around the cabins toward the administration building. From high on the torso came the steady little light the infrared beacon visible only to him that told him he was watching the woman he loved. But what was she doing? Why wasn't she with the others? Hadn't she had plenty of time earlier to snoop around the building?
Damn. What if Lucas came looking for her?
Zach growled, "Get back to the wingding, Mata Hari. Don't start getting cute on me now."
Why had he ever agreed to let her do this? He should have listened to his instincts—hog tied her if That's what it took—and made this a solo mission. He'd never forgive himself if she got hurt.
"I'm relieving you," Ariana said.
The guard eyed her suspiciously from his post just inside the administration building. He was a freckle faced redhead in his early twenties. She didn't remember him, he must have joined recently.
He said, "I'm here all night, is what they told me. Who're you, anyway?"
"Ina Collins. I just got back—"
"Hey, I heard of you! Aren't you that girl that was snatched a few weeks ago?"
"Yeah, that's right. My family hired a deprogrammer."
"Wow. Was it, like, as bad as they say?"
"I can't begin to describe it."
"So how'd you get away?"
"I pretended I was some kind of helpless, wimpy female. When he let down his guard I overpowered him and escaped. Lucas was so impressed, he put me on the security force. Sure beats scrubbing the john." She jerked her head toward the party. "Go on. I can handle things here."
The guard puffed his cheeks with the effort of cogitation. "I don't know.... I wanna join the fun, but they told me I gotta stay here."
Ariana extracted her gun from her jacket and showed it to him. "Lucas gave me this and said to tell you to find a costume and enjoy the rest of the party." Only the security force were armed.
He relaxed. "Cool. I'm outta her. See ya around."
The instant he left, she hurried to Lucas quarter, rolled up the rug over the trapdoor and exposed the keypad. She wiped her sweaty palms on her jacket and concentrated on envisioning the pattern she'd seen the man key in earlier. Her finger hovered over the pad and then she tapped the four numbers.
The steel trapdoor dropped and slid open with a hissing. Ariana said a silent yes! She took a deep breath and descended the carpeted steps into a large, bright room. Whatever she expected to see, it wasn't this: a clean, well equipped office, chock-full of the latest in high-tech equipment.
She saw a couple of computers, complete with a top-of-the-line color laser printer. Nearby sat something that looked like a desktop photocopier. Closer inspection revealed it to be a scanner, used to transfer photographs or printed material directly into a computer. In the corner sat a large photocopier. She pressed the controls and realized it was a color copier. A massive, well-lit worktable occupied one wall.
She did a slow three sixty, staring at these pricey gizmos. Was she totally off base in her suspicions? Could Lucas be hiding all this stuff away just to keep the grubby hands of the group members off it?
Along one wall, in the midst of this high-tech haven, were a clothes washer and dryer. She frowned. What's wrong with this picture? She opened the lid of the washer. Empty. She was about to close it when something caught her eye. She reached in and peeled a damp piece of paper off the inside of the washer tub.
And stood staring at a twenty-dollar bill.
Realization struck in a sickening rush. Stunned, she gaped at her surroundings with a fresh eye.
Lucas was a counterfeiter!
She turned the bill over in her hand. It looked perfect. She'd heard that fake bills were often laundered prior to circulation to give them a worn look.
Was this one damp faux twenty enough evidence to interest the police? Somehow she doubted it. She had to do better than that, but she'd been down there too long already. It wouldn't be long before Lucas discovered the guard had deserted his post. She hoped to be on the other side of the compound by then.
She scurried around the room yanking open the drawers and cabinets, searching frantically. On the worktable lay an open box labeled Rice Paper. She fingered a sheet. It had the feel of crisp new money. She lifted the top of a small cardboard box near it—and sucked in a sharp breath. Stacked inside were bundles of twenties, each secured with a blue rubber band over a strip of yellow paper.
She grabbed a bundle and tacked it in her jacket pocket next to her gun. At the foot of the stairs she paused and listened intently. When silence greeted her, she let out the breath she'd been holding and crept back up to Lucas bedroom. She pushed the button that closed the trapdoor and replaced the rug.
Within seconds she was outside, trying to keep from running as she crossed the grounds toward the distant garage where she was to meet Zach. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ina! Wherever are you going, love?"
Lucas voice slammed into her from out of the gloom. She froze, deafened by her own pulse, and squinted into a flashlight beam now trained on her face.
Lucas chided, "Jacob, be nice...."
The light beam slowly descended, lingering on her chest, which rose and fell rapidly as she struggled for composure. Her jacket still lay open and she imagined they could see her heart hammering her rib cage.
The flashlight clicked off, and now she could just make out the moonlit forms of the two men. Lucas wore a white robe and a papier-mâché raven-head mask. She recalled that ravens were associated with the Celtic god Lucas. Jacob towered over his boss. He, too, was clad in a white robe, along with a hideous bear-head mask, complete with fangs. The masks enclosed their entire heads.
Jacob grunted. A man of few words.
Lucas translated. "Jacob wants to know why you're dashing into the woods, Ina. I must say, such behavior is.....curious." The raven head turned to peer in the direction she was headed—away from the commune's buildings, away from the bonfire. Heb turned back and silently awaited an explanation.
She swallowed a knot of terror and faced him squarely. "I...got kind of disoriented, I guess. I thought everyone was..." She shrugged and nodded toward the inky woods.
Silence reigned for a heart-stopping few moments. Lucas sighed resignedly. He gestured toward her.
"Jacob...."
The huge man handed the flashlight to Lucas and came at her. She tried not to cringe as his meaty hands patted her down and reached into her jacket pocket.
When he grunted again, it sounded like "Gotcha!"
***
Zach's fingers tightened painfully on the night-vision goggles when he saw the bodyguard put his hands on Ariana. Jacob pulled something out of her pocket—her gun, he assumed—and Lucas reacted. Zach knew it was Lucas under that ridiculous raven mask; he'd been keeping track of the commune leader for hours.
Ariana's hand fluttered to her chest. The steady light signal started to blink.
"No kidding," zach growled. "What the hell have you done, Ariana?"
As if she heard him, she threw a panicked glance in his direction before the bodyguard roughly hauled her back toward the administration building.
"I'm coming for you, sweetheart." He lowered the goggles. "Just hang in there."
***********
Here is the chapter 17....HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS! I'm sorry about the lack of updates.
sorry for the very short update again... but next chapter will be long.. Make sure you hit me up with a little vote and comment because I'm obessed with hearing from you all :)
I'll see you all soon for the next chapter ;)
Love, y'all
Prettyeyes
YOU ARE READING
My Hard-hearted Hero
RomansaZach had a brother Ashton. His younger brother had always been emotionally immature. When he'd first learned of Ashton's death, Zach had briefly considered the possibility of foul play. He made him promise to look after Ariana "if something happene...
