A STUDY IN BLACK ✓

XVIII

While Tyler made an international phone call to his sister in Bangladesh from Debby's home phone, Josh pulled Debby to the side.

"What really happened in Kabul? I thought you were hurt fighting terrorists," Josh said.

"It wasn't exactly a lie," Debby replied. "Heaven's Templar are radicals."

"But you never told me what actually happened."

Debby looked over at where Tyler was slumped against the wall, cupping the phone in his hand. She leaned in and whispered, "You were a sniper for the Cerberus team."

"What?"

The Cerberus team was more like a legend rather than an actual crew of soldiers. They were supposedly trained in all forms of hand to hand combat, and could speak over twenty languages each. Everyone knew about them. A radical leader who was untouchable ends up dead? Cerberus. A whole terrorist organization was taken down overnight? Cerberus.

There was no chance in hell that they were real, much less that Josh was apart of it. He would've remembered if he was seen as a legend among his company.

"Heaven's Templar went after you and me because we were young and extremely skilled. I was part of a kill squad, and you were with Cerberus. Why do you think our Humvees crashed when you and me were in the same vehicle?"

Josh shook his head. "No. That's... that's crazy, even for me. Cerberus just was a story, used to scare the young recruits."

"Legends stem from somewhere, Josh," Debby said quietly. "And this one stemmed from you."

If Josh could classify any time of his life as the worst time ever, he would choose that month without hesitation. First, he learned that a cult wanted to recruit him. Then he learned that his whole military career was spent not as a sniper for a platoon in the middle of God knows where, Afghanistan, but as a sniper for a fake team of super soldiers that were actually real. The only thing that could make this worse was telling him he was adopted.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I thought you wanted to leave that life behind just like I did, so I never brought it up," Debby apologized.

He shook his head. "I get it. You were trying to protect me."

Josh turned to Tyler, who'd hung up the phone and was now rummaging through Debby's pantry. He pulled out a pack of twizzlers and started chomping down on three strings at a time.

"Tyler, stop eating all of her food," Josh chastised.

Tyler flipped him off in return.

"What do we do now?" Debby asked. "You two are on the run from literally everyone, the only allies you have are a cop and a retired vet."

"I have no fucking clue, to be honest," Tyler responded.

Josh pulled out his phone, seeing several missed called from Dallon. He looked at Tyler for approval, not knowing if the trace could be called. Tyler shrugged, though Josh could see that he was trying not to show how scared he really was.

Dallon picked up on the first ring. "You guys are super screwed."

"Hello to you too," Josh muttered. "Were you able to identify the girl?"

"Tiffany Welsh, age 29. European. Also suspected sec trafficking victim. The thing is, she's been missing for ten years."

Josh furrowed his brows. "Weird. Why would they choose someone who was kidnapped before Tyler even worked for them?"

"I don't know, and frankly, you shouldn't go looking for answers." Dallon sounded monotonous, like what he was saying weren't his words. "Just come down to the station and we'll sort this out. Where are you guys right now?"

"Canada."

Suddenly the voice switched. "Are you? Because it says you're still in the city."

Josh had the phone on speaker, so when the voice spoke, Tyler went completely rigid. Debby's eyes went huge and she took a step back as if to brace herself.

"Who are you?" Josh asked.

The voice cackled. "You don't remember me? They truly did a number on you. We can do introductions later. Right now, you have something of mine that I so desperately want."

Josh glanced at Tyler. "You'll have to kill me to get to Tyler."

"Who ever said it was Tyler I wanted?"

The front door crashed open, and Josh spotted a small ball roll in, stopping and planting itself between the three. Crying could be heard coming from Jessie and Bailey's bedroom door, just down the hall behind Debby, who was hyperventilating.

"That doesn't look like a grenade," Josh said.

Debby shook her head. "It's a motion active sensory distortion bomb. We used it during missions. It will blow out your ears, make you temporarily blind, and burn away your sense of smell."

"Do not move," Tyler demanded. "One move and we're all down."

The crying was getting louder. Debby looked desperately towards the door, and Josh nodded at the bomb.

"Okay, how long will it take to detonate?"

"Three seconds, tops," Tyler said. "Long enough for Debby to get to the bedroom, and for one of us to cover the bomb."

Josh took a deep breath. "It has to be me."

"No, you're the one they want. That would be giving them an advantage." Tyler looked at him. "Let me be the hero sometime."

"Are you sure?"

Tyler grinned. "I'm always sure."

He broke off into a sprint towards the bomb. Debby spun around and made it to the bedroom just as Tyler dropped to the floor and on top of the bomb.

Josh ran to the front door, immediately being knocked to the floor by the butt of a rifle. He fell on his butt, slightly disoriented but able to see the masked man pressing said rifle to his forehead.

Another man with white hair and dark eyes waved the rifle guy away. He crouched beside Josh, who was still trying to reorient his vision.

"It's about time we met properly."