Hush Hush & Deception: Stolen

Chapter 9

Finn woke up to the PA blaring at top volume. The other agents jolted awake as well.
“Attention S.O.P.H. Squad!” A female voice carried through the plane. Finn tried to get up but couldn’t. He realized that he’d been tied to his seat, as well as the other agents. “Why don’t we introduce ourselves.” The pair that Finn had seen at Thornhill’s stepped into view at the front of the plane.
“Alexis is out cold.” Joey said, frightened. Tied into the seat next to him, Alexis was slumped forward, unresponsive.
“I’m Amy, Amy Vogan,” the small woman said with a perky smile. The man took the intercom.
“And I’m Isaac,” his voice was as gentle as before, but his tone had an aura of threat to it. “You are being taken to Topeka, Kansas, where we will torture and interrogate you until you are no use to us. Then we will kill you.” He said it bone chillingly casually. He handed the intercom back to Amy.
“Isn’t this gonna be fun! I wonder who’ll squeal first!” She skipped through the aisle, abandoning the intercom as she pranced through the agents. “Let’s see. . . eenie meenie miney. . .you!” She pointed at Phil.
Phil straightened up as best as he could. “Okay, first of all, rude.”
“Whatever,” she grinned devilishly and skipped back to the cockpit.
Once the door shut behind her the agents began babbling nonsensically, shouting over each other.
“Enough!” Finn shouted. Everyone fell silent. Wow, that actually worked, he thought. “We are trained agents on a mission to save the world, not a group of little girls having a tea party, so let’s act like it!”
A solemn silence hung in the air. Then Phil popped his arm out of his restraints. They stared at him.
“How. . . ?” Joey questioned, dumbstruck.
Phil flexed his fingers at a weird angle, “Double jointed.” He stood up. “Now let’s--,” suddenly an electric current coursed through him, causing him to scream in pain. Once it stopped he collapsed back into his chair, smelling like a fork in an electrical outlet.
The PA switched on once more. “By the way,” Amy goaded. “I forgot to mention this, but if any one of you tries to get up, you get fried!” She cackled over the intercom before shutting it off once more.
“So much for that plan,” Finn sighed.
“Phil’s out, too,” Joey said.
Finn scowled, trying to think of a solution. Hours passed. None of them thought of anything.
The plane landed in Topeka at about midnight. They were taken from the plane into a truck. Guarding them were other gang members wearing similar striped bootlegger suits. They drove for about half an hour before they were taken to a pier and loaded up onto a large fishing boat.
The agents were tossed into a filthy storage room and were forced to sit on the floor. The man guarding them chewed a toothpick and carried a tommy gun. He stared at them, not speaking.
After about an hour or so, the boat began rocking furiously on the waves. One of the men outside the room called for help. After a moment's hesitation, the guard left the room. Finn shuffled his way over to the door on the other side of the room and pressed his ear against it.
“Just as I thought,” he said after a minute. “That’s where they cut up and box the fish. Joey, c’mere,” Joey shuffled over. “Can you turn my watch until the dash points to two?” Joey complied. There was a hum as the magnet setting switched on.
Angling the watch so that the face was pointed under the door, Finn waited in suspense. Finally, there was a sliding noise and a clunk. Finn pulled the object out from under the door. A knife, used to cut open fish. With some difficulty, he cut through the zip-tie binding his hands and began working on the others.
Once they were all free, Finn looked at the door to the fish-cutting room. “Let’s see if we can find anything else we can use as a weapon.” They nodded and cautiously opened the door. No one was there. Finn stopped Phil and Alexis, “Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked, concerned.
Phil nodded. Alexis flashed a thumbs up. Finn gave a slow nod and they proceeded. The knives were of various sizes and shapes, but there were still enough to arm all of them. Finn motioned for the door to the deck. They slowly opened it. Again, no one was there. They were all helping get the boat under control at the front.
The agents crept down the boat, looking for a inflatable raft to escape on. “Here!”  Scarlet hissed, pointing at the side of the boat. A bright yellow raft, big enough for all of them, hung on the side.
“Perfect,” Finn said, as he moved to lower it into the water.
“Stop. Turn around slowly,” It was that dangerously calm voice from the airplane. They turned to see Isaac, holding a snub-nosed revolver, and Amy with her tommy gun. Four other men with similar weaponry stood by, sights aimed at the agents.
Phil, Alexis, Veronica, and Joey dropped their knives. Finn, Scarlet, and Sage stood fast. “Drop them,” Isaac said.
Finn narrowed his eyes. He’s about seven feet away from me. If I jump into a roll, I can get there in less than a second- Finn’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Isaac cocking his gun.
“I’m not like Lennie, or Magnus, or any of those other half-rates. I will not ask a second time. Drop your knives.”
Finn grinned, hiding his nerves. “You sure like to hear yourself talk--”
Isaac shot Finn in the chest. The agent’s eyes widened as he stumbled back. At first, it felt as though something had lightly hit him, like a tennis ball or something, but it quickly grew into a roaringly intense pain. Finn’s back hit the railing and he toppled off the boat.
“Finn!” Alexis cried as they all ran to the railing. Finn was there, barely hanging onto the raft.
“Guys, I’m slipping.” Finn said, eerily calm.
“No, you’re not. You’re going to be fine, Jesus Christ, everything’s gonna be okay--,” Phil babbled, panic evident in his voice.
“As my last command, I nominate--”
“Stop! Don’t do this!”
“--Phil to lead the squad.”
Phil reached over the railing as far as he could, nearly falling over himself. “Don’t you dare let go, I swear to God, don’t you dare--”
Finn’s hand slipped.
The squad watched in horror as Finn’s body slammed onto the water's surface and was immediately submerged.
“I warned him,” Isaac said casually. The agents looked at him with a mix of horror and contempt. Phil didn’t turn. He continued to stare into the water.
“What’s the matter?” Amy cackled. “Sad we dropped your little friend?”
“I . . . will . . . commit every wrong possible against you,” Phil said as he turned around slowly. His voice was low and broken, but steadily raising in volume. His face was barren and empty, his eyes wide and unblinking. “Every sin, every possible punishment. I will take your lands, crumble your organization, and slaughter your people. I will find everyone who ever loved you and force them to suffer.” Phil was shouting now. “I will tear down everything you know, but you! You shall remain unharmed, unscathed, the only survivor. Your existence extinguished to all but me, you shall live and bear testament to my complete and utter vengeance!”
No one said anything. They all stood in shocked silence, staring at Phil, who stood, fists clenched and trembling, staring at Isaac intensely. Isaac made no motion. “Take them away, and guard them properly this time.” The gangster turned and walked away. He appeared calm, but Joey noticed an almost imperceptible movement in his hand. Trembling.

***

Phil said nothing else for the rest of the journey. The others were quiet as well, occasionally crying and comforting each other.
The boat finally came to a stop. The agents were roughly brought to their feet. They saw a dock leading onto an island surrounded by fog. There appeared to be some kind of complex but before they got a good look, the guards pulled bags over their heads.
“Can’t have you seeing the layout of this place, now can we?” Isaac said smoothly. They were lead into a building and down a few corridors. Some of the agents tried to memorize how many turns they took, but Isaac was smart, and had them spun, taken in circles, and lead down false paths. Finally they were brought to their cells, where they ripped the bags off their heads, just before the guards stepped out and slammed the barred doors shut.
The cells were dank and smelly, with old mattresses and a hole in the corner. Joey and Phil sat across from each other. No one else was in their cell.
“Guys?” Joey called.
“Joey? Is that you?” Alexis’ voice carried from the cell adjacent to theirs.
“Yeah, who’s over there?”
“Scarlet, Sonya, and I. What about you?”
“Just me and Phil. Where’s Veronica?”
Before anyone in the other cell could respond, Phil spoke up.
“She’s a rat,” He muttered, his voice hoarse. Stunned silence followed. Joey finally broke it.
“You don’t know that,” he said hesitantly. “She could just be being interrogated right now.”
“You know how close she and Magnus were,” Phil said. It was true. They had made their relationship very widely known. “Plus if they were interrogating her, or any of us,” Phil’s face darkened. “They’d want us to hear the screams.”
Nobody had anything to say to that. Phil finally spoke once more, “If she miraculously shows up during an interrogation, they’re likely trying to get us to crack through our relationship with her, so say nothing. She’s just another criminal now.”
“She’s our friend,” Scarlet said quietly, sounding scared.
“She means nothing to us now!” Phil snapped. Nobody argued, preferring to stay in solemn silence. A guard approached the cell.
“You,” he pointed to Phil. “Come with me.”
Phil stood up without a word and followed the guard.

***

At the same time, the waves beat furiously against the island’s beach. Something strange washed up on the sand. It looked like a bundle of clothes. When a guard on patrol bent over it to see what it was, a hand shot out and grabbed the man by the throat.
“Hello, there,” the owner of the hand said, a smile growing on his face.