Inevitable Series 06 The Unavoidable Page 6

  "Is that why you're trying so hard to figure out where we are? Because you think he can find you the same way? That's a good trick, Ellison."

  "Brackett, I'm warning you..."

  "So if he dies, what happens to you?"

  "He's not going to die!" Jim shouted.

  Brackett held up his hands, taking a step back from the cage that separated them. "Hey, Ellison, I really don't want to see Drake get his hands on Sandburg any more than you do. But he will. I guarantee that. And when he does…we're all going to be in a lot more trouble than we are now."

  #####

  "Is it Jim?"

  Blair looked through the binoculars at the figure sitting alone on the edge of the dock. His knees were pulled up, his head dropped down. He rocked slowly back and forth. "He's wearing Jim's jacket," he said lowering the glasses.

  "But is it Jim?" Simon asked again.

  "It looks like Jim but I'm not sure," he admitted truthfully. His gaze shifted to the other men on the scene – Taggert, Brown and Rafe - all positioned around the docks, blocking any possible escape route Jim might take. Blair returned his attention to Simon. "Let me approach him alone. If he's freaking out with his senses, I don't want to push him further over the edge. I can reach him. I know I can. But only me."

  "I don't like this," Simon muttered.

  "What can happen? You guys have got the whole place covered. I'll only be a few feet away."

  Simon took the binoculars from Blair and scanned the area himself. "I don't see anyone else." He looked at Blair, his mouth pulled down with concern. "We'll be watching you every second. You signal if you see anything out of place."

  Blair nodded. "Got it."

  "And Sandburg….be careful."

  "I will, Simon. Don't worry."

  Blair moved toward Jim slowly, not wanting to startle him. "Jim, it's Blair," he said softly, knowing his sentinel could hear him. "Just listen to the sound of my voice. Listen and relax."

  The figure continued to rock back and forth, shaking his head from side to side, his face buried against his knees. Blair moved closer. "Jim, dial it all back, man. The sounds. The smells. Everything. Just dial it down." He kept up the string of dialogue, using a low-pitched tone, hoping just the sound of his voice would ease Jim.

  He stopped behind him and slowly reaching forward, laid a hand on his shoulder. The moment Blair touched him, he knew this man was not Jim.

  He turned and shouted, "Simon!" But that was all he got out before the smoke bombs went off, clouding the area in a thick haze of fog. Blair coughed, choking on the fumes. He managed two staggering steps before a sharp pain cut through his skull and everything went black.

  #####

  Simon staggered back to his car, his hand held over his mouth. He bent forward as a coughing fit seized him. Yanking off his glasses, he rubbed at his eyes, tears from the effects of the smoke streaming down his face.

  "Captain? You all right?"

  It was Taggert, his hand on Simon's back, concern evident in his voice. Simon nodded. "Just….give me...second."

  The moment Blair yelled for him, Simon had sprinted toward the observer. And had been caught seconds later by the smoke bombs, nearly passing out from the overwhelming fumes. "Blair?" he managed, blinking through his still watering eyes at Taggert.

  "He's gone," the big detective said with more than a little regret.

  {Dammit. How could I let this happen?}

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then another, trying to clear his mind as well as his body. In the distance, he could hear sirens. Backup approaching. Too late to help, he thought grimly.

  Whoever was behind this now had Jim and Blair. He opened his eyes and straightened up. Maybe that wasn't all bad. Maybe the fact that Jim had been taken first would actually work in their favor. Jim and Blair as a team were hard to beat.

  "They'll make it if they're together," he muttered, some of his confidence returning.

  #####

  Jim sat against the wire mesh that separated his cage from the empty one beside him, keeping his back to Brackett. The man had said nothing more about Blair since his earlier realizations but Jim knew he was still thinking about it all. Wondering how much of what he had figured out was true. How much was just speculation.

  The whole thing worried Jim. He hated the idea of Brackett knowing so much about Blair. Knowing things that only the two of them did. He rubbed his eyes. He should have seen this coming, was just lucky that no one else had put it all together. But it only made sense. Therman and Grahm had discovered it. Now Brackett. Who would be next? What other person or persons were out there waiting to pounce on him and his Guide. Ready to test them both like lab rats.

  Because that was his main concern. What would happen if the information fell into the wrong hands. He knew that if his abilities were ever made public, his life would be over. He would lose his job and would more than likely just disappear one day. Picked up by his own government. He had been in the military too many years, had seen too many things not to know how strong a possibility that was. But he was prepared for that.

  What he wasn't prepared for was it happening to Blair too. He'd always thought that if the truth came out, Blair would still be safe. No one would put together his place with Jim, their bond, and pick him up too. But now...now he wasn't so sure.

  He jerked his head toward the door as a familiar sound reached his ears. "Damn," he ground out, his back stiffening.

  "What?" Brackett asked.

  "Blair is here."

  "What? How do you--"

  "I can hear his heartbeat." Jim stood his gaze shifting to Brackett. "He's here."

  Moments later, the door opened. Drake strolled casually inside, a satisfied smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. Behind him, Timmons and Lantry dragged in an unconscious Blair. Opening the middle cage, Drake stepped back. His men dragged Blair to the center and dropped him unceremoniously to the floor.

  Jim cringed as his Guide hit hard. He could see a fresh bruise on his face. Blood matting the hair on the right side of his head. His gaze shifted to Drake as the man stood over his partner, his gaze locked on his still form.

  Drake crouched down beside Blair. Tilting his head to one side, he seemed to examine his face. "I know he can't be as young as he looks." He reached toward him.

  "Don't touch him," Jim growled.

  Drake looked up, one eyebrow cocked. "I'm not going to hurt him, Detective." His gaze shifted to Brackett. "I'm saving that for you."

  "What?" Brackett blurted out.

  "No one hired me, Brackett. I'm doing this on my own."

  "What the hell are you talking about?"

  Drake stood and crossed to Brackett. "The only man I ever called friend," he began, his voice low with rage, "was Ken Walsh. And you killed him."

  Jim's stomach knotted with sudden realization. This didn't have anything to do with Therman and Grahm. It was Walsh's death. {Kelso was wrong. Someone did care.}

  "I knew about his job with Therman and Grahm," Drake continued. "He told me all about it. About how he was supposed to kill Sandburg if things went wrong." He looked back down at Blair, disgust clear in his expression. "We laughed about it."

  Jim's hands fisted at his sides as he pictured those two men joking about Blair's death.

  Drake turned his attention back to Brackett. "Walsh told me about you, too. How Grahm and Therman didn't trust you. Thought you might have developed a soft spot for the kid. That they could no longer depend on you to carry out their plans for them."

  "I did the job they hired me to do," Brackett said. "I brought them Sandburg."

  Drake nodded. "Then you came back and saved his life, killing Walsh to do it."

  "I didn't kill Walsh. Ellison did."

  Jim flinched at the ease with which Brackett lied.

  Drake only laughed. "Ellison would have wanted to but he wouldn't have done it. He couldn't. Okay, maybe Walsh but not Therman and Grahm. Not in cold blood like that. It was you, Br
ackett. You killed all three of them."

  "So this is pay back?" Brackett said, no longer bothering to deny his involvement in Walsh's death. "You kill me because I killed Walsh?"

  "I don't want to kill you, Brackett," he said simply. "I want to help you.You've lost your edge. You've made the biggest mistake any mercenary can make. You've begun to care." He nodded toward Blair. "Care specifically about him. So I'm going to help you out. Remind you of lesson number one – never get emotionally connected to anyone. It weakens you. I'm going to free you from that just like you freed me from Walsh." There was a hardness to his voice that sent a chill through Jim. "You kill Sandburg and you can go back to your old life. Your old ways."

  "And if I refuse?" Brackett asked.

  "You have two choices, Brackett. You kill Sandburg and I'll let you go free. Or you don't and I kill you. It's that simple." He crossed back to Blair and stared down at him. "Is he really worth your life?" He looked up at Brackett. "I'll let you think about that." He shifted his gaze to Jim. "You should be thanking me too, Detective. From what I've heard, this kid has changed you...and not for the better." He shoved Blair with his shoe. The grad student's head lolled from side to side. "He's a noose around your neck."

  Jim kept his gaze on the man before him. "If anything happens to my partner, you're a dead man."

  Drake smiled. "I didn't know you could bend steel? You see, I'll be long gone before you ever get out of that cage."

  "I'll track you down."

  "You can try. But I promise you, Detective. I'm good at what I do. You won't catch up to me. You'll spend your life trying but you won't. No one ever has."

  "If anything happens to my partner, I will find you and I will kill you."

  Drake's smile faltered. His gaze shifted away. "This conversation is boring me." He flicked one last uncertain gaze at Jim before leaving Blair's cell, locking the cage behind him.

  Jim crouched down at the edge of his cage and stared in at his Guide. Blair's breathing was deep and even, the bruise on the side of his face fresh. His eyes traced up to the blood in his hair. {How long has he been out? How hard had they hit him?} He reached through the fencing but his hand fell short. He could not reach his Guide. He withdrew his hand and ran it hand over his hair. "Come on, Chief. Wake up."

  "I'll make it quick, Ellison."

  Jim looked up as Brackett's soft voice reached him. "What?"

  He nodded toward Blair. "With Sandburg. I won't let him linger. Or suffer."

  Jim stood. "You won't touch him."

  Brackett's gaze came up to meet Jim's. Cold detachment burned behind his eyes. "You think I want to do this? It's kill or be killed."

  "Brackett, you son of a bitch. If you think--"

  Blair moaned softly and shifted where he lay. Jim crouched down again, his full attention on his waking partner. "Blair? You okay, buddy?"

  Blair sat up, his hand running through his hair, trembling fingers probing the bloody area on the right side of his head. "Oh man." He didn't open his eyes. Didn't move. Just sat with his head down. His right hand tangled in his hair.

  "Blair?" Jim said again, his voice edged with desperation.

  He dropped his hand to his lap. "I'm okay." He looked up, his eyes locking with Jim's. "Glad to see you." His gaze shifted around his cell. "Wish it weren't here." He looked behind him, to Brackett. "Some rescue, huh?"

  "Don't worry about rescuing Brackett," Jim said, watching as his Guide stood on shaky legs. "He has a foolproof plan to get out of here. Why don't you tell him Brackett?"

  "Shut up, Ellison."

  Blair's gaze shifted from Jim to Brackett and back again. "What's going on?"

  "Why don't you tell him how you plan to make it quick for him. How you won't make him suffer."

  "Shut the hell up, Ellison!"

  Blair backed toward Jim, his gaze never leaving Brackett. "What are you talking about?"

  "Brackett's been offered a deal," Jim said dryly. "He kills you and he gets to go free."

  Blair's eyes widened. "You're going to kill me?" he whispered.

  Brackett stared at him, unblinking, his face a mask of confusion. "Sandburg, I..." His voice trailed off. He licked his lips.

  Jim held his breath and waited. The silence seemed to stretch out for an eternity.

  "I have no choice," Brackett said finally, his voice edged with regret. "It's kill or be killed. I'm sorry."

  The air felt suddenly thick, hard to breathe. Jim shook his head. No. It wasn't suppose to work this way. Brackett was suppose to look into Blair's eyes, look him in the face and realize he could not possibly hurt him. A hard, fast pounding pulsed through Jim. He realized a second later that it was the sound of Blair's heartbeat. "Chief?"

  His Guide turned toward him, shock clouding his eyes. Jim knew his shock wasn't so much from the idea of dying. They'd known that was possible since the first time Lantry came after Blair. It was the idea of Brackett killing him. A man he had come to trust. Jim reached through the wire mesh and laid a hand on Blair's shoulder and squeezed gently. "We're going to get out of this," he said softly.

  Blair nodded but remained silent.

  In the far cage, Brackett dropped down to the floor. Pulling his legs in tight, he wrapped his arms around his knees. "I have no choice," he said again, his voice barely audible in the stillness of the room. "It's kill or be killed."

  ####

  Blair sat cross-legged on the floor, his back resting against the wire mesh that separated his cell from Jim's. The Sentinel sat on the other side of the links, the two men back to back.

  Brackett sat alone in his cell, against the far wall, his gaze never meeting Blair's. The three had said very little since Blair's arrival. Instead they waited in tense silence for whatever fate had in store for them.

  Jim had explained to him who Thomas Drake was and why he wanted him dead. Blair wanted to believe that Brackett would not kill him. But he was not stupid. It was one thing for Brackett to save Blair's life. Another entirely to give his life up for Blair.

  When Drake came back, he would take Blair out and then....

  "When is this…execution suppose to take place?" Blair asked softly.

  "It's not going to take place," Jim answered just as softly.

  Blair turned slightly so he could look at his friend. He could see tension in the set of his jaw, the stiffness of his back. "Jim, we need to talk about this. I don't see a way out and if something happens to me—"

  "Nothing's going to happen to you," Jim snapped. "I don't want to hear that."

  Blair reached up and gripped the cage separating them. "We have to talk about this, Jim. I have to know that you're going to be okay. That if this does happen, you'll be able to come to terms with it and move on from here."

  Jim gripped Blair's hand through the wire mesh. "I can't tell you that," he whispered.

  "The sentinel thing…." He shook his head. "Jim, you don't need me anymore. I know you think you do but you don't. I've taught you everything I know. You do fine on your own."

  "You're wrong," he said with just as much force. "You don't--"

  "Just let me finish," Blair cut in. "Incacha told you a Sentinel is always a Sentinel if he chooses to be. You have to choose that even if I'm not here. You have to promise me that you will."

  "I can't do that, Chief. Because I know, if you're gone, so are my abilities." His grip tightened on Blair's. "But I don't even care about that, Blair. The whole sentinel thing doesn't mean that much to me. Because you and me….that's not about my sentinel abilities anymore. It hasn't been for a long time. You said it yourself, it's about friendship. I'm not afraid of losing my Guide or my partner. I'm afraid of losing my friend."

  Blair stared at him a long time, unable to speak. Unable to find the words to say what he felt at that moment. There was so much between them - a sentinel / guide bond that neither one of them completely understood. Their partnership within the police department. Blair's thesis.

  But what held them together throug
h everything, what sustained them all these years was their friendship. The ability to accept each other for who he was. To trust each other completely. To know without a doubt that if something happened to one of them, the other would always be there.

  "Then I'm asking you as a friend," Blair began, his voice soft, "to please not let this destroy you." He stared into Jim's eyes, holding that gaze, trying to relay in that one look all he couldn't say. "I need to know that you'll be okay."

  Jim released his hold on Blair's hand and reaching through the wire mesh, cupped the back of Blair's head, his grip firm, sure. "I'll be fine because you'll be fine."

  Blair nodded slightly. "Okay," he breathed knowing he would never get Jim to admit what he needed so desperately to hear. { Simon will take care of Jim. Simon will make sure he's okay.} The thought brought little comfort but it was all he had to hold on to.

  On the other side of the room, the door opened. Drake stepped inside, followed closely by Wayne Lantry. As Drake approached, Blair realized that he was the man from the docks. The man he had mistaken for Jim. All three prisoners stood, Blair remaining by Jim, away from the door Drake now stood before.

  "I see my special guest is awake." His gaze traveled briefly over Blair before shifting to Brackett. "Have you thought about my offer?"

  Brackett flicked a cold gaze at Blair. "How will I do it?"

  Blair's heart pounded in his chest. He stared into Brackett's eyes and saw nothing but contempt. {He won't do it. He can't.} The words pounded through his mind. But they felt like lies. Reassurances to keep himself calm.

  "A single bullet through the back of the head," Drake said calmly. "Neat and clean." Pulling out his keys, he opened Blair's cage and stepped inside. Blair backed away. He could hear Jim yelling something. Could see Brackett still watching him with malice in his expression. But he could hear only one thing. His own heart pounding in his ears. Echoing off the walls around him. Drowning out everything else.

  Drake grabbed his right shoulder and turned him roughly around. Shoving him against the wall, he wrenched both arms behind his back. Then pulling out duct tape, secured his right wrist to the hard cast surrounding his left wrist. "This thing is handy," he muttered, chuckling. Finished, he turned Blair around again. He shoved him against the wall, pinning him there with a hand against his right shoulder. "Because of you, the only person I ever called friend is dead."