Rogue Agent Page 20

  “I’m taking Terra with me,” he said. “No negotiations.”

  A dark thundercloud crossed Spencer’s features and the sadistic beast returned. He was beside Terra in a blink of an eye, digging the barrel of his gun into her temple. “Fuck you, Seth! You don’t scare me anymore. I’m the man in this operation! I’ll pull the trigger and blow her brains all over this factory, just like her daddy’s.”

  A burst of rage rattled through Seth’s body and he snapped the blade from the floor. Without thought and inhibition, he thrust the glass shard deep into Spencer’s chest, burying it between the fifth and sixth rib, right into his heart. Spencer’s eyes enlarged with shock, his mouth widening. He made deep gulping noises, his lungs filling with blood. He latched a hand onto Seth’s shoulder, their eyes locked, and pulled him down as he collapsed to one knee.

  “No one hurts my family,” Seth said.

  He waited until the man drew his last breath before yanking the handcuff keys from Spencer’s pocket. Silence hung heavy in the air like a fog. It was over. The stag was dead. For weeks, Seth had anticipated this moment hoping for closure or acceptance, but he felt nothing.

  “Seth.”

  Terra’s soft voice, cracked and hoarse from screaming, broke through the stillness. He moved to her wordlessly, unlocking her wrists from the chair. He walked toward the factory doors, his knife primed for its next victim.

  “Seth.”

  She called out again, but he ignored it, images of Joca’s last breath fueling the blood in his veins. It was time for the man to die. One last kill.

  “Stop walking. Goddammit!”

  He froze in place, not because of her urgency, but to the sound of police sirens surrounding the warehouse. Joca reentered the building with his hands in the air, his face as white as a sheet. There was fresh blood on the front of his shirt. Fifteen S.W.A.T officers shadowed him, guns drawn, and screaming instructions. Terra and Seth obediently lowered to their knees as they were surrounded by men in black suits.

  “Don’t shoot us. We’re the good guys,” Seth said. “Spencer Hack is dead.”

  Two S.W.A.T. men inspected the body, said something to each other, and placed a marker next to it. The entire factory was swarming with heavily armed soldiers.

  Seth knew no one would listen to what he had to say but he would try anyway. “I’m Seth Langdon and this is Terra Bloom. She’s been reported missing for a while now, but she’s been with me. We’ve been on the run from Haroun Agency.”

  “I know who you are.”

  A man appeared from the wall of soldiers and removed his helmet. He was a middle-aged man, with ginger red hair and a thick mustache covering his upper lip. “I’m Sergeant Daryl Wood with the NYPD. Good to see you’re still alive, Mr. Langdon. I’ve been trailing you for a while.”

  “You’re a little bit out of your jurisdiction,” Seth replied. “How did you know we were here?”

  Daryl lowered his gaze to Terra and smiled at her. “We got a distress call from Ms. Bloom back in Montana. Once we lost her signal, I searched last known whereabouts until I was brought back to Oklahoma. She's a smart lady.” He glanced over at Spencer’s body being examined by his men and frowned. “I had strict orders to capture Hack alive.”

  “I didn’t have a choice, sir. He was going to kill Terra.”

  Daryl offered his hands and helped the pair to their feet. “I understand. We’ve got it from here. There’s a helicopter incoming to take you back to New York.”

  “So, that’s it?” Terra questioned. “We’re free to go?”

  “The FBI, CIA, and NYPD would like to speak to you and some members of the press are camped outside your house. But after a week, all of this will be a bad memory.”

  Seth took a moment to glance around the factory once last time. Joca was handcuffed and being questioned by Daryl’s men. Spencer’s body lay in a pool of drying blood, his mouth open in a muted scream. He heard a flutter of wings and saw a pair of golden eyes beaming down at him from the trusses. The owl was back. Before he knew it, he was laughing, a deep, hearty laugh that attracted the gaze of everyone in the warehouse, including Terra.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered under her breath.

  He took her hand and held it tightly against his chest. Despite the chill in the air, it was warm. “I’m fine. Let’s go home. We have a trip to Turkey to plan.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Bolu, Turkey

  “Mom, I have to go. Something’s pulling on the line.”

  “All right,” Caroline replied. “Give my love to Terra.”

  “Goodbye.” Seth hung up the phone and pocketed it, smiling so broadly his cheeks ached. It felt very surreal to be standing on a pier in Bolu, Turkey, fishing for the first time in years. He was a man finally content and at peace with his life, never truly believing he would ever achieve such a thing. The puzzle pieces of his old life were finally being put back together.

  He reeled the wiggling fish onto the pier and removed the hook from its gaping mouth, admiring the sun reflecting brightly off the trout’s scales. The simplest things in life fascinated him now. He had missed out on so much.

  After the events at the warehouse, as promised by Sergeant Wood, he and Terra were investigated by the FBI and CIA. Much to his surprise, his position as a dignified assassin was never mentioned, yet he did hear his lawyer utter the words “under duress” and “justifiable murder” to the District Attorney.

  Joca Ryan was convicted of kidnapping, first degree murder, witness tampering, and fraud and sent to Attica Prison for thirty years. With his black book of dead bodies, he was lucky to avoid the death penalty.

  Haroun Agency was promptly shut down by the authorities and heavily investigated. It remained the top international news story for three months as layers of the onion were peeled away. Employees were questioned and taken to court. All assets were seized and locked up, including Seth’s Phoenix Manu. While he mourned his loss, the sports car was only a fragment of his old life and he was ready to move on.

  Upon hearing of his death, Dawson’s family sued the remaining Haroun board members and won a settlement of three million credits. It wasn’t much to numb their pain, so Seth anonymously donated another two million toward the cause.

  As for Jack Winchester, he got a job working at a shelter for homeless men in New York and earned enough to buy back his apartment. Seth lost contact after a few months, but still checked on him any time he was in New York. He was slowly rebuilding his life after Clandestine took so much.

  “Are they biting?” Terra exited the timber cottage and appeared by his side, holding a perspiring beer in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. She spotted the fish in the bucket and grinned optimistically. “Oh, did you catch us dinner?”

  Seth lowered his reel to plant a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll throw it into the pan tonight. I’ve never had Turkish trout. Have you?”

  They stood in silence for a few minutes, sipping their drinks, watching the river lap against the bank. The stub on the end of Seth’s finger ached and he shoved his hand into his pocket. The doctors fought to reattach his severed digit but it was too late, his body rejected it. He learned to live with nine fingers, content with the notion of his old life physically cut from his current one. His past as a contract killer, an assassin was over.

  “I thought I wouldn’t like the isolation,” Terra said quietly. “I grew up as a city girl, surrounded by trucks and cars and noise. Bolu is so quiet compared to California.”

  “Please tell me you like it here,” Seth said. “I don’t think I can go back to civilization.”

  A grin spread across her face. “I enjoy it, Seth. Just what the doctor ordered. We’re finally out of the public eye. I heard from a girlfriend the other day. She said there are still reporters bunked outside your apartment.”

  “It doesn’t surprise me. I imagine they’ll be a part of our lives for a long time to come. But as long as they stay away from my family, I won’t be forced ou
t of retirement.”

  They stood in silence for a few moments, listening to the crickets serenade them from across the river.

  “How long do you expect to stay in Bolu?” Terra asked. “We can’t run from our past forever. We have to go back to America at some point.”

  Seth lowered his beer to the ground. He’d anticipated her question ever since they pulled up outside the cottage five weeks ago. Terra couldn’t stay in one place for too long. “Look, I know you and I have been through a lot. We spent weeks on the road. I’m impulsive and hot-headed, and you annoy the hell out of me, but we’re a team. You and I always. When I lost Trix, I lost my faith in people until I met you. I don’t deserve anything you offer me but I fucking love you, Terra.”

  She smiled and pressed a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “You’re a sack of shit, Seth, but I love you too.”

  “Mom will be so happy.”

  “How are your parents enjoying Chelsea Hall?”

  Warmth unfolded inside Seth like a rose as he thought of his mother. Caroline was as beautiful as he remembered, welcoming him into her embrace as if she’d never left him. He would never mention the events of Enfield to anyone, not to Caroline, his father, or Terra. It was for his memories only.

  “They’re enjoying it,” he said at last. “I don’t think Dad likes the nurses poking about his business but he’s happy.”

  Terra slipped an arm around his waist and molded her body into his. “I can stay like this forever. Thank you for bringing me here.”

  “Everyone else turned down my invitation,” he quipped, leaping out of the way when she tried to slap him. “Seriously, I wouldn’t have asked anyone else. You and I are family.”

  He kissed her under the dying light of day, grateful for the opportunity to live again as a new man.

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  Acknowledgments

  Firstly, I want to thank my husband, family and friends who supported me during the writing process of Rogue Agent. Nothing is better than to have a strong unit behind you.

  Thank you for the wonderful support from the community online: the family at SASS, authors and readers who helped bring Rogue Agent to life. You know who you are.

  To all the tireless efforts from my beta readers. You guys are awesome. Without you, Rogue Agent wouldn’t be in here.

  About the Author

  Born in Sydney, author Kellie Wallace developed a love for the written word early in life, writing her first story at aged three. Her father used to read to her at bedtime, establishing a deep love and respect for books.

  Kellie wrote her first fiction fantasy novel called Giblin the Conquer, an X Files fan fiction and a military fiction while in high school. After finishing school, Kellie moved to the sunny Northern Beaches and carved a successful career in the media/advertising industry writing for numerous Sydney based publications. But that didn’t stop Kellie’s love to write. An aspiring novelist, she fulfilled a dream in 2008 having her first book All She Ever Wanted published at the age of 22 years old.

  Since 2013, Kellie has established herself as a hybrid author, writing a range of genres from historical fiction, fantasy, crime and new adult fiction. Her next release Rogue Agent will be published by Limitless Publishing in 2016.

  She currently resides in Sydney with her husband.

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