Chapter 19

Her feet were tangled with the old man’s body and she knew there was no way even with her ‘Ben effect’ reflexes that she was going to be able to move fast enough to avoid getting shot.

His pistol barrel was just coming inline with her forehead when she heard a wailing scream,

“Noooooooooooooooo!”

WIth her enhanced perception kicked in Maria saw the bodyguard blink once and then begin to turn to address the new threat just as an 90 pound fury launched itself onto him. He pivoted into the threat and Maria heard the pistol discharge.

Operating on pure instinct Maria took a hopping step to clear herself and another as the guard shrugged off his attacker. Before he could turn, Maria took the opportunity to smash the remains of the lamp into the back of his head. As the guard slumped Maria hit him again this time hard enough that the sturdy metal fixture flew apart.

Kicking the guard aside Maria safed the pistol and tossed it in the corner.

“Oh no Tina what have you done!” cried Maria as she fell to her knees to hold the bleeding girl.

Thinking quickly Maria tore the bottom of her dress off, padded it up and pressed it as hard as she could into the girl’s left side where the bullet had gone in to try and slow the bleeding. She rolled the girl slightly to check for an exit wound. She found the exit wound and thankfully it was oozing blood and not pumping it. She made another pad up and lowered Tina onto it.

“TOM! Need help now! Southeast corner of the third floor. Last room on the end,” Maria sent to Tom psychically.

Tom immediately broadcast to everyone what had happened. But it turns out they didn’t need it. Maria’s sending was so strong they could all feel her urgency, if not all the details.

Mei had been on the third floor searching for the very same errant body guard that had just shot Tina so she was first on the scene. In a single lighting glance she assessed the situation and pulled her trauma kit out from behind her back.

Somehow Lizzy had managed to get a case of experimental injectable blood clotting syringes and to Mei this seemed to be the time to use one. The girl was so small and she was losing blood rapidly. Mei quickly swabbed the bullet entry and exit wounds with an alcohol pad and then pushed the injector slightly into the entrance wound and activated it. A small CO2 charge pushed the foamy gray material deep into the wound.

As the foamy gel started firming up Ben and Sarah arrived and helped Mei dress the wound with 2 Israeli trauma bandages.

Kelly was next on the scene, out of breath from her sprint from the bus up the stairs. She immediately laid hands on the girl and the room was filled with her golden light as Kelly’s power began flowing into Tina. Kelly’s face was tight with tension as she poured every bit of power she had into the girl.

“Maria, she’s barely hanging on. I can feel her slipping away. Talk to her,” whispered Kelly hoarsely.

“Tina, you are so brave! You saved my life. We need you here with us. You are so special no one else would have done what you did for me. I know it hurts now, but please don’t leave me. You will never ever be alone again I swear to you.” said a tear streaked Maria.

“Really...” said Tina, her voice barely even a whisper.

“Yes! I promise sweety!” said Maria with hope creeping into her voice.

“Okay,” said Tina weakly as she slipped back into unconsciousness.

A few tense minutes later Kelly paused, exhausted. “Okay I think we can move her now. Let’s put her into the van. I think we can get her to the hospital faster than an ambulance.” said a limp Kelly.

“Okay Mei, Maria and Sarah you get the girl and Kelly to the van. Tom and I will do a final check up here,” said Ben. “Lizzy we need 5 more minutes and you can call the cavalry in,” Ben said over his throat mic.

Lizzy’s fingers flew over her tablet keyboard at the same time as she was issuing vocal commands to her Artificial Intelligence bots. She could feel her Owl pendant pulsing against her neck as her goddess Athena, powered her enhancements.

“Gottit Ben. Working on a cover story for the wounded girl. Will have it place by the time we get to the hospital,” Lizzy sent back to Ben.

“Tom and I are staying back to wrap up and keep an eye on things. I’ll catch a ride home with Lanie after the Feds leave.”

“Okay, please be careful,” Lizzy sent. She knew that radio protocol was never going to be her thing, but she hoped Ben would be proud of how cool headed she was. She had nearly fallen apart in the teams first op when they had raided the Red Dragon compound.

“Will do, you too,” replied Ben. Lizzy could feel the warmth in his voice even over the encrypted connection.

Just then she caught sight of Mei and Sarah carrying out a small bundle using a drink cart as an improvised stretcher. Lizzy made a mental note to track down some better portable stretchers to include in their operational kit.

Maria followed closely behind them helping an exhausted Kelly down the stairs.

Lizzy had already folded some of the seats flat in preparation. Mei and Sarah carefully slid the wounded girl into the van and they all piled in behind. Mei took over the driving duties.

“Overlake is closest,” said Lizzy to Mei. “left out of the driveway. Don’t forget to stop for Carl and John by the gate.”

Ben and Tom ran through the mansion checking that all the perpetrators were bound properly. At the last second, Ben remembered what Mei had said about a secret room at the top of the stairs. The official investigators would probably find the room and any evidence there but something made Ben hesitate. Finally, he thought ‘fuck it’ and ran up the stairs.

Ben grimaced as his combat boot destroyed the beautiful cherry wood paneling that hid the entrance to the secret media room. As the door flew inward Ben was awed by the array of recording devices that must have covered virtually every room in the building.

Ben wasn’t particularly computer savvy but a little schooling from Lizzy had given him a rough idea of what to look for and he quickly dismounted all the hard drives he could find and stuffed them in his combat pack.

“Okay Tom, time to exfiltrate before the feebs get here,” Ben sent.

“Aye Cap’n. I ken the staff ‘av all scarpered oof and that all the wee lassies are oot,” replied Tom.

“Lanie, we’re on our way out, meet you around the corner,” sent Ben on his throat mic.

“We?” replied Lanie. “Uhhh, okay better jet though, I see black Suburbans coming up the block.”

Tom and Ben flew out the back entrance over the lawn and through the black wrought iron gate onto the sidewalk just as several black SUV’s and a mobile crime lab screeched to a halt at the front entry. Ben and Tom immediately slowed to a slow amble. Nothing attracts attention like fast movement.

A quick glance their way would reveal nothing but an ordinary guy taking his smallish, rather fluffy, dog for a walk.

Lanie’s normally cool appearing exterior was rapidly fraying. She had been on dozens of major busts in her career but this one was different. For one thing she was just an observer. She had to be here just to reassure herself that her contacts in the FBI and ICE weren’t going to screw her and her new friends. Crockett and Tubbs had reassured her that they were sick of what was happening in their organizations too, and that they were willing to risk everything to make a difference. Everyone ‘official’ was taking a huge chance on this working, or at least not backfiring on them.

She had been carefully observing the ‘official’ take down from the time that the black suv’s had screeched to a stop outside the mansion. It looked like they were going to be there awhile yet collecting the evidence that Ben and his team had left behind for them. They had concocted a backstory about the girls going into protective custody to explain their absence. Lanie knew what happened to trafficked minors that were entered into the system and she was relieved that Nexus had the resources to take care of these girls. Lanie never-ever talked about it but she had once been just like them.

Shaking her head clear of bad memories, she thought ‘We’ll see how this works out,’ and dropped her small binoculars back around her neck. She had found a pocket sized park just down the street where she had a clear view of the well lit mansion. She also was monitoring the tactical frequencies that both the Nexus and the FBI were using. Lanie had no idea how LIzzy had been able to program her radio to listen in on the FBI. Their encryption was supposed to be unbreakable. In fact, Lanie was pretty clueless about much of what was happening but something in her just trusted her new friends. It was a different feeling for the cynical agent.