Shields

Chapter 10: Trap

We arrived at the White House about four hours later and I got out of the car. It was just like you'd see it in the pictures, but bigger and it looked more like the front of a hotel, but with less floors. Achmetha got out of the car and pointed around the side of the building. "We're going in through the security entrance," he told me.

I shrugged. "Okay, lead the way."

Wordlessly, Achmetha took the lead and headed around the building to a small white door. He flashed a security card in front of a scanner and the door clicked open. I followed suit and walking in behind Achmetha.

The corridor was dimly lit by the lights in the walls and, from what I could tell, the walls were just plain white, maybe off-white. A line of something dark red went down the wall and I put my hand on it. It came away sticky and I sniffed it. The metallic scent of blood filled my nostrils and I stiffened. Something was wrong here. Achmetha kept walking, oblivious, and I hurried to catch up to him.

It occurred to me that I should tell him about the blood on the walls, but something held me back. Someone stepped in front of us as we passed a couple of doors. "State your name and business," the man ordered.

Achmetha's fist came up, fast and hard, cracking against the man's jaw and sending him to the floor, unconscious. Around us, the sounds of guns being cocked alerted me to the presence of others in the room. "Why did you do that?" I hissed at Achmetha.

He turned to me, a glint in his eye, and smiled, but didn't answer me.

I dropped into fighting position and listened carefully to the even breathing of the other men in the room. Glancing around quickly, I saw the outlines of at least half a dozen men, with more probably hiding out in the shadows.

Not too unsurprisingly, Achmetha spoke up. "Secure him. I don't want him getting out under any circumstances."

I turned to him. "Narian always said you were a traitor and a liar. Whatever you did to her, it wasn't just her family, was it? She learned something that you didn't want out."

"Clever, Dem, very clever." Achmetha told me. "Also correct, but right now, I have to get the president."

"Only my friend can call me Dem," I spat, "and you aren't one of them."

Someone grabbed my arms from behind and twisted them viciously behind my back. I didn't resist, because I knew that at least six to eight guns were on me and I didn't feel like dying yet.

Achmetha knows where our road is. He could send someone for Narian and Thomas and they wouldn't even know what hit them. I thought miserably. I'd messed up, big time and there wasn't any visible way to fix this, especially since Achmetha was planning to go kill the president now and no one was going to be there to stop him.

"Been nice knowing you as you," Achmetha told me. "But since we finally found the perfect serum to use on you, by the end of a week, you'll be just as willing to serve us as your friend Hamilton is."

"Where should I put him?" The man holding me asked. I knew the voice. It was Alven's. A little gruffer, but the same deep tenor. It lacked all humor, though and I could tell it was lacking something else too, but I couldn't place it.

"Put him somewhere deep underground where his friends won't find him." Achmetha turned and walked away to complete his own mission.

Alven jerked me backwards and turned me toward one of the doors. Once inside, he closed the door and locked it behind him. He drew a pistol and pointed it at my head. Emotionlessly, he pushed me toward a wall and pushed in a brick on the wall. A small section of the wall opened up to a long flight of stairs and Alven gestured down them with the gun.