Espionage

Grace-Chapter 15

Grace's heart ached so much she felt as though she couldn't breathe. Her heart broke as she thought of his two truths and a lie. She knew him well enough by now to know that they were all true. Isaac had gotten under her skin in a way no one else ever had. And she was realizing it too late. It was clear that he didn't think he was going to make it out of this alive and the thought made her eyes well with tears.

What was she supposed to do now? Isaac clearly wanted her to stay here and do nothing, but she couldn't do that. She wouldn't do that.

Crossing the room in two strides, Grace grabbed her backpack off the couch and loaded it with all the weapons she could find in Isaac's apartment. For someone who had been so unpredictable since the moment she met him, finding his weapons proved to be easier than expected. She hid a knife in each boot, holstered a pistol to her back and one to her calf, and placed a sawed off shotgun and as much ammunition as she could find in the backpack.

Finally she was ready. Moving back out of the apartment to the street, she hailed a cab and rattled off Hans' address. Isaac was selfless to the point of idiocy, there was no way she was going to let him sacrifice himself. Not for her, not for anyone. They would figure out a way to stop the terrorist attack where neither one of them had to die. They didn't have a choice.

The skies threatened snow, but Grace didn't care. She felt too numb with shock and urgency to feel the biting cold. All she could think about was getting to Isaac in time. Hans' house was just as huge and foreboding as she remembered as the taxi approached, sliding to a stop on the opposite side of the road.

After paying the driver, Grace got out, trying to swallow back her fear. Unzipping the backpack, she pulled out the sawed off shotgun and a tranquilizer pistol, loading both and praying she wouldn't have to use the shotgun.

She crept toward the house, scaling the wall that surrounded the property before landing like a cat on the other side and straightening up. She could see the dark outlines of two men standing guard at the front of the house. Her stomach twisted as she raised the tranquilizer gun, reminding herself that she was only knocking them out, not killing them.

Squeezing off two shots, she heard the tranquilizer darts hit their marks and a few seconds later, the thump of two bodies hitting the ground. Grace stepped over them, checking to make sure they still breathed before climbing through the nearest window. The halls appeared completely empty and dark. Where was everyone?

She crept toward Hans' office, her feet making barely a whisper on the soft carpet. Maybe she could handle this fieldwork stuff after all. But then she turned a corner and ran smack into a stand with an expensive looking vase on it. The stand teetered and started to tip, but she reached out and grabbed it at the last second, preventing the vase and the stand from toppling over and giving away her position. Oh yeah, she was so not cut out for fieldwork. She wanted back behind her nice, safe desk now.

Finally, she heard voices at the end of the hall, not in Hans' office, but in some kind of fancy parlor a short distance away. She pressed her ear to the door to see if she could hear what they were saying and that was when she heard a heavy blow land and Isaac's grunt of pain.

"Are you ready to tell us where you hid the spy?" Leon hissed threateningly. "If you tell me, in spite of your disloyalty, I will let you live. If you help us execute the plan tomorrow."

Grace's blood froze in her veins as she listened for Isaac's reply.

"I'm not telling you where she is," he groaned. "And I'm not helping you move up the plan either, you're just going to have to kill me."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Leon snarled. Grace's heart leapt into her throat as she heard the unmistakable sound of a pistol being cocked. It was now or never. She burst through the door, raising the shotgun. Isaac barely had time to dive out of the way before she pulled the trigger, hitting Leon in the shoulder. It was enough, Isaac dove for Leon's dropped weapon, shooting at two men that Grace didn't recognize. She looked away, knowing without seeing that both his targets were dead.

"Come on," Isaac said, grabbing her arm and dragging her out of the room. "You're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid you know."

Grace rolled her eyes as Isaac took a shot over his shoulder at Hans who sprinted down the hall after them. "You know, I think most people would just smile and say thank you after someone saved their life."

"If we live through this, remind me to thank you," Isaac muttered, taking a shot around the corner. "But for now, let's just concentrate on getting the hell out of here!"

Grace sprinted toward the exit, her mind suddenly catching on one little problem. She was so stupid!

"I didn't drive," she gasped, smacking her forehead as they burst out into the frigid night. It was finally snowing, the large flakes drifting sleepily to the ground belied how much danger they were actually in.

Isaac blinked at her. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I didn't drive," Grace repeated sheepishly, firing at a group of men bearing down on them. She didn't hit any of them, but it had the desired effect as they scattered. "I thought they might recognize my car!"

"At this point, it doesn't matter," Isaac rolled his eyes. "Because I'm pretty sure they know who you are now anyway."

He grabbed her hand, dragging her over to a garage that was hidden in the trees. Jamming his elbow through the glass on the door, he reached inside and unlocked the door, pulling her in with him. The only car in the garage was a brand new, gleaming, silver Aston Martin.

"Sweet!" Isaac laughed, sliding into the driver's side. He threw Grace a flirtatious smile as he hotwired the car. "Just call me Bond. James Bond."

If they hadn't been in such a dire situation, it would have been funny. But as it was, Grace's stomach dropped another inch when the garage door opened to reveal a group of very large, very angry men with guns.

"Drive!" she screamed.

The car finally roared to life and Isaac stomped on the gas, reversing out of the garage. The men dove out of the way as he squealed out onto the road and pulled away.

"Call Will," Isaac ordered, handing her his phone. "Leon wants to plant the bombs tomorrow, we're officially out of time."

Grace didn't hesitate, dialing Will's number as fast as her shaking fingers could handle. He picked up after only one ring. "Hi, Will. Remember how you told me to stay hidden? Well, I didn't do that."

Will let out a string of expletives. "Where are you now?"

"Well," Grace hesitated, glancing behind her toward Hans' house. "That's the other problem..."