The Rescue(75)

He panned back and forth, studying the green image. Nothing. He’d almost given up when he noticed a small crack of light toward the front of the target area, where he’d expect a larger door to exist to allow a vehicle in and out of the ground.

“I have something. A faint crack of light on the other side of the target,” he said, rising off his knee. “This is crazy.”

The longer he stared at the image, the more light he saw, until he could vaguely see the circular perimeter of Aleman’s underground compound. From the satellite imagery, they calculated the diameter of the circle to be seventy-five feet, yielding roughly four thousand square feet. A tenth of an acre. All underground.

“I see it now,” said Pierce. “If he hadn’t run his mouth about this place, he could have kept it hidden forever.”

“I get the impression he didn’t expect anyone to survive long enough for that to be an issue.”

“I still don’t see any other hatches or openings.”

“Neither do I, but there has to be something,” said Decker.

“This could take all night.”

“We don’t have all night,” said a voice behind them.

Decker tensed, his hand shifting slowly to his rifle’s grips.

“No sudden movements. I have both of you covered.”

“Aleman?” said Decker.

“Yes,” he said. “I recognize Decker’s voice, but I’m drawing a blank on . . .”

“Pierce.”

“Makes sense. Your demise in Idaho wasn’t very convincing,” said Aleman.

“I wasn’t willing to murder a family to cover my tracks.”

“I didn’t murder that family,” said Aleman. “I paid the city coroner to keep an eye out for something useful. The Guzmans died of asphyxiation in their house. An accident. Gas fumes from a faulty pilot light. I would never do something like that.”

“It didn’t feel like a stretch for you.”

Decker ran his options. He could drop and twist without warning, firing as he fell. Aleman’s rifle would instinctively follow Decker. Possibly hitting him. Possibly not. Pierce’s bullets would undoubtedly find their mark. He gave himself a fifty-fifty chance of coming out of it unscathed. Good odds given the alternative, but something kept him from moving—and it wasn’t a sense of self-preservation.

“What did you mean by ‘We don’t have all night’?” said Decker.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve been under observation for the past few days,” said Aleman. “Unless you’re part of the group watching me, I suspect your dramatic entry will force their hand.”

“We’re on our own.”

“Then we really don’t have much time,” said Aleman, walking past them with a rifle slung over his shoulder. “We need to get below.”

Pierce and Decker raised their rifles at the same time. Aleman stared at them, his face washed out in the green image.

“I’ll never forgive myself for what happened, and I don’t expect you to, either,” said Aleman. “But I would never have put you or your families in danger.”

“Then why?” said Decker. “Why did you do it?”

“Can we get below?”

“Not until you answer the question.”

“I did it because they threatened my family,” said Aleman. “That’s why I should have known they’d go further than they did.”

“How far were they supposed to go?”

“They wanted up-to-date information on our rescue mission. That’s it. I honestly thought it was a group of mercenaries hired by Aegis to make sure we didn’t botch the mission. I figured they had their own strike team standing by in case ours failed. An insurance policy. It was their ass on the line, too. Right? Jacob Harcourt hired us. It was in his best interest to make sure we didn’t miss something or botch the rescue.”

“All Harcourt had to do was ask to put a liaison on the team to double-check our process,” said Decker. “They threatened your family and you didn’t think something was off?”

“How was I supposed to make the jump from a veiled threat to what happened?”

“Doesn’t sound like much of a jump,” said Decker. “You should have come to me. I would have shut them down immediately.”

“I don’t know what else to say, Decker, other than I’m sorry,” said Aleman. “Can we go inside now?”

“No. I don’t see any threats out here,” said Decker. “You see anything, Brad?”

“Looks clear for miles.”

“They’re out there. To the south, where my property meets the road.”

“I don’t really care,” said Decker. “What was your plan for dealing with the FBI?”

“I didn’t have a plan. I was just as surprised as you,” said Aleman. “Look, I’m sorry, Ryan. I should have come to you as soon as they showed up. I let it go too far.” He sighed. “I don’t expect any mercy from you.”

“Mercy?”

“I assume you’re here to kill me.”

“This disaster has ruined enough families,” said Decker. “I came here for information. I’m going to take the people responsible for all of this down.”