Vanishing Point - Marc Cerasini [84]
"They have been freed, Dr. Chang. Join them."
Yizi stepped forward, sai raised.
Pizarro Rojas exited the plane at that moment. Beside him an unruffled Stella Hawk, her makeup and hair painstakingly restored to their former glory, paused at the top of the stairs.
The pair watched as Yizi thrust her razor-sharp sai into Dr. Beverly Chang's throat. With a gargling cry, the woman grabbed Yizi's wrists in a death grip, while she twitched and bucked on the end of the three-pronged blade like a speared fish. Finally, Dr. Chang died, and Yizi let the corpse slide to the ground. The assassin stepped back, trembling, her glassy eyes staring in fascination at the bloodied blades.
Stella Hawk observed the woman's bizarre behavior, shook her head sadly. "Man, that chick's got a lot of issues."
* * *
3:13:54 a.m. PDT
Hangar Five,
Experimental Weapons Testing Range
Groom Lake Air Force Base
Cold water dashed Tony's face. He tried to open his eyes, blinked against the harsh fluorescent light.
"Come on, Alvarez, wake up. We need to talk."
A hand slapped Tony's cheek. He winced, opened his eyes. Tony realized he was sitting up, but when he tried to stand he found he'd been strapped to a metal chair.
"Sorry, pal," Sable said with a smirk. "You've got to stay put while I arrange a little industrial accident."
The left side of Tony's face throbbed and he shook his head to clear it.
"Sorry about the beat down, buddy. You look pretty good, all things considered. I wrapped the wrench with cloth. Didn't want to leave too many marks. Might look suspicious."
"You want my death to look like an accident." Tony said, his voice hoarse.
Sable tossed one end of a long length of electrical cable on the floor, then hooked the other end to a large generator. "Yeah. Something like that."
Tony twisted his head to look around. He wasn't in the dorm anymore. Sable had brought him to Hangar Five, just a few dozen feet away from the Blackfoot helicopter prototype.
Sable touched the frayed end of the cable to the tip of a power meter, grinned in satisfaction.
"Smooth move, the way you swiped my phone, then put it back," Sable said. "I wouldn't have known, except I added my own feature to the software — a download log that I check every time I use the phone."
Tony groaned, pulled on the electric cables binding his hands and feet.
Steve Sable slipped an insulated glove over his hand.
"Now we're going to have a little talk, Tony... If that's your name..."
"Go to hell."
"What are you? Air Force Intelligence? DEA? The Swiss Guard?"
Tony refused to answer, so Sable touched his knee with the frayed end of the electrical cable. A blue flash, and Tony cried out. The smell of scorched flesh wafted into his nostrils.
"What do you know?" Sable asked. He held the electrified cable in the gloved hand, twirled it like a lasso. Then he whipped it across Tony's chest. Another flash, more acrid smoke rose. The tendons stood out on Tony's neck and arms.
"It's what do we know, Sable," Tony replied, sweat streaming down his naked torso. "We know you've been selling advanced technology to criminal gangs through Hugo Bix. We know you sold a stealth device to the Rojas Cartel. We know enough to put you away for life, no matter what you do to me."
"What I'll do to you will look like an accident..."
"You won't fool anyone," Tony cried.
"I will, just long enough to board the six AM flight out of here. By the time they find your corpse, I'll be heading South."
Tony stared at the man.
"Oh, yeah, Tony. Don't act so surprised." Sable smirk was reason enough to kill him. Tony strained at his bonds.
"You're looking at a man with a plan. I made Bix a pair of military style jamming systems like none before. I also made another stealth device — this one my 2.0 model. Very much improved. Delivered them last week. In return, Bix promised me a ticket out of the U.S. of A. and a comfy job with the cartels."
Sable laughed. "I did a little vocational research and guess what? Technical advisors working for drug cartels have a much better lifestyle than slobs