Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Devil's Due ❯ - 17 - ( Chapter 17 )

— 17 —

December 1, A.C. 204. Manoi, Vietnam. 3pm

Danielle considered Riley a long moment in silence before nodding her head once for her agreement.

Riley turned back to the man they were talking to and shrugged slightly. "Impress me."

The man looked them over briefly, then nodded his head and started to walk away. They followed him down a long hall toward the center of the compound almost nervously. There was something about going into enemy territory that seemed a bit nerve-wracking for some reason.

Riley wasn't entirely sure what it was, but something about the area bugged her, and had bugged her since they'd started talking to the man.

"I like...to impress...the ladies," the man noted as he slowed near an end door with a wicked smile.

Alarms sounded in Riley's head. That smile wasn't right–not even for a sexual joke.

Danielle grabbed Riley's arm lightly.

"So let me show you pretty ladies my pretty guns," he added in...Italian.

The moment stood still before the man threw the door open...and the man Danielle had bought her guns from moved from the room with one of the weapons in his hands...with about five guys behind him.

Danielle froze...but Riley knew they didn't have the time for that. She turned to one of the floor to ceiling windows and kicked it solidly with her steel-toed boot...and it shattered.

She seriously thanked Jordan for that one...or whatever other god was looking out for her...and yanked Danielle with her from the building.

It almost seemed like a movie when the gunshots started following them and they both ran full out toward the end of the building across the way from them. She could hear the man who'd been talking to them shouting about bad-shots and defective men before they reached the sanctuary the end of the building held, slowing enough to look around the edge before running directly at the wall.

"Riley!" Danielle protested.

"You can't jump it?" Riley demanded of her, feeling her stomach churn. At any given moment, the men would come into range...and there were too many of them for the two of them to take on alone.

"I need more of a run," Danielle noted, backing up...as someone spotted her back. Riley jumped the wall herself, using some skills her older brother had taught her in their youth as Danielle made her longer approach. Riley had to catch her and give her a hand up at the end...

They tumbled off the wall as the man went a little irate, and Riley yanked Danielle after her into traffic as the cars squealed to a halt, honking and swerving...which ended up causing a large SUV to slam into a larger SUV directly behind them.

Riley was almost starting to believe in Maxwell's divinity as she darted straight down the road across from them with Danielle's hand firmly in hers.

"Damn," Danielle hissed as people started shouting behind them, yelling at each other about the accidents that had happened...before there were cries of alarms and shots.

"Come on!" Riley squeaked at her friend, running across that road to the far side...a one-way street.

She hailed a taxi quickly, and the driver pulled over casually, looking at the back-up in that block of road.

"What's going on over there?" he muttered, not seeming to expect a response.

"Two SUVs hit each other," Danielle explained. "There were plenty of other witnesses, can we get out of here?"

"Oh sure," the man muttered, giving her an amused look as he put the car into gear and melded back into traffic.

Riley focused back on her curiously. "You calling Maxwell, or am I?"

"We could both do it together," Danielle offered.

"No...let's...not," she returned, pulling out her phone.

- -

December 1, A.C. 204. Base. 12:10am

"Hello?" Jordan muttered tiredly as Chai blinked at him in confusion.

"Ohmigod, Jordan," Riley returned...and promptly went into a one-long-word story about...

"Wait, wait," Jordan cut her off, pretty sure he had all the details. "You were shot at?"

Chai sat up.

"Yes, and I kicked the window and we ran," she returned.

"Where are you?" Jordan demanded, moving toward his kitchen as Quatre moved from his room with nervous and tired eyes.

"We're heading away," she returned, taking a shaking breath. "We got a taxi."

Jordan blinked, realizing that she was speaking Spanish. It hadn't occurred to him, but it sort of explained why everything she said seemed to be one damn long word. "All right, are you safe?"

"For now," she returned. "I can't tell if we're being followed."

"All right," Jor muttered. "Head toward the Tiffan building." She muttered those instructions to someone else, and he heard an English confirmation.

And that really explained it.

Jordan typed his pass-code into the keypad of the vid as Riley's breathing calmed again.

"Tiffan Verien Building," a woman said happily, giving him an interested look. "How may I direct your call, sir?"

"I need to talk to Marcher, now," he returned.

"I'm sorry," she started, "but you'll have to be put on..."

Jordan gave her a look and typed in the over-ride code. Her screen popped up the extensions chart, and he entered the one he needed as her eyes and mouth rounded. She was probably realizing who he was...or how serious he was.

...Marcher turned to focus on his vid in complete disbelief...before he realized it was Jor and he sat up. Not too many people could connect to a vid without the recipient hitting the accept button.

"My girls are coming in," Jordan noted pointedly. "Riley, tell your driver not to stop, and to run anyone down who gets in the way."

"Easy, Maxwell," Marcher protested quickly. "I can put the call out..."

"We don't have time," Jordan hissed at him.

"What vehicle?"

"A taxi," Jor returned as Riley muttered to the now startled sounding driver. "The driver has nothing to do with it, but he doesn't deserve to die for this when he's just doing his job."

Marcher nodded, his phone already in hand as the man he'd been speaking with gave Jordan an extremely curious look.

"Oh, shit," Riley said in an almost deadpan voice...and there was the sound of a crash.

"Riley?" Jordan demanded, focusing on his cell phone as Marcher looked to him in concern. "Mae? Damn it, Mae..."

The line went dead.

Jordan felt his stomach turn inside out as he looked up to Marcher.

The man was already leaving the room.

- -

December 1, A.C. 204. Manoi, Vietnam. 9pm

Danielle wasn't moving.

"You all right?" Riley whispered as she hunkered down next to her friend.

"I'm fine," Danielle whispered back.

They'd climbed up a series of fire escapes to get onto a damn high roof and were hiding beside an air vent with a little bit of overhang. They didn't think the men had helicopters, but they had to remind themselves that this was a seriously international group.

"Your back all right?" Riley persisted, studying her friend. "Your neck?"

"I'm a little sore, but all right."

"If you go into shock I'm seriously going to kick your ass," Riley snapped back.

"Don't be annoying," Danielle grumbled, giving her a look. "I'm nervous about it just being us," she explained. "If we even had...Mouthy, I mean..."

"You don't trust me?" Riley returned, giving her an amused look. "You don't seem to be thinking on your feet, love. That's not a good thing."

"I really...it blindsided me," Danielle returned, running her hands over her eyes. "I noticed you were tense, but I didn't really pick up on much."

Riley considered her a moment and rested back against the vent, closing her eyes. "I'm tired."

"I hope the driver's all right," Danielle noted for the umpteenth time.

"I hope so, too," Riley agreed. "We were hit damn hard, though."

"I wish we could have checked on him."

"Dwelling won't do a damn thing," Riley retorted. "I'm more upset about my phone...and yours."

"I thought it was in my pocket," Danielle repeated.

Riley sighed, looking around the overcast sky. "Do you suppose it'll rain?"

"This is the dry season," the other looked up as well. "That doesn't mean much, really, but it shouldn't."

"Should we get a motel?"

"How much money you have?"

"I suppose we can find a shit inn," Riley returned, pulling out her wallet. "I wish we could get our clothes from ours," she added, studying the keycard for their hotel room.

"I wonder how they knew we were here," the change of topic seemed to brighten the girl's mood somewhat.

"I think they were just here," Riley returned, pulling out her cash. It wasn't terribly cold, but she almost wished she had full gloves instead of the half-gloves. She wasn't going to dwell on the fact that she'd cut the fingers off herself, either.

"How far away do you think they are?"

"They're probably damn near," Riley returned. "We didn't get much of a lead on them. I'd almost say we should go to the cops, but I'd rather just get back to the Tiffan building."

"Jor's resources could be looking for us," Danielle mused.

"Purple flare," Riley returned dismissively. "You read the op notes didn't you?"

"What notes?"

Riley scratched briefly at an eyebrow as she started tucking her money away again. "You didn't read it? You're a dumb ass. Did you read the Italy ones?"

"What op notes?" Danielle persisted, giving her a blank note.

Riley stared at her, then smacked a hand to her forehead.

"What?" Danielle sat up. "What are you on about?"

"Jordan slips the parameters of the game in with the tickets and mission form."

"But...I've never seen them," she protested.

"You probably throw it away with the damn form," Riley grumbled, sitting back and looking back up to the clouds. "If we're in danger and Jordan has notified them, they'll try to repress the threat and send up a purple flare to guide us in."

Danielle sat up and looked around, realizing why her friend had insisted on the tallest building they could find.

"Is that always it?"

"No, in Italy it was a spot-light...one of those ones that goes in circles at the sky...I forget the ones before that, but he always has them listed."

"Now I feel stupid."

"Just look next time," Riley suggested, moving closer to her. "I hope it doesn't get colder."

"It's not so bad," Danielle considered a moment. "I think it's still around seventy."

"Which is cool enough to be sleeping in the open," Riley agreed dryly. "We don't have any blankets, remember? I don't have enough money for a room if we're going to eat again, and I don't dare go exploring now. I think we'll be safe for tonight."

Danielle nodded, leaning more against the other as she blinked across the rooftops, then sighed. "I wish we could have checked on him."

- -

December 1, A.C. 204. Base. 6am

Jordan rubbed tiredly at his eyes as he sat waiting on the couch, his cell phone directly beside him on the cushion.

Five damn hours...they'd completely disappeared for more than five whole hours.

He was almost reassured to know that there hadn't been any corpses at the wreck site. The driver of the taxi was in the hospital, but his condition wasn't even considered serious...but if they'd just call...

Granted, Riley's cell phone had been killed in the accident. Danielle's wasn't dead, but it had been laying on the ground. Marcher had also went ahead and gathered the girls' stuff from their hotel room and left a few men in case they returned, or the mobsters did.

He felt bad, really, because the girls' little exploit had set off some heavy gang violence throughout Manoi.

But if they had them, there wouldn't be that violence, right? They'd have called if they wanted a ransom.

He already knew what he was going to do now, because he hadn't liked the idea of his girls alone, and he really didn't like the idea of his girls on the run without the guys.

He headed for his room to tell his wife...because he was going to Vietnam on the fastest damn flight he could manage.