Page 117 of Renegade
12
IN THE HOLE
GREYSTONE
“You okay?” Greystone asked Slash, back in the observation room.
“I’m fine,” she replied. “He won’t be though. Say the word and I’ll use my blade. I won’t hesitate, and I won’t regret it.”
“Tough as nails,” Dakota said.
Slash smiled at him. “He’s a piece of shit. His words don’t faze me, but I think in twenty-four he’ll want that water.”
“He can drink his own piss,” Caroline said.
Slash grinned. “I love that. In fact, I’ll pour it down his goddamn throat.”
The fury in that room was palpable, pulsing through him at a frenetic pace. Greystone needed to take things down a few notches or they’d execute Haqazzii in three minutes, not three days.
“Thanks for that visual,” Greystone said as his gaze floated over the group. The second he connected with Caroline, that familiar jolt of energy pounded through him.
He held her gaze until she said, “Let’s recap the eight-hour shifts.”
Ten minutes later, they had a confirmed schedule. With that done, Greystone said, “Show me the hole.”
Dakota led the team down the hallway to a metal door. On the other side was a ten-by-twelve room with black walls and a clean cement floor. Hanging from the ceiling were chains with handcuffs. There were also places on the floor where a person’s ankles could be secured. In the corner sat a large, white bucket. The four recessed lights were flush with the ceiling and covered with iron bars.
“Simple and effective,” Greystone said. “I’ve seen some that look like medieval torture chambers.”
“The cement is thick, so no cell signal down here,” Dakota explained. “It’s also soundproofed. There are four surveillance cameras mounted in the ceiling corners for continual live feed. Anyone in BLACK OPS can access it on ALPHAnet.”
“What happens to his body?” Greystone asked.
“We have a crematorium,” Dakota explained. “I’ll let CK know you’re coming Tuesday around two in the morning. It’s in Franconia.”
“How far is that?” Greystone asked.
“Thirty,” Dakota replied. “You can stay while the body is cremated or leave it with him. Password is Pied Piper.”
They grew silent while they studied Haqazzii for several minutes. He sat erect the entire time.
“It’s gonna be a long three days,” Greystone said. “Let’s move him to the hole. Caroline, Slash, Addison… weapon up. Dakota, Hawk, and I will escort the prisoner.”
After the team pulled on their ski masks and gloved up, Greystone grabbed the black cloth sack. Together, they left the room.
In the interrogation room, the women pointed their weapons at their prisoner. Greystone covered his head with thesack before Dakota and Hawk unlocked the cuffs. Haqazzii struggled, but Greystone and Dakota kept a firm grip on him. They led him out with Hawk taking up the rear while the women kept their guns pointed at him. Moving as a silent pod, they brought him to the end of the hallway.
To Greystone’s surprise, Haqazzii stopped fighting them.
In the hole, they re-cuffed him, leaving him to dangle by his wrists from the ceiling. Greystone dimmed the lights. To keep from getting kicked, he stood behind him and removed the head covering, then walked around to face him. Two of the women held him at gunpoint.
“You might as well shoot,” Haqazzii said. “I will never tell you anything. The Day of Destruction is coming. There will be mass chaos in America. Even if I’m not here to rejoice, it will happen.” A creepy smile filled his face. “It will be epic.”
Greystone’s hand curled into a fist. He drew his arm back, clocked Haqazzii on the right side of his face. Then, he delivered a punishing blow to his gut and stepped back. Blood dripped from the prisoner’s nose as he struggled for breath.
The next three days would be hell… for all of them. Watching another human suffer was tough. Being the reason for his death was a soul-sucking way to live. But this is what Greystone had signed up for.
War was ugly. It was the devil’s work and not what God had intended, but this wasn’t the Garden of Eden, and he wasn’t Adam. He was an assassin, plain and simple. And his job was to protect the innocent by eliminating the scum of the earth wherever he found them.
