Page 90 of Redemption in the Dark (The Righteous 5)
“Oh my god, where are you going,” Maeve asked and screamed as they hit the bushes that looked like a solid wall of trees.
Jimmy had two escape routes. He hadn’t been paranoid but said he liked to be prepared for the unknown. Right now, he was thankful for the attention to detail. The thick mass of vines and branches with the hanging camo stuck to the Hummer as they flew into the belly of the twisty exit.
“Holy shit!” Maeve looked behind them, but Wolf already knew they would be following. He needed to lose them, but he had no idea how with so many on their tail.
He reached to turn on the AI since the voice activation was shut off and winced.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Maeve’s eyes grew wide as she searched him and found the blood-soaked sleeve.
“I’ll be fine. We need to get out of here. Can you hit the on-button? It’s the one closest to you on the end of the screen,” he said, nodding toward the end of the keypad as he streaked around the large bend in the road.
Maeve did as he asked. The dashboard and computer lit up like it was the fourth of July. He hadn’t realized how much he loved and relied on this vehicle’s capabilities until this moment.
“Hummer, initialize voice activation: Waya, Three, Three, Bravo, Delta, November. New name AJ.”
“Voice activation confirmed. How can I help you, Waya?”
“I thought you didn’t want to turn it on?”
“I didn’t want them to track us through it, but they’re already on our ass. I might as well use what I can. AJ, how long until we reach the main highway?”
“Forty-five minutes at current speed,” AJ answered.
He gripped the steering wheel harder with his good arm. Wolf looked over at Maeve.“I’m going to give you the basics in case we get separated, and you can get your hands on one of these.”
“One of these? Like a Hummer? How am I randomly going to get my hands on a military Hummer,” she asked, the panic of the situation beginning to set in.
“Because it’s a possibility. They all have a standard code that we all know to access the basic software. You can start the engine or look at a map, that kind of thing. The person who is driving will have set it to their name. You need to say their name and then Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Tango, One, Two, Three.”
“No, no, no. Don’t say that. We’re not getting separated. Ahhhhh…” she screamed and grabbed the holy shit handle as they burst through the covered exit.
The truck skidded out onto the gravel road at a speed that was far from safe. Stones pinged off the side of the vehicle as the tires spun on the loose gravel. He hadn’t wanted to take the main roads, but now he was going to have to change his tactic.
The Righteous were all trained to be as inconspicuous as possible. They were required to blend in and become the ghosts that hunted evil in the dark. To have this many trucks seen speeding down the road or get into a chase with police was something they weren’t going to want to do, but forty-five minutes was too long. He needed to head for the next town that was twenty minutes away, which gave them better odds of escaping.
He swerved to the left to keep the lead truck tailing them from passing and then settled on driving down the middle of the road to keep them at bay. Don’t get boxed in was the second rule if you were being chased.
“AJ initialize Walela’s voice into the main system interface. Grant her access to all major systems in the organization.”
“You can do that?”
He nodded, but he was in too much pain to explain. “Access to the main system has been blocked.”
“Shit…AJ, can you grant her access to any systems?”
“Yes, there are a few systems I can access.”
“Okay, do it and use the code word Duke.” He glanced over at Maeve. “Say the alphabet and a few words that would be common for you to say and then initialize voice match.”
She did as he asked, and it gave him a moment to give his arm a closer look. He was bleeding way more than he would’ve liked to admit.
“Voice is initialized, and systems granted.”
“AJ, bring up a map of all bogies.”
The windshield flickered, and he cursed under his breath as he saw the five trucks and one helicopter on the screen. Three were giving chase, but the chopper was not far away and closing in fast while the other two Hummers were heading at them from the front. If he could see them, then they could see him, which meant they knew he had nowhere to go and where he was trying to head.
“Shit, shit, shit. AJ establish a secure channel and send an emergency S.O.S. to Crosshairs, Sandman, Kestrel, and Morrianna. Send location and all information of this chase, including video footage and conversation from inside the Hummer.” He paused and took a deep breath as he bit back the pain shooting up his arm. “Crosshairs the bogies used to be friendlies, don’t trust anyone they are working for private sector and Maeve is their targeted asset. If you get this and I’m…if she’s missing look for her, don’t ever stop looking for her, I ask this as a favor.”
