Boot

Many thanks to Cee for the edits and suggestions.

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Boot Chapter 18

Mancini clicked off the cell phone and put it in his pocket. He took a moment to savour the sweet deal that was about to be completed. This would convince his father he had what it took to become his heir again. He'd spend the time in Mexico planning exactly how he was going to get rid of his younger brother. Mancini started to smile at the prospect. The smile quickly died as the pleasant thoughts were dispelled by what he could only describe as an uncomfortable 'itch' at the back of his mind. Mancini felt as though someone was watching him, so he looked suspiciously around the dilapidated quadrangle. All he saw were his subordinates busy with the work of clearing out what they could from the collection of buildings. Focusing back on the job in hand, Mancini shoved the mental itch to the back of his mind and strode out into the center of the quadrangle. He called out, "Frank!"

His deputy appeared from the rear end of the truck and jogged up to Mancini. "Boss?"

Mancini rubbed the back of his neck again; the itch wasn't going away. 'Need my sentinel, need Meg, need her, need…' He reached out for the support of his sentinel and cursed under his breath when she wasn’t there.

"Boss?"

Mancini blinked and frowned at Frank who was reaching out to his shoulder. Reflexively, Mancini stepped back, 'Not Meg.'

"You okay, Boss? Want me to handle the deal?" Frank asked.

Mancini took hold of himself and straightened up. The last thing he wanted to do was appear weak in front of his own men. He wouldn’t have a problem if his sentinel was by his side. With an effort, he focused back on Frank. Running a hand through his hair, Mancini said, "No, I'll handle it. He's going to be here in about ten minutes. Before he hands the money over he wants to examine the cargo. That's your responsibility."

Frank nodded and then asked, "You want the girl with you? I mean you.…"

Mancini cut him off with a hand gesture. "No. I don’t want her disrupting the deal. She's too unpredictable at the moment. When you've arranged the guards, I want you to go downstairs and make sure she's under control. We'll be leaving as soon as the deal is done, so she can travel in the same wrap." Mancini frowned at the sadistic smile that briefly crossed his subordinate's face. Unbidden, a memory came to the surface of his mind…

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Mancini forced the memory back down and glared at Frank who hadn’t moved. "What are you waiting for? I want this operation to be slick, not like the dampener raid. If you'd done your job properly and kept your eye on the old man…" Mancini rubbed a hand over his face and then at that itchy spot right between the shoulder blades at the junction of his neck. "Just do it. The sooner we're out of here the better."

Frank nodded and then lifted his radio to his lips. He agreed with his boss; the sooner this job was over the better.

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Blair watched carefully as Meggie replaced the dressing on Dan's shoulder wound and then gave him two injections. He almost smiled as she patted Dan's chest after she'd injected him, and Dan sighed deeply almost immediately moments later. Blair jumped a little when he felt the poke of a gun in his back. He looked up to see Stuey standing over him.

The guard said, "Your turn, Hippy." Blair moved to stand up but Stuey ordered, "Keep on your knees."

Blair shuffled over to where Meggie was herself kneeling next to Dan. He looked at Meggie and was shocked at the sight of her face, even in the dim light of the room the bruises stood out. Blair also felt the tiny tendrils of despair that seeped through the dampener. He reached out to touch her but stopped when a gun barrel blocked the way between them.

"The boss wouldn’t like that. No one messes with his girl, well, not without his say so." Stuey laughed and then ordered Meg, "C'mon, girl, get a move on, the boss hasn’t got all day."

Blair glanced up at Stuey when he'd started talking but had switched his attention back to Meggie. The feelings of despair he caught emanating from her had an edge of something else. To Blair's frustration he couldn’t read clearly what that edge was; the dampener was blocking his abilities. He bent his head down. Almost immediately Blair felt Meggie's fingers on his scalp. He reached out mentally to her but found that his returning empathy was still too weak to break through the barriers that the woman had put up. He whispered softly, "Please help us, Meggie."

Meggie stopped her probing of the wound for a moment and then Blair winced as Meggie pressed something cool and damp onto it. Blair hissed out in pain as the liquid stung. He remarked out loud, "That hurts."

"Just antiseptic, just to clean the wound," Meggie retorted.

Blair glanced in the direction of Stuey to see if he was watching but he was clasping a hand to his ear. "Ear piece. They never work right down here," Meggie whispered.

Blair watched as the guard walked out of the door. Taking a risk, he turned around and faced Meggie. "Please, Meggie, help us.…"

Meggie moved away from Blair's outstretched hands. She shook her head. "No, I can’t, I'm sorry."

Blair pushed a little harder, he wasn't sure how long he'd have before the guard came back. "Meggie .…"

"No." Meggie shook her head. "He…I…We're bonded. He cares… he was there. He made everything better. Even the children don't matter to him."

Blair grabbed Meggie's hands and closed his eyes. Desperation boosted his weakened abilities and he tried to push past her barriers. A series of brief images greeted him: smoke and noise, childish screams then a cool, familiar voice calling her name, and then unclear images accompanied by pain and then briefly a sense of being in a hospital, and a pair of comforting arms around holding her tight soothing the pain and fear and feelings of loss and guilt away. Suddenly he was pushed out of her mind. He looked at Meggie, "What?"

Meggie's eyes were full of tears. She said, "You saw… that's why…he, I …" She paused for a moment and cocked her head to one side. After a few moments of listening, she said, "Turn back around, Frank's coming. He'll be angry if he sees you talking to me. I'm sorry." Meggie pulled her hands out of the loose grip Blair was holding them in.

Blair looked at her for a second or two but then turned around. Through the slowly waning dampener he could feel the sheer disappointment and depression from the others. 'Sorry Jim, I tried my best.' A noise from the doorway made him look up. He saw Stuey and Frank at the door. Frank was holding a leash.

Frank strode into the room and looked at Meggie and said, "Come here, Girl."

Meggie stood up and shut her medical bag then moved over and knelt in front of Frank.

Frank started the wrap and said matter of factly, "You'll only be here while the boss wraps up this deal. Then we'll be on our way."

Blair couldn’t help but watch as Frank leashed Meggie. All he could think was, 'She's a sentinel. She's a sentinel. She's a sentinel.' He heard a quiet moaned, 'No' come from another corner of the cell. Blair glanced up and saw a white faced Tina trying to restrain Adam. Blair caught the younger guide's gaze and shook his head. Adam stared at him for a long moment and then settled back. Blair glanced at Meggie; her head was bent down with her blonde hair hiding the expression on her face. Blair then saw the tiny tremors that shook the sentinel's body. 'Oh, Meggie.' He turned his face away from her and looked around the room. Once he'd finished the wrap on Meggie, Frank had disappeared leaving only Stuey present. Blair licked his lips and glanced around at his companions. Each of their expressions confirmed what he felt; that there was no way that any of them were getting in the back of that van, and they'd do without the help of their sentinels if need be. Blair fastened his attention on Meggie again. She'd have to help, forced if need be.

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Blair shifted his knees slightly to relieve the pressure on them. He looked around the cell to find each of his companions, even Dan, looking steadily back at him. Blair swallowed and then avoided their question, 'What do you want us to do?' by looking towards the doorway where their sole guard was lounging. Blair guessed from what Meggie had told him earlier about the radio that the guard had not locked the door so that he could slip in and out easily. Blair was frustrated; Jim would know exactly what to do. Thinking of his sentinel sent Blair's gaze to the ceiling. 'Damn it, Jim, where the hell are you?'

A burst of static from the guard's earpiece brought Blair's focus back down to earth, and he was just in time to see the guard wince and move out of the cell. A moment or so later the door was locked and bolted from the outside. Blair frowned, that was another opportunity gone. His gaze slid over to Meggie and saw that she had become very still, her head was cocked to one side and her breathing slow and shallow. 'Zone out', Blair's mind automatically acknowledged.

"Meggie, what is it that you're hearing?"

Blair swallowed as he heard Tina's voice. Tina had taken the initiative and moved across the room and knelt down next to Meggie. Nodding to Martin to watch the door, Blair moved across to Meggie. He laid a hand on Meggie's back. His voice beguiling and sentinel soft, he said, "Sentinel, what is it you hear?" When she didn’t reply immediately, Blair took a deep breath and pushed into Meggie's mind, opening up a link. It was easy for the Dark Guide to push past the zoned sentinel's barriers; they were of no strength and no skill. Blair could feel the sentinel coming out of her zone to fight the link he'd made, but he stood firm and the link he'd made remained open. He demanded again, "What is it you hear, Sentinel?"

Meggie turned her head to face Blair. She made a protest, "I'm bonded to.…"

Blair shook his head and insisted, "Sentinel, tell me what you hear."

Meggie's head bent down. "The buyer's here. He's asking that you're brought up to the quadrangle before the money is exchanged." Meggie paused and then went on, "That's why Stuey left. He's going to get some restraints." Meggie paused and then said, "I have to go to him… there's something wrong."

Blair caught the change in the voice and felt the sentinel trying to pull away from the link he'd made. To anchor her, he grabbed the collar of the leash and pulled the sentinel closer to him. "You’re staying here with us." He gripped harder as the sentinel fought to get away from him. "Tell me what's wrong, Girl." Blair felt a chill go through the room at his words but he disregarded them, this was no time to be weak. He repeated his demand, "What's wrong?"

Meggie glanced at Blair and then bent her head down again. "There's another there. Two men, something about him, it's familiar…I don’t know."

Blair frowned and then shook his head; that wasn't anything they needed to know right now. He pulled on the collar again and said, "How many men are guarding us?"

The answer, when it came a few moments later, was soft, "Ten in total."

"Where are they?" Blair asked.

"Stuey's in the guardroom and Pete's on the roof. Frank's with … with my guide, the boss. The rest are out getting the trucks ready."

"Where are you planning to go?"

Meggie whimpered. Through the link, Blair was bombarded with a series of images and experiences. Hospital, nurses, everything going dark, the smell of anaesthetic, hearing Spanish being talked above you but not being able to reply, feeling something cold and metallic move in the body, the sound of scraping, being helpless, waking up with his arms around you telling you he didn’t know and he'd never let this happen again, a feeling of helplessness, of no one else to turn to, surrender. "Mexico."

Martin called from near the door. "I can hear someone approaching."

Blair looked around him briefly and said, "We will only have this one chance." He looked around the room and his eyes fell on the large medical bag that hadn’t been removed from the room. "Martin, I want you to take responsibility for the commander. Adam, you help him, do as he says. Tina, take Meggie for now. Mark, take the bag. Use it to bring the guard down as he comes through the door. I'll tackle him from the front." Blair pulled on the collar he still had in his hand. "He's on his own?" Meggie tried to jerk out of Blair's grasp but failed. She nodded. Blair found the free end of the leash and kept hold of it as he went back to a kneeling position. He kept the link open between them, drawing comfort from the barriers that the sentinel had begun to throw around him. As he heard the bolts being drawn back in the door, he said to Mark, "On my signal."

Mark nodded. He stepped back into the shadowy area next to the door.

Blair waited until the guard had stepped through the door and then cried out, "Now!" Vaguely out of the corner of his eye, he saw Martin throw himself over Dan and drag Adam down with him. Tina pulled Meggie out of the line of fire. The guard cried out as the bag hit him below the knees and forced him to buckle forwards. Blair dived forwards and knocked the muzzle of the gun upwards so that it pointed to the ceiling. He shoved an elbow into the guard's stomach and then punched him in the jaw. The guard kicked Blair in the side and began to pull the gun away from Blair's grasp. Blair kneed the guard in the crotch, feeling a deep satisfaction at the yowl of pain only to have it dispelled when the guard came back stronger than ever. Blair suddenly found himself on his back with the gun being pressed down across his throat. Just as his sight was beginning to gray and he was losing his grip on the gun, the pressure was released. He found himself with the gun in his hands. After gulping down some air, Blair stood up and, in a daze, looked around. Mark was holding Adam back a few feet away from the body of the guard. Martin was kneeling over the guard, putting restraints on him.

"What happened?" Blair demanded.

Mark kept a hand on Adam's shoulder and said, "The guy bounced me off the wall. He had you on the floor. Seems our little peacenik here had had enough. Got him in a chokehold until he loosed his hold on you. Martin finished the job."

Martin stood up. "Should be out cold for the next few hours. You alright, Prime?"

Blair nodded and then asked about the rest. "Tina, Dan?"

"I'm okay," Tina replied from the corner.

"As okay as I can be," Dan croaked out from where he lay.

Adam coughed and said, "Meggie?"

"She's okay. I pulled her out of the way." Tina replied.

Blair crossed the floor and knelt down next to the sentinel. He laid a hand on her shoulder and reconnected. This time he felt the barriers around him build almost immediately. The Dark Guide smiled. Then the barriers wavered and almost blinked out as he felt the presence of someone else. He whispered in the sentinel's ear, "Push him out, Meggie, push him out. I need you now." The Dark Guide relaxed when the barriers were reinstated. He closed his mind to the whimpering that he could hear. It wasn't important at the moment, getting out of the cell was.

He stood up and looked at the other guides standing nervously around the cell. He held up the gun, "Anyone have any training in how to use one of these? I'll take it if you want, but I can’t do everything."

Mark stepped forward. "Walton’s given me some training, Prime. I know how to point and shoot."

Blair passed the gun over. He pointed to the downed guard, "Martin, take the radio and ear piece and act as our ears. " The older guide scurried to obey. Blair turned to Tina, "You and Adam support the commander. I'll take the girl."

"Blair…" Blair turned to face Adam. Adam swallowed as he felt the full power of the Dark Guide focus on him "Prime, the leash…" Adam was confused by the change that had overcome Blair. The previously friendly, supportive, approachable man had disappeared and had been replaced by something uglier and more powerful. Appealing to the better side of this man wouldn’t work. He thought quickly and then said, "The leash will constrict her movements. Slow us up."

Blair looked at the woman who was still kneeling with her head bent down. The younger guide was right, the leash would slow her down. He caught sight of the restraints that Martin was trying to find a home for and wondered about using a pair. He shook his head as he knelt to unfasten the leash, the restraints weren't needed, the Dark Guide knew she wouldn’t run from him. @@@@

From his semi-hidden position behind the trunk of the vehicle, Courcy watched as Mancini's deputy turned to go inside the building. The businessman smiled coldly, 'Gone to get the cargo. Meggie's probably down there guarding them.' As his smile faded, he looked back across to Mancini who stood next to Cross. The man was nervous and twitchy, kept glancing around him nervously. Courcy's lips sneered up in disgust at the obvious weakness in the man. 'What can you expect in a guide? Don’t worry, Guide, you and your sentinel will soon be together for ever.'

Courcy looked around, checking the rest of the gang out. There was a man on the roof and probably another man inside, helping Meggie out. There were two to the back of him and one on the top of the truck, the other three forming a loose guard at the back of Mancini.

Courcy glanced towards the forest; he wondered where his vengeance was going to come from. He shook his head; there was no way of him knowing where the sentinel would be. Courcy drew his gaze away from the forest and quickly glanced down at his feet. When he'd retrieved the briefcase with the payment in it, he'd also slipped out a small backpack. It contained a map and some food and water, enough supplies to keep him going while he hiked out of the forest. The police, GDP, and the Clan would have so much to do here, he would be out of the forest and the state before they even thought about him, and of course he'd have a perfect alibi, the fall guy in this would be Cross. He was perfect; Courcy had known that the instant the FBI agent had contacted him about an interesting video he'd made in Reno and the agent hadn’t asked him about making a rescue attempt for Meggie, taking instead the little appreciation that Courcy had passed to him in the same briefcase they were using now. Courcy's mouth tightened and then relaxed. Yes, he was perfect.

A shot sounded out in the darkness. Courcy's head flew up trying to locate where the sound had come from. He looked around. No one in the courtyard had reacted. Of course they couldn’t have heard it. Courcy saw Mancini whirl and peer out into the darkness and heard rapid orders being given and two of his guards turn to move out towards the forest. They barely got two yards before they were cut down. Courcy shook his head, 'It was too soon!' He ducked down as he felt dirt hit his leg as the gunman aimed at him. Courcy flinched as he swore he could hear the passage of the bullet through someone's internal organs. He couldn’t help but focus on the rasping breath and the erratic pumping of the heart as it fought to keep the dying man's circulation going and then the man calling out for his mother, his woman to help him in his last moments and finally, Ave Mari… Courcy glanced upwards to the roof of the building; the guard there had disappeared. He then glanced across to the guard that had been on the roof of the truck. The guard was dead or injured; his body lay halfway off the truck, his gun dangling in the slight breeze that had appeared. He could hear automatic fire in the forest now, the sound going away from him rather than towards him. Courcy took a deep breath and lifted his head to see if he could see what had happened to Cross and Mancini. Cross was lying sprawled on the ground. Courcy tried to focus his hearing to see if the man was dead or not. After a few moments, Courcy was satisfied that there was no breath issuing from the man. He tried to find Mancini with his hearing and smiled grimly when he could hear the Italian calling out weakly for Meggie. While he was listening, he heard another bullet hit the mobster's body. Courcy nodded to himself, he had no doubts that the mobster would be dead soon.

Courcy looked at the building. Should he wait to see Meggie or should he go? As he was pondering that question, he heard the sound of helicopters approaching. Time for him to make his exit. He scooped up the back pack and then took time for another glance at the building and a silent farewell, 'Bye Meggie.' He slithered across the ground towards the nearest trees, stopping every so often to gather his breath and to avoid the bullets that were aimed in his direction. Eventually, after a few minutes, he slipped inside the forest.

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Blair kept hold of Meggie's arm as the group inched their way down the basement corridor. About ten yards away from their position a set of stairs headed upwards. Blair was fairly sure that these weren't the ones they'd originally come down. He asked Meggie, "Where do they go?" He shook her when he didn't get an answer. The sentinel's expression was blank, staring off into space, almost zoned. Blair's mouth tightened and he was about to attempt to bring the girl out of her almost zone when Tina intervened.

"They go up to the kitchen. Meggie has a room off it. She was in it when Frank took me out before."

Blair nodded at the subordinate guide and then turned his attention back to the sentinel. The girl was looking around as if she was coming out of a dream. "What's the matter?" he demanded.

After a pause, Meggie moaned and whispered, "He's in pain…there's someone shooting up there." She paused again and repeated, "There's someone shooting them all up there." She started to twist as if she was trying to slip from Blair's grasp.

Blair tightened his grip on the woman's shoulder and hissed, "Focus, Girl, focus. Who's in the house? I don’t care about outside. Who is in the house?" He turned Meggie's head towards his face and looked deep into her eyes to reinforce the connection he'd made. Her puny barricade that was blocking the link melted and Blair was in her head. He whispered, "Focus on the house, inside, forget about outside, forget him, Meggie. Protect the guides, protect the guides." Blair relaxed when he felt the barriers around him that had been weakening suddenly flame and strengthen.

"Two." Meggie paused and listened. "I think Pete's hit. He's coming down slowly. His breathing isn’t good. Frank's…" Meggie spun around and continued, "He's crossing the hallway."

Blair thought fast. He looked at the set of stairs ahead of them and asked, "Will he come down these set of stairs?"

Meggie shook her head. "There's another set at the other end of the corridor. Those are nearer to him."

Martin broke in. "Chief, there's a guy on the radio trying to get hold of Stuey. Wants Stuey to bring out the hippy. Says it’s the only way that they'll get out of this alive." Martin looked up at Blair. "It must be the GDP or the police shooting then."

Blair bit his lip uncertainly and then asked Meggie, "What do the weapons sound like?"

"Single shot weapon. He's killing them a single shot at a time."

"Sounds like a sniper," Mark commented.

Blair waved a hand to indicate for them all to stop talking. He could see Meggie trying to focus her hearing. Putting a hand on her back and disregarding the tiny flinch, he asked, "Where is he?" Blair smiled to himself when he felt the sentinel instinctively lean into his touch; she'd been well trained.

"At the top of the stairs." There was a pause and then she said, "He's moved away. He's…he's moved to the central stairway." Meggie frowned as she tried to extend her hearing and understand what Frank was doing. After a few moments she whispered, "Pete, he's checking Pete over, he must have gotten to the bottom of the stairs. There's only one heartbeat though." She stopped and cocked her head again.

"What's he doing now?" Blair asked urgently. He could feel the tugs on the link as the sentinel extended her hearing.

Meggie licked her lips and said, "He's dragging Pete away, towards the kitchen I think."

Blair frowned and snapped, "You think? You have to be sure!"

Meggie leaned back, almost as if she was expecting a blow to the face, and said, "Yes, the kitchen, I'm sure."

Blair frowned and turned to look back at the way they'd come. He asked Meggie tersely, "Anyone else in the house?"

Meggie shook her head. "I … no one in the house… I can hear.…"

Blair grabbed her chin and said, "Keep your focus inside the house." Once he was sure Meggie was focusing back inside the house, he turned to the others. "While me, Martin, and Mark deal with the situation here, Tina and Adam will take the commander back towards the other stairs. "

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The lead helicopter was still twenty feet off the ground when Jim jumped. He instantly made a three-sixty degree sweep of the area, his gun at the ready. He paused as the combination of the noise of the helicopters as they came into land and the smell of blood overcame his wide open senses. He felt the touch of David on his back and everything jumped back into sharp focus.

Hearing the fire of an automatic weapon in the distance, Jim jerked his head towards it. He snapped into his throat microphone, "Pais needs support." Instantly a group of four from the second helicopter headed out. Jim didn’t recognise them but guessed they'd be from the SWAT team that insisted on being included within the assault team. Dismissing the problems of Pais from his mind, Jim focused on trying to locate the heartbeat of his guide. He hadn't come just to find his body.

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