Chapter 31: Chapter 31

I watch her wither in pain for a few seconds before she tenses her jaw and composes herself. She picks up the gun she dropped and I raise my eyebrows in surprise —

"Wow, you really can get your hands dirty. You surprise me every time Veronica." I say to her, sarcasm dripping from my voice. I swing off the beam with my left hand and slide out the wrench with my right. When I pass her, I knock the gun from her hands again and slam the wrench down into her back. Her ear splitting scream fills the air and I hear a crunch and mentally squirm.

That's got to hurt.

I land on my feet and turn around, ready to face Christopher Black. To my surprise, him and Calvin are nowhere to be seen.

"Calvin?" I shout out, landing a hard kick to Veronica Kilburn's back again as she attempts to get up. It floors her for the third time and finally, she lies still.

"Calvin!" I yell out, searching all around me. I curse under my breath and put the wrench back into my pocket before turning my attention back to a knocked out Micah. I begin to untie his wrists, slapping him awake with my free hand. He doesn't move.

"Micah, wake up." I tell him firmly. The help of my colleague would be great right now. "Micah!" I say louder, hitting his cheek. I release one of his wrists and begin working on the other. The rope has cut into his skin, the area red and inflamed from being tied up. Guilt washes over me as I study his beaten up face, the blood tricking down it.

If I hadn't fallen asleep, he wouldn't be in this position.

It only takes me a few seconds to untie his other hand and I wrap an arm around his waist as he falls to the floor. I let out a small grunt as I take most of his weight, trying my best to avoid hitting his head on the way down.

"Come on Micah, wake up." I tell him, lightly slapping his cheek. I lean down and position my ear over his mouth, listening out for his laboured breathing. Moments pass and I don't hear anything until he suddenly jerks awake, his hands grabbing my wrists and applying force. His eyes fly open, wide and full of panic.

"It's me! Chill out, it's me!" I tell him, yanking his tight hold off my wrists. He glances around wide eyed before taking a deep breath and sitting up. His eyes land on a knocked out Veronica Kilburn and they widen again —

"Holy fucking shit. That's the director of the FBI and you've knocked her out." Micah says, his voice strained as he comes around. I turn to look at her, a proud smirk on my face.

"Eh, I've probably broke her back too. Nothing she doesn't deserve, she's lucky I kept her alive." I respond to him, taking hold of his arms and helping him sit up. He leans back against the wall, reaching up to touch the cuts on his face. He lets out a small hiss and I give him a sheepish look —

"Who was it? Kilburn or Black?"

"Black. Kilburn didn't do anything incase she broke a nail, bitch." Micah responds.

"Well she damn well doesn't look pretty now, does she?" I smirk at him, holding back a laugh.

"I missed a good show, didn't I? I've always wanted to watch somebody wipe that smug look off her face." Micah laughs, wincing a little as his hand covers his side. Our laughter eventually dies down and I look at him, our eyes connecting.

"What happened?" I mutter, my eyes flickering between both of his. He lets out a sigh, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Christopher Black stormed the place with two other people whilst I was working. He knew I hacked into the security camera's and found out about him and Kilburn. I shot the first guy but the other one didn't go down as fast. The next thing I know, I'm being tortured by Christopher in this bloody basement whilst Veronica watches and waits for you." Micah explains.

"Did Veronica say what her motive is? I don't understand where she's involved in all of this beside from screwing Christopher." I ask him, glancing over at her to make sure she doesn't wake up. I make a mental note to tie her up and stuff her somewhere until I've dealt with Christopher and cleared this whole mess up.

"They want to take over FBI data and use its agents for their own selfish reasons. If this works, they'll own the biggest crime ring we've possibly ever seen. With FBI data and agents under their control, they can do anything." Micah says angrily, his jaw tensing.

I let out a low whistle, shocked by the news.

"Do they both honestly think they can get away with it?" I ask him, shaking my head in disgust. Micah shrugs, using the wall to stand to his feet.

"I can't believe Kilburn would do this to us, I can't believe she would do this to the FBI." I tell him. Micah nods, walking over to her and taking her gun for himself.

"Lust can make you go crazy. We were the only ones standing in her way so she sent us here to die." Micah mutters, nudging her with his foot. She rolls over, her face scrunched up in pain as she lies unconscious.

"I don't know whether to be flattered or angry as hell." I comment dryly. Micah lets out a small laugh —

"Flattered. She knew we were good enough to stop her."

"So lets stop her." I tell him, searching around for something to use to tie her up with. My eyes land on electric cables that aren't in use stashed inside some cardboard boxes. I lift them out, dropping them to the floor in front of me.

"Where's Christopher?" Micah says, his voice low as he realises the second criminal in this case is missing. I begin to untangle the wires, knowing he isn't going to like my answer.

"Him and Calvin disappeared whilst I was fighting Veronica."

At the mention of Calvin, Micah stops and looks at me, his eyes narrowed.

"Calvin knows about you?"

I nod my head, a wave of nerves running through me. I picture his pained face when I told him, the way he held the gun at himself.

"Yeah, he knows about me." I say quietly.

"It's a good sign if you're still alive, right?" Micah questions me. I blow out a breath, glancing up at him from under my lashes.

"Yeah, he doesn't want to kill me. He's on my side." I mutter, not wanting to talk about the situation. Silence falls upon us and I shift uncomfortably —

"If he's on our side, where is he?" Micah breaks the silence, not sounding entirely convinced that Calvin is okay with me being an FBI Agent. Even I'm surprised that he took the news well, I wasn't expecting him to throw a party or anything but the fact that I'm alive is surprising. I guess there's more to Calvin Black that I don't know yet.

"I don't know! Okay Micah? I don't know. I've been kind of busy." I hit back at his questions, becoming defensive. He raises his brow in silence but doesn't continue to probe. I toss a cable to him and he catches it —

"Help me tie her up." I tell him flatly. He nods his head and we both begin to work on securing her hands and feet.

"Zack is upstairs, tied up with a knife wound in his leg." I decide to tell him. Micah glances at me from the side, his mouth open slightly.

"You really have been busy." He comments. I nod my head, filling him in on the situation the quickest I can.

"Veronica brainwashed him to kill Calvin and I. I think Zack's parents work with Christopher Black and that's why they didn't care when he went missing. The poor guy doesn't have a clue what's going on." I tell him. Micah nods his head and I can practically see him piecing all of the information together inside his brain.

"Margaret and Ted wanted to help me capture Christopher. They aren't involved with all of this, they went into this as blind as we did. I told them I didn't need the help, I can't risk getting anybody hurt on my watch. They're both good people." I say quietly. For the first time today, I suddenly sit back, a wave of overwhelming sensation hitting me all at once.

"I feel like we're trying to fight the impossible." I murmur, pulling my legs into my chest and resting my head on them. I close my eyes and feel Micah's hand land on my shoulder, squeezing gently.

"You did good Hunter. You've got me now, we can both do this." He says softly. I open my eyes and look into his dark brown ones, feeling reassured. I give him a small smile —

"Thanks Micah."