Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Forty-Four

We tracked Cybertek to a mansion and, wouldn't you know it, Ian Quinn himself. Fitz started the tracker to tell the rest of the team where to find us, but I wasn't about to wait. If I waited, Ian Quinn might be able to get away from us again.

"I'm going in," I announced.

"My thoughts exactly," agreed Skye.

"No. No way. I'll be more effective on my own, since I won't have to worry about watching your back, too."

"You go in with Ward all the time! Why is this different? Is it the training thing again?"

"No. Well, I mean, you do have less training than us, but that's just something you'll have to deal with for now. You'll get past it, and you'll catch up. But Grant and I have been working together for years, so we know each other well enough that it's effortless to work together. You and I just haven't gotten to that point yet, and we might end up in each other's way. Seriously, it's nothing personal."

"I don't want to sit here and do nothing while you go in there and risk your life," she argued.

"Yeah, neither do I," agreed Fitz.

"You won't. If I fail, you still can't let them get away. It's up to you, Fitz, to disable their cars, and it's up to you, Skye, to watch Fitz's back and be our last line of defense. If I'm in the house, I can't do anything out here, which means it's all on you. You're the only backup since we don't know when or if the team is coming."

"Alright, fine," Skye caved, still not looking entirely happy.

"Be careful," warned Fitz.

"Back at you."

I left Fitz and Skye to do their thing snuck around the back of the house, only running into one guard that I was able to take down without using ammunition.

The house was like a maze. There were walls that kept me from seeing more than a few feet in front of me, and it seemed like they went on forever. Finally, I heard voices in the hallway ahead of me.

"Find Mr. Quinn," ordered a woman in a heavily accented voice, "Tell him his purchase is downstairs."

They kept walking, which gave me the perfect opportunity to sneak downstairs before Mr. Quinn. I made my way downstairs and threw open the basement door, wanting the element of surprise if anyone else was in the room. Thankfully, they weren't.

I cleared the shadows of the room first, just in case I'd missed something, but found no one. The room was mostly full of boxes, but a tube in the back corner looked like it might warrant some further investigation.

I moved forward, keeping my gun out just in case something jumped at me. When I got to the glass, though, it was all I could do to keep the gun from falling out of my hand.

It was Mike Peterson.

The man I'd watched get blown up on the bridge, the man whose son I had to help break the news to, was here and alive. Horribly burned and unconscious, yes, but alive.

"Hello." Before I could try to help Mike, I heard Ian Quinn's voice behind me, and felt someone ripping my gun out of my hand. I spun around to find the enforcer from the train trying to level it at my head. Obviously, I wasn't about to let that happen.

I blocked his arm, which had been reaching for my neck, then grabbed the gun and started trying to wrestle it out of his hands. To my satisfaction, I noticed Quinn took a nervous step back as I managed to throw the gun across the room and promptly punched his enforcer in the face.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to enjoy the reaction since Mancini the Enforcer immediately returned my punch.

I dodged several swings before backing into Mike Peterson's pod. I was out of room to run. Mancini grinned (he thought he had me beat. Amateur.) before winding up and putting all his weight behind the next punch. I ducked and tackled him, knocking us both back into one of the tables.