And you would know all about that, wouldn't you, Agent Black? Skyler thought. She tore her eyes from the grisly sight and kept moving.

"I can only give you the answers to your questions as I know them," Addison tried to take Skyler's mind from the bodies left behind. "You've figured out they were after your mother, but I can't tell you why. The truth is I don't know. I have a few suspicions but at this point they would be just guesses. Agnes Brodie is a bit difficult to explain as well. Let's just say if there is an unsavory pound to be made, Brodie will be there trying to make it. We know she's been involved in gun running, smuggling and dabbled in the drug trade. We also believe she's been working as an a.s.sa.s.sin for hire. Don't doubt this, Agnes wouldn't have left you alive at the conclusion of her business with you."

Once again, Addison felt the American's grip tighten. She stopped in mid-stride and turned to Skyler. "She didn't...hurt you, did she?" Skyler knew what Addison was asking. She blushed and looked uncomfortable but didn't turn her eyes from the intense gaze of the British woman.

"She...kissed me. I knew what she wanted and I let her believe I was receptive to the idea, but it was just to buy some time. She beat me once, very skilfully." Skyler did look down then. Addison's jaw clenched and she reached out to touch her companion's arm.

"Skyler, look at me." Reluctantly, the scholar raised her eyes. "You did what you had to do to survive. You lived; you won. It's as simple as that. We have reliable information that quite a few others who crossed her path didn't."

Skyler felt a rush of grat.i.tude for the understanding she was being shown. "Who are you?" She knew that was the least of what she wanted to know about the intriguing woman, but the question was the best she could do at the time.

Addison gave her a c.o.c.ky grin and a little half bow. "Addison Black, agent of Her Majesty's government at your service. I've been a.s.signed to achieve your liberation so may I suggest we get on with it?" Skyler smiled for the first time in what felt like a very long while and she nodded to the agent. Addison turned and they began to walk again.

"As for where we are," Addison's voice floated back to her, "We're in what used to be a working coal mine in the Scottish highlands. There are only two sections of this mine that are accessible from the surface as the northern and eastern sections were lost in a collapse a long time ago. You were held in the western section and we are going to make our ascent to the surface at the southern entrance. Any more questions?"

Plenty Skyler thought, but out loud she said, "Not at the moment."

"Good," Addison said, "Because we're here and this was far too easy."

"You killed four people and you say it was too easy?" Skyler's voice had dropped to a whisper as she felt Addison still as well. She watched as the agent removed a pair of simple sungla.s.ses from one of the multiple pockets on her jacket. Skyler didn't recognise or understand why Addison would be putting on sungla.s.ses, but she had a fair idea. "Night vision specs," she said, "So that's how you took care of those four."

"Uh huh," Addison confirmed as she slipped the dark gla.s.ses into place and edged near the elevator she had entered through, snapping the flashlight off as she went. The doors were ajar just as she had left them but she had an uneasy feeling about the whole situation. She paid heed to those feelings; they had saved her more than once.

The agent leaned into the elevator, peering up through the car's roof. She then turned quickly to Skyler and asked, "Can you climb?"

"Of course," Skyler answered with more confidence than she felt. She refused to let the British agent see her as weak or a victim. Why that was she couldn't say and didn't have the time to examine.

"Good then," Addison said as she pulled the American into the elevator. She handed the once again illuminated flashlight to Skyler then crouched and sprang upward, grabbing the edges of the hatch with both hands. Skyler watched with amazement at muscles flexing in well-toned arms and legs as Addison tucked her legs and pulled herself up through the hatch at the same time.

She was still marvelling when a black clad arm dropped back through and a hand beckoned her. Snapping back to reality, Skyler grasped the proffered hand and was unceremoniously hauled up and through the hatch. When both of her feet rested on the roof of the elevator, her balance failed her. Two strong hands on her arms arrested her momentary bobbling.

"Thanks," she croaked weakly, losing herself in the intense gaze of the agent. It was a gaze made even more intense and dark by the muted shadows of the flashlight that still dangled limply in one of Skyler's hands.

"Good job I had my vitamins this morning," Addison quirked, with a lopsided grin. She left her hands in pace while she scanned the area above them.

"We won't need this anymore," the agent said as she returned her attention to Skyler. The Brit moved her right hand down the American's left upper arm to the hand holding the flashlight. The warmth of Addison's hand on hers as she took the light was in stark contrast to the colder air of the shaft. Addison placed the flashlight on the roof of the car, aiming the beam up the cable.

"Up you go" Addison said as she indicated the elevator cable. "Don't worry, I'll be right behind you." Skyler took a deep breath and grabbed the cable, ready to prove her fitness or be mortified by failure. As she tensed for the climb, the elevator doors at the top of the shaft were suddenly pried open.

"Ladies, I can't believe you want to leave my party so soon," Agnes Brodie's voice drifted down the shaft. Her voice had a slight whistling quality, probably the result of her lost tooth. "Here I was thinking I had been a neglectful hostess, but now I have a second chance to show you both my hospitality!"

Addison grabbed Skyler and pushed her against the wall directly below the open doors. At this angle they couldn't see the doors anymore but Brodie's words came down clearly.

"As this is my party, I get to fas.h.i.+on the guest list and I've decided to delete you from it...permanently!" Agnes laughed at her own joke. "Don't be concerned though, I'll send you away with a few party favors.

Rapid-fire shots sprayed down the shaft and Addison pressed her body closer against Skyler's, s.h.i.+elding her from any stray bullets.

"Did you enjoy those?" Agnes cackled. "I hope so because there is much more to come. And Addison?"

Skyler felt the British woman tense but she said nothing.

"Addison!" Brodie screamed and another burst of gunfire rang out. This time the angle was a little better and the walls near them were struck, sending pieces of stone and concrete bouncing painfully off them.

"What do you want, Agnes?" Addison called out.

"That's better," the Irish woman said. "I just wanted to tell you a few things before I kill you and the professor there." Her voice was almost conversational in tone. "You were really such a fly in my ointment, Addison. Remember Tangiers? Of course you remember Tangiers. That was such a sweet deal you managed to screw up for me. Those six SCUD missiles should have netted me a net profit in the millions but you had to come calling. What did I get for my trouble? Destroyed SCUDS and a decimated team. When you were finished I had a mere handful of men left; they were loyal though, they stayed with me. It might interest you to know those survivors are the team currently placed outside the elevator down there. They're very anxious to renew your acquaintance."

On cue, light flooded into the elevator from outside the still open car doors. Even Skyler could tell Brodie wasn't bluffing.

"s.h.i.+te!" whispered the black-garbed agent.

"I tell you what, Addison," Brodie's voice resumed. "I'm a fair woman, I'll give you the option. Drop down into the elevator and meet the team or come up here and face me. You have ten seconds to decide!"

Skyler watched as Addison hesitated only a moment before fis.h.i.+ng in her jacket pocket. She removed the pistol she had taken from the first guard and leaned slightly into the roof opening of the elevator car. Bringing her arm back, she aimed carefully and tossed the pistol through the opening. The projectile apparently hit its intended target because the elevator car gave a slight jerk and slowly started to ascend.

"We're coming up!" Addison yelled. In the next few seconds the agent was a blur of activity. She retrieved her flashlight, rummaged in her jacket pockets and pulled a shotgun from the holster on her back. She then moved closer to the American and whispered, "Skyler..."

"Agent," Skyler quickly interrupted, "It's me Brodie wants and what she thinks I can give her. Use that. There's no sense in both of us dying. Send me to her; you try to get away. Just make sure my mom is okay."

"I can't do that, Doctor," Addison said calmly as the car rose further, now almost halfway up the shaft.

"Why not?" the scholar asked.

"Because this is our stop." With that, Addison, shotgun still in hand, put both arms around Skyler in a bear hug. She picked up the smaller woman effortlessly, took two long strides across the top of the elevator car, twisted and launched them both through the air.

Addison's back bore the brunt of the jolt as they broke through the old boards on the side of the shaft. Landing hard, Addison nonetheless rose quickly to her feet and setting the flashlight on the shotgun as a guide, pumped several powerful shots toward the bottom of the still moving elevator car. The sound of metal snapping followed the shots and two heavy metal cables whipped by the opening in the shaft wall. The elevator car itself seemed to come to a complete standstill momentarily before following the cables down the shaft. The resounding crash almost, but not quite, drowned out the sound of Agnes Brodie's voice.

"G.o.d d.a.m.nit! You fools! Go get some equipment! I want to get down there now!"

"Hey, Agnes!" Addison yelled up at the furious redhead. A silence from above ensued. "How does it feel to get shafted?"

"f.u.c.k you, Addison! I'll kill you b.i.t.c.h! You and that blonde are dead!"

The Brit chuckled on her way back where Skyler still lay on the floor.

"You just couldn't resist, could you?" Skyler asked as she shook her head.

"No, I couldn't," the agent said with a grin. "Shall we go, Doctor? Agnes seems to be in a foul mood and it won't take her long to figure out a way in here." She extended her hand and a.s.sisted Skyler to her feet. "By the way, thank you for flying Black Airlines."

"Remind me to fire my travel agent," the American shot back, but as she was tugged along deeper into the darkness she thought, but d.a.m.n is that pilot cute.

Several minutes later Addison stopped abruptly ahead of the doctor and dropped the hand she had held onto while guiding Skyler along. They had been moving through what appeared to be part of the long deserted original mine. Thick timbers braced the walls and rusted tracks lined the floor.

"Why have we stopped?" Skyler asked as she came around Addison to be confronted with the same dilemma the Brit faced. They had arrived at a junction in the pa.s.sageway where three identical tunnels broke off from the larger one they had come through.

s.h.i.+ning the flashlight down each new tunnel, they could ascertain no difference in them except for a rotting sign in each bearing letters and numbers apparently acting as route names.

"Do you have a preference, Doctor?" asked Addison as she indicated the three pa.s.sageways. Skyler studied them for a moment before turning to Addison and asking, "Do you have a match?" The British agent plucked a small plastic container from one the seemingly mult.i.tude of pockets in her jacket.

"Of course you have a match. Why did I doubt that?" Skyler took a match out of the box and struck it against a small piece of sandpaper she found attached to the bottom. Moving into the first tunnel on the left she held the lit match above her head. The action was repeated in the center tunnel and then in the one on the right.

Blowing the last match out she returned to Addison and stated, "I'll take the middle tunnel."

Addison pocketed the remaining matches as she moved forward without hesitation into the pa.s.sageway the doctor has selected.

"How do you figure?" Addison asked as she felt Skyler move along behind her again.

"Well," Skyler's voice came from the rear, "the matches' flame was stationary in the left and right tunnels. It flickered and bent slightly in the center one. It isn't a huge amount, but there's definitely air circulation in that middle tunnel. Old archaeologist's trick."

"Clever girl," Addison complimented as she continued along the chosen route.

"I'm not a girl," Skyler muttered but stumbled along behind Addison anyway. Within a few minutes another two junctions had been reached and the tunnels chosen. By the time they reached the next meeting of pa.s.sageways, the airflow was so noticeable that matches were unnecessary. With the possibility of escape came a renewed sense of energy and their pace quickened. A final turn led to a slightly wider area that contained no tracks. It was much cooler than previous areas. It was also a dead end.

s.h.i.+ning the light around the area, the beam landed on a square box-like contraption suspended by thin metal wires from the high ceiling of the chamber. Following the line of sight provided by the cables, the pair could just make out a few stars through the top of the room.

"Emergency exit," Addison observed as she moved toward the cage. "Let's go." Skyler looked with suspicion at the rickety contraption.

"Addison, look at this thing. G.o.d knows how old it is. I'm not sure it will hold one of us, much less both of us."

"You have a better idea?" Addison asked as she stepped inside the cage and bounced a little, testing the ancient wooden floor. Skyler didn't and joined the agent in the cage. It was close quarters and they were pressed closely together as the lift had obviously been meant for single person use.

"Going up, madam?" Addison asked in a sophisticated tone and pulled hard on the rusty wires. With a protesting squeal the ancient cage lifted from the tunnel floor. Skyler closed her eyes and prayed that the workmans.h.i.+p of years ago would hold up.

Addison grunted with the effort of lifting both of their weight, but in a few minutes the cage reached the top and clicked into place. Skyler moved quickly from the perilous perch. Addison followed and moved past Skyler to lead the way out into the cold Scottish night.

"Free at last!" Skyler exclaimed.

Chapter 8.

The rain, which fell so heavily before Addison entered the mines, had now ceased. Clouds hung low in the dark sky. A strong wind pushed them swiftly through the atmosphere. It was cold, below freezing, and the icy winds whipped around the doctor and soldier as Addison gained her bearings.

Skyler s.h.i.+vered and gasped sharply. A biting wind thrashed against her flesh, chilling her to the bone. The temperature had dropped drastically. Addison noted the rain soaked gra.s.s had frozen and it crunched under her footsteps. Without presence of a moon, the land was dark and ominous. Addison's torch provided the only source of light.

The agent turned to Skyler, s.h.i.+ning her torch upon the s.h.i.+vering woman. She instantly realised the young doctor's condition, as she stood with arms wrapped around herself, trembling.

"Cold?" Addison asked. She released the rucksack and shotgun from her back. They slipped to the ground with a thud, forcing Addison to cast her torch around their vicinity before tuning it back upon Skyler.

Teeth chattering against each other, Skyler hugged herself tighter. "C-Cold isn't the word."

Beginning to unload ammunition and random equipment from her pockets, Addison crouched down and placed her torch upon the frozen ground. Once her pockets were empty she shrugged the thick coat from her shoulders. "Here, put this on."

"What about you?" Skyler enquired, as she willingly accepted the black, padded coat.

Addison opened her backpack. "I'll wear this." She pulled out the khaki, camouflage jacket. "It's not as warm as that, but I'm used to this kind of weather... besides, you might be suffering from shock. You should, if anything, keep warm."

"Shock..." Skyler s.h.i.+vered violently. "It's ... not every day I get kidnapped, held prisoner, beaten, shot at and come on to by the same person."

Addison paused in the middle of putting on the jacket. She felt a flare of anger once again at the thought of Brodie touching Skyler. "She will more than pay for that." The agent grimaced, wondering what Sky had to do in order to 'play along' with Brodie. Her disdain for Brodie deepened and Addison knew that after she had secured Skyler's safety, she would return and put a stop to Agnes Brodie, one way or another, once and for all.

Replacing the shotgun and SMG ammunition in her pockets, Addison sighed. "Listen... we need to get moving. I want to get to the truck before they catch up with us. I need to get you out of here."

"Usually I'd insist I can take care of myself, but in this instance I agree with you." Skyler took the torch Addison handed to her. "Lead the way... where exactly are we, by the way?"

Holding her H&K submachine gun, Addison turned on its attached light. "The Grampian Highlands." She took the handheld, electronic display map from her pocket. Switching it on she checked the compa.s.s and started moving. "It's about a half an hour walk." The agent strode off, hearing Skyler follow. "I left the jeep within a group of fir trees."

Skyler sped up her gait and walked along side Addison. The agent could see Skyler periodically watching her from the corner of her eye. "What?" she finally asked.

"Pardon?"

Addison continued scanning the area. "What is it you're thinking, Skyler?"

"Well it's just that... you aren't what I would have expected as my 'knight in s.h.i.+ning armour'."

Snorting, Addison smirked. "You expected a bloke?"

"Sort of."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Speaking before Skyler could respond, Addison said, "Your mother thought the same."

Skyler stopped momentarily in surprise. "You spoke to my mother?" She caught up to Addison who hadn't stopped moving.

"She was at the HQ of the government branch I work for."

"And that is?"

"Cla.s.sified" Addison responded. She didn't miss the grunt and quietly muttered 'of course' from Skyler but chose to ignore it. Instead, Addison picked up her pace. The temperature seemed to drop further and Addison was sure it had reached at least minus six degrees Celsius. By the light on her weapon she could see her breath escape in large puffs of vapour. Apart from the wind and Skyler's presence, the land was gravely silent. They were still unable to see more than fifteen feet ahead. The mix of clouds and fog severely hindered the agent's vision but her electronic mapping device helped immensely. Addison reactivated her watch's heat and motion sensor. If there was anybody close by, they would be detected.

Both women continued to walk in an uneasy silence. Skyler remained close beside Addison and the agent could sense her uneasiness. She could fully understand. It was cold, dark, and there was a contingency of armed soldiers trying to kill them. Although these were times in which Addison excelled, she understood it would be terrifying for anybody who wasn't used to the life she led. To Addison, however, this was plain sailing.

As a distant rumble echoed over the land, Skyler jumped and grabbed Addison's arm.

"You okay?"

Skyler nodded. "Yeah. What on earth was that?"

Addison looked around them. "My bet is Brodie just destroyed the mine. She won't want any clues left behind so she has no doubt turned the place to rubble. Access will be unlikely."

"How will you catch her now?"

"Don't worry. She will get hers." Addison gripped her weapon tighter. And I am going to enjoy every second of it, she thought.

They continued on in silence for several minutes before Skyler found the need to speak again. "It's getting colder," she noted and tried vainly to warm the hand holding Addison's torch. "How much further do we have, or is that cla.s.sified too?"

Addison stopped. She turned to face Sky and shone a light upon her. "Do you have some sort of problem with me? I mean, correct me if I am wrong here, but I do know sarcasm when I hear it."

"That wasn't sarcasm," Skyler responded and strode ahead of Addison.

The agent kept her pace behind Sky. "Could have fooled me." Addison shook her head. "What is your problem?"