Karma pulled away from the door handle as if her fingers had been burnt. Cursing her rotten luck, she rushed back around the first greenhouse. Behind her, the door opened with a rusty squeak. Through the plastic walls, she dipped her head as she glimpsed a male.
Sweat traced a path down her back as she waited. She held her breath. Strange, but an odd feeling had come over her like this was her first hit. Karma had the same anxiety as she did the first time. She didn't have any explanation for the phenomenon.
"This is our first set of greenhouses, but we have more. This is mostly an area for cross-pollinating," the man who entered spoke as he strolled around the front of the dirt room like he owned the place.
Karma got lower to the floor. She wedged herself between a wooden barrel and the side of another greenhouse. From her new angle, she could see he was a short man with a skinny frame and sharp facial features. His hair was a sandy-brown color. His large tennis shoes made imprints on the soft floor. He pushed his glasses up his face two times as he talked. Karma recognized him as the researcher. In her file, his name was Adam Shuler, but under nickname said Gears.
"Gears, great tour, but I thought we were heading to food? Eric's starving, and I haven't eaten myself. We can do a full tour tomorrow. Ken wants to talk to us. I told him we'd be a minute." The words floated from the doorway. Karma went from crouching to resting on her belly.
She slid like a snake behind another flower box made of stone. Briefly, she thanked her dad for sending good luck. Through the door, she could see Bennett.
Laughing silently to herself that Fletcher and his men must simply be poor marksmen, she drew her 9mm Beretta from the holster on her thigh. Karma held her breath again as she waited to see if she could get a clean shot at Mac. She was positive he was in this group.
"I know you're hungry." The researcher spoke again. "I was cross-pollinating plants. I grew tea. I've been waiting until we had a reason to drink it."
Karma lined up her shot to make sure she could hit anyone who came through the open door.
She was about to move to a better position when another man stepped forward. From where she was located, she caught the shine of his boots. She let out a breath to steady her weapon. Maybe the man would come further into the room. This guy might be the recluse military trainer.
While grumbling, the other man stepped under one of the grow lamps that hung from the metal piping across the ceiling. He was nothing like she'd pictured when reading his insufficient history earlier. If this was "Mac" she would be surprised.
The new addition to the room was easily six feet tall, like Bennett, but he was lean. His clothes barely covered his massive arms and broad chest. He was muscular, and his huge black boots spattered mud as he walked.
Karma was struck by him. Only one time in her life had she ever seen hair as red as his or eyes that green. As his eyes scanned the plants, she was captivated by his wild flaming hair. She was mesmerized by the freckles that dusted his nose and cheeks.
For a moment, Karma went back in time. He was so familiar, but he couldn't be the man that popped into her head. That man was dead and so was his father. Maybe she'd seen him before on another mission. That nagging chose this moment to enter her head. Why was this guy considered so fearsome that Fletcher had passed this job to her? Sure, she'd heard about the old man who ran these water bases, but this man was far from old. Was she given the wrong information?
Karma admonished herself. She was sitting here staring instead of doing her job. If her dad were alive, he would tell her to get it together. She crushed down her emotions and stopped trying to figure out where she'd seen him before.
Cautiously, she moved to a squat and hoped to get a clean shot. If they called this man Mac, then she would kill him and get on with her life. Luck was on her side as she inched to the other end of the greenhouse. They stayed in her view as both men unknowingly turned their backs on her.
"Do you hear something?" Red Hair asked. Was this Mac? Say his name, she begged silently.
"It's nothing, Mac. Just my dog. Shelly is a puppy and gets into everything."
Just as Bennett stepped into the room and said the name, a golden mutt barreled past him. The pet came to a stop in front of Gears and sniffed the air.
Swiftly, Mac stepped to the side out of the dog's path and out of her line of fire. He crouched next to the dog and scratched behind the animal's ears.
In an instant, Karma took back all the things she'd thought about how this was such an easy job. Dogs were creatures that made plans go from smooth to insane in a heartbeat. She wished her luck had held a minute longer. She scooted around a rack of shovels. Bennett had referred to Red Hair as Mac. That was all she needed. The dog sniffed the air a second time. Its ears picked up. Damn, but that pet would hunt her down.
As if Mac could see what the dog knew, he stepped in front of Bennett. He pushed him back out the door. The dog barked. The mangy mutt darted around the corner of the first greenhouse as if seeking her.
Knowing this might not end well, Karma switched her tactic. This was a good time to bide her time. If she didn't make her move now, she could get her target later when things settled down. She could spray the doorway with her MP5, but she would risk hitting Bennett or Gears. She'd agreed to a clean hit. Karma didn't have a lot of time to sit around coming up with a plan, and the dog was a wild card.
"Shelly," Mac's deep voice gave a firm call. The dog ignored the summons.
Mac called a second command that had the dog turning back just before it rounded the corner. Karma thanked her lucky cards that the dog responded to its name that time.
She shook her head at her close call. This was one of the reasons why she'd given up all this. Her heart wasn't in it anymore. She'd grown to hate the pulse-pounding adrenaline of close calls.
"Dogs are a handful. Maybe you should get a cat," Gears tossed out while he picked tea leaves.
"Shelly doesn't listen well. I got her a week ago," Bennett responded loudly from the hallway. He called the dog's name a few times. The animal ran back out of the room, but it was too late to stay hidden and hope Mac thought the pet's actions were a fluke. If this guy were even one bit of a good guard, then he would never let this incident go. Mac wouldn't think the creature was crazy. If he were anything like her, he would now investigate the area because she would look into the dog's behavior too.
"Eric, stay out in the hall. Gears, go with him and call Ken. Tell him to send me the nearest security detail available."
Karma shifted behind stacked tires with vines coming out the top. She tucked herself next to an enormous potted plant. The leaves smelled like rosemary.
Realizing she wasn't focused, she tried to get her full concentration back on the mission. Her ears strained to pick up the sound of Mac's footfalls. She pinpointed his location. His stalking her signified this was a now-or-never situation. The only problem was that she would have to be careful not to kill Bennett and Gears. If they stayed in the hallway, she could make the kill and then get out before anyone came to his aid.
As she shifted again, not even the rustling of plastic could be heard. Far off in the hallway, the dog whined.
"We're here, Boss-Mac. What'd you need?"
Two men ambled through the doorway as if oblivious that anything might be out of place. At their entrance, Karma got the chance to angle around the pot and assess if these were new adversaries. She rolled her shoulders. Since these two young pups looked tame, she scooted around a leafy wall of tomatoes and paused.
Her eyes scanned the youths. The dog was a worse threat. She took out her second Berretta from the holder on her other thigh.
"Hey, Boss-Mac, we're here," the taller one shouted as if Mac's hearing was impaired.
"Ken said to come to see you, so what'd you want?" The second man walked in the vicinity of Mac. From her angle, she saw Mac glared at the supposed help.
"Shit, Charlie. Can't you see the vent grate is off? There's something wrong. You both need to use gut instinct. I was listening to hear the vent fan. Someone turned it off. This is the kind of situational awareness we've talked about in training. Now, why don't you both shut up and listen?"
Karma smiled. Mac was using this as a training opportunity. She could imagine having breakfast with him and the man using the salt and pepper shakers to teach defense maneuvers.
"What're we trying to hear?" one of the newcomers grumbled.
"Maybe the fan is broken, and someone moved the grate to see if it was being fixed. I mean, there's nothing around here. Who'd want to sneak into a greenhouse?" the shorter one with the bald head argued loudly. He slapped the plastic door of the closest greenhouse.
He kicked dirt like a petulant child. Mac clenched his teeth together. A muscle in his cheek flexed.
She would've laughed at the look Mac gave both men if she didn't think she would die because of the sound. Karma decided she would use these guys as a distraction. They seemed like the kind of men to lose their cool. They would be full of chaos. That's what she needed.
Re-holstering her secondary weapon, she scanned the dirt for a rock. She was forced to angle around the plastic door of the greenhouse more than she wanted to, but she discovered a jagged medium-sized stone. Her fingers curled around her new chaos device. With all her might, she threw the rock at the furthest clay pot hanging from one of the water pipes. The sound of shattering clay signified a direct hit. As she expected, both men opened fire like they were killing an army of Canadians for oil rights.
While the room filled with bullets zinging in the opposite direction from her, Karma rolled to her feet. She rushed toward her exit route. Both men yelled to the "Boss-Mac" for help. Mac was doing his best to get them to stop firing. His deep voice full of disgust was comical.
Karma turned to get back to the flowerbed under the vent. She'd just reached her destination when, to her amazement, she ran directly into Mac.
The man had come out of nowhere.
Karma was so shocked she almost screamed. She really was out of practice. First, Fletcher found her, and now this guy anticipated her moves? This was some crap. She didn't even see him coming. She could've sworn she'd heard him over by the last greenhouse. He'd moved fast. How dumb of her for underestimating him.
His muscled frame knocked her to the ground. Quickly, Karma got back on her feet. She threw her weapon up and pulled the trigger. She didn't aim. While she scrambled to reach for her second firearm, he grunted. Blood blossomed across the right side of his stomach. Not many men could take a bullet with such relaxed disinterest. If she had time, she would've applauded him.
Mac grabbed the gun in Karma's right hand brutally. His other hand went for her secondary weapon. He stopped her from sliding the pistol out of the holster. His hand crushed hers until she was sure her fingers would snap.
Karma freed her left hand by abandoning her other sidearm. She drew back and punched him in the face. Nailing him was like hitting concrete. He didn't let go of her weapon as she hoped. She would have to hit him again. She drew back a second time. This time, he caught her fist. Again, she tried to free her gun. He squeezed her trigger finger over and over again. Bullet after bullet hit the ground next to his right boot. After only a minute of struggling, she was out of ammo.
When she ran out of rounds in her first gun, she let go of the weapon. It fell to the dirt. She pried her hand away from his. He nearly broke her fingers in the struggle. It didn't matter. Finally, she was free.
Karma reached for the pistol strapped to her thigh. She brought her Beretta up to aim at his heart. Slowly, he put his hands up in a peace-like gesture. For a heartbeat, they stilled.
A call to her left broke the spell that had come over her. One of his peons yelled at her to put down her weapon. She didn't know where the other one had gone. His empty threat was amusing. But there was no time for hilarity currently.
"I'll save you, Boss-Mac!" the tall one called. He squeezed the trigger to reveal no more bullets.
Karma wanted to shake her head and tell him, yes, that's what happens when you shoot your entire clip at nothing.
Karma took a second to glance at how far away the tall kid was from her position. At that moment, Mac tackled her. He didn't give a damn that her gun was pointed at his heart. He didn't seem to notice the blood dripping out of his side.
The whole thing happened so fast Karma was having a hard time keeping up. This was what she got for trying to retire. She was getting old and slow.
Mac got her to the ground. His fist hit her face so hard that she was temporarily stunned. Before she could fight back, Mac moved his head a scant second before a clay pot struck her in the forehead.
Pain sliced through her skull, and then there was only darkness.