Menendez stepped out and grabbed her in a hug. "Oh, thank God you're okay. And Theo? Do you have any word?"

  She shook her head. "He's supposed to be leading the fighting inside the prison. I have no way of knowing what's going on there."

  "Then let's go find out." He turned to the carport, put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. "Let's go, boys. Time to join the good fight."

  Five men dressed in Security Force uniforms walked out. None of them had the "death mask" helmets. Menendez saw the worried look on Kylee's face. "I'm sorry I couldn't provide more firepower," he said. "Tiberius has more influence than I would have thought."

  "That's okay," she said. She pointed to her army. "You'd be amazed what can be done with only a handful of willing participants. Now I think we have a prison break to assist."

  She stepped to the front. Menendez, clearly impressed, ordered his men to follow. The growing contingent of rebels trekked on toward the prison, the larger cluster of footfalls mixing with the ever-present squeak of the SUV.

  The old hotel quickly approached. "That's the prison," said Menendez.

  "Really?" said Bill. "And yet it seems so quaint."

  "Shh… we've got company." Kylee saw Security Force in the distance. She turned to Menendez. "Are you sure you want to do this? You cross this line and there's no chance Tiberius will let you live if he wins."

  Menendez smiled. "No worries. He's not going to win."

  Kylee's army took positions around the intersection, making sure to avoid being detected in the bright streetlamps. When she was sure everyone was ready, she called out to the enemy combatants up ahead. "You, Security Force agents, drop your weapons or face the consequences."

  A small part of her thought she could avoid further fighting. Still, on another level she knew there was no chance she would be allowed to enter the prison. On an even deeper, more frightening level, she secretly hoped the agents would fight back.

  "Rebel squad, you are under arrest by order of Supreme Leader Tiberius. Submit to us immediately."

  "Um… I don't think they are going to surrender," said Ryan.

  "And so, my friend, we will show them the consequences," said Joseph.

  Bill grinned, a dark, devilish fire in his eyes. "God, I love this guy."

  Kylee wondered briefly about Andrew, who had moved further and further away as Joseph continued to indulge in the passion of battle. She hoped this wouldn't drive them apart. Nothing to be done about that now. She straightened up and assumed her leadership pose.

  "Rebel army," she said to her men and women, "take them down."

  Chapter 31

  The battle outside the prison lasted nearly fifteen minutes. When the Security Force had fallen to Kylee's rebels, she led her troops to the front door. The prison looked surprisingly like the hotel it had been. She worried that the unlocked and unshielded front entrance was hiding yet another wave of Security Force agents. Her people were getting tired from being on their feet so long with their adrenaline pumping. Getting tired meant getting sloppy and that was a risk she couldn't take.

  Kylee had seven women and one man with injuries. Several were fairly serious. She wanted to get in, get out with Theo and the other prisoners and get her injured people to the hospital. She worried whether the Security Force would consider the hospital a neutral ground. Still, that was a worry for later. Now she had to face yet another unknown on the far side of the prison doors.

  "I need support on both sides of the door. I'm taking point here. We have no idea if Theo's been able to get the fighting to the lobby. We might be walking into a battle, or we might be walking into a trap. Whatever it is, let's take the fight to them."

  Menendez organized the troops in positions along the side of the building. They were prepared to wait for Kylee's signal, whatever she told them to do.

  "Okay," she said. She took a deep breath. "Let's see what's behind door number one."

  Two of Menendez's men pulled the doors open. There was no sound of gunfire. No sounds at all, for that matter. Kylee decided to take a risk. She leaned around the edge of the doorway and looked into the lobby. She pulled away quickly on instinct. Did she really see what she thought she saw? She slowly leaned back in. A motley bunch of men, some of them wounded, appeared to have taken a team of Security Force agents prisoner. Standing in the middle of the group, unharmed, smiling and waving at her, was Theo!

  Kylee ran into the building and wrapped her arms around Theo. He lifted her and spun her around. When he put her back on the ground he kissed her passionately.

  "I guess you didn't need my help," she said.

  "Are you kidding?" Theo responded. "We were prepared to stay here all week if we had to. We weren't about to go out the door and fight whatever was waiting out there." He hesitated, then indicated the outside. "Are they…"

  "Dead," she said. "Or injured enough that they won't be any problem for us." She looked around the room. "How did you take all of these men prisoner?"

  Theo smiled. "Long story. We'll have to swap tales. But now..."

  "I know. We're not done fighting."

  "No. Tiberius has to know about all this by now, and he's not just going to give up and walk away."

  "Well, I'll be damned. He lives!" Bill ran across the lobby. Theo put out his hand. Bill shook it and pulled Theo into a hug. The rebels slowly entered the prison. Husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends found each other for the first time in far too long.

  Jane and Tony walked over to Kylee and Theo.

  "Thank you both for bringing us back together," Jane said.

  "What you did for us made all of this possible," said Theo. "Without you giving us a place to live and hide there would be no rebellion."

  "That's what this is, isn't it?" asked Tony. "A real, full-on rebellion?"

  "That's right," said Kylee.

  "Well… good. That's damned good."

  "Guys," called Ryan, running over, "we've got a problem."

  They turned and looked where Ryan was pointing. Brian had collapsed to the ground and Liz was holding his unconscious body, sobbing uncontrollably. The prisoners and the rebels had all experienced some very horrible things the past few hours. Liz's ability to keep all of that inside had reached its limit.

  Kylee and Theo ran over. Liz's hands were soaked in blood where they moved on Brian's torso. "Oh, God, he was shot," Kylee said. She looked at Theo. "I didn't know…"

  "He must not have wanted you to know. Brian has wanted a piece of the action for a long time, and I'm sure he was afraid you'd make him stay back." Theo turned to the group around him. Several of his men were still keeping guns trained on the Security Force agents they had taken prisoner. Others were still standing with loved ones. Everyone had stopped what he or she was doing to watch the scene unfolding as Liz screamed in the middle of the room.

  "Who else here was shot?" Theo called. "Raise a hand. Now is not the time to be brave." More than a few hands went up. Theo counted. "Nine," he said to Kylee.

  "And I've got a few more with the women guarding our prisoners. Couldn't even find the energy to come in here."

  "Okay," said Theo. "Those of you who are injured, I'm sorry but you need to go get help for your wounds. Officer Menendez—"

  "I'm afraid it's just Carlos now, Theo," said Menendez.

  "Carlos, please lead these brave men and women to the hospital. Take whatever forces you need to escort them safely."

  "Yes, sir," said Menendez. He called over two of his men and began discussing a plan for moving the wounded.

  "We need to move everyone outside," said Kylee. "The longer we wait here the more time we give the Security Force to plan a counterstrike."

  "You're right," said Theo, "but we need to take care of our prisoners first."

  "Okay." Kylee left the prison and returned shortly after with a contingent of armed women leading their captives.

  While Theo and Kylee oversaw the process of locking up the Security Force agents, Menendez and his partners departed for the hospital, using the SUV to transport the wounded. There was no longer a need to use the makeshift wagon for weapons. There were enough soldiers in the rebel army now to carry everything.

  They left the prison behind, trying to ignore the sight of the dead Security Force agents in the street. A block down, Theo halted the procession. He wanted to speak to his people. He jumped up on a metal bench that was bolted to the sidewalk. "Can everyone see me?" he called.

  The crowd of people standing before him cheered. Theo waited for them to settle, a technique he had picked up while watching Sam Lucas in action.

  "Some of you have come to think of yourselves as rebels. That's okay… we all are rebels here. Some of you have come to think of yourselves as prisoners. That's okay too… whether we were imprisoned in a facility, in a beach camp, or just on this island, we are all prisoners of a corrupt leadership. Tonight, I want you to realize that you have become something else. You are the hope and salvation of Atlantic Island. Thousands of men, women and children sleep in their beds right now not knowing that we fight so that they will wake up to a brighter tomorrow. You are the future of this land, and together we will make right all that Tiberius has made wrong."

  The crowd cheered again. A voice called out, "Theo is our Supreme Leader!"

  "Theo is our king and Kylee is our queen!" said another.

  Theo held up his hands. "Please, everyone, we aren't looking to be royalty. No one person… no two people are more important than everyone else. When this is all said and done you will have a chance to elect whomever you choose to lead you. That time will come, but for now I'm afraid we have more fighting ahead. Kylee will instruct you on the specifics of the mission going forward, but I will tell you this: We are not going to sit and wait for Tiberius to hunt us down. We are taking this war to his doorstep tonight! We are going to knock him off his golden throne tonight! We are going to take back our country tonight!"

  His last "tonight" was shouted by everyone in attendance. With the army properly inspired, Theo hopped off the bench and stepped aside for Kylee to explain the plan of attack.

  They moved through the streets with no obstacles. It seemed Tiberius had withdrawn the Security Force to the Palace. "Are you okay with this?" Bill asked Theo.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Kylee's got people looking for anybody hiding in alleys or sniping from rooftops. There's nobody here. The whole damned Force is waiting at the Palace. I know that place was built on people taking a gamble but, you know…"

  "It is what it is. They know we've got a lot of firepower and we could probably pick our way through a series of small squads. They are going to try to outnumber us on their home turf."

  "And you think we can handle that?"

  "I do. I hear you brought the bazooka."

  Bill smiled. "You mean Bertha? She's my baby."

  "Well, don't be surprised if your baby needs to come out to play."

  Bill gave him a serious look. "Theo, I'm ready for whatever comes. I'll do whatever I have to do to help you and Kylee win this thing."

  "Okay. Good. Go hang out with Jamie for a few minutes. I don't know—"

  "If she and I will both be alive after to talk. I gotcha, bro." Bill merged back into the marching army.

  The rebels arrived at the wide intersection leading to the Palace. Theo had experienced so much within the golden walls of the Palace. School, private meetings with Lucas, the frightening encounters with Tiberius. He was tired of being afraid of the Supreme Leader, that was for sure. Still, he had absolutely no strategy for facing Tiberius, if and when it came to that. Theo imagined the odds were good he would have to shoot the man at close range. He tried to remember all the horrors Tiberius had committed.

  The Palace gleamed majestically before them, its bright lights illuminating the vast complex.

  "Okay, we are coming in through the garage," said Kylee. "It's very likely we are going to run into some opposition before we even get into the building so—"

  She was interrupted by the blinding flash of the giant screens around the Palace flashing to life. Theo saw a distant glow from the beach that told him the screens along the heavily damaged pier mall were also active. He guessed this message was appearing on all available screens throughout the island. The screens showed the emblem of Atlantic Island. A voice boomed across the landscape, loud enough to rouse the city from its slumber. "A message from your Supreme Leader, Paul Tiberius!"

  The image changed to show Tiberius sitting at a desk that Theo immediately recognized as the one that had belonged to Mayor Lucas. The Supreme Leader looked calm and confident.

  "Citizens of Atlantic Island," Tiberius began in his cold, serious voice, "it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that we are under attack from a small band of traitors on this island. It disturbs me to think that there are a sad few who do not appreciate all that we are doing to make life better for all of us. Please do not fear these criminals. I assure you that the Security Force is taking care of this problem as we speak.

  "A moment before I went on the air, I was informed that a group of the traitors had been injured by our Security Force and were attempting to steal supplies from our hospital. I am proud to announce that our forces were waiting for them. While we wished to simply arrest them, they persisted in a senseless attack on our good soliders. The Security Force had no choice but to eliminate all of them."

  Theo heard screams from among the rebel army. His stomach tied in knots. He looked at Kylee who was biting her lip to keep her emotions contained.

  "Among those killed were three traitors from the Security Force, including one highly ranked official, Carlos Menendez. It should go without saying that abandoning the Security Force is considered treason and is punishable by death in all circumstances."

  Theo felt nauseous. Kylee was wobbling as she struggled to keep herself together, and he pulled her to him.

  "Some of you are no doubt wondering how these criminals were able to make any kind of progress against the limitless power of my Security Force. I wondered the same. I now present to you the answer."

  The cameras panned abruptly around the room. Sitting in a chair, struggling against two masked agents, was Michelle.

  More screaming and yelling from the rebels. Theo knew he heard Ryan's voice in the mix. His heart broke for Ryan who had been on a horrible roller coaster of emotions with Michelle the past few months. He knew his friend felt powerless at the moment, but so did he. They were all powerless right now to do anything but watch.

  "This young woman," Tiberius said off-camera, "had every opportunity afforded to someone in this country. She became close with some of my highest-ranking men and women. She even got to meet with me several times. But for reasons she refuses to disclose, she chose to throw all that away, betray her Supreme Leader and the people of Atlantic Island, to be a double agent working for the traitors."

  There was a sound as Tiberius rose from his chair and made his way back into the frame. Michelle, her mouth covered with a cloth, squirmed and moaned as he drew near.

  "There must be no room for treason in this country," Tiberius said. "I am the Supreme Leader. I am God in this land, and my word is law!" He stepped behind Michelle's chair. "To the criminals who even now continue their assault on the lives of everyone in Atlantic Island, I send you this message: Give up your pointless efforts. Lay down your weapons. You will serve life sentences in our fine prisons, where you will able to do work for the good of the country, to make amends for what you have done. If you continue this senseless course of action, there will be only one response." He reached forward so fast the cameras only showed a blur, and snapped Michelle's neck with both hands. The cameras briefly showed her twitching form and then panned up to Tiberius who looked directly forward.

  "Life or death, traitors. The decision is yours."

  The image faded and was replaced once again by the Atlantic Island flag.

  Theo looked at Kylee, expecting her to completely fall apart. What he saw disturbed him even more. Her face was expressionless. When she spoke, her voice was flat and serious in its tone. "He dies tonight, Theo. He dies. They all die. I want to burn this place to the ground."

  Theo nodded and turned to the army. He knew their confidence was shattered. "We will not stand here and let it be that our friends died in vain," he told them. He looked at Kylee again. She stared at him with calm, almost frightening conviction. "Those of you assigned to the garage, head down there now. Bill, Ryan, to me.

  His lifelong friends joined him. Ryan was in tears and clinging to Bill for support. "Bill," Theo said, "is Bertha ready to go?"

  Bill's voice shook with anger. "Ready, willing and able."

  "Good. Then follow me."

  "What are we going to do?" Bill asked.

  "We're going to knock on the front door."

  Chapter 32

  Before splitting away from the rest of the army, Theo pulled Kylee in front of him. "Ky, babe, are you okay? Can you handle this?"

  She nodded, unconvincingly.

  "Kylee, these people need to know they can count on their leader. If you need to step aside—"

  "I'm fine," she said.

  Joseph walked up to them. "I'm here to help you, Kylee."

  This seemed to grab her attention. "Hi, Joseph, where's Andrew?"

  "He's with Jamie and Liz. They need comforting, and…well, I'm not as much with the comforting. I want to help you fight, Kylee."

  "Okay," she said. "Okay. We'll fight."

  Joseph took her face in both his hands. "I need you to focus. Your army needs you to focus. We will kill the bad guys, yes? Kill them all."

  "Kill them all," she repeated. "Okay, Joseph."

  Theo was not at all convinced. "You'll watch out for her?" he asked Joseph. "You won't let her do anything stupid?"

  "I will protect her with my life. Now you go and do what you need to do."

  Theo walked over to Bill and Ryan. Ryan was still clinging to Bill like he might blow away if the wind was to gust. None of this was good. How had their fortunes shifted so suddenly and dramatically?