Smoke on the Water

by Bianca D'Arc

“What’s this?”

  John crouched to look over her shoulder.

  “A tracker. And it’s not one of ours.” Donna looked up to catch his expression. His lips had thinned into a grim line. “That had to have been implanted beneath the skin. I’ve seen something like it before.”

  She didn’t ask where. As a CIA operative, John had lots of secrets she would never be privy to. She knew better than to pry. If he said it was a tracking device, it damned well was a tracking device.

  “You think Dr. Bemkey implanted it?” Donna stood, dropping the stick next to the remains. It would have to be collected and burned along with the rest of the surrounding debris that might now be contaminated.

  “That would be my guess. This girl was her ex’s mistress. Bemkey’s crazy enough to want to keep tabs on her.”

  “So Dr. Bemkey probably knows she’s gone, right?”

  “Right.” He checked his ammo and she did the same. She was down to a measly six darts. They would have to be enough. “We’d better get over to the mansion. With this one, our count is twenty-one. If my numbers are right, we’ve got two more to hunt down, plus their creator.”

  “I don’t have enough ammo for two more. I’ve only got six darts left.” But she was game. She walked fast, beside John as they crossed through the trees heading for the mansion’s backyard.

  “I’ve got eight. We need to make every shot count.” He slowed as they reached the tree line.

  The fog had dissipated. They could clearly see the lakeshore, though a fine mist still swirled above the water’s surface. Dr. Bemkey paced on the sand, screaming. Her tone alternated from glee to anger and back again in violent swings of emotion.

  “You stupid bastard! Your bimbo is gone. Do you hear me? Gone! And good riddance. She ruined my life and I took away hers. And you can’t do a damned thing about it, you bastard.”

  “Oh, no.” Donna saw something come out of the trees. “She doesn’t see him.”

  It was Bubba. The tall wide mountain of a man who had towered over all the other creatures. He was heading right for the doctor and he looked hungry.

  John was already running down the long expanse of lawn toward the lake. The doctor was still ranting, shaking her fist at the water and screaming. John fired as he ran, plugging the giant zombie with three darts in quick succession. Donna followed behind, saving her darts until she had a better shot. She couldn’t fire on the run and hit anything the way John could.

  John was still ten yards away when Bubba grabbed the doctor in his meaty fists. The woman screamed even more shrilly as Bubba sank his bloodstained teeth into her shoulder.

  “Damn.” John slowed to a stop and fired two more shots into the behemoth zombie. That made five. It had only taken four darts to stop the other creatures, but Donna agreed with John’s unspoken reasoning. This guy was huge. If weight and height had anything to do with dosage—and it usually did—he’d need more than the usual four darts to take him down.

  “John!” Donna saw Mr. Bemkey rising from the lake. He just walked straight out of the water and headed for Bubba and his struggling ex-wife.

  “I see him.” John fired another shot into Bubba. “Use your darts on the husband, Donna. I’m concentrating on Bubba for the moment. Four shots, Donna. The ex is normal size and we might need more for the big guy, the doc, and any stragglers who might show up.”

  Donna went to work, taking her shots carefully, making every one count. She shot at the ex-husband as he bit into his ex-wife’s flesh, infecting her with the deadly contagion she’d invented. She’d killed him with it. It was a sort of poetic justice that he was doing the same to her.

  But John and Donna had wanted to take her alive. They hadn’t planned to kill her. The likelihood that she would survive this was small. They had the doomsday shot that had saved one person to date, but it wasn’t perfected. It likely wouldn’t work on the doctor. Still, they’d try. As soon as the coast was clear.

  Donna paused to fire her last shot, taking aim and firing. Her darts were spaced out evenly over the ex-husband’s body. If all went well, he should be disintegrating any minute now. All she had to do was wait. And withstand the screeching from the doctor as the two zombies continued to munch on her flesh.

  “This big guy isn’t going quietly,” John muttered. “How many darts do you have left? Two?”

  “Yeah. Two. That’s it.”

  “I’ve got two. So between us we have enough to take down one more. Let’s hope there aren’t any more zombies down in that lake who decide to come up for a stroll right now.”

  Donna was too keyed up to smile, but she appreciated his attempt at humor. They’d been through hell that night and it was almost over. They’d taken out a lot of dangerous creatures that night. Now all they had to do was wait out these last two and deal with the doctor.

  “Finally.” Donna heard the satisfaction in John’s voice as he watched the struggling threesome on the beach. The big man named Bubba slithered to the ground, disintegrating before their eyes. The ex-husband followed suit a moment later. The doctor hit the sand with a splat as John and Donna ran over to her.

  She was bleeding from multiple bites. Her eyes fluttered open as Donna reached her side.

  “Is he dead? Is the cheating bastard really gone?”

  “Yes, Dr. Bemkey. He’s gone.” Donna tried to break the news gently.

  A cackling laugh was the doctor’s response. Her eyes flared wildly, showing the whites around her dilated pupils and shocky irises. “Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. My only regret is that the bastard managed to take me with him.”

  “Maybe not.” John had been working steadily, removing things from his utility belt as he prepared the Hail Mary dose that just might save the woman’s life if she was one of the lucky ones.

  “Don’t be silly, boy. The contagion kills. It kills everyone.”

  “It didn’t kill me,” Donna said softly, dragging the woman’s attention back to her. “I was attacked and I didn’t die. I’m naturally immune.”

  “No such thing.” The doctor looked scandalized and very upset that her killing cocktail wasn’t one-hundred-percent efficient.

  “I’m afraid you’re wrong.”

  “And this could save you, Doctor. Brace yourself.” John aimed the long needle for the doctor’s heart. He paused only a moment to perfect his aim, then pushed it inward and depressed the plunger. The doctor screamed as the needle went into her flesh.

  “You stupid son of a bitch!” Dr. Bemkey raged. “That hurt.”

  “It might save you, it might not.” John removed the needle and sat back on his haunches. “Frankly, the chances are slim, but we had to try. Do you have any final messages? Maybe to your business partners? Now’s your time to come clean. You may never get another chance to drag them down with you.”

  “Why would I want to do that?” The doctor seemed to lose strength before their eyes. “Juan is my lover as well as my business partner. I wouldn’t hurt him for the world.”

  “Juan? Juan who?” John prodded.

  “Nice try.” Dr. Bemkey turned her head as she began to fade. “Juan’s identity will go with me to my grave. But I’ll give you one tidbit before I go. Zalayat. Berthold Zalayat. The evil bastard cheated me and called me crazy. Take him down and I’ll have my revenge.”

  “Where do we find him?” John pushed, but the woman was gone. Her eyes closed and her breathing stopped. She was dead. “Damn.” John put away the special serum and took a deep breath before moving on. “We’ll take her inside and keep an eye on her. If she rises, we’ll use the last of our darts. This has been one hell of a night.”

  The gray light of dawn gave way to the pink and gold of true sunlight as they sat there, looking at each other. Donna greeted the sun with enthusiasm. If the sun was out, the zombies—if any still existed—would be in hiding.

  John stood and lifted the doctor’s body into his arms. He strode to the mansion at a fast clip and Donna did her best to keep up. She preceded h
im to the double glass doors and found them open. Dr. Bemkey must have come out this way and left the door open behind her. Convenient. Donna threw the doors open wide ahead of John and his gruesome burden.

  She went ahead of him into the house. He placed Dr. Bemkey down on a chaise longue near the back door. He then stalked through the lower floor of the two-story mansion, checking each room while she followed.

  “The place looks okay. I’ll watch over her and call the cavalry. We have to go out there and drop markers for the cleanup team.”

  “I’ll do the two at the beach. I marked all my other targets along the way.”

  “Good girl. So did I. So it’s just those last two, and her….” he looked over at the body by the door. “Run down to the beach and mark them. I’ll watch you from here while I make the call. We can’t leave her unattended.”

  Donna ran outside and dropped the markers quickly, walking back to the house at a slower pace, enjoying a quiet moment in the early morning sun. By the time she got back to the mansion, John had hung up the phone.

  “We’re staying here for the day. I called the cleanup team. They’ll be here in about an hour. I also reported to the commander. He wants us to search this place, but we need sleep too. I saw a guest room down the hall, or you can sack out on the couch until the cleanup guys get here.”

  Donna didn’t want to leave him in the lurch, but now that the excitement was over, the adrenaline rush that had kept her going was leaving her drained. “I’ll lie down on the couch for a few minutes. I’m not used to these all-nighters anymore.” She smiled at him, weariness sapping her energy. “But if you need me, just let me know. I don’t want to leave you shorthanded.”

  John caught her hand as she passed him on her way to the couch. He reeled her in and placed a lingering kiss on her lips.

  “You’re perfect, Donna.” He smiled at her as he let her go. “Get some rest while you can. We’re going to have a busy day.”

  He wasn’t kidding. Donna napped for only about forty-five minutes before the cleanup crew arrived in the house. They took Dr. Bemkey’s body away. She hadn’t risen…yet. But they had the equipment to deal with her if and when she did. They also replenished John’s supply of toxic darts. He split the wealth with Donna when he saw that she’d awakened.

  “The guys will be working out there for the next few hours,” John told her, sitting on the edge of the couch. He stroked her cheek with the fingers of one hand. “There’s a nice guest room at the end of the hall. Why don’t you go in there and get some real rest? I’ll join you in a bit. We can sleep while Buzz keeps an eye out. We’re both wiped out after last night.”

  “Are you sure?” It sounded heavenly, but could they really afford the time away from the mission?

  “Yeah.” He stood and ushered her to her feet. “Let’s get you to bed.”

  “Oh, I like the sound of that.” She couldn’t resist teasing him as they walked down the sumptuously carpeted hallway.

  “Vixen.” His voice growled in her ear as he bent to nibble playfully on her earlobe. “Sleep first. Then work. Then fun and games. If you’re good.”

  Chapter Eight

  Donna woke to warmth. John knelt over her, his big body cocooning her in his heat, his masculine strength. She loved the sensation. As much as she loved him.

  He’d told her he loved her, if that speedy declaration could be believed. She’d have to hear it again to be sure. She knew people said things sometimes in extreme circumstances that wouldn’t necessarily hold true later. She prayed that wasn’t the case here. She loved John with all her heart and wanted his love in return. It would be a dream come true if he really had meant what he’d said.

  “Stop faking. I know you’re awake.” His voice growled near her ear before he placed a sharp nip on her earlobe that made her yelp and laugh at the same time.

  “How can you be so sure?” She kept her eyes closed, rubbing her cheek against his.

  “I’m a highly trained CIA operative. It’s my business to know these kinds of things.” His mouth drifted down over hers as he crawled over her on the bed, bracketing her with his knees on either side of her thighs and his forearms beside her head.

  Their kiss was filled with languorous wonder. It was a slow exploration of a kind they had never shared before. There had always been a hurried quality to their encounters—even the slow times. There was always a sense that they were on the job and couldn’t spend too much time away from the mission.

  That was gone now. John’s kiss drugged her, dragging her under with him where he was her anchor, her safety line, and the very air she breathed. She trusted his passion to guide her own.

  “I thought we were going to save the fun and games for later.” She smiled playfully at him when he let her up for air.

  “I decided it couldn’t wait. Buzz is keeping watch outside while we rest. We’ll sleep…eventually.” His wicked grin rocked her world. “But loving you couldn’t wait.”

  Her breath caught at his words and the look in his beautiful eyes. He paused.

  “What? You didn’t believe me before?” His smile cajoled but there were serious depths to his words. “I love you, Donna.”

  She was stunned by the sincerity in his expression, the way he put himself out there on the ledge. She’d never had a man be so open with her. Never.

  “Hey, babe, tell me I’m not alone here.” Doubt crept over his features and she rushed to reassure him.

  “You’re not alone.” She felt her cheeks flush with excitement. “I love you too, John. I just thought—”

  “What? What did you think?” He moved closer again, nuzzling the tip of her nose with his.

  “I thought maybe, now that things have calmed down…”

  “That I’d take back what I told you in the woods?” He pulled back, a chastising look on his face. “Oh, baby. You’ll learn I never say anything I don’t mean. And I’ve never said the L-word to any woman before.”

  “That sounds serious.” She was basking in the moment. He had the most delicious way of speaking and the way he looked at her melted her heart.

  “Very serious.” He moved in for a quick kiss that ended too soon. “Like, rest of our lives serious.” He kissed her again and drew back with obvious reluctance. “Damn, I was going to wait for the right time, but I can’t wait. Donna, I know I’m no prize, but I can’t see living without you. I need you in my life, uncertain as it is. I figure you’ve already seen me at my worst and you know what I do for a living. There are no secrets between us and I’ve never had that with anyone before. You see me as I am and yet you still seem to like me.” He chuckled at his own words as tears filled her eyes. “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” She could only manage the single word as emotion overtook her. It didn’t matter though, as his lips covered hers, his body sheltering her in his warmth.

  Their clothes disappeared as their temperature rose. The loving was slow and sensuous, with none of the urgency that had marked their previous times together. They were in tune physically, mentally, and emotionally. She felt it in his kiss and in his touch.

  John licked his way down her body and back up, pausing at all the interesting points in between. He paid special attention to her breasts, drawing on her nipples with wet, warm suction that made her arch off the bed in pleasure.

  She wanted to touch him but he wouldn’t let her. He took both her wrists and placed them against the headboard with an admonishing look.

  “Keep them there, Donna. I mean it.”

  “Or what?” she dared to challenge him.

  “Bad girls get punished, baby.” He winked at her.

  “Sounds like it might be fun to be bad.”

  He pretended to consider. “It could be at that, but let’s save that for another time. This is special. It’s the first time I’m making love to my fiancée.”

  “Fiancée.” She marveled at the word. “I really love the sound of that.”

  “Mmm.” He nuzzled her neck. “Me too
. As much as I love you.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “I love the way you stand up to me and with me. I never expected to feel this way about anyone, Donna.”

  Her stomach clenched at the honesty in his eyes.

  “I never expected this, John, but I hoped. Even when I shouldn’t have, I hoped you’d want me. I’ve never met anyone like you before. From the beginning, we’ve fit together.”

  His gaze turned wicked. “Oh, yeah. We fit together perfectly.” He nipped her earlobe. “Let me remind you.”

  Her excitement was already spiking with need. Having John naked in her bed and against her body did that to her. He turned her on like no man before. She lay under him, willing to do whatever he wanted, wanting to bask in this first time—as he’d called it—being with the man she loved, knowing he loved her in return.

  Just knowing they’d admitted such intimate feelings made the whole experience all that much more special. She felt alive in a way she had only ever experienced with John as he brought her senses to a peak with hot strokes of his tongue over her most sensitive places.

  When he joined his body to hers, she moaned with pleasure, welcoming him.

  “You feel so good, Donna,” he gasped near her ear as he lowered his body over hers, blanketing her in his warmth and strength.

  “So do you.” Her voice was breathless as her fever rose. Then he began to move and she lost the ability to speak at all.

  Long, slow strokes interspersed with hard jolts made her sigh in delight. He kept her guessing and kept her arousal on the knife’s edge between passion and ecstasy. She felt his body gathering for the coming explosion and joined him, riding the tide of pleasure along with him.

  When the wave broke over them, it swept them up in unison, awash in bliss. He held her through the tremors of her completion, giving and taking with equal measure as they shared the most perfect moment ever.

  A long time later, they let each other go by slow degrees. John looked into her eyes, a wide grin on his face and love in his gaze. She basked in that look, knowing it was just for her. And she let her own feelings show as she gazed back.