Leo Shaw sat beside me, sipping coffee and watching everyone else-after calming Laci Hunter.
"I said-in Russian-that she was delusional if she thought she could destroy that bunker. It was built of concrete and steel walls, ten feet thick. It would even survive the blast of the missiles it housed, if they were aimed back at it. I had no idea what she was prepared to do. I understand that my words made her angry. I should have kept my mouth shut, instead."
"We haven't touched on all the changes that may have occurred with her," Shaw said. "It's obvious she understood what you said. Has that happened before?"
"No. She couldn't understand what I said before."
"Then this is certainly different. I'll update her file."
* * *
Corinne
After a while, I transported myself back to Seattle and paid the check at the restaurant. I got an order of the mushroom ravioli to go, along with a replacement order of what everybody else had, too, before leaving all of it in the fridge inside Rafe's suite.
I was about to choose my own suite, and he could live alone if he wanted. Actually, the suite I wanted didn't exist, yet. I took care of that. When I was finished, it was built into the outside rock wall of the mountain, past the last suite of rooms, which belonged to Maye. It was larger, more comfortable, better furnished, had a huge kitchen and pantry and not a single bug in it.
Any bugs that Auggie thought to put in it wouldn't work, either. I made sure of that. I'd handed Baikov to Ilya on a plate and he saw fit to insult me without asking questions. I shouldn't have been that angry, but I was.
I figured they'd get a flight back later that night or early in the morning; I didn't care which. Who knows how many people in Crimea might have died, and Ilya called me delusional.
"Fuck," I muttered aloud. Yeah, I'd probably overreacted, but his words had hit me wrong. I realized I was tired and out of sorts, so I grabbed a sunlamp from storage, turned it on and sat beside it until I fell asleep.
Chapter 3
Corinne
It took Auggie half an hour after he got back to the mountain to figure out I had a new, separate suite. He banged on the door after that.
I went to let him in.
"What the hell is this?" Auggie flung out an arm, encompassing my new digs.
"My suite. What else would it be?" At least this one had a wall of windows, all camouflaged on the outside so nobody would realize there was anything except rock there.
"You did this?" He blinked at our surroundings.
"I did this. Tell Rafe he can kiss my ass for calling me delusional, too. Want coffee?" I headed toward the kitchen.
"Corinne, you can't just haul off and do everything you want," Auggie walked behind me as I strode toward the kitchen.
"Really? Seems to me Rafe got what he wanted, last night," I snapped, shoving a pod into the coffeemaker. "A whole bunch of folks in Crimea are still alive today. I guess that's what they want, too. I'm sorry Colonel August Hunter didn't get exactly what he wanted, last night." I jerked a cabinet door open and pulled a cup off a shelf. Slamming it under the brewer, I hit the button to make coffee.
"Corinne, look. I don't know how hard that was for you," Auggie attempted to placate me. "I have no idea. Rafe won't talk to me. Laci is terrified. Marcus is still in shock. James, well, James thinks that was the coolest thing he's ever seen."
"Uh-huh." I handed the cup of coffee to Auggie.
"Cori, we have to talk about what you did last night. About how it was done. How long you knew you could do that. What else might be possible."
"No."
"No?"
"I don't want to be used," I said. "The President has good intentions, but she won't be able to help herself."
"Okaaay," Auggie seated himself at my kitchen island. "What do you want from me, then?"
"I want you to trust me. To believe me when I tell you something. That's what I want."
"Is that what you wanted from Rafe last night? For him to believe you when you said you'd destroy the bunker?"
"Yes. Look, I realize I overreacted-I'll admit that. But he didn't give me the benefit of the doubt. I don't know why that bothered me so much, but it did."
"Tell me," he said, making himself comfortable on the barstool, "do you know why things are so different this time?"
"It's a natural progression," I said. "That's all I feel comfortable saying right now. I hope it doesn't go any farther than you and Leo."
"The suite is nice," Auggie said and sipped his coffee.
"It's what I wanted," I replied.
"I can see that. The rugs are nice."
"Wool, power dyed and woven," I said.
"Power dyed and woven?"
"It means I used energy to do it, instead of people."
"Corinne, I almost spit a mouthful of coffee across your floor."
"I'd clean it up if you did."
"The windows are very nice. I assume they're invisible from the outside?"
"Even with the lights on," I agreed.
"Fantastic." He drank more coffee.
"Want a burrito?" I asked.
"You cooking?"
"No, I was thinking about going to Texas to get one."
"Cori, please stay here. You'll give me a heart attack if you don't."
The knock on my door almost gave both of us a heart attack. I left Auggie in the kitchen and went to let Rafe and James in.
"Nice. Very nice," Rafe said as he followed me to the kitchen.
"Before you ask," I held up a hand, "I think it was low blood sugar. Too much energy expended and not enough reserves."
"I accept your apology," Rafe said.
"Good."
He and James helped themselves to coffee before finding the food in the fridge; I'd transferred it there after completing my new home. That resulted in a flurry of microwaving, after which they sat down to a nice meal.
"Did you pay for this?" Auggie asked.
"I did. And the stuff we didn't get to eat, too, plus a nice tip and a promise to never go back there again."
"I'll fix that," Auggie grumped. "This chicken is good."
"Suit yourself," I shrugged.
* * *
Notes-Colonel Hunter
I left Corinne's new suite when the call came from the President.
It wasn't good news.
"What do you mean, they escaped?" Making sense of what Madam President shouted over the phone was impossible-for at least the first ten seconds. All I could understand initially was the word "escaped."
"Sixteen survivors that we had in quarantine escaped," she slowed her speech and calmed her temper. "We had them locked in and cared for. They all got out. I need you, Farrell and anybody else who might help with this mess. Please tell me Corinne can help. This is disastrous."
"Why?" I asked. "Why is this disastrous?"
"Because they're not human, and some of them-some of them defy explanation."
It angered me that she'd left us out of that loop from the beginning-that she'd taken control and hidden the survivors away. At first, I imagined it was to keep them away from the general population until they could be reintroduced into it without revealing the drug or the Program.
Later, I began to imagine other, more terrible things. This announcement brought the worst of those imaginings to life.
"How did they escape?" I asked.
"I don't know. I don't understand any of this. We thought they were responding to the care they were getting, but evidently, that wasn't enough."
"Is there any trail to follow? I'll bring Nick," I offered.
"Bring all of them. We can't find a trail to follow, but I'll take anything I can get."
"I hope you have records and images to help Corinne," I said.
"We do, but it's so classified, I almost didn't get to see them."
I wanted to curse. I didn't. At least not aloud. This spelled one thing to me-the CIA Director was in this up to his hairline. He and the Joint Chiefs had likely colluded to keep m
e out of this after they took charge, and almost left the President out of it. Now it was exploding in their faces. If the situation didn't sound so serious, I might have laughed at their faux pas.
"I'll get my bunch together," I said. "We'll be there before you can blink."
* * *
Corinne
Ilya was in the middle of being amorous when Auggie commanded everybody to pack for a trip to D.C. He was knocking on our door two minutes later, asking if I had enough energy to get everybody to D.C. without hurting myself.
"I can," I said, "But I need fresh air and something to eat afterward."
"I'll see to it," he nodded curtly. "We have an emergency, you understand, or I'd fly everybody back."
"I know."
I turned to Ilya, who allowed Rafe to come to the fore. "I'll have a bag ready in ten," he said and loped toward the door. He was just as frustrated as I was that we'd been interrupted.
"The President didn't give me much," Auggie sighed when Rafe shut the door behind him. "It doesn't sound good. I think she's saving the bad stuff for when we get there."
"I was worried about this," I said. "It didn't help that we were cut out of it. I think Dr. Farrell should have been consulted at the very least, but bigger dicks wanted to control this." I spoke mainly of CIA Director, Merle Askins; Auggie understood that. While we both thought of Askins as a boil on America's butt, everybody was secretly afraid of him.
"While I wouldn't agree openly with you under most circumstances, I'm agreeing with you now," Auggie said. Worry clouded his dark eyes as he shook his head at the state of affairs and what might wait for us when we arrived at the White House. "The President should have asked us. She didn't. Now, we're expected to do cleanup."
"Doesn't sound like an easy job," I pointed out.
"I don't think it will be. They can't find a trail to follow. That concerns me. A lot."
"Do you know where they were?" I asked.
"No idea. We'll have that information when we get there."
"Then I'll be ready in five," I said and took off toward my bedroom.
* * *
Matt Michaels and a woman I hadn't met before were already in the Oval Office when we arrived.
"You know Director Michaels," the President made introductions. "This is one of his best agents, Opal Tadewi."
"I hear you can see things about people just by looking at them," Opal held out her hand.
I shook and nodded. Your secret is safe with me, I sent to her. She blinked once, telling me she heard and understood.
"I can work with her," Opal jerked her head in my direction, telling Director Michaels that she felt she could trust me.
"Good. I've been briefed on the Program," Director Michaels nodded to Auggie.
"It was my choice," the President said, holding up a hand to keep Auggie from arguing.
"He knows how to keep quiet," I acknowledged when everything went silent for a moment. Maye released a troubled sigh.
"Where are we going?" Auggie asked, following the second uncomfortable silence. Nobody liked the fact that someone else knew about the Program. I suppose almost being killed on several occasions will do that to you. I didn't say it, but future threats against our lives wouldn't come from Matt Michaels.
"You're going to Las Vegas," the President said with a sigh. "Actually, outside Las Vegas is where they were kept, but you'll be staying in Vegas until you find a trail to follow."
Rafe turned slowly toward me, offering the slightest of nods. He and I were thinking the same thing; we just didn't say it aloud. Area 51 was too much of a cliché. We were headed somewhere else.
After all, you can hide a secret location near a bigger, badder-looking secret location. Everybody looks for the big one, when they have no idea that the smaller one exists.
"There's transportation ready, and anything you didn't pack can be had in Las Vegas," the President said. "The facility director will brief you when you get there."
I could see she was tired and angry. Angry that this had blown up in her face. She'd allowed the CIA and Joint Chiefs to have these survivors, possibly in the hope of creating another arm of the Program.
Auggie was pissed, too-as Secretary of Defense, he'd inherited the Joint Chiefs, who'd always been at odds with him. They were more loyal to the CIA Director than to Auggie, because Merle Askins had more power and bigger guns.
Now, the President worried that she-and they-may have unleashed something that couldn't easily be caught or contained. I had worries, too, and they included hers plus a few of my own. Mine were ultimately worse.
"What do you expect us to do with them, if we find them?" Auggie asked quietly.
"Kill them if you can," she whispered.
* * *
"We don't have much time; I hope this works," Auggie said as we trooped into a Denny's near the air base. Opal was with us; her luggage was now in one of our borrowed SUVs.
"Cabbage, what are you hungry for?" Rafe rubbed my back.
"Eggs, cheese, fruit," I shrugged. At least the day was fine and sunny. I ignored the hot part.
"Oatmeal, too?" Rafe grinned.
"Maybe. I'm hungry after toting you around," I wrinkled my nose at him.
"I can understand that," he agreed.
A waitress led us to three tables shoved together. We sat down and ordered drinks. An hour later, we were loaded onto another military transport heading to Nellis AFB in Nevada.
* * *
Notes-Colonel Hunter
Once I was seated on the plane across from Shaw, I opened the classified e-mail sent from the President. No pictures were included-not the important ones, anyway. I only saw photographs of the damage caused during the escape.
"What the hell can do that?" I placed my tablet in Leo Shaw's hands. It only took a moment before his grim gaze met mine.
"If that were Tokyo, I'd have a good guess," he said. "This isn't Tokyo, and I sure hope we're not dealing with something that size."
"Something that size would be hard to lose," I pointed out. "What if it's much smaller and much more difficult to locate?"
"Even scarier," he nodded before leaving his seat and settling on the empty one beside me so he could study the photographs easier. "Do we know if they acted together, or whether one or two got the others out?"
"I'm concerned that somebody else may have gotten them out," I muttered. "I think Cori is worried about the same thing, she just won't say it."
"If Corinne is concerned, then we certainly should be," Shaw said. "She hasn't been wrong yet. Whatever these survivors became, we should have been allowed to help. If there was any way to communicate with them, then Corinne might have reached them. I can't help but think we could have helped. Now, we have orders to kill them."
"That concerns me, too. Besides, the Joint Chiefs need taking down a notch or two over this. Whether the President will see the need for it is questionable."
"I believe Hal's clone may have advised her on this," Shaw jerked his head at the photographs on my tablet. "Therefore, he may have had a good guess as to where they'd be taken. I wonder if Madam President considered that."
"I think the CIA Director and the Joint Chiefs are so smug in their perceived invincibility, they may have advised her against moving these. Obviously, they thought them well-contained."
They had. Steel doors more than a foot thick, which had been ripped from their hinges, attested to that. "They're either on their own and can cause damage that way, or they're in the hands of the enemy, and we've all seen what he's capable of doing," Shaw said.
* * *
Corinne
"Cabbage, we're here." Rafe squeezed my hand to wake me.
"What? Oh." I'd been far away in my dreams and wasn't particularly pleased about waking in the extremely hot state of Nevada.
I blinked sleepily as I followed Rafe and the others off the plane, while our luggage was taken off the aircraft and loaded into three waiting SUVs.
"Cori, you look half asleep,"
James came to stand beside me while Auggie and Leo decided who was riding with whom. Rafe, Opal and I ended up with Auggie. Nick and Maye went with Leo; Jeff rode with James, Richard Farrell and Marcus.
I'd seen Marcus eyeing Opal-she was beautiful; an American Indian with long, black hair and dark eyes. I caught her eyeing him a couple of times, too, and I wouldn't want to be Marcus if he attempted to touch her without permission.
Just the thought of it made me smile.
"What?" she turned a lovely smile on me.
"Oh, just thinking about Marcus and how much trouble he might be in if he doesn't keep his hands to himself," I said.
That made her laugh. "You're right," she said. I knew without a doubt that Opal had no yearnings toward Marcus, and hoped he didn't learn the hard way just how dangerous she could be.
"We don't have much information on you," she said. "I saw dossiers on everyone else in the Program, with permission from the President." I could almost hear Auggie and Rafe's ears perking up at Opal's question. "The President said she wouldn't give your information to anyone-that you could tell us or not."
"I almost died in the terrorist attack on the Louvre," I shrugged. "The drug kept me alive."
"You were there?" Her dark eyes widened at the idea that someone actually survived.
"It's a long story," I said. "Do we have water in the car, Auggie?" He'd let Rafe drive and was sitting up front with him.
"Some in the cargo area-they sent a cooler," Auggie said.
"Okay." Unbuckling my seat belt, I reached over the seat to open the cooler. The minute I put my hand on one of the bottles I knew. Don't drink any of the water, I sent to everyone in our party. It's laced with ricin, I added.
Auggie's cell phone rang immediately. "James drank some of the water," Jeff reported.
"Pull over. Honey, pull over," I was terrified in an instant.
Dr. Farrell was already using the ability he had to heal James when we pulled over to the side of the road. I jumped from the SUV and ran back to James' vehicle. Richard's hands were on James' chest while he sent power coursing through James' body to reverse the poison's effects.
I placed my hands on James' chest, too, only it was my goal to neutralize the poison. Richard felt my presence and turned to blink at me, astonished by what I was doing. He could feel it in his hands-that the poison was changing composition to something that wouldn't harm anyone.
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