Ruthless Game g-9

by Christine Feehan

  The fight had taken seconds, but exhaustion was hitting along with the shivering that signaled his body was too cold. They had to finish this soon. He peered down into the water, looking for the man he’d knocked overboard. He could just make out the outline of two men struggling just beneath the surface. He recognized Jacob and put the gun down, looking around him for anything that might give him clues to where the men had been directed to take Rose and Sebastian.

  Jacob surfaced beside the boat, dragging the body of the man he’d drowned with him. Kane reached down and helped pull the dead man into the boat. Jacob swam to the pier where the diver in the red and black suit was stuck against a pillar. It took a bit longer to get the body into the boat.

  “You okay?” Kane asked. Jacob was shivering nearly uncontrollably, and the force of the waves had battered him so that his movements were sluggish.

  “Good enough to get the job done. I’ll run them out to sea and get rid of them. Javier has a body or two to add to our collection.”

  Top, we’re cleaning up. Is Rose okay? Sebastian?

  Paul says Sebastian is as happy as a lark. He thought the entire thing was a great adventure. Rose is still out of it. We’re taking her to Paul, hoping he can counteract whatever they gave her.

  They drugged her then. Kane and Jacob pulled the last diver into the boat and sank back, shivering from the cold water, arms and legs growing heavier by the moment.

  Yes. Mack’s voice was grim. Bring the boat around to the southern pier. Hurry, the wind’s picking up, and we’ve got to dump the bodies before the fog lifts. Javier will take them out. The two of you come in.

  Top, Jacob protested, I’ve got this.

  That’s an order; come in. Mack’s voice was implacable. Brian took a hit. We’re prepping him for surgery.

  Kane and Jacob exchanged a long look and redoubled their efforts at speed.

  What the hell happened today, Top? Kane asked as they slipped across the water toward the southern end of the pier. Does Jaimie know?

  She’s reviewing the security tapes now. We’ll go over everything that went right and everything that went wrong when you come in.

  And Brian? How bad?

  We don’t know yet. Eric and Marc are going to do the surgery. Paul’s staying with Sebastian.

  Of course they would keep Paul away from Eric. Eric wasn’t a GhostWalker, nor was he part of their team, and no one, no one outside of their team could ever have a clue about Paul’s capabilities—and now Rose’s. Both had talents that Whitney would want to spread throughout his soldiers, and to do that, he’d try to understand how the talent worked. He had no qualms about taking apart a person for “the greater good of mankind.”

  Jacob threw the rope to Javier, who tied them off so they could step from the boat. He handed them both a warm blanket, greeting them with a cocky grin, although Kane could see the worry in his eyes. “You two look like hell.”

  “Popsicles,” Jacob said. “Damn cold water.”

  “That’s why you don’t see me in it.” Javier shoved the body of the man who had taken Sebastian onto the deck and watched it roll over, his expression impassive.

  “Thanks for the warning, Javier,” Kane said. “I owe you one.”

  Javier shrugged. “My nephew, my sister. Fuck the bastards. Lucas and I will take care of this mess.”

  Lucas emerged from the fog with the body of the driver rolled in a tarp. “Walked him right through the market crowd; no one asked a single question.” He tossed the body on top of the one Javier had rolled onto the deck. “Looks like a damn garbage dump.”

  “Whitney needs to realize if he’s going to come at us, he’d better send men who can handle the heat,” Jacob said as he wrapped a blanket around his shivering form.

  Kane frowned as Javier rolled the last body into the boat. “What about the men on the rooftops?”

  “Gideon and Ethan are disposing of them. We can’t risk dragging more dead bodies through the streets. Someone had to have reported shots fired. And there’s blood in the SUV sitting right in front of the warehouse. No body, but plenty of blood,” Javier answered.

  Javier stepped aboard the boat. Kane and Jacob watched as he disappeared into the fog. Lucas lifted a hand and headed for the slip where their boat was. He would follow Javier and bring him back after they sank the boat and bodies.

  Kane and Jacob entered the first story of the warehouse from the bay side. The door was layers of steel. Kane punched in the code, and they entered the first secure room where full body scanners sent information to Jaimie’s monitors on the second floor. The door had a retinal scanner, and Kane leaned in.

  Jacob laughed. “Our little sister loves these gadgets.”

  Kane flashed him a grin. “By the time you start working on your building, she’ll have security so tight, none of us will be able to get inside any of our homes.”

  The three-story warehouse was nearly thirteen thousand feet of space and had been sold to Jaimie without any interior walls. They stepped inside the first-story space Kane had converted into his home. It was a good four thousand square feet with a high ceiling and wide-open spaces.

  “Take a shower, Jacob,” Kane suggested. “I need to check on Rose and the baby.”

  Jacob didn’t object. The shivering made his teeth chatter. Kane pointed him in the right direction and rushed on through to the bedroom, kicking off wet shoes and pulling off soaked socks. He stripped off his shirt and left it in a sodden heap on the floor.

  Where the hell is my woman?

  Rose was nowhere to be found, and neither was Sebastian. For a moment his heart hammered a protest before he realized Mack and the others would never leave her. Eric had set up surgery on the second floor, and the team would be guarding all the fallen team members. He took the stairs two at a time, rushing up, needing to see with his own eyes that his family was alive and well.

  He felt the hushed tension the moment he opened the door. Jaimie sat at her desk, viewing the security tapes over and over. Mack stood behind her, watching with her and occasionally leaning down to whisper in her ear. They’d freeze a frame and study it. Neither Rose nor the baby was on the second floor. He skirted around the makeshift surgery, nothing more than a sterile tent erected to the left of Jaimie’s work space. He noted Marc was frantically working on Brian and there was no sign of Eric.

  Mack looked up as he approached, fingers still curled around the nape of Jaimie’s neck. His eyes were troubled as his gaze swept over Kane, taking in his wet body and dripping jeans.

  “You smell like fish,” he greeted. “Paul’s with Sebastian and Rose. He said Rose is coming out of it slowly. He’s helping to push the drug through her system faster.”

  “What the hell happened?” Kane demanded.

  Jaimie swung around in her chair. “I’m looking at all the surveillance tapes both outside and inside. We’ve got cameras installed on most of the buildings along this street. The SUV was down the block for thirteen minutes. Javier spotted it while he was outside practicing his moves with his boys. He patrols the streets and gets the locals used to him hanging out. He spotted the SUV moving into position just outside your main front door and sent out the alarm.”

  “We were lucky he was out there,” Mack said. “We’re going to have to set up regular patrols. We’re getting too complacent, using just one spotter on the roof. It’s too busy an area to just have only one pair of eyes.”

  “How did they get into my house?” Kane asked.

  “You do know you’re leaving a puddle of water in the middle of my office,” Jaimie pointed out.

  Kane scowled at her. “Cough it up, Jaimie. They tried to take my son and Rose.”

  “Definitely the physical therapist. He slipped something into the locking mechanism when you opened the door for them. I can’t quite figure out what it was, but it’s thin and fit right over the lock, so the door appeared to engage, but in reality, the lock wasn’t fully engaged.”

  “Why didn’t the alarm so
und? Shouldn’t it have?” Kane rubbed at his wet hair with the edge of the blanket.

  “Yes.” Jaimie sounded affronted. “Whatever they used simulated the lock enough that the monitor accepted it as real. I’ve never seen anything like it. The way it should work is, if anything, even a thin piece of paper is slipped in, the electronics don’t engage and the alarm goes off. They have some tool that fools the electronics into believing the circuit has been engaged.”

  “So they planned this carefully. They knew about the lock and how it worked,” Kane stated the obvious. “They were prepared.”

  “How?” Mack asked. “We don’t have that many visitors. A few construction workers, but we checked them out thoroughly. Deliverymen.” He looked at Jaimie. “Who else?”

  “We’ve had the cops here a few times,” she said. “Something about the surveillance tape really bothers me, but I can’t put my finger on it.” She swung back to study the footage. “Go up to our home, Kane, and take a warm shower. Mack’s jeans will be short, but you can fit into them. In fact, I think there are a couple of pairs of your jeans left from when you were staying with us while your house was being built. Look in the clothes closet. This is going to take a while to figure out.”

  Marc stuck his head out of the tent, bloody glove-covered hands in the air. “Where the hell is Eric? He went to get another set of instruments. I need help in here. I can’t monitor him and do the operation.”

  He disappeared back inside the tent.

  Get down here, now, Paul. Mack sent the command instantly. “Get upstairs, Kane. Guard Rose and Sebastian. Don’t trust anyone.” He glanced at his watch. “Eric ran out of here a few minutes ago to get another surgery kit from his car. I thought it odd that he didn’t ask one of us to get it for him but just figured he could find it faster.”

  Kane turned and ran up the stairs as Paul came running down.

  “That’s what’s bothering me,” Jaimie said. “Look, Mack. Look at the tape. Eric goes through the door first, and the therapist follows him. Look at what Eric does.” She froze the tape. “Look at his eyes. He stops right there, and his gaze shifts down and toward the lock just as the therapist slips in his tool. Eric knew. Eric has to be working with Whitney.”

  CHAPTER 16

  “Son of a bitch.” Mack leaned down to study the tape. The entire time, they’d been watching the lock and the therapist, not really paying attention to the surgeon who had worked at one time or another on many of the GhostWalkers, even saving lives. How Jaimie had noticed the slight turn Eric made and the shift of his eyes as he glanced down at the lock, he couldn’t imagine. Especially in the midst of Brian having surgery just a few yards away.

  “He knows, Mack,” Jaimie reiterated and pulled up the footage inside the second floor and then of the street.

  They could see Eric rush out of the surgical tent, call out to Mack, and then run behind the tent out of their sight. He put a foot on the stairs leading up to where Paul watched over Rose and Sebastian, shook his head, and turned quickly to take the stairs leading down to the first story. Clearly he had considered making another try for the baby. He dashed down the stairs and out the door, never entering Kane’s home. The street cameras showed him leaping into his car, cell phone out, and talking fast as he sped away.

  “Get the word out to the other teams,” Mack ordered Jaimie. “There’s no telling what damage he’s done to us. Everyone he’s come in contact with may be compromised. Advise sweeping for bugs and reworking security wherever he’s had access. Let Jack and Ken know their home probably has multiple problems. Has he had access to our computer equipment?”

  Jaimie shook her head. “No one touches my computers other than Javier. And he’s worse than I am about security. Well ... okay ... maybe not.”

  Mack swore under his breath as he paced back and forth. “We’ve had a snake among us from the very first.”

  “What if he didn’t work for Whitney? What if he’s working for the faction that wants all of us dead?”

  “I doubt he would have saved so many of us. The death toll would have been much higher. I’m certain he’s Whitney’s plant.” He looked carefully around the room. “Check everything, Jaimie. Thank God Rose was so paranoid about Sebastian. She never left Eric alone with him. They didn’t manage to get a sample of his blood. They weren’t able to microchip him either.”

  “Kane did,” Jaimie said. “He said it was the only argument he and Rose have had over the baby. He insisted, for Sebastian’s safety.”

  “Top!” Paul called out. “We need you.”

  Mack reacted instantly. “Tell Kane, Jaimie. The two of you need to go through that house and be thorough about it.”

  Jaimie watched him disappear into the surgical tent and then made her way up to the third story. As she leaned in for a retinal scan, she stopped suddenly, frowning. She made her way back down to the bottom of the staircase where Eric had hesitated. She pulled out a small penlight and meticulously began going over the railing and walls, paying particular attention to where Eric had stopped.

  The staircase was interior, running just on the inside of the building so that there was an escape from the first story and one leading to the roof. The second story was completely enclosed with only a door leading to a fire escape. She ran her fingers along the door. Eric must have known they would be suspicious of him, and he’d run. He wouldn’t have considered going upstairs to confront a GhostWalker. He wasn’t armed. She knew that because each time he stepped inside the entrance, she had a full-body scanner making certain. No, he’d stopped on the stairs for another reason.

  She stepped back and studied the door and then turned around in a circle, inspecting the stairway again. She knew she was right; she just couldn’t figure out what he’d done. Reluctantly, Jaimie gave up her quest and went up to the top story. She used a retinal scan to open the door to her home.

  Rose lay on her couch, a blanket over her, holding her head and moaning softly. Kane obviously had rinsed off and was now crouching beside Rose, sweeping back her hair with one hand, murmuring soft reassurances to her. Jaimie looked around for the baby.

  Kane saw her question and nodded toward the safety of the bedroom. “Paul put him down when he fell asleep. I’m hoping he stays that way until we know Rose can safely feed him. We don’t want whatever drug this is to get into his system.”

  Kane straightened slowly, stretching out sore muscles. He’d managed to find a pair of jeans and had ripped off one of Mack’s tees. “I take it they’re having a problem with Brian?” He managed to keep his voice even, but every muscle had tightened up all over again. He’d just managed to reassure himself that Rose and Sebastian were going to be fine, and now he was worried all over again.

  Brian Hutton had grown up with him. Mack and Kane had protected the younger boy all through school. His parents had moved and left him behind. He’d stayed in a condemned building, foraging on the streets for food and running from bigger bullies until Mack and Kane had come across him. He’d been a wide-eyed kid with a mop of hair and a quick, inventive mind. He also had very quick hands. He was a first-class pickpocket. It had taken a lot to convince him to stay in school and get an education, but he wanted Mack’s and Kane’s protection, so he’d gone along with their rules. They’d made up a lot of paperwork for him to keep him out of the system and make the schools think he had parents.

  “Marc and Paul will pull him through,” Jaimie said. “They’re good.”

  “What the hell happened to Eric?”

  “He’s a plant, Kane. He’s working for Whitney. He knew the physical therapist was going to make a grab for Sebastian and Rose. I think he got nervous when I kept looking at the surveillance tapes, and he ran,” Jaimie explained.

  “That means everything he came into contact with has been compromised,” Kane said.

  “Exactly. Mack wants a sweep of the entire building. I think he planted something at the bottom of the stairs on the second floor. He was running, but he stopped there.
At first I thought he might be trying to come up here and changed his mind, but that didn’t make sense. I couldn’t find anything.”

  Kane studied her face. Jaimie knew things. All of them, the entire team, had learned never to ignore Jaimie’s gut feelings.

  Rose moaned and struggled to sit up. Kane held her down with a hand to her shoulder. “Paul said not to move around yet, Rose. He said once you could sit up, then he wants you drinking water. Lots of water, but he said you’d be unsteady for a while.”

  “I’ve got to get this out of my system. I feel horrible.”

  “I know, honey, you’re going to be disoriented for a while.”

  She frowned at him, clutching the blanket around her. “Kane, I don’t have any clothes on. None.” She looked very puzzled, her gaze jumping from him to Jaimie.

  “I had to undress you,” Jaimie explained gently. “You were soaked and freezing. We wrapped you in a blanket and put hot water bottles around you to bring up your body temperature.”

  Rose snapped her head around and sat up, dragging the blanket with her. “Sebastian? Where’s Sebastian?”

  Kane’s gut tightened. He’d told her three times. She seemed to forget things over and over. He framed her face and looked into her eyes. “Sweetheart, I wouldn’t be standing here chatting if someone took our son. He’s sleeping peacefully in the bedroom. I’d bring him out to show you, but I don’t want him to wake up and need to eat. The drug they gave you isn’t out of your system yet.”

  She frowned and touched her neck. “I couldn’t stop them from taking Sebastian.”

  “Javier spotted them, and the team went into action. We’ll be having a meeting soon to discuss what went wrong and what went right so we can improve response time and damage control.”

  Jaimie sat on the arm of the couch. “No civilians got hurt and, aside from keeping Whitney’s men from taking you and Sebastian, that’s always the main thing in urban situations.”

  Kane brushed his mouth across Rose’s lips. “We’re going to be all right, honey. The team came through. We had one casualty. Brian’s in surgery now, but both Paul and Marc are with him, and you know how bossy Mack is. He won’t let Brian slip away on us.”