A Darker Shade of Dead

by Bianca D’Arc

  “We knew you knew about Tim. That’s why I took him out.” Rodriguez backed away a step, dragging Sandra with him. Her eyes widened, but she seemed calm. “Now get on the phone and order that chopper and the plane.”

  “No.” Matt sighed. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

  “I’ll kill her! I’m not messing around.”

  “I know you aren’t, and I know you are fully capable of killing.”

  “You would stand by and watch? I thought you cared for her.” Rodriguez’s eyebrows rose and shock took over his expression.

  “That I do,” Matt admitted. It wasn’t as hard to say that out loud as he thought it would be, in public. He didn’t want to hide his feelings anymore. “I care for her a great deal. Which is why I want you to put down the needle and surrender.”

  Rodriguez gave a nervous laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “I’m afraid not. Put it down, doctor, and I’ll take it easy on you.”

  “This guy is nuts.” Rodriguez seemed almost to be talking to himself. “It is you who should be dropping your weapon and calling for my transportation. There is a phone right over there.” He nodded toward a desk along the wall. “Pick it up and make the call.”

  Matt glanced at the phone, then back at Rodriguez.

  “Tell you what. Move the needle away from her neck and I’ll pick up the phone.”

  Rodriguez seemed to consider. “I guess it doesn’t matter where I stick her. One scratch with this and she’s dead anyway.”

  That’s what he thought.

  Rodriguez moved the hand holding the needle away from Sandra’s vulnerable neck and settled it down near her arm. The point stuck into her clothing a millimeter or two, no doubt very close to the surface of her skin. It didn’t matter, of course, but Matt counted the potential for tangling in the fabric of her shirt as an extra pad on the split second timing he’d need if he was going to jump Rodriguez.

  Of course, he still wasn’t really sure if he would have to jump Rodriguez. He had time to play with this scenario, and he still needed to know if the man had any conventional weapons on his person.

  Then Matt would solve the puzzle of just how in the hell Sandra had wound up here. To someone else, this could look really bad. It might look like she’d left the safety of their new headquarters, despite all orders to the contrary. Like she did it on purpose. Like she was in collusion with Rodriguez after all.

  And Matt might have believed that. He had no doubt some of his men were thinking along those lines even now. But Matt trusted her. Foolish as that may sound in this situation, he trusted that she wouldn’t betray him. She may have lied in the past by omission, but that was before. This was now. And now—after all they’d been through together—he trusted her.

  Hell, he loved her. As far as he was concerned, you couldn’t have love without trust. What he felt was a deep, all-consuming love that filled his heart near to bursting. He wanted a future with Sandra and he’d do anything he had to in order to get that future. Anything.

  Including humoring a bastard that threatened to kill her when all Matt really wanted to do was rip Rodriguez’s head off. With his bare hands. Slowly, and as painfully as possible. Matt wanted Rodriguez to suffer for all the horror and death he’d caused, and especially for the way he’d been terrorizing Sandra.

  So Matt played along, stalling for time. While he kept Rodriguez distracted with talk, Matt was aware of the other members of his team positioning themselves around the basement. There was a window high above and behind where Rodriguez stood with Sandra. This old house was built into the side of a hill, and half of it stuck up above the soil line so much that they’d put in a window to let in light.

  It would also let in Sam Archer and a righteous boatload of hell and damnation all over Rodriguez’s pansy ass. Matt could hear the team’s terse reports over his earpiece as they slid into position.

  “Now you pick up the phone,” Rodriguez prodded him. Matt didn’t move except to tense his muscles in preparation for action.

  “If you say so.”

  Matt kept his tone steady and his eyes on Rodriguez. He wanted to be ready for whatever the unpredictable scientist might do next. One thing was for sure, Rodriguez would never be ready for what was about to be unleashed on him.

  When it went down, it did so at lightning speed.

  Sam smashed into the room through the window and grabbed Rodriguez from behind, glass and wood splinters flying every which way. The little bits of glass tinkled as they crashed to the tile floor of the basement. Sam and Rodriguez ignored the glittering, sharp rain as they wrestled for the syringe. Matt saw the needle flash as he grabbed for Sandra and pulled her toward him, out of harm’s way.

  Rodriguez, to his credit, tried to put up a fight. Admittedly, it wasn’t much of a struggle, and Sam subdued him with little trouble. It was only moments before it was all over.

  “Do you have the syringe?” Sandra asked in an urgent voice.

  Sam tossed it through the air and Matt caught it without managing to stab himself. He saw Sandra flinch in his peripheral vision. He noticed her cringing, too, and her worry was sort of endearing. He offered the filled syringe to her, and she took it gingerly into her hands.

  “What’s going on?”

  “This is the latest version of the contagion. With this we may be able to come up with a better way to stop the creatures or improve my design for the serum. We’ve had to reverse-engineer from remains up till this point—and not very successfully. This is a big break, scientifically speaking. We need to get this to the lab for study.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Matt was filled with frustrated anger.

  Did she not realize she’d almost gotten herself killed? Was her research the only thing she cared about? Matt stalked off to cool down before he throttled her. He looked around the large basement area to take stock of the situation, and almost simultaneously Simon called the all clear.

  Sandra heard the pride and satisfaction in Simon’s voice as he announced they were in the clear. It went through her, radiating down her bones. They’d captured Emilio Rodriguez, the man who’d threatened her for the past few months. They’d also secured a sample of his latest contagion for study, which was quite a coup.

  With Rodriguez in custody, she was finally safe. She could hardly believe it. He couldn’t threaten her anymore. Her secrets had been revealed, Rodriguez had been captured, and somehow she was still standing after all that. Sandra let the idea sink in while the men took care of business. She really hadn’t expected to survive this deadly game, yet here she was.

  The men put zip-tie cuffs around Rodriguez’s hands and marched him up the stairs. He was out of sight faster than she could have imagined. She watched Matt confer with the members of the combat team a few yards away.

  His mood was angry. She could tell from the sharp movements of his hands and the set of his broad shoulders. No doubt he was suspicious of her again. Finding her in Rodriguez’s lair didn’t look good. Even she knew that.

  Would he believe her when she told him how she’d gotten here? She wasn’t sure. She hoped he would. She hoped he’d give her a chance. Give her the benefit of the doubt. But even she had to admit her track record for telling him the truth wasn’t the best. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t believe her. Trust was something you earned, and she’d done precious little to earn his.

  She watched Matt issue orders to secure the rest of the property and search the house and grounds. The men scurried into motion, and Matt turned, his gaze searching the area until it landed on her.

  She could tell by the way his muscles tensed that he was working himself up a good head of steam as he stalked the length of the basement to stand in front of her. He faced her, just looking at her until she started to fidget under his scrutiny. Those blue eyes pinned her, making her feel like a bug under a microscope.

  “Now would you like to explain how in hell you came to be here?”

  She cringed, knowing he woul
dn’t like what she had to say. Especially not in his current mood.

  “I was tricked into leaving the building,” she admitted. Boy, did she feel stupid admitting to how easy it had been to dupe her. “I got a call on my cell phone telling me that Mariana had been captured and was being held hostage by Rodriguez’s men. I asked for proof they really had her and was instructed to look out the window on the northeast corner. The one by the secondary door on that side.”

  “You didn’t think this was important enough to tell somebody?”

  Oh, yeah, he was really angry, and she couldn’t blame him. She just had to muscle through her explanation and hope he would understand.

  “I was near the door already, so I went to the window and looked out. I saw someone in the distance, wearing a white lab coat. The person was about her size and struggling against the man holding her. I thought it was Mari. I really did. The man on the phone was pressuring me, telling me he’d kill her if I didn’t come out right that minute. I was all alone on that side of the building. There was no one to tell and no time to waste.”

  “What the hell were you thinking?” He took her shoulders in his hands and shook her just once.

  “I thought I should trade myself for Mari. They would only kill her and her baby. I couldn’t let that happen when it was me they wanted.”

  “Noble, but stupid, Sandra. God!” He shook her again and let go, visibly trying to control his frustrated anger.

  “I realized the minute I opened the door that I’d been duped,” she admitted. “In my own defense, I wasn’t thinking too clearly. Not after…” She didn’t want to admit she’d been so affected by their argument.

  Sandra didn’t know what to say to make this situation any better. Her rescuer had turned into an angry tyrant, and she didn’t know how to avoid his ire.

  “That is it!” Matt sounded furious. “I am through watching you put yourself in danger. What the hell were you thinking, leaving the building alone? You were supposed to stay put. To stay safe.”

  He grabbed her around the waist and planted a kiss on her lips that shocked the breath right out of her. It was all out in the open now. All his fear for her safety. All his caring. All his love.

  Dare she believe it?

  “Oh, Matt.” She gasped for air when he broke the kiss and hugged her close, nearly lifting her off her feet. His irritation seemed to have dissipated somewhat—or morphed into passion.

  “I love you, dammit. How could you take such a risk? If they’d killed you…” His voice trailed off as he buried his face in her neck.

  Oh, yeah, she believed him. Miracle of miracles—he loved her. The admission was too raw, too pure. He wasn’t censoring himself. He meant exactly what he said.

  “You don’t sound too happy about it.” She found the energy to joke.

  “On the contrary.” He rubbed his stubbly cheek gently against the side of her face, holding her close. “But this isn’t the time or place.” He lifted his head and eased his hold fractionally. “I have a lot I want to say to you, Sandy, but it’ll have to wait until we tie up some of these loose ends.” He looked around the basement at the men standing there, watching them.

  Nothing showed on their faces—they were too well trained to betray their thoughts so easily—but Sandra knew they had to be speculating about her presence, and their commander’s involvement with her. It made her uncomfortable to think they might disapprove.

  Matt kissed her once more, and she put away any coherent thoughts for later.

  “Uh, Commander,” a throat cleared from the bottom of the steps.

  Matt sighed as he dragged his lips away from hers. He didn’t let her go, resting his forehead against hers. It felt so good to have her in his arms again.

  “What is it, Sam?” He didn’t even look in the other man’s direction.

  “Sir, Rodriguez is ready to go and the house is secure. We found an office chock full of documents pertaining to Rodriguez’s research.”

  Now that was good news.

  “Any sign of the list of frequencies for those little transmitters he’s so fond of?”

  He gazed into her eyes and stroked her hair with one hand, unwilling to let her go just yet. He didn’t care who saw him holding her. She was his, dammit, and he wanted the world to know it. Such thoughts might have scared him before but not any longer. He was on the verge of something momentous here. Too bad they were in the middle of an op. Otherwise, he would have already carried her off to his cave and claimed her like the primitive man he was.

  “Not yet, sir,” Sam’s voice broke into his thoughts, refocusing him. “John is interrogating the prisoner, but he’s not being very cooperative right now.”

  “That’ll change. Put Sarah on the task of searching the office and get Donna over here to assist. Bring her in through the woods along with the decon team. Once they clear the place we can call in the rest of the techs to help with the search. Is that all?”

  “Almost, sir. Simon wants to know how you want to take Rodriguez back to base—loud or quiet?”

  “Quiet,” Matt answered at once. “Definitely quiet. We’ll walk him back through the woods the way we came in. If he still has allies out there, I don’t want them to know the doctor’s been shut down until the last possible moment. We’ll keep him under wraps as long as we can.”

  “Yes, sir.” Sam headed back up the stairs.

  “The ones who took you off base. How many were there?” Matt asked Sandy. He let her go and stood facing her. It was time to get back to work, despite how much he wanted to go on holding her in his arms.

  “There were two of them. Both male. The smaller man wore the lab coat, and after they had me they weren’t concerned about letting me see their faces. That worried me until they said Rodriguez wanted me alive. They couldn’t kill me. He wanted to do it himself.”

  “They still could’ve hurt you.” His gaze met hers, and he knew she understood what could have happened. “They could’ve hurt you real bad, Sandra. It was foolish to leave the building, no matter how pissed off you were at me.”

  “I know that. Heck, I knew it as I pushed open the door, but I thought I was trading myself for Mari. I didn’t want anyone else to pay for my mistakes. I’m sorry, Matt. I shouldn’t have kept secrets from you, but I was so afraid you’d never forgive me.”

  “A wise man once said, never say never.”

  “You’re quoting James Bond at me?”

  “Why not? Everything about this mission has a surreal quality to it.” He shrugged. “But not the part about finding the love of my life.”

  “You really mean that?”

  “With all my heart.”

  “I do, too,” she said. “Love you, I mean. More than anything.” Her voice dropped as his mouth lowered to capture her lips again in a kiss of longing, desire, and promise. There was no time to explore further, they both knew, but the kiss spoke of commitment and the future.

  When he let her go, they were both smiling. And trembling.

  “We’d better get out of here. There are a multitude of things to do before we can call this part of the mission complete.” He held out one hand to her and she took it. It was symbolic. They were partners now. They’d face what came, together.

  The team set out through the woods about twenty minutes later. Matt had decided he and Sandra would go with the group that would take their prisoner back to base. They all knew there still might be some zombies hiding out in the forest. Sandra would be going back to base after her ordeal, and he wanted to be certain she and the rest of the team, along with Rodriguez, got there safely.

  Sandra had identified the casualties from the first floor of the house as the two men who had kidnapped her from the base. Both seemed to be hired guns, much like Leroy had been. Preliminary identification made by a quick and secure phone call back to the tech team on base confirmed they both had long criminal histories. Rodriguez was probably using their underworld contacts to do things in a less than legal manner.

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nbsp; Rodriguez had argued and fumed at being marched out of the house and through the yard until Simon had slapped a wad of duct tape over his mouth. Even so, he struggled as he was led along into the trees. Once he realized they were walking into the forest, Rodriguez seemed to give in. His sudden cooperation set the hairs at the back of Matt’s neck on edge. Rodriguez knew something—or was planning something. Matt sent a quick hand signal to the rest of the team. Almost imperceptible nods answered his warning. The men had picked up on it, too. They were on guard.

  Matt dropped to the back of the group, taking Sandra with him. His hand on her elbow tightened until she looked at him.

  “Take this.” He handed her his secondary dart gun. Her eyes widened and she barely suppressed a gasp of surprise. “Use it if you have to.”

  “Do you think there’ll be trouble?” Her gaze darted around the gloomy forest, and she kept her voice blessedly low so that only he could hear her.

  “Maybe. Best to be prepared.” He tried to reassure her but knew he’d missed the mark. Oh, well. Better she be on edge than lulled into a false sense of security. “Just be sure whoever you aim at with those darts is already dead.”

  “I won’t shoot anyone I shouldn’t.” She grimaced.

  “Hopefully, you won’t have to shoot anyone at all.” He began walking faster in order to catch up with the team that had gone on ahead. It wouldn’t do to become separated.

  “Amen to that,” she muttered, following his lead.

  As it was, he was almost too late. He saw the movement behind the rest of the party before the rear guard did. Matt raised the alarm.

  “Sam, behind you! Three tangos at five o’clock.” Matt began firing even as the rest of the team sprang into action. Three ragtag, bloodstained, and disfigured beings moved steadily onward, their only goal to make more like themselves. To kill and maim and infect.

  No more. They’d meet their end this night, and all the living people here—except Rodriguez—were immune. No more zombies would be made. Not if Matt had anything to say about it.

  But the three creatures were followed by three more. Then even more came streaming steadily out of the brush. Everyone was firing now, even Sandra. Matt noticed that she placed her shots carefully, backing away as the zombies advanced on them.