Operation: Midnight Guardian

by Linda Castillo

  Cutter still remembered with stark and frightening clarity every second of agony The Jaguar had inflicted. He remembered the odd light of excitement in the other man’s eyes, and he’d realized The Jaguar was so good at what he did because he enjoyed it.

  For a moment Cutter thought he would be sick. Dear God how had the situation spiraled so horribly out of his control?

  Hold on, Mattie, he thought. I’m coming for you.

  The problem was he had no idea where to look for her. He’d searched the scene thoroughly, but The Jaguar had not left a single clue. Cutter had gotten on the phone and called in favors, but not even his shadier connections knew where The Jaguar’s mountain compound was located.

  The only information the MIDNIGHT Agency intelligence people could come up with was that the place was a fortress set on a hundred acres of rugged mountain terrain somewhere in Alberta, an immense province in western Canada. A lot of ground to cover. Without GPS coordinates, searching for her would be futile.

  “Damn it!” Cutter slammed his fist down on the tabletop. “Madrid, where the hell are you?”

  He glanced at his watch. Almost two hours had passed, and he knew all too well how much could have happened to Mattie by now. Cutter had never been good at waiting, but he honestly felt as if he were about to unravel.

  He jolted when his cell phone chirped. Madrid’s cell number appeared on the display. “Talk to me,” he said.

  “I got the GPS coordinates.” Madrid rattled off a series of numbers. “I’m en route in the Lear. Backup is on the way. We’ll meet you at the compound in three hours. Your instructions are to not go in alone.”

  Cutter made a bitter sound that was part growl, part laugh. “In three hours he’ll have the plans for EDNA and Mattie will be dead.”

  “Sean, you need to calm down and think about this.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down, damn it.”

  “Look, Wolfe briefed me on the situation. Our objective is to take down The Jaguar. We can’t afford to screw this up, Cutter. Come on. Work with me. There are a lot of lives at stake.”

  Cutter started for the door. “There’s only one life I’m interested in at the moment.”

  “I don’t want her getting hurt any more than you do, but you have to weigh her life against the lives of tens of thousands at risk if that bastard gets his hands on EDNA.”

  “I know what’s at stake,” Cutter snapped.

  “The scientist is expendable, Sean.”

  “Yeah, well, so am I.”

  After ending the call, Cutter left the bed and breakfast at a dead run.

  THE JAGUAR GAVE HER the grand tour of the compound as if he were the host of some upscale resort. Had it not been for the knot of fear tightening around her throat, Mattie could almost have imagined she was visiting the mansion of some celebrity in Los Angeles or New York or Chicago. But the reality that she was a prisoner in the lair of a killer never left her mind.

  The dining rooms were massive and furnished with expensive Italian furniture. The chef’s kitchen gleamed with stainless steel appliances and ornate tiles set into the walls. Antique furniture adorned the six guest bedrooms.

  The Jaguar himself was nothing like she envisioned. He was cultured and soft-spoken. But as he went on about the compound and his reasons for having built it, Mattie saw something dark in his eyes. A deep-seated hatred for anyone who did not agree with him. A total disregard for human life. A cruelty that was beyond frightening.

  “Are you ready to begin the second phase of the tour?”

  The question drew her from her reverie. Mattie looked at him to find his eyes already on her, calculating, probing. She suppressed a shudder. “I want you to let me go,” she said.

  “Come now,” he cooed. “You know I can’t do that.”

  “You can. Please. I don’t know anything about what you want.”

  Amusement danced in his eyes. “That remains to be seen, doesn’t it?”

  He wants to hurt me almost as badly as he wants the future plans for EDNA, she thought, shivering with terror.

  The Jaguar nodded at one of the two men with them. The man punched numbers into a keypad set into the wall. A heavy door slid open to a murkily lit stairwell. The Jaguar motioned her inside. “Please,” he said.

  When Mattie hesitated, one of the other men gave her a shove. Knowing she didn’t have a choice, she went down the stairs. At the base of the stairs, they entered a narrow hall with two doors on either side. The steel doors were equipped with barred windows.

  A scream shattered the silence. The sound was so shrill and animalistic, she couldn’t tell if it was male or female. Then a second scream rent the air. The urge to put her hands over her ears to block out the horrific sound was overwhelming, but her hands were secured behind her back.

  “In case you’re wondering, this is the interrogation wing.” The Jaguar motioned down the hall. “Shall we?”

  “I don’t want to see any more,” Mattie said.

  “All of my interrogation equipment is state-of-the-art.” He went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “Much of it was imported from other countries. Some of it I invented myself. You see, I am a master of persuasion. I know how to make people cooperate.”

  Taking her arm, he forced her down the hall, stopping at the first door. “This room is for level-one interrogations. I would take you inside, but as you can see it is currently in use. Observe,” he ordered.

  The last thing she wanted to do was look through the small window. She had no desire to witness the horrors going on inside any of these rooms. Lowering her head, Mattie shut her eyes. The next thing she knew strong hands were clamped around her head, forcing her face to the glass.

  “Look at him!” The Jaguar commanded.

  Mattie opened her eyes. She caught a glimpse of bare flesh. The stark red of blood. The jangle of chains against concrete. The crack of electricity against wet skin. A cry of anguish escaped her at the sight of the man’s face as it contorted in agony….

  “You’re a monster,” she whispered.

  “I am a man fighting for what I believe is right.”

  “Not like this.”

  “How then?” Stepping in front of her he put his hand beneath her chin and forced her gaze to his. “Negotiation? Peace treaties?” His laugh was bitter. “Too many of my people have died trying.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  She immediately regretted the question. She knew what he wanted. And she had a terrible feeling she knew how far he would go to extract it.

  “I want the future plans for EDNA,” he said. “You tell me what you know, and I’ll let you go. I won’t hurt you. I’ll personally drive you to the nearest city and release you. It’s as simple as that.”

  The offer was tempting. But Mattie knew that to accept it she would be making a deal with the devil. She knew that by relaying the information, tens of thousands of lives would be in danger. She’d never be able to live with herself even if he kept his word and let her live, which was highly doubtful.

  “I don’t know the future plans for EDNA,” she said.

  “Lying to me now will only cause you more pain later,” he said.

  “I swear,” she said. “I don’t know anything.”

  He stared at her with those cold, dark eyes. “Daniel Savage gave me your notes. You had outlined the second phase of EDNA. I know you were working on miniaturization. I know you had almost perfected it. I want those plans, Mattie, and I want them now. If you do not cooperate, I will be forced to take you into that room.”

  At that moment she was more terrified than she’d ever been in her life. She knew if she wanted to survive this she was going to have to talk. But the idea of unleashing any part of the EDNA project on an unsuspecting population repulsed her so thoroughly, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. There was simply no way she could give that kind of power to a terrorist.

  Maybe she could make something up. She could recreate her research and embellish it in
a way that would ensure the weapon he built wouldn’t work. She could design phony blueprints using substandard materials. After all, no one would be the wiser until the weapon was built and tested….

  The level-one interrogation room door swung open. Mattie saw two men drag out a third wearing nothing more than a pair of drawstring pants. Her stomach turned when she noticed that his feet were leaving a trail of blood on the concrete floor.

  “Ah, they’ve finished.” The Jaguar smiled. “Take her inside.”

  She lunged backward in an attempt to free herself, but the two men snagged her arms.

  “No!” she screamed as they forced her into the room. “No!”

  The room was small, perhaps twelve feet square. A gurney sat against the wall. Chains with shackles hung from the ceiling. Electrical probes dangled from a table. An array of sharp instruments lined the counter.

  Mattie looked down, saw a pool of blood the size of a saucer on the floor and tried not to imagine the horrors that had just taken place in this terrible room.

  “What do you think of my interrogation room?” The Jaguar asked.

  “I think you’re a sick bastard,” she said.

  One side of his mouth curved. “I’m going to enjoy teaching you some manners.”

  “Go to hell!” she hissed.

  “You first.” He nodded at the two men. “Strap her to the gurney. Let her get a sense of who’s in charge and who is not.”

  Mattie frantically looked around, but there was nowhere to run. No way to escape what this man had planned for her. She backed away as the two men approached her. With her wrists bound, there was nothing she could do to protect herself. The scars on Cutter’s body flashed in her mind’s eye. Only now did she realize fully the horrors he must have endured.

  As the men dragged toward the gurney, Mattie felt as if she was entering hell.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Cutter stole the SUV at gunpoint just two blocks from the wire office. A man, probably on his way to the ski slopes, judging from his clothes and the snow chains on the tires, was sitting behind the wheel at a stoplight, tapping his fingers to the beat of a song on the radio. Cutter walked up to the passenger door and jammed the pistol into the side of his face.

  “I’m a federal agent,” he said. “This is an emergency. I’m commandeering your vehicle. Put your hands up and get out.”

  The man’s eyes widened, his hand reaching for the knob. “Wh—whatever you say,” he said.

  “Get out. Now.”

  The man slid from the seat and stumbled from the vehicle. Cutter hit the gas and left him standing in the street. By the time he reached the edge of town, he was doing sixty miles per hour, driving like a madman through deep snow and icy patches. The vehicle slid dangerously close to the ditch several times, but Cutter didn’t slow down.

  He’d located a sporting goods store while waiting for Madrid to call with the coordinates. There, he’d bought tools: wire cutters, flashlight, hunting knife, even a cheap GPS unit. He’d plugged in the coordinates and mapped out a route to the compound. It would be tough going, but if he could keep up this pace he could be there in half an hour.

  “Hang on, Mattie,” he whispered as he maneuvered a curve at a treacherous speed.

  The passage of time hammered at him as the vehicle sped into the darkness and snow. Fear chased him no matter how fast he drove. Cutter had endured some of the worst things a human being could face. But the thought of Mattie facing the same fate at the hands of The Jaguar tore down his defenses like nothing else ever had in his life.

  He made the half-hour drive in twenty minutes. He checked the GPS coordinates twice, fearing he had somehow missed the place. He took the SUV down a narrow stretch of dirt road when suddenly through the thick trees he saw the lights of the compound.

  Nestled between two ridges, the place, built into the side of a mountain, was fortresslike. It was protected from the air by the high cliffs, protected from access by land because the roads were narrow and dirt. The perfect location for a terrorist training center.

  He cut the headlights and eased the four-wheel drive vehicle down the narrow road. Even with the chains, the tires spun in the deep snow. At the half-mile point, fearing the vehicle would be seen, Cutter ran the truck into a deep ravine and set out on foot. He ran quickly in the darkness, knowing he had to reach Mattie before The Jaguar began his terrible work.

  The compound was a massive stone-and-brick structure. Concertina wire surrounded the outer perimeter. Though he couldn’t see them because of the falling snow, Cutter knew there would be spotlights, motion detectors and, of course, armed sentries. The Jaguar hadn’t become the most powerful terrorist in the world by being lax in his security.

  No, he would have it all and then some.

  He approached the building from the north, used the wire cutters to make an opening in the concertina wire and crawled through on his belly. Once through the wire, Cutter jumped to his feet and looked around. He was twenty yards from the main building. From where he stood, he could see a guard tower. Dual spotlights shone from each corner of the building and swept the grounds in ten-second intervals.

  Using the snow for cover, he sprinted to the north wall and flattened himself against the brick. No doubt all the entrances would be locked down tight. The windows were high and more than likely rigged to an alarm system.

  The sound of a door opening startled him. Twenty feet away a man in a blue parka stepped outside. Cutter pressed closer to the brick and watched as the man pulled out a pack of cigarettes, tapped one out and lit up.

  I just found a breach in your security system, you son of a bitch.

  He waited until the man had finished smoking and punched the reentry numbers into a keypad. The second the door opened, Cutter took him out with a single blow from the wire cutters. He confiscated the man’s assault rifle and uniform, then dragged him to a nearby stack of pallets where he would be out of sight. He gagged and bound him, then quickly changed into the uniform.

  Cutter could feel the seconds ticking by as he entered the building. He couldn’t stop thinking about Mattie. How frightened and alone she must feel. At that moment he would have given his own life to save hers. But he had to find her first.

  Hang on, his mind chanted. I’m coming for you.

  He slithered down a darkened tiled hall that intersected with another, wider hallway. In the distance he could hear heavy footsteps. The occasional slam of a steel door. Even in the dead of night the place was alive with evil.

  Ever aware of the passage of time, Cutter headed toward the main part of the building. He was midway down the hall when a scream tore through the air.

  The sound stopped him dead in his tracks. It was a sound so filled with terror that Cutter felt that same terror ripping through his own body.

  Oh dear God, The Jaguar was torturing her.

  Cutter closed his eyes against the images prying at his brain. He could not let himself think of her in personal terms because he knew it would render him useless. He leaned against the wall, struggled to overcome the dark emotions building inside him. But the fear and rage were so powerful that for a moment he could do nothing but stand there and shake.

  Then he heard a second heartrending scream, and tried to discern where the scream had come from. To his right a steel door stood ajar. Cutter walked to the door and found himself looking down a steep and dimly lit stairwell.

  Beyond, he heard voices. Heavy footfalls against concrete. The clang of steel against steel. He’d found The Jaguar’s inner sanctum.

  Forgetting caution, Cutter stepped into the darkness and started into a place he could only describe as hell on earth.

  MATTIE HAD THOUGHT she had been mentally prepared for what she knew would happen. But as the men strapped her to the gurney, she knew no human mind could ever prepare for the horrors of torture.

  She lay on the cold, hard gurney and listened to The Jaguar gather the tools of his trade. She struggled against the straps binding h
er, but the nylon restraints remained secure. Panic assailed her. But there was no escape. No hope. The best she could wish for was a quick end.

  She’d vowed not to cry, not to beg. But the realization that her life was going to end at the hands of an evil man like The Jaguar sent a sob to her throat. So many things left undone. So many words left unsaid. She would never marry. Never bear children.

  She would never have the chance to tell Cutter she’d fallen in love with him.

  To find love now and never have the opportunity to say the words was bittersweet. The irony of it broke her heart.

  “I believe we are ready to begin.”

  Every nerve in her body drew taut at the sound of The Jaguar’s voice. Mattie raised her head. He stood facing her a few feet away, a tray in his hands.

  “There’s still time to do this the easy way.” Crossing to her, he set his hand against her cheek. “It really would be a shame to mess up that pretty face.” His fingertips slid down her throat, pausing at the valley between her breasts. “You are so very lovely.”

  Repulsed, Mattie shuddered.

  “I was married once, you know. Her name was Monique, and she was every bit as beautiful as you are. Has Cutter told you about her yet?”

  Mattie didn’t know what to say. Cutter had told her about Monique, but acknowledging that would likely only fuel his sadism, so she said nothing.

  “No matter.” He waved the question away. “I loved her very much. I had to kill her, you know. You see, she slept with Sean Cutter and I do not share my women with anyone.”

  Mattie could hear her labored breaths echoing within the confines of the small room. She couldn’t stop trembling.

  Cutter, where are you?

  “I want you to tell me about the next phase of the EDNA Project.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Playing dumb does not become you,” he said nastily. “It certainly will not buy you time.” To prove his point he touched her leg with an electrical probe.

  The spark of electricity sounded like a gunshot. The pain wrenched a scream from her throat. Her body jolted violently. Her vision swam. Sweat beaded her forehead even though the room was chilly. Oh dear God, don’t let him do this…