Ruthless Game

by Christine Feehan

  The fog was dense over the water, like a living gray cloud, muffling sound and making it more difficult than ever to see, but Kane heard the sound of the boat returning to aid the diver. A large body burst out of the water, knife in hand, coming at him like some monster of the deep. A second diver had waited his chance. They had to have been waiting to transport Rose or the baby into the boat should the land operation fail. David had been quick to throw Rose over the railing because he'd known they had men waiting to fish her out before she drowned.

  Second bogey, Kane informed Mack even as he caught the second diver's wrist as it came down at him from above, the knife pointed straight at his throat.

  The diver was in a yellow and black wet suit, and Kane, in his civilian clothes, was subject to the cold water. He had to let go of Rose in order to keep from being stabbed. He caught the diver's wrist with both hands and kicked the man hard in the gut. The wave took Rose and rolled her underwater.

  Mack! Rose. It was a measure of Kane's distress that he addressed Mack, his friend, and not Top, the team leader. I can't get to her.

  Brian's on it.

  The complete confidence in Mack's voice steadied Kane as he struggled against his attacker, fending off the knife, kicking strongly with his legs to keep them both up. The diver would have the advantage underwater. He used his strength to bend the blade of the knife back toward the diver's body, leveraging against his arm. He had to trust Brian Hutton--and Mack--with the love of his life. He pushed Rose, the boat, and the struggle between Jacob and the other diver out of his brain and put mind and body into staying alive.

  The diver gave a little, and with the enormous pressure he was using, the sudden withdrawal of resistance sent him forward. The diver somersaulted backward, and they both went underwater, Kane behind him. He latched onto the diver's back, his arm around his neck, locking down in a death grip. It was extremely difficult to wrench the neck underwater with enough force to break it, but he applied enough pressure fast and hard that the diver began to lose consciousness. Without the struggling resistance, he was able to get leverage and snap the neck.

  The knife fell from the diver's hand, and Kane dove after it. As he surfaced into the thick fog, looking for Rose and Brian, he heard the sound of a boat bearing down on him.

  We don't have all night, Jacob. The boat's closing in on you, and the boys don't have a decent shot to keep them off of you, Mack informed the team member they'd dubbed "Shark."

  Give me a couple of minutes, Top. Jacob cut the air hose, dragging the first diver under the water. I'm a little occupied at the moment.

  The wave rolled them, pushing them toward the pillars. The diver struggled, trying to throw Jacob off him, but Jacob held him. They rolled together, over and over, scraping along the floor of the ocean, Jacob holding the diver ruthlessly. No matter how the diver twisted or turned, Jacob was tenacious, like a pit bull, refusing to let him go.

  They struggled, stirring up layers of fine sand and marine sediment on the floor, adding to the murkiness in the water. The diver began to panic, fighting in earnest now, trying to pull his knife from where it was strapped to his leg. Jacob never allowed him to move from his grip of iron. He took them down to the floor itself, calmly wrapping his legs around him like an octopus, his thighs strong enough to hold him. It was simply a matter of who could hold their breath the longest, and Jacob had been physically enhanced to stay underwater for long periods of time.

  The diver's struggles took on new urgency and then began to grow weaker. Eventually his body stiffened as he gasped for air, drawing water into his lungs. Jacob waited a minute longer until he was certain the other man had drowned. Above his head he saw a propeller as a boat skimmed across the surface.

  Brian Hutton dove deep repeatedly in the spot where Rose had rolled under with the waves. Where is she, Top? I can't find her.

  To your right, Brian. Three feet. You can reach out and touch her. Get her face out of the water.

  Mack sounded a little tense but steady as a rock. If Top said she was there, then it didn't matter that the fog was so thick and the pounding waves drove him against the pillars--she was within reach. He threw both arms out blindly and then searched just beneath the ever-changing surface, ignoring the sound of the boat approaching. He was vulnerable, aware at any moment a shot could take him. He hoped that if he couldn't see the occupants of the boat, they couldn't see him.

  His fingers brushed an arm, and he gripped it, dragging Rose to him, rolling her over to make certain she was still alive. She coughed, and spit water, but she didn't open her eyes, tossing her head from side to side and fighting him weakly.

  "I've got you, Rose," he reassured her. She seemed drugged, unable to fight her way out of the drug's hold on her.

  He leaned over her to try to make eye contact, and a bullet coming from an unknown direction hit him hard, high up along his shoulder. At first he didn't feel anything but the sharp sting, and then a burning numbness spread through his arm and chest until he could barely breathe, as if ice encased his upper body, freezing it.

  Coming at you. On your right.

  Mack and Marc had rigged a pulley and harness on the pier. They tossed the rope as close to him as they could. Brian fought the strength of the crashing waves as the power of the ocean tried to tear Rose from his arms. His boots were weighing him down, adding to the difficulty. In the cold water his body began shivering, a bad sign, but worse if it stopped. He couldn't afford to go numb, not before he got her out of the water. He tried not to think about Kane or Jacob and how long they'd been in the water. He couldn't figure out why his left arm refused to obey his commands.

  The harness was just feet from him, but seemed a mile. He timed the next wave, kicked strongly, and managed to snag it with his fingertips, draw it to him, and secure it around Rose. Twice water washed over both of them, and he came up choking and coughing. His lungs felt ice-cold, and his movements were slowing. He had no idea of time passing or how long he'd been in the water with the powerful waves battering him.

  Rose looked almost blue, but she was breathing, although her heart felt slow to him. Maybe it was just his own heart slowing down. The water was pounding both of them, and it was impossible to see in the fog. The gray vapor wrapped around them, enfolding them in wet mist.

  Brian! Stay with Rose, Mack commanded. She is your responsibility, and you cannot fail in your mission. Hold on to that rope and keep her face out of the water.

  Brian shook his head to clear the cobwebs from his brain. He couldn't quite remember how to hold on to the rope. His fingers weren't cooperating with his brain.

  Jaimie, Mack knew his wife was tuned to the telepathic path used for missions. She would be anxious for any news. Tell Eric to set up for surgery. He'll need to be ready fast. Have Javier bring up a vehicle now.

  Roger that. Her voice shook, but she didn't break protocol.

  Brian! Mack put every ounce of command a master gunnery sergeant possessed after years of leading an elite unit of soldiers. Fucking hold on to that rope, soldier.

  Brian's mind felt sluggish. He heard Mack's command, and he always obeyed Mack out in the field, especially when Mack swore, which was on very rare occasions. Top meant business, and there was no disregarding an order, no matter how difficult. He took hold of the rope, steadying Rose as the next wave took them under. He felt the tug on his arms as Mack and Marc began to pull them steadily through the water toward the pier.

  His left arm flopped into the water. He tightened his fingers on the rope, unable to do more than keep Rose's head from going under, but he didn't let go, refused, even though he barely knew what was going on, to let Top down. She moved now, obviously semiconscious, knowing something was terribly wrong but unable to focus.

  Don't fight, Brian soothed. Mack's got us. He'll get us out of this. Just relax and let him pull us up.

  There was a feeble, weak stirring. Kane?

  Kane heard Rose's voice. She sounded weak and very vulnerable. Most of all,
she sounded far away, as if she was calling to him from a great distance.

  We've got her, Kane. Mack's voice was as steady as ever. He would never lie--Rose had to be all right.

  Kane waited until the boat slipped into place at the north end of the pier, just feet away from where the divers had emerged, before surfacing. He realized that the enemy had prepared at least three different exits. Whitney wanted Sebastian and Rose and had gone to great lengths to acquire them.

  He emerged beside the boat in complete silence. The engine idled while they waited, peering through the fog to try to find their divers and Rose. The dense fog was perfect for hiding them from the shooters on the roof but made it nearly impossible for them to see what was happening in the water.

  Kane could hear two men whispering, the words somewhat muffled by the sound of the water beating against the pillars.

  "Do you see anything, Randy?"

  Kane listened carefully, mapping the exact location of the speaker in the boat. He adjusted his own position so that he was lined up with the man.

  "They were just here," Randy responded, almost hissing.

  From his voice, Kane knew Randy was toward the back of the boat and in a sitting position. He took a breath and went into motion, catching the side of the boat with both hands and powering his body into a back somersault, knees to chest until he cleared the side of the boat. As the enemy stood and staggered toward him, Kane exploded his legs straight out, catching his opponent in his gut. Kane was a big man, very muscular, and his strength was enormous. Adrenaline running added to the impact. His enemy went tumbling over the side of the boat, falling backward into the water.

  Kane landed hard and rolled toward Randy. The boat rocked crazily, tilting sharply, throwing Randy off balance as he fired his automatic, drilling holes in the side of the boat. Kane hit him hard under the chin as he drove upward, putting his considerable weight behind the blow, and then spinning around to deliver an elbow to the jaw. Randy clung grimly to the weapon, his finger glued to the trigger.

  The sound of the gun spitting bullets was deafening inside the blanket of fog. Kane trapped Randy's wrist, stepping in close to keep the man from turning the weapon toward him. He slammed the wrist back over Randy's shoulder, forcing his body backward and his feet out from under him. Randy went down, and as he did, Kane ripped the gun from him, turning the weapon back toward his enemy. The bullets created a bloodred zipper up the man's chest and into his throat.

  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 o
thers 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."