Whispers in the Dark k-4

by Maya Banks

  Time stopped. He couldn’t breathe. Oh God, what if he didn’t make it?

  When both landed inside the helicopter, Nathan nearly went to his knees in relief. But then he bolted into action and ran along the path paralleling the lake, keeping his eye on the rapidly fading helicopter.

  Fuck it all, the goddamn thing had already become a blip on the horizon. It wasn’t a helicopter he recognized and he’d flown plenty. He knew every helicopter flown by the military whether it was the army or another branch of the service. This was none of those.

  He’d never seen an aircraft like this one. He hadn’t heard it until it was literally on top of them. Which meant some goddamn top-secret prototype had just snatched Shea literally out of the air.

  “Nathan! Nathan!”

  He pulled up, nearly gutted by the cramp in his side, and turned to see Garrett hauling ass over the uneven terrain in his SUV. He braked hard when he reached Nathan, sending dust flying in all directions.

  Donovan leaped out, Sam right on his heels.

  “What the hell happened?” Donovan demanded.

  “Shea,” Nathan gasped. “The bastards took her. I was in the house for only a minute and they had a helicopter waiting. Crazy bastard threw her over his shoulder and jumped from the edge of the drop-off into the chopper.”

  Garrett’s expression was fierce. “We didn’t hear a fucking chopper.”

  Nathan shook his head. “This wasn’t a typical military helicopter. I’ve never seen anything like it. I only heard it when it got damn close. I’ve heard…I mean I’ve heard shit about prototypes for super stealth choppers that can’t be heard over a couple hundred yards away. Just didn’t think they existed yet.”

  “Talk to her, man,” Van urged. “Find out what’s going on with her. Get her to give you any information she can.”

  “Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Nathan yelled. “I’ve got nothing but this yawning black hole in my mind. She’s not there!”

  Garrett put his hand on Nathan’s arm. “We know where to find her.”

  Nathan looked at his brother in confusion, sure that he hadn’t heard correctly. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “Resnick’s boys were behind the break-in at Shea’s house,” Donovan said grimly. “The bastard has been tightlipped with us because he’s behind it or at least he has a big hand in it. He must have loved me coming to him for information. Fuck me. I all but gave him a detailed map of how to find her. I’m going to kill him.”

  Nathan tried to clear the haze of rage and confusion that was clouding his mind. “Wait a minute. Resnick has her?”

  “Yeah, or at least he knows who does,” Sam said. “Come on. We’ve got a house call to make. That little son of a bitch is going to regret this.”

  “If he so much as touches a hair on her head, I’m going to gut him and leave him for the vultures,” Nathan hissed.

  “And we won’t do a goddamn thing to stop you,” Garrett promised. “Now let’s go. We left Ethan and Swanny with Steele and his team, and they’re likely having a kitten for wanting to blow something up. Looks like they’re going to get their chance.”

  SHEA came to awareness but was careful not to convey that she’d regained consciousness. She was no longer in a helicopter. She knew that much at least. Nor was she moving. She was lying on a couch. A couch? As tempted as she was to open her eyes, she forced herself to have discipline and carefully determine what she could without any noticeable change in her breathing.

  It was silent. She strained to listen for any sign that she wasn’t alone. But all she heard was the light hum of a central air-conditioning system.

  She allowed one slit in her left eye, and when she didn’t immediately see anyone else in the room, she opened both eyes and quickly examined her surroundings.

  Seeing no one, she shot to her feet and then nearly went down and face-planted on the floor. Holy hell, but whatever they’d given her must work for elephants too. She sank back onto the edge of the couch and shook her head, trying to clear the muzziness that surrounded her like fog.

  There were two ways out of the room. A door and a large window. She had no idea where the door led, but she was going to check out the window first. It was already dark, which meant she’d been out for hours.

  Shea, goddamn it. Where are you? Talk to me. Just talk to me. Let me know you’re okay. Let me know where to find you. We’re coming for you, baby.

  She dropped to her knees, holding her head in agony. Each word sent splinters into her brain until she moaned and closed her eyes. She rocked back and forth, so shaken and in so much pain that her stomach was a tight ball of nausea.

  Nathan.

  As soon as she tried to reach out to him, pain speared through her skull and down her spine. Overwhelmed, she leaned forward and vomited. It took her several long moments to regain her composure and for her to stop the violent heaving of her stomach.

  A gentle hand touched her shoulder, and she reacted on instinct. She turned and lashed out, first with her hand, landing the heel of her palm on the bridge of her captor’s nose. She was on her feet in an instant and followed up with a vicious kick to his balls.

  He doubled over with a grunt and she nailed him with a right hook to the jaw. Not leaving anything to chance, she snapped her foot into the side of his head and sent him reeling to the floor.

  The dull gleam of a pistol secured in his shoulder harness sent her scrambling to yank it free. First she hit him on the back of the head with the butt and then she quickly frisked him for extra clips.

  She felt like doing a double fist pump when she found not only two extra clips, but a smaller Sig Sauer secured to an ankle holster. She pocketed it and the knife from his pocket and then ran for the door.

  She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting. Maybe some underground compound. A top-secret government facility in some cave. Or maybe even a basement in some underground Washington D.C. test facility. Whatever she’d been expecting, this wasn’t it.

  She was in a freaking house. A normal-looking house that from all appearances someone lived in. Damn it. She hadn’t thought to frisk the dude for keys to a vehicle. They had to have gotten her here someway.

  She crouched down in the hallway when she heard voices in the next room. The stock of the pistol was slick in her hand and her pulse raced. She didn’t want to have to kill anyone. She wasn’t saying she wouldn’t do it. But it didn’t mean she was ready to start pumping people full of lead.

  On the other hand, these assholes had scared her to death, they’d drugged her and they’d jumped off a cliff into a helicopter. And whatever they’d given her had affected her ability to use her telepathy.

  Yeah, she was just pissed off enough to shoot and get the hell out of this place. Wherever this place was.

  She ducked into one of the other rooms, realizing it was a guest bedroom. For God’s sake. Were they in suburbia? This was getting more bizarre by the moment.

  Footsteps passed in the hallway and she knew she only had moments before it was discovered she’d escaped. She ran to the window and forwent trying to be stealthy.

  She kicked out the glass, making a big enough hole that she could get out without being cut to shreds. Then she ducked through and stepped into empty space.

  She barely had time to utter a foul curse before she hit the ground with a painful thump. All the air left her and she couldn’t draw in a single breath. It hurt too much.

  Hell, she’d never even considered that she was in a two-story house. It was dark. She was still disoriented from the drugs. She just wanted to get the hell out of that creepy place.

  Gasping painfully, she rolled and pushed herself to her knees.

  “Damn it, Shea, what the hell are you trying to do, kill yourself?”

  She grabbed the pistol and shot to her feet, backing away from the man who stood a short distance away.

  He held his hands up and took a step forward. “I’m not going to hurt you. Put the gun down so we can tal
k.”

  She shook her head. “Too late, asshole. This whole ordeal has been anything but a cakewalk. If it’s all the same to you, I’m getting the hell out of here.”

  He frowned and then lunged toward her. She squeezed the trigger, and a moment later, he dropped to his knees holding his arm and wearing a bewildered expression.

  “You shot me.”

  “Well, duh.” Moron.

  She turned and fled, making damn sure she kept a tight hold on the gun.

  “Shea, wait! Don’t go!”

  The man was insane. She was tempted to shoot him again, but the rest of his goons would be after her. She turned and sprinted down the street wondering where she was and how the hell she was going to get back to Nathan.

  CHAPTER 35

  THEY surrounded the house in the darkness. Nathan was on edge, his unease growing with every minute he was separated from Shea. He worried that his continued efforts to reach her would only weaken her, so he’d controlled the urge to continually call out to her.

  Donovan had gone on a rampage and called in every favor ever owed to him in an effort to track Resnick down.

  Steele and his team were in position. P.J. and Cole were in two of the oak trees on the edge of the property with their sniper rifles. Swanny, Nathan and his brothers were taking the front. Steele and the remainder of his team were taking the back.

  It took all of Nathan’s restraint and military training to sit back and wait for the command to go in. Everything inside screamed at him that his woman was in danger. That these assholes had her. That he should go in and take down everything in his path until he had her back.

  Joe put a hand on his shoulder, a silent gesture of support. Nathan stood there in the dark, seething, readying himself to kill.

  His nostrils flared and his grip tightened on his rifle when Sam held up his hand in silent readiness. Sam gave the silent countdown and then gave the order to go in.

  Much like the onslaught Nathan and Shea had suffered when they’d gone to her parents’ house, KGI went in with the sole intention of overpowering the occupants. Several flash grenades went off. It looked like a staccato of strobe lighting going off throughout the house.

  There were three men in the kitchen surrounding another man sitting in a chair. Resnick. Nathan stared at the blood smeared down Resnick’s arm and felt his stomach bottom out.

  Swanny, Ethan and Joe broke away to clear the rest of the house, while the others blew into the kitchen like a hurricane.

  “Down! Down! Down! Get down!” Garrett yelled.

  The three men hit the floor while Resnick merely raised his arms toward the ceiling. A sound from behind Garrett alerted Sam and he leveled his rifle over Garrett’s shoulder. Garrett and Donovan kept their rifles trained on the men on the floor.

  “Don’t even think about it, Phillips,” Sam growled. “Stand down. This isn’t worth getting your ass shot over.”

  The young Marine’s lips thinned but he lowered his weapon and Sam went to collect it.

  “What the fuck, Phillips? Who the hell are you taking orders from these days?”

  “From me,” Resnick said wearily. “Goddamn it, I need a cigarette.”

  Donovan motioned for the three men on the floor to stay down while Sam went around behind Phillips and patted him down. He then directed him to put his hands behind his head and leave them up where they could be seen.

  Swanny, Joe and Ethan burst into the kitchen just then.

  “Rest of the house is clear,” Ethan said.

  Sam directed him over to cover Phillips and then Sam stalked toward Resnick.

  But Nathan was there first, fury boiling in his veins. Sam stepped in between him and Resnick and shot Nathan a meaningful glance. Yeah, it meant calm his ass down, but it was easy for Sam to think that. If it was Sophie in danger, Sam would be batshit insane.

  “What the fuck, Resnick?” Sam thundered when he turned back to the other man. “Nathan wants your ass on his wall and I’m tempted to let him have at you. I’d be very careful what you do and say over the next little while because he wants to kill you. I want to let him.”

  “Where’s Shea?” Nathan demanded. “Tell me where she is, and if you’ve hurt her in any way, so help me God, you’re a dead man.”

  “She’s not here,” Phillips said from behind them.

  Nathan whirled around, his gaze finding the younger man. “Where the hell is she then? It was you who tossed her over your shoulder and made that dumb-ass jump into the helicopter. You could have killed her!”

  “If my orders were to kill her, she’d be dead,” Phillips said evenly. “My orders were to deliver her safely. I did that. There was never a question of her safety.”

  “Fucking Marines always think they’re such bad-asses,” Ethan muttered.

  Garrett raised his eyebrows at his younger brother but let the insult pass.

  “Where is she?” Nathan bit out again. “I don’t give a shit what your orders were. I only care about where she is now.”

  To Nathan’s surprise, Phillip’s cheeks colored and he fidgeted. Suddenly he didn’t look like the supercomposed, always-follow-orders badass. He looked…embarrassed.

  “She escaped.”

  Seven mouths fell open. Joe stepped forward and stared at Phillips. Then he smirked. “She kicked your ass, didn’t she?”

  “Fuck you,” Phillips muttered.

  “Look, she freaked out when she came around,” Resnick interjected. “I thought we had more time. She came to, Phillips was supposed to see to her, and she escaped.”

  Sam quirked up his eyebrow as sudden understanding flashed across his face. “Is she what happened to your arm?”

  Resnick nodded, his expression still tight with pain. “She shot me when I tried to prevent her escape. Hell, she jumped out of a second-story window. I was worried she was hurt. She basically told me to fuck off and then shot me before she ran like a damn jackrabbit.”

  “Fierce!” Garrett crowed. “I knew I loved that girl. You deserved everything you got, Resnick.”

  “Did you send someone after her?” Nathan asked in a deadly quiet voice.

  Resnick shook his head. “Look, it just happened. I was just sending the men out to find her.”

  Nathan moved in close and stroked the barrel of his rifle down the column of Resnick’s neck until Resnick broke into a sweat. “Your next move is to back the fuck off. Then you’re going to tell us what the fuck you were doing in Shea’s parents’ house. You’re also going to tell us why you’re so goddamn interested in Shea and Grace Peterson. And then you’re going to forget you ever knew anything about either of them.”

  Resnick shook his head, his eyes determined. “I can’t do that.”

  “Why the fuck not?” Nathan snarled.

  Resnick’s head dropped and he let out a weary sigh. “Look, Donovan, can you patch me up here? This arm’s hurting like a son of a bitch and I need to be able to use it. I’ll tell you everything I know while you work.”

  Nathan shook his head. “Hell no. You don’t get shit from us until you tell us what the fuck is going on. I don’t give a fuck if your arm rots off. Shea is out there scared to death and unable to communicate with me. I’m not leaving her a minute longer than necessary. I’m going after her and you’re going to arm me with everything I need to know about what I’m walking into.”

  “Christ. At least give me a goddamn cigarette.”

  Garrett reached for the crumpled pack on the kitchen counter and tossed it along with a lighter in Resnick’s direction. Resnick tore half the packing off as he dug out a cigarette. Using his good arm, he shoved the end of the cigarette into his mouth and then raised his hand to light it.

  A moment later, he inhaled deeply and then exhaled a long plume of smoke.

  “So Shea can communicate with you?” Resnick asked Nathan. There was intense interest in his usually inscrutable gaze. “Can you talk to her or does she have to open the channel?”

  His curiosity only served
to piss Nathan off more. And Resnick knew it.

  “Fuck you,” Nathan said in a deadly voice. “She isn’t some goddamn lab rat for you to poke and prod on.”

  Something dark flickered in Resnick’s eyes, giving him a haunted look. “Shea was never in any danger from me. Not me.”

  “Really?” Nathan asked coolly. “You could have fooled me.”

  “Why weren’t you straight with us?” Donovan demanded. “You clammed up the minute I asked about Shea. And you knew, goddamn it. You knew about her and you used the info I gave you to move in and snatch her. That’s bullshit and you know it. Is this how it’s going to work from now on? We can’t trust anything that comes from you?”

  “It’s a goddamn different situation!” Resnick seethed. “This is personal. I was protecting her, okay? I knew you guys had no idea what you were dealing with. How could you? I was doing what was best for Shea. There are people after her who don’t give a damn who lives or dies as long as they get what they want, and they want her and Grace. Suddenly she surfaces on your radar? What the hell? You have no idea what we’re dealing with here.”

  “And you damn sure didn’t do anything to change that fact,” Sam growled.

  “What people and why are you so involved?” Garrett barked at Resnick. “What’s your stake in this? It’s not like you to get personal about anything. You’d hang your own mother out to dry if it furthered your purpose.”

  Resnick’s lip curled back into a snarl and he glared Garrett down. “You don’t know anything about me, so back the fuck off. Just because we work together or I throw you a job here and there doesn’t mean you know shit about me or what matters to me.”

  “So explain it to us,” Donovan said impatiently. “We’re wasting time here, Resnick. Spill it or I’ll goddamn shoot you in the other arm, and you know I’m just pissed off enough to do it. What you did was bullshit and you know it.”

  “Fuck him,” Nathan spit out. “Let’s go. I don’t have time for this shit.” Then he turned to Resnick and got into his face until they were nose to nose. “Don’t you ever come near Shea again. You don’t even say her name. You forget she ever existed.”