Minefield [Black Ops Brotherhood 5] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Bella Juarez

  Alex chuckled. It felt good to hear the lightness of her voice. “Whatever, angel. Thanks for covering me. Love you, baby.”

  Alex went back to the lab and started to assess the situation. The field testing had to get done before he went to NASA to consult with the NSA teams working there because they were conducting tests on the medication and its reaction to combat conditions. The conditions could be as harsh as temperature extremes to something as simple as exposure to UV light.

  The TAD would bring medication and the delivery device together. They’d start more stringent testing with the system and also start developing a training plan to train field medics on the device application and educate them on the uses of the medication. This all had to be ready to incorporate in training in less than five months.

  Fuck me! Those two ought to be grateful I don’t have time to dispose of their bodies!

  * * * *

  Dr. Lewis looked around nervously. He heard the brush behind him rustle, it seemed as if something were right there, ready to strike. Elena, Alex, and the other five team members had been running field trials. Now they were testing the device in the dark. From what he was documenting it was going fairly quickly. Still, this wasn’t the way he planned on spending his evening. Tomorrow they’d be testing the devices in moving vehicles over rough terrain.

  “Lewis! Get over here!” Alex called.

  Bastard! He hated Alex Richards more than anyone he’d ever known in his life. Bob got up from his computer station and went toward the team members. They were testing the device on large animal carcasses. They’d dissect the carcasses when they got back to the lab in order to see what sort of secondary damage was done.

  “Elena, get that last test subject to the vehicle so we can unload it at the lab later,” Richards ordered.

  “That thing has to be a hundred pounds! I can’t do it alone. Get a couple of the medics to do it,” Elena protested.

  “Figure it out, Doctor. You’re the one that fucked this up. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your screw-up. The medics are the ones testing the devices. Move it!” Richards ordered.

  “You can’t tell me what to do, Lieutenant. I’ve got documentation work that needs to be done,” Elena said.

  “Commander, this is my operation and I don’t give a fuck what your rank is. You do this my way or explain to Captain O’Malley why these tests won’t meet his timeline. Now quit stalling and get that piece of shit off my test field. Now!” Richards ordered. “Lewis, bring out the last one while we finish up these other three.”

  Ever since he and Elena had received that call from their captain at Fort Sam, Alex Richards had turned into a monster. Their commanding officer put him and Elena on loan to Special Warfare Group 5, until further notice.

  Captain O’Malley had come to the lab right before they were scheduled to leave for the day and informed them both that they’d be spending the evening at Camp Bullis. Dr. Richards would be in charge and they were to follow his orders to the letter. No questions asked. Alex went ahead to Bullis and started doing the field testing that should’ve been done a week ago.

  What the hell? I didn’t sign up for this shit! Lewis seethed as he and Elena struggled, going opposite directions. The faster they could get this done the better. He got the hunk of meat to the test site and started to walk back to his area.

  “Go help your buddy, Lewis.” Richards growled.

  Bob said nothing and walked to Elena, assisting her with her task.

  “I hate that bastard,” he whispered as they struggled to get the carcass in the large truck.

  “Let’s just get through this, Bob.”

  * * * *

  Izzy put Leila down when she heard the doorbell and glanced through the window because she hadn’t been expecting anyone. Alex had been gone for the last couple of days to Houston for some sort of assignment. Three people in uniform stood at the door.

  “Can I help you?” Izzy asked.

  “Mrs. Richards, we’re from the Chaplin’s office. Can we come inside?”

  “I don’t understand.” Isabel hesitated.

  “There’s been an accident, Mrs. Richards. Can we come inside and talk to you?”

  Something was wrong. She’d just talked to Alex thirty minutes ago. He was on his way home. If there had been an accident, it would’ve been a vehicle accident. She was a trauma surgeon and knew no one was notified of an accident that quick. She vacillated about letting them inside because her intuition told her something wasn’t ringing true with these people. She took a closer look at them.

  “Uh—” Izzy started.

  Before Isabel could finish, the three men pushed her inside the house. Isabel didn’t have time to react because they were so fast. One of them had managed to wrap his hand around her mouth and another around her midsection, pinning her arms. In all the commotion, Leila started crying. She’d sensed something was wrong around her.

  “Don’t you fucking move or we’ll kill that baby.”

  Isabel stopped struggling and fighting. The other two men went racing through the house. She figured out, by the way they were turning things upside down, that they were searching for something. It seemed as if an eternity passed before the other two returned. They returned and one of the men picked up Isabel’s cell phone.

  “Send him a text. Tell him we have his family,” one of the men ordered.

  The man who was giving the orders dictated the text to the man sending it. Leila was screaming now. The man in charge looked over Isabel.

  “Take her with us and leave the kid. A screaming kid will cause too much attention.” He looked at Isabel. “Listen very carefully to me. You move, you scream, you fight, someone will kill that screaming brat of yours. Do you understand me?” He growled. Isabel nodded her head. “Let’s go.”

  Isabel walked outside with the group quietly as someone closed the door behind her. Her heart clenched every time she heard Leila scream. She gave a silent prayer of thanks that all three of the men that had broken into the house were leaving with her. Leila would be safer, alone and crying. She was escorted to the backseat of the car.

  As they drove down the street, Isabel noticed a car speeding toward them. She fought back tears of relief because she knew Leila would be in good hands as soon as Alex got that text. He would call someone for help. She knew without a doubt Alex would find her but prayed he would be in time.

  Chapter 27

  Interstate Highway Ten, West Bound Access Road

  Intersection of State Highway 46 and IH-10W

  Seguin, Texas

  May 19, 2010/2212 Zulu

  Alex pulled into the Chevron that was on the cutoff road home. He was driving back from his trip to NASA. He was happy that his trip had been productive. He decided to fuel up and get something to drink even though he was less than an hour from home. As he was standing in line his phone chimed with a text. He paid for his drink and dug out his phone on the way to his car. Alex glanced at it and saw it was from Izzy. He got into the car and read the message as he started the car.

  She’s in danger. Better get here right away. Crockett Park in front of the Cypress Towers, two hours.

  Alex felt the blood run cold in his body. What the fuck! He responded to the message as he rushed to his SUV.

  Who is this?

  Get here or you’ll be minus one in your little family.

  Alex was horrified. All he could think about was Leila and Izzy being in danger. Which one? He immediately called Rock.

  “Leila and Izzy are in danger. I’m on my way back, but I won’t be there for another thirty minutes. Locate them and get them to safety!”

  “What?”

  “Get to the fucking house! My wife and my daughter are in danger!”

  “Stay with me!” Rock ordered.

  Alex heard Rock shouting in the background. “Alex? What the hell is going on?”

  “I just a got a text message from Izzy’s phone from someone saying that Izzy or Leila are in danger.
I’m on my way. I need to meet them at some fucking park.”

  “Okay, Shaq is headed to your house. Where are Leila and Isabel?”

  “They’re both at the house. I talked to Izzy about an hour ago. She was just getting home with Leila,” Alex said.

  “Did you answer the text?”

  “Sort of, I wanted to know who the hell they were.”

  “I’ll meet you at your house,” Rock said.

  Alex couldn’t get home fast enough. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. What the fuck is this and what the fuck do they want with me? He thought about his involvement with this team from the beginning. For a while he’d been required to walk a fine line as a mole with the enemy. The more he thought about it, the more all the roads converged into the pathogen that he’d been chasing for three years. If his life as a SEAL would put his family in jeopardy, he decided he needed to walk away.

  Alex abandoned his vehicle as soon as he pulled up to his house. He rushed inside and found Rock, Shaq, Dan, and a few other SEALs.

  “What the fuck happened here?” Alex demanded as he took Leila from Shaq.

  “Give me your phone, we need to pair it,” Dan said.

  Alex held Leila close and listened to her coo. Thank you, God. He dug out his phone and tossed it to Dan and looked around.

  “Where’s Isabel?” Alex asked.

  The men in the room glanced at each other. Icy fear crawled through him. They didn’t need to answer. He could see it written on each of their faces. Isabel was gone. Alex felt his mouth go dry. Leila whimpered because she sensed Alex’s fear.

  “What’s the plan, Rock?” Alex asked as he comforted his daughter.

  “You meet them and find out what the hell they want,” Rock said.

  * * * *

  Isabel was fighting to stay awake. As soon as she walked into the building, someone had drugged her. She lay on the bed struggling against the effects of the medication she’d been given and wrestled to get a bearing on her surroundings. It looked like she was in a clinic, a day surgery clinic. She could hear voices but grappled with her consciousness to make out what they were saying. She tried to raise her arm and discovered she’d been restrained. Panic shot through her as she fought to get free. A hand touched her gently.

  “Don’t do that. You’ll hurt yourself,” a man’s voice said gently.

  Izzy tried to focus, but all she could make out was dark hair. The features were blurry.

  “What have you done to me?” she slurred.

  “As long as he gives us what we want, you’ll be fine,” the man said, sitting back. “Your husband and his findings are all we want.”

  Izzy slipped out of consciousness as Alex’s face floated before her.

  * * * *

  Alex waited on the park bench as the beginnings of dusk started setting in. These people knew what they were doing. For being in the middle of downtown San Antonio it was an isolated area. There was a parking lot that faced him, two large medical complexes, and an apartment building around him.

  It would take hours to find Isabel in any one of those buildings much less all three, if she was even there. There were two halves to the park separated by a busy street. It looked like staff from the nearby hospital walked through the park on breaks and there was a playground to the right of him. A couple of people in scrubs sat on a nearby bench and dug into their dinner while a young family was playing with a group of kids at the nearby playground.

  Alex waited. Members of Special Warfare Group 5 were stationed all over the place. He couldn’t see them, no one could, but he knew they were there, watching. He took out his phone and glanced at it. A couple more people passed and a woman took a seat at the far end of the bench. Alex glanced at her with his peripheral vision and couldn’t shake the feeling he’d seen her before.

  “Excuse me?” she said.

  Alex looked up at her expectantly because he was no mood for games.

  “I have a message for Alex,” she said.

  “Yes?” Alex answered.

  “Are you Alex?” she asked.

  “Don’t fuck with me, bitch. You know damn good and well who I am. Where’s my wife?” Alex snarled.

  It took every ounce of strength Alex could muster not to reach over and snap the blonde bitch’s head off. The woman leaned over and smiled at Alex. His skin crawled at the sensation of her touch on his arm. He started to jerk back.

  “I’ve got you by the balls right now, Doctor. Don’t fuck with me or your slut dies. She has six hours starting in two minutes. You need to get the new medication, the delivery system, and your documentation for the last three years.”

  Alex moved faster than the woman could react. He grabbed her by the neck and squeezed. He didn’t care who was watching now.

  “If you hurt my wife, I’ll make it my mission in life to find out who every single one of you are. I will hunt your fucking asses down and kill you as slow as I can.” Alex growled.

  Alex looked into her eyes. This bitch had a masochistic streak in her because she was enjoying this.

  “Doc! Let her go! Quit fucking around!” Rock ordered in his ear.

  Alex shoved her back against the bench. He was shaking with rage. If it weren’t for his training being so ingrained, this woman would be dead. Thank goodness Rock had intervened and Alex had heard a voice of reason. She smiled at him as she dug out what looked like an iPhone. When she smiled it at him she had a look of longing and desire.

  “You can watch her die in real time, or you can do what I want. It’s up to you. Personally, I’d love to take her place with you,” she said.

  Rock demanded, “Tell her you’ll get her what she wants. We need to find out where the fuck they are!”

  “Okay. How do I get a hold of you once I get what you want?” Alex asked, getting a grip on himself.

  “I’ll contact you in four hours to see what kind of progress you’ve made. If you have everything you need, then I’ll give you directions to her location,” she said.

  “You said I had six hours.”

  “I said she had six hours. But I wouldn’t wait that long. I hope you’re as organized as they claim you are.”

  The woman took the device she handed Alex and switched it on. She tapped an icon, moved close to him, and held the screen so they both could watch. What Alex saw made his heart stop because this had to be a nightmare. Isabel was strapped to a hospital bed, attached to an IV, asleep. A body came into view and injected something into the hep-lock of the IV. Isabel stirred and then went still.

  “Oh and, Doctor, make sure you bring the real thing. Your slut has just been injected with the pathogen. I think this one has been developed to accelerate infection in the body. You’re not the only one that’s been playing in a lab,” the woman said as she stood. “You better hope all your work pays off. Someone’s life is depending on it. See you in four hours,” she said, tossing the device to him.

  * * * *

  Dan had been busy scanning every device with a signal while Alex occupied the woman. They had managed to set up and get into place before Alex arrived at the park. While Alex had been waiting Dan scanned and paired every device that the eyes around the park could count. The scanner locked on to another signal. It was new to the area.

  “Tango has just picked up her phone,” Friday said over the comm system.

  “Roger that,” Dan confirmed.

  The system locked on and paired with the new device. Dan smiled because the GPS feature was operational on her phone. This break was more than they could hope for. The recorder kicked in as she made her call and he watched the computer map as she walked. She ended the call and a few seconds later, the little blip disappeared.

  “What the fuck happened!” Rock roared.

  “Shit! She must’ve taken out the battery.”

  “I need eyes on tango!” Rock ordered.

  “She walked into a building right across from the park and went inside using the west side entrance on Main Avenue.” A call
came in.

  “What fucking building?” Rock demanded.

  “The big white one, the Cypress Towers.”

  “Where are my eyes inside that building?” Rock demanded.

  “I’m on it,” Shaq responded.

  Chapter 28

  Building 1534, East Runway Hangar

  Randolph Air Force Base Texas

  May 19, 2010/2345 Zulu

  The private plane from Houston arrived with the devices and a supply of the medication. Alex felt as if time was passing at half speed, this had to be the longest and worst day of his life. He’d never been involved in something that seemed as if it would never end. Even the worst mission fail he could recall hadn’t been this bad.

  Rock had made him give up the device that was watching Izzy to Dan and Alex. He had to keep himself from chasing Dan down and taking a look at Izzy’s progress. Rock knew Alex well and that was the last thing he needed to see. If the pathogen had been mutated to accelerate the way Alexia had said, then Isabel was really suffering right now. Alex watched as the plane docked and the door swung open. Sergei stepped out with three team members.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Jack demanded of Sergei.

  “I understood this was a crisis and I could be of use,” Sergei said, handing a case off to one of the SEALs unloading the plane.

  “You’re supposed be in hiding, remember? Alexia Pugachev is in on this. We can’t afford to have you discovered. Plastic surgery can only hide so much,” Jack said.

  “Then we had better make certain they all die,” Sergei said.

  Alex loved the way Sergei thought. They had an hour and a half before the call for a location would come in. Sergei had told them they’d probably make Alex demonstrate the use of device and medication. Alex swallowed a micro transmitter so that he could be tracked to any location but the educated guess was that Isabel was located somewhere in the building Alexia had gone into. She hadn’t left, and Shaq, with a small team, was still there watching. She’d disappeared into a medical laboratory practice that took up almost the entire floor. Shaq and his men were posing as a painting crew.