Southern Regions (Southern Desires Book 4)

by Jeannette Winters

  She had no idea what that meant. “I just came into the lab to see if I can reconfigure the vaccine to lessen the reactions.”

  “Good. Marina, they are coming. We don’t know exactly when. There are only four of us to stop them, five with you.”

  “I . . . what can I do?” She’d already gone through this with Maggie. She needed to do the same with Mark, and he didn’t look like he was going to settle for nothing. “I’m a scientist, Mark, not a soldier.”

  “Marina, if we can’t stop them, you’ll either be dead, or worse, their prisoner. It’ll be up to you to fight for yourself. I can see that normally you wouldn’t hurt another person, never mind take their life. Thinking like that right now is putting not only yourself at risk, but potentially the world. Think about the guy we caught. He knew death was better than us using him to obtain information.”

  “You want me to kill myself?” Her eyes were wide with surprise at his suggestion.

  “Fuck no! I want you to use that brain of yours and think about what we can use against these bastards when they get here. Some sleeping gas or something. Think, Marina, and think quickly. Time is running out.”

  “I’ll do my best.” She hadn’t intentionally created the virus. Her thoughts were only for doing good, but Mark was right. She could use her knowledge and skill to come up with something. She just needed to clear her head enough to think. That was the major problem. The fog Kevin was facing, she was too.

  Mark turned one last time to her and said, “Kevin doesn’t know. I won’t tell him. I’m not sure if what you did was a courageous or stupid thing. I get it. I wouldn’t want Hannah to face this alone either. Now get to work so we can go home and be one big happy family.”

  Family. Love. The two things she’d wanted for so long. They were both within her reach. When this ended, was everything going to change? Were she and Kevin only drawn to each other out of circumstance, need, and loneliness? Even my worst day with Kevin is better than my best day without him.

  She stood at the cabinet, holding both the vaccine and the urn. Mark wanted her to create something. All she had to work with was what she brought. And boy is it potent. The vaccine would weaken them, but it’d take too much time to take effect. And like they are going to let me inject them. No one is that stupid to do that without testing it first. She shook her head. Except for Kevin and me, that is.

  That left only one option. They didn’t know how the virus was activated. Not even her father had that information. Mark’s words echoed through her. If everyone else were killed, she’d need to make sure these men never left this place. She couldn’t bring herself to take a life, but she was willing to leave them paralyzed for life. One they can spend in prison.

  She saw a water cooler that was empty. Grabbing the jug, she brought it to the faucet and filled it a quarter of the way. Then she took one of the vials containing the virus and added two drops inside. From her prior testing, she knew it didn’t take much once it came in contact with water. Then she sealed the cover and placed it back on the cooler.

  Now how will I get them to drink? The entire facility was climate controlled. Marina needed them to be as hot as hell and thirsty. She needed to shut off the air conditioning and turn on the heat. Leaving the lab, she went to the control room. It wasn’t hard to dismantle the air conditioning unit. Pull a few wires, and it was done. Turning up the heat was easy as well, but what would stop them from turning it down?

  Pulling the wires off the system would shut it off completely. There needs to be another way. Come on, Marina. Think like MacGyver. He’d use gum or a hair tie or something ingenious. She had neither a piece of gum or a hair tie on her and nothing was as simple as television made it look. Then she found a toolbox, opened it, and saw a hammer. If I turn the temperature up all the way and then smash the controls, the unit should run continuously, and it’ll make hell feel cool.

  Marina closed her eyes and let the hammer do its magic, bringing it down with all the might she could muster. A satisfying snap revealed her success. Now all I can do is sit in the lab and wait.

  She didn’t want to think about what she was waiting for. If Mark was right and they got inside, that probably meant she was alone. And you would be dead. At that point I wouldn’t care if the vaccine works or not. My life won’t matter anymore. Not without you to share it with.

  Chapter Nineteen

  ‡

  Kevin headed to the exit, M16 in hand, unable to sit still a moment longer. My joints are going to freeze up if I don’t keep moving. He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. Mark stood outside, staring into the darkness and listening for any sign of an attack. Kevin wanted to tell him it was going to be nearly impossible with the whipping wind and driving rain. They’d need to be crazy to try coming in by land with the ground muddy like this. They’d have no footing.

  “How are you feeling?” Mark asked as he continued to scan the area.

  “I’m fine,” he lied. It wouldn’t help Mark one bit to know how he really felt. Like I just got hit by an 18-wheeler. “Any movement?”

  “None that I can see, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.”

  “We don’t have to worry about an aerial assault in this weather,” Kevin added, knowing damn well if Mark’s team couldn’t fly in, no one could. “Where’s Derrick?”

  “I have him patrolling the perimeter,” Mark said.

  “You put him on the front line, in the most danger? When they come, they’re going to hit him first, and hard,” Kevin said. “He’s not trained like we are.”

  “He’s not helpless either,” Mark said. “He insisted on coming, and I’m going to use every resource at my disposal. He’s got stamina, and he’s used to working through storms.”

  Kevin couldn’t argue. They didn’t have a choice. Storms were one thing, but was he used to getting shot at too? I doubt it, but he has it out for these guys bad. Nothing’s going to stop him. “Where’s Maggie?”

  Mark pointed to the roof. “Gave her Johnson’s M82. She’s got the least hand-to-hand training and experience.”

  Kevin nodded. Having Maggie on the ground fighting in close quarters was a risk they couldn’t afford to take. “She’s not going to shoot us by accident, is she? Can she handle the recoil of a sniper rifle?”

  The look on Mark’s face told Kevin he didn’t find the lighthearted question funny in the least. “She’s a damn fine Marine, Kevin, and I don’t assign my team to tasks they can’t accomplish.”

  Kevin wanted to remind him that Maggie wasn’t a Marine at all. She might wear the uniform, but that was the extent of her training. Knowing Mark was willing to call her one meant she’d earned his respect, and that was enough for him.

  Before he could say another word, he had a sinking feeling in his gut. Kevin saw movement in the trees, and he trained his M16 on it. Mark gave him a nod, and they both took off toward the trees. Adrenaline took over and pushed past his raging pain. Kevin didn’t stop running until he was standing beside a man dressed in black who stopped just before the clearing and took aim at Derrick’s back.

  Mark shot without hesitation, sending a bullet straight through the man’s head. As his body dropped, his finger pulled the trigger. Derrick collapsed forward into the mud. Kevin watched him roll over with his gun in his hand ready. Thankfully Derrick realized who they were and lowered his weapon. Kevin reached out and helped him to his feet. Blood dripped from his right shoulder, but it looked like a clean exit wound.

  Kevin and Mark took position by Derrick, using the outcropping as cover.

  “You finally showed up. If you can’t tell, we’ve got company. I saw four SUVs park on the side of the road about four miles down. They aren’t far behind me,” Derrick said through gritted teeth.

  “You need to get back inside and deal with that,” Kevin said, pointing to Derrick’s injury.

  “This is nothing compared to what I did to them,” Derrick said with a smug grin. “We’re still outnumbered.”
<
br />   “How many?” Mark asked.

  “They split up once I started shooting, but I counted twenty. There could be more I didn’t see, but there are three less than there were when I started,” Derrick said. “You probably didn’t hear the shooting because the thunder’s roaring overhead.”

  “Armed?”

  “To the teeth. They are dressed in black from head-to-toe,” Derrick said. “They fled in organized groups. They planned this carefully.”

  “No time to waste then. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover,” Mark said.

  A soft crack of the M82 echoed from the facility behind them, followed by another and another. Maggie sees something we can’t. I’m not going to sit here and wait for them. “Let’s get you inside,” Kevin said.

  “No,” Derrick snapped. “You get your ass back to the lab and lock it down tight.”

  “You can do that. Let us do what we’re trained to do,” Kevin barked. There was no time to argue about it. He was best suited for combat. At least on a regular day I am.

  Again Derrick said, “We need you on the inside.”

  Kevin didn’t know who Derrick thought he was, giving orders to him, but his mind was foggy, and his legs were heavier than they’d ever been. He hated to admit it, but Derrick physically was in better shape than he was now. Protecting Marina might be the best thing he could do, because if they got to her and no one was there to stop them . . . He couldn’t let his mind go there. He needed to stay focused. “I can’t leave you guys out here,” Kevin said.

  “We know what we signed up for,” Mark said.

  “We could die out here tonight,” Derrick said. “But we’ll all definitely die if they get their hands on that virus.”

  “And I’d rather die with a gun in my hand,” Mark said.

  “Go to her,” Derrick urged. “And if that bastard JT shows up, put a bullet in him for Penny and Kim.”

  Kevin nodded to Derrick. He knew Derrick loved his sister, Casey, but he understood his need to avenge his late wife’s and daughter’s deaths.

  “I’ll try to take out as many of those bastards as I can before I lock it down.”

  They each exchanged a look, one that said they all knew this could be the last time they saw each other. “Semper Fi,” Kevin said as he turned, heading to the lab.

  Kevin didn’t cross paths with anyone. That concerned him. From Derrick’s count, there should be more than a dozen men crawling all over these woods. Where are they?

  He opened the door to the entrance, stepped in, and was immediately met with a butt of a gun crashing down on his left temple. There was no time to react in his weakened state. Before his world went black, he saw where the men had been hiding. Inside the safe house. Fuck! No!

  Everything was going according to plan. The building was like a hot box. The sweat was pouring off her, and the temperature gauge read one hundred three degrees. Keep climbing. I want them begging for water when they come. She’d given up hope that they were getting out of there without a fight. Mark would not have said what he had if he’d thought there was any other way.

  So much had changed in such a short period of time. One minute she wished to be anywhere but in the solitary bayou, and now she was alone in a lab, wishing no one would come. Would things have been better if Kevin had never found me? They would still be after me, but at least he and the others would not be in harm’s way.

  A tear rolled down her cheek, mixing with beads of sweat. He’s the only person who loved me with passion and honesty. And what did I give him in return? He’s suffering from the vaccine, and his life is in danger. Is this the price he pays for loving someone like me?

  She knew if he were there with her, he’d argue with everything she was thinking. He’d tell her something sweet and romantic to make her believe it wasn’t as bad as she thought. And because she loved him, she’d let him think it worked. The truth was, she didn’t need anyone else to tell her how ugly the world was. Her father had shown her that early on. One of the reasons she loved Kevin was his ability to make her forget the ugliness.

  Marina felt dehydrated and went to get a drink of water. Taking her glass, she put in under the cooler and was about to press the button when she froze. Shit. What am I doing? The plastic drinking cup dropped from her hand onto the floor.

  This wasn’t the vaccine clouding her thoughts at the moment. It was her heart, yearning to be with Kevin. She needed to stop and focus. With no formal training she needed to understand what was required of her. Mark was correct. She was either part of their team or a victim for the enemy to use as they wished. I’m tired of being used. I will never be a victim again. Today I fight. I might not win, but at least I’ll have put up a fight.

  A smile crossed her lips; Kevin would be proud of her for taking this stand. She wished she’d had the courage to do this years ago.

  She needed the lab to look as though she was in the middle of an experiment. Pulling out beakers and Bunsen burners, she put some uncontaminated water into the beakers. Bringing it to a boil, she sat and watched the bubbles. She poured iodine into several beakers and put them in the centrifuge for a nice long cycle. She put a slide with a piece of dust suspended in water under the microscope. Not very impressive, but if they aren’t paying attention, I might be able to bullshit my way around it.

  Marina’s heart raced when she heard gunfire. She waited, listening for more. Nothing. The storm outside was still raging and whatever she thought she’d heard had to be more thunder. Someone would come and tell me if we were under attack.

  She leaned forward and rested her aching head on the counter. The thought of Kevin trying to stand guard against a wall feeling like she did worried her. I should go and tell him to come inside and rest. He shouldn’t tax his body too much. It might exacerbate the side effects.

  Marina had done everything Mark had asked. Now she had a request of her own. Let Kevin rest where I can monitor him. He might need medical attention. What good will it do if I’m in here, and he’s in the woods somewhere?

  She decided to confront Mark. Marina unlocked the door she’d bolted since her conversation with Mark. When she opened the door, she knew she’d made a grave mistake as armed men burst inside, weapons drawn and pointing directly at her.

  Marina raised her arms and backed up until she felt the counter behind her. “I’m unarmed,” she exclaimed.

  She counted as they piled in: one, two, three, four, five. If they are here, everyone outside must be too.

  Two more men entered her lab. Her heart almost stopped when she saw them dragging in Kevin’s body. They dropped him to the ground. She could see blood running from the left side of his head. She tried to go to him, but one of the men raised his right hand, and with the back of his hand smacked her across the cheek so hard she fell backward.

  She heard one man shout something in an unknown language. Part of her wanted to stay on the ground. She feared if she got up, she might face more of the same.

  Before she could react, she felt hands gripping her arms and pulling her to her feet. The man turned her to face the entrance. Marina couldn’t help but look at Kevin again. They put him in a chair, and his hands appeared to be tied behind him. His head was slumped over, and he looked unconscious. Are you faking? Did they knock you out? Has the vaccine made you so weak you can’t fight back?

  Fighting was useless. There were now seven armed men in the lab. “All clear,” one said. One final man entered. He didn’t look like the others. They were all young, fit, dressed in black, heavily armed, and looked fierce. This man was older and looked like he spent his days in an office, not a gym, and definitely not in a war zone. Is this the one they’ve been looking for? The one I heard Kevin mention? JT?

  “Dr. Brimlow. You have made this very difficult for me. I hope you realize now this game of cat and mouse has come to an end. You have nowhere left to hide.”

  “Who . . . who are you?”

  “Jeremy Talroy. I was a . . . friend of General Floyd.”

>   “What do you want with me?” She knew the answer, but she needed them to get hot and thirsty. Stalling was the only way to guarantee that. Looking at the temperature gauge, she saw it was almost one hundred ten degrees now. Come on. You can do it. Just a little more. She wanted them either hot and thirsty or hot and passed out.

  “You aren’t a stupid woman, Dr. Brimlow. Do you want me to believe General Floyd didn’t share our business arrangement with you?”

  “We weren’t that close. I knew nothing of his personal life.” Just like he knew nothing of mine.

  JT laughed. “He was good at keeping his mouth shut most of the time. The last few months of his life, not so much. That was when he was no longer any use to me.”

  “What did you do?” Marina asked. Not that she really cared. She knew her father was dead and anything beyond that meant nothing.

  “My acquaintances here helped me end our partnership.”

  “You mean you had him killed.”

  JT smiled. “Aw. So your friends here have told you about that. I wonder what else you know.”

  “I know they put you in jail once, and they’ll do it again,” Marina said snidely. The man holding her arm tightened his grip, and she thought he’d crush her bones. Antagonizing JT was going to come with a price. That wasn’t going to stop her. If this was her last day on earth, she wanted to voice what she needed to say. She hadn’t been able to tell her father what she thought of him, but JT was going to hear it. Until one of these guys shuts my mouth.

  “Federal prison was like a vacation for me. It provided me time to organize. Eliminate the weak links and come out stronger,” JT said, glaring at her. “As you can see, I have only the best on my team. And you, what do you have? A few people scattered around, playing soldier.” He walked over and grabbed Kevin by the hair lifting his head up. “Look at him. He’s weak as a baby. My men hit him once, and he dropped to the ground.”