The White Iris

by Susanne Matthews

  Lilith looked around, no doubt making sure no one was close enough to hear her. “Unless Owens convinces Trevor to let them take down Rush first, the men will go in with the SWAT team and secure the facility. Then we’ll follow in Hazmat gear and find the virus.

  “They’ll have to make sure they don’t kill Dalton,” Lilith said. “I’ll need him alive.”

  “Jacob and Trevor know that. Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. They’ve done this before. Are you ready to go up?”

  “These guys take Halloween seriously,” Julie commented on all the costumed guests.

  “They do. They’ve been dressed up all week. Someone said there’s a sci-fi convention in town.”

  “I thought those things took place in Vegas.”

  Lilith shrugged. “Apparently they’re popular here, too.”

  Stepping into the elevator ahead of Lilith, Julie turned her back on the three men inside dressed in space trooper costumes. The ride to the top floor was quick since the car didn’t stop. Exiting the elevator, Lilith led the way down the hall, and Julie was surprised when the costumed men followed her.

  “It’s okay,” Lilith whispered to her. “They’re in the suite across from ours. I’ve seen them a couple of times the last few days. Jacob tried to buy out the floor, but—”

  Lilith used her key card to open the door and cursed when the space troopers pushed them forcefully inside the suite. He struck her.

  “What the hell—” Julie’s words were cut off when another man hit her.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mariah,” the man sitting on the couch said, shaking his head. “Still not behaving like a good mare. Pierce obviously didn’t beat that defiance out of you. Don’t worry. I have someone who will.”

  “You bastard,” Lilith said. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

  Stunned, rubbing her jaw where the man had hit her, Julie stared into the previously unseen blue-green eyes of L.D. Hamilton, the Prophet. Her heart pounded and her chest tightened. Cartwright had said he was in Utah. What the hell was he doing here?

  “Dr. Swift, I believe. This is a wonderful surprise. I see you weren’t expecting me. No matter. We do what the Creator wills. My son spoke highly of you, even advocated for your life. Since the Creator chose to spare you, I’m sure Adam can use a mare of your caliber. Now, ladies, I’m afraid we have to go before—Jacob, is it?—realizes he’s been sent on a wild-goose chase. Sadly, that one”—he indicated Owens, lying in a large pool of blood—“won’t be of much help to anyone.” Julie’s stomach clenched.

  “How did you find me?” Lilith asked, wiping at her swelling lip.

  “Through your search for Rose. Didn’t you find it odd that those records just appeared? When Special Agent Clark mentioned the girl to me, I put my most trusted men on it right away. You’ll be pleased to know I’ve found her for you. In fact, Mariah, I’m making all your wishes come true. Kelly Kirk will be returned to her family in a couple of weeks, just in time for the holidays. No doubt her grandfather would be thrilled to see her. Too bad he and his close friends won’t live to celebrate Thanksgiving. He’d have so much to be grateful for this year. I also found Elisa Robertson, and James’s last child. She was in Northern Ontario, but no one can hide from the Creator. Once the child is born, I may have to release her. She isn’t adapting well.”

  Julie watched him rub his forehead as if he was in pain. Seconds later, he winced, and then smiled.

  “A man needs to be patient. Eventually, everything comes to him who waits on the Creator’s wishes.”

  The prick in the side of her neck was unexpected.

  Trevor!

  She tried to speak but crumpled to the floor.

  • • •

  “Trevor Clark, what a surprise to see you,” Larson said, rising from his chair. “I didn’t know you were in town. I saw Boston’s mayor on CNN earlier this month. Damn shame to be forced out like that. I’m sorry about your fiancée.” He turned to Jacob. “I was about to call you. I got a message from Cartwright less than hour ago.”

  Jacob frowned. “I told Ida that Trevor was with me when I talked to her just before two.”

  “You did? Well, no wonder she hasn’t told me. She’s in Carson City. I’ll probably get a message from her later today.”

  Trevor’s gut burned. “Your secretary called Jacob and said you needed to see him.”

  “That’s impossible. She hasn’t been here for two days. She’s at a family wedding.”

  Jacob stood there, so white Trevor thought he might pass out. The last time Trevor had seen him like that was when Pierce grabbed Lilith out of the morgue at Schroeder Plaza. If Lilith was in trouble, so was Julie. The realization knocked the wind out of him, and he grabbed the desk for support.

  “Then who called me?” Jacob asked. “She identified herself as Ida.”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll bet it has something to do with Cartwright’s call,” Larson said, grim-faced. “Hamilton’s vanished. He’s not in Utah or D.C. Cartwright thinks someone warned him we were watching him and he left during the night. He sent agents into the house, but it’s empty. The ostler looking after the horses seemed as surprised about that as the Homeland Security men were. There’s a possibility Hamilton might’ve come here.”

  “Damn it! I knew I should’ve left Julie in Kodiak.”

  “I don’t know who Julie is or even what you’re doing here, Trevor, but there’s more,” Larson continued. “The Tallahassee police issued an AMBER Alert for one Quinn Thompson. She’s fifteen. Boston picked it up and sent me the photograph with instructions to get it to Lilith. The girl looks just like her.”

  Trevor looked at the picture on Larson’s desk. There was no doubt in his mind that the girl was Rose, but she wasn’t missing. He’d bet the farm the Prophet had her, and God only knew what he’d do to Lilith with that child as leverage.

  “The Prophet has her,” Trevor said, his professional veneer so thin it could snap at any moment. He needed to stay focused, but his mind created one horror scene after another and his heart screamed Julie. If Hamilton was in Reno, then the two women who counted on him were in danger.

  “Are you certain?” Larson asked.

  “Yes. The press conference in Boston was a ruse. This task force has been operating efficiently, if secretly. Whoever sent Jacob here will be thrilled to find Julie at her side.”

  “She’s not answering her phone,” Jacob said, ending the call he was making, anxiety heavy in his words. “Owens is with them, but … Damn it. Lilith is pregnant, Trevor. She can’t go through what she did before.” His voice was clogged with emotion. “We’ve got to get to her.”

  “He won’t kill her outright,” Trevor said, knowing it wasn’t much comfort. “It’s only been twenty minutes since we left them. Based on the note left at the scene of the third plague, he wants her to suffer for her sins.”

  “Then, let’s get going.”

  “I’m coming, too.” Larson said. “We’ll find her, Jacob. I’ll liaise with the Reno police. I can get half a dozen agents here within half an hour to help out, as well.”

  “We can use all the help we can get,” Trevor said. Platitudes like these were the only things keeping him grounded. “Owens is an expert, and I won’t dismiss Lilith in a fight, especially if she’s got so much at stake.” But Julie was untrained to protect herself or anyone else. He’d done exactly what he’d sworn not to do: put her in harm’s way. He couldn’t lose her, not now, not like this.

  The three men raced to the SUV while Trevor tried to call Julie. Like Lilith, no one answered.

  “Get us back to the hotel, and I don’t care how many traffic laws you break doing it.” If the Prophet had hurt Julie, Lilith, or that young girl, there wouldn’t be enough of him left to stand trial.

  He punched in Susan Davis’s number.

  “Hello?”

  “Where are you?”

  “Outside the facility. No one’s been in or out for hours.”

  “He isn’t the
re. Don’t ask me how I know, but I do. I’m arranging for a bomb disposal team to meet you. Don’t go near the building. Hamilton’s disappeared, and odds are, he’s cleaning up loose ends before going to the Promised Land. We’ve been duped again, just like we were in Slocum.”

  “Damn. I knew something was wrong. Micah and Diego are keeping watch at the rehab center. It’s busier today than it’s ever been—trucks, cars, and ambulances in and out. It’s half a mile away, but no one could’ve walked over there from here without us seeing them.”

  “They could if they went underground. They’ve done it before, tunneled out of a place and made it look as if that was their primary location. After the bomb squad gives the all clear, go in and have a look around. I expect the place has been cleaned out. Jacob and I are with Larson on our way back to the hotel. We were separated from Lilith and Julie, and I have a bad feeling about it. Call me when you get inside.” He ended the call and turned to Larson. “Get the Reno police to send the bomb squad out there. If we’ve been made, then the proposed raid at five is compromised. The place is probably wired to go up at that time. If it is, we’ll have to make sure no one’s inside and let it blow. Having him think he’s got us will be the only chance we have of stopping him.”

  Jacob pulled to the curb in front of the hotel and Trevor hurried out of the vehicle, barely able to keep up with the man. The elevators were all on the eighth floor, and judging by the crowd waiting, they’d been there for some time.

  “Stay here. I’ll see what the problem is and send it down if I can,” Jacob said, his voice tinged with fear and rage. “I’m taking the stairs.”

  “Right behind you,” Trevor said. No way was anyone getting up there before him. Funny how the combination of guilt and fury kept a man on his toes. Right now, he could rattle off the make and model of every car in the entrance and describe more than half the tourists in the lobby, costumes and all, to a sketch artist.

  Larson nodded. “Go.”

  Trevor hurried up the stairs after Jacob, moving faster than he’d have thought possible.

  She’s fine, he repeated to himself, but he didn’t believe it. The Prophet had tried to kill Lilith twice, and now he had both women at his mercy.

  The minute he saw the open suite door, he knew they were too late. He rushed in and stopped at the sight of Owens on the floor.

  Not Julie, his heart cried. Owens didn’t deserve to be lying there like that, either.

  While Jacob checked all the rooms, repeatedly calling Lilith’s name, Trevor knelt beside Owens. He checked his carotid pulse—it was faint, but the man was still alive, and by God, he’d do whatever he could to keep him that way. He dialed 9-1-1.

  “FBI Special Agent Trevor Clark. I have an officer down. Gunshot wound to the chest. He’s alive, but the pulse is weak. There’s a lot of blood.” He gave the hotel name and room number. “And send Reno PD here, too.” He ended the call, knowing the operator wanted him to stay on the line, but he had another call to make.

  “McNamara.”

  “Jim, it’s Trevor. The Prophet has Lilith and Julie, and I’ll bet he’s got the missing girl, too. We’re taking him down once and for all.”

  “What do you want me to do?” McNamara asked.

  “Get in touch with Cartwright. He’ll have to take this to POTUS. It ends now.” He stabbed the Call End button. What he wanted to do was throw the damn thing, punch a wall, anything to release the fury inside him.

  All we have to do is find the bastard, and he hoped they still had their ace in the hole.

  “They aren’t here,” Jacob said, tears of despair running down his pale cheeks, “but they were. That’s Lilith’s bag”—he pointed to the leather satchel on the floor—“and I assume that belongs to Julie.” He indicated the small knapsack. Trevor grabbed it and opened it. Julie’s inhaler fell onto the floor.

  Shit.

  “He’s got them,” Jacob said. “How the hell did he find us?”

  “Because of me,” Trevor said, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. Julie, Lilith, and a fifteen-year-old girl were in danger, and it was his fault. Julie had trusted him to keep her safe and he’d screwed up again. How many would die this time because he’d failed to live up to his responsibilities? “When I met with L.D. Hamilton, I told him about Rose, thinking that since White Iris had purchased the orphanage, they might know what had happened to the records. I might as well have drawn him a frigging map. I knew there was a problem when I saw that last message from H. So many things point to L.D. as the Prophet now, but I just didn’t see it. All he had to do was wait for Lilith to go looking for Rose and set a trap—probably that place in Henderson you visited—and follow her here. I’m so sorry, Jacob.”

  “It’s not your fault. I should’ve recognized him,” Jacob said. “More than that I should’ve realized having those documents turn up was just too bloody convenient, but like you, I wanted to make Lilith happy. Pretty lousy job I’ve done of it, and now the woman I love and my child are in the hands of a madman. The woman who claimed to be Weber’s secretary had to be working for my uncle. She might even be the one who called and sent me to Larson’s office.”

  “Well, he has Julie, too, and we have to get them back.”

  “What are we looking at?” Larson asked, coming into the room followed by the paramedics and the police.

  “We have a multiple kidnapping,” Trevor answered.

  “And who the hell are you?” the detective standing next to Larson asked.

  “This is Special Agent Clark and Agent Andrews of the FBI, working a serial killer case out of Boston,” Larson said. “The missing women are Dr. E.J. Swift and Special Agent Lilith Munroe. It’s possible our perp also has a fifteen-year-old girl, Quinn Thompson. The AMBER Alert went out sixteen hours ago.”

  “Who is this guy?” the detective asked.

  “He calls himself the Prophet,” Trevor answered, “and he’s insane.”

  “I’ve heard of the case,” the detective said. “What’s the body count—close to forty by now?—and you don’t seem any closer to nabbing him. Are you saying that sick son of a bitch is here? Is that why you called for the bomb squad? I deserve to know who I’m up against.”

  Trevor nodded. “You do. It’s taken us almost two years to identify the bastard, and even now that we have, we’ll have a hell of a time making the charges stick. But he’s overstepped his boundaries, and we’ve got him on kidnapping to start with. The man I’ve been chasing, the Prophet, is L.D. Hamilton, the president’s advisor on homeland security.”

  “Get the hell out of here,” the detective said, and then, seeing the bleak look on Jacob’s face, he turned back to Trevor. “You’re serious.”

  Trevor nodded. “And he’s not alone. He’s got men with him who think nothing of killing and dying at the drop of a hat. Dr. Dalton Rush, his son, is working with him, and they’re preparing to unleash a virus on the nation that could kill millions. Dr. Swift is our only hope to stop them.”

  The detective dropped into the closest chair. “What can we do?”

  Trevor glanced over at the paramedics as they loaded Owens onto a gurney.

  “Will he make it?” he asked as they passed him.

  “Too soon to tell. He’s lost a lot of blood, but we’ve stabilized him.”

  He turned to the detective. “That man has the woman I love, and I intend to get her back one way or another. This stops here.” He looked at Jacob. “Tell me Lilith still has her locket.”

  Jacob nodded. “She does and I can track her with my phone.” He pulled it out and opened an app. A map of the area appeared on the phone, but there was no flashing blip.

  “I don’t understand. The signal is gone,” he said, his face pale once more.

  “Well, if you can’t get her GPS signal,” Larson said, “and you’re sure she’s got it on her, the answer’s simple. He’s got her underground. There are several abandoned mines in the Virginia City area, and that’s less than thirty miles away.
”

  “That makes sense,” Trevor said, pulling every shred of professionalism he had about him. Julie needed him, and she needed him at his best. He wouldn’t let her down again. “Since all the elevators were stuck up here, my guess is he took them out by the roof, which means a helicopter, and in a chopper, thirty miles is a puddle jump.” He turned to Larson. “Find out if White Iris Petroleum, Hamilton, or some numbered company that seems to lead nowhere owns a mine around here. Buying up real estate for use at a later time is a common practice for him.”

  He took a deep breath. He’d find Julie and Lilith. He couldn’t afford not to. This was not going to end up the way it had on Murphy’s Mountain.

  I’m coming, Julie. Hang in there.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Julie’s stomach roiled and her head pounded. Her throat was dry and her chest tight—too tight. The hot, heavy air clogged with dust made breathing difficult, and she coughed. She opened her eyes, but it was pitch-black, so black she thought she might be blindfolded. Raising her hand to her face proved she wasn’t, nor was she restrained.

  Her heart thundered in her ears. Where was she? Lilith. Where was Lilith? Trevor had mentioned her fear of the dark brought on by the torture she’d suffered. If she was here, this would be hell for her. Taking deep, calming breaths, Julie tried to relax. In the blackness of the tomb, she listened. There was the hum of an air vent. In the far corner, a faucet was dripping. Straining to filter the sounds, she latched on to a mewling not too different from Hope’s cries. Someone was weeping, the sound muffled by a pillow.

  “Lilith,” she called softly. “Lilith, is that you?”

  “Julie?” The muffled word was barely recognizable. “Oh God, it’s so dark,” Lilith said, her voice cracking on the last word, her sobs much louder now. The terror in her voice touched Julie. She was afraid of many things—most of them crept and slithered, a few flew—but darkness didn’t bother her. She’d even taken Trevor spelunking once. He’d hated it. This felt like a cave, but it was too dry to be one. They had to be in one of Nevada’s abandoned mines. Drawing on every ounce of courage she could muster, she sat up.