“Shit.” The Admiral groaned, reading over his shoulder. “Dr. Bjornson, marine bio scientist specializing in disease and viral microbiology.”
“They’re covering their bases,” Ed said with his slow, southern twang. “One by air, two by water—”
“Gord, where exactly did the truck go in Idaho?” Kayla asked, staring intently at the map.
“A wholesale food factory.”
Kayla’s gaze rose to her husband. “It’s not delivering supplies. It’s taking them.”
“Probably both,” Ghost said. “That’s the cover. Deliver food, and return with the Plague.” Ghost pointed sharply to the map. “He’s right fucking there. Let’s move. Ditz, call in a security quarantine around that wholesale food factory.”
“Yes, sir.”
Twenty-five SEALs jumped into two helicopters. It wouldn’t take long to reach the location, but five minutes was too long. The wind snapped through the open doors of the Black Hawks as they whirled their way on a beeline for northern Nevada. The team fast-roped to the ground and broke into five squads as they neared the point Gord had seen the truck deliver the supplies. The topography grew with gentle slopes. No structures were evident.
“Fox, what do you see?” Tony asked.
“Nothing. No movement.”
Ghost stepped up to his right side. “Spidey sense is going off. Something’s not right about this.”
“Captain Cobbs, approach the area from the north with your team.”
“This smells bad,” Cobbs came back in their headsets.
Ghost agreed. “I’m going to take my squad to the south. Watch your step.”
“Roger, out.”
“Nathan, Ed, Mace, Stitch, you’re with me. Nathan take point,” Ghost ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
Tony remained with the rest of the men ordering a one hundred meter clearance. They watched Cobbs and Ghost approach with extreme caution. The minutes ticked on with limited chatter from both leaders to the men following them, using mostly hand signals to communicate.
“Found an entrance,” Cobbs reported.
“Standby,” Tony instructed. “Admiral?”
“We’ve found it all right. Nobody breaches the facility. Tinman, south side.”
Tony worked his way toward Ghost’s team, keeping low and watching the ground for IEDs. He rounded the slope and saw Ghost gesturing to someone. Was it Lumin? He ran the last few steps. “What the fuck?”
The squad gazed into a comfortable, but sparse living quarter. The window had been shaped and fit into the sandstone hill with a twenty foot wide and ten foot high view of the plateau they were on. One dim light shone over a woman who’d been trussed to a chair. At her feet sat a cooler. With a sick sense of humor, the word Antiserum had been penned across the side.
“You can bet this is wired.” Ed said what they all surmised.
“Is there anyone left in there with you?” Ghost asked, and only loud enough to reach her, but not wake the dead or any lingering security.
The young woman with dark hair shook her head slowly. They didn’t have to read lips like Ghost to make out the word, “Bomb” as she mouthed it.
“Who are you?” Ghost asked.
“What did she say? I can’t hear her,” Nathan asked.
“Her name’s Star.”
“Lumin’s friend. Lumin has to be here. I have to find her.” Tony scanned the ceiling, walls, and floor. He didn’t see any detonators, but he had no doubt they were there.
“Is the vaccine in that cooler?” Ghost asked.
Star’s eyes blinked closed, and she nodded then said something.
“I know, sweetheart. Hang in there.”
“What did she say?” Tony asked.
“She said it’s a trap. Bomb is under her chair and strapped to her back.”
“It’s got to be more than that,” Ed said, placing a hand where the glass met the rock.
Tony scrubbed his face and shunted the pack from his back. Mace had remained quiet, his attention on the cooler and nowhere else. Tony glanced at his watch; eight hours had passed since Nina had been infected. Mace called the hospital every thirty minutes. The last time Nina was too sick to speak.
“Hey, we’re going to make it. Nina is strong. She’s hanging on.”
Mace nodded as if he was in a trance. “I’m going to get that serum or die trying,” he said.
“Can’t use C4 or the compression could set off the other IEDs. Admiral?” Tony said.
Ghost narrowed his eyes, following the seam where the glass had been fitted into the rock. “There’s always the good old-fashioned way.” He tapped the glass with his finger.
Tony checked again. “Agreed.” He took the butt end of his weapon, hauled back and hammered the glass. They stood still, waiting for the proof of a wrong move as the glass shattered. Mace stepped inside cautiously, but Tony could feel his impatience.
“Wait,” Tony said, searching the floor. He carefully raised the rug where Star sat. An IED had been planted in front of Star’s chair.
“Please, get me out of here,” Star begged, and began to wiggle.
“Ma’am,” Ed laid a hand on her shoulder, and she turned terrified eyes up to him. “Stop moving, or we’re all dead.”
She swallowed and sat still.
“That’s a girl,” Ed drawled. “I’m going to step behind you and get this off, all right?”
“You do and I’ll be your sex slave for the rest of my life,” she said.
Ed chuckled and moved around behind her. “Hmm, how can I refuse an offer like that?”
Ghost slid onto his back and looked under the chair. “Thank fucking God,” he said, reaching under the chair.
It must have been a rudimentary bomb. Probably set up in a hurry. Tony turned his eyes away for a second and when he turned back, his hand shot out and stopped Mace from opening the lid on the cooler. “We’re almost there, buddy. The girl first.”
Mace curled his lips tight and knelt down in front of her. “Star, do you know if they put explosives in this cooler?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“How do you know there’s serum in there?” Mace asked, his hand resting on the lid.
“That man, Dafoe, he opened it. I saw a few glass cylinders.”
“Describe them.” Mace was keeping her engaged while Ghost and Ed worked on the IEDs.
Star did her best to remember.
“Sounds like serum,” Mace said, as Ed backed away with a pack loaded with C4 in his hands.
“Be right back,” Ed said taking the IED with him.
Ghost slid from under the chair. “It’s defused.”
Tony nodded. “Star, when did Dafoe leave?”
“I don’t know.” She rung her hands together. “Maybe three hours.”
“Was Lumin here?”
“No. Are you that SEAL she always talks about?”
Tony’s chest tightened. He never should have let the months pass without picking up the phone and calling Lumin. Star’s question bore a hole of regret inside him. “I’m an idiot.” He looked at Ghost uneasily, realizing he’d said it out loud.
Star’s brow tightened. “Dafoe tricked her. He told her he’d let me go if she came to him. He’s going to kill her. I know it.”
“Do you know where he is?” Tony asked.
Star gave him the directions she’d heard. “I think he’s in New Mexico.”
“Cooler,” Mace said abruptly.
Tony held his hand out to halt Mace. “Get up slowly.” Star put a death grip on his fingers, and she stood. The team gave a barely perceptible sigh when nothing exploded. Ed returned.
“I’ll get her out of here. Miss Star, come with me.” Ed gave her one of his toothy, wolf grins and her gaze locked on him. Now that she wasn’t loaded with explosives her brain saw the good-looking man in front of her.
“We’re not going to pick it up,” Tony warned.
“I’ll open it,” Mace said. “
Get out of here.”
“Buddy, I’m staying here,” Tony said, gripping his shoulder.
Mace shook his head. “Nina is dying. If this isn’t the serum, then I want to meet her in heaven when she gets there. Go find Lumin.” Mace raised his gaze to meet him.
They’d been in a lot of tight places, near misses, but over the last eleven years no moment seemed to touch this one. “Why would he leave this here for us?” Tony had to ask.
“Because there was the chance we’d focus on it and Star, instead of the IED under the rug.”
“Star?” Tony shouted before she got too far away. “Did you see any wires when he opened up the cooler?” She clutched Ed’s arm and shook her head. Tony turned just as Mace opened the lid, and he shut his eyes not believing that it could be this easy. He felt the air move and realized it wasn’t a compression blast, but Mace running past him.
He heard Ghost order into the comm set, “Alpha Air One, Petty Officer Mace Callahan en route, take him to USAMRIID, push it to the max.”
“Copy that, Admiral,” the pilot radioed back.
Mace ran like the wind, a fistful of vials in his hand. “He’ll make it,” Tony said to Ghost and Nathan.
Ghost gave him a look he wasn’t sure how to read. Was there doubt? “Let’s go find Dafoe and Lumin.”
They hurried back to the remaining helicopter. Cobbs waited for them. “I’ve radioed in this position. CDC is en route. We’re leaving five men to clear this building.”
Tony relayed the coordinates to the pilot and found a place on the floor. The chopper lifted into the air and he gazed into the horizon. Was she dead already? Was she infected? He touched his pocket where he’d taken one of the vials for himself. Every mile brought him closer to her, but he was afraid of what he’d find. His memories slid back to the lake. She floated in the water, unashamed, innocent and sensually beautiful as his hand hovered beneath her body. Right now, her existence floated just beyond his touch. Soft skin, perfect, rounded breasts, slender legs twined around his hips, all lingered to remind him of his light.
He’d never felt closer to a woman in his life. He didn’t want her memory to fade like all the faces of the women he’d taken to bed. Casual, no-strings sex had fed his need, but there was nothing casual about Lumin. Her life was tied to his, and he wanted a permanent knot.
He hadn’t realized it at the time, but he’d erected a barricade against her back at the factory. He didn’t blame her for Nina’s misfortune. Lumin had sensed the emotional wall he threw up, but it was to protect himself. Caring about someone hurt. It hurt when she left his protection and the base. It hurt every single second she was out of his reach. It hurt to see her in Ed’s arms, and it hurt to hear her say she believed he loved Nina.
“You’ve done a good job leading the team,” Ghost said, just loud enough to rise above the sound of the blades and the wind. “Once we have this mission in the bag and saved the world, I’m submitting your paperwork to officer training.”
He didn’t lift his gaze from the horizon, and heard Lumin’s voice in his mind. “Lumin thinks that too. She’s going to be a lawyer. I used to hate those guys, but she wants to help people who don’t have the funds to help themselves.”
“Can’t see her being cutthroat,” Ghost said.
“She’s not, but she’s wicked smart.” He paused. “And beautiful and sexy, although she hasn’t got a clue. Her innocence is hotter than anything I’ve…” A thickness collected in his throat. He glared at the roof of the chopper to stop himself from imagining her any other way than laughing and balancing on a slim pole suspended in the air under the moonlight. “She trusted me. I had a whole line of reasons why I shouldn’t drag her into a life with a SEAL, but the truth is I freaked out. Dafoe has her. My fault.”
Ghost rested his forearms on his bent legs. “We don’t give the women we love enough credit. We’re so used to saving the day, we forget they saved us. We’ll find her before Dafoe does.”
“When did you know for sure you loved Snow White?” he asked.
Ghost see-sawed his hand slowly across his jaw. “There were a few first times, not just one. The first time she looked at me. The moment I feared I couldn’t have her. The first time I left her for deployment. Every time she had a close call and I almost lost her. And now—every time I come home at the end of the day and see her there waiting for me with our son in her arms. I’ve thanked God a million times over for sparing her life and mine.”
Tony smiled to himself. “You really have it bad, Admiral.”
“You got that right, Petty Officer Bale. She’s like a drug to me, and I will never kick the addiction.”
“I think I’m addicted to Lumin. I saw her the first time crossing the lobby of the Grand Palms casino. She stood out as if there was a beam of light shining down on her, so I wouldn’t miss her, but there was no way I could miss her. But I keep asking, ‘Why her?’”
“You want my honest opinion?”
“Hell yeah,” he said turning to face his mentor.
“Soul mate.”
“You believe in that stuff?” Tony asked, surprised to hear the most dangerous, but grounded guy he’d ever known give that answer.
“I do now. Besides, I love pissing Kayla off. She’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen when she’s mad at me.”
Tony grinned and bowed his head. “Sir, that’s a little twisted.”
Captain Cobbs’ silver eyes settled on him. “You’re both rookies. Try pissing off the same woman for over twenty years.”
“How did you know, Captain?” Tony asked.
Cobbs spared a wicked smile. “Did you sleep on your back or wrapped around her?”
The heat on his cheeks intensified. “Umm, well, wrapped around her.”
“What does she take in her coffee?”
Tony chuckled. “One milk and one sugar.”
“What doesn’t she like?”
Tony turned a sideways smile at Ghost. “Alcohol and meat.”
“And most importantly, can you remember the face of one woman you screwed before her.”
Tony chuckled again. “I was just thinking about that. I can’t.”
“Then—Mr. Bale—you have found Mrs. Bale.” Cobbs’ grin split his face and he looked off into the distance.
Had he? Or would God take her away from him after teasing him with perfect? “It’s a risk,” he said absentmindedly.
“Because you know if she’s taken from you, you’ll lie down and die just to be with her.” Ghost gave him a fatherly smile.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“She’s Mrs. Bale, all right.”
Chapter Eleven
Each mile that separated her from Tony made the weight of sadness and regret heavier on Lumin’s heart. She wasn’t part of Tony’s family of SEALs. She wasn’t seasoned or knowledgeable like Nina or Kayla. A square peg in a round hole, she didn’t fit in Tony’s world.
She had to make amends and help find the antiserum that would heal Nina. Three hours passed as she drove eastward on Highway 40 following Dafoe’s instructions. After the fourth hour, she was driving under the blistering sun and took Highway 491 toward Farmington. After thirty minutes she slowed, looking for the sign he’d told her to watch for. He said a gravel road with one rock pyre approximately five feet high marked the turnoff. She came to a skidding stop when she passed it. The horizon was bare of structures. The cell phone Nathan had given her rang for the fiftieth time. She knew who it was. There were several texts, and she quickly spun through them until she reached the last two messages.
Stop, Lumin. Please stop. Don’t go to him.
Are you trying to break my heart?
She quickly tapped out a message and sent it.
I won’t let Nina die. Trust me.
Tony had figured it out and like any good SEAL, he’d do anything to keep her safe. The phone rang, then it rang again, and again. What the hell was the matter with him?
“What?” she said, answering it because h
e was waking up the desert.
“Wherever you are, turn the vehicle around and drive back to me,” he said harshly.
She’d dumped the GPS tracking unit on the highway in case they tried to follow her. Her location was a secret, and she’d keep it that way. “I don’t want Nina to die. She means a lot to you. I brought this to your doorstep.”
“Lumin, you’ll get yourself killed. I’m coming, just pull over. Wait for me.”
“No. If you come, my friend Star is dead.”
“We found Star. She’s safe. Mace has the vaccine and he’s on his way to Nina.”
She closed her eyes in relief. “Good.”
“Where are you?”
“Almost there and I’m going to keep going.”
“What?” he shouted. “Like hell you are. He’s a terrorist, Lumin. He won’t let you live.”
She swallowed heavily, grinding the gear into first and the jeep jerked into motion with a little gas. “He said if you or the other SEALs showed up he’d release the virus, but if I go I can stall him.”
“He’s lying. These guys don’t stop until we stop them.”
“Then I have to hurry.”
“God damn it, Lumin.” Tony was seriously pissed.
“I’m going to help you. I know you don’t think I can, but I’m going to try.”
“So, you’re just going to let Dafoe take you from me.”
“I’m not yours, Tony. I’m sitting in a pile of throw-aways with the rest of the women in your life. I can live with that, but I screwed up coming to you, and I can do something to fix it. I can help.”
“I don’t want you to help. Stop, damn it.” Lumin knew for certain Tony was seriously pissed. “If you’d stop running away from me, I could concentrate on my job instead of you.”
“It’s mind over matter. I don’t mind and I don’t matter, Tony. In the greater scheme of things, neither of us do. You told me I have skills. I plan to use them.”
“Balancing on a beam a hundred feet in the air is dangerous. Lumin, you’re walking into a terrorist cell. It’s suicide.”
Code Name: Luminous Page 14
