“But if it does?”
Chaney sighed. “Then our life’s purpose will have been for nothing.”
“Will you return the skulls to the Triarii?”
“We are the Triarii.”
Acton gave him a look. “You know what I mean.”
Chaney smiled slightly, glancing around the room, then at the Proconsul. “Should we fail, then yes, we will surrender the skulls to you, Proconsul, return your funds, and you will never hear from us again.”
Acton turned to the Proconsul. “Satisfied?”
The Proconsul shook his head. “Not at all. You forget, Professor Acton, that I believe in their power. He’s only agreeing because he knows he will succeed in unleashing their power. The difference between him and I is that he thinks he can control this power, I do not. I fear when he succeeds, he will destroy everything around him, including perhaps the world itself.”
Chaney felt a tightness in his chest as his cheeks flushed, the frustration of the old arguments coming back to the fore. He turned to Acton. “Professor, we are not fools. If we detect anything going out of control, we will stop the experiment immediately. We believe we have the technology to harness the power, but should we not, then we will stop and await a time when we shall, be that ten years, a hundred, even a thousand years from now. Eventually the secrets of the skulls will be revealed. I feel it will be tomorrow.” He tilted his head forward slightly, staring at the professor he had so much respect for. “One last time, Professor, will you willingly join us?”
Acton looked at Laura who shook her head slightly. “Somebody has to be there to stop this if it goes wrong.”
Her eyes popped wide. “Surely you don’t believe?”
Acton inhaled slowly. “I didn’t, not for a second, until he mentioned the shiver. Didn’t you feel it too?”
Laura frowned, her reluctance in admitting to the truth undeniable. She nodded. “Almost every time I looked at it.”
“Could it actually be something other than an emotional response?”
Laura closed her eyes and nodded. “I don’t want to believe, but you know I’ve devoted a huge portion of my career to the study of the one I had access to. We couldn’t determine how or when it was made, and we now know why the televised and reported studies claimed they were fake.”
“The fakes the Triarii substituted.”
Laura nodded. “I can’t explain them, and that has always made me think there was something special about them.”
Acton stared into her eyes, crouching slightly. “You want to go, don’t you?”
Laura looked up at him, a sheepish smile spreading. “I’m gobsmacked that I’m saying yes, but I do.”
Acton gave her a peck on the forehead, then turned to Chaney. “If we go, I man the kill switch.”
A rush of adrenaline flowed through Chaney as he smiled.
“Absolutely.”
Milton Residence, St. Paul, Maryland
Reading’s phone vibrated on the kitchen table, everyone flinching, even Milton’s young daughter, Niskha. Her mother, Sandra, quickly led the little girl from the room as Reading swiped his thumb across the display, putting the call on speaker so Milton could hear.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Hugh?”
“Yes.”
“This is Dylan. How are you?”
Reading breathed a sigh of relief. There weren’t a lot of young whippersnappers that he had faith in, he one of those that felt today’s generation was a lost generation, though Dylan Kane was one of the exceptions. “I’ve been better.”
“I guess so. Has there been any word since your message?”
“Negative, but I’m out of the loop on this one. The FBI was humoring me and now have cut me off.”
“Any thoughts on who took them?”
Reading leaned back in his chair. “Those two have pissed off so many people around the world, it could be anyone—”
Kane chuckled. “Too true!”
“—but we’re pretty confident it’s an offshoot of the Triarii, the so called Deniers.”
Kane sighed. “I see. Well, I can’t do much from where I am, but I’m going to make some calls. You should be hearing from trusted friends shortly.”
It was Reading’s turn to sigh. “Glad to hear it, Dylan. Thanks.”
“No problem. Now I’ve gotta go, but keep me posted.”
“Will do.”
The call ended and Reading turned to Milton.
“Trusted friends?”
Reading smiled. “If it’s who I think it is, we’re in good hands.”
Lee Fang Residence, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Fang sprinted, hard, screamo music blaring in her ears, it an excruciating experiment never to be repeated. Sure, it pissed her off so much that she did indeed run faster, but it also took any joy out of the workout.
Tomorrow, disco.
Her phone beeped in her ear and she lifted her arm to read the call display. She grinned, hitting the stop button on her treadmill then pulling the phone out, she recognizing the spoofed number of her boyfriend.
Boyfriend!
That was a word she had been certain was relegated to distant memory after her exile, and even in her wildest fantasies she never thought she would be attracted to a white guy. But Kane was different, different from any Caucasian she had met before, and surrounded by them now for over a year, she realized a lot of her misconceptions and prejudices were based upon propaganda inflicted on her by her former government.
Kane was incredible.
Americans were nice people.
Life was looking up.
“Hi!”
“Hey there, how are you?”
She felt goosebumps at the sound of his voice. “Sweaty and breathing hard.”
“Ooh, just the way I like you!”
A wave of embarrassment washed over her. “You’re so bad!”
“Listen, I can’t talk, this is fast. You up for some potential action?”
Fang’s grin spread as her heart slammed for an entirely new reason. “Absolutely!”
Kane’s charming laugh had her eyes closing as she pictured his face. “Thought you might be. The professors are missing.”
“Acton and Palmer?”
“Yes. Hugh Reading is in St. Paul now with Dean Milton. I want you to take the go bag and join them. I’ve sent details to your secure account.”
“Ok. Who do you think took them?”
“We’re not sure, but we think it might be some cult. The details are in the email. I’m going to get Chris involved so we can start to get some intel, but people are dead, and it’s been over twenty-four hours with no word.”
“From what you’ve told me, those two have annoyed quite a few powerful people.”
“Yes, so you might need more firepower.”
“Who?”
“I’m going to give BD a shout, see if he can shake loose a few of his team to help you. Laura also has her own ex-SAS team that is ready to deploy the moment they have a target.”
Fang frowned as she wiped her forehead with a towel. “Lots of guns.”
“Yup. That’s what has me worried. If it’s outside the country, you can’t go, it’s too risky. Just act as liaison here for Reading. Hopefully Delta and the SAS guys can take care of everything else.”
“You can count on me.”
She could almost see his smile. “I never had any doubt.”
The Stone Manor, Luray, Virginia
CIA Analyst Supervisor Chris Leroux gripped the back of his girlfriend’s head, tight, his fingers intertwined with her hair as he pressed his lips against hers, their tongues exploring each other, the real action taking place below the roiling surface of the hot tub.
He moaned.
“That feels good,” he whispered, CIA Agent Sherrie White’s expert hands suddenly releasing him, then tugging his bathing suit bottom off, the decision to wear it clearly a mistake.
“You ain’t seen nothin’, yet.” Sherrie repositioned her
self, straddling him, their hips grinding together under the water. She groaned, her head dropping onto his shoulder. “This was such a good idea,” she gasped as he grabbed her shoulders, pulling her down hard. “Whenever I visit your parents, I feel like I need to unwind.”
“Me too,” gasped Leroux as he struggled for control.
“Yeah, but your mother isn’t judging you every second of the day. Me, I’m always under the microscope.”
“That means she likes you.”
“Christ, I’d hate to see what she’s like if she didn’t. That must have been horrible for your high school girlfriends.”
Leroux pushed her back slightly so he could see her eyes. “You do know who you’re talking to, don’t you?”
Sherrie laughed. “Yeah, somebody who’s now looking forward to his high school reunion.”
He grinned, thrusting his hips and lifting her out of the water, rivulets running down her naked skin, her exposed breasts sending another rush through him.
And she was right. He was looking forward to his next reunion. He had skipped the last one, the nerd-dork-geek crowd rarely showing up unless they had become insanely successful and wanted to rub it in the faces of their former tormentors.
But he hadn’t become successful.
At least not in a way that he could boast about.
He was CIA, doing a job he couldn’t talk about. Yes, he had probably saved and taken more lives than the entire graduating class combined, but that was all classified.
So why show up to a high school reunion to see people who had never been your friend, and had made your life a living hell just for being smarter than them, different from them.
All except Kane.
His best and only friend outside of Sherrie. Kane had been a senior in high school and had asked the younger Leroux to tutor him. He had, and they had become good friends, Kane the complete antithesis to Leroux’s teenage loser. Kane was good looking and outgoing. A jock that every girl wanted to be with, and every guy wanted to be.
He was the personification of popularity.
And he had become Leroux’s friend, because deep down, he had all the same insecurities. Kane had defended him from the bullies, essentially telling anyone that if they messed with Leroux, they messed with him.
It put an end to it.
At least until Kane graduated and left for college.
Then it had resumed, though never at the level it had begun.
High school had been horrible.
He looked at the gorgeous woman he loved, and who loved him, and wondered if it would be worth showing up with her on his arm. He smiled.
“Oh, if they could see me now.”
“They’d be watching hidden camera porn.”
He lowered her back down, sighing as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, the sensations he was feeling off the charts as they slowly enjoyed each other’s bodies.
To hell with them. I have a new life now.
His phone vibrated nearby, indicating a text message.
He looked.
She grabbed his face, redirecting it to her breasts. “Ignore it. That’s an order.”
He buried his face in something more interesting as another message came in.
“Ignore it.”
He tried.
Oh God did he try.
But it vibrated again.
“Ignore. It.”
She was getting close, he was getting close.
No he wasn’t.
Dammit!
“What’s wrong?”
He sighed, dropping his hips back into the water. “It’s distracting me.”
She smiled. “I can tell.” She nodded at the phone. “You better get it, droopy.”
Leroux shot her a fake pained expression then grabbed the phone, his eyebrows popping up as Sherry continued to gently keep things alive. “It’s from Dylan. Says he needs to speak to me, urgently.”
Sherrie pushed off him, she knowing too well things were over. “I’m going to set up surveillance outside Fang’s place next time he’s visiting her then call every five minutes.”
Leroux chuckled then climbed out of the hot tub. Sherrie reached forward, grabbing her favorite appendage of his. “No, you stay, I don’t need him.”
“Sorry babe, we’re a packaged pair.”
She lifted and looked. “Yup, there’s a pair alright.”
Leroux laughed as he grabbed a towel, Sherrie yanking it from him then quickly drying him off, mini-Chris taking interest once again when she dropped to her knees to dry his nether regions.
She smacked it. “You’re off duty.”
Leroux grinned, launching his secure messaging app to get the contact details for Kane. Done, he watched the greatest thing to have ever entered his life dry off, she teasing him with her slow movements, the towel barely visiting the front of her body.
He dialed.
“Hey, buddy, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”
Leroux’s eyes hungrily drank in the sight before him. “Just a romantic night away from everything.”
“Oh, shit, I’m sorry. Wait, no I’m not. I’m in burqa-town and haven’t seen Fang in two weeks, let alone a woman. I spot a tablecloth and wonder if a chick is under it, then realize I can’t do anything, even if there was.”
Leroux laughed. “Ahh, the bachelor life, gone forever.”
“Yeah. Wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Leroux smiled at Sherrie. “Me neither.”
She covered herself with a robe. “Shows over.”
He frowned. “So, what’s up? You said it was urgent?”
“Yeah, the professors have been kidnapped at gunpoint in Maryland, several dead. It looks like it might be the work of that Triarii offshoot he told me about. I’ve sent you a secure message with all the details. Fang is heading to Maryland now to rendezvous with Agent Hugh Reading. She’ll be your contact on this one, I’m out of the loop.”
“Got you. I’ll check with the Director to see if it’s okay to use Agency resources.”
“Already done. He’s approved your team looking into it. The Triarii are still of interest since our former President was killed by one of their people.”
Leroux grunted. “Kind of keeps you on the radar.”
“True. I’ve got to go, but keep me posted.”
“Will do, talk to you soon.”
The call ended and Sherrie’s robe flew open. “I’m guessing we have to go?”
He nodded.
“Want to try and set a record?”
He grinned.
“Oh yeah!”
Maggie Harris Residence, Lake in the Pines Apartments, Fayetteville, North Carolina
“What are you looking at?”
Command Sergeant Major Burt “Big Dog” Dawson flushed, turning his phone slightly so his fiancée, Maggie Harris, couldn’t see the screen. “Oh, umm, Niner sent me an email. Wanted to know what kind of tile was in some picture.”
Maggie frowned, leaning over and turning the phone toward her, revealing a chesty woman standing in a hallway. “Uh huh. Tell him it’s slate, and he’s a pig.” She tapped his chest. “And so are you.”
“Hey, babe, just trying to help a fellow operator redecorate.”
“With those two howitzers in the picture, I’m surprised you even noticed there was a floor.”
Dawson glanced at the photo. “Huh, whadaya know. I never noticed her before.”
Maggie shook her head. “Men! What is it about you guys and big breasts?”
Dawson shrugged, pocketing the phone. “I don’t know.” He squeezed his pecks. “We want what we can’t have?”
“Uh huh. Would you want me to get implants like that?”
Dawson’s eyebrows shot up, knowing enough about women that there was only one correct answer to a question like that. “Hell no! You’re perfect just the way you are. I wouldn’t want you looking like some freak show.”
Maggie’s eyes narr
owed. “Uh huh. I wonder if the twins were bigger, if I would have had such a hard time landing you.”
He grinned. “I guess we’ll never know.”
“Good answer.”
“I thought so.”
Her eyes smoldered and he knew he had done well. “Come here, you.”
He leaned toward and she lay back on the couch, he lying atop her as she wrapped her arms around him, their lips meeting as he made a mental note to smack Niner later for almost getting him in trouble. He grabbed a breast and squeezed, eliciting a moan. “See, perfect.”
She pushed up against the drill sergeant. “Ooh, is that for me, or the girl on the tile?”
“Oh, it’s all for you, babe.”
His phone vibrated, and she felt it.
“Are you on call?”
He sighed. “Yup. I better take it.”
Maggie sighed, pushing him off her. “Tell the Colonel he has to work on his timing.”
Dawson laughed as he fished his phone out of his pocket, his eyes narrowing at the number. “Hello?”
“Hey buddy, it’s Dylan.”
“Ah shit, what do you want?”
“Hey, is that any way to greet a friend?”
“Huh. The day you call just to say hi, is the day I know world peace has been declared and we’re all out of jobs.”
“Yeah, can’t see that happening this week.”
“Me neither. What’s up?”
“I’ll let you guess.”
Dawson shook his head, immediately knowing who this was about. “What did they get themselves into this time?”
Kane laughed. “Our archeologist friends have been kidnapped at gunpoint from a mall in their hometown, several people are dead. Hugh says it’s that offshoot of the Triarii you had to deal with in the West Bank.”
Dawson was immediately alert, Maggie already picking up the signals and gathering his shoes and jacket. “Christ, those guys? I thought we killed most of them?”
“Nope, turns out Martin Chaney, the guy they handed the skull over to, might be one of the bad guys after all.”
Dawson’s eyes widened. “Holy shit! Didn’t see that coming. So what do we know?”
“Not much. I’ve sent you a secure email with everything I have so far. I’ve sent Fang to coordinate in Maryland, and Hugh’s apparently called in Laura’s security team. I’ve got Leroux working intel as well.”
The Thirteenth Legion (A James Acton Thriller, #15) (James Acton Thrillers) Page 11
