“He’s right,” Kjerstin said, jerking her thumb toward Ice. “You can’t destroy everything about the drug just because you don’t like it.”
Ice glanced between the two of them, stroking his chin in thought, but then nodded at Melinda.
“Go ahead, doctor. I think you’re right. Some things aren’t worth the cost.”
She sighed her relief. She would have done it whether he approved or not, but it was better to have his approval. Kjerstin didn’t look happy about it, though.
“Coyote, please bring Yury to the lab,” Melinda said.
“I hate to be a wet blanket,” Wolf said, “but how will you know if this Yury guy does what you ask?”
“How about your guy in the U.S.?”
“Tex? He can do anything,” Wolf said.
The other guys on Wolf’s team smiled and nodded.
“I don’t care who does it, I just need someone,” Melinda said.
“Anybody got a phone?” Wolf asked.
“I’ll go find one. You stay here. You’re not ready to be up and about yet,” she said, meaning all of them.
“I’m going with,” Buck said, then stumbled as he took a couple of steps.
“No. I’ll take Coyote. You stay put.”
Buck grumbled, but he did it.
As they left the room, she corralled a couple of the other SEALs and asked them to move Dozer’s body to the morgue. They nodded and headed off to perform the solemn chore.
After some searching, she and Coyote came up empty. Finally, she went down and asked Mikhail. He directed her to an office on the main floor where they found a satellite phone in the desk.
She took it back to the ward room and gave it to Wolf, who dialed a number and waited.
His face lit up when someone on the other end answered. “Tex, buddy. It’s Wolf. We need some help. I’m going to hand the phone over to a very nice doctor lady. She’ll fill you in.”
Melinda took the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey there. I’m Tex. You are?”
“Dr. Melinda Emerson, pharmaceutical chemist and temporary SEAL mission participant. I don't know who you are, but Wolf says you can help me.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“I’m at a super-secret Russian underground research lab in Siberia and I need to access and delete documents on their computers and server. Any chance you can help me with that?”
“Oh, that sounds like fun. Lemme ping you and I’ll hack into the computer system.”
“You can do that?”
“I can do anything.”
“So I’ve heard,” Melinda said. “Here’s another challenge for you. I want to wipe out all information anywhere on the planet about a project they’ve been working on in this lab. Can you do that?”
“I can’t help you with hard copies, but if it’s on a digital device, I can do it. Hmmm. Maybe a Trojan horse? Some kind of malicious virus that searches for a string of keywords, then delivers the package to wipe out the info.”
Tex sounded as if he’d already sunk into the brainstorming process and forgotten he was still on the phone with her.
“I guess I’m glad you’re on our side,” she said.
“You never knew it before, but you are glad I’m on your side. Okay, give me the information you want deleted from the world.”
She spent the next few minutes explaining to him the details of the drugs, the project, and answering his questions about keywords and other useful data. While they talked he hacked into the lab’s computer system, and she watched as he took over the terminal in the lab and went to work.
“What’s he doing?” Buck asked.
“Hacking the world, I think,” Melinda said.
“Well, after he’s done wiping things clean, I’m going blow this place to hell,” Buck said.
Coyote laughed. “See? Told you.”
12
Buck’s body and mind healed quickly over the next few hours after receiving the antidote.
Now he, Wolf, and Ice were fit for duty again, or fit enough to want to get back to work.
After he donned all his gear, Buck went to see Mindy. Coyote guarded the door to the lab, and grinned when he saw Buck. “Hey man, good to see you back on your feet.”
“It’s good to be on my feet.”
Inside the lab he found Mindy hard at work.
“You work more than any person I know,” he said.
Mindy looked up from the computer where she’d been examining something. When she saw him her expression lit up. Jesus, he’d never get tired of looking at her. Right now, she looked haggard and strained, but her smile at seeing him melted his heart. There was no mistaking her feelings for him.
He’d been very close to dying. He’d sensed it looming. His heartbeat had faltered, beating fast and pounding like picking up speed for something catastrophic. His mind had fogged and his brain felt too big for his skull, like at any moment it would spill from his ears in order to relieve the pressure.
He’d been terrified, facing a messy death. But on that precipice, the only thing he regretted was not having more time with Mindy.
The antidote had saved him. The physical symptoms had calmed, but more importantly it had severed the chemical leash.
Mindy slid off her stool and ran to him, her arms open wide.
They wrapped themselves around each other. He didn’t give a shit that anyone saw them, that his teammates might tease him forever. He knew he had something they didn’t, and he’d never let it go.
Mindy lifted her face to his, her hands reaching for him, touching his cheeks and eyes and lips like she was starved to be with him and just looking wasn’t enough.
“I was so afraid I’d lose you,” she said, her voice a strained with emotion.
“Me too. But lucky for me, my girlfriend’s a genius.” He took her face in his hands and leaned down to kiss her. He could kiss her all day, or his whole life. “Thank you for saving me,” he whispered.
She swiped at a tear that slid down her cheek, but then she smiled. “Well, I figured I owed you. I mean, you saved me last time so now we’re even.”
“I’ll always have your back, Mindy.”
She pressed her hand over his heart, and smiled. He liked the feel of her touching him, and the feel of his heart beating against her hand.
“You should get some more rest,” she said.
“I’m fine. I don’t need any more rest. I want to get out of here,” Buck said.
Because all of Mikhail’s men were locked up, and Mikhail was under Mindy’s control, everyone had relaxed. Buck didn’t want to relax, though. He was grateful to Mindy for freeing him from the drug, but anger still bubbled inside. He wanted to lash out against being violated. He wanted Mikhail to suffer.
Mindy went back to her stool. “We’re almost done. Kjerstin and Eun-Ji finished up the antidote for the men Kjerstin infected, but there’s no hurry to leave. We’re safe for now, and there’s a lot of information here that could be useful. I mean, Tex is working on getting rid of anything on the internet related to Amaranthine, but these scientists have been working on some interesting projects here that are worth exploring. I’d like to get some of their notes and files downloaded before you blow this place up.”
“Ice called for an extraction team. Our original exfil plan won’t work with this many people, so we’re bringing in choppers for pickup. They’ll land at the airstrip, we’ll all pile on, then we’ll get the hell out of here before anyone in official Russia knows we were here.”
“Aren’t there a couple of private jets out there at the strip right now? Why not use those?”
“There are, but they’re not fueled for the flight, and we don’t want to leave all our equipment out in the forest.”
“When’s this all happening?”
Buck checked his watch. “About four hours. So there’s no hurry, but whatever information you want from the computers or scientists here, that’s how long you have to collect it.”
“Oh wow. Okay. Maybe Tex can save some of it for me.”
“What are you going to do with Mikhail?”
Her expression hardened at the mention of Mikhail’s name. “What do you mean?”
“Are you going to let him die?”
She took a moment to rub circles at her temples before responding. “No. I won’t let him die. But I want him to suffer. I want him to feel some real fear. I know it’s childish and vengeful and that he won’t learn anything from it, but he’s murdered I don’t know how many people, and would have murdered you, and I can’t help that I want him to face his own mortality. Is that wrong? Does that make me a bad person?”
Several strands of hair had come loose from where she’d tied it back from of her face. Buck reached up and tucked them behind her ears. “No. You’re the least bad person I’ve ever met. If it had been me, I’d just have shot him and been done with it. I’m still not sure I won’t, but I guess he’s worth something for intel purposes.”
At that moment a whistling sound caught his attention right before the building shuddered and something exploded above them.
He threw himself on Mindy and they toppled to the floor as bits of the ceiling fell on top of them.
“What was that?” she asked.
“Sounded like an RPG.”
“A what?”
“Rocket propelled grenade.”
“Someone’s shooting at us?”
“Looks that way. Your work is done. Time to get out.”
Ice appeared at the door with Eun-Ji in tow. “Buck,” he yelled.
“Here,” Buck said, standing and pulling Mindy with him. “What’s going on?”
Another explosion rocked the building. He pulled Mindy for the door just as a chunk of the ceiling collapsed with a thud. Ice leaned over Eun-Ji like a big SEAL awning, protecting her.
“Where’s Kjerstin?” Mindy asked.
“I don’t know. She left the lab over an hour ago and I haven’t seen her since,” Eun-Ji said.
Mindy turned to Buck. “We have to find her.”
“We will,” Buck said.
“We’re under attack. Not sure who and don’t care. We need to get the civilians out to a safe distance,” Ice said. “We have no reason to defend this position. Its value is expired.”
“Roger that,” Buck said. “What about the Russians in the basement?”
“We’ll go after them and get them out if we can,” Ice said. “You get Dr. Emerson and Dr. Rhee out to the rendezvous point. The rest of us will collect the civilians and meet you there.”
Mindy “You’ll find Kjerstin?”
“We’ll look for her,” Ice said.
Some of the scientists who’d been in the quarters upstairs burst from the staircase, coughing and wide-eyed with panic, a few of them bloodied and covered with sheetrock dust from exploded walls. Smoke rolled down the stairs behind them.
Gunfire erupted from inside the building. Buck had to assume it was the SEALs returning fire against whoever was outside attacking.
A third RPG hit the building above them, and the upper floor began to crumble around them, followed closely by flames and smoke. The scientists screamed and huddled together.
“I’ll take these folks with me, too,” Buck said. “You go find the rest.”
“Will do,” Ice said. “Stay in contact by comm.”
“Copy that.”
Ice hurried one direction down the hall, rounding the corner out of sight. Mindy and Eun-Ji wrapped arms around each other’s waist, drawing strength.
“Everybody listen up,” Buck said. “I’m going to get you out of here, but you have to do as I say. We’re going to head this direction and out the back.”
He didn’t wait for questions. Instead, he took off at a jog in the opposite direction of Ice, leading his little group of panicked scientists with Mindy taking up the rear, herding them ahead of her.
The back door came into view, and he held up his hand to bring everyone to a stop. Despite the condition of the building, he needed to do at least a simple reconnaissance. They couldn’t burst out the door without knowing what waited for them. It could be an ambush. Of course, they couldn’t stay in the building much longer, either.
But as he stepped for the door, Mikhail rounded the corner. He had a tight grip on Kjerstin’s arm, a gun in his other hand. But something about it felt off to Buck.
“I was hoping to run into you,” Mikhail said turning the gun on Buck.
The look in Mikhail’s eyes made it clear he was out for blood rather than conversation. Buck dove to the side just in time to avoid the bullet as Mikhail pulled the trigger. All the scientists screamed and ducked.
Buck rolled up to a squat and leveled his weapon at Mikhail. “These your people destroying the building?”
“It’s been compromised. It’s no use anymore.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Mindy stepped closer, pushing Eun-Ji behind her. “Mikhail, put that weapon down and let Kjerstin go.”
Mikhail sneered at her. “Your power over me is gone, Doctor.”
Mindy’s eyes flew wide as she shifted her gaze to Kjerstin. She cocked her head as if asking a silent question.
They didn’t have time for this.
“Let the woman go,” Buck said.
“So you can shoot me? I don’t think so. Stand down and let us pass.”
Mikhail swung his weapon from Buck to point at the scientist at the front of the pack.
“It’s okay,” Kjerstin said. “Let us go. I don’t want to see anyone else hurt.”
“What did you do?” Eun-Ji asked, leaning out from behind Mindy.
Mindy’s brows scrunched together in confusion as the moments ticked by. “Why?” she finally said.
Why what? Buck didn’t understand their secret scientist language.
“Just let us go,” Kjerstin repeated.
Eun-Ji pursed her lips like she’d tasted something bad. Mindy’s face fell, and she shook her head in disappointment. “Go.”
Mindy stepped back against the wall to allow them to pass, keeping Eun-Ji behind her. Buck tracked Mikhail and Kjerstin with his weapon, hoping to get a clear shot at Mikhail.
When Mikhail came even with Mindy, he sneered at her and pointed his gun at her face. “You were going to let me die,” he said.
“I wouldn’t have. But now I wish I had,” she said.
Mikhail’s jaw twitched and the muscles in his hand tightened, and Buck knew beyond a doubt Mikhail meant to shoot Mindy.
Buck aimed and took the shot. Mikhail’s head jerked to the side as the bullet entered. Kjerstin screamed when Mikhail’s blood splattered the side of her head, and Mindy’s mouth fell open in shock as Mikhail’s body crumpled to the ground.
A beam from the upper floor creaked and then crashed to the floor alongside the body, flames crackling along the length of it. Eun-Ji screamed.
Fire roared in the opening the beam left in the ceiling.
“C’mon,” Buck yelled. His voice broke everyone’s trance, and they all tripped over each other to get the hell out of there.
All except Mindy and Kjerstin who stared each other down, that secret scientist language passing between them as the building burned and collapsed around them. Kjerstin swiped the sleeve of her lab coat over her face, smearing Mikhail’s blood on her check and forehead, then turned and ran the other direction, disappearing in the smoke and chaos.
“Mindy,” Buck yelled.
She sprinted to his side. He’d peeked out the door, but really they had no choice. It was run outside and hope their lives didn’t end in a rain of bullets, or stay inside and burn to death. He’d rather take his chances with the bullets.
He pushed the door open, sucking in oxygen, and waited. No bullets thudded into the door, so he stuck his head out from behind it and scanned the treeline. He didn’t see anything, which didn’t mean nothing was there, but he had to take the chance.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said. “Stay
low and move fast. Follow me.”
He darted out the door, along the side of the building, waiting for the whiz of a bullet just before it killed him.
But nothing came.
So he jogged back to where they’d stashed the snowmobiles and supplies. The sound of gunfire and the roar of fire as the building burned had him itching to get into the fight. But if he left Mindy and the rest of the scientists there, they’d be vulnerable. His team could handle whatever came at them, so he’d sit and wait.
Mindy snuggled up next to him. He’d been so high on adrenaline, he’d forgotten they were in frozen Siberia.
“Stay here. Let me know if you see anything,” he said.
He dug through the supplies to find some blankets, sleeping bags, and one-man tents, and distributed them among the scientists so they could stay warm.
Returning to Mindy, he draped a blanket over her shoulders and she pulled it tight around her.
“Thanks.” She watched the conflagration for a few quiet moments. “You think they’ll be okay?”
“They’re the best the American military has to offer. If they can’t take out some Russian mafia, we’re in big trouble.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to blow the place up. I know you wanted to be the one to do it,” she said.
He chuckled. “I’ll get the next evil Russian mafia complex.”
“God, I hope there isn’t a next one. I really want to be done with the Russians.”
“You and me, both.”
She crawled into the space between his knees as he squatted on the ground, and he wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t care where they were—at her tiny yellow house, out in the Siberian woods, on a Russian cargo ship, or anywhere in between—holding Mindy and keeping her safe was where he belonged.
“You killed Mikhail,” Mindy said.
“Damn right. About time, too. That guy needed a bullet in the head.”
He felt her body cringe against his. “While I agree with you in principle, it’s more difficult to accept in practice.”
“That’s what I’m here for, so you don’t have to consider those gray areas. Sometimes good and bad really are black and white, and Mikhail was bad to the core,” he said.
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Buck the System (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Sealed With A Kiss Book 2) Page 12
