Covert Game

by Christine Feehan

  Let's do it.

  At Draden's go-ahead, Gino began to ease his way up the tree. He had the strength to use just his upper body, but he didn't want the trunk or branches to tremble as he moved upward. He couldn't displace bark or crack a limb. Any of those things would give him away to the soldier watching the entrance to the property.

  He was into the heavier branches now, but he couldn't move fast and draw the eyes of the sentry. He kept his pace steady and made certain he was on the far side of the tree, away from the observant soldier and the one Draden was targeting. He finally came up behind his man. The soldier was stretched out along the branch, his rifle resting in the crook of two twisted limbs. He was using his night vision goggles, sweeping the area along the stream and the swamp behind it continuously in a grid pattern.

  Gino waited a couple of heartbeats, looking along that swamp line as well. There wasn't one indication that his team was right there, waiting for the signal to attack. It was difficult to kill Whitney's soldiers. Sometimes they even wore mouth armor. The doctor had created an armor beneath the skin that kept bullets and knives from penetrating. The armor was made of a kind of spider's silk, but it rendered the soldiers a little stiff. Whitney had tried to experiment on a couple of the women, but this was relatively new, and he still made mistakes. It was a measure of his lunacy that he now used the supersoldiers he knew wouldn't last very long. They could move fast when necessary, but they didn't have the kind of agility and quickness they needed for fast hand-to-hand combat.

  What Gino was going for was stealth. His GhostWalker team wanted to wipe out the soldiers without anyone knowing they were even there. It would be interesting to see what Pascal and Blaise Comeaux would do when they came home to a killing ground, especially after Whitney had to have paid them a fortune to house his soldiers in secret. The two men had gone to a bar to drink, something they were known for. Whitney had probably left orders that the two men stay away from the bar, afraid of loose lips. The two brothers had played right into the GhostWalkers' hands.

  Gino crept up behind the sentry, his heart beating steadily. There was no adrenaline to deal with, not wild breathing. This was his world and he was damn good at it. The soldier moved, his arm going slowly down to pick up his water bottle. He raised it just as slowly to his mouth, tilting his head to drink. Gino's knife sank deep, straight into the throat to slice left and right. He left the knife in him while he caught the water bottle before it fell. Holding the soldier's body as the life drained out of it, he lowered the bottle back to the small box the sentry had set up next to his rifle.

  It took minutes to station the body in the tree, laying him out, belly down along the branch, wedged in the crook, his hand on his rifle, so if anyone looked up at him with field glasses, they would see he appeared in position to shoot.

  Clear to the east.

  He moved to the far side of the tree, away from the sentry to the west. He leapt, landing in a crouch and stayed at the bottom, close to the root system, waiting for Draden's report. It came a few minutes later.

  Clear to the west.

  Eyes on the last two soldiers? Wyatt asked.

  Negative, Gino and Draden reported simultaneously.

  There was a small silence while Wyatt debated. We're moving toward you. Look around, see if you can spot them. They could be taking turns sleeping.

  That made sense, but Gino was uneasy. He didn't like the idea of two of the soldiers being absent. He knew Whitney's new army could go without sleep, just as the GhostWalkers could, for several days if necessary. If they weren't sleeping, where were they? Could they be watching the Fontenot home and if so, did they see the team leave? He doubted that or there would have been an ambush set up.

  I don't like this, Wyatt. If they aren't here, and I don't think they are, they have to be watching our women and children.

  Joe and Ezekiel have a five-man team there as well as Cayenne, Pepper and Bellisia. Nonny is no slacker, and neither is your Zara. She charged that soldier with a shotgun and bare feet. Keep your mind in the game, Gino. Those two soldiers aren't going to try to take her themselves.

  Opportunity could just be as simple as chance. Zara could be alone on the front porch. He hadn't told her to stay indoors. The women liked to sit on the porch when they couldn't sleep. He doubted, with Wyatt and him gone, that neither Pepper nor Zara would be able to sleep. He should have been very precise in his orders. Instead, he'd fucked her. Okay, who was he kidding? It hadn't felt like fucking. He knew exactly what he'd done. He'd worshipped her. Paid attention to every square inch of her body. Memorized her. Etched her into his brain for eternity. He'd taken her twice and then, just before he left, he kissed her. Over and over. God. That mouth of hers. He was as addicted to it as he was her body.

  He watched Wyatt and the others move out of the trees and denser foliage to belly crawl to the stream. Insects continued droning loudly. Frogs kept up their chorus. That reminded Gino that some of Whitney's soldiers did have some developed psychic abilities. They hadn't failed testing because of their psychic gifts--they'd failed psychological testing.

  He swept the area behind Wyatt, Malichai and Rubin. There was no movement. Now all three were in the path created by the trampled grass. Draden joined him and the two went back-to-back, Draden facing the fire pit and the four soldiers there. Gino kept his gaze moving restlessly, quartering their back-trail, making certain that the missing soldiers--or the Comeaux brothers--didn't come up behind his team.

  Wyatt took the field glasses and studied the four soldiers sitting around the fire pit. Clearly, they weren't expecting to be attacked, all four were looking into the fire.

  One yawned. He glanced toward his sleeping bag and then toward the house. It was a good distance away. Several trees separated the house from the soldiers' camp. "Wish that woman would cook for us," he said. "Rations suck."

  "Gotta agree with you there Tyler," another said. "The smells coming from that house are amazing. I'm pretty sure there's fresh baked bread."

  "You ever get near the Fontenot house, Tom, you'll smell some great food cooking. That old lady has a rep around here. We ought to forget bringing Zara back and get that old woman. Get her to cook for us," Tyler said.

  There was a great deal of laughter over that. Gino didn't like them even saying Zara's name aloud. It was said with familiarity. They knew her. They knew the way the women were treated by Whitney and still they went along with everything he did.

  "Whitney would despise Comeaux," Tom said. "He's a greedy little bastard and doesn't have one ounce of patriotism. Not one."

  "Neither do you," another soldier sneered good-naturedly.

  Tom threw his hat at the soldier, hitting with deadly accuracy right across the flames. "I'm in it for the money. What are you in it for, Brax?"

  "The women, of course," Brax admitted with a grin. "I've been trying to get Whitney to pair me with Zara. He says she's too smart for me. Who gives a fuck what they have in their head? Comeaux might not be a patriot, but he knows how to treat a woman when she doesn't give him what he wants. He beat the shit out of his old lady last night and then fucked her brains right out of her head."

  That black rage in Gino's belly coiled into something deadly. Something lethal.

  "How do you know?"

  "Heard him swear at her in Cajun. Knew he was going to whale on her and I snuck up to his bedroom window and watched. He's like a bull. Funny thing is, his brother was there. Right in the bedroom, calm as you please. Watchin' right along with me. When Pascal quit beating her, he stripped her clothes off and the two of them went at it. Hot as hell watchin' that shit."

  The fourth soldier rubbed the front of his jeans. "Just thinkin' about it makes me wish I could join them." He glanced up at the house. "We could kill the brothers and tap that. Afterward, just slit her throat and get out, no one would ever know."

  The other three soldiers laughed. "You're a bloodthirsty bastard, Buck," Tyler said.

  "Nope, just horny," Buck co
rrected.

  Wyatt gave the signal, and Gino moved, making his way around the encampment to come up behind them. Wyatt and Malichai went straight toward them. Draden and Rubin came in from opposite sides. They couldn't make a sound and every kill had to be silent. If Comeaux's wife or children happened to look out the window, they couldn't see GhostWalkers moving stealthily in the grass.

  I'll take the big guy closest to the fire. The one called Brax, Gino informed them. The sick fuck wasn't getting close to Zara or Comeaux's woman.

  The others chose a target. Rubin wanted Buck. Draden took Tyler. Malichai had Tom.

  Wyatt would back them up with his gun, if necessary. They would all slide forward in the grass together, get as close to their objective as possible before committing to the kill. This was a world Gino was very comfortable in and he began to move, easing his body onto the ground, using his toes and fingers to pull himself forward, eyes on target.

  The soldier called Tyler, let out a heavy sigh. "Whitney wants Zara bad. Wonder why? He usually doesn't care that much if they get away. They're always replaceable."

  "He likes to get them when they're young and do his work on them, then he gets pissed that they act like women when they grow up," Tom said. "I've been trying to get into his breeding program for months."

  Tyler shook his head. "Not me. It's dangerous. None of the women want any part of it and unless, they're tied down tight with a gag in their mouths and gloves over their hands, it's too dangerous to get it up. I prefer the whores in town to any of Whitney's creations."

  Buck shrugged. "All women are whores. You just have to let them know you're not taking any of their crap. They'll do whatever you want given the right motivation." He leaned forward and spat into the flames.

  In position. Gino was right behind Brax's chair. Buck actually turned his head and stared right at him without seeing him.

  Wyatt waited until the three others had given the okay that they were in position. It's a go. Three, two, one.

  All four rose up simultaneously, knives sliding neatly through throats, while hands muffled any sound. Each held their target through the death throe and only when the bodies had stopped twitching did they allow them to slide down into their chairs, feet dangerously close to the fire-pit.

  "I'd give anything to see that bastard Pascal and his filthy brother find the soldiers. They were talking about killing them and now, suddenly, they're all dead," Wyatt said.

  "Is there a way to get his wife and kids out of here?" Gino asked.

  Wyatt shook his head. "Nonny's reached out several times, but she won't leave. Too afraid, I think. She's never been away from home and the only life she knows is here. I'll have Nonny try again, but even doing that is dangerous. Pascal gets wind, he'll try to burn our home down."

  "Maybe we should make certain he tries," Malichai said. He sounded grim. Darker than they'd ever heard him. "Gives us an excuse to kill him."

  "I could do it," Gino said. "No blowback. He uses the waterway as his own personal highway. He's always going to the Huracan Club. It would be easy enough to kill him."

  Wyatt sighed. "We aren't the police here. I detest the bastard. Pretty much every decent family up and down the river despise him and his brother, but we've got enough going on without taking that responsibility too."

  Gino shrugged and turned back toward the river. "There's still two of Whitney's soldiers out there. Let's go find them."

  *

  "It's hot tonight," Zara observed.

  "Humid," Pepper agreed. She wound her thick braid on top of her head and pinned it into position to take the heavy fall of hair off her neck. "I can't tell you how often I've considered cutting my hair off. Wyatt would lose his mind though."

  "Does it matter what Wyatt wants?" Bellisia asked.

  "To me?" Pepper was already nodding. "Absolutely it does. If he prefers my hair long, then I'll keep it that way."

  "What about you, Cayenne?" Bellisia asked. "Would you cut your hair if Trap said not to?"

  Cayenne stretched and then pulled herself up onto the railing surrounding the porch. "Nope. Trap doesn't like something, I don't do it."

  "Really?" Bellisia frowned at them. "I don't get that. I take into consideration what Zeke likes or doesn't like, but he isn't going to dictate to me."

  "Why would you think Wyatt dictates to me?" Pepper asked. She unbuttoned the pearl buttons on her blouse and poured water on her chest, uncaring that it got on her blouse, rendering the material see-through. "I said he prefers my hair long so I keep it that way. I didn't say he told me I had to keep it this long. I don't mind doing things that make him happy."

  "Trap dictates," Cayenne said. She shrugged. "I don't mind at all. I decide whether or not I'm going to do what he says. If it matters more to him, I do it, if it matters more to me, I don't. It all works out."

  "Cayenne, marriage isn't a dictatorship," Bellisia said.

  "Tell Trap that." A ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "The man doesn't know the meaning of the word 'ask.' I'm with Pepper, I don't sweat the small stuff. I like pleasing him, and he gives me the world, and I don't mean in material things, although he'd buy me a country if I wanted one. I know I'm his world, and that's good enough for me. The rest of it, Bellisia, is just diction. Trap has learned not to make the same mistake with me twice. I've learned to wait until I cool off--and he does--before I work out what's wrong and fix it."

  Bellisia sighed. "I guess that's why we all are attracted to different men. What you can take in your marriage, I'd never be able to in mine." She went down the steps to the garden hose, turned it on and let the water pour over her head until she was soaked.

  "I could use a little of that," Cayenne said. "Spray me."

  "Me too," Zara said.

  "You're both going to end up feeling sticky," Pepper pointed out. "It will cool you off for a few minutes and then you'll be steaming."

  "With Zeke, I feel like I have a partner," Bellisia said, turning the hose on Cayenne.

  Cayenne hopped off the railing and stood at the top of the stairs, turning around so Bellisia could really get her wet. She was wearing a white T-shirt and instantly the material was see-through just like Pepper's blouse. They didn't care, no one was around. Pepper joined Cayenne, putting her hands in the air and spinning around gracefully so Bellisia could soak her clothing and hair. When she was dripping she looked down at herself a little ruefully.

  "Since I've been pregnant, my breasts have grown. A lot. Sheesh. I can hardly keep them in my bra." Her white shirt was mostly open and the curves of her breasts were very much in evidence. "Wyatt and I are partners, Bellisia, just different from you and Zeke, but I like the way Wyatt is with me."

  "I love the way Trap is with me," Cayenne said. She reached toward the eaves, shot silk from her hands and wove a swing. She was fast at it. She sat in it where the slight breeze could fan her body. "I sometimes do things to get into trouble just for the fun of it."

  Bellisia was really frowning now. "Get into trouble?" she repeated.

  Zara fanned herself to keep the others from seeing the color creeping up her neck to her face. She wasn't about to say that she was certain she would prefer the relationship Trap and Cayenne had to any other that she knew of. She loved the way Trap looked at Cayenne. Since she'd been around them, there had been several times when he very abruptly would just turn to his wife, swing her over his shoulder and carry her out of a room. She wanted Gino to want her like, that and so far he'd seemed to be exactly that way. She didn't mind in the least pleasing him. In fact, she hated disappointing him. She wanted to know more about Cayenne's relationship.

  Cayenne nodded, making little circles with her foot. "Yep. In trouble. He spanks me." She grinned at Bellisia. "It hurts so good."

  "Are you kidding me?" Bellisia demanded.

  "Nope, it's fun and it's hot. I especially love it when he tells me to do things."

  "His voice," Zara said, startling herself that it came out of her mouth. "Well, Gino has
this voice sometimes."

  Cayenne grinned at her. "I know all about the voice. I should have realized Gino and Trap were friends for a reason."

  "You two are hopeless," Bellisia said, shaking her head. "How are we going to cool Zara down? I think she needs to be sprayed with the hose too, because she's very red right now."

  "She can't help thinking about Gino," Pepper teased. "It's a good thing Nonny went to bed or she'd be asking when you two are going to get married. She practically aimed a shotgun at Wyatt and told him he had to marry me."

  "Well, you did have three children together," Cayenne pointed out. She hopped off the silk swing. "Come on, Bellisia, you're strong. We can make a seat and carry her to the edge of the porch. You can spray her with the hose there."

  "You are not going to carry me," Zara said decisively. "I can walk a couple of steps. I ran to the pier."

  "I saw Gino's face afterward," Cayenne said holding out her hands to Bellisia so they could form a seat with their arms. "You do it again and he's going to put you right over his knee. Course, you'll probably like it. I always do."

  "Oh. My. God," Bellisia said, rolling her eyes. "You are insane. All three of you. I wouldn't want Gino to smack you on the butt, Zara, so sit your ass down and let us carry you."