by Doug Welch
Her hand grew slippery on the automatic’s grip. She transferred it to the other hand to wipe the sweat on her pants. Resuming her stance she waited and thought about how she could take the perp down without disobeying orders.
She knew that her only option for independent action was if the hostages were in imminent danger from the terrorist, so she searched the house probing their location.
She concentrated on one of them, a little girl. She examined her young mind, looking for a way to trigger a reaction. Finding what she sought, she prepared a pattern, although feeling a little guilty at what she intended to do.
Using hand signals she motioned to her two companions. Nodding they rose to their feet and readied a battering ram to take down the back door.
Kitty triggered the pattern and heard the child scream. The two SWAT team officers required no further encouragement. They swung the ram at the door.
Shouting into her radio, Kitty said, “Hostages threatened. We’re going in.”
Adrenalin flowed through her. The door burst inward, propelled by the ram. Her two companions covered her flanks, entering the house and shouting, “Clear.”
Focusing her mind on the terrorist, Kitty blocked his body responses and ran into the living room. Seeing him standing by the couch, she body-slammed him to disguise the fact he wasn’t moving. Falling with him to the floor she wound up lying on his back.
She jammed her gun to the back of his head. “Don’t move! Let me see your hands.”
Releasing her lock on his mind long enough to see him extend his hands, she froze him again. “A little help here guys! Someone get the restraints on him!”
One of the SWAT team officers stood over her, laughing. “Looks like you’re doing alright by yourself Agent. Now, if you’ll just climb off him, I’ll cuff him.”
She shot a dirty look at the officer. “Cuff him first.”
Grinning, the officer pulled out his cuffs, slapping them around the terrorist’s wrists and locking them. “Who would have thought of it? A hot, Amazon FBI Agent. Are you married?”
Annoyed, she replied, “No and if you don’t put a sock in it, I’ll guarantee you’ll never father children.”
Still chuckling, he helped her up. Appraising her, he said, “It might be worth it.”
Kitty smiled. “Maybe you aren’t such an asshole after all.”
The front door burst open and a mixture of FBI agents and SWAT officers crowded into the living room, one of whom was her partner.
Agent Pell, wearing a grim expression, strode over to her. “You’d better have a very convincing post-action report, rookie. You jumped the go signal.”
Glancing over at her two companions who stood at the ready with huge grins on their faces, she nodded. “I will, but we’ll need to interrogate this perp fast. I have a feeling that he’s got something planned and he was stalling for time.”
“Agent Trudeau you should be aware that the FBI does not refer to suspects as ‘perps’,” he hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the SWAT officers, “that’s for those guys. We call them, ‘persons of interest’.”
Kitty rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You can call them a piece of shit for all I care. All I know is we’re the good guys and that,” she indicated the suspect, “–that ‘person of interest’ is a bad guy and the good guys won.” She watched as the man was read his rights and hustled out to a waiting patrol car.
Wearing a stubborn look, Pell said, “You violated regulations, Agent Trudeau.”
Still keyed up from residual adrenalin, Kitty dismissed his comment. “It’ll be in my post-action report, Agent Pell. Let’s go interrogate this asshole.”
Anxious about the delay, she stormed out of the house and got into their shared SUV.
* * *
Kitty woke to hands stroking her naked back and hip. Luxuriating in the sensation, she stretched and yawned. “That feels good. How about doing the shoulders too?”
The hands moved to her shoulder blades, kneading her neck and back muscles. She moved her legs and felt toes stroke her calves and the soles of her feet.
Turning over in the bed she gazed in Rodger’s eyes. “You sure know how to wake a girl up, Agent Pell.” She looked down at his groin and smiled. “It seems a shame to waste that. You plan on doing something with it?”
Grinning, he flipped her over, face up. Climbing on top, he pinned her arms over her head. At the contact of his chest on her breasts, she winced. “Ouch!”
Roger looked down at her breasts. “Christ, Kitty you’re a mass of bruises.” Rolling off her, he lay on his back staring at the ceiling.
Kitty examined her boobs. “Must a happened when I body slammed the perp.”
Rodger sighed. “I’ll need to take you to the hospital. You’re taking too many chances. I sweat blood every time you pull this shit.”
“Rodger, you know I was right,” she said. “He could have killed a lot of people.”
Rodger turned his head to look at her. “Yeah, but how did you know? You know what the people at the Agency are calling you?”
She shook her head.
“Wonder Woman. That’s what.”
Talk about precognition, she thought. Still it’d been worth it. The terrorist had planted a bomb near a Federal building, timed to go off at rush hour. He’d confessed, with Kitty goading him into it, and they’d been able to disarm the bomb in time to save the lives of a lot of people.
“Not today,” she replied, feeling her sore breasts. “Today I’m a tender woman who’s frustrated at not being able to engage in hot sex.”
Roger returned his eyes to the ceiling. “I don’t think we’ll be able to hide our relationship much longer, Kitty. Sooner or later someone will rat us out, no matter how much we bitch at each other in the office.”
Kitty sighed. “I know.” She reflected on how complicated they’d made it for themselves. Rodger had acted as her mentor during the horrendous application process for the FBI, and she would never have made if it wasn’t for his help and Paris’ intervention.
In comparison, Quantico was a breeze. During the time they’d worked together she’d gained respect for Rodger’s competence, patience and humor. All new agents were assigned to a senior agent to gain experience, so she pulled some mind tricks to get assigned to be his partner.
She hadn’t realized how close partners were. They practically lived with each other.
One adrenalin-filled evening on assignment, after a major bust, they’d tumbled into bed and the rest was history.
Kitty turned her head to look at him. “At least you could kiss me.”
Rodger rose on one elbow and caught her attention with glittering eyes. Reaching out he stroked her cheek and forehead holding her eyes fixed in his. “You’re so beautiful you make my eyes ache just looking at you.”
Reciprocating, Kitty’s fingertips traced the outlines of his arched eyebrows and moved down the rugged planes of his tanned face, finally stopping at his full lips. God he’s so friggin hot! What am I gonna do?
She grabbed a handful of his short, dishwater blond hair and pulled his face down to hers.
Rodger hesitated, a fraction of an inch from contact and then closed the distance, first flicking her lips with his tongue and then opening his lips, covering hers with crushing force.
Kitty wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.
Rodger broke away and flopped back on the bed. “Damn it, Kitty, don’t start something we can’t finish. We don’t know the extent of your injuries.”
Pouting, Kitty blew out a breath in frustration. “Remind me in the future not to take down a perp while I’m wearing body armor.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rodger’s pale blue eyes appraise her. “You know you don’t have to do that, Kitty...”
A lump formed in Kitty’s throat. “We’ve had this conversation before. You know how I feel, Rodger, I may be in love with you but I won’t marry you.”
Rodger’s voice held pain. “God
, Kitty, why not? I know the paperwork’s a bitch and they’ll put us in different departments, but at least we won’t have to pretend any longer.”
Frustrated beyond reason, she wanted to shout, ‘Cause I’m a friggin Shadow, that’s why!
She discounted all of the reasons he’d listed. They could live with that, but she thought of the scene after the wedding. Oh, by the way darling, I’m a Shadow. Watch me as I disappear right in front of your eyes, or the meeting with the family scenario; Mom and Dad this is my new wife Kitty. Don’t piss her off or she’ll kill you just by looking at you.
Being a Shadow Adept sure played hell with a love life, particularly if the object of your affections was a Normal. Of course she hadn’t known that until Paris trained her and warned her she couldn’t reveal her abilities.
Now, she explored the boundaries of what she could do with her mind and the possibilities seemed endless. Besides vanishing from the sight of normal humans she could influence other people’s decisions, disrupt body motor functions and almost read minds.
Kitty sighed. “Just drop it Rodger. You know how the Bureau treats married agents. One of us would be stuck pushing paper and you know how I love field work. We’ll deal with our relationship if it becomes a problem.”
It wouldn’t happen. She’d make sure of that by changing a few hearts and minds, but Rodger couldn’t know. He’d come unglued if he knew how many people she’d manipulated to get to this point and how many she was prepared to twist to her bidding to keep their affair a secret.
She saw the hurt reflected in his face and the lump in her throat threatened to become a sob. She hated what she had to do but it was for his own good. She reached out and stroked his shoulder. “I’ll be with you as long as you want me, Rodger. Just don’t ask me to marry you because I won’t.”
Rodgers lips compressed. “Get dressed. We’ve got to visit the hospital.”
Kitty swung her feet to the side of the bed and gingerly stood. Her muscles protested the movement as she hobbled to the bathroom. Must have bruised more than my chest, she thought. She dressed in a loose blouse and slacks, checking herself over for more damage, as she put on each article of clothing.
Joining Rodger in the living room, she grabbed her gun, ID, purse and keys. “I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.”
They were about to exit her apartment, when the phone rang.
Rodger looked back. “Let it ring.”
Kitty shook her head and walked over to pick up the phone, laying her purse on the couch. “Agent Trudeau here.”
“Kitty. I’m glad I caught you, it’s Elizabeth. How are you?”
Kitty frowned. A call from Elizabeth was unusual. She replied with caution, “Fine, Beth, how’re you? How’s the baby?”
The voice hesitated. “The baby’s yelling to get out of my belly as soon as she can. Other than that I don’t know. We’ve got a family problem here and I need someone talented to help me out.”
Kitty mentally imposed a capital ‘F’ in front of the word family. If the Family was in some sort of trouble she was honor-bound to help. Talented meant that Beth needed an Adept but where was Paris? Kitty knew that he could handle anything short of a full scale attack by a Shadow House and the Council was unlikely to allow that.
It made her nervous. “I tell you what, Beth, let me get through this day and I’ll call you back.”
Glancing at Rodger, she lowered her voice. “And don’t worry, Sis. I think I know how I can help you.”
Hanging up the phone, she once again picked up her purse and joined Rodger at the door.
“What was that all about?” he asked.
“Just my sister-in-law, Elizabeth. She’s frantic to pop that watermelon out of her belly,” Kitty replied. “I may need to go visit my family soon.”
The trip to the hospital was mostly conducted in silence, allowing Kitty time to think. Maybe it was a good thing she was injured. A little prodding could cause a doctor to place her on medical leave and she could fly to Kentucky.
But the call from Elizabeth worried her because it wasn’t the only one from the Family in the past three weeks. Paris had called through the farm’s secure link, requesting her to use her FBI resources to research biotechnology companies in Italy. He wouldn’t tell her why, although he did say it was for the Council and that was reason enough for her.
If Paris was in Kentucky then why couldn’t he handle a Family crisis by himself?
Chapter 12
Dani-Italy
Paris crouched below the top of the hill to hide his silhouette. The viewing angle was great but it had the disadvantage of putting the sun at his back, making in relatively easy for someone to spot his outline. At least the binoculars wouldn’t flash in the sunlight. The rough brush he’d crushed poked into his belly, but he didn’t move, examining the complex group of white buildings through the eyepieces.
This was the fourth site he’d surveyed from the data Kitty had sent and the most isolated one. It sat among of a group of hills outside Naples, Italy, nestled in a valley. Nearby lay an abandoned marble quarry. Getting to the place required negotiating a long winding road that snaked back on itself and there was no close village or large grouping of dwellings within miles. It was a perfect area to conceal something you didn’t want anyone else to see.
Although he realized that if the Borgias were engaged in radical biological research, he’d never discover it by hanging around the outside of the facility and spying, that wasn’t his purpose.
The Borgia House was his prime suspect in Audrey’s abduction. He had no doubt that if they’d imprisoned her, she’d have been confined in a building located somewhere in one of the four compounds. The question was which compound and which building or group of buildings were the ones Audrey had been imprisoned in? Although he’d obtained the layout pictures and drawings for each place, he relied more on visual observation to assure himself that what he saw on paper fit reality.
Once he had a target, he planned to penetrate the place and hopefully find answers to his growing list of questions, like; why had they impregnated Audrey and who was the father? Why had they taken her baby and where was it? What did the Borgias intend to do with the results and what was their connection to the Iranian Shadow Houses?
Satisfied he’d seen all there was to see; he ducked behind the crest of the hill and crouch-walked back to the rental car parked behind a tree at the foot. He started the car and drove onto the two-lane road.
Negotiating the winding route back to Naples and dodging aggressive Italian drivers who thought they owned the center of the road, he pondered his next steps.
The Borgias had installed advanced surveillance at the site, and they’d likely taken note of the vehicle he drove. His frequent stops along the hills had probably alerted them that someone was spying on them. The other sites had been far less secure but they were in urban areas. In this isolated site, through the binoculars, he’d noted motion sensors and infrared cameras. It was a hell of a lot of security for a simple drug manufacturer. Had he’d known they were monitoring the approaches, he’d have tried to be more clandestine about it, but it was too late for second guessing.
Arriving back at his hotel, he called the rental company to pick up the car and deliver a more powerful one. Disconnecting the call, he used the speed dial on his phone to call Tony Anagnostopoulos.
“Mister Anagnostopoulos’ residence. Whom may I say is calling?”
The formal voice that answered was Tony’s gatekeeper, an elderly man who Paris suspected acted in a capacity other than mere servant, but he’d never been able to pin down the man’s talent. Since the caller ID on the phone had likely alerted the man to Paris as being the caller, he controlled his impatience at the obvious effort to delay him. “It’s Paris. I need to talk to Tony.”
“Mister Anagnostopoulos is indisposed at the moment. I will inform him that you called.” The call abruptly disconnected.
Irritated, Paris closed the phone and jammed it in
his pocket as he walked to the hotel elevators.
He needed the Council’s help and Tony was his contact. The other members of the Council, natural cowards, avoided any involvement in activities that might endanger their precious hides. It was the primary reason they’d enlisted Paris as their agent in matters that might be viewed as life-threatening. When he’d reported on his discoveries in Iran, both Tony and Bertram Chandler, the Council Chair, had become alarmed, anxious to know the connection of the Borgias and the Iranian Shadow Houses.
Paris had built up a large debt in the effort to take Dorri and Audrey out of Iran and they’d called in their markers, ordering him to investigate the connection. Although he’d told Beth to not expect him home for two weeks, a week of that time was almost up. He hadn’t called her because Tony had warned him an international call might be monitored by the Borgia House. This mission was supposed to be secret. He needed to get home soon, in time for the birth of his daughter.
At least he may have found his target. The question was what to do about it.
Reaching the bank of elevators he punched the up button and waited for one to open. As he waited, he reviewed his plans.
He reasoned that if the place Audrey been held had private medical facilities; it would most likely be someplace associated with the medical industry. If the Borgias were concentrating on the genetics of him and his twins, then Italy’s biotechnology industry would be the place to start.
He’d had Kitty dig up all the information she could concerning biotechnology in Italy. He knew that the United States Government collected every useful and useless fact around the globe. It was a vast attic of data that sometimes contained a treasure or two.
In it, he’d found a surplus of wealth. The Borgias were the owners of nearly every biotech company in Italy, either outright or by proxy, and Italy, as a member of the European Union, held a low profile position as a player in the technology.
Therefore, the country’s biotech industry was unlikely to show on anyone’s shopping list. It was a perfect place to hide prohibited biotech research as long as one could keep the government out of it. Of course it didn’t require much effort for a Shadow House to subvert a government, just a few patterns here and there, and they’d be able to work with impunity.