Ultimate Heroes Collection

by Various Authors

  Still, she wanted to scream in frustration. She wanted to be out there, forcing Alexon to admit the truth, and watching Max’s back. But she couldn’t. She had to think of the baby.

  Fear gripped her. She couldn’t let Max do this without knowing the truth. If something happened to him…

  Her heart in her throat, she crossed the room and tugged him away from the group. “We need to talk.”

  He glanced at the others, then allowed her to lead him to the bedroom. The sheets were still tousled and the scent of their lovemaking still lingered in the air. Her eyes burned with the sudden, almost overwhelming need to cry.

  “Don’t worry.” He kissed her cheek, his strong arms suddenly around her waist. “Everything’s going to be fine. Trust me.”

  She smiled, struggling to keep the tears at bay for just another moment. “I do trust you, Max.” His smile tipped the scales, making her lose the battle. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. His heartrending expression faded into a frown. “I haven’t been totally up front with you,” she said, her voice shaky.

  “Scout, don’t cry.” He brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Whatever it is, it won’t change how I feel.” His smile returned full force. “I love you, you know.”

  The bottom dropped out of her stomach, but she had to tell him before she lost her nerve. “This baby is yours, Max. I don’t know why you hadn’t considered the possibility or why you believed anything Gage said. But it’s yours. That’s why Alexon kept tabs on me even after they released me. They knew I’d conceived while in isolation with you, and that’s what started all this.”

  “But—”

  She shook her head. “No buts.” She repeated the words he’d said to her last night. “It’s true. This is your child.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Max leaned against his SUV at the designated meeting place and tried to slow the thoughts whirling inside his head. He had to stay focused here. The Alexon officials would arrive at any moment and he had to be ready. Braxton was in position on a nearby rooftop. If there was trouble he would step in. Nicole waited in the SUV, the black wig disguising her blond hair. Ian Michaels, her husband and Victoria’s second in command, had insisted on providing additional backup, and was somewhere close by.

  Not that Max could blame him. He wouldn’t want his wife in a dangerous situation without him around, either.

  Wife.

  Child.

  The words tumbled one over the other in his head. Though he didn’t have a wife—yet, he amended—he did have a child on the way. The realization shook him to the core of his being. He wanted to be angry that Scout had kept the truth from him, but somehow he couldn’t. He was far too awestruck by the whole concept.

  The child she carried was his.

  Fury flared inside him. Kimble had known that; that’s why he’d lied to Max in the first place. If Kimble wasn’t the father and still knew about the pregnancy, that put him back at the top of the suspect list. Max knew what he’d tried to do. Kimble had wanted to throw him off balance, to drive a wedge between him and Scout. Well, it hadn’t worked. Max cared enough for Scout that the child’s paternity hadn’t mattered to him. One way or another Max would get to the bottom of Gage Kimble’s involvement.

  But now it definitely did. The child was his and he damn well intended to be a part of its life. It was no longer a matter of whether or not he and Scout could work something out, they would work something out. He loved her. He wanted her. And he would stop this threat to her one way or another. He’d have done that either way, but now he had an even stronger motivation to get it done quickly. His child would not come into this world with a threat looming over its head.

  “Show time,” Max muttered under his breath when a pair of headlights came into view. They all wore communicators—state-of-the-art earpieces that were almost invisible to the naked eye, and tiny transmitter disks strategically placed on a lapel or collar.

  “Copy that.” Braxton’s voice echoed in his earpiece.

  “Relax,” Nicole murmured next. “Your tension is showing, Max.”

  He glanced toward the SUV and forced a smile for the lady inside. He wondered if she knew she’d just asked the impossible of him.

  A long, dark limousine rolled into the deserted lot outside the dilapidated warehouse Max had chosen as the rendezvous point. This would be done on his terms and his terms only.

  A rear door opened and Regis Brandon emerged. He adjusted his designer suit jacket and strolled over to where Max waited. “Where’s Miss Jackson?” he demanded, immediately suspicious.

  Max inclined his head toward the passenger seat of his SUV. Brandon’s gaze darted in that direction. With the dark tint he could only see that someone was in there, but couldn’t make out the details.

  “This is how it’s going to be.” Max straightened from the relaxed stance he’d forced his body into and looked the shorter man in the eye. “We do this my way or we don’t do it at all.”

  “He’s got six on the ground,” Braxton warned, his voice a low murmur in Max’s earpiece.

  Max glanced past Brandon and saw a flicker of movement a few yards away.

  “What’s it going to take to get Miss Jackson’s cooperation?” Brandon demanded, oblivious to Max’s increased vigilance.

  Dividing his attention between Brandon and the shifting shadows, Max spelled it out for him. “If Alexon is willing to provide documentation that their efforts are indeed commissioned by the United States government, Miss Jackson will turn over the umbilical cord at the time of birth.” Max looked directly at him then. “But there will be no—absolutely no—further contact with her until that time. The birth will take place in the hospital of her choosing and with only one member of Alexon standing by. If Alexon ever attempts to contact Miss Jackson or her child again, formal charges will be filed.” Max gave him a long level look that relayed just how serious he was. “We have our contacts in the government, as well. If Alexon ever wants to be awarded another research contract, I would suggest that you abide by the conditions.”

  His features tight with fury, Brandon snapped his fingers, and six men closed in on their position. All six wore dark clothing and black ski masks—just as Scout had described her attackers and the man who had supposedly killed her uncle.

  Max frowned. Could she have been right all along? Surely he hadn’t been this far off the mark.

  “Standing ready,” Braxton informed him, the words reassuring in Max’s ear.

  “Falling down on your word already?” Max demanded curtly.

  Brandon shook his head. “You don’t understand, Mr. Maxwell. Biogenisis will abide by no such conditions. If we don’t take Miss Jackson into custody and keep her safe until the child is born, Biogenisis will. They’ll snatch her right from under your nose when you least expect it, and they won’t care if she or the child survives once they have what they want.”

  Max gestured to the men in ski masks, whose weapons were aimed at him. “And you do care about her safety,” he said tightly. “That’s why six men have weapons trained on our position this very moment. That’s why your men shot at us the other night and killed Harold Atkins one week ago. Is Gage Kimble working for you, as well?”

  Brandon held up a hand and the weapons lowered instantly, surprising Max all over again. “What men? Who shot at you?”

  “Why do you suppose we’ve been on the run?” Max flung the words at him. “Your men tracked us down at my cabin that very first night I found Scout. We could have been killed in the high-speed chase that ensued, not to mention in the firefight. And you’re talking safety? Miss Jackson was hit. How are we supposed to trust you?”

  Brandon’s eyes bulged in horror. He couldn’t have faked that look if he’d tried. “Is she all right? Dear God, no one told me about this!”

  Another surprising response. “She’s fine. It was only a flesh wound. Then last night her uncle’s house burned to the ground and we were almost caught in the explosion. Your man Kimble was there,
” Max added, in hopes of slipping him up.

  Brandon shook his head. “We had nothing to do with any of this. I’ve had no idea where you were. Of course I heard about the house in the news, but I didn’t know she was there. And I certainly don’t know anyone named Kimble. I haven’t left my office in days for fear I’d miss a call from you.” His breath caught. “Biogenisis. They’re on to you somehow.”

  Max shrugged noncommittally. If Kimble wasn’t working for Alexon, he had to be working for Biogenisis. Max’s impression was no longer simply hinging on emotion. “Someone is. They had a tracking device implanted in her locket. But lucky for us, we discovered it in time.”

  Brandon shook his head. “You must believe me. They’ll stop at nothing, use any means to get at her. If they perfect the antidote first, the U.S. will be at their mercy.” He waved his arms, indicating his guards. “This day and time we have to take extraordinary precautions. It’s a dangerous business.”

  “I want to trust you, Brandon,” Max said in all honesty. “But I know you’re not telling me everything. A good liar you’re not.”

  Brandon exhaled wearily and looked away. “Yes, there’s more.” His gaze leveled on Max’s then. “We are responsible for Harold Atkins’s death. It was my men that Miss Jackson saw. But we did it to protect her. Harold was a spy for Biogenisis. He was selling us out.” He glanced at the woman behind the tinted glass in the SUV. “Selling her out and she didn’t even know it. When we tried to stop him …” He shrugged. “Well, things went wrong.”

  “And you’re sure,” Max pressed, “that Harold Atkins is dead. Who identified the body?”

  Brandon looked nervous. “I … I did. It wasn’t easy to tell, with the condition his face was in.” He sighed, remembering. “Even with a bullet in his chest, he managed to shoot and kill one of my men. The shots that finished him off were head shots, making ID difficult. But it was him. Though I wasn’t there when it happened, I know it was. Just in case, however, we verified his identity with fingerprints.” He moved his head from side to side. “I can’t believe it came to that … but it did. If we hadn’t stopped him, Miss Jackson and her baby would be lab rats for Biogenisis at this very moment. We tried to do the right thing. Even gave the bastard a topnotch funeral.” His gaze leveled on Max’s. “It had to be done. Now, I’d like to speak to Miss Jackson.” The door opened and Nicole climbed out of the vehicle, removing the black wig as she emerged.

  A gasp sounded from Brandon. “That’s … where is she?” He turned and glowered at Max. “Where the hell is she? I’m telling you that Biogenisis is after her. They could have her right now!”

  “Now it’s your turn to trust me,” Max countered. “Miss Jackson is safe. Once you’ve provided the proof we requested and a signed contract agreeing to our conditions, she will provide you with a signed contract, as well.”

  Resigned, Brandon nodded. “All right. All right. Just make sure you keep her and that baby safe.”

  “You have my word,” Max said, concluding their meeting.

  THE WAITING WAS DRIVING her crazy. Scout paced back across the length of the room. Why hadn’t they heard something by now? It shouldn’t be taking this long.

  “Relax!” Doug implored. “If anything goes wrong, we’ll find out. Max and Ryan know what they’re doing.”

  But the men who were after them were ruthless, capable of anything. She’d seen that firsthand. She didn’t bother arguing, however.

  Moments later she stopped in midstep and threw her hands up in the air. “I can’t stand this. Can’t we contact someone and find out what’s going on?” “We’ll wait for them to contact us,” Doug said reassuringly. “If we called, the timing could be bad and cause all sorts of problems.”

  She understood that, but she needed to know that everything was okay. When she turned to pace in the opposite direction, a telephone rang. Doug checked his, but it wasn’t ringing. The next instant their gazes went to the bar. The cellphone that had been delivered to her at the Colby Agency guest house lay there. It rang again. Max had kept it handy in case her “uncle” made contact again.

  “I’m not sure you should answer it,” Doug said, pushing himself up from the couch and crossing to the bar as she did.

  “What if it’s … Uncle Harold again?” she said, voicing her uncharacteristic fear. He was dead. Wasn’t he? God, she didn’t know. “Or what if it’s Alexon and they have Max and Nicole?”

  Doug shook his head. “We would know.”

  She arched a skeptical eyebrow. “Would we?”

  Before he could answer the question, she snatched up the phone and punched the receive button. “Hello.”

  “Scout, thank God you’re okay.”

  Gage.

  Why would he be calling? What did it take to get rid of him? He’d lied to Max. Had he lied to her? “What’s up, Gage?” Doug frowned when he heard the name. “Alexon is going to kill Max. You have to come right away.”

  “What?” A chunk of ice formed in her belly. This was crazy. But … Alexon was with Max. Her heart started to hammer in her chest. “Max is—”

  “The meeting with Maxwell is just a decoy,” Gage said urgently. “They knew you wouldn’t really show up there with him so they staged a plan B, so to speak. If you don’t come right away, he’s going to die. Harold is behind everything. He’s the one. He tried to get me to come in on the deal and I refused. I’m on my way there to try and stop him.”

  He paused. “Let me help you, Scout,” he urged. “We can’t let them kill Max. I know he’s the father of your child and that there can never be anything between us. I have to do the right thing … we have to help Max. And you can finally bring to justice the man who killed your father.”

  Shock gripped her. She tried to assimilate everything he said, but all she could think about was Max. If this was a setup … But Harold couldn’t be involved. He was dead.

  But the M.E.’s file is missing, a little voice argued. The mortician couldn’t really say for sure that it was him. The call … that voice had been his. She was certain of it.

  What if Gage was right? What if Harold was alive? What if he and Alexon were hurting Max right this moment?

  She scrubbed a hand over her face and tried to make a decision. “Gage, I don’t know. I—”

  “Please, Scout, you have to trust me. I know I let you down by not standing up to your uncle and stopping him, but you have to believe me now.”

  “Wait,” she ordered. Turning the phone against her shoulder, she looked straight at Doug and demanded, “Is there any way to find out if everything is as it should be with Max and the others?” Her heart thundered in her chest. She had to be sure.

  Doug hesitated.

  “I have to know. Now!”

  Doug punched in a number on his cellular phone. After a brief pause, he said, “I need a status.” He listened, then looked at her. “The meeting went down without a glitch. They’re headed back here now. ETA is twenty minutes.”

  Gage was lying.

  A cold hard knot formed in her stomach. She lifted the cellphone back to her ear. “Gage?”

  Nothing.

  She punched the end button and stared blankly at the phone. Why had he made that call? What was the point? Who was he working for? If he knew about the meeting with Alexon …

  The answer hit her with all the force of a kick to her solar plexus.

  She quickly punched the menu button and advanced to the call log of the cellular phone she still clutched in her hand. Length of last call: 65 seconds.

  He was tracing the call.

  He knew where she was.

  Her gaze shifted to Doug’s. “We have to get out of here. Now.”

  As if reading her mind, he grabbed her by her uninjured arm and rushed to the elevator. “Not a good idea,” he said on second thought. “The stairs.”

  They raced down the fourteen floors, flight after flight. Her lungs felt ready to burst, but she kept going. They had to move quickly or Gage would find them.
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  But why was he doing this? It didn’t make sense.

  At the first floor, Doug paused and turned around to face her. “Stay behind me.”

  They moved down to the basement parking garage level. There was no window in the door to check out what they might find outside. The front entrance would likely be covered. All they could do was make a run for it. She nodded, scarcely able to draw a breath, much less utter a word.

  Doug drew his weapon and stepped into the underground garage. An eerie silence hung in the air.

  The squeal of tires split the silence.

  Doug wheeled to the right, guarding her with his body.

  The tap-tap-tap of gunfire echoed.

  Doug went down.

  A bullet grazed Scout’s thigh before she could reach for him. She swung her weapon in the direction of the threat.

  Too late. Gage held a bead right between her eyes.

  SCOUT STRUGGLED THROUGH the blackness. She had to wake up, but it kept pushing her back down.

  She forced her eyes open and fought the vertigo as the room spun wildly around her.

  Her mouth was dry, and when she swallowed it didn’t help.

  Where was she?

  The memory of the race down the stairs and the gunfire suddenly mushroomed in her mind.

  Gage.

  Doug had been lying on the ground, blood pooling beneath him….

  She tried to move, and cried out when pain knifed through her. She’d been hit in the left thigh. Lifting her head as best she could, she tried to see how badly she was hurt. Just a flesh wound, she remembered fuzzily. Her hands and feet were tied. Blood had soaked through the hastily wrapped bandage on her thigh. Another bout of dizziness made her head swim wildly.

  She ordered herself to think, to pay attention to her surroundings. The room was only dimly lit, so she couldn’t make out many details. The surface she lay on was some sort of examining table … like the one at the emergency room. A lab …

  Fear rocketed through her. They had her!

  Alexon had her. That meant Gage was working for them.