Ultimate Heroes Collection

by Various Authors

She opened her mouth to scream, but swallowed the sound instead. Her screams would only bring the enemy. She needed to find a way to escape. She couldn’t do that if they came.

  Tears burned her eyes, but she gritted her teeth and blinked them away. Gage, the bastard, would not win. She would find a way out of here.

  Max.

  She shuddered.

  No, she told herself. Max was okay. He was probably looking for her now. Please, God, let him have gotten back in time to save Doug.

  Okay, okay, she coached herself silently. Concentrate. Try to get loose. She struggled against her bonds, but they were so tight she could barely move. Fear and determination drove her. She would wriggle her hands until she worked free. All she needed was time.

  A door on the other side of the room swung open and the sound of footsteps announced that someone had entered the room. She froze, closing her eyes and pretending to be asleep, though her heart hammered so hard she was certain whoever it was would hear it. She tried to make her breathing slow and even, but it didn’t work.

  “Don’t play with me, Scout. I know you’re awake.”

  Her eyes flew open.

  Gage.

  Fury exploded anew inside her. For the first time in her life she wanted to kill another human being. She struggled against her restraints, praying for just one minute with her hands around his throat.

  “You bastard,” she hissed. “Who hired you to do this?”

  He laughed. “Why, your dear old uncle, of course.”

  Uncle Harold?

  Her heart shuddered to a near stop. Gage had said Harold had killed her father and tried to sell her out. How could he do that? She’d loved him like a second father! He’d professed to love her… .

  Gage smiled, a sick, sinister expression. “Oh, I know you don’t want to believe it, but trust me, it’s quite true. Of course, he did love you. Just as he loved your father. But when anything came between Harold Atkins and money—well, let’s just say that money always came out the winner.”

  “I need to know if he really killed my father.” She had to know the answer to that. She’d waited a long time. Whatever happened, she needed to be sure if what Gage had told her about Harold and her father was true.

  “He did.” Gage gave her another of those sick smiles. “I swear it on my mother’s grave.”

  Bastard. How could someone so inhumane even have a mother? “Did he really blackmail you into keeping quiet?” While she had his attention focused on her face and the conversation, she kept working at the restraints. She had to get her hands free.

  “Oh, well now, that was a bit of a lie.” Kimble held his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “I actually would have done the job myself, but Harold beat me to it. You see, I was Harold’s middleman. I still had the contacts in the Defense Department.”

  She stilled. Her father had died because of this lowlife piece of scum and his equally lowlife partner … Harold Atkins. She would kill Gage Kimble. Too bad Harold was already dead. Then again, was he? Her gaze narrowed with malice.

  “Where is Harold?” she demanded, enraged. “Another stretch of the truth,” Gage said with a shrug. “Harold is dead and buried, just as you thought.”

  “What about the call?”

  “That was easy enough to engineer. I had the tape from your answering machine and several taped calls of my own. I must say that stealing the M.E.’s file certainly added to the credibility of my ruse.”

  Her answering machine? Confusion furrowed her brow. Her brain seemed to fixate on that one part of his confession. “You broke into my house?”

  He nodded, feigning contrition. “That was me. I had your line tapped and your friend had called. I couldn’t let you get those messages. The last thing I needed was Maxwell involved. Good thing I did, too. That tape came in handy.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. Alexon hired Max.”

  Kimble flashed another knowing smile. “Ah, but Alexon did not hire me. You see, Alexon has been telling the truth. They tried to protect you from us … but we’re much smarter.”

  This was too much to handle. Her mind spun with conflicting scenarios. “But Harold worked for Alexon,” she argued.

  “He was a spy for us.”

  “Us?”

  “Biogenisis. That’s my employer. Usually I stay in the background, but our people got so sloppy—” he glanced at her bandaged arm “—I had to step in and take care of the matter personally. Otherwise you might never have known I was involved. I wanted you to trust me. I was certain after I blew up Harold’s house that you’d trust me instead of Maxwell. After all, you thought I’d gotten a call to come just as you did. Not that it matters.” He looked at his wristwatch then. “Any minute they’ll be here for you.” He patted her stomach. “And this little gold mine.”

  A combination of fear and fury rolled through her, sending adrenaline surging. She would not let them hurt her child.

  Gage shook his head and sighed. “If you just hadn’t been immune to K-141 this would never have happened. Harold really did hate to do this to you, but money is money, after all. When he discovered that you and Maxwell were immune and that you had conceived while in isolation, he knew the resulting fetus would be worth a fortune. Too bad he didn’t live to see his plan to fruition.”

  A phone rang. “Excuse me,” Gage said politely as he pulled the cellular phone from his jacket pocket. “Kimble.”

  Her left hand was almost free. But Scout needed a weapon. While he was distracted by the call, she looked around the room as best she could. There had to be something …

  A tray sat on a table next to her. A hypodermic needle lay on it, along with a couple of other medical instruments. She frowned, trying to figure out why the needle would be there. Then she knew. Gage had drugged her to keep her quiet as he ushered her to his vehicle. She remembered that by the time they’d reached his SUV she could scarcely stand. Then she’d blacked out. When the other Biogenisis people arrived they would likely drug her again to facilitate transferring her to wherever the hell they intended to take her.

  Please, she prayed, let Max find me in time.

  But how could he? He had no idea where Gage had taken her. It was up to her.

  As luck would have it, two things happened at once in the next second: her left hand came free from the bindings and Gage ended his phone conversation.

  Scout reached out, grabbing the hypodermic needle.

  “What the hell are—” Gage reached across her.

  She swung her left shoulder upward, putting all her strength into the blow as she stabbed the hypodermic into his chest. Instinctively she pushed the plunger downward, expelling the drug into his system.

  Screaming curses, he knocked her hand away.

  Her right hand came loose then. She sat up.

  He pulled the needle free and threw it across the room.

  “You bitch!”

  She tried to stop him, but somehow his hands wrapped around her throat. She struggled, but he was stronger. He forced her back down onto the table. She pulled his hair and he swore. The pressure on her throat didn’t let up. She couldn’t breathe. Flailing desperately, she poked him in the eyes with her fingers. He released her and shielded his face with his hands.

  Gasping for breath, Scout reached for the bonds holding her feet. Gage staggered toward her again, tending his eyes with one hand and reaching for his gun with the other.

  Fear paralyzed her.

  He would kill her now.

  The weapon leveled on her chest.

  She told herself to move.

  She couldn’t.

  The explosion of a gunshot echoed around her.

  Scout’s breath caught. She stared down at her chest, expecting to see blood cover her T-shirt.

  Gage crumpled to the floor.

  “Scout! Are you all right?”

  Max.

  Thank God.

  It was Max.

  Suddenly he was holding her in his arms. Someone was untying he
r feet. She couldn’t make sense of all that was going on around her, but she was too happy to see Max to care.

  He lifted her in his arms and carried her out of the hideous room, down a long corridor and finally into the night air.

  Thank God. Thank God.

  She and the baby were safe.

  When he paused at his SUV to open the door, she remembered Doug Cooper. “Doug? Is he—”

  “He’s gonna be okay. We got to him only minutes after the shooting. He was already dragging himself toward his vehicle and trying to use his cellphone.”

  Scout smiled through her tears. “Can’t keep you Colby guys down,” she said, her voice quavering.

  Max kissed her forehead. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I’ve never been so afraid in my life.”

  Scout drew back to look into his eyes, determined to say the words burgeoning in her heart. But pain knifed through her belly, cutting off any possibility of speech. She stiffened, then grabbed her middle. The next stab of pain had her crying out in agony.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Get me to a hospital, Max.” Another jolt of agony rendered her mute once more.

  The baby.

  Something was wrong.

  MAX RETRACED HIS STEPS across the waiting room floor. They should have heard something by now. What was going on back there?

  Braxton came into the waiting room carrying two cups of steaming coffee. “Here.” He offered one to Max. “Drink this or I may have to shoot you to put you out of your misery.”

  Too worried to think about drinking coffee, he took the cup anyway, just to get Braxton off his back. Braxton seemed to have a lot of experience with waiting. He was too damned patient. Max was losing his mind.

  “I checked on Cooper,” Braxton commented as he took a seat. “He’s fine. They’ll be moving him from ICU to a private room later tonight.”

  “Thank God.” At least they’d gotten some good news. Max dropped into the closest chair and tried to force himself to drink the coffee, but his stomach rebelled at the first taste. He suddenly felt the same queasiness he’d suffered the other morning. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was the one with morning sickness.

  “It’s a good thing we put our own tracking device in that locket.” Braxton waited until Max looked at him. “That was a good call.”

  Max shrugged. “I was afraid she’d try to give me the slip again. Especially when she heard our plan.” He blew out a breath. The waiting was killing him. The gunshot wound to her thigh was superficial, but the sudden onset of abdominal cramping was another story.

  “You should speak to Victoria about taking some time off,” Braxton counseled. “You and Scout have some things to work out.”

  He nodded. “You’re right about that.”

  What if she lost the baby? He closed his eyes and fought the burn of emotion in his eyes. His baby. He hadn’t done enough to keep them safe. Doug had told them how Kimble had tracked her location via the call on the cellular phone. Crafty bastard. Max’s only regret was that he hadn’t been looking him in the eye when that shot ended his time on this earth.

  “Drink up, Max,” Braxton encouraged. “I have a feeling you’re going to need your strength.”

  Before Max could respond a nurse stepped into the small waiting room. “Mr. Maxwell?”

  Max handed the cup of coffee back to Braxton and stood. “Yes.”

  “Come with me, please.”

  Max followed her down a long white corridor. His gut clenched as the medicinal smell hit him all over again. Finally the nurse paused at one of the treatment room doors. “Go on in. The doctor’s waiting for you.”

  When Max entered the room, he feared the worst. What he found was Scout lying on a table, her still-flat abdomen exposed and a wide smile on her face. The doctor was smoothing a small handheld device over her belly.

  “Max!” Those gray eyes beamed at him. Her smile was so contagious he couldn’t help smiling back. “Look, it’s our baby.”

  Startled by her words, he moved nearer. She grabbed his hand and pulled him even closer. “Look at the screen.”

  He studied the screen and then realized what it was. A sonogram.

  “See?” Scout urged, excitement in her voice.

  Emotion grabbed Max by the heart and wouldn’t let go. He could see the baby on the screen. Just a fuzzy outline … but a baby. His baby. Something shifted in his chest and he felt suddenly lightheaded.

  “Everything looks just fine, Miss Jackson,” the doctor said. “Just a little scare from all the physical and emotional stress, I think. Now that we’ve got everything calmed down, all looks well. But we’d like to keep you overnight just to be sure.”

  “Okay.” Her fingers tightened around Max’s. “Isn’t he something?”

  Max looked from the screen to her and back. “Or she?” His heart was racing. He was going to be a father.

  “Or she,” Scout agreed.

  “I’ll have the nurse print some of these images for you to keep.” The doctor smiled as he moved away from the table. “Just relax for a few moments while I see that you get moved to a private room.” When the doctor had gone, Max finally tore his gaze away from the image frozen on the screen. “They’re sure everything’s okay?”

  She nodded. “Staying the night is just a precaution. I’m fine. They tested my blood for the sedative Gage used. The doctor said the baby wouldn’t be hurt by it.”

  Just the mention of the son of a bitch’s name made Max stiffen with fury. “Good.”

  “Max, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” She stared at the image on the screen. “I had no right to keep this from you.”

  He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. He was so damn thankful she and the baby were safe. “It’s okay. We’ve both made mistakes.”

  She looked at him then, those gray eyes full of uncertainty. “What do we do now?”

  “Biogenisis’s activities will be frozen pending a full federal investigation, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about there. Alexon has agreed to our terms. I’d say it’s safe to assume you can have your life back now.”

  She nodded. “That’s wonderful.” She moistened those sweet lips and looked up at him, a vulnerability in her eyes he’d never seen before. “But what about us?”

  He smiled then, his heart ready to burst with emotion. “I’d say we have a lot of plans to make.” He shrugged. “You know, a wedding, a bigger house.” It was his turn to feel uncertain then. “That is, if that’s what you want. I hadn’t thought about your business down in Houston.”

  She nibbled that lower lip, making him yearn to do the same. “I was thinking that I might just turn the business over to Donna and join the Colby Agency. That is,” she qualified, echoing his words, “if they can use another good agent.”

  “I think I can guarantee that,” Max assured her, then winked. “I have an inside track with the boss.”

  A smile bloomed on those lush lips. “But what if we can’t get along? I mean, we both like being in charge. Who’s going to be the boss?”

  Max kissed the hand holding his and then kissed those tempting lips. “How about we take turns?”

  She kissed him back, a slow, lingering kiss.

  When at last they came up for air, she countered, “Only if I can be the boss first.”

  “Anything you want, sweetheart. Anything you want.”

  “Deal,” she murmured as his mouth claimed hers once more to seal the bargain that would last a lifetime.

  Epilogue

  Doug Cooper sat in Victoria Colby’s office, anticipation mounting inside him. He’d been stuck on desk duty since taking that bullet six weeks ago. Lucky for him it hadn’t hit anything vital, just put him out of commission temporarily.

  But now he was ready to get back to work. Victoria had assured him that she would be assigning him lead on his first case very soon, and that had been before the shooting. He hoped the meeting this morning would be to brief him on a new assignme
nt—one in which he would act as lead investigator. He was more than ready.

  Scout Jackson—Scout Maxwell, he amended—was doing great, as well. Thankfully, one of Alexon’s top scientists had discovered that a plant both Scout and Max had been exposed to long-term while living in Colombia had stimulated their immunity to K-141. With that knowledge, scientists could use the plant to create the antidote, eliminating the need to involve Scout or her child any further. Doug, as well as everyone at the Colby Agency, was immensely relieved. That nightmare was finally over.

  “I apologize for keeping you waiting, Douglas,”

  Victoria said as she breezed in, looking as elegant as ever. She settled behind her wide mahogany desk and smiled. “You look fit and ready to get back into the field.”

  He nodded. “I am. I’d like to start immediately.”

  She studied him a moment. “I’ve put a great deal of thought into who I would assign to this rather sensitive case, and I really do feel that you would be the right man for the job.”

  A smile stretched across Doug’s face. “Thank you, Victoria. I can assure you that I won’t let you down.”

  “Don’t thank me yet, Douglas. You haven’t heard the assignment.”

  Uneasiness slid through him.

  “I know that you prefer to keep your background out of your life these days.”

  The uneasiness turned to wariness. “That’s correct.”

  “But this case demands someone with a polished, high-society background, I’m afraid. Unfortunately, Simon isn’t available, since he’s taken over Max’s caseload while he honeymoons with his wife. That leaves only you.”

  Doug almost said no without even hearing the details, but the desire to make this next move up the ladder kept him silent. “What does the case involve?”

  “Solange D’Martine was thought to be the final surviving heir to the D’Martine jewelry empire, an American-based company with international connections.”

  Doug knew the family name. If memory served him correctly, the D’Martines were of Martha’s Vineyard, just as his family was. “I’m familiar with the name,” he said dryly.

  “Well, it seems that Solange D’Martine’s son, who was kidnapped and murdered some twenty years ago, left behind an heir whose existence wasn’t known about until recently.”