They jogged along the corridor as a war raged outside.
“I hope it’s armor plated.”
“What would be the point if it wasn’t?”
Together they pushed through the doors into the twilight. At the sight of his team guarding their car, he swallowed hard. This was his family, and they’d come for him. They provided cover while he ran for the car and secured his woman inside.
Mace climbed into the driver’s seat. “The rest of the team will meet up with us at the airport. Sandi and I will cover you two.” He hit the accelerator.
They wove through chaos, past burning buildings and guards firing weapons. The main gate had been blown to hell. Jeremiah crouched behind what remained of the wall, picking off the enemy with his rifle. He flicked a salute at the car as they raced past.
“Duggan?” his second-in-command asked as he slammed past a makeshift barrier, making the guards dive for cover.
“Dead. My diamondback took him out.”
“Any evidence?”
They couldn’t afford for even a hint of their genetics, or abilities, to get out.
“Nothing. We’re good.”
Sandi glanced back at him, her eyes filled with sympathy. He looked away. This wasn’t over yet. He couldn’t, he wouldn’t, give up hope entirely until it was definitely over.
He looked down at the woman in his arms. “We’re going home, bébé,” he whispered as Mace sped through the streets of La Paz.
Chapter Forty-One
CommTECH headquarters,
New York City, Northern Territory
Miriam Shepherd stared at the images of Kane Duggan’s dead body. He lay sprawled, face down, across the desk in the head office of the La Paz mining operation. His body was swollen and bloated, almost beyond recognition. There were patches of black skin on his bare arms and neck. And he was lying in his own vomit.
“What killed him?” She kept her voice perfectly flat.
The holo-image of the man standing on the other side of her desk shuffled nervously. And he was smart to be nervous. The La Paz mine had been attacked. Buildings were destroyed, the mine had collapsed in places, the security team had been decimated, and Kane was dead. On top of that, the smuggler and the scientist had vanished. It didn’t take a genius to figure out his team had ridden in to rescue him. That put them right at the top of Miriam Shepherd’s wanted list. The only good news was that the little scientist was either already dead or hours from it.
“It seems to have been a snake bite. Um, several snake bites.”
Miriam dragged her eyes away from Kane’s brutalized body. “Snake?”
“You can clearly see it in the other footage I sent you. A rattlesnake made its way along the corridor before attacking Mr. Duggan.”
She brought up the security footage and watched the snake stalk Kane. It was almost as though the reptile had entered the room with the purpose of killing the man. It didn’t wander, it didn’t investigate its surroundings, it simply headed straight for Kane.
“There have been reports of South American rattlesnakes in the area, Director,” the security guard said. “One must have made it into the compound. They’re known for being vicious and deadly. We’ve tried hunting the snake, but it’s either long gone, or was killed during the bombings.”
Miriam tuned him out as she watched the battle between Kane and the rattler. Kane almost seemed to be laughing toward the end of it. Miriam felt a stabbing sensation where her heart should have been. She was going to miss the man. No one could best him for loyalty and a willingness to get the job done.
“What are your orders regarding the mining operation, Director?” The security guard dared to interrupt her thoughts.
She turned a glacial look on the man. “I want production back on track by the end of the week.”
“But Director…” He swallowed hard, and she noticed sweat beading on his forehead. “Half of the compound was destroyed. We’ve lost a lot of workers.”
“Find more. You have twenty-four hours to bring me good news.” She cut the feed, uninterested in his excuses.
Kane wouldn’t have argued. Kane would have nodded and then done whatever it took to get the job finished. She sent a command to her console to rerun the footage and watched the snake attack all over again. It was too convenient. Kane dying hours before the mine was attacked? She didn’t think it was a coincidence. Someone had set that snake loose. Someone had led it to Kane’s office. Which meant there was a traitor on her La Paz team. Or, someone had infiltrated the site.
She brought up the security feed from outside Kane’s office. The snake had been alone, no handler in sight. The reptile made its way along the bottom of the wall before climbing through Kane’s window. Miriam rubbed the back of her neck. Something wasn’t right. It was almost as though the snake knew where it was heading.
She sent a message to what was left of the La Paz security team, telling them she wanted all of the security footage from the site for the time leading up to Kane’s death.
It took hours, but Miriam managed to follow the path the snake had taken before entering the office. She froze the image of the its earliest appearance and sat back in her chair. She’d kicked off her shoes hours earlier, and the meal an assistant had delivered was sitting, uneaten, on her desk.
She stared at the screen. It didn’t matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find an earlier image of the rattler. But what she was seeing didn’t make any sense at all.
The rattlesnake had first appeared slithering through the bars of the cell where Kane’s captives were being held. From there, it had made a beeline through the compound, straight for Kane—as though it knew exactly where to go, and what to do once it got there.
She leaned forward and drummed her fingers on the desktop. It didn’t make sense, but it couldn’t be a coincidence. She flicked to the images from inside the cell itself. There was no sign of the reptile, but it was clear that the man and woman were still very much inside, although hidden by their makeshift shelter.
So where did the rattler come from? Had it been hiding in the room? Then how did it know to seek out Kane? Because that’s exactly what it’d done. The reptile had passed several easier targets without so much as a glance, let alone an attack. Yet, when it got into Kane’s office, it had bitten the man repeatedly.
Miriam poured herself a glass of sparkling water and worked her way through the security footage of the time after the snake killed Kane. It took hours and when she finally had the answer she was looking for, she stood to stretch her stiff muscles.
Two images filled the screen on the wall opposite her desk, the first showing the rattler slipping out of Striker’s cell.
The second showing it slip back in.
The rattler definitely belonged to the smuggler. Whether the reptile was a real snake that had somehow been modified to do its owner’s bidding, or whether it was a synthetic creature that the smuggler could program with commands, she didn’t know. What she did know was that it was a weapon she’d never seen before, one that was capable of getting past the tightest security. One she very much wanted to get her hands on.
She strode back to her desk as she mentally called for Kane’s second-in-command. A few minutes later, the door to her office opened, and the twins strode in. Miriam sipped her water as she considered the two men. They were identical in every way, including their sociopathic need to kill. And, although she hadn’t known them as long as she’d known Kane, they had yet to disappoint her.
“Congratulations,” she told them. “You are now head of security. Kane was assassinated in Bolivia.”
There was no reaction from the brothers. She hadn’t expected one.
“I want you two to have his body transported to our Houston lab. Have the poison team run a thorough investigation into the toxin that killed him. I want to know if there are any signs of a synthetic delivery system. I also want to know if the poison is natural or manmade.” She waved a hand, and footage of the snake attack
ing Kane filled her office wall. “I want to know what kind of weapon that snake is. It was programmed to find Kane and kill him.”
That got their attention. The duo’s eyebrows arched slightly, in perfect unison. Miriam changed the image. A security shot of the smuggler filled the screen.
“This is Striker. I want to know everything there is to know about the man and his associates.”
The twins didn’t acknowledge the order. Instead, they waited to see if she had any more instructions. She only had one. “Move your things into Kane’s old quarters. You’re living with me now.”
Again, there was no response, and the door closed silently behind them. In the darkness of her office, with only the image on the wall for light, Miriam studied the man responsible for killing Kane.
If she couldn’t get the reptile weapon he owned, she’d take the smuggler.
Chapter Forty-Two
“Is he eating?” Mace watched his friend from the tunnel outside of his room.
Striker gently brushed Friday’s hair back from her face. The little scientist looked like she was sleeping. There were no outward signs that one of the most dangerous poisons on the planet was at work within her.
“Sandi’s been forcing him to eat.” Doc stood beside him. “Last I heard, she pulled a gun on him and told him there were easier ways to die than starving. He ate the soup.”
“When we were growing up, my sister was known for her soft heart and her kind, subtle way with words.”
Doc’s answering grin was subdued.
“What’s the latest?” He hated seeing the toll this took on their team leader. With Friday stuck in the no-man’s-land between life and death, Striker held on to hope that she’d pull through. Everyone on the team, except their leader, thought it was a false hope. She might as well have been plugged into life support for all the signs of life they saw. Mace worried that one day soon, one of them would have to pull the plug.
“I’m damned if I know.” Doc let out a weary sigh. He’d been burning the midnight oil in his search for answers. “She should have died weeks ago. Every research article I’ve read said the longest someone lived after Interferan-X activated was three days. We’re on seven weeks. She’s breathing on her own, and there are no physical changes. As far as I can see, the only sign that something isn’t right is the fact her temperature is elevated and she’s been unconscious since we brought her here.”
“Coma?”
“It looks like it, but I’m not sure. There are anomalies. Equipment readings I wouldn’t expect to see if she were in a real coma.” He let out a huff. “I’m a medic. Not a specialist, not even a doctor. I’m in over my head here.”
“What if we try giving her the antidote now? I can take some guys, we can hit the lab and lift some.”
The medic shook his head, clearly at a loss. “I don’t think it would make any difference. The blood tests I’ve been running are becoming increasingly strange. The Interferan-X is still there, but it’s mutating. It looks like there’s something else, too, some other foreign body in her blood that I can’t quite identify.”
“When you say the Interferan-X is mutating, what do you mean, exactly?”
“It’s morphing into something else, that’s what I mean. Don’t ask me what, because I don’t have a clue.”
They stared at the pale-skinned woman. Each of them at a loss as to what to think.
“We need to do something,” Mace said. “We can’t leave him like this. He’s scared to move from her side in case she dies while he’s gone. He hardly eats, we have to force him to shower, and he isn’t interested in anything but Friday. I bring him news about the team, about jobs we’re running, and he turns away.” He ran a hand through his hair and lowered his voice. “I’m worried that when she eventually goes, he’s going to follow.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. I think that’s a distinct possibility. I’ve never seen anything like this before. He’s acting like they’ve been joined at the hip for years instead of knowing her for only four days before she slipped into unconsciousness.” He cast Mace a sideward glance. “In the middle of the night, when he thinks no one is around, he spends his time whispering, begging God to let her live. Begging.”
The words sent him reeling. Their team leader didn’t beg. None of them did, but Striker especially wouldn’t bend to anyone.
“There’s a lab in New Zealand,” the medic said, of one of the Coalition Countries. “They could run more extensive tests than we can here. I could send out some blood. See what they come up with.”
“We can’t. I’ve had Hunter flag incidences of accidental poisoning using Interferan-X. There haven’t been any cases since Friday took her dose. If we send out her blood, the fact there’s Interferan-X in it will cause a ripple. We can’t afford for anyone to think she’s still alive.” If that was even what they could call her current state.
“Is CommTECH still searching for them?”
“Striker, yeah. They think she’s dead.”
Since the imprisonment in La Paz, Miriam Shepherd’s team had been turning over every stone in their path looking for information on Striker. She was desperate to get her hands on him, which set off all kinds of alarm bells. The kind that made the team think their leader had somehow given them away.
He stared at his friend, willing him to fully reenter the world. They needed him. “The Mercer twins are running the hunt.”
Doc reeled back on his heels. “Then we can’t let Striker out of the Red Zone. The world needs to think he’s dead along with his woman.”
“I don’t think that’s a problem right now. We can hardly get him to leave her bed, let alone the zone.”
“But later, when…”
Yeah, none of them wanted to talk about what would happen when she eventually slipped away. But that didn’t stop Mace from planning. Somebody had to be ready to contain Striker when he lost his mind and went after CommTECH.
“Doc!” Striker shot to his feet. “Doc! Get in here!”
They ran into the room. Striker was leaning over Friday, his hands shaking as he gently held up her limp arm.
“What is it?” The medic was at his side, Mace behind him.
“Look.” Their team leader elevated the scientist’s arm slightly, turning it so that the inside of her bicep was visible.
“What the hell?” Mace snapped. His eyes shot to Striker’s. “That wasn’t there yesterday.”
“No.” His voice trembled. He couldn’t take his eyes off Friday’s arm. “What does it mean?”
The three men stared at the tiny tattoo on the inside of the woman’s arm.
It was a perfectly coiled rattlesnake.
A diamondback.
A baby diamondback.
“I need blood samples.” Doc’s voice shook. “I need to check something.” He rushed off to get the equipment he needed.
Striker leaned over Friday and kissed her lips. His touch was so gentle that it made Mace ache for something he knew he’d never have and had never thought he wanted.
“You’re coming back to me, aren’t you, bébé?” he whispered.
Mace cleared his throat and took a step away from the bed. He felt as though he was intruding. This moment was private, just for them.
Doc came running back into the room. He unhooked the IV line running to the bag of fluids above Friday’s bed and attached a vial to the cannula. They watched it fill with blood. Once he had all he needed, he hooked the IV line back up to her arm.
“I need your blood, too, boss,” he said to Striker.
“Why?” Striker asked, which was evidence of just how exhausted the man was.
“Seriously?” Mace said. “You are beyond sleep deprived if you don’t know the answer to that question. There’s a baby snake on your woman’s arm. That shit had to come from somewhere. Guess who’s the prime suspect? Lack of sleep has made you stupid. Give Doc your blood.”
With a growl of irritation, Striker stuck out an arm, the other hand still
stroking the image of the baby snake. “You think I infected her? How? Kissing her? Having sex? I’ve had sex with other women since I woke up. Far as I know, none of them have snakes.”
Now that comment was like a kick in the gut. If having sex meant infecting women, then Mace hated to think what he’d left in his wake. When he’d first woken up, he’d anesthetized himself to the shock of being in a new century by sleeping his way through most of Texas.
“Don’t be an idiot. We aren’t infectious. This is something else. Something new.” Doc put the vials on the table behind him. “Help me get her undressed. I need to check her skin.”
Striker glared at Mace who let out a sigh and turned. Like he planned to ogle an unconscious woman. He couldn’t wait until his best friend was well rested and back to his old self, just so he could knock some sense into the man.
…
Once Mace had turned his back, Striker relaxed some. He didn’t want anyone to see Friday naked or vulnerable. It took all of his self-control not to punch out the medic, and he was only doing his job. Doc took the sheet from the bed as Striker careful removed the button-up shirt he’d put on his woman. His hands shook, and his fingers fumbled. His mind was all over the place, making it hard to think straight. He didn’t dare hope that she was on her way back to him, but what else could the snake image mean?
“Turn her over,” Doc said once he’d studied the front of her body.
Only the fact his attitude was professional and detached kept him from earning a black eye. Slowly, gently, Striker rolled her onto her side with her back toward their medic.
“There!” Doc pointed at something low on her back.
Mace turned to see what had excited their medic and Striker snarled at him. With a shake of his head, the big guy held up his hands in surrender and turned back around.
“What is it?” Striker was fast running out of patience. He wanted answers now. And not just any answers, he only wanted good ones. Ones that told him she was coming back to him.
“See for yourself. Come around. I’ll hold her.”
When he glared, the medic amended. “One hand on her hip. Another on her shoulder. Just to keep her in place for you to see what I’m talking about.”
Red Zone Page 27