by Katie Reus
They couldn’t afford to alert anyone else to their presence. It had taken them almost five minutes to get to this hallway so now they were down to nine minutes before the teams infiltrated. She wanted the doctor and his daughter out of that lab and hidden before that happened. For all they knew Tasev had some fail-safe in place where he gassed the doctor if he tried to escape, killing him so he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about the toxin or antitoxin. She wouldn’t put it past the monster.
Grisha counted down with his fingers.
Three.
Two.
Go.
Moving with a graceful silence that highlighted his obvious training, Grisha slid into the hallway, weapon aimed as she moved in low, her weapon forward.
The four men turned, surprise on their faces as they reached for their weapons. Shoulda had them in hand already.
Aiming, she pulled the trigger, once, twice, and kept going until her targets were down. She knew she’d hit the two men on the left side of the hallway in the head and center mass. Grisha had clearly done the same to his two guys.
“Come on,” she murmured, hurrying forward toward the lab door.
The virus she’d uploaded to the security system had screwed up all their safety measures. The house wasn’t even secured now. No wonder Tasev had four guards in front of the door. She looked at Grisha. “Stay back,” she ordered before easing the door open. She didn’t move in though, knowing Ortiz would be waiting for an attack and would shoot whoever walked in.
“Ortiz, it’s me. How are the packages?”
“Alive,” he called out. “You okay?”
If she said the word “fine,” it was code that she was under duress. “We’re good to go.”
“Thank God. Coming up.”
Weapon in hand, Selene turned to Grisha, who hadn’t moved. “I’m with two of Tasev’s guys. Former guys. Whatever. They’re helping us.” If they had more time—and if she thought he’d tell her—she’d ask Grisha, which definitely wasn’t his real name, who the hell he worked for. It had to be another government agency.
Grisha grunted. “Yeah and me and my buddy need to leave. We’ll cover you to the wine cellar. It’s the best place to hunker down until your backup arrives.”
She nodded. That had been her plan too. “Works for me.”
Matvei appeared around the corner, his expression tight as he hurried toward them. “Tasev’s dead. Just heard it on the radio. His body was found with Valery’s. It must have been your partner,” he said to Selene. “Everyone is leaving. They’re grabbing their shit and getting out of here.”
Tasev was dead? It had to be Levi. Tasev had told her that he’d be calling him, but . . . Her heart leaped at the thought. “The man with me before. Have you seen him?”
Matvei shook his head. “No, but Tasev was waiting on Moore when he sent me off to look for Grisha.”
Relief flooded her. “If you see him, don’t engage. He’s with me.”
Ortiz stepped out of the lab door, MP5 drawn as he looked between them. The doctor was behind him, his arm around his daughter’s shoulder. The girl looked terrified but at least the two hostages were in good health and keeping it together. “Let’s get the hell out of here . . . Oh shit, I’m back online.” He put one hand up to his ear. “Wesley, yeah, I’m with her and the packages now.”
She held a finger to her lips and pointed at Ortiz to follow.
Behind her she heard Ortiz murmur, “Going dark.”
Heart in her throat as she worried for Levi’s safety, she stepped around the bodies of the dead guards, avoiding the spreading blood as they hurried down the hallway. Moving past Grisha, she fell in step with Matvei. If Levi was truly here she wanted him to see her first and know these guys weren’t tangos. She didn’t want him attacking without warning.
As they neared the end of the hallway, Levi stepped into view at the far end, weapon drawn. His pistol was pointed straight at Matvei, who stopped walking, his own pistol pointed at Levi’s chest.
That dark stare swung to hers and held, burning with an intensity that made the hair on her arms stand up.
“They’re helping us,” she said quietly.
Thankfully Matvei lowered his weapon.
In true Levi fashion he kept his up, holding it trained on the man’s head. “Did they hurt you?” he asked, his gaze never wavering from Matvei.
The concern in his dark eyes was almost too much. “No one hurt me. They helped me kill the guards. We need to get Schmidt and his daughter out of here. We don’t know what Tasev has put into motion and we need that antitoxin.”
Levi nodded and stepped to the side, letting everyone pass as she remained where she was, his intense gaze falling on her. Somehow she tore her gaze from his and held out an arm to stop Grisha.
He raised his eyebrows, but kept his weapon loose in his other hand. “The man you killed, what’s the name of the woman he saw regularly?” she asked. “The one he mentioned.”
If he was surprised by her question, he didn’t show it. “Galina. Lives in Wynwood. She’s a professional.”
A professional meaning prostitute. Or more likely a well-paid escort. Galina was a unique enough name that Selene hoped she could find her quickly. If not, she had another plan for what she needed to do. She nodded her thanks and he continued past her.
“Ortiz, I’m right behind you,” she said without looking at him, keeping her gaze on Levi. “I know where the wine cellar is.” She had to talk to Levi first.
Ortiz paused next to her, as if he wanted to argue, but he nodded and herded the doctor and his daughter around the corner.
“Tasev is dead,” Levi said, barely a foot from her. “I had no choice but to kill him.”
She wanted to throw her arms around him and kiss him senseless but now definitely wasn’t the time. “You’re alive. That’s what matters. And so is Schmidt. But you need to leave. Wesley is maybe seven minutes out. Get the hell out of here.” She didn’t care if she caught hell from her boss for letting Levi go. He meant too much to her to see him brought in. She didn’t think Wesley wanted him arrested anyway but still, she wasn’t taking any chances.
“It’s more like six, and I’m not leaving you.” His expression was fierce and determined.
It melted her heart. “Levi, I don’t know what his plan is for you. You’ve got to go now,” she snapped.
He took a step forward so that they were inches from each other. The faint scent of his aftershave and their recent sex wrapped around her. “I lost one woman I loved. I’m not losing another.”
The meaning of his words hit her square in the chest. He’d come for her when Tasev called him so maybe she shouldn’t be surprised, but she’d thought . . . hell, she’d thought he was still in love with his dead wife. Throat tight, she unsheathed her KA-BAR and handed it to him. And suddenly she couldn’t hold back what she’d refused to think about since they’d started working together. “Remember that mission you did in Cartagena seven years ago? Jimenez’s compound?”
He stared at the blade—his old knife—but didn’t take it as he quickly put the pieces together and jerked his gaze to hers. “That was you?” Shock reverberated through his voice.
“Yes.” She fought the memories flooding back, how she’d felt so safe with him even back then. She’d been a scared kid and because of him she’d known everything in her life would be normal again. Or her version of normal. “I owe you more than I can ever repay, Levi. You saved me from hell. Please trust me and leave. I swear to God I’ll contact you as soon as I can. I just . . . I need to do something first and I need you to trust me. Please.” She didn’t care that she was begging. She needed him gone because first she had to find out if his daughter was alive. She’d never been much for prayer but she sent up one now for all she was worth. If anyone deserved a second chance at a family and peace it was Levi. “I love you, Levi. Trust me. I . . . My last name is Wolfe, with an e at the end.” Telling him her true identity was the only way she could think to sh
ow him how much he meant to her, even more than telling him that she loved him. Agents like her didn’t reveal who they were. Ever. She was giving him all her trust.
His jaw clenched tightly and she knew he wanted to argue. But they didn’t have time. Taking her off guard he grabbed her by the back of the neck and crushed his mouth to hers in a quick, bruising kiss. “You’d better stay alive,” he snarled before stepping back and peering around the corner. “I’ll follow you to the cellar.”
She wanted to argue but knew it was pointless. Nodding, she hurried with him. They silently made their way through hallways. Matvei had been right, everyone must have been scrambling to leave because no one was in their way.
As they reached the cellar door, Ortiz stood there, MP5 in hand, looking anxious. “The doc and his daughter are in. The other two left. Said we should be safe in here.” He tapped his earpiece. “Wesley knows where we are.”
Selene nodded, then pointed at Levi. “Did you . . .”
Ortiz shook his head.
Wesley had to know Levi was here, or she assumed he did, but she didn’t want Levi getting swept up in any bureaucratic bullshit if the wrong person saw Levi here or if Wesley decided to haul him in. Relief bled through Selene and she looked at Levi as Ortiz headed down the stairs.
“Can you get out undetected?” she asked quietly.
Levi snorted, as if her question was ludicrous. He grabbed her hip with his weapon-free hand. She felt his possessive hold all the way to her core and hated that she had to let him go for now. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“You’re not leaving me, unless you don’t plan to see me again?” She hated the vulnerable note in her voice. It made her sound weak but at this point she couldn’t hide it. She needed to see Levi again no matter what. And not for selfless reasons but because she couldn’t stand the thought of him not being in her life.
“There’s nowhere you can hide that I won’t find you,” he murmured darkly before turning and heading down a hallway she knew would take him to a garage.
The sharp sense of loss she felt as she watched him disappear was more potent than she could have imagined. Weapon out, she hurried into the cellar and locked the door behind her before descending the stairs. A lock wouldn’t stop anyone, but it would alert her and Ortiz to anyone’s presence.
At the bottom of the stone stairs she quickly scanned the area. Racks of wine bottles covered the three walls, but there was an alcove behind the stairs. On silent feet, she hurried inside and found Ortiz standing guard next to an open door. The door had a rack of wine bottles covering it, making it blend into the surroundings.
“They’re in here.” He stood back, letting her enter to join the others.
Only when he shut the door behind them did Selene allow herself a small breath of relief.
“Where’s Wesley?” Selene asked.
“They’re storming the place now. He went offline for the infiltration but he knows where we are.”
“Why didn’t you tell him about Levi being here?” she demanded.
Ortiz shrugged. “He asked if I’d seen him so he knows Levi was here but . . . fuck it, Levi saved my ass more than once when we were in the Corps together.”
Selene nodded once in approval before turning to face Schmidt and his daughter. The young woman who was likely the same age or maybe older than Selene stood next to a rack of red wines, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
“Do either of you need a medic?”
They both shook their heads and Schmidt asked, “Why did Levi leave?”
“It’s not important. Do you or do you not have the cure to the toxin you created?” She tried to keep the anger out of her voice but it was difficult. The man had created something that could kill countless people and it had no known cure.
“I do. I’ll finish writing out the formula now.” He pulled a pad of paper from the back of his pants he must have grabbed from the lab. “Is Levi in some kind of trouble? I . . . I sent my message to Meghan hoping—”
“Meghan Lazaro is dead,” Selene said softly. “Tortured and killed by Tasev two years ago.” She told him bluntly, wanting to see his reaction. Because if this was all a charade, if he’d somehow known, she’d kill him herself.
His face paled and a shudder racked his wiry frame. He clutched on to the edge of a built-in table in the middle of the small room. “She’s dead?”
“Yes.”
“I . . . I contacted her two years ago when Tasev approached me. He didn’t tell me who he was then, though I wouldn’t have known his name anyway, but his questions were suspect. He’d read some theoretical papers I wrote and was far too interested in toxins and what they could do. I should have contacted someone sooner, but I was coming to DC for a conference and knew I could talk to Meghan then. We talked all the time anyway but . . . I wanted to tell her in person, see if she thought it was worth worrying about. She was supposed to meet me the day I was taken. I never imagined . . . Oh, God, he was probably tracking all my movements. Maybe even my phone calls. I told her enough over the phone that I might have . . . might have made it clear she worked for the US government.” His voice cracked as he trailed off and his daughter wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I’m so sorry. I never knew anything happened to her.”
Selene wasn’t convinced, but it would make sense for why Tasev had taken Meghan. If he even suspected Meghan knew something about him and his plans, he would have gone to any length to eliminate the threat. Clearly. “Why did it take you so long to contact her again?”
“I never had a chance until recently. I’ve been a virtual hostage for two years. I’ve”—he shot his daughter a glance before focusing on Selene again—“I’ve done things I’m not proud of.”
“Like using live test subjects?” From Wesley’s last big job that involved terrorists blowing up hundreds of people at a gala, she knew that a man named Paul Hill had been in business with Tasev and had been giving him healthy girls to dose with his toxin.
Averting his gaze, Schmidt nodded. His daughter paled beside him, but didn’t say anything.
“So why now?” Selene pressed.
His gaze snapped back up. “They kidnapped my daughter so I used the opportunity. Until a few days ago I haven’t had access to electronics in two years. I took a risk.”
Selene just nodded at the pad in his hand. “Can you finish the formula? We have most of what was on your boards.”
“I’ll do it now.” He pulled a pencil from his white coat and started scribbling furiously.
Selene glanced over at Ortiz, who was standing near the door, weapon ready. “You heard from Wesley or Karen yet?”
He shook his head. “No, but I’m sure it’s a clusterfuck up there.”
She wasn’t surprised they couldn’t hear anything. This house was well insulated and huge. Nodding, she glanced around the room. “Wonder what’s going to happen to all this wine.”
“I bet Wesley lets us keep a bottle.”
She snorted, so many emotions racing through her at once that laughing felt foreign. Tasev was dead, the doctor was safe, and Levi was in the wind. For now. She wasn’t letting him go though. No way in hell.
Chapter 23
Uncle: headquarters of any espionage service.
Levi steered his rental car up to the guarded gate of the parking lot outside the nondescript gray building in Pine Mountain, Georgia. He’d been here only once before, many years ago, but he knew it was Burkhart’s preferred base of operations. And he wasn’t sure why.
The man had offices in Maryland, DC, Miami, and other cities that civilians didn’t even know the NSA operated out of. But Pine Mountain was his favorite place.
Since Levi hadn’t been able to get in touch with Selene, he was going straight to Burkhart. Even if it meant he got arrested or dragged back into Agency work that would eventually kill his soul. He had to see Selene again.
She’d told him she’d contact him in a week and it had been eight days. He couldn’t take it a
nymore.
And he knew Burkhart was here. He’d seen him drive in an hour ago. He’d staked out the place twenty-four hours ago and while their security was excellent, the layout was the same as the Maryland office—and he’d been watching through a scope a half mile away. There was a possibility they knew he was coming, but he doubted it.
As he stopped at the guarded gate and rolled down his window, he nodded at the guard sitting behind the bullet-resistant window. The bottom half of the door was steel-reinforced. A civilian who accidentally stumbled on this place wouldn’t know that, but Levi knew how their offices were set up.
“Are you lost, sir?” the man wearing plain black fatigues asked. Though he couldn’t see a weapon, he knew the man was armed.
“No, I’m here to see Wesley Burkhart.”
“I’m afraid you have the wrong—”
“Tell him it’s Levi Lazaro.”
The man paused and gave him a hard look before picking up a phone. Levi looked straight ahead, waiting for Wesley to let him in, send him away, or put armed men on him.
A moment later the gate lifted and the guard said, “Park in the third row from the front.” Just like that he was in. Of course getting into the building was a whole other thing. And seeing Selene was something else entirely. She wouldn’t be here of course, but Wesley would know where she was.
He glanced around the quiet parking lot as he slowly drove, sticking to the fifteen mile per hour speed limit. Just as the guard instructed he parked in the only empty spot in the third row. When he got out he kept his hands visible just in case someone got trigger-happy. He’d come unarmed because to do otherwise would send a bad message.
Glancing around, he noticed two men in black fatigues about five cars down on each side of him just standing there. They weren’t moving toward him or acting hostile, just watching.