by Debra Webb
The witch smiled. “And they will keep looking.” She leaned down to put her face in his. “No one can stop me. But then—” she straightened “—you knew that, didn’t you? You wouldn’t be here had I not ordered your presence. I gave the order and—” she smiled “—here you are.”
A smirk twisted Lucas’s lips. “Do you really believe your underlings brought me in against my will? I knew they were coming. I wanted to be here.”
Fury whipped across the woman’s face. “Really?” She turned to her men, considered each for a trauma-filled moment. “Well? What say you?”
The two who had driven Maggie and Lucas to this awful place exchanged a look. One said, “He had a weapon. We disarmed and secured him.”
Lucas shook his head. “How many did I eliminate before you disarmed me?”
“None,” the man said. “We were—”
“Fool,” the Dragon screeched. “If he wanted one or more of you dead, you would be dead.” She adjusted the elegant suit jacket she wore. “Get out.”
The men obeyed, leaving the Dragon alone with Maggie and Lucas.
“I came for my son.”
Maggie stared at Lucas. What was he doing? Was he purposely trying to inflame her?
More of that red-hot fury slashed across the Dragon’s face. “Your son? There you go flattering yourself again. You were the sperm donor, nothing more.”
Lucas shrugged one shoulder. “He considers me his father. I guess that makes it real enough. Does he call you mother?”
“Before I end your pathetic existence,” she warned, ignoring his question, “why don’t you tell me where he is and end this tedious business.”
“He’s gone, Dragon,” Lucas said with audible pleasure. “He isn’t coming back. I assured him that I would square things with you.”
The Dragon glanced at Maggie. “Perhaps I’ll spare his little friend if you make this easy for me.”
“She doesn’t know where he is, either. Anything you do to her will be a waste of time and energy. You’ve got me. You don’t need anyone else.”
Before she could toss another warning at him, he added, “Did you say easy?” Lucas cut loose with another of those deep, throaty laughs. “You getting soft in your old age?”
She strode up to him and reached down. As Maggie watched in horror, she grabbed Lucas by the right ankle and ripped off his prosthetic leg. She tossed it across the room. “Age is just a number, wouldn’t you say?” She dusted her palms together. “It’s the mind and body that make the man. There isn’t a stronger, more powerful man alive than this woman.”
In a move so fast and so fluid, Lucas drew his left knee to his chest and kicked her in the stomach. She hit the floor flat on her back. Lucas propelled himself, chair and all, on top of her.
Maggie bit back a scream. What should she do?
Three men rushed into the room. Maggie cried out a warning as she watched Lucas, still secured to the chair, struggle with the evil woman.
Two of the men dragged Lucas off her. His mouth was bloody. Maggie’s breath caught as she spied the gash in the Dragon’s cheek.
“Prepare him,” she ordered, swiping at the blood with the back of her hand. The third man hurried to her with a cloth to hold on the wound. “I will watch you die,” she snarled at Lucas. “I had planned a special ceremony, but it’s clear you are in a hurry.”
“You have no right to wear her face,” Lucas thundered. “I will cut it off you myself.”
With her two goons holding Lucas down, the Dragon moved close to him once more. “You were so besotted with her it was sickening. Pathetic. Your precious Victoria was another man’s wife. I knew changing my face to look like hers would get me what I needed.”
“You were that desperate? You needed to transform yourself into someone else?” Lucas didn’t let up with his verbal assault. “Are you quite sure I was the pathetic one?”
“You were the target,” she blasted right back. “It was my mission to know everything about you. Like how you saved your best friend in a POW camp.” She pointed to his missing leg. “You paid a dear price for your loyalty. How honorable of you. Or were you just hoping to impress his fiancée?” She leaned closer still. “I knew your every secret, Lucas. Your record at the CIA was unparalleled for such a young man. You were the perfect candidate for my needs. Just ask your old friend Jennifer. She can tell you I always get what I want. But she’s dead. I suppose she can’t confirm that for me.” She shrugged. “I let her know I planned a visit and she went and checked out before I arrived. How rude.”
Maggie’s stomach dropped to her feet. The horror stories Slade had told her were all true. It wasn’t that she hadn’t believed him…yet it was so unbelievable. “But your big plan failed.”
It wasn’t until the woman glowered at Maggie that she realized she had spoken the words aloud. Fear exploded in her chest as the woman moved toward her.
“What did he tell you?” she demanded.
It was too late for Maggie to take back what she’d said.
The Dragon turned to her cohort. “Give her the Sodium Pentothal. She’ll talk.”
The baby! Maggie couldn’t let them give her drugs. “The Code. I know about the Code.”
The look in the Dragon’s eyes was indescribable. Rage. Hysteria. Insanity. “You’re lying.”
“We both know about the Code,” Lucas said, drawing her attention back to him. “Did you think you could keep your secret forever?”
How did Lucas know? Was he bluffing?
The Dragon laughed. “You have no idea what I have accomplished.”
“There were four,” Maggie said quickly, drawing the fire from Lucas. “Three males and one female. Two failed. They couldn’t live up to your warrior standards. So you terminated them. Only Tripp and Alayna are left and their allegiance is not to you.” Maggie prayed she got the details right. Her head was spinning.
“Shut her up,” the Dragon roared.
One of the men moved toward Maggie. “You won’t have any better luck with the new ones,” she shouted before the man reached her. “They’ll turn on you just like the others. Then you’ll have no one to torture and abuse. You’ll be alone.”
He grabbed Maggie’s chin. She braced for the worst. He attempted to open her mouth. She fought to keep it closed. But he was strong. Her lips and teeth parted. He stuffed a cloth into her mouth.
The Dragon glared at Maggie for a long moment before ordering, “Raise the alert. Evacuate the six.” Her attention moved from Lucas to Maggie and back. “These two are foolishly bluffing, but we won’t take the risk.”
“Don’t waste your time,” Lucas said, his voice oddly weary. “Your game is over.”
What was wrong with Lucas? Maggie tried to see around the goon hovering over him. When he stepped back, she saw the IV-like bag hanging on the back of Lucas’s chair. A line ran to his chest and disappeared beneath his shirt. Were they giving him the drug they had talked about? Maggie had heard of it before. Truth serum.
The Dragon leaned down to look Lucas in the eyes. “This drug takes a full two hours to destroy the human body from the inside out. It’s a slower method than I had initially intended, but so far it has gotten rave reviews from others.” She smiled. “It’s new and I’ve been dying to try it out.” She flashed that smile at Maggie. “Say goodbye to your pathetic little friend.”
Desperation erupted inside Maggie.
“Get Raby in here,” the Dragon ordered.
Maggie watched the man rush out of the room. What now? The need to heave ached in her throat. She closed her eyes and prayed hard that someone would come to rescue them. That this evil woman would not have her way again.
The witch laughed long and loud. Maggie’s eyes flew open. A new man had arrived, this one older and unarmed. He ushered the Dragon into a chair and seemed to be tending to the wound on her cheek.
“Are you praying?” the Dragon asked Lucas. She shook her head. “Pathetic.”
Maggie’s throat and
eyes burned. She turned to Lucas. His head had lolled to one side. Her chest constricted with panic. She was killing him. Maggie had to do something.
“Can you take care of this, Raby?”
Maggie’s attention swung back to the Dragon and the man working on her face.
“Of course. Once it’s healed, I’ll make it go away. At the moment we just need to get it closed to avoid infection. Now, be still.”
Maggie’s eyes widened as she watched. Raby ordered a tray. When the stainless-steel tray loaded with instruments arrived, he began stitching the wound. Maggie replayed those last few steps. The man had not injected any sort of anesthetic. The Dragon never even flinched as the needle slid through her skin.
Maggie blinked, felt herself sinking into the escape offered by her mind’s denial. She fought the lure. Have to stay alert…to pay attention.
The Dragon stared at her. She smirked. “After enough Botox you lose all sensation.”
When Raby had applied a small bandage to the sutured wound, the Dragon pushed him away. He hurried from the room without once glancing at the hostages. Maggie didn’t blame him. See no evil, fear no evil.
The Dragon stalked over to Lucas and lifted his head. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” She laughed. “I understand the intense burning is the worst. It’s the buildup of the toxin that actually kills you. That’s why it can’t be a single injection. Why don’t you weigh in for us, Mr. Master Spy?” She sighed. “You really threw a wrinkle into my plans. I wanted you to watch your son die before we reached this point, but I guess we’ll just go with plan B.”
Think, Maggie! Do something!
She started moaning. Talking was not happening with the gag stuck in her mouth. The goon standing near her yanked her by the hair. She screamed as best she could around the gag. The Dragon turned to her. Maggie nodded and groaned as loud as she could. She widened her eyes in hopes of making the woman understand she had something she needed to say. “What is she trying to say?” The Dragon dropped Lucas’s head and strode toward Maggie.
The gag was yanked from Maggie’s mouth. She gasped, bit back the instinct to retch.
“You have something to say?” The Dragon grabbed a handful of Maggie’s hair and jerked her head back. “I hate when my time is wasted.”
“Lucas didn’t tell you the whole truth.” Maggie’s head felt as if it was going to explode. She wasn’t in the spy business. She didn’t know how to do this. But she had to do something. Making stuff up was the only option she could think of.
The Dragon’s gaze narrowed. “I’m waiting.”
“A…a CIA team is on the way. He made it easy for your men to catch him because that team was going to follow us here.” Maggie had no idea if that made sense. She didn’t have a clue if the CIA had teams. Dear God, please let her desperate plan buy them some time.
The Dragon turned to one of her henchmen. “Stop the IV. We may need him.”
Relief rushed through Maggie. Thank God.
The Dragon approached her. “If you’re lying, I will make your final hours more painful than you can possibly imagine.”
“It’s the truth,” Maggie urged. “I heard him talking to whoever is in charge.”
“Thomas Casey,” Lucas said, his voice weak.
Maggie’s chest inflated with new hope. He was still alive and, evidently, she had done well. He was running with the story she had started.
“Casey?” The Dragon strolled across the room and studied one of the monitors mounted on the wall. “He is on the move.” She turned back to Lucas. “I keep tabs on certain high-level members of competition.”
“I’ll let him know you consider him competition.” Lucas licked his lips. His words were sluggish as he continued, “FYI, he considers you a crazy bitch.”
Outrage practically radiated off the Dragon. She started toward Lucas, murder in her eyes.
“Dragon.”
She wheeled to face the man who had spoken. “What?”
He appeared to be listening to a voice in his earpiece. His expression reflected the emotions generated by the news.
“There’s been a security breach,” he finally announced. “Sector three.”
The Dragon’s attention swung back to Lucas. Maggie was afraid to breathe.
“How many are there?” she demanded of Lucas.
Lucas stared at her but said nothing.
Terror ignited in Maggie’s heart.
“How many?” the Dragon screamed. “Only one.”
Maggie gasped. She twisted to see the man who had spoken.
Slade.
As he stepped into the room, Maggie’s heart sang. He was alive.
He kicked the door shut, then reached behind him and set the lock, never allowing his full attention to deviate from the woman who had given birth to him. Maggie frowned. Part of her was so thankful to see him. But this woman intended to kill him. He shouldn’t be here.
“You!” the Dragon snarled.
One corner of Slade’s mouth lifted in a half smile. “Hello, Mother.”
Chapter Eighteen
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Slade warned as Eli Kennemore, the Dragon’s chief of security, reached for his weapon. He pointed to his bulky vest, then showed off a small gadget he wore like a watch. “Unless you want to see just how high sky high is.”
Kennemore’s hand dropped away from his shoulder holster. A blur of movement snagged Slade’s attention as another of the guards drew his weapon. Slade put a bullet between his eyes before he had the barrel leveled on his target.
“How about you?” he said to the remaining guard. “The button?” He held up his left hand. “Or a bullet?”
The guy’s hands went up in surrender.
“Now that we’re all here,” the Dragon announced, drawing the attention of the room to her, “why don’t we get this little family reunion under way.”
“Untie her,” Slade ordered. He had no interest in intellectual discourse. “Now!” he added when no one in the room reacted.
“Did you really believe it would be this simple?” the Dragon asked. “You breach the perimeter, take out a guard or two and then barge in here to play the hero?” She shook her head. “You greatly overestimated yourself. Let’s show your girlfriend how quickly you fall.”
A streak of uncertainty licked at Slade’s determination. “You,” he said to the guard with his hands still in the air, “untie her.”
“Look at the band she’s wearing,” the Dragon suggested. “Do you recognize it?”
Fear slammed into Slade. Both Maggie and Lucas wore a silver band around their necks. One click of the remote and the band would tighten into itself until it was no larger than a bracelet.
“Take it off her.” He had never wanted to kill anyone the way he wanted to kill this heartless murderer. “Take it off!”
The Dragon shook her head. “Remove the explosives and lower your weapon.”
Despite the fear pounding in his temples, Slade held his ground. Any sign of weakness and the Dragon would devour him. “Let them go and I’ll do exactly that.” Surviving wasn’t his top priority. But Maggie’s survival was. And Lucas’s. Slade didn’t want him to die for reasons he couldn’t begin to decipher just now. And he needed to find Alayna.
“You’ll do it anyway.” The Dragon walked up to him, completely fearless. “Or they will die.”
He wanted to kill her so badly his entire soul howled with the need. “Let them go and you’ll still have time to eliminate me before you have to evacuate.”
The look in her eyes suggested she believed him. The concern that flickered startled him. “Who’s heading the team?” she demanded. “Thomas Casey?”
Slade didn’t know what the hell she was talking about, but if it worked to his advantage he would go with it. “I don’t know who’s in charge, but I do know their goal. Destroy you and this compound. No one wants to admit you’ve been operating under their radar all this time, so they’re going to pretend you never existed.”
“Put down your weapons. Give me the detonator and I’ll let them live.”
Slade knew that strategy. He’d used it many times. He could live with that. “Remove the bands first.”
The seconds of silence that followed had him sweating.
“Remove hers,” the Dragon ordered. “Leave his.” When Kennemore had done as she asked, Slade placed his weapon on the floor. Taking his time, he removed the vest and the detonator, placed them on the floor, as well. She would kill him, but not until she was certain he posed no other threat. Right now he had her worried. He turned his hands palms up. “We don’t have a lot of time. They’re out there.”
“Take them outside,” she said to her chief of security. “Then see that the evac is nearing completion.”
Whatever had spooked her, she had activated the evacuation strategy. Did that mean Alayna was gone? She was among the first to go in the plan. Slade had planned to prompt the Dragon to initiate that very strategy. Someone had done him a favor.
He couldn’t meet Maggie’s eyes as she was untied and taken from the room. Lucas leaned heavily on the two guards. Slade could imagine what the Dragon had done to him, judging by the bag hanging on his chair. The guard grabbed his prosthetic leg on the way out.
When the room was cleared, his mother stared at him for a very long time. “You were everything I had hoped you would be. But you betrayed me.”
The hatred ran so thick and hot in his veins that it literally burned. “You betrayed me at birth.”
“I guess we’re even then.” She laughed. “Too bad, I set the rules and you know what they are. Shall we get to the point? I have a flight to catch.”
He needed to wait for just the right moment. Yet he needed to hurry. The guards would no more set Maggie and Lucas free than the dead guy over there would. The one advantage he had was the Dragon was in a hurry to get out of here. She would not take chances with her own survival.
He held his arms wide apart. “I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
She was suspicious. He read it in her body language. But she was also in a hurry. “You weren’t like the others.” The tiniest hint of regret colored her tone. “You were a masterpiece. Brilliant in every way.”