The Untamed Hunter

by Lindsay McKenna

  Chuckling indulgently, he relaxed, turned his seat and gave her the kind of fond look a father might give an ignorant child. “Dr. Harper…may I call you Maggie? You and I were always on pleasant terms as colleagues at those conferences around the world.”

  Instinctively, Maggie realized the only way out of this situation was to lull them into thinking she wasn’t going to try an escape. She was; at first opportunity, she planned to try and get away from them. But they didn’t need to know that now. “Yes…of course…call me Maggie.”

  Smiling genially, Tennyson twisted his head toward Romanov. “See? I told you so. She’s one of us. She just doesn’t know it yet.”

  Romanov shrugged. “We’ll see….” he said tensely as he pressed on the accelerator. They sped out of the storm and back into sunlight and a dry highway as they drove across the causeway.

  Turning, Bruce smiled triumphantly. “Well, it was rather easy, Maggie. What the FBI doesn’t know is that we’ve got a mole inside their bureau. We have been given the daily change of codes ever since we started tailing you to get the DNA anthrax.”

  “A mole?” she gasped. “Who?”

  “Señorita, surely you do not think we’re so stupid as to tell you?”

  “She’s just naive,” Bruce chortled. “My dear Maggie with the beautiful red hair, we aren’t going to divulge any names to you.”

  “Is that because you’re going to kill me sooner or later?” she demanded. Fearing that they would, she turned her mind to escape plans. The van had three exits: the front passenger’s and driver’s doors and a double door at the rear. There were no side doors. It made escape impossible. Plus, her hands were cuffed, but Maggie knew she could manage with them bound if the opportunity to escape occurred.

  “Oh, my, no,” Bruce said in exaggerated horror. “Maggie…you’re one of the world’s top virologists.” He preened a little and patted his chest confidently. “I’m the best in my country, Britain. Alex, as you well know, is at the top if his game in Mother Russia.”

  She glanced at the lethal-looking Juan. “And him?”

  “Captain Juan Martinez is from Brazil, my dear. He’s a part of Black Dawn, as well. You might think of him as your bodyguard and our protector.” Smugly, Bruce smiled at his companions. “Although I must admit, we’ve all been through mercenary training over in Afghanistan with some of the best bioterrorists in the world. We pulled off a coup by getting you and the attaché case.”

  Sitting there, Maggie felt her heart ache, but not out of fear. She was thinking about Shep, what might have been and would probably never be, now. Despite their bickering and their problems, she loved him. She had to admit it to herself, because chances were she would soon be dead. It was just a matter of time. If there was any solace to the situation, it was that Shep had been gone when Black Dawn attacked. At least his life had been spared.

  “And if my partner had been there when you came,” she asked, “would he be here with me?”

  “Him?” Bruce wrinkled his long, narrow nose. “Of course not. He’s just a mule. A soldier. He doesn’t have your knowledge, Maggie.”

  “No,” Alex said with undisguised pleasure, “he would be dead.”

  Cold terror worked through Maggie and her stomach clenched painfully. Once more she tried to think, but it was so hard. She watched as Romanov took a route north on the mainland once they had crossed the two arcing spans of the bridge. “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “You’ll find out,” Bruce said.

  “You’re kidnapping me. Why don’t you release me? You’ve got the anthrax. Isn’t that what you came for?”

  Bruce gave her a grin. “Maggie, if I have my way, I want to extend an invitation to you to join us.”

  Stunned, she felt her mouth drop open. “What?”

  With an eloquent shrug, Bruce said, “Why not? Think about it, Maggie. Black Dawn has fifty of the best and brightest academicians from around the world, all of whom are at the top of their game as virologists, microbiologists, physicists and biologists. We really aren’t the threat I see written all over your face, my dear. We are a band of people who see our world sinking into absolutely destructive ways. We want to change that. And we can. We have amassed more brain power than any one nation could ever think of having. We’ve developed a plan, a global one, to get rid of this rotten, infected environment we are forced to live in. We want a peaceful world, Maggie. Not the world we live in now, which is full of hatred, prejudice and murder, attackers who get off from death sentences or well-earned prison terms. No,” he said, his smile disappearing and his eyes narrowing as he gauged her response, “we want to cleanse the world and start over. And we’ve got the knowledge and the means to clean our house.”

  Her heart thumped in terror over his words. He was insane. They all were, as far as Maggie was concerned. But she didn’t dare show her disdain for his ideas. “By releasing the anthrax you intend to wipe out several populations?”

  “Yes, worldwide,” he murmured in a pleased tone. Waving toward the front window of the speeding van, he added, “We tried it on Juma Indian Village in Brazil. It was a success. Fifty percent of the population died.” His brows knitted. “The only problem was that our anthrax lab exploded, attacked by a secret U.S. government force, and we lost all our hard work. The professor heading the project was also captured. Unfortunately, he’s in U.S. custody at a prison near Washington, D.C.” He pointed to the attaché case next to Juan’s right leg. “That’s why we needed the freshly altered DNA anthrax. We had none of our own. Well, now that we do, we’ll take it to our new lab facility over in Albania, which is well hidden in the mountain country, and we’ll produce a lot of action in a hurry. Then we can move forward with our plan to try it on a major U.S. city. When that is successful, we’ll have all our members fly to different cities around the world and start the epidemic.”

  The fact that they did not currently have any anthrax to use on a city provided Maggie with some relief. She knew how fast anthrax could be made, however. Little did they know that what they had in that vial was only E. coli, not anthrax. But it would take them days after smearing it on petrie dishes to find that out, and that bought her time. As well as Shep and the FBI. Shep! Her heart twinged with pain again. How vital he was to her. Why hadn’t she told him how she really felt about him? She was just as stubborn as he was when it came to waving a flag of truce and letting her real feelings be known. Meeting him again had undone her in the sweetest of ways. His kiss had opened up the beautiful treasures they’d shared before, treasures Maggie wanted now—and forever. But those hopes were now dashed. She was captured by a band of international terrorists who saw the world as one big infection that needed to be eradicated.

  “So, you’re going to fight fire with fire?” Maggie demanded throatily. “You see the world dominated by bad things, so you’re going to let loose a bad bacteria to kill them off?”

  “That’s putting it crudely, my dear. Like cures like, does it not?”

  “Not exactly,” Maggie murmured tautly. “I agree we’ve got a lot of rotten qualities in the world today, but think of how many innocent people you’re going to kill to get rid of those others.”

  “That’s the price of a new world order, Maggie. We don’t like it, but we can’t separate out the rotting apples.”

  “Children are innocent!” she exclaimed hotly. “You three can sit here and condemn babies and children to a horrible, lingering death from this anthrax and say it’s all right?”

  Tennyson lifted his long, spare hands. “Maggie, my dear, don’t become upset over this. Look at the larger picture. The racial hatred, the prejudice, the murderers, thieves, rapists, the pedophiles—scum of the earth—will die, too. We want a world cleansed of such vermin.” Tennyson’s voice grew deep with conviction. “I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of seeing our collective legal systems let off the damned criminals. Who gets hurt? We, the victims of crime, do. Criminals are given more rights than we are! Our syst
ems of law stink. They have swung too far to protect the rights of cold-blooded murderers. Well,” he said with satisfaction, “that’s all changing now. Members of Black Dawn have sworn a pledge to eradicate them all. We want a world order where people will be free from such vile and infectious trash!”

  As she watched his green eyes glitter with fervor, Maggie tried to appear sympathetic. She had to somehow lull Bruce into thinking she was on his side. “You know, you have a point.”

  “Yes,” Alex crowed, “we do!”

  “My own children,” Bruce told her fervently, “were here in U.S. schools for two years while I was working with your government. I was shocked at how degraded your public schools have become. My little Lisa was kidnapped by a local gang and held for ransom.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment to get a handle on his emotions. Voice cracking, he said, “And my boy, Christopher, who is only nine, was pistol whipped by another gang of boys after school as he waited for his bus.”

  Anger shook the scientist’s voice and he glared at Maggie. “Is it any wonder I feel the way I do? I paid the ransom and our daughter was returned to us, after being held for three days. She has changed so much since it happened. She was such a bright, beautiful ray of sunlight in our lives before. Now…” he lowered his voice, the pain obvious, “she is hyperalert, she trusts no one. She truly distrusts males—not that I blame my daughter—and worst of all, she shrinks away from me when I want to give her a loving squeeze or a hug to let her know I love her.”

  Sadly, he looked away. “My children have suffered gravely in your rotting country, Maggie. The worst thing is that, in both instances, no one was held accountable. The police to this day have not arrested anyone for those crimes. The experiences my children had are what drove me into working with Black Dawn. I want a better world for my children to grow up in. I want it free and clear of vermin. My wife is in anguish over what happened to our children. She is angry. And so am I. Those gangbangers got off scot-free!”

  “I’m sorry,” Maggie whispered. “I truly am, Bruce. I know our legal system isn’t perfect—”

  “Not anywhere near it,” he snarled under his breath. Eyes glimmering, he said, “But now there’s a way to change all this. I’m proud to be a part of Black Dawn. I feel badly that some innocents will lose their lives, but in the long run, we can eradicate the killers, the drug addicts, the thieves, the rapists and those who would stalk our children and abuse them. No, I want this new world order. My children have suffered enough!”

  Maggie played along. She did feel for Bruce’s children. What a terrible experience they’d had in the U.S. “You’re right, Bruce, this is terrible. And your children…I can only imagine how hard it was on you and your wife at the time the incidents happened.”

  Miserably, Bruce nodded. “Now you see why I’m backing Black Dawn. We must eradicate these inhuman species from the face of the earth. Black Dawn’s mission is to create a sane world once more. Not like this world we live in.” He jabbed his finger at the aluminum case. “This is our way of doing it. When it’s all over, we can begin again. Laws can mean something. An eye for an eye. None of this coddling of prisoners. The death sentence will be imposed, and believe me, it won’t take twenty years to send one of them to their rightful death, either.”

  Maggie nodded sympathetically, playing the game. As they drove north, she had noted, sunshine and blue sky had taken over once more. Traffic was at a minimum. She had to escape. How? Bruce was now treating her like she was already a member of Black Dawn. “You know, what you say makes a lot of sense,” she forced herself to say. “Maybe you could tell me more about Black Dawn, about your goals, as we drive?”

  Heartened, Bruce grinned. Alex perked up. Juan gave her a distrusting look, however; he obviously didn’t believe her change of heart. The two scientists did, but the Brazilian military officer saw right through her. Maggie forged ahead anyway. She knew that no help, no rescue was coming for her. It was up to her to devise her own plan of escape.

  “Maggie?” Shep’s voice rang hollowly through the villa. He dropped the pizza at the door, which he had found wide open. Instantly, he pulled the gun from the holster beneath his left armpit. His heartbeat tripled in time. Thunder caromed around him, shaking the building in the aftermath. With his hand wrapped firmly around the butt of the pistol, he moved swiftly across the foyer, pointing the gun first right and then left. Nothing! No one. Maggie! Oh, no. What happened?

  Breathing hard, Shep moved toward the left, where the two bedrooms were located. The attaché case was gone! Hurriedly, he searched the rest of the villa. Maggie was gone! Moving quickly back to the door, he examined the wood on the door frame. It showed no signs of a forced entry.

  Jerking the cell phone out of his pocket, he made a call to the FBI. In a few minutes, they would come running to the villa, fully armed. Studying the entryway, he wondered what had happened. Maggie knew better than to open the door. Black Dawn had struck, he was sure. Walking back to Maggie’s bedroom again, he rapidly searched it. On the dresser he saw a business card. Peering down at it, he felt his heart stop for a moment. On it was printed a caduceus—two snakes entwined around a staff. Only instead of the wings appearing in the symbol for physicians, the top of this caduceus held a globe of the world.

  Shep’s mouth went dry. He didn’t dare touch it, for fear of smearing fingerprints that might be on it. It was Black Dawn’s symbol.

  Spinning around, he felt a cry of terror working up through his chest and into his throat. He wanted to scream out in rage, but forced himself to walk back to the living room and wait for the FBI to arrive. His heart hurt. Terror ate at him. He’d failed Maggie—just as he’d failed Sarah. Closing his eyes, he sternly ordered himself to stop letting his wildly escaping emotions take over. He had to think! And think clearly.

  Hearing the thud of booted feet coming down the outer hall, he met the FBI contingent at the front door.

  The FBI team was composed of six men and women, all snipers carrying M-16 rifles that were locked and loaded. They were dressed all in black, including flak jackets and protective helmets. Their leader, Agent Bob Preston, halted. In his late thirties, he was about six foot tall, lean like a whippet, with sharp, alert eyes and a long, narrow face.

  “Black Dawn has taken Dr. Harper and the attaché case,” Shep told him. The looks on the faces of the FBI contingent told him they were all crushed by the news.

  “But, how—” Preston began in a strangled tone.

  “Maggie let them in,” Shep breathed savagely, pointing to the doorjamb. “For whatever her reason, she let them in.”

  Preston studied the wood along the lock for only a moment, then he straightened and turned. “Bayard, Mitchell and Connors, do a door-to-door search. Canvas the area, starting with this floor. The rest of you, spread out. See if you can find anyone who might have seen something in the last thirty minutes around this building or the underground garage. Call the instant you hear anything.”

  The FBI agents scattered like a dark cloud of startled ravens, moving in all directions. Shep walked back into the villa, shoulders slumped with guilt and anguish. Preston followed him into the quiet confines and shut the door. He shouldered the rifle, his face grim.

  “Dr. Harper knew not to let anyone in unless they had the code. That code was changed daily.”

  Unhappily, Shep nodded. “I was gone thirty lousy minutes. I didn’t think Black Dawn would know where we were, because we changed our plans at the last moment.” Raking his fingers through his dark hair, Shep cursed softly at his own misguided rationale. He led the agent to the bedroom. “There’s a business card there, on the dresser. It needs to be dusted for fingerprints.”

  Nodding, Preston put on a pair of latex gloves, picked up the item and placed it in a secure plastic Ziploc bag. “No sign of a struggle?”

  Looking around, his brows locked downward, Shep muttered, “Nothing’s been knocked over. There’s no evidence of blood splatters anywhere. Nothing else seems taken.
Just Maggie and the attaché case…”

  Preston sighed and moved back to the kitchen, where he laid his rifle down and took off his helmet. He pulled a radio from inside his flak jacket. “The good news is they couldn’t have gotten very far.”

  “We need a lead. A break,” Shep muttered, more to himself than to Preston. Damn! He’d left Maggie alone and unprotected. What was wrong with him? But, he had been sure she wouldn’t open the door to anyone but him. Some kind of ruse had to have been used. She had to have been thoroughly tricked, because she wasn’t a fool. And he was sure she’d have used the code. Rubbing his jaw, he waited until Preston got off the phone.

  “Only your mobile HQ knows the daily code, right?” Shep demanded.

  “Only them. I’m the one who chooses the password. We then send it out to you at 0800 each morning.”

  “How do you send it?”

  “Scrambled. If you’re thinking someone picked it up on the airwaves, there’s no way it could have happened. That scramble is solid. No one to our knowledge has broken the encoding.”

  “Unless…” Shep began thinking slowly out loud. “Unless one of your people is a mole and slipped Black Dawn the code.”

  Preston’s dark eyes sharpened. His mouth turned tight. “A mole?” he demanded scathingly. “I think you’re feeling guilty over screwing this up, Hunter, and you’re trying to pin Dr. Harper’s kidnapping on the FBI. That isn’t going to wash with us. Your theory is DOA.”

  Wrestling with his anger, Shep growled, “No agency is foolproof and you know it. The FBI has had its share of moles in the past, so don’t try and sanitize that possibility with me. It won’t work.”

  Preston’s face whitened but before he could say anything, his cell phone squawked. Flipping it open, he growled, “Preston here…”

  Shep saw the expression on the agent’s face turn hopeful. Tensely, he waited until Preston was off the phone.