by CJ Lyons
An image of her smile filled his mind. Rose wouldn’t expect any less from him.
<><><>
KC woke with her face immersed in freezing water. She gasped and jerked upright. Blinked and realized that wherever she was, it was absolutely dark. Yet extremely noisy with the constant rumble of an engine interrupted by occasional groans and thuds that rocked the floor beneath her.
The stench of diesel fuel and motor oil combined with a fishy afterthought. She sat on a metal floor, hip deep in water that felt greasy against her bare flesh. They’d taken her clothing, leaving only her underwear and camisole. Gone were her boots with her knife, her belt with a second knife concealed in the buckle, and—she rubbed her handcuffed hands against the small of her back—they’d found the handcuff key she’d taped there.
Half-naked, freezing cold, blind and deaf. Panic throttled her breathing for a quick moment. She felt movement beneath the noise and vibrations of the vessel. Some kind of old boat, she guessed. Except it didn’t seem to be going anywhere, just drifting back and forth.
“Who’s there?” she called into the black void. “Rose?”
If Rose was with her, everything would be okay, she knew. Rose had escaped from hell and back, could handle anything.
But there was no answer. She swallowed. Her mouth was dry, her mind groggy. They’d drugged her. Felt like she’d been out for a while. Water sloshed over her legs, which were almost dead with the cold. She pulled her bare feet back, stretched her arms under her butt, and painfully worked her handcuffed hands to the front of her body. Better. At least she had a bit of control and could fight back. She tried to stand, but hit her head on a low metal ceiling that forced her to bend from her waist.
“Rose, are you here?” she tried again, hating the way her voice broke.
Pins and needles stabbed her bare feet. The water around her ankles was freezing. Something floating on the water brushed against her and was gone again before she could identify it. She braced herself against the compartment’s wall, edged to the right, cautiously exploring her prison.
Two steps later, she hit a large metal drum. No more room in that direction. Tried a step forward, another drum. Using her feet and hands as an early-warning system, she quickly discovered that the drums filled the small compartment, the only opening the space where she’d awoken. Beyond that was a large door with a rim that protruded out and a heavy latch that wouldn’t budge. A hatch, not a door, she realized. Definitely a boat. Not moving very fast, though, despite all the engine noise.
Now that she’d defined her prison, she crouched down to ease the strain on her back. She was alone. The thought and the motion of the boat brought a wave of bile burning up the back of her throat. She choked it down, refusing to give in to fear.
Maybe she was alone inside here—wherever here was—but she wasn’t alone. She had Rose and Chase and Billy and the entire team looking for her. They wouldn’t leave her; they’d come. She just had to hold out until then, that was all.
That. Was. All.
Okay. Decision made. Now all she had to do was concentrate on some isometric exercises to keep from freezing to death while she waited. Waiting. Never her strong suit. She much preferred action. But life’s a bitch; get over it.
Another something brushed her body, this time it was caught between the backs of her legs and the metal hull behind her. She stretched her fingers to examine it, even though she had a good idea what it was. Yep. Scratchy fur, tiny legs, sharp claws, there was the tail. Dead rat.
The boat lurched and a wave of water came her way, carrying with it more rats. All dead or dying—none of them even tried to bite or claw their way out of the water onto her.
Which all would have been a relief if her mind didn’t leap forward to ask a question: What was locked up inside here with her that had killed the rats?
Chapter 24
Billy was working every back channel he could think of, trying to get the info they needed while not exposing their position. Which basically translated into spinning his wheels. There simply was not a lot of information he could access while locked out of the Team’s network and trapped out here in the boondocks. He didn’t even have cell service—although Rose had certainly planned it that way. Less chance of anyone tracking satellite communications compared to cell phones.
He was either going to have to find an alternative source of info—preferably not CNN—or head back and risk being picked up while he gathered HUMINT. Human intelligence. Which meant face-to-face meetings with people who could have him arrested or who might be the very traitor he was hunting.
Neither prospect was looking favorable. Not even going through the back door into his dad’s company’s network and using its resources was he able to get deep enough into the databases. What he needed was a hacker.
What he had was a half-functional Marine and two college kids with limited skills. He blew out his breath in frustration and glanced over to where Eve was teaching Jay how to use the thermal imaging targeting on Chase’s AR-15. Chase was shaking his head, obviously bemused that his little brother didn’t mind being taught by a girl after he’d had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the range when Chase wanted to teach him how to handle a weapon.
They’d be fine here, Billy told himself. He’d do them more good back in DC, even if it might cost him his freedom. He paced the small area, fiddling with the keys to the van. But he couldn’t leave, not yet…he wasn’t sure why. Maybe Rose’s infamous intuition had rubbed off on him.
Billy’s computer rang with a Skype call. Hollywood. “You guys good?” Billy said as the other man’s image appeared.
There was the sound of a plane flying close overhead. “Anonymous airport hotels, gotta love them,” Hollywood replied. Billy waited, knowing the former Naval Intelligence officer would have a damn good reason for breaking radio silence. “Celeste was working on the file Rose sent, the one that EZ partially decrypted.”
The one that had sent Rose into a trap, Billy thought. Out loud, he asked, “What did she find?”
“She says the symbols aren’t code but rather CDC hazmat designations. She put them all together and worked out what kind of toxin you’re dealing with.”
At this point, any solid intel was good news. “And?”
“It’s bad, Billy. With the modifications they made to her research, it has the potential to be aerosolized over a mile and still have an eighty-percent lethality. It’s not until three miles out that the dispersion reaches the LD50.”
LD50: The dose required to achieve fifty percent lethality.
Three-mile radius of any midsize city, and they were talking fifty to a hundred thousand people dead. Three miles inside any major metropolitan area like DC, and that number ratcheted up to a million.
“So we can’t let it get into the air. Do we drown it? What about fire? Can we torch it?”
“No. The aerosol particles can sustain extremely high temps. And they’re stable in water for a short time. You’d have to dilute it a million to one to make it safe. Best bet is keep it sealed.”
“Tell me there’s an anti-toxin.”
“You were right about the fentanyl.” Rose was right, Billy corrected silently. “Narcan will combat that. But Celeste said they’re combining it with a nerve agent that has blistering properties.”
“Great. The trifecta of chemical warfare.”
“Yeah, I know. She said high-dose atropine combined with the Narcan should keep folks alive after cutaneous exposure. They’ll suffer some skin burns, but those are treatable. If they inhale it, nothing will help. Their lungs will burn while their nervous system shuts down. Death in three to four minutes, and not a very pretty death at that.”
“Well, hell. Your doctor got any good news?”
“I think. I hope. She says that even though you’d only need a small amount to cause death—we’re talking a few microscopic drops—the compound doesn’t remain stable for long once it’s released. Twenty minutes max.”
&nbs
p; “So it can go far but not last long. What about decontamination? More water to dilute it?”
“That might help with cutaneous exposure. But it could also just spread it if you’re not careful. She said it’s impossible to tell without doing testing, and obviously—”
“That’s not going to happen anytime soon.” Billy caught himself. At least not by the good guys. But what about the Preacher’s people? Maybe they were getting ready to run their own test with human subjects. He thought about the bodies in Savannah. Maybe they already had. Because, despite the story the feds were putting out, sure as hell weren’t the corpses of innocent workers blown up by Rose.
Billy’s attention shifted as he saw Jay jerk the rifle he held, aiming through the thermal imaging. “Someone’s out there,” Jay said to Eve. “See for yourself.”
“Gotta go, Hollywood.”
“Good luck.” Hollywood hung up, and Billy disconnected. Chase had grabbed the rifle from Jay and was using it to look through the window at the forest beyond the cabin.
“One subject, coming through the woods,” he said.
Billy pulled the two kids away from the window they were straining to look through. “Get into the bedroom and don’t come out until we tell you it’s clear.”
Jay pouted, ready to protest, but Eve grabbed two pistols and headed toward the other room. “C’mon, Jay,” she said. “Someone needs to watch the rear of the house.”
Smart girl. Now that he had a role to play, Jay nodded, took a pair of binoculars, and followed after her.
Billy checked the other approach angles. No evidence of anyone outflanking them. “You good there?” he asked Chase.
Chase stood with his weight on his good leg, braced against the top of a bookcase a few feet back from the window to give him a wider field of vision. “I’m good.”
“I’m going out the back, will circle around.” Billy had found a stash of comm units at Rose’s place. He handed one to Chase as he inserted an earpiece. “Talk me in.”
Chase attached his microphone. “Clear?”
“Five by five,” Billy responded, grabbing an M-4 and sidling out the rear door.
Using the cover of shadows cast by the late-morning sun, he made his way into the forest and headed in the direction of the intruder. It could be some paintball enthusiast lost and miles away from where he should be. Maybe a hunter. Because why would either the feds or the Preacher’s group send only one person after them?
He pushed the thoughts aside and concentrated on moving silently over the dead leaves and pine needles. It had been a long time since he’d gone hunting. Felt good, the familiar thrill of adrenaline edging his nerves, keeping him focused. His heart settled into a steady rhythm, his breathing slow and deep, timed to match the breeze rustling the barren tree branches.
“Ten yards away, your two o’clock,” Chase whispered into Billy’s ear.
Billy slid from shadow to shadow. Still couldn’t spot his prey.
“Five yards, four o’clock, aim low.”
Billy silently pivoted, lowering his weapon to scout the waist-high foliage. A shape darker than the morning shadows was crouched in a clump of rhododendron. The linear outline of a rifle slid free, aimed at the cabin.
He crept closer. The intruder wore black and was using a thermal imaging scope. Billy checked his perimeter. No signs of anyone else. “Put the weapon down. Stand up and keep your hands where I can see them.”
The intruder lowered the weapon to the ground and stood, back to Billy, hands high, body shaking. Scared? Then Billy realized that the intruder was only about five-three.
Laughter pealed through the forest as Rose turned around. “Billy Price, I’ve never been so happy to see anyone in my life!”
Billy sucked in a breath so fast he choked on it. He tried to speak but couldn’t. It was as if time stopped—and so did his heart. For one pristine moment, the sun catching her at just the right angle, shimmering gold around her as it filtered through the trees, made him wonder if he was dreaming.
Chase must have heard, because suddenly the rear door of the cabin banged open and the moment was over.
“Rose!” Eve yelled and ran to Rose, branches whipping in her wake. They hugged each other fiercely. Billy couldn’t move, couldn’t think. He was too overwhelmed.
Rose finally released Eve and retrieved her weapon. “Back in the house,” she told the girl, who glanced at Rose and then Billy, still frozen in place, before obeying.
And then Rose was right there, beside him. Solid. Not a figment of his imagination. Billy lost control. He pulled her slight body into his arms. Holding her tight, refusing to let her go.
“I can’t believe you’re really here. I was so sure that you—” He couldn’t finish, couldn’t say the words that had been ripping him apart. You were dead.
She clung to him for a long moment, her small form trembling. “I’m fine.”
Clearly, she wasn’t. He’d never seen her so rattled. He touched her face, her hair, dropped his hands to her arms. No obvious damage other than a few cuts and bruises to add to her collection.
Whatever had happened, the damage was internal. How deep did it go?
<><><>
Chase hobbled to the door in time to see Jay catch up with Eve as she returned from the woods. He felt ancient. Worn out, ready for the trash heap.
Rose was back. From the dead.
Without KC.
Did that mean that KC’s body was lying on a coroner’s slab somewhere in Georgia? Burned up, torn up, beyond recognition?
No. No. He’d seen her on that Coast Guard boat. After the explosion. She had to be alive.
His fingers dug into the padding on his crutch, ready to tear it apart. A sound tore free of his self-control, an anguished sob that didn’t sound human. No one heard it but him.
Pull yourself together, Marine.
Jay and Eve returned to the porch. “Is she alone?” Chase could barely get the words out.
The kids stopped. Both smart enough to keep their distance at his tone. Then Jay stepped forward. “Yeah. She’s alone. But don’t worry. KC is fine. I just know it.”
Chase remembered telling Billy those same words about Rose earlier this morning—still had the bruises to show for it. He said nothing, sparing Jay the heartbreak of reality, and jerked his chin toward the door. “Better get back inside.”
Jay started toward the door, but Eve stayed where she was. Looked at Chase. “Rose taught me a saying from her grandmother, the one who took her in after my father died and Rose’s family kicked her out for being pregnant. She used to say, ‘All courage comes from love.’ ” She touched his arm, squeezed it. “You love her, and she loves you. Have the courage to hope.”
Then she was gone, mercifully closing the door behind her before she could see Chase swipe at his eyes. Sad thing was that the kid was right. Sappy and sentimental in her delivery. But absolutely right.
They said it differently in the Marines, but it was pretty much the same idea. No man left behind. Not ever.
He straightened as Rose and Billy approached. “Glad you’re here, boss,” he told Rose with a jaunty smile that was all show. “Now the fun can begin.”
Like finding KC and taking the fight to the bastards who’d taken her.
<><><>
Eve was here, safe and sound, with Billy. The sight of the two of them made Rose feel light-headed, giddy with happiness. Short-lived happiness, as soon as she thought of the danger to Eve that was still out there, hunting for them.
She’d have to leave again. It was the only way to ensure Eve’s safety.
She and Billy entered the cabin, Billy finishing giving his report on the activities she’d missed.
“Why don’t you kids wait in the other room?” Billy said as they settled around the table. Chase stayed on guard, scanning the perimeter.
Jay and Eve looked at each other. Jay said, “We’re not kids.” His tone contradicted his words, but Eve merely glanced at Rose and raised one
eyebrow.
“They can stay,” Rose said. “They have as much at stake in this as we do.” Maybe even more in some ways—she’d given Eve as much training as she could, but it was hardly enough to face up to the Preacher’s people or being a fugitive on the run.
Jay and Eve scraped back chairs and joined them. And everyone looked at Rose.
“How did you escape?” Jay asked.
“What did you find in the warehouse?” Billy asked.
Eve laid her hand over Rose’s. “Was Grigor there?”
Rose interlaced her fingers with Eve’s to borrow Eve’s strength. Eve squeezed back, offering whatever Rose needed. God, what had she done to deserve such a wonderful gift?
She had to focus on the job at hand. Best way to keep Eve safe. Rose reluctantly let loose of Eve’s hand, gathered her thoughts, and gave them a report, keeping it as emotion-free as possible. She did skip the part about killing the two in the van—Billy and Chase could fill in the blanks, and the kids, Eve especially, didn’t need to know about that.
“So no one actually died in the warehouse? They were already dead? Shouldn’t the coroner or CSI or someone have figured that out?” Jay asked.
“The coroner called me, told me he’d ID’d your body,” Billy put in. “Clearly, it wasn’t really the coroner. The feds would know those were corpses they found. Maybe they wanted me to think you were dead, so I’d unveil whatever secret plan you supposedly had?” He’d explained about Susan Payne’s crazy idea that Rose had manufactured the Preacher and everything that had happened in the past week merely to save her job and secure the Team’s future.
She had some choice words about what she thought about Senator Payne, but was saving them for later.
“Maybe it was the Preacher’s group, just messing with your brain,” Eve put in. “The traitor could have told them about you and Rose.”
“There is no me and Rose,” Billy protested.
The two kids exchanged glances and laughed.