“Em’s gonna go pick up, Nick. You cool with that?” Jasper asked.
“Damn, you read my mind.”
“Figured. Call Anna and tell her. Em will be there in ten minutes. She’ll grab the boys a pizza.”
I excused myself to make the call and explained the situation to Anna. She was a godsend and told me she’d have Nick pack some PJ’s just in case I ran later than expected. And we did. It was after midnight by the time we left the hangar. Most of what we’d found wouldn’t help us find Reagan. The only new lead was an LJG Holdings helicopter had put in a flight plan with the FAA flying to South Padre Island, Texas. The flight plan hadn’t had a departure date, so we were still blind as far as that was concerned.
After we did more research on South Padre Island and the surrounding area, we found there had been a breach at a pharmaceutical lab, PharmaC. It was unclear what had been taken from the lab, but the feds had been brought in. Blake enlisted the help of her contact again to track down what was manufactured in the facility. It could be a coincidence, but the medical connection was too much to ignore.
I tried Reagan’s cell phone again on the drive to Jasper’s and left her another message. If I was honest with myself, I’d only called so I could hear her voice on her message. She sounded so happy and carefree.
Full of life.
I was going to kill Lenard Glass when I got my hands on him. The method was dependent on the condition we found Reagan in. And we would find her. If she was unharmed, I’d take pity on him and make it quick, but if one strand of her pretty blonde hair was harmed, I’d disembowel him.
The tap on my window scared the shit out of me. I hadn’t realized I’d pulled into Jasper’s driveway. As a matter of fact, I didn’t remember the drive over.
I stepped out of the Jeep and Jasper looked about as concerned as I did.
“We’ll find her,” I assured him.
“Goddamn right we will.”
My lips almost twitched at the violence in his tone. None of us backed down from an enemy, but when you make it personal and take what belongs to us, hellfire will rain down.
“She’s strong, brother. She’ll hold on until we can get there.”
“How do you know?” he asked.
“Because she’s mine and there isn’t another option. Reagan is tough; she’ll give that dick a run for his money.”
“Glad to hear it. It’s about time you admit it.”
“Yeah, well I knew before she left. I should’ve said something then. I won’t make that mistake again. I hope you don’t have a problem with it, because the minute we get her back, she’s in my house, with my ring on her finger, and I’m gonna make that shit legal as soon as I can. It would make things a hell of a lot easier if you had my back.”
“I knew the day I watched you, watching her in the backyard. I’ve known you a long time, and I’d never seen you so enraptured with a woman. I’ll take your back. She won’t fight it; I know she loves you.”
“I hope to hell she does because I’m in misery without her.”
I collected Nick, thanked Emily for taking care of my nephew, and drove us home. This time I’d paid a bit more attention driving because Nick was in the car, but not much. I was getting Nick settled in his room when he stopped me.
“How’s Reagan?” he asked.
Shit, he’d overheard something.
“What’d you hear?” I asked, sitting on his bed.
“I wasn’t trying to snoop,” he defended himself.
“Bud, I didn’t think you were. I was gonna tell you when I knew more.”
“Emily said that no one has heard from her and it didn’t look good.”
My teeth ground together until I might’ve chipped a tooth.
“We’re going to find her. I don’t have a lot of information to tell you other than she found out something about her boss he didn’t want her to know. The last time she was seen, the man was pushing her into a car.”
“Will she come back home?”
“What do you mean?”
“Here. Will she come home when you find her?”
We’d talked about Reagan since she’d left, and I knew he liked her, but we’d never hid that she was only in Georgia visiting.
“Would you be okay if she came here to live with us?”
“It’s your hou…”
I cut him off. “Wrong answer, Nicholas. This is your home. Our home. We discuss major decisions that will affect both of us before they’re made. We’re a team. Do you want her here?”
“Yes. I miss her. But I didn’t want to say anything to you because I knew you were missing her too and it might hurt your feelings if I asked about her.”
Damn the boy was perceptive and thoughtful. Both great qualities. I hated that he’d learned those traits because he’d had a drunk of a mother that he’d had to take care of. Stephanie was another issue we had to discuss. Once the occupants of the car she ran off the road died, she’d taken a plea deal. Two life sentences - the plea came in when the DA left a possibility of parole on the table. Not that I was worried about her being let out of prison anytime soon. Nick needed to know what was going on with her, and permanent custody needed to be discussed. But now was not the time.
“I appreciate your concern, but in the future, please don’t hide your feelings from me. Even if you think they’ll hurt my feelings. I want you to be able to tell me anything. And yes, I miss her very much. I wish I would’ve told her how much I loved her before she left. However, I plan on rectifying that immediately and bring her home.”
We talked a bit more about his day and the work he’d done with Anna until he started yawning. We both needed some sleep. I had a hunch that tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Hold tight baby; I’m coming for you.
Chapter Twenty-one
“I know you’re awake. No sense pretending.”
My head hurt, even trying to pull a coherent thought to the forefront made the pounding intensify. I cracked one eye open, then the other. A fuzzy image of a man was swimming in front of me, making me dizzy. I closed my eyes and willed myself to remember. Where the hell was I? The pain was too intense for me to be scared. I was more pissed than anything. I didn’t like the way I felt.
“Lenard?” I managed.
“You know it didn’t have to be this way. It’s all your fault, you nosy bitch.”
What the hell was he talking about? Be what way? Nosy? I scanned my memories and tried to make heads or tails of what he was saying.
I was at his office going over donations I could use in my press release to make Alger look like a responsible environmental consequence company, which was not only absurd but basically impossible. I went home, wrote my copy, reviewed what I wrote, and…it was right there on the fringe of my memory. I did something else. Why did my head hurt? Maybe I didn’t go home, and something happened to me at the office; that’s why Lenard is here.
“Where am I?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he answered.
Why the hell was he mad at me? And what the freak did he mean it didn’t matter?
“It does, Lenard. Where. Am. I?”
Shit, even that small amount of ire made me want to vomit. I tried to lift my hands to rub the pain on my temples, but my hands wouldn’t move. I struggled to move them to no avail.
“Stop moving. You’ll pull out your IV,” he scolded.
The memory I needed was dancing in the corner of my mind. It was right there. The missing piece I needed.
“They’re not ready for you. Go back to sleep.”
No! I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted to remember.
Clark! I needed Clark.
Warmth rushed through my veins and peace washed over my body. I no longer cared where I was or why. The pain was gone, and I was slipping back into the darkness.
Sweet oblivion.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“It’s been too fucking long.”
I’d lost my patience about twenty-four
hours ago. Reagan had been gone twenty-five hours. That was a long fucking time in the hands of a madman. The hell of it was we were all pretty sure we knew where she was. The helicopter made the trip to Texas and the tugboat that Blake had been watching made a trip out to the Horizon III and was currently sitting docked to the rig.
Our problem was we didn’t have clearance to board the platform. We were currently being choked by red tape. The Commander was trying his best to help, but his hands were tied. He’d reviewed our intel and agreed something illegal was going on out in the middle of The Gulf, but his hands were tied, too. He also agreed that Reagan was more than likely being held on the platform. But other than that, we were dead in the water. The Commander couldn’t sanction a rescue mission using his top-secret black ops team. The higher-ups would not be happy with the misuse.
“Tell me again, what was taken from the Pharma lab,” the Commander asked, looking at the intel report on PharmaC.
Blake explained that most of the drugs that were taken were anti-rejection meds; Immunosuppressive, anti-proliferative, calcineurin inhibitor, as well as pain management narcotics.
“What else does the lab manufacture or store on premises?” he asked, flipping through the pages.
Blake didn’t answer right away; she was working through the question the Commander had asked. After a few moments of contemplation, she ignored the Commander’s inquiry; instead, she started down a different path of investigation.
“Levi pull up the Lethal Unitary Chemical Agents and Munitions list from the Chemical Weapons Convention. Lenox, check the CWC schedule. There are three schedules that outline toxic chemicals and their use. We want any material on Schedule I or II. Those chemicals have few non-legitimate uses. Clark check those feeds again, make sure no one has left the platform. While you’re doing that, go back through the invoices and see if you can find a hypothermic machine.”
“Best goddamn decision I ever made. Brilliant,” the Commander said.
Blake was on to something, and I knew better than to question her or ask for clarification. The Commander was spot on; she was brilliant. The tug was still tied to the floating dock under the platform. It wasn’t a clear image, but every once in a while, I caught sight of the stern bobbing up and down.
“We got something,” Levi announced. “3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate,” he said, butchering the pronunciation. “Better known as QBN. It’s listed in the Army’s database as an incapacitating agent, code 2277.”
“Other applications?” Blake asked.
“It was invented as an anti-spasmodic, researched for use in ulcers…” Lenox continued to scan the document reading the specifics as he went. “In the early sixties, the Army started trials using it as a chemical warfare agent, known as BUZZ. Later known as Agent 15 by NATO and the CIA.” He scrolled through more information before concluding. “No. QBN is an anticholinergic agent that affects both the peripheral and central nervous systems and is listed as a WMD by NATO.”
“Was any taken during the break-in at PhamaC?” the Commander asked.
The team remained quiet, trying to figure out how to phrase the answer to the Commander’s question. An affirmative would give us clearance to board the Horizon III but most likely end in an Article-32 investigation. If the answer was negative, we were fucked. The mission wouldn’t be approved, and Reagan would be left out in The Gulf to rot, which would leave me no choice but to disobey a direct order and go get her myself.
After weighing my options, I wasn’t going to allow the team to lie. I would go in alone, ensuring the rest of the team stayed in the clear.
“There is no way to answer with one-hundred percent certainty. It seems that the laboratory’s hard drives have been scrubbed. There is no way to confirm the inventory prior to the breach, and now I fear it could take days, weeks even, to sift through the paper copies and hand count each specimen they have on premises. At this point the only response I feel comfortable giving you is my professional opinion and best guess,” Blake told the Commander.
“And your professional opinion is?” he asked.
“The United States does not have the option to wait while a proper investigation is completed when a manufacturing facility has been breached. QBN is classified as a weapon of mass destruction; releasing it would be catastrophic.”
The Commander weighed her statement carefully before walking to the door. “Wheels up in thirty minutes. Your op is approved. Be safe.” He opened the door before turning to Blake. “Your ass is staying here, young lady. Mission logistics only.”
“Yes, sir,” Blake easily agreed.
Not that any of us were going to allow her to accompany us on an op while she was pregnant anyway. I was just happy the Commander had given her a direct order; she wouldn’t give him any lip.
Almost there sweetheart. Hold on.
Twenty-minutes later gear had been collected from the cage, and we were ready to roll. I’d called to check in with Nicholas and explained what was going on and that I would not be home tonight. When he found out he’d be staying with Emily and Jasper, his disappointed faded quickly. He loved spending time at their house. The taco truck on base had finally caught up with Jasper, and he was home with food poisoning. I felt bad for him, but I was thankful he’d be home to watch over Nick.
“Wait.” Blake stopped us as we headed for the door. “Did you find a hypothermic machine?”
Shit. I’d forgotten to tell her what I’d found. “Yes. There was one listed. What are you thinking?”
“I knew it. KPS-1 and SPS-1 were both taken from the lab as well. Both of those drugs are for flushing and cold storage of organs. Combine that with the anti-rejection drugs and medical equipment onboard; I think they’re harvesting organs. They might also be performing the transplant on the platform as well.”
“The fuck?” Lenox groused.
“Black market organs are a huge enterprise. I’ve seen it all over the world. The potential for profit is astronomical. There is always someone in need of a heart or liver.”
My stomach was rejecting the images of Reagan being held prisoner and her organs being cut from her body. The saliva pooled too swift for me to swallow, and I grabbed a trashcan and emptied the contents of my stomach. Spitting the last of my lunch into the basket, I left the hangar, trashcan in hand to get rid of the evidence of my failure. Goddamn, we were too late. Lenard had her too long. Fuck. I tossed the trashcan and slammed the lid of the dumper shut, the foul smell of the large metal container making me want to throw up again. Lenard Glass was a dead man. I was going to gut him and lay his organs on the deck of the platform before I tossed his carcass overboard.
“She’s strong,” Lenox said.
“She’ll hold on until we get there,” Levi added.
“You need to hold your shit together. She’s going to need you. I’m running point. Levi will be my second. Your only job is to get to Reagan; we’ll clear your way,” Lenox added.
“You know we’re right. If she’s hurt, all your attention needs to be focused on her,” Levi said. “It’s go time. We’ll have sights on your woman within the hour.”
Please God, Rea, hold on. We can deal with anything, as long as you’re breathing.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Why was I so tired? I was warm and comfy, but I wanted to move. Nothing worked; my limbs were too heavy, even trying to lift my pinky was exhausting. I needed to get up. I needed to pee, or at least I thought I did. Maybe I didn’t. Maybe I was dreaming, and all I had to do was wake up.
Open your eyes, Reagan.
I couldn’t. They weren’t obeying; nothing was.
I was so tired.
“Is she ready?”
Ready? Where was I going? I tried to ask, but no sound would come out.
“Yes.”
“And can she hear and feel?”
“Yes. The patient is in an altered state. She is basically paralyzed; she can hear and will feel the tugging and pulling. The majority of the pain will be dulled
with the paralysis.”
“Outstanding. What are you taking first?”
“Kidney and a partial liver.”
“Is the recipient prepped?”
“For the liver, yes. The kidney will be airlifted out.”
This was a shit dream. Why was I dreaming about kidneys and not Clark? Not that I’d slept all that well since I’d left Georgia, but when I finally did drift off it was always into a fantasy world where Clark and I lived together. No stupid agreement between us, nothing holding us back from being together. I was free to love him any way I wanted. And he loved me too. It was double-edged because when I awoke from the fictitious place where all my fantasies and desires came to life, I was crushed when reality seeped in and I remembered that Clark wasn’t mine and he never would be.
I wanted to fall into a Clark-fueled dream, not this doctor drama inspired shit. This dream sucked. I tried to reach for the TV remote to turn off whatever medical show I’d fallen asleep watching, but I was too exhausted.
“You ready, Reagan? This may hurt a bit.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
We’d gone over the plan and the backup plan no less than five times on our way out to the platform. The original plan of a high-altitude drop was nixed due to wind. We couldn’t safely parachute in with wind gusts what they were. Fast roping in was an option, but without cover and intel on who was on the rig, we decided against that.
We’d swim in. Piece of cake. All three of us were comfortable in the water, and we could come in soft and unannounced.
“Bravo one. Update.”
Blake’s smooth voice came to life over my earpiece.
“INFIL boat landing. Moving topside now,” Lenox answered.
The comms went silent, and Levi gave the all-clear before we moved to an upper deck. The metal grates under my boots made moving quietly damn near impossible as we surveyed the area. With the deck recon’d and empty, we moved to the next level. The second deck was the same - deserted. There was a sinking feeling in my gut. What if we were wrong and she wasn’t here? The third deck was where the drone had captured images of the supplies being dropped.
Freedom: A Black Ops Romance (The 707 Freedom Series Book 4) Page 15