by Leigh, Jo
“Yes, dammit. This way.” She led them through the dimly lit house. Kate heard a TV upstairs. Harper opened the door under the stairs, then turned on the lights to illuminate the steps down. She went ahead, and Kate waited to take over the rear.
Once they had him on level ground, she looked at Seth. He was deathly pale, and she could hardly see him breathe. Her chest tightened and she said a prayer. He was such a good guy, and he’d been shot trying to protect her.
The basement had been set up as a trauma room. Nate had fixed it so that Harper could stay in this house, and he’d found a way to get all the supplies, everything necessary for an occasion such as this. They’d never used it before, but Kate could see Harper kept it immaculate.
“What happened?” Harper asked, going over to the washbasin to scrub her hands.
“They shot up his hand,” Nate said. “He’s lost a lot of blood.”
Harper turned to Kate. “His file is on the desk. Look in there, and tell me his blood type and if he has any allergies.”
Vince moved to a small nook by the back wall. He said nothing, but he watched everything, trying to make some sense of what he was seeing.
This basement was better equipped than half the emergency rooms in the county. There was a refrigerator with a blood supply, lighting good enough to operate by, every kind of medical gadget he could think of. There was even a second bed in the back, and next to that a wheelchair.
Were these people survivalists? Terrorists? What the hell had Kate gotten herself into? He’d been feeling guilty as shit since he’d looked in that box, but now he’d wished he’d confronted her right then and there. This was serious business, and something told him that the gangs coming after her was child’s play in comparison.
The woman, Harper, was striking. Tall, he’d guess close to six feet, she had a strong face with intense blue eyes, short blond hair and a no-nonsense attitude. She was attractive, compelling. She looked like someone he wouldn’t want to piss off. But then, so did the man glowering by the bed.
Kate helped Harper into a surgical gown and gloves. Then, the doctor went to examine her patient.
Vince took the opportunity to get close to Kate. He needed to understand this. And he needed to get her out. “What is this place?” he asked, keeping his voice low. “Who are these people?”
“I can’t talk to you right now. I need to help Harper.” She walked over to the bed. More to escape him than to help, he figured. He’d wait. He had nothing more important to do.
* * * * *
“He should go to a hospital,” Harper said. She’d washed Seth’s hand and taken a good look at the wound. It was bad. Really bad. The thumb was gone and so was the muscle structure beneath. She doubted even the finest surgeon could have done much. He wouldn’t have much use of it, if she could save the hand at all. The deeper she looked, the more worried she became. “He needs a specialist.”
“He’s got you,” Nate said. “And damn lucky for it.”
She looked at him and shook her head. “It’s not good. I’ll do what I can, but he’s not going to be using this hand for a long time, if ever.”
Nate cursed and banged his head against the wall. They needed Seth. With both hands. With Kate going to Colorado, Boone and Christie following the trail of suspicious supplies leaving Montana, he would be on his own. With the new information about the storage facility, that was a huge problem.
He was pretty damn sure they were storing some of the chemical weapons there, but he had to make sure. If that didn’t get him killed, his next step would. Somehow, they had to go public. Tam was still working on the antidote, but with their limited resources it was slow going. If Omicron sold any gas, a whole hell of a lot of people were going to die.
He looked back at Seth, and it killed him that his friend was in such bad shape. He had no idea how Omicron had found where Kate was staying. They’d had enough time to plan the assault, which didn’t make sense either.
The cop, was he the leak? How in hell could they let him go, without knowing the truth? And what had he done to Kate to make her leave tonight, instead of following the plan?
“Harper, are you good?”
“Go. Just don’t be too long.”
Nate took Kate’s arm and led her up the stairs. He knew the cop wasn’t going to be quiet for long, and there were decisions to be made.
They went to Harper’s kitchen, and he zeroed in on the bottle of whiskey she kept in the cupboard. He offered it to Kate, who declined, then he poured himself a shot. It burned going down. “What happened out there, kiddo?”
Kate took off her coat and sat down at the kitchen table. Her face was smudged with ash and almost as pale as Seth’s. “Vince looked at the papers. He was trying to help. I’ve been something of a basketcase. He had no idea what he was looking at.”
“Then how come Omicron knew you were there?”
“I haven’t a clue. But I’d bet everything that he’s not involved.”
“I find that pretty hard to believe.”
“I know. I think we should talk to him. If he is involved, then he doesn’t understand what he’s into. If he isn’t, his life’s in danger. Either way, we can’t just let him go.”
“Agreed. I’m gonna talk to him. Not you.”
“Fine.”
He sat down across from her. “Is there anything I need to know?”
“I think he’s a decent guy, Nate. He just wanted to solve the murder of his friend. I don’t believe he has any connection to Omicron.”
“And snooping into your things?”
“Misguided, but well intentioned.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
She touched his hand. “What’s going to happen with Seth out of the picture?”
“I don’t know. Let’s solve one problem at a time.”
She nodded. “It was just like that night, you know? In Kosovo.”
He knew exactly what she was talking about—the night they’d escaped. His team was supposed to have gone to the lab, a bunker really, and retrieved all the data from every computer. After that, they were to destroy without prejudice. Which meant everyone in that lab was to have died. Only, the women, Harper, Kate and Tam, had proved to him beyond a shadow of a doubt that the mission was a lie. They’d been sent, by men he’d trusted, to kill American citizens. Innocent citizens. They were to have destroyed all the evidence that these men in their suits and their uniforms had conspired to build a chemical weapon, despite the ban, despite the consequences. Instead, Nate and his men, all ten of them, had mutinied. To his shame and deep regret, they hadn’t been able to save the scientists. All of them had died that night, except for Tamara. And he hadn’t been able to save all his men. When he dreamt, it was often of that night. When everything he’d believed in had come crashing down around him in a hell storm of bombs and helicopters. He squeezed Kate’s hand. “Hey, at least tonight there were no bombs.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I suppose that’s a plus. But they sure brought a lot of firepower.”
“Yeah, and we kicked their asses.”
When she looked up, her eyes were wet with unshed tears. “I’ll never get used to it. I killed two men. Me. An accountant. I shot them dead.”
“Before they could do it to you.”
“I know. There’s a lot to be said for self-defense, but still. That we have to keep killing…”
“Not forever. I promise.”
“I’m keeping you to that.”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. Then he rubbed the ash off her cheek with his thumb. “Count on it,” he said. “We’ll get through this. Now, we need to be there for Seth. And I’ve got to talk to your friend.”
“Be nice.”
“I’m always nice.”
She laughed, and he was glad of that. There certainly wasn’t much to laugh about.
* * * * *
Vince listened for footsteps as he watched the doc. She seemed to know what she was doing. He’d been to enoug
h autopsies that the sights and smells didn’t bother him, but he couldn’t help wincing when he got a good look at the mangled hand. He wondered if the guy was left-handed. He hoped not.
“I need you to adjust the light.”
He approached the bed. “How?”
“A little to the left. So I can see in the wound.”
He did his best to give her what she wanted. “I’m Vince,” he said. “Vince Yarrow. I’m a detective out of South Central.”
“Nice to meet you. Now go away.”
He went back to the dark corner and waited. Soon enough Kate came down but only to tell him to go on up to the kitchen.
He didn’t want to leave her. He didn’t particularly want to have this conversation with the man upstairs, either. “What’s his name?”
“Nate.”
“Who is he?”
She brushed his bloody sleeve with the tips of her fingers. “Harper, when you’re done with Seth, would you take a look at his arm?”
“Have him take a number.”
“Go on, Vince. And just be truthful with him. He’s a good man.”
He looked at her for a long time, wondering about her definition of a good man. He wondered how she’d described him to her pal Nate.
Upstairs, Nate had a bottle of whiskey on the table, and two pony glasses. Vince sat down, as tired as he’d ever been. “Name’s Vince Yarrow, but I suppose you know that already.”
“I do. And what I want to know, Vince, is who you’ve been talking to.”
“Pardon me?”
“I need to know how those men found Kate. How they knew she was getting into a Yellow Cab at your place.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. The men who killed my friend knew Kate had seen them. They probably figured she could identify them. I don’t know if they did some research on their own, or if they bribed someone to give them my address. My guess, they were staking out the house and followed the cab.”
Nate poured two shots. “Well, that’s a problem, Vince. Because the men in the Buick and the men in the Mercedes weren’t part of a gang.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I saw their do-rags. They were Crips, at least in the Buick.”
“No, they might have looked like gang members, but they most definitely were not the real thing.”
“Who were they?”
“I’ve got a real problem here.” Nate leaned closer, and Vince could see a ferocity in his eyes. “The more I tell you, the worse it’s going to be for all of us. For you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“There’s more at stake here than your life.”
“I’ll tell you right now, if you’re doing something to damage this country—”
“We’re not. I give you my word. We’re not involved with any foreign nationals, and we’re not out to make a statement. But we have information some very important people don’t want us to have.”
“Kosovo.”
Nate nodded.
Vince tried to wrap his head around this information, but it wasn’t easy. “What’s Kate’s role in all this?”
“She’s the one who found the initial evidence. She got us involved.”
“Kate?”
“She’s a very bright woman, Vince, and she tells me you’re not in this up to your neck. I want to believe her.”
Vince picked up the shot and drank it. It wasn’t enough. “I have no idea how those people knew she was at my house.”
“You haven’t told anyone?”
“My boss. My partner. They would have no connection to anything you’re talking about.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, goddammit, I’m sure. I’ve known them both for years. We’re up to our asses in gang warfare. It’s enough, trust me.”
“These people have money. Resources.”
“There was an article in the Times…”
“I know.”
“That’s all I have to offer.”
Nate looked at him for a long, unsettling time. “If you go back to your house,” he said, finally, “they’ll come after you.”
“I’m a cop.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Who are these people?”
“I don’t think you should know more than you absolutely have to. Not only because I can’t vouch for you, but because it’s dangerous. But if you want to help Kate, you’ll play this out carefully. Stay here tonight. Let us think this through.”
“All right. For tonight, but not for you. For Kate. I want to hear this from her.”
“Do yourself a favor. Don’t press her. All of our lives depend on it.”
“We’d better get down there.”
Nate stood up. He held out his hand. “Nate.”
Vince shook. “You’re ex-military, aren’t you?”
“How’d you know?”
“The way you were out there.”
“Okay, so you’re observant. That could be a plus.”
“I’m also concerned about what all this crap is doing to Kate. She’s pretty messed up over it.”
“I’d worry if she wasn’t.”
Vince let the man’s hand go. “I still have a friend who died at the hands of some brutal punks. I’m not about to let that go.”
“One thing at a time, Vince. One foot in front of the other. Okay?”
Vince hesitated, but did he have a choice? “Fine.”
Nate led him back down the stairs. Kate watched them each step of the way.
“He’s going to stay tonight,” Nate said. “And someone ought to look at that shoulder.”
Kate nodded as she came to him, lifting her hands to help him off with his coat. “I’m still angry,” she whispered. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself involved in.”
He turned to face her. “The only thing I’m involved in is you.”
Chapter 13
Vince was right, his wound wasn’t serious. Messy, but the bullet had grazed him, that’s all. Kate used some wet gauze and cleaned him up, then covered the raw area with antiseptic. He didn’t want a bandage, but she didn’t listen. The troubling part was how he kept looking at her. As if he didn’t know her.
It was, she supposed, because he’d seen her kill. He’d thought she was a nice person. Screwed up, but nice. What did he think of her now? Maybe that she was crazy, or a radical, or God knew what else.
She’d been so angry at him for sticking his nose in her business. Mostly because she knew exactly how dangerous that business was. Vince had enough trouble in his life without this. Without her. But it was too late now. He’d walked into her world, and she didn’t see any way for him to walk out again.
“Hey,” he said, touching her arm. “It’s okay.”
“No it’s not. Nothing’s okay.”
“I’m sorry about your friend.”
They’d gone up to the second floor, to the guest room down the hall from Harper’s bedroom. Kate had tried to convince Nate that he needed to get some rest, but he wouldn’t leave Seth’s side.
As of a half hour ago, Harper had almost finished sewing Seth up. After that, she’d make sure he was comfortable, and she’d go to sleep in the second bed, in case he woke up.
Kate was awake only through sheer will. She’d had such a massive dose of adrenaline out there in Sunland that once it was gone she was shaking with fatigue.
“And,” he said, taking her hand, “I’m sorry I upset you. I should have talked to you instead of barging in.”
“I wouldn’t have told you anything. I was going to leave tomorrow, uh, today, anyway. I hoped you wouldn’t have to be involved. These people, they really want us dead.”
“So it seems. What I don’t understand is how you got involved. Were you in the service?”
“No.” She sat down next to him on the queen bed. The room looked more like it belonged in a motel than in a home. Of course, there was no money for anything as extravagant as decor. Kate still wasn’t sure how Nate had managed to
equip the basement. She knew he’d made some money with a patent, but the stuff down there had cost almost a million dollars. Nate wouldn’t talk about it, and Kate had learned to stop asking. “I worked for the United Nations. I’m…I was a forensic accountant.”
“What the hell’s that?”
“You’ve probably met some in your line of work. We investigate paper trails, follow the money. Then we put the information together in a way that allows attorneys and juries to understand our findings. It’s not usually very exciting or dangerous.”
“But not in Kosovo.”
She shook her head, wondering how in the world she was going to find the energy to take off her clothes. Maybe she’d just sleep like this. “I found discrepancies. Big ones. Money being siphoned into accounts where they didn’t belong. I was told to leave it alone, but that wasn’t what I was hired to do. At the end of the line, I found Omicron. We didn’t know they had a name back then, just that they were some operation loosely connected to the CIA.”
“What were they doing?”
She debated telling him. But he was in so deep already, it probably didn’t matter. “They’d developed a new chemical weapon. Incredibly nasty. We saw some of the victims. That’s how Harper got involved. Anyway, they were planning on selling this stuff. From what Nate said, it was like the Iran-Contra deal. Except instead of guns and bombs, they were selling liquid death.”
“Jesus.” Vince shook his head, looking blown away. She knew the feeling. “Nate said you got him involved.”
“Yeah. I knew he was in the Delta Force and that he had some kind of big secret mission. Him, Seth, Boone and Cade, and some others who didn’t make it. They were told they were getting rid of the scientists and labs where the weapon was manufactured. Only we found out that the scientists they were supposed to kill were actually good guys. They’d been lied to by the same people. But they knew too much.”
“So Nate and his men disobeyed orders.”
“And from that moment on, we’ve been hunted. Our families think we’re dead, and that’s how it has to be. Omicron would use them to find us. They’d use anything.”
“Wow.”
“That’s putting it mildly.”