Two hours later, Andy came back. The grim look on his face made Mike’s blood run cold.
“What is it?”
“The island is owned by a foundation and is registered in Saudi Arabia, making it Saudi soil. At the moment, there is at least one Saudi national in residence along with a dozen other legitimate patients. While some, like Alexa, might not want to be there, we can’t just assume the others don’t. The place is well guarded during the day, and we can’t risk an international incident. I need more information. I’ve arranged for a satellite to fly over in nine hours to see what the situation looks like at night.”
Mike swallowed his disappointment.
“Can’t the government just go in and demand her release?”
“I wish it were that simple. But for all intents and purposes, Alexa O’Brien is still dead, and even with Zabat in custody, she isn’t safe unless she stays that way. As such, she isn’t a Canadian citizen. I’m working with the RCMP to get her an identity, but these things take time.”
“I just feel so helpless. She’s there and I can hear her, but I can’t help her.”
“We’ll go and get her as soon as we can, Mike. I promise. Right now, take comfort in the fact that Fields won’t be getting his hands on her. Interpol’s just finishing up loose ends. They’ve got dibs on the good doctor since they have more than a dozen bodies to lay at his door. And if that’s not enough, the Toronto police picked him up an hour ago. They’ve got a warrant to search his clinic and three other properties he owns. Susan Knowles may not have fingered Fields, but she did identify Rufus Jones from Alexa’s sketch. The woman’s counting on us finding Florence’s body. She’d rather face life in prison than the needle. With her confession as probable cause, the judge issued the warrant. Alexa may be surprised to know not everybody fell under the doctor’s charms. Has she said anything that might help?
“I’m not sure. The woman who seems to bring her meals was talking about the cleaning staff that comes to the island twice a week. Apparently her sister just got a job with them.”
Andy’s eyes lit up. “I’ll bet we can do something with that. Have faith. We’ll get her, I promise.”
Mike nodded. He’d placed his trust in Andy; he wouldn’t take it back now. “If anyone can pull this off, it’s you.”
“Go back and listen to Alexa. See what else we can find out about the place.”
“With pleasure.”
Mike put on the headphones, drawn to the sound of Alexa’s voice. Andy would find a way to rescue her, and when he did, the first thing Mike would do was pull her into his arms and kiss her. He didn’t know where this thing between them might lead, but it was real and she felt it, too. He’d sensed her response the last time he’d held her in his arms. He would cling to that until he could hold her again.
• • •
Alexa turned over and yawned. The tune to “Burning Bridges” came to her, and she chuckled. All day long, she’d tried to remember the lyrics and the melody when all she’d needed to do was lie down and let her subconscious fill in the gaps.
She sat up.
“What the hell?”
Not only could she hear the music, but she could make out the lyrics. They were faint, but definitely not coming from inside her head. Getting out of bed, she reached for her crutches and moved around the room, lit only by the moonlight. It had been hard learning to sleep in the dark again, but Nancy was adamant.
Alexa walked to the terrace door and listened. The sound was fainter here. Moving back inside the room, she followed the sound to Benji’s throne. The soft music was coming from the doll.
She frowned. “Damn you, Richard. You’ve won. Leave me alone.”
“Lex, it’s not Richard; it’s me.”
“Mike?” she whispered the name before she could stop herself, reached for the doll, and pulled it to her chest. “You’re alive.” Tears of joy filled her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. His voice was an answer to prayer.
“Yeah. I told you I wasn’t ready for wormland yet.” The voice was low, but it was definitely his. “I don’t have a lot of time, honey, but don’t give up. We know where you are. We need you to find out as much as you can about the place and exactly where you are in it. You won’t hear me again, but I’ll hear you. I’m coming for you. You have my word on that. I won’t let you down this time.”
“Someone’s coming,” Alexa said, hearing the key in the lock.
Let it be Nancy and not Richard.
Alexa hurried back to the bed, leaving the doll on its chair. Since she couldn’t stop the tears running down her cheeks, she let them flow. Let the old witch think what she would. Mike was listening. He would come for her just as she’d known he would.
“What’s the matter?” Nancy asked, standing at the bedside.
“Muscle spasm,” she croaked.
The woman nodded. Within seconds, she was back. “This is a muscle relaxant. I’ll tell Karen to go easy on you tomorrow.”
Alexa palmed the pill as she’d done before and drank the water Nancy gave her.
“Thank you.”
“Doctor Fields should be coming soon. He’ll want to see you in good condition.” She turned and left the room, locking up behind her.
“I don’t know if you’re still listening, Mike, but I’m running out of time,” she whispered.
Alexa dropped the pill into the flower vase and smiled through her tears. “I’ll be ready, Mike. The sooner you can come, the better.”
• • •
Dressed in a wetsuit slathered in shark repellant, Mike stood on the deck of the small fishing vessel anchored behind the large outcropping of rocks that formed the impenetrable reef around Caye Para, watching the stars come out. They’d been careful not to make contact with Alexa again, but had listened to everything. As he’d asked, she’d described as much of the building as she could and had pumped the woman named Mary for information, too.
Mike had all but gone crazy the three days it had taken to get the necessary equipment and permissions in place. Since an air assault on what was essentially sovereign Saudi soil could start a war, their only hope was a covert operation. Unless the owners wanted to tell the world their loved ones at the center might not be as safe as they thought, they were unlikely to make an international stink about one patient vanishing in the night. How Richard would react was another matter, but at the moment, the doctor was in a lot more trouble than he’d anticipated.
A joint CSIS-RCMP team had added to his misery by charging him with treason—aiding and abetting terrorists. He’d tried to bluster his way through, but the records found at the clinic told their own story. In addition, a second team was preparing to dig up an area on his estate near Don Mills. LIDAR, short for light detection and ranging technology, had found what could be several graves behind the house. If even one of those proved to be recent and human, they had the son of a bitch.
This morning, Colette, dressed like one of the other two dozen Belize women who arrived biweekly to clean the building, had boarded the helicopter and had scoped out the place for them, based on the information Alexa had provided.
At night, the section of the hospital she was in was guarded by a crew of six. Since she was the only one in that wing, none of the other patients should be affected. Colette had planted canisters of odorless sleeping gas that would release their payloads at midnight. Within ten minutes, the people on duty would be asleep, giving them a one-hour window to get Alexa out. Unfortunately, she would be asleep, too; there was no way around that.
“Ready?” Andy asked.
“I was born ready,” Mike answered. “Are you sure there isn’t any danger? I’ve been watching those sharks. They look mighty hungry.”
“My team assures me the sonic buoy we’ll deploy and the shark repellant we’re wearing will keep them well away from us as long as we need. Getting Alexa out of there and dressed in the wetsuit will be the hardest part. Are you sure you’re up to it? Dressing an unconscious woman isn’t a
n easy task.”
“I’ll manage. We can’t put her into the water without it.”
“Andy, Mike, it’s time. They’ve deployed the buoy. We’ve got two hours,” Ryan, the dive team captain, said. “On my mark. Mark.”
One by one, the four men slipped over the side of the ship and swam to the reef, crossed the rocky coral, and then entered the water again. When they reached the shore, Andy and Jon, the other member of the team, pulled out weapons and prepared to wait by the small cradle raft they’d brought with them to hold Alexa.
Mike and Ryan hurried to the back door of the service entrance where the man quickly disabled the security system. Thanks to Alexa’s excellent information and Colette’s reconnaissance work, Mike soon found himself outside the door to Alexa’s room. They’d seen five people on their way here, some slumped in chairs, others on the floor, all of them sound asleep. He prayed they would stay that way, but where was the sixth person? Could she be inside the room with Alexa?
After picking the lock on her door, Mike entered the suite of rooms. Alexa was asleep, curled up in the bed. There was no one else in here, which left the sixth person unaccounted for. Leaning down, Mike pulled back the covers on the bed. He dropped a light kiss on her forehead.
“I’m here, Lex. Time to blow this joint. When you wake up, you’ll be safe.”
While he struggled to dress her in the wet suit, the other diver collected the items the team had deemed necessary—the doll, her sketch pad, and her brace. Moving as quickly as he could, he finished putting on Alexa’s wetsuit and picked her up. It felt good to hold her in his arms, but he was anxious to do so when she was awake.
Quickly retracing their steps, they stopped suddenly. Someone was coming up the stairs. No doubt it was the sixth person. He or she must’ve been on a break in another part of the hospital. They hadn’t anticipated that. Mike handed Alexa to Ryan, pulled out the syringe of sedative he’d carried with him in case they came across someone who wasn’t deeply asleep, and headed down the spiral staircase. If he could catch the person by surprise, he would inject him or her. The last thing he wanted to do was kill them. That could cause trouble for everyone involved.
The footsteps were just below him. Turning the corner, the woman gasped and pulled out her gun, but Mike was faster, burying the needle in the side of her neck and catching her before she pitched headlong down the stairs. He braced her against the wall and whistled for Ryan. Moving as fast as they could, they hurried to Andy and Jon’s position.
Placing a still unconscious Alexa on the raft, Mike tied one rope around his middle while Ryan did the same with another. As they swam back to the boat, Mike prayed the shark repellent and sonic buoy were still working. This night couldn’t end with a shark attack. The twenty-minute swim felt much longer, and he exhaled heavily when the lanterns bobbed in the distance. Untying his rope at the same time as Ryan, Mike lifted the raft up out of the water, handed Alexa to the sailors waiting on board, and followed Ryan onto the deck.
Alexa stirred.
“Welcome aboard, Lex,” he said softly. “Go back to sleep. You’re safe now.”
He kissed her brow.
• • •
Alexa yawned, stretched, and opened her eyes. How the hell had she gotten here? Next to her bed was another one, and it was occupied. Nancy. The bitch had drugged her. She was getting damn tired of going to sleep in one place and waking up in another.
“Nancy,” she whispered loudly. “Wake up. Where am I?” She looked around for Benji, but couldn’t see him. How would Mike find her now? Despair filled her.
She gasped when the person in the bed beside her sat up, his back to her.
Richard!
She held her breath until the man turned around, and joy filled her. “Mike,” she cried. “You came for me,” she said and burst into tears.
Mike scrambled out of his cot and pulled her into his arms.
“I knew you wouldn’t be thrilled about not being part of your rescue, but I thought you would be happy to see me,” he joked.
She punched him on the arm. “That’s for leaving me in the dark, but I am happy to see you,” she blubbered, her arms locked around his neck, afraid he would vanish the way he did in her dreams. Tears of joy and relief trickled down her cheeks.
Mike held her tightly, his face pressed into her hair. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
After basking in the heat of his body for a few moments, letting the reality of her rescue sink in, she pushed him away slightly. Raising her right hand, she caressed the side of his face. “He told me you were dead. I thought I would never see you again.” She sniffled. “How did you manage all this?”
Quickly, Mike filled her in on everything that had happened, including Zabat’s arrest and Richard’s. “We didn’t have a choice about drugging you. It was all or nothing, but as it turned out, some woman must’ve been on break. She saw me, but with the wetsuit and goggles, I don’t think she’ll recognize me. I managed to drug her before she could fire her gun.”
Alexa smiled, not wanting to move out of the comfort of his arms, but needing to sit once more. She dropped onto the bed, and Mike followed her down.
“I’ll give you a pass this time. Besides, it was Andy’s plan, right?”
“It was, even if I almost ruined everything.” He put his arm around her and pulled her into his side. “When Thea died, I was certain no one would ever make me feel alive again, but then I met you. When I went back to Montebello and found you were gone, I wanted to die. I’m not sure when or how, but you matter to me, Alexa. You matter a lot. I might’ve tried to tell myself you were just an assignment, but from the moment you held up your gun and threatened to shoot my balls off, you were much more than that.”
“You matter to me, too, even if you can be bossy.”
Mike bent his head and captured her mouth. The kiss, soft at first, grew in intensity and filled her with heat. Sighing, she opened her mouth to him, accepting what he offered and giving in return. His hands traced her back and her sides as if he was making sure she was really here.
Slowly, he broke the kiss and lifted his head. “I’ve thought of doing that ever since the last time I kissed you.”
She nestled into him. “It might’ve crossed my mind a time or two. Is it really all over?”
“Yes and no. We need you to stay dead, Lex. Zabat may be in custody, but there are three other men still at large. We can’t be sure they or Zabat’s Philadelphia friends won’t try something, although if they were smart, they would cut their losses and run. Thanks to Richard’s filing system, we know what all the bad guys look like now.”
“Will those charges against him really stick?”
“Like glue. The doctor was good at his job but a little too cocky for his own good. He kept pictures of the faces he changed. Interpol has already started arresting some of them. By using people with similar bone structure, he was able to make the changes relatively easily. They found Florence’s body and those of four other women buried in the yard of a property he owned in Don Mills.”
“He wanted to move there, but it was too far from the school.”
“Andy didn’t go into detail, and it’ll take time to identify them, but the coroner thinks they were botched surgeries. In addition to massive facial reconstruction, they’d had their vocal chords surgically destroyed.”
Alexa shuddered. What had Richard said? Too many failures.
“I wasn’t the first,” she said, her stomach roiling.
“Weren’t the first what, Lex?”
“Richard was going to make me into his first wife. She couldn’t talk. He’d tried it before, but something went wrong.” She shook her head. “He’s insane. He must’ve loved Camilla very much in his own sick way. I guess when the cancer took her, he snapped.”
Mike pulled her closer once more. “He snapped long before that. Camilla Fields didn’t die of cancer. She committed suicide, jumping from their penthouse balcony. She escaped him the only way she
could.”
“That’s so sad. The woman couldn’t even complain about his cruelty. Well, he won’t be hurting anyone else ever again.” She smiled. “So, where do I go now?”
“We’re meeting a Canadian ship that will take us back to Halifax. From there, Mr. and Mrs. Lucien Gravelle are flying to BC until it’s time for you to testify at Zabat’s trial. After that, the choice is yours. If Richard’s convicted in Europe, he could face the death penalty. If he comes back here to be tried, he’ll spend the rest of his days in jail. You can’t reclaim your name, but you could teach again. Andy could arrange it.” He looked away.
“What about you?” she asked quietly. She didn’t want to leave him. She couldn’t. Somehow, during that ordeal, she’d fallen in love with her protector. “Won’t you still be in danger?”
“Probably. Someone’s going to want to step into Zabat’s shoes. I’ll stay in BC and start over.” He cupped her face. “You could stay with me,” he offered. “I’m not rich like Richard was—”
Alexa leaned over and pressed her lips softly against his, cutting off whatever else he was going to say.
“Lieutenant, you talk too much. Besides, I’m not letting you get away. You still owe me twenty-seven dollars, remember?”
Mike’s smile lit up his face. “I told you I was good for it, but by now I must owe interest, too.”
She grinned. “Just what did you have in mind for that?”
“Let me show you.” He laid her down on the bed and claimed her lips once more.
About the Author
A former high school teacher, Susanne Matthews lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband, the inspiration for all her heroes. When she’s not writing, she enjoys camping in summer and romantic getaways in winter. Find Susanne Matthews at: www.mhsusannematthews.ca/, on Facebook, and on Twitter @jandsmatt.
Turn the page for an excerpt from
The White Carnation
Chapter One
“Don’t do me any more favors! One of these days, Sloan, I’ll take one of these crappy assignments and turn it into a Pulitzer, just watch and see.”
No Good Deed Page 30