Seek and Destroy (TREX, #5)

by Allie K. Adams

  “You gave them to me.”

  “Me?” He sounded dumbfounded. Even sat up. “How?”

  “Remember the cabin? The landmine that went off outside right before you triggered an explosion inside the cabin?”

  He rose. As he approached her, her breath caught. She didn’t want to be scared, but the closer he came, the more terror gripped her senses. As he stepped into the light, he stopped and glared at her, frowning. “You were there?”

  She nodded once. It was all she had the strength to do.

  Anguish softened his expression. Slowing his breathing, his shoulders rising and lowering with every intake, the icy fear held her prisoner. He was about to lose it. Again.

  He continued toward her. Oh, God. No. She closed her eyes, her insides already tightening in preparation. “Open your eyes.”

  She did, too scared not too. He knelt down in front of her and rested his hands on hers. His gave held hers. “Why were you there?”

  “To negotiate your surrender.”

  “My…my surrender?” He laughed in her face as he shook his head. “You know me better than that, Charis. I’d never surrender, especially since I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Then why did you ask for me?”

  “I think we both know the answer to that.” He rested his palm to her cheek. A shiver washed up her spine. “I’ve loved you since the day you came to me at that job fair. Do you remember?”

  She remembered and wished she could turn back time, never recruited him. Maybe then this waking nightmare would have never happened. All those innocent people would have never died by his hands.

  He ran his touch down her face, along her neck, and across her exposed collarbone. His gaze followed his touch. “I knew you’d come for me. I saw you the year before. Did I ever tell you that? It was at the annual job fair. I knew you were different. You talked with potential recruits, but I knew you weren’t really interested in them.” He continued to watch as he trailed his finger along her skin, drawing chills that crawled along her flesh wherever he touched.

  He snapped his hard gaze to her face and she sucked in a breath, bracing herself. “You were looking for me, even then. I spent the next year doing everything I could to get your attention. It worked for the most part. You returned and recruited me, just as I knew you would.”

  His delusions started earlier than they’d originally thought. “Thomas, listen to me. I didn’t even know you.”

  “You can stop with the act, my love. We’re together again. The way it was always meant to be.” He stopped moving his fingers and flattened his hand over her heart, his gaze riveted to hers. “Remember what I told you before I left TREX?”

  Oh, God. She swallowed hard. “You said you’d find a way for us to be together again.”

  “And now here we are.” He stood and disappeared behind her. “Everything I’ve done, that I’m about to do, is for you. All those buildings. All those people.”

  “You killed them, Thomas.”

  “Tributes,” he explained. “Every last soul I saved, I did for you. I’m exhausted proving my love to you, Charis. Since you clearly don’t appreciate what I’ve done, you leave me no choice.” He wrapped his arms around her midsection. Sucking in a breath, she waited for him to squeeze her. To hurt her again. Something. Instead, he draped something on her. A blanket? It was heavy, heavier than any blanket she’d ever felt. And scratchy. Wires ran through the fabric. An electric blanket?

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m sorry it’s come to this.” He finished behind her and stepped back around, knelt down on his haunches to be eye level with her. Leaning on the arms of the chair, he stopped inches from her face. With him this close, she finally saw him, his eyes. They were dark, cold, full of something she couldn’t read. Whatever it was, it sent desperation coursing through her veins. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. I’m sorry to see what that monster has turned you into. More than that, I’m sorry I went through so much trouble to reach out to you, to save you.”

  “Thomas,” she choked on his name. Dear God, what did he have planned?

  “But more than all of that,” he continued calmly, ignoring her. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize what I have to do. I’ve already wasted too much energy on you. It’s time to move on. It’s time for both of us to move on.”

  A sensation of intense sickness and desolation swept over her as he ran his knuckles down her cheek. “And how are we going to do that?”

  “First, I need to save you from yourself, Charis.”

  Her eyes flew open as her desperation melted to raw fear. “No, you don’t.”

  “Oh, but I do. Just as I saved all of those people when I ended their pathetic lives. They were lost souls, my love. Don’t you see? You are a lost soul, too. You were the moment you chose him over me.”

  Oh shit. Panic rioted in her when she looked down and realized the blanket he’d wrapped around her had a clay compound of some kind woven through it. She highly doubted it was Play-Doh. “What are you doing? What is this?” Struggling, ignoring the pain as it jarred her soul, she fought the bindings.

  “An electric blanket,” he answered easily, plugging the two wires extending out of the end of the blanket into a wireless router.

  No. Terror unlike she’d never known welled in her throat, cutting off her air. She started to hyperventilate. The room spun as she fought to steady her breathing. She had to get loose, damn it. Her restraints cut into her already existing wounds, but she barely felt it. Life meant dealing with pain. And, right now, she’d deal with the pain if it meant saving her life.

  “I guess that does it. I’ll give you five minutes to make your peace.”

  She yanked at her hands. She didn’t care if she ripped them off. She could live without hands. If she stayed tied to this chair, she wouldn’t live at all.

  “You have four minutes and fifty-two seconds. I wouldn’t waste them, my love. Accept your fate. Embrace it. Soon, you’ll be free. And, once you are, I will be, too.” He smiled at her. And, oh dear God, he started to breathe heavily.

  “No, please. Don’t do this!” She started to cry, damn it. “Please!”

  He blinked lazily and widened his grin as he watched her struggle against her restraints. Stepping backward, melting into the shadows, he returned to his chair and sat.

  “Thomas!” Her cries echoed through the warehouse.

  “I love you, Charis. It’s my love for you that will set you free. Accept your fate and make your peace. Let me watch you.”

  He was going to watch? Did he plan on blowing himself up, too? Was this some sort of murder-suicide thing?

  “Four minutes, thirty seconds.” He hummed in the back of his throat, his breathing becoming more and more labored. She heard the distinct sound of a zipper.

  He was going to masturbate? Now? Oh, God. He really was insane.

  Now would be a great time for TREX to barge in and take off Surreal’s head. She’d leave it to the agent to choose which one.

  She tried to steady her erratic pulse as she continued to fight against her restraints. She kicked. She jerked. Nothing worked.

  “Four.” Heavy breath. “Minutes.”

  Closing her eyes against the sight of him as he stroked himself, she summoned every ounce of strength she had. Pull. Kick. Yank.

  “That’s it,” he moaned. “Keep. Struggling. Yes.”

  I hope it falls off, you sick bastard. Twist. Pull.

  “Three.” He hissed sharply. “Oh. Baby. Oh, yeah. Just like that.”

  This was too much. Bile stirred in her stomach. She tried to close out his voice. With as loud as her heartbeat pounded in her ears, it should have been easy.

  He moaned her name. “Charis.”

  A spark of hope flickered when one of the bindings on her wrist came loose. Yes! Now for the other one. Twist. Pull. There!

  He breathed erratically. Good. Let him lose himself in his party of one while she slowly moved to untie
her ankles. She expected him to yell and charge her any minute, just as soon as he realized she’d gotten loose.

  But he didn’t. His moaned louder, his breathing faster. Dear, God. He was close. She had to hurry.

  “Oh, yes! That’s it, Charis! Fuck me. Faster. Faster.”

  Acid burned the back of her throat. She stole a glance toward his shadow as his head rolled back. More than likely he had his eyes closed as he acted out his sick little fantasy.

  “Charis!”

  She froze, her heart painfully pounding. When he moaned loudly and caught his breath, she knew her time had come. And so had he. Now or never.

  Spit or get off the spot.

  With determination and strength she didn’t even know she had, she kept her hands steady enough to quickly release her ankles. Careful not to make a sound, she slipped the blanket off, darting her gaze between Surreal and the wires connecting the blanket to the router. Looking at the connection, then back at Surreal again, she closed one eye and yanked the wires out of the clay, half expecting it to detonate.

  It didn’t.

  “Charis?” He no longer moaned, no longer breathing heavily. “What are you doing?”

  Shit.

  Drawing from her newfound strength, she jumped up and ran the opposite way, into the shelter of the darkness.

  “Charis! No!”

  In her bare feet, she crept, soundless, toward the door. Slowing, she cursed under her breath. Not only were they all locked, they all had dim lights above them. If she went to any of the doors, he’d see her. And then he’d tie her down and finish this.

  “Charis? Sweetheart? Come out. You have a date with destiny.” He walked out of the shadows. She wasn’t that blind without her glasses to see that gun in his hand. Where did that come from?

  Hurrying in the darkness, she ran her gaze over every inch of the walls. The darkness helped to shroud her, but did nothing to help her find a way out.

  “I can’t save you if you hide from me.”

  When he cocked the gun, it sent her into a run. She tripped and went down, landing on something soft. Pushing herself up, she came nose-to-nose with a body. A dead body. His lifeless eyes stared right through her. The scream rumbled in her throat and before she could stop it, flew right past her lips.

  In an instant Surreal had a hold of her hair. He dragged her back over to the chair. She stumbled along without a protest. That was the one thing she couldn’t handle—the sight of a dead body. Having seen a few before, and each one landing her in therapy until she could finally close her eyes without seeing it staring at her, she had one more to add to her list.

  How many therapy sessions would she need to recover from this ordeal? How many years? Would she ever be able to sleep again?

  No. She’d only see David, see his lifeless eyes staring at her. Her eyes burned with tears, horrified at the imaginary sight. Crying, knowing she’d just lost her one and only chance at escape, she let the tears fall. The sobs started small but soon grew to enormous convulsions ripping through her body. She was going to die. She’d never be married, never have kids. She lost the only man she’d ever love because of Surreal. She’d lost everything.

  He threw her down and held her arm on the chair’s arm as he wrapped duct tape around and around. After finishing taping her wrists to her elbows, he strapped her ankles, all the way up to her knees. Talk about overkill.

  “David,” she sobbed. “D—D–”

  He brought the roll of duct tape up to her face. “Shut up or I will tape every one of your orifices closed.”

  She choked and swallowed a straggling sob.

  Anger flashed in his eyes. “You aren’t the woman I thought you were. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you. The Charis I know would have appreciated that.”

  “No. She wouldn’t.” She held his gaze, blinking the tears down. Hiccoughing, she pulled in several breaths to stall and search for what she wanted to say. She’d only have one shot at this. Ignoring the tingling in her hands and feet from the tightness of the tape binding her to the chair, she continued. “I wouldn’t.”

  His eyes softened as he furrowed his brow. Her words seemed to confuse him. Either that or he pondered which orifice to tape first.

  Digging deep for her most successful negotiating tactics, she decided the ‘Fluffing the Big Ego’ tactic would work just fine with this guy. “Thomas, I know how brilliant and talented you are. I know what you have the power to do.”

  “You—You think I’m brilliant?”

  She wiggled her fingers and toes to keep the circulation flowing. “Not too many people can do what you do.”

  “You can.”

  “Not as well.”

  He smiled. For one millisecond she had hope. He then tore off a piece of the duct tape and covered her mouth. She choked on a breath. After her panic-induced crying attack, her nose had stuffed up. Oh, God. If he didn’t blow her up, she’d die from suffocation. Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.

  It helped.

  Until he brought the gun to her temple. “I guess this means I win.”

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Thanks to Surreal’s haste to tap into their frequency, JT had a location on the source.

  “Can we get there from the birds?”

  “No,” Weber replied into David’s earpiece. “Switch to four.”

  He did. They’d switched channels every sixty seconds so Surreal couldn’t hit their frequency again. According to JT, there was no way Surreal, or anyone else for that matter, would be able to track and hack into a frequency in sixty seconds.

  He prayed she was right.

  “Trees are too thick. It’s in the valley, about two miles to the south of your location. It would take longer for us to get them back there and pick you up than it would be for you to make it on foot.”

  Two miles. Shit. He’d welcome the run if he still had both lungs. Regardless, he headed up the hill. Of course, up a hill. It couldn’t be downhill. Hell, he’d settle for a goddamn meadow at this point. He was drained from constantly trying to keep up with Charis. Something told him he’d never be able to keep up with her, but he welcomed the idea of spending the rest of his life trying.

  “Switch to ten.”

  He switched. “Do you have a visual?”

  “Satellite image is downloading now,” Weber answered. “Stay low and watch for booby traps. You know how this guy operates.”

  “Right.” He did. And that scared the hell out of him. Surreal wasn’t any different than the devices he planted. The guy was a ticking time bomb. And he had Charis.

  David picked up the pace.

  “Switch to six.” Weber droned. “Do you remember the hospital in Colombia? Your little pep talk?”

  He didn’t give a shit about that right now. “Can we,” he panted, “talk about,” pant, “this later?”

  “There may not be a later.”

  Well, shit and goddamn. Charis said those exact words right before they went tumbling down the embankment. “So, talk.”

  “I let her go, Snyder. I was too much of a pig-headed ass to admit how much I needed her, to admit how much I loved her.”

  Jesus Christ, Weber. Not quite the kind of pep talk he had in mind. His life would never be the same if he lost her. If they were separated for all eternity, he’d shrivel up and die inside. He couldn’t imagine his life without her, couldn’t imagine his future without her in it.

  Thanks for the fucking pep talk.

  “Switch to two.” Pause. “Don’t let her go, my friend. Don’t make the same mistake I nearly made. It almost cost me my entire existence.”

  “I don’t,” pant, “plan to.” He clenched his teeth. How did Weber do it? In a matter of two minutes, he’d successfully talked David into doing whatever it took to ensure he and Charis had a future together.

  Even marriage.

  Warmth enveloped him. He wanted to marry her, damn it. Hell, yeah. He wanted to call her his wife, wanted to be her husband. He wanted a dozen kids. The
house on the hill. The little picket fence.

  He wanted it all. A new strength entered his body. He could do this.

  “Switch to thirteen.”

  He couldn’t wait to find her, to tell her he wanted the same thing she did. How ironic it took Weber, the king of tight lips, to talk him into what he knew all along.

  Love meant pulling your head out of your ass.

  “Switch to two.”

  Holy shit, his body hurt. His heart pounded in his chest, in his ears. Ignoring the burning sensation as he fought to keep his breathing even, he crested the hill. Two more hills and he’d be halfway there.

  “Switch to one. How’s the breathing?” Weber asked once David joined him on the frequency.

  “Just,” pant, “fine.” Jesus. He was still a mile out.

  “Switch to nine.” He did. “You should just see the top of the building as you crest this next hill. This is the last one.”

  As each minute passed, Weber instructed him to switch to the new frequency. It also helped keep time. And, he thought with a grip on his heart, it showed him just how far two miles really was.

  “Good.” He topped the hill and spotted the rooftop in the tree line. Panting, he swallowed to wet his throat and started down the hill. Char-is. Char-is. Char-is. He chanted her name as he ran. It gave him the added strength he needed to make it to the small building without collapsing.

  He switched to seven as instructed. “Do you see her?”

  “Infrared picks up four bodies inside,” Weber stated. “Two alive, two not so much. Judging by the color of their body temps, they’ve been dead for about four to six hours.”

  Shit. He didn’t have time to catch his breath. Drawing his weapon, he flattened his back against the side of the building, next to the door. Gasping to pull air into his burning lungs, he rasped into his mic. “Anyone on the other side of the door?”

  “No, but—”

  He kicked it open, weapon at the ready.

  “Goddamn it, Snyder! He’s got a—”

  The shot came from his left, slicing into his left bicep. Fuck! The psycho bastard would pay for that. He hated getting shot.