She unlocked the door to her private office and went inside, closing it behind her. She was certain a camera must have been planted in her office, so she tried to be casual, donning her white jacket as she always did and going straight to her desk as if she had forgotten something important.
Lily began rifling through the drawers. She unlocked the lower drawers, dropping the key into the pocket of her jacket and palming the tape as she did so. It was very small, able to fit in the microrecorder. She put her hands on her hips as if frustrated, sliding the disk into the pocket of her slacks. With feigned irritation, Lily closed all the drawers, did a once-over of her desktop, dropped the key into her purse, and hung her jacket up.
No matter how many times anyone viewed the tape, she was certain they would never spot the disk or realize it even existed. With a huge sigh of relief, she jerked open the door to her office.
Hard hands struck her solidly in the chest, driving her backward so that she landed on the floor, blinking up in surprise and alarm. A stocky man who looked very much like Capt. Ken Hilton from the fundraiser stalked across the office while Colonel Higgens quietly closed the door. She knew she was looking at General Ranier's aide.
Higgens stared down at her with his cold flat gaze. "Well, well, you certainly are much more brazen than I ever gave you credit for being." He strolled across the floor, all the more menacing for his lack of anger.
Lily stared up at him, not attempting to rise, still fighting for air. She rubbed her palm over her face, then clasped her fingers together in her lap, feeling for the small catch on her watch. Pressing the button, she alerted Arly to trouble and prayed he would leave.
"You left the fundraiser early."
Lily shrugged. "I hardly think leaving early warrants your friend shoving me to the floor."
"Did you know a man was killed on the first floor of the hotel tonight?" Higgens circled around her, his shoes brushing her slacks.
"No, Colonel, I had no idea. I'm hoping there's a reason you're attempting to intimidate me, because I'm about to call the security guards in here."
Captain Hilton slapped the back of her head.
Lily glanced down at his shoes. She had seen them somewhere before. She remembered the strange inch-long scratch zigzagging along the inside near the seam. She looked up at Higgens. "I take it you're threatening me in some way."
"Don't play dumb with me. You're not dumb. You have your father's records, all of them, don't you?" Higgens continued to circle her.
Lily rubbed at her sore leg, not looking at him. "If I had the records I would have given them to Phillip, Colonel. The code my father used on the computer here and at home in his office meant absolutely nothing. Everything I read in his reports, you already had access to. The things I put together, guesses, conjecture, I passed on to General McEntire. I also typed them up and sent both you and Philip a copy. Beyond that, I have no knowledge of how my father managed to enhance psychic ability in the men."
"I don't believe you. Dr. Whitney. I think you have a very good idea how he did it and you're going to write it all up for me. The entire process."
Lily did look at him then, her eyes wide and accusing. "Do you think your friend here is going to beat me in the head and knock it out of me? If you believed I knew the process, you wouldn't touch me. You couldn't afford to."
Colonel Higgens reached down, grabbed a handful of her hair, and dragged her up. Lily fought to get her bad leg under her. Tears swam in her eyes, but she refused to cry out. She kept staring at the shoes. At the scratch. Higgens thrust her away from him so that she stumbled back against her desk.
Lily caught at the edge to steady herself. There was no way she could run even if they took their eyes off of her for a moment. Her leg was too weak. She leaned her hip on the desk to ease her weight off her bad leg. "Are you selling the information to the highest bidder, Colonel? Is that what you do? Sell out your country?"
Hilton reached out casually and slapped her. Lily swore and went straight for his throat, chopping viciously with the edge of her hand. It was so unexpected, he didn't have time to block, but fell back choking under the blow. Lily followed up with a knee to the groin, dropping him to the floor and kicking his head hard, using the outside edge of her strong leg.
At once her weak leg collapsed under her, spilling her back on the floor, right beside the writhing man. Lily rolled over and drove her fist into his solar plexus, robbing him of air. She pulled back her fist again, angry enough to go for his throat a second time, but Colonel Higgens caught her under both arms and dragged her away from the fallen man.
"Get up, Hilton," he said in disgust. "Get off the floor before I hit you myself. She's got a bum leg and she still kicked your ass."
Hilton rolled over and managed to push up to his knees, groaning the entire time.
Lily didn't struggle, allowing Higgens to help her to the desk where she sat on the edge. Her leg throbbed, already cramping viciously, but she looked at the two men without expression.
Hilton turned his head, still on his hands and knees, to glare at Lily. "I'm going to kill you with my bare hands."
Her gaze dropped to his hands, drawn by a force far more powerful than her will. She recognized his hands. Recognized his wrist. His watch. There had only been the briefest of moments, but she had seen what her father saw. Hands dragging him across the deck of a ship. A scratched shoe.
Raw energy massed in the room. Surges so powerful the lights flickered. The lamp on her desk exploded, shattering glass into fragments. Books flew off the shelves, heavy tomes hurtling through the air like missiles, pummeling Hilton. Pens and pencils, the letter opener, every sharp object in the room suddenly had one target in mind, covering the distance with blinding speed and lodging in Hilton's skin.
He went down screaming. Colonel Higgens casually drew his side arm and shot the desk inches from Lily. Shocked, she diverted her attention and the objects in the room fell harmlessly to the floor. Lily and Higgens stared at one another. He was pointing the gun right at her head.
"So, Dr. Whitney, your father obviously enhanced you too."
Lily's eyebrow arched. "He was interested in psychic enhancement and what it could do because I had natural ability. He saw what I could do and wanted to see if it could be developed to a much greater extent in others."
Hilton staggered to his feet, shuddering as he tried to pull the various objects out of his skin. Fortunately for him he was wearing a jacket that helped to keep most of the pen and pencil wounds shallow.
"Just in case you're wondering where the two hairpins that were sitting on the desk went, you'll find them in your bloodstream, winging their way to your heart," she said helpfully.
Hilton roared at her. "I'm going to cut you up into little pieces and feed you to the sharks," he snarled. He looked nearly as afraid as he did angry.
"Really? You'd better make certain you hold on to the knife while you're doing it, otherwise you're the one that will be cut into little pieces and fed to the sharks." As she spoke, her voice conversational, without rancor, she concentrated on the gun in Colonel Higgens's hand.
The hand began to tremble, the gun wavered, tried to swing around and point in Hilton's direction. She watched Hilton's eyes widen in alarm.
"Stop it, Dr. Whitney," Higgens demanded. "I need your brain, but not the rest of you. If you don't want me to shoot your leg, you'd better behave."
Lily looked away from the gun. "That was me behaving, Colonel. I wanted him dead. I should have driven the shards of glass right through his skull." She smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'm tired. Unfortunately, the drawback to a natural talent is it doesn't last that long. That's why my father wanted to enhance the psychics, to make them stronger with more endurance."
"So you did discuss this with him."
"Of course we discussed it. We discussed it for years." She tilted her head. "Did you have my father killed or did Ryland Miller?"
"Why would I want your father dead?" Higgens demanded.
"I needed the process. He was being stubborn."
"You didn't offer him the right things. Where is Miller?" Her voice was as cold as ice, her blue gaze direct.
Be careful, honey. Don't go too far. He's a smart man. Ryland's voice brushed at the walls of her mind, but he sounded far away.
Lily tossed the cloud of dark hair over her shoulder. Not that smart. He had my father killed and he's using the same moron to come after me.
Damn it, Lily, don't push him too hard, it's dangerous. Ryland was adamant.
"You want Miller?" Higgens asked.
Hilton, finally managing to straighten, tossed the last of the pens to the floor and took a step toward Lily. He stopped abruptly when Higgens held up his hand in a silent order, but he never took his vengeful gaze from her face.
Lily ignored him. "If Miller killed my father, then, yes, I want him. You track him down and kill him. Show me his body and I'll give you the process. Otherwise, go ahead and kill me. You'll never figure it out on your own."
There was a small silence as the colonel thought it over. "You're a bloodthirsty woman, aren't you? I would never have guessed. You're always as cool as ice."
"He killed my father," she pointed out. "Do you know where Miller is?"
"Not yet, but he can't just disappear. I have men looking for him, We'll get him. What did Ranier say?"
"General Ranier? What does he have to do with anything?"
"You spent a great deal of time with him," Colonel Higgens said, his eyes narrowed into tiny slits.
Lily felt an instant chill down her spine. She could feel the waves of malice pouring off of Higgens. The intent of violence. She forced a casual shrug, knowing she held the general's life in her hands. "He was concerned about me. Delia wanted me to go stay with them after my father's disappearance. She hasn't been well and the general wanted me to consider the idea for her benefit as well as my own."
"Did he mention Miller?"
"I did." Lily took a chance. "I was hoping Miller had contacted him but the general didn't know anything at all that was helpful. I dropped the entire conversation because I didn't want him to become suspicious. We talked about Delia after that."
"I think for your safety, Dr. Whitney, you're going to have to be placed in protective custody. I think Miller is a real threat to you."
"My house is safe enough."
"Nobody's safe from Miller. He's a damned ghost. A chameleon. He could be in the same room with us in plain sight and we wouldn't know it. It's what he was trained for. No, you're much safer with us." The colonel nodded at Hilton.
Hilton caught Lily's hands and yanked them out in front of her, snapping handcuffs tightly around her wrists. On the pretense of checking to see if they were on solidly he jerked her wrists back and forth maliciously.
"That's enough, Hilton. Let's get out of here." Lily slid off the desk, testing her bad leg. She could limp, dragging her leg along, but it would never hold up if she had to run. With a sigh of resignation, she fell into line behind Hilton. Somewhere outside, the GhostWalkers were waiting. She hoped they were all the colonel said they were. Chameleons. Lying in wait to ambush her kidnappers.
Eighteen
LILY wasn't in the least surprised at the lack of security guards. Phillip Thornton had to be in on whatever Colonel Higgens was up to and he must have insisted Higgens have full cooperation. The guards had been pulled to another part of the laboratories. She kept her head down, concentrating on the mechanism locking the handcuffs. She had never been good with locks. Even after studying how they worked, she rarely succeeded in opening them. It took finite concentration, a focused energy with pinpoint precision and skill. Lily was angry with herself for not taking more care to acquire the skill.
We're in place, Lily. Use your leg. Slow them down. We don't want the colonel to think you're capable of running. Ryland sounded very confident.
Lily frowned. I'm not capable of running. And don't get yourself caught. I can get out of this.
You're such a little liar. You need me to rescue you.
The taunting amusement in his voice warmed her. It was only then she realized she was shivering with fear. Lily tossed her hair and rolled her eyes in case by some miracle Ryland could see her, but she slowed her pace, dragging her bad leg a little more.
Colonel Higgens put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll have Hilton bring the car around so you don't have to walk so far." Now that he thought she believed Miller had disposed of her father, he could afford to be civil.
"He looks like the captain I danced with at the benefit," Lily ventured, to keep him distracted.
"They're brothers. Neither is very bright, but they come in handy." The colonel put his hand on his gun as they entered the elevator. He had little control of the guards on the ground area and any of them might spot the handcuffs. "I'll shoot anyone who tries to stop us," he warned. "Think of this as a national security mission. You have a chance to save lives, Dr. Whitney. You choose."
He paused to snatch two lab coats from a small room close to the elevators, tossing one to Hilton. "You look a little worse for the wear-put that on and cover up the blood." The other jacket he arranged over Lily's wrists to hide the cuffs. "We're going to walk out all together, very close to one another. Hilton, you'll go get the car and bring it up to us."
He's sending his henchman to get the car. This man killed my father.
The warmth suddenly surrounding her was strong. She realized immediately the other men were tapped into the telepathic wave of energy, listening, waiting and ready to strike on her behalf. It made her feel a part of something. When had she gone from being so alone and devastated to belonging?
Does anyone actually use the word "henchman"? Ryland asked.
There was a collective murmur of negatives, a few laughs and snorts of derision.
I'm sorry, honey. The verdict is no one uses that antiquated word.
Antiquated? Her breath nearly stopped in her lungs when she spotted two security guards coming toward them near the end of the long corridor. Should I have used "bad guy"? Would that be more modern? The overload of adrenaline was making her shaky, almost high, but it numbed the pain in her leg, allowing her to function properly.
A few more minutes, Lily, Ryland encouraged her. Your heart is beating too fast. Slow it down.
Another voice broke in. It's the anticipation of seeing us again. She likes me. Gator drawled the words in his Cajun accent.
Lily had to keep from laughing in spite of the dangerous situation. She didn't dare look at Higgens, afraid her expression would give her away. The men were outrageous in their efforts to be reassuring.
I do, Gator. I thought you were so cute when I first saw you. The guards nodded to Higgens as they hurried past.
Changing of the shift. Everyone was tired. Higgens wasn't quite so stupid after all. The guards would not want to see anything unusual. They just wanted to go home to their families and rest.
You don't need to be looking at Gator anymore, Ryland decided. Not if you're thinking he's cute. What the hell is cute anyway?
Not you, Gator pointed out.
In spite of the banter, Lily sensed the edge of grim tension building in their voices. The double doors leading out into the complex were looming. She kept her head down and walked slowly, dragging her leg.
Hilton pushed open the doors and waved her through. Lily didn't look at him. He was dead. He just didn't know it yet. She kept walking until Higgens tugged on her arm, bringing her abruptly to a halt. Hilton trotted off. "That was smart to stay quiet with the guards. You wouldn't want blood on your hands."
Lily lifted her head to look him directly in the eye. "Don't let the fact that I'm a woman fool you, Colonel. I don't mind violence under the right circumstances. Someone is responsible for killing my father and I'm going to find them."
He smiled at her. His eyes were flat. "I hope you do, Dr. Whitney."
The car pulled up beside them. Higgens reached out to open the door for her. Lily half tu
rned as if to slide onto the passenger seat. Instead she snapped out a front kick, putting her weight behind it. The kick took Higgens precisely in the solar plexus, driving the air from his lungs so that he collapsed like a deflated balloon. As he went down, Kaden loomed up behind him, finishing her work with a vicious chop to his neck. Colonel Higgens dropped to the asphalt like stone.
Kaden didn't hesitate, shoving Lily into the car and crowding in after her. "Go, go." Phase one completed. We have recovery. Repeat, we have recovery.
"They'll stop us at the gate," Lily pointed out. "Kaden, get these cuffs off me. I can't stand them." She was phase one. The retrieved object. The idea irritated her but not as much as the metal cuffs on her wrists.
"We're in possession of the gate at the moment, Lily," he replied gently. "Just a few more minutes. As soon as I know we're clear."
"Did Arly get out?" She was looking at the driver in an effort to identify him. He wore the white lab coat Hilton had been wearing.
Jonas glanced at her in the mirror and winked. "Arly's waiting outside the gates with the Porsche. Sweet little number, that car. I'd like to drive it sometime." He sounded very hopeful. He pulled the car right up to the gate. The uniformed man simply opened the door and slid in on the other side of Lily so she was surrounded.
Ryland framed her face in his hands and kissed her hard. "Damn it, Lily, I'm going to find a padded room and lock you up in it where I know you're safe," he said, then turned to watch their back trail. Lily could see the gun in his hand.
Behind them, the laboratories rocked with several loud explosions. She turned to look out the back window. Smoke billowed into the sky. "Who did that?"
"Kyle, of course. He does like to blow things up."
"There are a lot of innocent people working there," she pointed out.
Jonas drew the car up beside the Porsche. Arly was out of the car and pacing back and forth. They were four blocks from the laboratories and could hear the sirens blaring in alarm. Ryland dragged Lily out of the backseat and put her in the Porsche, taking the keys from Arly before the man could protest.
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