by Karen Kirst
“He has a Navy tattoo. Did he desert?”
He shook his head. “He’s a military brat. Believe it or not, military installations are good sources of recruits. Teens are dragged from town to town and many become angry and alienated.”
“So you prey on their vulnerability and lure them into a life of crime.”
Ethan mumbled and turned his head from side to side.
“Let’s give him some privacy.” Gerald guided her through a second door and to a window with a one-way view of the ward.
“Don’t be quick to judge, Miss Harris. My organization provides a substantial income, not to mention job security, for young men like him. More importantly, we offer what they haven’t been able to find in military life—stability and a sense of belonging.”
“Do you offer free legal counsel for those who get caught by law enforcement? What about funeral benefits? Tell me, Gerald, how many actually reach retirement age?”
An impatient sigh escaped him. “I expected resistance. I would’ve liked to give you several days to consider my proposal. However, my son has announced an unexpected visit, and I plan to spend my limited time with him, enjoying his company, not babysitting a beautiful distraction.”
A chill raced down her spine, and she regretted speaking her mind. “What proposal?”
“I brought you here to show you the possibility of a different life. A more comfortable life, one beyond your imagination. You see, I’m in need of a nurse who will agree to be available at my convenience. It goes without saying that the compensation would be generous.” He studied her from beneath hooded lids. “You have the skills and knowledge I’m looking for, Miss Harris, not to mention dedication. If you were to work for me, you wouldn’t have to continue your employment with Onslow General. I have people in place there already, so you would be a free agent. You could say goodbye to that inadequate apartment and find a more suitable place to call home. I own properties across the city. You’d have your pick of them. As for automobiles, well, I can outfit you with one far superior to what you have now.”
Audrey gripped the wooden sill around the glass and contemplated the young patient. This had to be a terrible dream.
“You’re asking me to use my hard-earned degree and experience to treat criminals,” she whispered. Men who’d gotten injured in conflicts with rival gangs or while fleeing police.
“I’m asking you to treat human beings.”
“Who willfully hurt others.” Perspiration dampened her neck. Her pulse raced. Agreeing to his mad plan went against everything she’d been taught. She couldn’t aid his life of crime. “You said you have people at the hospital.”
Who could’ve violated their principles in return for material wealth?
“You will get to work with them, if you say yes.”
He scrutinized her with his unnerving, probing gaze. Could Audrey fool a man such as him when every fiber of her being resisted his distasteful proposal?
With an exaggerated grimace, he beckoned the crewcut, thick-necked twins standing guard at the other end of the hallway. They approached, hands flexing and unflexing, as if anticipating wrapping around her throat.
Fear threatened to knock her to the floor. “I didn’t give you my answer.”
“You didn’t have to. You have an expressive face.” Tracing her cheek with his fingertip, he said, “You would’ve been a valuable asset. Such a shame we couldn’t come to an agreement.”
Flinching away, she gasped when the men seized her arms. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to enjoy a late dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. As for you... Sergei and Sasha are going to introduce you to my fer-de-lance.” He snickered. “Nasty temperament, that one. Unpredictable.”
“S-snake?”
“A pit viper, to be precise. The habitat I’ve had constructed for him is large and intricate. It resembles his natural environment in South America. He uses heat signatures to locate prey. Your body heat will light up like a beacon. His venom is hemotoxic, which means a slow death as your tissue becomes liquefied and infection sets in.”
His evil intent left her speechless. Before she could manage a sane response, the men started forward, forcing her to walk between them. Audrey’s struggles were futile. They took her back to the central area that housed the animal exhibits.
When one released her to punch in a door code, she kicked the other one in the groin and yanked free. She didn’t make it very far. Sergei—or was it Sasha?—snatched a fistful of her hair and jerked her against his chest. Next thing she knew, she was being lifted in the air.
She was dumped onto a hot, concrete floor in a pitch-black room. The door scraped closed with a bang.
“No!”
Short of breath, her heart nearly bursting from her chest, Audrey scrambled to her feet and pounded on the door.
She abruptly ceased and spun to face the room. What had Gerald said? She’d be a beacon, drawing the venomous snake to her? In the wild, snakes shied away from human contact. This was a captivity situation. She was invading his territory.
The constant ping of trickling water would mask any sounds he might make. She wouldn’t hear his approach. Wouldn’t see it.
There was no one around to rescue her. She’d have to figure a way out of this herself.
* * *
The video feeds weren’t what he’d expected. Leaning over the control-room guy slumped in his chair, Julian looked again. Was this some sort of reptile preserve? He couldn’t think of a correlation between Audrey’s abduction and illegal animal imports.
A sense of urgency gripped him. This warehouse was a hive of activity. One mistake, and the chances of getting out alive would shrink from slim to none.
His gaze was drawn to the six screens surveilling darkened rooms. Cameras with ultrared technology showed the interior contents using a gray scale. They resembled scenes straight out of the jungle. Artificial waterfalls. Tropical plants and decaying logs. Rocks and soil. Could this be a scientific laboratory of some type?
Julian was about to abandon the control room altogether when he spotted her. There, on the bottom right screen...she stood immobile near the door, pressed flat against the wall, terror stamped on her features.
Julian didn’t need to know specifics to know she was in danger. Judging from the building’s unusual occupants, he guessed it wasn’t a human with a weapon inspiring her fear. What he didn’t like was going into a situation blind. Not knowing the exact nature of the threat put him at a disadvantage.
He searched the room for a master panel that controlled the door mechanisms. Nothing. A network of rooms and hallways stood between the control room and the main section. He’d have to think of a distraction.
There. Grabbing the unconscious goon’s open soda can, he dumped out the liquid and cut a hole halfway down. He used papers from the cabinets to stuff into the open top. When the can was packed tight, he removed the lighter from the pack of Camel Lights lying near the man’s hand and used the flame to light the paper through the lower hole. Smoke curled upward.
He climbed onto an extra chair and held it to the smoke alarm. “Come on, come on.”
Finally, the fire alarm pulsed through the building. The resulting chaos would hopefully scramble the men, giving him an opening to extract Audrey. He snagged the fire extinguisher and exited the room. If he couldn’t shoot his way in, he’d use the extinguisher to bust through the glass.
He had to reach her before it was too late.
* * *
The lights blinked on, temporarily blinding her. She couldn’t hear a thing above the shrieking alarm and the blood thundering through her veins. What did it signify? A warning of approaching law enforcement? Or an actual fire somewhere in the facility?
When her eyes adjusted, she scanned the room for signs of the deadly predator. Her knowledge of venomous snakes
was limited to East Coast inhabitants. Would the fer-de-lance’s scales match the profuse jungle plants or blend in with the soil floor littered with decaying logs?
She had no desire to find out.
Audrey tested the door again, hoping the alarm might’ve triggered an unlock mechanism. That wasn’t the case, so she inched over to inspect the window. There was one weak spot. A chip in the glass. But without a tool or heavy object, she didn’t have the means to breach it.
Defeated, she turned back to the room. Despair and fear were a dangerous cocktail. Her thoughts bounced between her dad and Julian. She imagined how distraught Trent would be at her funeral—if he wasn’t in jail for tearing Julian limb from limb.
Not happening. Not if I can help it.
“Think, Audrey.”
She studied her surroundings again. Then, it came to her. In aquariums and zoos, there was an employee-access point. Gerald said he employed a caretaker. That person would require a place to prepare food and treat sick animals. In order to search for it, she’d have to enter the viper’s territory.
It was either that or wait for him to seek her out.
Give me strength, Lord. A verse known the world over came to mind. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me.
Forcing her feet into motion, Audrey started for the right wall. The continuing alarm made her ears throb and hindered her ability to concentrate. Her first step over the short rock divider and through shoulder-high plants was a tentative one. A huge leaf snapped back, and she jumped clear off the ground.
Did the snake prefer to lounge on low-hanging branches? Or was he curled into a rock crevice in the manmade waterfall, watching her every move and waiting to strike?
The anticipation of a fatal bite from razor-sharp fangs had sweat pouring off her. There’d be no antivenom. No medical treatment. No pain relief.
Something tickled her neck. She whirled, expecting to be staring into the viper’s eyes.
There were eyes, all right, just not the snake’s. Beneath the frond, a lean tree frog clung to the hefty stalk.
She sucked humid air into her lungs. Her chest felt tight and heavy.
Resuming her advance, she inspected every inch of the ground around her. The concrete-block walls were painted a murky green. Her feet sank into the thick soil that was interspersed with rocks and broken off leaves and twigs. She neared the waterfall built into the corner. About nine feet tall, water rippled over mossy rocks and gathered in a pool at its base. There was no door and no sign of the snake.
Maneuvering around the waterfall’s outer edge, she yelped when her shoe dislodged something solid. She bent down to get a better look and wished she hadn’t. It was a man’s gold watch that probably belonged to the previous victim.
Her heart wedged into her throat, she rushed toward the long back wall, not as careful in her advancement this time. She wanted out. Now.
Where was that door? Surely there was a door!
Audrey shoved aside vegetation rooted in giant terra cotta containers and saw the raised wooden frame, painted green to match the wall, and knob. Three or four strides, and she’d reach it. A fly buzzed around her head. In the middle of shooing it away, she froze. The slow glide in an S pattern announced the fer-de-lance’s presence.
The triangular-shaped head and distinct pits on either side made her blood run cold.
He was slim and long. Four or five feet. Brown and cream scales. His tail vibrated, and she was sure if the alarm wasn’t obliterating every other sound, she would’ve heard the warning.
When he stopped, he was between her and the door.
Audrey’s options were limited and bleak. Waiting around to die wasn’t one of them. Taking a couple of deliberate steps in retreat, she snapped a branch off the nearest plant and held it out in front of her. Then she did a slow sidestep toward the door.
Please let this work.
The viper tasted the air with his forked tongue.
She kept moving. When the door was three feet away, she uttered one last prayer and, tossing the branch in the viper’s direction, lunged for the knob.
TEN
Audrey vaulted through the opening, not caring where she landed, as long as it was far from the fer-de-lance. She tripped over a cardboard box and slammed into a refrigerator. Scrambling past deep sinks and stainless-steel workstations, she had almost reached the exit when the door creaked open and Julian entered.
Her body went limp with relief. He hadn’t given up on her, after all. The instinct to launch herself into his arms was cut off the instant she noticed he wasn’t alone. The long-haired guy had a pistol aimed at Julian’s head. The twins paraded in behind them, hands flexing again. Finally, Gerald entered, a smug smile on his face.
“I commend you for your quick thinking, Miss Harris. A bit naive of you to assume you’d manage to escape the complex, but courageous all the same.”
Audrey locked gazes with Julian. His face was a controlled mask, the look in his eyes unreadable. It scared her that he could bury every emotion. Did he have a plan? Or was he resigned to their fate?
The alarm fell silent.
“Aren’t you worried what the fire department will find when they respond to that?” she said.
“I have people across the city on my payroll.” Gerald had a wallet in his hand. He opened it and commenced pulling out the cards, tossing each one on the floor until he got to the last. He flashed a green ID card. “Your bodyguard is a marine. Should’ve known. They’re a dime a dozen around here.”
He dropped the ID onto the tiles with the other cards and turned to the long-haired man. “Josef, prepare the boat. I want the three of you to take our guests on a deep-sea excursion.” To Julian and Audrey, he said, “Not all of my cultivated relationships with law enforcement are rock-solid. On the off chance they do pay us a visit, it’s best you aren’t seen on the premises.”
Josef swiftly went to do his boss’s bidding. “Sasha, you’re in charge of this one.” The one with a diamond in his right ear seized Julian and propelled him into the hall.
“Wait.” Audrey rushed after them. Sergei’s beefy hand encircled her upper arm. He stuck a gun against her ribs.
“No funny business this time,” he growled, urging her through the doorway.
“Give my regards to the sharks,” Gerald called, maniacal laughter echoing after them.
They were led to the staging area, where huge garage doors had been opened and moving vans backed up to loading docks. The men packing and loading crates gave them scant attention. Josef removed a set of keys from a metal panel and hopped onto the pavement beside one of the vans. The twins corralled Julian and her into a rear corner and stationed themselves a few feet away.
He spoke without looking at her. “You hurt?”
“No.” Beyond the vans, she could see Josef trotting toward a dock. “How did you find me?”
“You took too long in the restroom. I searched and found your scarf.” He clamped his mouth shut when Sasha shifted his ice-blue gaze in their direction. When the hulking man looked away, Julian said, “I was in time to see the catering van peel out. Tailed them to this business district.”
She fit her hand into his warm, calloused one. “Thank you.”
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “It was a mistake not to involve law enforcement.”
“There wasn’t time.” She squeezed his hand. “You’re here with me now.”
“We’re going to have to wait until we get on the water to make our move.”
Audrey did not like the sound of that. While she’d grown up in beach towns, she preferred the coastline and the reassurance of solid ground beneath her feet. Being miles from shore? Not her idea of fun.
“Julian—”
Sergei interrupted their conversation. Grabbing her again, he pushed her towar
d the door. “Time for a boat ride.”
She glanced over her shoulder. Sasha had his gun on Julian.
“Your friend’s coming, too,” he said in his thick accent.
“You and your brother worked for Gerald long?”
Maybe their loyalty to the crime boss could be weakened.
He didn’t answer.
“Have you had to murder other innocent people for him?”
His lips pinched. He led her to a metal door beside the open bays and down a set of concrete steps. They walked toward the river, where Josef was already readying the yacht. Moths danced in the circle of a lamp. The cover of darkness would make their nefarious task infinitely easier.
Knots formed in her midsection. “Gerald would never know if you let us go. You could drop us off at a random dock somewhere.”
In response, he produced zip ties, which he used to bind her wrists. Behind them, Sasha did the same to Julian.
“At least tell me who’s been helping him with the wounded.”
He stepped back. “Accept your fate. No use fighting the inevitable.”
“But—”
“Hush.”
When they forced them to board, the vessel’s slight rocking unnerved her. Josef emerged from the bridge and tapped his earpiece.
“There’s a problem with one of the van drivers. Boss needs me here.”
The brothers exchanged a look. “See you in a couple of hours.”
Sasha pointed to the stairs that led below deck. “Keep an eye on them while I oversee navigation.”
Sergei held his hands up, palms out. “You want me stuck in the head losing my dinner? That is what will happen if I’m trapped down there.”
“I forgot.” He muttered something in another language. “You should’ve learned how to captain a boat.”