Soldier Protector

by Kimberly Van Meter

  After that, there was nothing.

  * * *

  Zak’s brain was humming. Regina Burke. They should’ve known something was up with that weird-ass cult in spite of their protests. They should’ve hauled them in and interrogated them Red Wolf–style.

  Maybe broken a few bones.

  He exited the elevator to the restricted wing where Caitlin was supposed to be in the lab but found it empty. The way he’d left things with Caitlin flashed in his mind and worry set in. He’d given her strict instructions to let him know if she left the lab at any time. Caitlin wasn’t the kind of woman to do things out of spite. He checked his cell but found no messages.

  A sick feeling lodged in his gut but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions, especially when his nerves were strung taut.

  He called Scarlett. “Caitlin isn’t in the lab. I’m heading to the cafeteria. Keep a look out for either Caitlin or Rebecca.”

  “Copy that.”

  He clicked off and detoured for the cafeteria, scanning every hallway, his anxiety rising every moment.

  Zak made it to the cafeteria and knew within seconds she wasn’t there. He tried her cell again. It went straight to voice mail. Pick up, Caitlin, please. But his gut told him she was in danger. And his gut never lied. He had a sixth sense about these things—everyone in Red Wolf had that. They just knew when things were about to go south. That innate ability had kept them alive and he wasn’t about to question it now.

  Especially when it was Caitlin’s life on the line.

  “That bitch has Caitlin, I can feel it,” he told Scarlett. “We need to find her. Now.”

  This time they met up in an FBI facility, courtesy of Xander’s connections. They needed resources that the hospital conference room couldn’t provide.

  “Patch into the hospital surveillance in the lab,” Xander directed a man at a computer. “That should give us facial recognition so we can apply it to our cameras on the streets.”

  “Give me two minutes,” the guy said, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “Got it.”

  The image of a woman and Caitlin popped up. Zak ground his teeth as he saw the aggressive stance of the woman coming at Caitlin. He saw her stick something in her neck. He watched Caitlin drop to the floor.

  Then he saw a man come in and scoop an unconscious Caitlin up and cart her off.

  “Follow them,” Zak said tersely, his fists clenching. “If they hurt her, I swear to God, they won’t have to worry about the virus because I will end them first.”

  Scarlett didn’t try to calm him because she knew it would only make it worse. He needed action, not platitudes. Caitlin had been taken right beneath their noses by a psychopath and they hadn’t seen it coming. She’d waltzed right up, bold as you please, and jabbed a needle in his woman’s neck and carted her off like a Christmas turkey like no one’s business.

  And that couldn’t stand.

  He wanted to put his hands around that woman’s neck and squeeze until her eyes popped from their sockets.

  Xander knew the look, felt the murderous rage radiating from him. “We’ll find her,” he promised.

  Zak nodded. “We better.”

  Or there would be hell to pay.

  * * *

  Caitlin’s eyes opened one at a time with a groan as her head felt ready to explode. Her mouth tasted like a toad had crapped in it and her neck was sore. What the hell? What happened? Did she fall down the stairs and black out? She struggled to sit up but found her hands were tied behind her. Oh, God, that wasn’t right.

  “Look, who’s finally awake,” a voice said, chipper and full of sunshine and totally incongruous with the fact that she was tied up like a hostage. “Are you hungry? Do you need to use the restroom?”

  “Who are you? What are you doing?” Caitlin asked fearfully, staring at the woman who’d jabbed a needle in her neck. “I don’t understand. What is happening?”

  “So many questions. I suppose that’s fair, but really, we should do this over breakfast. Low blood sugar is nothing to mess with.”

  Caitlin struggled to sit up and found herself on a bed in a loft. Several people, who seemed to find nothing unusual with a kidnapped woman tied up in the room, were milling around.

  The woman who’d drugged her helped her to her feet, though Caitlin was a bit wary of letting her get too close. She led Caitlin to a small table where an assortment of breakfast pastries awaited. The woman poured her coffee and prepared a scone as if they were having a delightful tea, instead of a hostage situation.

  “You’re insane,” Caitlin realized with dawning horror. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re freaking insane and this is your insane posse of followers. That’s the only thing that possibly makes sense because otherwise I can’t make head or tail of what is happening right now.”

  “Hush now, you probably have a touch of low blood sugar. Here, enjoy a fresh scone, dear.”

  “Screw your scone, you psychopath, let me go,” she hissed, which probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do but Caitlin was running on pure adrenaline and fear.

  “We should work on your manners,” the woman warned. “Robert warned me that you were a bit prickly.”

  Robert? Caitlin craned her neck to see one of her team members, Robert Vepp, walk up and join them with an eager, if not hesitant, smile. “Hi, Caitlin,” he said, taking a seat. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “Robert!” Her eyes bugged and her jaw dropped as horror and rage warred with one another. “It was you who broke into the lab?”

  “Guilty,” he admitted, raising his hand as if it were something to be proud of. “Almost got caught, too. But the Lord will always look out for the Faithful.”

  “Oh, my God,” Caitlin groaned. “I vouched for you. How could you do this, Robert? You were one of my team. I believed in you.”

  “And I believe in you, which is why you’re here and not out there,” he insisted. “I convinced Mother Regina that you were worthy of conversion. You are worthy of becoming a repentant. When the Purge comes, the Faithful will remain and inherit the earth. We will start anew. The earth will need people like us to shape the world in a better way, a smarter way.”

  “You’re crazy,” Caitlin realized, shaking her head. How had she missed this? For crap’s sake, she should’ve listened to Zak when he’d insisted the original theft had been an inside job. Her ego had refused to believe that anyone on her team had been capable of such a betrayal. Not only was this embarrassing, it was devastating. “Robert, please, you can’t truly believe this crap. You’re a man of science.”

  Robert’s expression hardened. “You’ll learn that science is of the Lord but the application of it must glorify His plan. We’ve gotten away from the beauty of His original vision but we can restore the balance. Wipe away greed and avarice, return to basic core values.”

  “By killing off most of the human race?” she asked with open incredulity. “Have you not watched any movie or read any book ever? Humans are flawed by their very nature. There’s no such thing as utopia and your vision will fail. All you will succeed in doing is wiping out a bunch of innocent people. Not to mention, you can’t control a virus like this. It will wipe out the ‘Faithful’ just as quickly as it will wipe out the rest. What are you going to do about that?”

  “That’s where you come in, my dear,” the woman said, smiling. “You’ve hit upon how to protect those who’ve earned protection.”

  Caitlin barked a hysterical laugh. Oh, the irony. “You jumped the gun. I don’t know if my theory is correct. I was just getting to the point where I was testing my preliminary findings. I have no idea if I’m wrong or on the right track. All you did was take me away from important work and I can’t do my work from a kitchen table.”

  “Of course not, we are prepared to provide a facility for you to complete your testing,” she said with that same smile that
was beginning to give Caitlin hives. The woman pushed a scone toward Caitlin. “But first, please eat. We can’t have you fainting from hunger. You’re much too important, dear.”

  “Lady, screw your scone, and screw you. I’m not helping you do shit.”

  The woman pursed her lips as if disappointed. “I was hoping to do this the civilized way but I understand you need persuasion.” She flicked her wrist, and two men dragged Rebecca, roughly throwing her to the floor. Without her prosthetic leg, she lost her balance and fell hard.

  Caitlin gasped, horrified. “Rebecca!”

  “I’m okay,” Rebecca assured Caitlin in a weak voice but Caitlin could tell she was hurting. “Whatever you do, don’t listen to them. They’re nothing but a bunch of cock-sucking cult lovers.”

  “Shut your foul mouth, unrepentant,” one of the men shouted, kicking Rebecca hard in the stomach.

  Caitlin jumped and sucked back a scream, too afraid for Rebecca to say anything else, but Rebecca just rolled to her back and gave the man a shaky middle finger. “That all you got?” she moaned, and Caitlin wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

  The man went to kick her again but the woman held up her hand, her lip curling as she turned to Caitlin. “You will do as you are told.”

  “What makes you think I would do anything for you?”

  “Because the Lord always finds ways for the Faithful to open doors.”

  She nodded and the men jerked Rebecca to her feet, dragging her away. “Where are you taking her?” Caitlin demanded, fear for her friend coloring her voice. “Stop! Where are you taking her?”

  The woman met her angry gaze and said, “To the facility, dear. Don’t worry. She’ll be waiting for you—and the cure.”

  Chapter 26

  CJ cursed loudly and explosively as he paced the room. “Goddamn it, this crazy bitch was in our hands and we let her go? Unbelievable. I’m never going to live this down. I knew I should’ve just thrown them both in the trunk and brought them in for questioning.”

  Scarlett tried to calm CJ but Zak understood CJ’s rage because he felt it, too. He wasn’t feeling very merciful at the moment. “Look, you couldn’t have known that Regina was the ringleader. Your focus was on Carl. Your sexism got the better of you. How many times have I told you that women can be the bad guys, too?”

  CJ hung his head. “Yeah, I need to get that through my head. Damn it. I should’ve known. That bun was a dead giveaway. Women in buns are up to no good.”

  Scarlett returned to the quivering man in their custody. “Now that we’ve got that sorted out, time to spill the beans, Mr. Browne. We know that Regina Burke is behind the kidnapping of Dr. Caitlin Willows and we can assume she’s also behind the theft of a deadly viral weapon stolen from a lab in Vermont. What we don’t know is where Regina is holed up right now. That’s where you come in. Start talking.”

  Carl looked bewildered. “I already told you, I don’t know anything about this terrible apocalypse you keep talking about. You came into my house, terrorized me and now you drag me into this crazy story about this end-of-the-world nonsense. I’m done with this intimidation. I’m calling my lawyer.”

  Scarlett leaned in, invading his personal space. “Cut the crap. Regina Burke is already in deep. Just tell us where she is and we’ll cut you a deal with the DA, and maybe you won’t spend the rest of your life rotting in a federal prison with a bunkmate named Bubba. If you keep holding to your story, I can’t promise you shit.”

  Carl stammered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  CJ scoffed, irritated with the pace of the interrogation. “Tell me something. I don’t understand the cult mentality. What could make doing something so idiotic work for you? And where the hell did you get all of the cash for this operation? How do I start my own cult, ’cuz you make this look like a pretty good gig.”

  Carl seemed offended. “You can mock our faith all you like but we are protected by law to worship as we please.”

  Scarlett rose, shaking her head with irritation. “Yes, you may worship as you please but you don’t have the right to kill innocent people. We’ve been over this. Come on, now, let’s not insult each other’s intelligence. You seem like a smart enough guy to know that it’s not okay to wipe out the whole western hemisphere!”

  But Carl held to his original statement, insisting, “I don’t know what you’re talking about! How many times do I have to tell you that?”

  They were getting nowhere fast. Zak snapped. “I’m done with this bullshit,” he muttered, grabbing Carl by the lapels and yanking him to his feet to snarl in his face. “Your crazy-ass Faithful cult member has my girl. And if you don’t tell me where she is right now, I’m going to rip out your tongue and shove it so far up your ass you’ll be able to feel it tickling your tonsils. Do you understand me? Am I making myself perfectly clear?”

  Scarlett backed him up. “I was willing to do this the nice way but we’re running out of time. There are innocent people dying and I’m not about to lose the doc over your stupid beliefs. Just tell the man what he needs to know and maybe he won’t rip your arms off and beat you with them.”

  “You can’t do that. There are rules—”

  “There are rules for cops. And as we told you before we’re not cops,” CJ interjected with a gleeful grin, all too happy to start busting skulls for the fun of it. “Rules don’t apply to people like us. We break rules for a living.” He rubbed his hands together, cracking his knuckles and bouncing up and down, ready. “C’mon, let me have a crack at him. I owe him a few licks for wasting my time the first go ’round and making me look like an idiot.”

  Zak grinned. “You hear that? My friend owes you a few licks. You don’t want him to get a hold of you. He’s a little crazy.”

  “Damn straight,” CJ agreed as if Zak had just paid him a compliment.

  Scarlett tried again. “Do yourself a favor—just tell us what we need to know and we’ll go easy on you. You don’t have what it takes to go a round with either of these guys. You’re soft, like an uncooked biscuit. Save yourself the indignity of pissing yourself and just give up Regina. What do you owe her anyway?”

  Carl lifted his chin, the picture of a martyr bravely going to battle, and Zak wanted to punch his face off. “I am of the Faithful. I am of the Chosen. I go into the light with the strength of the Lord powering my fight. You can do what you will. I will never break.”

  “Yeah, challenge accepted.” Zak heaved Carl across the room, slamming the man against a bookshelf, sending books and knickknacks flying. “I don’t have time for this goddamn bullshit!” He hauled Carl back to his feet, staring into his blubbering face. “Here’s how this is gonna go. I’m going to go to the kitchen and find myself a nice pair of nutcrackers and then I’m going to proceed to break every single one of your knuckles one by one until you tell me what I need to know. Understand? Good.” He shoved Carl into CJ’s hands. “Keep our friend company while I find what I need to make him talk.”

  Carl’s lip quivered as a trickle of blood slid out of the corner of his mouth. He looked to Scarlett for help. “Are you really going to let him brutalize me like this? I’m going to see every single one of you in court. I’m going to make your life a living hell.”

  Scarlett shrugged. “Hell, as far as you’re concerned we’re all dead people anyway, so what does it matter? If we’re all going down with this ship we might as well have some fun while we do it. Have you heard a knuckle crack? It sounds terrible but we like to place bets on which knuckle makes you piss yourself.”

  Zak returned with a walnut cracker, clacking the metal instrument with a cold smile. He wasn’t bluffing. He wouldn’t hesitate to torture this soft, weak-assed idiot if it meant saving Caitlin.

  He would tear the city apart, break any bone, break any rule, do anything necessary to bring her home safe.

  “Let’s get this party started,
shall we?”

  * * *

  Caitlin was shaking all over. Rebecca was gone. She had no idea where they’d taken her but Regina had provided a closed-circuit camera for the room where Rebecca was imprisoned.

  Where Rebecca would die a horrible death if Caitlin didn’t perfect the serum.

  “I don’t know if it works,” she said, trying to appeal to some sort of logic in a crazy woman, but Regina was humming to herself as if all was right in the world and it was time for a mani-pedi. “Rebecca is a brilliant scientist. You’ve just condemned her to die!”

  “You should spend less time talking and more time working,” Regina suggested, gesturing to the rudimentary lab setup. There was a computer without an internet connection and a functioning BSL-4 lab at the most basic level but it wasn’t safe by any means.

  She cast an accusatory look toward Robert. “I’m assuming you’re the one who set up this lab? You know this isn’t sufficient for the kind of virology that we’re dealing with. You’re putting us all at risk with this setup.”

  “Don’t try to scare me. We’re fine. We have negative pressure suits for the work done in the class 2 biosafety cabinets and every window is pressure sealed. It might not be as pretty as Tessara’s labs but it will get the job done,” Robert assured her with a smug expression that made her want to wipe the cement floor with his face. “Now, a true repentant woman does her work quietly for the glory of the Lord.”

  “Screw you,” Caitlin muttered in disgust, wondering how she’d ever been fooled by this idiot. “You’ve completely ruined my sense that I can judge a person’s character, because, clearly, I was blinded by your bullshit.”

  She didn’t see the slap coming. His hand connected with her cheek so fast her head whipped back and she stumbled, sucking back a sharp breath as tears stung her eyes.