Ruthless Game

by Christine Feehan

  Kane clamped down hard on those memories. It was difficult to stay cool and disciplined when fury raged through him. Very gently he urged her toward the chair away from the window.

  She's out of my line of sight, Gideon warned. She'll know that, Kane.

  Damn it, don't you fuck with me on this, Kane, Mack snapped. I'll send Javier in after the both of you.

  Go to hell, Mack, Kane snapped back. She's pregnant with my baby, and you're damn well not going to shoot her.

  "They're really angry with you, aren't they?" Rose sent him a wry smile. "They're right, you know; you're in danger."

  "If you're going to make your try, Rose, do it now, before they send someone else in."

  She studied his face, and he couldn't help using the opportunity to do the same with her. Those long, sweeping eyelashes of hers drew his attention. From there his gaze dropped to her high cheekbones, her small, straight nose, and her lush mouth. The women had been taken from orphanages, and Rose had most likely come from China, but how Whitney had managed to get hold of her, Kane couldn't guess.

  She touched her tongue to her full lower lip, and his body tightened. "I'm not going to do anything stupid. You're ready for me to try something."

  That didn't tell him if she still planned on running, and he was going to have to help Mack and the others get the hostages out. He sighed and changed the subject. "Tell me about the hostages."

  "About a week ago, there was a sudden influx of cartel members. It isn't all that difficult to make them; they carry some serious hardware and scare the crap out of the decent people around here. Two murders occurred, heads severed as a warning for everyone and the bodies dumped in the fountain two streets over. The buzz on the street was something big was going down. At first I thought it was a big drug deal, and then I spotted the prisoners. They were brought in at night, dark SUVs with tinted windows. I thought maybe members of a rival gang, but as soon as I saw them--a woman of about thirty-five and a little girl of maybe ten--I knew this had nothing to do with a drug war."

  "Actually it does," Kane corrected. "El presidente is waging war with the cartels to get his country back. The cartels have been hitting high-profile members of the government in retaliation. El presidente called in a favor from our president and asked for help. His wife's sister and his niece were taken on their way to church. All the bodyguards were killed, as well as the driver. He was told to back off or he would find his sister-in-law's head rolling down the middle of the street. Next would come his niece's head. He believed them."

  "And he was afraid to trust his own military or the police," Rose guessed. "He should be. These people are armed to the teeth with the latest weapons, Kane. Something isn't right here. They've all but declared war."

  "Corruption here is rampant," Kane agreed. "Someone would tip off the cartel. El presidente is a very intelligent man. He knows his administration and his military as well as police departments have been infiltrated by paid informants for the cartel. He asked a personal favor from our president, and we pulled the assignment. None of us had any idea the informant would be you."

  "I thought long and hard before I called it in," Rose admitted. She ducked her head, refusing to meet his eyes. "It was selfish of me, that I waited, but I knew there was the possibility that if the hostages were who I thought they were, that a GhostWalker team would be called in. It was a calculated risk, but I couldn't just ignore the fact that those monsters would kill them. I was afraid to try a rescue myself with so many of the enemy guarding them."

  His heart slammed hard against the wall of his chest. She'd contemplated the idea, that much was obvious. His Rose, pregnant with their child, would have risked herself for strangers.

  "We'll get them out, Rose, but you stay put. I don't want you running again. You need care. I can offer that to you, as well as safety. The last thing I want is for Whitney to get his hands on you or the baby. I don't know why you trusted me to be the father of your baby, but you did. I'm asking for that same faith now. I swear to you, on my life, I will protect both of you."

  She lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye, searching his expression. For a moment he had the uncomfortable feeling she was looking into his mind, which was entirely possible with a GhostWalker. There were things buried there best kept hidden. Especially from Rose. He refused to look away, keeping his expression blank. A faint smile curved the bow of her mouth. His breath nearly exploded from his lungs. He dreamt of her, night after night. He thought of her every minute of every day.

  Intellectually, he knew Whitney had found a way to "pair" a couple by using pheromones, and he'd certainly made Kane crave Rose physically. He couldn't get near her without his body reacting with a permanent hard-on from hell. But the doctor hadn't paired Rose with him. She'd been forced to choose from three different candidates, and she'd chosen him, but she didn't have the same physical drive to be with him that he had for her, which posed a major problem for him. He had too much respect for her and too much honor to force himself on her. But the thought of never seeing her again, of spending his life without her, drove him insane. He also knew he would never ever be able to tolerate another man in her life. And quite frankly--that sucked.

  "All right."

  That softly spoken assent surprised him. He studied her face in an effort to read whether or not she was telling the truth.

  "Then you'll wait here for me to come for you."

  She shrugged. "I won't run."

  He was missing something; he just couldn't quite figure it out. His mind was already shifting, his radar going off, and instinctively he put himself in front of Rose as he swung around to face the bedroom door, knife in his hand. Rose tried to jerk her gun out of the hidden holster, but the man facing them shook his head, a grin on his face.

  "Naughty, naughty, Miss Rose. I can't let you shoot him, even though Mack thinks he's a major pain in the ass. He is my brother, after all."

  "Actually," she corrected, "I planned on shooting you."

  Javier's grin widened, but his eyes were ice-cold, his stare sending piercing icicles stabbing right through Rose's mind. "Well then, everything's fine. You carrying my nephew there?" He indicated the small basketball shape beneath her loose tunic.

  Her eyebrow shot up. She didn't wince, and she didn't take her gaze from his. She kept her voice low and taunting, as if she didn't realize she faced the biggest threat of her life. Kane knew better. He felt the little tremor that ran through her body.

  "Maybe a niece."

  Javier snorted. "Don't get your hopes up. He's too damn mean to throw a girl. Mack's getting all papa bear on us. You good, Kane?"

  Kane noticed Javier's body was angled toward Rose, half in, half out of the shadows, making him a difficult target, and the tiny knife was still concealed in the palm of his hand. He smiled at Rose and joked, but he was ready for any trouble, those cold, cold eyes never leaving his prey. Kane shifted his weight, subtly moving to cut off Javier's angle of attack. Javier glided slightly as well and shook his head.

  You know better than that. Mack would skin me alive if anything happened to you.

  Rose sighed. "Nothing is going to happen to him. I'm Rose Patterson, by the way."

  "Javier Enderman, ma'am. Pleased to meet you. You reading my mind?"

  "No," Rose said. "I'm smart. I know what you're both thinking."

  "Then you know I've got to get him out of here in one piece, ma'am. And that none of us wants you to hurt him."

  Kane huffed out his exasperation. "You're making me sound like a two-year-old you all have to babysit. Tell Mack we're on our way, and let's get it done."

  "They're armed to the teeth," Rose said. "And they have trip wires strung around the windows and in the hallways leading to the apartment. You're not going to get in through the ground floor."

  Kane made a strangled growl in the back of his throat and crouched down in front of Rose, catching her chin in his hand. "You scouted them out with my baby in your belly?" He bit out each
word through clenched teeth.

  "Yes," she said very calmly, her dark eyes sober. "Before I made the decision to call in reinforcements. I told you I'd decided I couldn't rescue them alone. Did you think I made that assessment from here?"

  "Damn it, woman. You do something like that again, and we're going to have trouble."

  She looked at him a long time. You have the same eyes. A different color, of course, but you both can look very scary.

  It was the first time she'd used the more intimate means of telepathic communication. He knew Javier frightened her, and he wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her close to comfort her. It took a minute to realize he frightened her. She wasn't showing it, but he knew.

  "Rose, neither of us wants to send you back to Whitney or to harm you in any way. You're close to delivering the baby, and you're going to need help. Stay and wait for us here."

  "I said I wouldn't run."

  Again she looked him right in the eye. He couldn't detect any evasion, but still ... Kane sighed and stood up. "I've got work to do. I'll be back to get you."

  Rose nodded. She remained seated in the chair as Kane started back to the bedroom. Javier never took his eyes from her, even as he backed toward the bedroom, his body between her and Kane.

  Stop trying to intimidate her and let's go, Kane snapped.

  You first. And I'm smiling, Javier shot back.

  Like a snake, Kane pointed out and went out of the apartment the same way he'd entered. Javier followed him into the night.

  CHAPTER 2

  The moment that Kane and Javier were gone, Rose covered her face with her hands and allowed herself a brief moment to shake uncontrollably. She had to drag in several deep breaths to keep from crumbling completely, to keep from shedding ridiculous, stupid tears. She'd always been so fearful in comparison to the other women she'd grown up with. They had no problems or qualms with their training--she'd always been tentative, forcing herself not to show fear when at times she'd been terrified--like now.

  Kane Cannon. She remembered every moment of their time together in vivid detail. The way he smelled. His incredible strength. The feel of his skin against hers. She had chosen him for the father of her child because she knew she had no choice. Whitney had grown impatient with her, and when he knew she was fertile, he would send his choice. Kane Cannon was ruthless and dangerous, capable of swift violence. He was unrelenting and merciless if need be, but one of her psychic gifts was the ability to know when someone lied to her. Kane had been the first man who hadn't lied.

  He found Whitney and his experiments distasteful, and when he was drawn into the breeding program and realized the women were virtually prisoners--that they hadn't volunteered but were forced into the program--she knew everything in him rebelled. She had known the moment she spoke to him that he would risk his career--his very life--to reveal Whitney's vile experiments to the authorities. Time had run out on her, and she knew Whitney was determined that no matter what it took, he would get his supersoldier baby from her, so she had chosen Kane.

  She'd been so frightened and horribly saddened, wanting her first time to be with someone she loved. She had been terrified of Kane when he'd entered the room. She knew Whitney was watching and listening. If she didn't cooperate, they would tie her down, and she honestly wasn't certain she had the courage to go through with it. The first thing Kane had done was smash the camera and recorder, and then he'd disposed of Whitney's listening device and sat down on the edge of her bed.

  He'd looked so big. He towered over her with his height, his wide shoulders, and large hands. Everything about him was intimidating, especially his piercing green eyes. She shivered uncontrollably as if she were still locked up, waiting for the inevitable to happen. Her heart thundered in her ears and pounded in her chest, but she'd been determined to at least have the best man possible for the father of her child. Kane was a good man in spite of the fact that he could be deadly when needed. She'd watched him for weeks before she'd made her decision. If circumstances were different, she knew she would have chosen him anyway, but right then, she was terrified.

  And then he touched her. Exquisitely gentle. There was nothing rough about him when he brushed the hair back from her face. "This is bullshit, Rose. I'll find a way to get you out of here. We don't have to do this."

  Her world changed instantly with those words. It was so unexpected after the brutes Whitney had sent to her. She still had bruises from the last one making his try. The worst thing--and what Kane didn't know--was that she'd chosen him. She'd watched him from the exercise yard, and she'd seen the differences in him. At that point he didn't even know she--or the breeding program--existed. She'd drawn him in by making him her choice. The shame would last her entire life. She'd brought him into the horror of her world, and now he had no more choice than she did.

  Rose covered her face and rocked back and forth. She knew he despised himself for getting her pregnant, for being unable to stop Whitney before he touched her, but he had no idea Whitney would never have considered pairing them if she hadn't chosen him. Kane felt guilty, but she was the guilty party.

  The baby kicked hard, and she automatically rubbed her palms over her swollen belly in a soothing motion. She could barely face him, barely look him in the eye, after what she'd done. She knew about the pheromones, knew once Whitney paired them, Kane would have no choice but to crave her body day in and day out. She'd seen the effect on the other men. They had been willing to kill to get to her. Willing to force her just to have her. She'd done that to Kane, a man with principles and honor.

  She crushed down the memories and forced herself to stand. It had taken so much effort to be able to appear cool and in control, but she didn't have to waste energy keeping up appearances.

  "You and me, baby," she whispered. "I'll keep you safe."

  She felt very alone and vulnerable, her time too close, and she hadn't established a safe birthing place. She'd made friends with a couple of women, one she'd been certain could help her give birth, but now the cartel had ruined that. She had to run fast and far, and now Kane had complicated everything--but she owed him. He thought it was the other way around, but she hadn't been able to bear the idea of one of Whitney's psycho soldiers touching her. They all made her skin crawl.

  She'd watched Kane, the way he moved, the sound of his voice, the way he treated others. And she'd made that fateful decision. The baby kicked again, this time a little harder, breaking into her thoughts, and she found a small smile on her face as she rubbed her tummy again.

  "You don't like it when I'm upset, do you?" she asked softly. "I'm upset on your daddy's behalf. I did a very bad thing, and I have no way to make up for it." She moved in silence to the window and peered out.

  Her lights had been off for hours, and she knew she'd established that pattern weeks ago. No one would think it odd. She kept to herself and stayed inside after dark, never turning on lights. The neighbors probably thought she tried to save money by not using electricity, but she had excellent night vision, thanks to Whitney's enhancements. She stared at the street for some time. Kane and the others would be setting into action their plan to rescue the hostages. She had to quit feeling guilty and sorry for herself; that did no good, and there were two people who desperately needed help. She had seen the extreme violence the cartel was capable of. They would kill the hostages no matter what el presidente did. The GhostWalkers were their only hope.

  She was already in dark clothing, and with her ability to camouflage her appearance, she knew she could aid the GhostWalker team should they need it. Her telepathy wasn't particularly strong, but Kane's was, and she tapped into the flow, knowing how to do so from when they were together working against Whitney.

  She closed her eyes, allowing her mind to expand, to reach out for the flow of energy, into the current Kane generated with his team.

  Working my way into position, Mack, Kane reported.

  Let's get this done. Mack was all business, and the familiar voice s
ettled the tight knots in Kane's gut. There was no way to go into a mission with his brain divided. He had to push Rose out of his mind and concentrate on getting the hostages out as quietly as possible. They expected to leave dead enemies behind, but they wanted to be quiet about it. This was a take-no-prisoners mission and needed complete silence. Moving now.

  Mack was a blur, no more than a shadow as he went up the side of the building, retrieving the tiny star stairs as he went up, gaining the roof. In position, he reported.

  Kane and Javier managed to gain the sidewalk just outside the two-story apartment building. It was their responsibility to ensure Mack and Ethan had a clear path through the building to the desert. Gideon would protect them from the roof and then make his way along the rooftops to the edge of the desert.

  Kane waited, counting his heartbeats while loud voices boomed through the entryway to the apartments and then slowly--too slowly--faded. He bounced pressure waves through the walls. The entryway was empty, but there was a man two stairs up, just leaning against the wall.

  On the right, he told Javier.

  Javier was smaller, a lean killing machine, and his shadow would be less noticeable. The sentry would feel the draft and look up, but he'd be too late. Kane, knife in one hand, ready for the throw, opened the door with the other. Javier somersaulted in, coming to his feet just a scant distance from the stairs, his knife hurtling through the air to bury the blade in the sentry's throat.

  Kane slipped into the foyer, right behind Javier, allowing the sentry to catch a brief glimpse of him, just enough to distract him from the real threat. As Javier threw the knife, a second guard emerged from a room just to their left. Kane was on him, one hand muffling sound as the other delivered the killing blow with the blade. He shoved the body back in the room, and Javier added the second one. Neither bothered to do anything about the blood spatter. There was old blood on the floors and walls, some very recent, as if the apartments were used to violence.