Hicks’s explanation was the only one that fit. After his promotion, Cory had been convinced it was necessary to keep her silent. “You’re right.”
“We have to tell the team. They can help. Plus, if what I suspect is true, your senator has hired a cleaning crew to wipe out your existence. If they had cameras in that garage, they might’ve gotten pictures of my license plate and car. It’s possible they tracked us through the traffic cameras in the city.”
Whitney’s heart stopped. “You mean they know where we are?”
“We have to assume that they do.”
“Oh Hicks, I never imagined…”
“Don’t worry. If they show their faces here, they’ll regret it. I promise you that. Now, let me take you to your sister’s room so you can get some clothes on. We can brief the team together, okay?”
“Hicks—” a spiral of fear wound its way down her spine, tightening up her legs and making her toes cold, “—he’s taken my car, my job, and my home. Do you think he took the money back too?” Whitney didn’t wait for him to answer. She bounded from the bed and went for her jeans, digging her phone out of the pocket. She pulled up her bank account online and fumbled through the password and login. Her account information flashed onto the screen. Her vision blurred and she dropped the phone.
It was gone. Her savings were gone.
She wrapped her arms around her waist and bowed over her knees, her chest so tight she couldn’t suck in an ounce of air. She had nothing left. All her dreams and aspirations had been ripped away. The new company she wanted to start…the people she’d hoped to help…
She’d trusted the wrong person, and now she was being asked to pay with her life.
“Whitney.” And then Hicks’s arms were around her, lifting her off the floor. He held her in his arms as if she weighed nothing—her head against his neck, her legs draped over his other arm. “We’ll get it all back. I swear to you on my life, I will avenge you.”
She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even manage a nod. All she could do was cling to the one steady rock in her life.
He was the only person who could possibly take on a task this big or a man this powerful. He was her only hope.
16
Senator Cory Keeling was a dead man walking. Any human being who could use someone so callously and then try to toss them away like garbage didn’t deserve to live. After what Whitney had been through today, Hicks planned to torture Keeling before he died. The man deserved to endure a bit of the trauma for what he’d put Whitney through.
Hicks hated himself just a little for feeling relieved that she’d never slept with the bastard, but it likely brought some comfort to him and Whitney.
If Keeling’s men came to the compound, Hicks’s team would be more than ready. But such an open conflict would risk exposing them to General Rainier, who had men and spies stationed throughout the entire country and the government. He was a twenty-year veteran of the United States Department of Defense, with ties reaching so deep and long it would be impossible to ever untangle them all.
They had to stop Senator Keeling on his own turf or risk exposure. And that meant they needed to get planning…now.
“Whitney, honey, we have to warn the men now. Can you pull it together, just for a little while? If not, you can stay here and I’ll go brief them.”
“No! I’m not gonna sit here and be a victim.”
“Good girl. I didn’t think you would.” She had the internal fortitude of a well-armed fortress. “Want me to carry you to your room or can you walk?”
She wiggled her way to the floor as an answer. “Come on. I want to be there when you and the guys confront him. He’s going to answer for everything he’s done to me.”
Whitney grabbed his hand and dragged him from the room. Hicks followed her down the hall, stopping when he heard a soft feminine voice drifting from Quantum’s open door.
“What the hell?”
As far as Hicks knew, the only people who ventured into Quantum’s room were the team members, but there was only one other person in this entire maze who sounded like that. “My teammate, Quantum, has been unconscious for weeks. He fought to stay alive back in the lab, and managed to do that, until we escaped. He nearly gave up his life to make sure we all made it out safe. Even though he suffered worse than the rest, he never gave up the fight.”
Hicks gestured for Whitney to remain silent as he peered around Quantum’s door. Dr. Averton sat next to the bed, a book the size of a dictionary in her hands, reading aloud. “And then Hades pulled Helios from the sky and cast him into the depths of hell itself. Helios struggled with all his might, but Hades was strong. Helios wanted to give up.”
“Our story,” Whitney whispered. “Melissa wrote this book when she was eight.”
“And then Hades tasked all his demons to restrain Helios, for he could only derive pleasure by taking from others what they wanted most, and what Helios craved above all was the bright light of the sun and the wind swishing under his wings, his sword raised to the gods above.” Dr. Averton never looked up. She’d shed her lab coat in favor of a set of long pajamas and deep green robe. He’d never seen her look so casual, even walking about the mansion.
“Why is she reading that story?”
Whitney squeezed his hand. “She used to read it to me when we were children.”
“That is not a book for a child,” he said.
“Yes, but Melissa’s never really been a child. At least in her mind. She read The Iliad when she was seven years old. Then, of course, she thought she could improve it. She wrote her own version.”
Whitney’s eyes took on a faraway look, and her expression softened. “It’s a story about how strength of spirit can save you, even if it feels like everyone and everything has turned against you.”
Dr. Averton continued, “And then Hades plucked out Helios’s eyes so he could not see to fly and cut his wings off his back so that he could not escape hell,” Dr. Averton continued, unaware of their presence.
Hicks leaned down to whisper in Whitney’s ear, “That does not sound like something any child needs to hear.”
“Yes, it is, when that child is constantly put down and ignored by the people she loves.”
There was a hint of sadness in her voice, and it struck Hicks that he knew nothing of Whitney’s past. From what she’d said, her childhood might not have all been pigtails and ponies. Maybe that explained why Whitney and Melissa were so different. Had something happened to Whitney? The thought cast a dark shadow over his soul. He could picture a miniature version of her with long, curling, dark brown hair and huge sapphire eyes filled with the trust and hope of childhood. The thought of someone she loved destroying that hope made his hands curl into fists at his sides.
“What happened to you?”
“Not any one thing in particular,” she said softly, though bittersweet disappointment lurked in her gaze. “And it’s not anything worth talking about now. Melissa’s reading him that story because she thinks he can hear her. It’s her way of helping him get past his struggles, of encouraging him to fight his way back to the light. She’s over halfway through the book now, so I’m guessing this isn’t her first night with him.”
“She’s determined to save us all,” he said on a whisper.
As if sensing their presence, Dr. Averton turned and looked straight at him, gave him the smallest nod and then returned to her story. He felt like he was intruding on a private moment, so he grabbed the doorknob and eased it shut.
Hicks had been living a few doors down the hall this whole time, completely unaware of Dr. Averton’s visits to Quantum. He thought of all those times he’d been outside his teammate’s door, too scared to enter and face his own demons. That slip of a woman had been in there every night, caring for Quantum, coaxing him from his nightmares. He was a coward. “I’ve been avoiding him. I’ve been too scared to see exactly what could happen to any one of us. He had no choice in the matter. No control.”
Whitn
ey’s arms snaked around his waist. She tucked her head right on top of his heart. “It’s okay. He’s still here, which means you’ve got time to make it right.”
He dropped his cheek to the top of her head, drawing strength from her. “He must think we’ve abandoned him.”
“A man with no one would’ve given up long ago. He knows you’re here and he knows how you feel. He’s fighting to get back to you and your team. Don’t give up.”
She was right. If Quantum were lucid, he’d tell him to get bent and stop being such soft asses. They’d been together so long now they weren’t just teammates, they were brothers. They never sat around and shared their darkest secrets, but every single man on his team would give up his life for the others, and each one of them had come close. That type of bond surpassed small talk. The bonds forged in battle were unbreakable. “I love you.”
She leaned back and tilted her head up, her lips parted. “What did you say?”
Had he really said that out loud? The thought had appeared out of nowhere, but the moment the words left his mouth he knew them to be true. “I love you.”
“Hicks, I don’t—”
He put a finger to her lips, stopping her before she could speak. “It’s okay, I don’t expect you to understand yet, but maybe one day you will.”
Whitney’s lips turned down and she snatched his hand from her mouth. “As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me, I don’t totally understand it, but I’d swear we’re connected somehow. Like we were meant to be together. I love you too.”
Pleasure flooded his entire body. He groaned and scooped her up in his arms, squeezing her as hard as he could without hurting her. He didn’t understand any of this either, and he probably never would, but Whitney was a gift and he intended to treasure her.
“Come on. Let’s brief the team so I can get you back in my bed.” The moment the door to the lab slid open, Hicks knew something was wrong. A blast of emotions hit him square in the chest: worry, anger, fear. “Something’s wrong.”
Nausea rolled around in the empty pit of his stomach as he grabbed Whitney’s hand and raced down the staircase. He didn’t sense an outside threat of violence, this was worse.
Much worse.
“What’s wrong?” she asked breathlessly as she followed alongside him. Hicks unlocked the door at the bottom of the staircase and burst inside. Everything looked normal, just as it always had, but it didn’t feel right. “I don’t know. It feels like—like someone is dying.”
Picking up the pace to a near run, he passed by lab after empty lab, sweat popping out on his temples. He neared the end and the nausea caused his stomach to heave. Hicks stumbled and slapped a palm against the wall, catching himself before his knees gave out. Icy panic rolled down his spine and robbed him of his breath.
“Hicks! What’s wrong?!” He barely felt Whitney’s arm wrap around his waist. His vision tunneled and the familiar tendrils of a migraine started to wrap around from the base of the skull.
He tried to answer her, but his tongue was thick in his mouth and it wouldn’t work. He staggered, driven forward by the driving need to see what was in the doorway ahead.
Each step felt like he was wading through lead-lined concrete.
A swarm of insects seemed to be buzzing, screeching, and wailing in his head, sending forth wave after wave of sharp pain. Hicks stumbled through the door, landing on his hands and knees inside the main lab. A high-pitched screech emanated from somewhere in the room. A memory careened into him and he gagged. It was the same screech from the lab in the jungle when they’d lost it and murdered all those scientists.
When they’d lost control.
The rest of his team seemed to be in the same condition, only worse. King and Juarez and Diggs lay sprawled on the floor, hands gripping their temples and teeth gritted shut.
Hicks fought the fog, lifting his head through the agony to see Reaper on his knees and Caroline laid out beside him, flat on her back on the floor. “Please baby, please wake up. You can’t leave me now.”
A fresh blast of fear slammed into him and Hicks dropped to his elbows, his head rolling uselessly on the floor.
“Stop,” he grasped out reaching a hand toward his teammate.
He felt Whitney’s cold touch on his face. “Hicks, what do I do?”
The roaring reached a crescendo in Hicks’s head and he couldn’t think enough to form the words tumbling about in his mind. The high-pitched sound blasted through him like a nail-coated grenade, taking his team down with him.
Hicks barely registered the low, long moan that seemed to fill the room, dimly aware it was the keening wail of the grieving man. “Caroline!” Reaper bellowed.
Hicks was scarcely aware of Whitney leaning in close and whispering, “I’m getting Melissa. Hang on.”
Hicks didn’t know how long he lay there on the floor, curled up in a tight ball of pain, but the blood pulsing in his ears eventually quieted enough that he heard the distinct sound of Reaper’s whimpering. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.
What had happened to Caroline? Did the screech affect her too? He couldn’t think – the alarm was like a sonic boom, pulsing throughout the lab and pinning him down to the floor. He’d never felt such physical pain before, but the worst part was the terror blooming inside his chest, which had him paralyzed and twitching on the floor.
“Caroline!” Reaper bellowed.
Hicks sensed Reaper’s absolute despair through the fog of pain and started to drag himself across the floor, inch by agonizing inch. When he was close enough to reach a hand overhead and touch Reaper, he collapsed, using the last bit of his strength to grab his teammate’s ankle. “I’m here.”
But Reaper didn’t hear him or even acknowledge his presence. And the beginnings of hopelessness bloomed inside Hicks—a hopelessness that was not his own.
“Caroline,” Reaper’s voice was ragged and broken.
Suddenly there were pounding footsteps in the room and Hicks felt Whitney’s hands stroking his cheeks, over and over. “Hicks, hold on. Melissa’s here.”
And then he heard Melissa’s stern voice, “Reaper, move. I need to check her.”
Hicks managed to rasp out. “The sound. Make it stop.”
Melissa stopped running and looked around the room “Hicks, I can’t hear any sound. Can you tell where it’s coming from?”
He used all his strength to point toward the back corner.
Melissa took off. “Whitney, grab that red stick from the counter. Hurry!”
There was the sound of metallic objects moving and clothes scraping as people moved about the room. And then Whitney’s sweet voice, “This?”
“Hand it to me.” Melissa grabbed the wand and swept the back wall. Its beep was barely audible over the shrill screeching. “Here. The digital recorder. It’s on!”
“Melissa, what’s on? I don’t hear anything,” Whitney wailed.
Whitney yanked a small tablet from the table and hit the screen. The wailing stopped instantly and Hicks let his head drop.
Melissa ran to Caroline. “Whitney, I need your help now. Go get that bottle and syringe out of the cabinet on the back wall.”
Whitney hurried to follow her sister’s directions, bringing the syringe to Melissa. “She’s not breathing. Stand back.”
Hicks heard a loud beep and then a thunk. If he could open his eyes, he was sure he would’ve seen Caroline flop on the floor as Melissa tried to shock her back to life. Reaper moaned and Hicks’s gut tightened.
“Clear.” Buzz. Thunk.
“Whitney, pinch her nose and open her mouth. Two breaths for every ten compressions. Ready?”
Hicks could sense Whitney’s anxiety.
“Caroline, don’t die. Dammit, you’re not allowed to die!” Melissa pumped her chest furiously. If Caroline died, they were all dead. Hicks already felt like his brain was going to implode. Whitney breathed into Caroline’s mouth once. Twice. There was a cough and then the sweet glorious sound of C
aroline dragging air into her lungs.
“Caroline, can you hear me?” Melissa said.
The dark cloud surrounding Hicks eased enough for him to crack open his eyes, though he could barely get a toehold on reality through the pain and discomfort.
Reaper was still on the floor, clutching Caroline’s hand. Caroline’s chest rose and fell in short shallow movements. Melissa pulled open each one of her eyes, shining a small pen flashlight in her pupils. “Caroline, can you hear me?”
“What happened?” Caroline blinked, and through Reaper, Hicks sensed her squeezing his hand.
With a groan, Reaper shoved the Avertons aside and gathered Caroline into his arms. Bowing her over on his knees, he rocked her back and forth, moaning against her neck, “Thank God. Thank God.”
Whitney scrambled over to Hicks and pushed his sweat-dampened hair back from his forehead. “Hicks, are you okay?”
He managed a shaky nod, feeling as if he’d just raced across the entire Earth and back again. It took all of his energy to keep his eyes open and focused on Whitney.
He already knew he loved her, but now he knew what it would be like to lose her. Like a yawning bottomless hole inside of him, as if someone had ripped out his heart and his lungs and shoved his chest cavity full of cold nothingness. He’d felt like he would never see the sunshine again or feel the summer wind on his cheeks.
Hicks dragged her to him on the floor, locking her as tight as he could against his chest. He needed to feel her heart beating. Needed reassurance that she was alive and well. “I love you.”
Any hesitation he’d felt earlier about saying those words was gone. She belonged to him and he knew without a shadow of a doubt he’d give up his life to save her.
“Hicks, I can’t breathe,” she said.
He loosened his hold, allowing her wiggle room but not enough to get away. He still wasn’t strong enough to stand on his own and he couldn’t stand the thought of not touching her. “Caroline?”
“She’s okay. Melissa is checking her. Honestly, I think she’s doing better than her man.”
Mayhem's Desire: Operation Mayhem Page 16