Breeding Evil

by Liz Wolfe

  “Five point seven miles due west of your current loca—” Static garbled Ethan’s voice again. “—three boulders set in a triangle.”

  “We can be there in two hours tops,” Shelby said.

  “What? I can’t hear you over the static.”

  “Two hours,” Shelby repeated. The phone crackled and went dead.

  “Ethan’s sending a helo for us. About six miles from here.”

  “Did the agents get them to headquarters?”

  “I don’t know. We had a bad connection. I could hardly hear him.”

  Mac grinned at her then moved closer. “Hey, cheer up. We’re going to be rescued.” He leaned down and planted a soft, seductive kiss on her lips.

  “I told you we’re not doing this.”

  “We aren’t doing anything. It’s just a friendly kiss.” He kissed her again and then traced her lips with his finger. It was all she could do not to lean into him. She managed a severe frown.

  “Let’s get moving.”

  They kept up a pretty good pace and made the extraction point in an hour and a half. No helo yet, and she didn’t know where it would be coming from or how long they would have to wait. They sat in the shade of one of the large boulders and drank the last of their water. She wished they had another bottle to tide them over until the helo showed up and was relieved when she heard the familiar thwapping sound of helo blades in less than half an hour.

  Seconds later the helo appeared from behind them. A standard Bell Jet, black with no markings. Exactly what she expected. She moved away from the rock and waved her arms. The helo made a tight circle and landed about thirty yards from them.

  They grabbed their packs, ran toward the helo, and climbed in. There were two men on board in addition to the pilot, all three of them dressed in cammies.

  That was unusual. Unless there was a need for camouflage, FSA helo teams usually wore dark blue jumpsuits. And these guys were wearing jungle cammies. If cammies had been called for, they’d certainly be wearing desert cammies.

  She glanced at the biggest man standing next to the door. His left ear lobe sported a small gold cross earring. FSA agents weren’t allowed to wear earrings on assignment unless it was part of their undercover persona.

  They’d just gotten on a helo with the enemy.

  Crap.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Man, we’re happy to see you guys!” Shelby turned toward the rear of the helo and deliberately stumbled into Mac. His arms automatically went around her, and she pressed her mouth to his ear so the men wouldn’t hear her.

  “These men are not FSA. Probably from The Center.”

  Mac cursed under his breath and tightened his grip. “You sure?” he whispered.

  Shelby nodded and pulled him down to the seat next to her with their packs on their laps. She pulled her gun out of the waistband of her shorts and pressed it into Mac’s hand under the cover of their packs.

  Mac and she were in the rear seats of the helo. One man was in the center seat; another in the front with the pilot. Both men carried semi-automatic rifles. The only chance they had was to get the rifle away from the man nearest them. At least then they’d both be armed against only one of them.

  The man sitting next to the pilot exchanged a look with the man in front of them. He then turned back around and seemed to relax. He let his rifle rest across his legs. The man in the middle seat propped the butt of his rifle on the seat next to him and held it loosely.

  Sloppy. Careless. Perfect opportunity for Shelby.

  She desperately needed to tell Mac what she wanted him to do, but she couldn’t think of how to do that until she remembered him telling her that he and Sam communicated in ASL. American Sign Language, used by the deaf and hearing impaired. She didn’t know much of it, but she could fingerspell a short message to him. She nudged his thigh to bring his attention to her hand. As quickly as she could, she spelled out her message, hoping that she’d gotten the letters correct and that he understood.

  Mac nodded and gripped the gun a little more tightly. At her nod, he pressed the gun into the man’s neck as she grabbed the rifle from him.

  He grunted in surprise, and his leg kicked out to hit the back of the seat in front of him. The man next to the pilot turned abruptly, his rifle poised. But Shelby already had the rifle she’d taken from his partner aimed at him.

  “You don’t really want a gun fight in a helo, do you?” She was relieved that his eyes showed resignation. She climbed into the middle seat and took his rifle. Mac held her gun on the man and rummaged in his pack, coming up with a roll of duct tape that Mel had included in their supplies. He tied up the man’s hands, pushed him into the back seat and taped up his ankles. Shelby moved over and motioned the one sitting next to the pilot to climb into the rear seat and let Mac tape his wrists and ankles.

  “Turn it around.” She pressed the rifle barrel into the pilot’s shoulder to provide encouragement. The helo swung around and headed north.

  Shelby punched Ethan’s speed dial number into her cell phone. He answered on the first ring.

  “Where are you? The helo just called to say you weren’t at the extraction point.”

  “A helo showed up. We got on. Turned out to be people from The Center. How the hell are these guys finding out where I am?”

  “I assume you have control of the helo now?” Ethan asked.

  “Call the Flagstaff Police and tell them to meet us at the airport.” She had to yell into the phone for Ethan to hear her over the noise of the helo. The rest of the conversation could wait until they landed. She closed the phone and turned to the pilot. “You know where the Flagstaff airport is?”

  An hour later, the three men were in custody, and Mac and Shelby were sitting in a small office in the Flagstaff Police Department sipping bitter coffee from chipped mugs. She punched Ethan’s speed dial number into her cell phone.

  “Ethan, how the hell did The Center know where we were and that we were expecting a helo?”

  Ethan sighed heavily. “The same way they knew we were picking up Zoe, Shannon, and Sam at Mel’s.”

  “Oh, no.” She felt sick. Her stomach rolled over, and she swallowed hard. “Please don’t tell me they took them.”

  “When the agents got them to the airport, they were ambushed. One agent is dead; the other is in serious condition.”

  “Someone in the FSA is keeping The Center informed.”

  “I’ll find out who it is.”

  “You do that,” she snapped.

  “When will you be arriving in Denver?”

  “I won’t. My job is to extract Shannon and Sam. And Zoe.”

  “We’ve been watching The Center. They didn’t take them back there.”

  “That’s not really a surprise, is it?” Thomas and Carlson wouldn’t be stupid enough to go back to The Center. She’d have to figure out where they were.

  “I think you should come back to headquarters, Shelby. We can find out where they took them and go after them again.”

  “I think I’d rather handle this my own way.”

  “Shelby, this is not sanctioned—”

  “Sanction this, Ethan.” Shelby snapped her cell phone shut and turned to Mac. His face was pale, his brow furrowed. “I’m sorry, Mac.”

  “How do we find them?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, but we will.”

  They begged a ride from the police, and half an hour later, they were escorted to a large suite on the third floor of the Flagstaff Inn Suites Hotel. Mac graciously offered to let her have the shower first, and she decided to let him be a gentleman about it.

  The hot water relaxed her muscles, and she let her mind drift, not focusing on anything in particular. After fifteen minutes of steamy relaxation, she wrapped herself in the thick, terry robe the hotel provided, stuffed her clothes in a plastic bag, and joined Mac in the sitting room.

  “Change into this, and I’ll send our clothes down to be laundered.” She tossed a second robe at him.
Mac caught the robe and sat on the sofa while he pulled off his boots and socks. She didn’t want to view the rest of his undressing, so she pulled her laptop out of her pack and plugged it into the high-speed Internet connection at the desk. When she heard Mac close the bathroom door, she gathered up his clothes and added them to hers. She then called room service to pick them up.

  By the time Mac emerged from his shower looking better than she’d ever thought possible, the clothes were on their way to the hotel laundry and she was reading the preliminary analysis of The Center’s files that Ethan had emailed to her.

  Mac walked up behind her, and she felt his hands on her shoulders as he leaned over. “What’s it say?”

  “This is just a preliminary report. They haven’t unencrypted all the files yet. But, evidently, The Center is trying to create meta-humans with phenomenal psychic abilities. It says something about recessive and dominant genes.”

  Mac leaned over her shoulder to read the report. “It seems that if both parents have a certain pair of recessive genes, then they’ll have a child with some psychic ability. But there are also some dominant genes involved.”

  “I don’t understand all the biology of it, but it says something about two parents who have psychic ability and also carry the recessive genes.”

  “According to their research, chances are excellent that in that situation, the child would have outstanding psychic abilities and also carry the recessive gene.” Mac kneaded her shoulders, and it felt just too good to ask him to stop.

  “Sam?”

  “I think so. Chase and Shannon must have both the recessive and dominant genes necessary to produce a child with outstanding psychic ability.”

  “Do you think they knew Chase was Sam’s father?”

  “Shannon didn’t tell them, and Chase didn’t know that he had a son. They could have done a DNA test. I think Chase was just there trying to find Shannon. The Center was interested in him because he had psychic ability.”

  “Look at this.” Shelby pointed to the screen. “They have some notes about certain drugs being able to enhance psychic ability.”

  “All this is very frightening. And useless. What we need to do is get Shannon and Sam away from them.”

  “Zoe and Chase too. I promised Shannon I’d get Chase out.” Shelby’s email program kept dinging and blinking, telling her she had new email. She could imagine who it was from. She suppressed a sigh and opened the email from Ethan.

  “Ethan wants to talk to me.”

  “Are you going to call him?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t really believe Ethan is giving information to The Center. He has no reason to.”

  “That you know of.”

  “True. Still, Shannon is his wife’s best friend.” She shook her head. “I’m certain there’s a mole in the FSA, but I’m also certain that it isn’t Ethan.”

  “Then talk to him.”

  “Why don’t you order us some dinner. I’m starved.”

  “And we aren’t exactly dressed to go out.” Mac picked up the phone. “What’s your pleasure?”

  “Red meat and lots of it. Something green for my health, and something sinfully rich and sweet for my psyche.” She moved away from Mac and punched in Ethan’s home phone number. It was after seven, and she was hoping he’d be home.

  “Shelby!”

  “Hey, Ethan.”

  “I’m glad you called.”

  “I didn’t want to talk to you at the office.”

  “I understand. Don is having the offices swept for bugs tonight.”

  “You think that’s it?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I guess I’d rather believe that than think that someone inside the FSA is a traitor. Besides, most of the information that’s been leaked has only been discussed between us on the phone, or between Don and myself. I can’t quite believe that Don is the mole.”

  “So, what is the FSA doing about locating Zoe, Shannon, and Sam?”

  “Everything we can, which isn’t nearly enough.” Ethan paused, cleared his throat. “The doctors have definitely left the area. The Center appears to be closed up.”

  “Have you sent anyone in?”

  “We’re sending in a team in a few days. But, we don’t expect to find anything.”

  “Why aren’t you sending someone in sooner?” Shelby asked.

  “I don’t have any qualified agents available.”

  “You need to step up your recruitment program, Ethan.”

  “I need you. You’re worth any three agents currently at my disposal.”

  “You’ve got me. But I’m doing this my way.”

  “No argument. So where are you, and what’s your next move?”

  Shelby hesitated and hated herself for that. If she couldn’t trust her handler, then she was already dead. “We’re at the Flagstaff Inn Suites. Just for tonight. Tomorrow, I’m going back to The Center. Maybe I’ll find something.”

  “I hope so.” Ethan sounded weary and frustrated.

  “I’ll let you know.”

  “Watch your back, Shelby.”

  “Yeah, you watch it too.” She turned off her cell phone and called the concierge desk to order a rental car for the following morning. There was a knock at the door, and Mac let room service in with their dinner. Shelby ordered the car and sat down at the table. Mac had followed her instructions to the letter. Filet Mignon, steamed asparagus, new potatoes swimming in butter and parsley. She was pretty sure the uncovered dish contained the dessert she’d requested. Even better, there was an ice bucket with a bottle of very good champagne. Mac was going to try to seduce her.

  It worked, but really, she didn’t know if it was the champagne or the Death by Chocolate dessert.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Shelby and Mac were on the road before six the following morning. She knew there was no one at The Center, but she was still anxious to get there. Mac didn’t grumble about the early hour. Better yet, he didn’t mention the fact that she’d broken her rule about not getting involved with anyone during an op. Although, really, it wasn’t an op—it was a job, a case. She wasn’t an FSA agent now, but a private investigator. She needed different rules.

  Not far outside of Flagstaff, she noticed a car following them. Of course, anyone leaving Flagstaff heading south would be on Highway Seventeen. And there really was no reason to suspect that anyone would be following them. The Center had pulled up and moved. She didn’t know where they were, so why would they have someone following them? Then again, why not?

  “You keep checking the rearview mirror,” Mac said.

  “There’s been a car behind us for some time. Probably nothing to worry about.”

  “Then why do you keep looking at it?”

  “Force of habit.” The car edged over to the middle line of the road. “Looks like he’s going to pass us.” They were on a straight stretch of road, so she slowed a little to give the car a chance to pass before they hit a curvy stretch.

  “Good. One less thing to worry about.” Mac glanced at the car behind them. “Isn’t he coming up pretty fast?”

  “The Highway splits into two lanes up ahead.” She nodded toward the sign at the side of the road and slowed the car a little more. The car following them kept gaining speed but didn’t move into the passing lane. “Mac, make sure your seatbelt is fastened.”

  “Oh, boy.”

  Shelby moved into the right lane, designated for slower traffic, and kept an eye on the car. It stayed in the left lane but made no move to pass them. The car crept up to a position just behind Shelby. She looked over the rail, and her stomach clenched. If she’d wanted to run a car over the edge of a steep embankment, it was exactly what she’d do. Stay behind and to the left, then bump the rear fender of the car just as it went into a curve.

  “What the hell is he doing?” Mac glanced back at the car again.

  “I think he’s going to try to run us off the road.”

  “Oh. I’d rather not have that experience.”
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  Shelby speeded up, thinking to move into the left lane, but the car moved with her, leaving no room to move over. She slowed down, and the car slowed with her.

  “He’s definitely messing with us.” She spared a glance at Mac. “Brace yourself.”

  The car dropped back, then sped up and plowed into the rear left bumper. Shelby and Mac slammed against their seatbelts, and she worked to pull the car out of the fishtail he’d thrown them into.

  “Mac, look in my backpack. There’s a knife in one of the outside pockets.” Mac reached over the seat and grabbed her pack. He checked all the outside pockets until he came up with the knife.

  “Now what?”

  “Eventually he might hit us hard enough to set off the airbags. If that happens, you need to cut mine, so it deflates immediately.”

  Mac looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. Probably a fairly normal reaction. “What if I stab you instead?”

  “Don’t aim for me. Just hold the knife in your left hand. When you hear a really loud noise, stab in the direction of the steering wheel.”

  “Do you think it’s someone from The Center?”

  “Who else would try to run us off the road?” She kept moving her eyes from the road to the rearview mirror. With the angle of the rising sun, she couldn’t be sure, but it looked like there were two people in the car.

  Suddenly, the rear window of the car exploded, and Shelby felt a sharp, stinging pain in her left arm. Mac reacted according to her instructions and stabbed at the steering wheel, narrowly missing her right hand.

  “Mother of crap!” Shelby glanced at her arm. The white shirt was ripped and beginning to turn red with blood. These guys were really pissing her off.

  “Hang on!”

  Mac nodded and lowered the knife in his hand.

  She slowed, and the car behind her slowed. There was a sharp curve coming up, and the car slowed even more, getting into position behind her. No doubt it would slam into them again just as they got to the curve. Shelby waited until they were just going into the curve and punched the gas, shooting ahead of the car. They sped up again, and she kept most of her attention on the rearview mirror. She hit the brakes hard with her left foot and a split second later punched the gas with her right.