Nexus: Ziva Payvan Book 2

by EJ Fisch

  When the elevator door opened onto the recovery floor, Kade found himself in the middle of a war zone. Alarms blared at the nurses’ station and he was forced to leap out of the way as a team of medical personnel sprinted by with a crash cart hovering on repulsors. Startled by the sudden change in atmosphere, he regained his footing and glanced up at the readings on the monitor that had triggered the alarm. He recognized the room number immediately.

  Within a split second Kade was hot on the nurses’ heels, jogging along behind the crash cart. He pulled up short when he reached Spence’s room, stunned by the din created by the wailing machines and shouting doctors. A voice in the back of his mind commanded him to retrieve his data pad before it got broken or lost, so he moved forward and snatched it up out of the chair moments before it was shoved out of the way to make room for the crash cart.

  “He’s in v-fib!” someone shouted just as Kade opened his mouth to ask what was happening.

  A firm hand took hold of his arm and he looked over to see the young nurse gazing up at him, all signs of her playful behavior gone. “Agent Shevin, we need you to move out of this area.”

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “He’s gone into cardiac arrest,” she said, cut off by a high-pitched screeching before she could elaborate further. “Please, you need to move away.”

  Kade complied, eyes fixed on the flat line that stretched across Spence’s heart rate monitor as he shuffled toward the door. Based on what little he could see through the crowd of staff and medical bots, the man wasn’t responding to any of their interventional procedures. According to the incident reports, the shard of glass from the windshield had been lodged dangerously close to his heart, but his surgery had been successful and he’d seemed fine while Kade was visiting with him. He wondered how stable he’d been while the other agents questioned him, and he was stricken with the realization that neither of them were currently in the room.

  The hairs on the back of Kade’s neck stood on end as he ventured out into the hallway and swept his gaze from side to side, searching for any sign of the two agents he’d seen entering Spence’s room only minutes before. They were nowhere in sight, but the knowledge that they were the last people to have seen Spence alive sent Kade racing toward the back stairs they’d come up earlier. He burst through the door and paused to listen. The echo of faint footsteps carried up from the bottom of the stairwell; whose they were remained a mystery, but it was a mystery he intended to solve.

  Moving as fast as possible, Kade began the seemingly endless trek down the ten flights of stairs, pausing to peer over the edge of the railing every so often. A door at the bottom dumped him out into a small parking area for med center staff. He shielded his face from the light rain that was falling and darted to the right, sprinting along the edge of the building and glancing about for any signs of life. There didn’t seem to be anyone around, much less the two agents he searched for. He pulled up when he reached the corner and found himself staring out at the busy street and the towering structures of central Haphor.

  Cursing under his breath, he turned and made his way back toward the door. Whoever these mysterious visitors were, Kade was reasonably sure they’d just murdered Spence. And whoever they were, they were long gone.

  -25-

  Tarbic Residence

  Noro, Haphez

  Ziva had already taken the liberty of putting her clothes and the riding suit through Aroska’s laundry system and was glad to once again be wearing her own things. She’d risked a brief trip out of the house, disguised in the suit, and had traveled down the street to a market on the corner that had seen better days. There she had carefully selected some particular herbs and supplements, as well as a few general grocery items to stock Aroska’s cooler. She had barely eaten in the past thirty hours, and if she was going to be staying in his house she wanted something other than the unidentifiable slime she’d discovered during her earlier investigating.

  Now, after returning to the house and making herself at home again, Ziva stood in the kitchen and finished crushing up one of the plants she had purchased. She scraped the depleted leaves into the trash compactor and dumped the juices into the bowl containing the rest of the solution she’d already created. It had taken on a reddish-brown tint and it made her eyes smart as she mixed in the new ingredients. She’d learned the recipe from Marshay but had never been brave enough to try the stuff herself – the word was it could work miracles on anyone in need of a complete system cleanse. The smell alone told her it worked.

  She finished stirring and poured some of the chunky mixture into a glass, placing the remainder in the cooler. She carried the glass gingerly down the hall to the lavatory, where she found Aroska exactly as she had left him. He was secured to a chair within the walls of the shower, head drooping, clothes still stained with vomit and sweat.

  His head was bobbing gently from side to side and he was murmuring under his breath. When he didn’t react to Ziva’s presence, she passed the glass under his nose. For a moment he stopped moving, then he turned away to escape the stench. Finally he came to his senses and gazed up at her with furrowed eyebrows and eyes that were still bloodshot.

  “What the hell is that?” he muttered.

  “It’s what you’re going to drink in the next five seconds unless you want me to force it down your throat.”

  Aroska eyed the gritty substance and started to stand up before realizing he was tied to the chair. He swore. “Ziva, what are you doing to me?”

  “I told you I’m putting you through detox,” she said. “Or were you too wasted to pay attention?”

  “I’m fine,” he protested.

  “You spent an hour wallowing in your own vomit, and you just spent another hour tied to a chair in your shower without even knowing it. You’re not fine. Now drink this.”

  He began to refuse, but Ziva was already too impatient to allow him the luxury. She shoved his chair backward, tipping it against the shower wall and tilting his head back. Taking his jaw in her left hand, she pried his mouth open and held the glass to his lips. He hollered like a child – or perhaps an old man refusing medication – and bit down on her fingers, drawing blood as the disgusting herbal mixture fell in. When the glass was empty Ziva let it drop to the floor and ripped her hand from his mouth. She moved it up to the top of his head and placed the other under his chin, holding his jaw shut.

  “Swallow it!” she hissed in his ear.

  Tarbic struggled against her, but his restraints held him fast. He sputtered and coughed, enabling some of the concoction to escape out over his chin. Finally he clamped his eyes shut and allowed the contents of his mouth to drain down his throat.

  Ziva released him and shook her sore fingers, cursing under her breath. She stepped back and crossed her arms, bracing herself for the barrage of verbal attacks she expected from the man.

  Aroska swore again. “What was that?” he exclaimed, still sputtering. He spit down into the shower drain.

  “It contains herbs and laxatives that will go to work on your system,” she said. “You might want to make yourself comfortable in here. By tonight there won’t be anything left inside you.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “You just can’t get it through your head can you? I’m counting on you to help me. What happened to the charming Aroska Tarbic who used to jump at the opportunity to help a damsel in distress?”

  “I would hardly consider you a damsel in distress, Ziva. You killed my brother.”

  Ziva laughed out loud. “Oh, where did that come from?”

  “I told you I’d never be able to forgive you.”

  “Right. I think this is the hangover talking.”

  Aroska shook his head. “Why should I help you? What would I get in return?”

  “You help me and I’ll help you get clean.”

  “What if I’m not interested in getting ‘clean’?”

  “Look at yourself, Aroska,” Ziva said. “This isn’t you. This i
sn’t the field ops lieutenant I knew two months ago. That’s the man I came to for support, not the one sitting in front of me right now. The way I see it, you should be flattered that I was even willing to seek you out.” She knelt down and began loosening his restraints. “Now sit tight. We’ve both got a long way to go, but you’re going to have to take the first step.”

  She left him there.

  -26-

  Royal Guard Headquarters

  Haphor, Haphez

  Supervisory Special Agent Luko Zona looked up from his work when he heard a gentle rap on the frame of his office door. There stood Kade Shevin, pale as a ghost, looking deeply troubled. The fact that something was on his mind was as clear as it would have been if the words were tattooed on his forehead. Zona was growing weary of listening to the young agent’s opinions about the case, but nevertheless he motioned toward the empty chair on the other side of his desk.

  “Shevin,” he greeted. “Back already?” Zona had hoped the errand to the med center would have kept him out of the office a bit longer – the boy needed some fresh air.

  When Kade made no move to respond, Zona saved his work and logged out of his computer terminal, guessing the young man was there to discuss the events of the past two days. He had, after all, promised to speak further with Kade about the assassination, though he wasn’t entirely sure what more there was to talk about.

  “You got a statement from Spence?” he confirmed, hoping to coax some signs of life out of Shevin.

  “I did,” Kade responded, his voice dry as if he hadn’t spoken or even opened his mouth for some time.

  Zona shrugged and leaned back in his chair, lifting his feet up to rest on the surface of the desk. “And?”

  The instant Shevin glanced nervously to the door, Zona knew something wasn’t right. A disconcerting air suddenly settled over the office, and he was overcome by the urge to pull his feet back down.

  “Shevin?” he said. “What happened?”

  “Did we have any more of our people scheduled to go question Spence today?” Kade finally asked.

  “No one else from the RG,” Zona answered. “The Agency might be sending someone out.” He paused, troubled by the question. “Why?”

  Kade all but leapt to his feet and ran to the door, pounding the controls with a fist. He spun around as it slid shut, eyes crazed. “Sir, Spence is dead! The med center just confirmed it.”

  Zona wasn’t sure what he was hearing. “He didn’t make it? I thought you said—”

  “You don’t understand, sir. I’m almost positive he was murdered.”

  Of course something like this had to happen on his watch. Zona placed his hands in his hair and leaned forward with his elbows on his desk, letting out a deep breath. “Okay Shevin, slow down. What the hell are you talking about?”

  Kade began relaying the events – in great detail, Zona observed – starting from the time he’d left the RG Headquarters. He presented the data pad bearing Spence’s statements at the appropriate time, but at the moment Zona was more interested in hearing the rest of the story than reading it.

  “They must not have known I saw them go in,” Kade concluded after another few moments of thorough explanations. “Spence was fine when I saw him. When I came back, he was dying and those agents were gone. They were the only common factor.”

  Zona rubbed his hands over his face and left them there until his mind stopped racing. Shevin was renowned throughout the RG office for forming his own ideas and theories about cases, so this situation was nothing new. The young man tried hard, so very hard, and Zona had never known him to be dishonest. He had, in a sense, taken the boy under his wing upon his arrival at the Royal Guard, recognizing both his skill as an agent and his work ethic. It was times like this that made him question his decision to bring Kade along so quickly, but there was always something inside him that prompted him to give the young agent a second chance no matter how ludicrous his beliefs were. But this was probably his fifth or sixth chance. Zona had lost count.

  Still, it was troubling to think of what was going on behind the scenes if the story checked out. “How do you know Spence’s heart didn’t fail because of his injuries? Are you saying these people killed him with cardiac arrest?”

  “It’s possible isn’t it? They could have given him something. We’ll know for sure after the autopsy.”

  “What makes you so sure they were HSP?”

  Shevin leaned forward in his chair, shifting his thumbs around and swallowing hard. “It was one of those things you just know, you know? Something about them, the way they moved, the weapons they carried…I just knew.”

  “So they were dirty HSP agents and not private contractors?”

  “Please, sir,” Kade said, his indigo eyes insistent. “No matter who they were, they killed one of our people. Don’t you think we should at least find out why? Did they not want him talking?”

  Zona agreed wholeheartedly, or almost. The problem at this point was the fact that Emeri Arion and the mother agency in Noro were set on the decisions they had made and questioning them in any way would be looked upon with suspicion. Payvan had murdered Tachi, the evidence confirmed it, and a person would have to be crazy to believe otherwise. He was already worried about what would happen to Kade if he kept up this game he was playing. He didn’t need his own head on the chopping block when he was supposed to be running an investigation.

  He leaned over his desk again and looked the young man squarely in the eyes. “Tell you what, Shevin. You go and look through surveillance feeds from the med center and see what you can find. Get me a positive ID on these people, and then we’ll talk.”

  -27-

  Royal Guard Headquarters

  Haphor, Haphez

  Both emboldened and discouraged by Zona’s words, Kade nodded respectfully and left his commanding officer’s office. He knew good and well why the man was leery about his approach to the entire matter, and he couldn’t blame him for being hesitant. The Royal Guard was looked upon as the spoiled little brother in the grand scheme of things, and he was well aware of how the rest of HSP would handle a feeble RG agent if they showed signs of treachery. Normally asking questions wouldn’t have been such an issue. After all, Payvan was legally entitled to have someone try to build a case for her throughout this week; his behavior should be considered normal. But after the appearance – and subsequent disappearance – of the strangers in the med center, Kade was convinced there was more going on than met the eye. The situation was anything but normal.

  The wheels in his head were spinning so fast that when he arrived at his workstation he couldn’t recall how he had gotten there. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Payvan was being set up, but there was no logical explanation for the evidence brought against her. Everything seemed almost too airtight. He blinked into the fiery orange light streaming through the window as Noro began to sink below the city skyline. With a heavy sigh he sat down in his chair, all too eager to get to the bottom of things, one way or another.

  -28-

  Tarbic Residence

  Noro, Haphez

  A bright, undefined light shone through the blurry film over Aroska’s eyes when his eyelids finally parted. He immediately closed them again, wincing against the pain shooting through his head. He ran his tongue over his crusty lips – his mouth felt like someone had stuffed fiber mesh into it and left it there overnight. Drawing a deep breath, he fluttered his heavy eyelids again and now realized he was looking into the warm yellow light of dawn as it poured in through the window. He turned his head lazily to one side and squinted into the sunlight that had managed to break through the clouds for the first time in days. The glass was coated with a thick layer of condensation, the result of all the warm moisture suddenly rising from the ground.

  Unable to discern exactly what time it was, Aroska moaned and flopped over onto his stomach. He could feel that he was indeed wearing his pajama pants, but he was lying uncovered on top of his made bed. The bedroom smelled so
ur like vomit, and he vaguely remembered stumbling in, changing out of his soiled clothes, and collapsing onto the bed without so much as a second thought.

  His head felt as though it weighed a ton, but he felt oddly coherent considering the amount of alcohol he had to have consumed in order to be in this condition. He lay perfectly still for a moment, straining to remember what had happened. The realization that this was no ordinary hangover hit him when he felt his stomach rumble with hunger. Everything came rushing back to him at that exact moment as if he had just awakened from a long and puzzling dream. Ziva had come, she had used his shower, they had talked, and she had forced him to drink that awful concoction. He thought he could still taste the stuff in the back of his mouth.

  Groaning again, Aroska sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, feeling the carpet between his toes as he placed the heels of his hands in his eye sockets and held them there for a moment before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He could feel his arms trembling involuntarily, no doubt the result of low blood sugar. Ziva had been right when she’d explained the consequences of drinking her mysterious mixture – Aroska had no desire to relive his experiences in the lavatory the previous night.

  He stood up, feeling a bit light-headed but otherwise better than he had in a long time. As he went to his wardrobe, he recalled the conversation he’d had with Skeet Duvo two months earlier, the conversation that had taught him what he considered one of the most important lessons he’d ever learned: Ziva was always right. As much as he hated to acknowledge it, the lesson had continued to manifest itself every time he’d been near the woman, and now that she was back, here it was again.

  Aroska selected a lightweight shirt and pulled it over his head, adjusting his deceased brother’s military tags which hung on a chain around his neck. He’d often wondered what Soren would think if he knew his brother had forged a friendship with the sniper who had shot him. He hesitated a moment – no, at this exact point he wouldn’t consider himself friends with Ziva. It was by no means her fault, but he had a lot of frustration built up inside him and she was the best person to take that frustration out on. He pictured it as giving her a taste of her own medicine, and was considering this the second chance the two of them had agreed upon the last time they’d met.