by Becky McGraw
Five minutes later, she decided it was time, and got out of the Hummer. She glanced around and saw the traffic on the campus had thinned considerably. A chill skated down her spine as she walked to the edge of the hedges and peered around them. Fifty yards of open ground stood between her and the front door of the building. Yeah, she had her gun tucked into the waistband of her yoga pants this time, but she couldn’t very well engage in a shootout if she got caught. She took three steps, and stopped when she saw Logan and Fletch come out of the building. They stopped on the stoop for a minute to talk, waving their hands and laughing, before Logan waved at him, skipped down the steps and headed back across the courtyard.
Fletch walked down the steps, made a left away from the truck, and disappeared around the building. Disappointment and relief warred inside of her, as Susan did an about face, walked around the hedges and got back into the truck. A minute later, Logan appeared around the hedges. He got into the driver’s seat of the Hummer, and cranked it then pulled out.
“Did you get the drug?” Susan asked as he eased out onto the road.
“Three vials, and more. A log of who it was given to and when. The mad professor evidently keeps meticulous notes. Fletch dropped all he could find out the window, so we didn’t come out with it in our possession. He went to pick it up and is meeting us at the side of the building.”
Susan’s body relaxed back against the seat. “He could’ve done it alone,” she said with a laugh.
“Yeah, he could have. And I didn’t call him a dummy, it’s just that investigations aren’t his area of expertise. That is what I told him once when he tried to involve himself in that end of an operation. Once. And he’s never forgotten it.”
“A grudge-holder, huh? I’ll bet you came out with it just like that too, so it’s imprinted on his memory.”
“He’s just touchy about people thinking he’s dumb. And yeah, he’s a grudge holder. There are plenty of people he has them against, including the kid who sent him up to juvie by rolling on him. He’s almost thirty-years-old now, but he hasn’t forgotten.”
“That boy better not come around now. Fletch has plenty of backup now with the Deep Six brotherhood,” Susan said, with a laugh.
“It’s not a boy, it’s a girl,” Dave said with a glance over at her. He raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Now, who’s sexist? You think boys are the only ones capable of committing larceny?”
“No, but they certainly are more prone to it,” Susan replied.
“Sexist pig,” Dave teased, as he turned onto a side street and stopped at the curb.
Susan laughed, as Fletch opened the back door and slid into the seat. He reached over the seat to hand her a bag. “This needs to be refrigerated, according to the label, so we need to stop for an ice chest and ice.”
“Thanks,” she said taking it from him. Because the bag was so large, she couldn’t stand not knowing what was in there, so she flicked on the overhead light and opened the brown grocery bag. She stuck her nose inside and saw Petri dishes with slimy, larvae looking material inside stacked along the bottom, and three vials of clear medicine. “What are in these dishes?’ she asked.
“I think it’s embryos, but whatever it is, I figured it might be of interest to the hospital, or whoever we need to give it to for evidence. Thought it could be clones.”
“The log is at the bottom of the sack,” Logan said gruffly. “I found that.”
Fletch snorted. “You found it on the table where I set it while I went into the refrigerator,” he scoffed, and Susan had a feeling it was about to be on again if she didn’t do something to distract them.
“It’s no fair you guys didn’t wait for me. It’s kind of a letdown,” Susan said with a pout. “What if I had gotten to the steps and you weren’t there to open the door for me? So much for following the op plan, right? You two are just renegades.”
“The lab was right inside the entrance, so after Logan took so long to get inside, I figured if we waited for you, we’d get caught.”
“Well, you got the job done and then some, so all’s well, I guess,” She said with a shrug. When silence descended inside the truck, she breathed a sigh of relief.
A few minutes later, Logan pulled into a convenience store and Fletch went inside to get a Styrofoam cooler and a bag of ice. They loaded the bag in the cooler, then headed for the helicopter. Hawk’s first stop was the hospital in San Antonio, where they dropped off Levi and picked up Slade, left a vial of the drug with Tatiana’s doctor, and Susan took a moment to check on her. Tatiana burst into tears when Susan walked through the hospital room door. After a hug and gratitude fest, the girl, who said she was doing much better, told her that an interpreter from the FBI had been in to talk to her, and they were going to help her get home. Susan was relieved when she heard that, and Logan was too.
The next stop was at the hospital where Jenna and Callie were being treated, and it didn’t go nearly as well. Callie was in critical condition, not expected to live. Callie’s mother caught Susan in the hall and was a wreck. Seeing her in that state had ripped out Susan’s heart. Before she’d broken away, Susan had almost had a breakdown herself.
If Jenna had been given more of the drug, Susan would be that woman.
Although Jenna was slightly worse than the last time Susan had seen her, pale and listless with more cramping, she was alive. Now that the doctors there had the drug, they said they could help her. Hopefully, it wasn’t too late for Callie. Susan hadn’t been able to make herself go into the room to see the girl. If Jenna wound up in that situation, she didn’t know what she’d do.
When they left the hospital, Susan was madder than she’d ever been in her life. That clinic, the professor at the college, and everyone involved had used those young women without a consideration for their wellbeing. It was not only unethical, immoral and just wrong, it was criminal. Those bastards had committed assault and attempted murder giving them that unproven drug. In the case of the girl who’d already died, possibly manslaughter or murder.
Even if she died doing it herself, before Susan left that clinic tomorrow night, she was going to make damned sure they had all the evidence they needed to convict those irresponsible assholes, to put them away for life, where they couldn’t hurt anyone else.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Susan dragged herself out of bed when the alarm clock went off and padded to the bedroom door. When they got back to the compound around two in the morning, she’d packed her suitcase to go to the clinic today. She hadn’t packed much, because they were not going to be there long if she had anything to do with it, and if everything went well with the rescue operation the team planned for that night.
She grabbed the doorknob, opened the door and listened for sounds that indicated Logan was in his bedroom or the suite. It was dead silent, so either he was still sleeping, had never come in or had already left. Last night, he’d given her the code to get into the suite, but he hadn’t come with her. Susan had taken the spare bedroom, and locked the door. She didn’t want any misunderstandings between them, and she certainly didn’t want the wound that was trying to heal to be reopened by going there again with Logan. Besides if she didn’t lock the door she felt sure she’d have gone with her first instinct, which was to be in his bed waiting when he decided to come in.
That would have been catastrophic, especially if he turned her away.
This was their last day together, last night would have been their last night. She was excited that this mission was almost over, but she was also sad. Sadder than she’d ever been in her life to leave this compound. But she had to leave for her own sanity.
Going into the bathroom, Susan dropped her robe, took a quick shower and blowdryed her hair, then dressed in the suit she’d laid out for herself last night. A powder blue suit with a swingy skirt. She clipped on the jewelry that matched, and slid into the heels she knew would be pinching her toes in a matter of minutes. This was the last time she was ever wearing stripper heels in her l
ife. She didn’t give a shit if they made her ass look good enough to serve tea on. They just weren’t practical. Neither were the prissy suits she’d probably leave with Logan, along with the ring he’d given her. She and Cee Cee were similar in size. Maybe his girlfriend would come back into the picture and could wear them.
Susan strapped on her thigh holster, checked her weapon, then grabbed her suitcase and rolled it behind her to the door of the suite. She took one last look around and sighed, before she opened the door, dragged out the case, and closed it.
“Here let me get that for you,” Logan said.
Susan turned to see him striding toward her down the hallway dressed like he just stepped out of the pages of GQ Magazine. He didn’t look one bit tired. He was freshly showered and excitement practically buzzed around him like a force field. He stopped in front of her to smile, and the scent of his expensive Dave Lawrence cologne wafted up to her. She inhaled deeply of the citrusy deliciousness.
“Sleep good?” he asked, as if he didn’t realize this was their last day together. Or he just didn’t care. The only one who seemed to be affected by that fact was her.
“Like a baby,” she replied, lifting her chin. “Never better. You’ll have to tell me what kind of mattress is on that spare bed, so I can get one.”
He studied her for a long minute from head to toe, just seemed to be drinking her in with his eyes. “Well, you look good enough to eat, Bunny,” he said gruffly.
His use of that nickname told her he was already in mission mode. But then his head gravitated toward hers, Susan’s lips buzzed and her mouth watered, but he jerked away.
Looking a little shocked, he stuttered, “I’ll save it for the mission, sweet cheeks. We’re not on yet.” He picked up her suitcase and took long strides back down the hallway.
“Bastard,” she grumbled under her breath as she followed him.
Susan walked into the living room and four heads turned her way. The fifth had his nose to the screen of a laptop. If Dave wasn’t bothered, neither was she. He wanted mission mode, that’s exactly what he was going to get from her. “Morning, boys,” Susan said with a pasted-on smile. “So, are we ready to rock that clinic tonight? I can’t wait to get this over with and lose these heels.” She lifted her foot and twisted her ankle to look at them.
Four low-pitched whistles and a growl preceded Slade clearing his throat. “You look amazing, Snapper. I’d say we won’t have to fire a shot. They’ll drop at your feet as you walk by. You’ll be our secret weapon,” he said with a wink.
“No, honey, that’s on the inside of my thighs,” she said with a bright smile, and every man in the room coughed. She grabbed the hem of her skirt and widened her eyes. “Wanna see?” she asked in her Bunny Lawrence, southern belle drawl.
Hawk guffawed, and Dave snarled, “We need to get moving, or we’ll be late for our appointment.”
Everyone scrambled out of the office, and loaded up in Humvees to drive to the helicopter. Logan loaded their suitcases in the lower hatch, and helped her inside, before he took the seat beside her. He leaned over to slide the door closed, and Susan asked, “Aren’t the others coming with us?”
“Hawk is making a second trip later, so they can bring the weapons and equipment they’ll need for tonight,” he replied shortly. “We didn’t have enough room for the weight this trip. It’s too early for them to head out now anyway.”
So that’s how their last day would be spent, being pissed off at each other, she thought, leaning back in the seat with a huff. Susan dragged her eyes out the window to watch the horizon, which was actually beautiful, now that she was a little more comfortable flying. Her eyes got heavier as the whooshing sound of the rotors lulled her. Her head dropped and Susan went to sleep thinking how damned much she’d miss Deep Six men and their fearless leader when she left.
“Wake up, Susan,” Logan said elbowing her in the side. “We’re at the clinic.” Cold air rushed against her side as he stood and opened the door of the helicopter.
Susan dragged her eyes open and yawned, then found Logan standing outside looking in at her, as he impatiently tapped his fingers on his crossed forearms. “This year would be nice, Bunny. I need to get this over with so I can get back to the office.” It was then she saw the man standing beside him, Mario Beschi, with his cold stare in place. She undid her seatbelt, slid out of the seat and took Logan’s hand to get down.
“Why, it’s a pleasure to see you again, Ms. Wh—Lawrence,” Mario said, with a smug smile.
Susan shook her head, and felt like slapping herself, because her hearing must be malfunctioning. Either that or her brain was still asleep. She could’ve sworn that Mario almost called her Ms. Whitmore.
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his cold, flat eyes. “Dr. Warman is very excited to show you some of the new superior genetics he has obtained.”
Obtained by abusing young women too stupid to see what you’re doing here, Susan thought as she put her arm through Logan’s. “I’m sure we’ll be impressed. Please show us to his office,” Logan said haughtily. David Lawrence was back in the house. Not that he hadn’t been present since she’d woken up this morning.
“Of course, Mr. Lawrence,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll send a bellman for your luggage. Right this way,” Mario said nicely.
A little too nicely for Susan’s liking, but Dave clamped his hand over hers on his arm to guide her to the metal roof door, then through it as Mario held it open for them. The door closed behind them, and Susan heard the engines rev on the helicopter. She had this sick feeling in her stomach, and wanted to run right back out that door and ask Hawk to take her with him.
She would rather be on a helicopter going anywhere than here right at this moment. But she had a job to do, and they had to be inside this place to do it. To lay the groundwork for the team to rescue those women tonight. First, they had to figure out where they were being held.
“You know, I want to apologize for all the mishaps we had at the clinic during your last visit with us. Unfortunately, that was a very bad day for us here at Ardmore, and you just picked the wrong day for your visit. I think you’ll find we’ve made appropriate corrections so your stay is more comfortable this time. You’re the only couple here today, so we’ll also have less distractions. That will allow us to give you the attention you deserve,” Mario said, sounding like a used car salesman.
The Italian mobster was awfully verbose and friendly today. He bore no resemblance to the snotty head of security they’d met on their last visit. Maybe Dr. Warman had reamed him out for running off wealthy new customers—potential investors. Or maybe Mario checked out their cover identification himself and now believed Logan was a wealthy Dallas oilman worth billions, so he was sucking up.
But the thought that he’d almost called her Whitmore earlier worried in her brain like a pebble in her shoe, until she squeezed Logan’s arm when they walked into the lobby. He looked down at her, and raised a brow. Her eyes darted to Mario who stopped at the front desk to lean over and whisper something to the attendant. “Did Mario almost call me Ms. Whitmore?”
“I didn’t hear that at all. He called you Lawrence, just like he did me,” Logan replied rolling his eyes. “Don’t borrow trouble, Susan.”
Susan decided right then she was going to keep her trap shut no matter what. They weren’t partners anymore, Logan was running this show. Mario walked back over to them and frowned. “We don’t seem to have your room ready right now. We’ll store your luggage while they make it ready, and you can have your meeting with Dr. Warman.”
“We’d rather shower and rest first,” Logan said.
Anger sparked in Mario’s eyes and his face flushed. “I apologize again, but your options are to sit in the lobby here and wait, or have your meeting with Dr. Warman ahead of schedule.”
“We’ll have our meeting, Mario, thank you. I want to pick our genetics, pookie bear,” Susan drawled, sticking out her lower lip, and Logan’s body tensed. His eyes flew to he
rs, and Susan smiled. “We might as well get that done, so we can choose our surrogate as soon as possible. I’m tired of the delays, I want our baby.”
“Then by all means, let’s go have your meeting with Dr. Warman, Mrs. Lawrence,” Mario said, taking her hand and putting her arm through his. His grip was tighter than necessary, and so was his pace as he almost dragged her through the lobby.
Susan dug in her heels, and pulled her arm from his grasp. “I have on high heels, Mario. I can’t possibly keep up with you.”
“Oh, I think you can, Ms. Whitmore,” Mario said, and ice water replaced the blood in her veins, as he glanced over her shoulder.
Susan spun to find Logan being detained by a huge, brute of a man, obviously Italian. Her arm was jerked up behind her back and a pistol was shoved into her ribs. “It’s time for your meeting with Dr. Warman and his guests.”
“What guests?” Susan said, as Mario turned her and walked her across the lobby to the door marked STAFF ONLY.
He slid his keycard into the slot, then opened the door and dragged her inside. The door slammed shut, before Logan could possibly be inside with her and Susan freaked out. There was no way she was going to allow them to separate her and Logan. Susan lifted her foot and jammed her spiked heel down into Mario’s instep and he yelped. She spun and caught him under the chin with an uppercut, then an elbow to his jaw sent him flying into the wall.