“If I am to succeed in making a super human I must study her to see which alterations took.” Ivanov’s hand groped Kai’s pocket, searching for the chip.
Kai shifted so his forearm pressed under Ivanov’s chin, then lifted so the shorter man’s feet barely touched the floor. “You will—”
Tonelli slammed into Kai from the side. As Kai fell, he felt the scalpel in his hand scrape along the skin on Ivanov’s neck before his arm swung free. Then he lost his grip on the scalpel and it went flying across the room.
He landed on his left side, with Ivanov and Tonelli both piled on top of him. Ivanov’s hands clawed at Kai’s pockets. Tonelli grabbed Kai’s right arm and pulled it behind his back.
Kai’s still-healing shoulder muscles screamed. Fuck. A few more inches and all his hours of physical therapy would go down the drain. He rolled onto his back, pinning Tonelli’s hand beneath him. Then Kai lashed out with his feet, knocking Tonelli into the corner of the operating table.
Tonelli crumpled and lay motionless.
Kai heard a crack, then something sharp jabbed into his left wrist. Damn, that burned. Kai glanced down. The empty vial stuck out of his skin.
Shit. Ivanov had taken the vial, broken it open, and shoved the remainder into his hand. Injecting him with the poison. Kai yanked the glass out and flung it across the room.
Ivanov stood up, his face triumphant. Between his thumb and index fingers he held the microchip. “I have prevailed. You have half an hour before the poison kills you.” He glanced at Tonelli’s inert body. “Leave now and take Mr. Tonelli with you. I will see that you are given the antidote once you are outside these walls.”
Kai raised his hands overhead in surrender position and slowly stood up. The poison burned through his veins like acid, making his mouth water and his stomach churn, but he wasn’t leaving here without Susana and the chip.
The room shook from an explosion farther down the hall.
Ivanov turned his head slightly.
Tonelli launched off the ground, tackling the scientist.
The chip dropped to the floor as Ivanov and Tonelli staggered across the room. Kai scooped up the chip, popped it in his mouth, and swallowed.
Ivanov broke free of Tonelli. He lunged toward Susana.
Kai saw the scalpel in Ivanov’s hand. Saw him aiming at Susana’s throat, and with a roar, Kai charged. He grabbed Ivanov’s wrist, spun the man away from Susana, and twisted, reveling in the crack of breaking bone.
Kai caught the scalpel as it fell from Ivanov’s hand. He pulled Ivanov flush against him, yanked the scientist’s head back, and put the scalpel to the man’s throat.
Susana cried out.
Keeping his grip on Ivanov, Kai met her eyes. Her expression was clouded with pain and fear. “Don’t…kill…him…” she rasped.
No. He needed to do this. It was just. Vengeance for what Ivanov had done to Susana. And what the scientist had done to all the men and women he’d used as test subjects.
But as Kai held Susana’s eyes, he saw something else. Saw her belief in him. Belief that strengthened into something he’d never expected.
“Love…you…” Her eyes backed up her words with a gentle force his savage side couldn’t fight. Kai sighed as some of the intense rage bled away.
He pressed his thumb against Dr. Ivanov’s carotid artery until the man blacked out, then let the man fall to the ground.
“Thank…you…” Susana’s eyes closed.
Heart in his throat, Kai stepped over Ivanov’s body to reach Susana. He pressed his fingers against her throat, desperate to find a pulse.
His relief at finding the faint beat sent him to his knees. He let his forehead rest against the cool metal operating table.
A sound behind him had him whipping around, scalpel held in attack pose.
Two Tonellis knelt over Dr. Ivanov, tying him up with surgical tubing.
Kai blinked and the double image shimmered into one man. Shit. He’d been so focused on Susana, he’d forgotten about the poison. Kai glanced down at his hand. The skin around the wound was red and puffy.
Tonelli stopped and held his palms out in front of him. “Truce. I’m no threat to Susana.”
When Kai didn’t answer, Tonelli shrugged. He lowered his hands and finished securing Ivanov. “What did you do with the chip?”
“Swallowed it,” Kai rasped.
“Ah.” Tonelli stood up and stepped away from Ivanov. “That complicates matters.”
The burning in Kai’s veins spread. Intensified until it felt like he’d swallowed the sun. Sweat ran down his back and he swayed with dizziness.
Dammit, all Tonelli had to do was let him die, then ship his body off to have the chip removed.
Then what would happen to Susana?
Kai’s legs buckled and he hit the ground on his knees. The scalpel fell from his hand.
“Promise me…she won’t be hurt.”
Tonelli’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “I promise.”
Kai gasped as the poison surged into his heart. The last thing he saw was the floor rising up to meet him.
Mark stared at the unconscious bodies of Ivanov and Paterson. Should he wake up the scientist and demand the antidote so he could save Paterson? Or just let the bastard die and have Jamieson remove the chip from his corpse?
Susana whimpered. Her eyes opened and immediately found Paterson. “No!” she struggled to sit up, but she was strapped to the table.
Her eyes met Mark’s. “Is he…dead?”
She was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. They would have made a perfect couple. Except that her eyes were frantic with worry for Paterson. He could practically feel her willing the SSU agent to move. Damn her, why couldn’t she look at him in that way? Like he was her only hope.
Her love.
He could lie and tell her Paterson was dead. Then take her away and start a new life together.
But he didn’t want secondhand affection.
“No. He’s just unconscious. He’s been poisoned.” Mark moved to the table and began unfastening her restraints.
“Please…help him.” Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Mark released the last strap. She tried to roll off the table, but he put his hands on her shoulders. “Stay here. I’ll wake Dr. Ivanov and find out where the antidote is.”
The gratitude in her eyes warmed him. He reached out and smoothed her hair back from her forehead. She flinched and he dropped his hand.
He turned away, angry at the hurt he felt at her reaction.
“Hurts,” she murmured.
He glanced back. Her eyes were closed. She was unconscious again.
Good. Because he didn’t want her seeing how he persuaded Dr. Ivanov to talk.
Ivanov succumbed quickly to Mark’s painful persuasion and wasn’t long before Mark had the antidote in hand. Unfortunately, the scientist hadn’t survived.
Mark jabbed the needle into Paterson’s neck and pressed the plunger. He didn’t know how long it would take for Paterson to recover. He’d forgotten to ask Ivanov that.
The room shook under another explosion.
He had to make a decision quickly. Should he pick up Paterson and try to escape with the man’s unconscious body?
Too risky. The last thing he wanted was to be seen as behaving suspiciously and be shot by an overzealous soldier.
He could call the head of his assault team, ask for a rescue, and explain that Paterson had to come with them. But that would involve explaining that Paterson had swallowed the chip. And he didn’t trust that the man in charge wouldn’t have orders from Jamieson to shoot Mark and take Paterson straight to Jamieson.
Mark sighed. He walked over to Paterson and pulled the two-way radio off the man’s belt. The safest option was to trust the SSU.
Chapter 30
Thursday, Morning
Temporary SSU Research Facility
Georgia, United States
Niko let Jenna lead him toward the tall ir
on gates that surrounded the grounds of the old Victorian mansion. The elegant gables and wide front porch were more suited for a bed and breakfast, but the electrified fence was all about security.
Niko didn’t want to know what secrets the CDC had been protecting on the property before they closed it down. The only things that mattered were that this was Rafe’s new home, and Niko was being kicked out.
He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. He hated leaving Rafe to the mercy of the SSU’s scientists. In order to cure him, they’d treat Rafe like a lab rat. Yeah, Niko knew his brother needed help, but Jesus, it killed him to return Rafe to a situation that would remind his brother of his time as Kaufmann’s prisoner. Niko wanted to be there to support Rafe, let him know he wasn’t alone.
But since Rafe continued to fly into a murderous rage every time he saw Niko, the psychiatrist had banned Niko’s visits. “We suspect Rafe’s been brainwashed to kill anyone from his previous life,” the man had told Niko. “In order to break that conditioning, we need him calm. Besides, his recovery is going to be difficult. He’s barely functioning at the intellectual level of a two-year-old. Do you really think your brother would want you as a witness to his weakness? Let him have his privacy. We’ll call you when it’s safe to return.”
Niko had nearly shoved the psychiatrist against the wall and dared the man to stop him from seeing Rafe. Logically, he got the message. But in his heart?
Hell, no. This was his baby brother. He’d done a piss poor job of protecting Rafe so far. He needed to help his brother through this. But in the end, Jenna had convinced him to give the psychiatrist a chance.
As he neared the gate to the property, Niko stared back at the house. He knew how it felt to look in the mirror and hate the man he saw staring back. He’d wanted to hide from his family when he’d come out from his first undercover assignment, knowing that the violence he’d done to keep his cover had taken him so close to the line between good and evil that some days he hadn’t known which side he stood on. But Rafe hadn’t let him hide. He’d been there, hovering just out of sight sometimes, but always letting Niko know of his support.
Niko wanted to return the favor.
Fuck. Leaving felt too much like abandonment. Maybe he should just march back inside and tell the doctors to go to hell.
“How’s your eye?” Jenna asked.
Niko shrugged. He’d gone in to say good-bye and Rafe had thrown another fit, snapping his restraints and attacking Niko. The discomfort from his black eye and other bruises would soon disappear. Not so the memory of his brother’s face.
Jesus, he’d seen men in drugged rages before, but he’d never seen anything like Rafe’s wild, single-minded destruction. For the first time, he wondered if Rafe was too far gone for help. “What if…they can’t cure him?”
Jenna put her arms around him. “They—”
“Mr. Andros!”
A woman in a white lab coat ran toward them across the grass. Her dark blonde bob swung sharply against her chin. She looked vaguely familiar.
She stopped in front of him. “Mr. Andros, I’m glad I caught you.”
“Has something happened to Rafe?” Niko demanded. Shit. He knew it. He should never have left Rafe alone.
“What? Oh…no. Your brother is still unconscious from the sedative they shot him with. The doctor is examining him. That’s not why I came.” Her eyes bounced away and she tugged down the sleeves of her coat. “I’m Dr. Gabrielle Montague. The—”
“You’re the one who worked at Kaufmann’s lab.”
She nodded. “I’m so sorry. I’m the one who gave your brother the layout of Kaufmann’s lab for his return mission. I never thought…I never would have…” Her fingers twisted and un-twisted her left jacket cuff.
Her eyes sought his, pleading for forgiveness. Hell, there was nothing to forgive. She’d done the right thing, giving the SSU the information to launch a second assault on the lab. “It’s not your fault. Rafe knew there was danger. It’s part of his job.”
Christ, that sounded lame. But it was true. Rafe hadn’t known he’d end up as a test subject, but without a doubt he would have led the attack even if he’d been forewarned. “The other subjects deserved to be rescued from Kaufmann’s torture. That’s why he went back. Rafe couldn’t turn his back on those men.”
Dr. Montague turned her head away, but not before Niko saw the tears welling in her eyes.
“I…your brother is a very special man. We…uh…grew close…before he…”
Jenna reached out and gave the woman a one-armed hug.
The gesture seemed to give Dr. Montague strength. She straightened her spine and looked Niko squarely in the eye. “I’m heading the team who will be treating him. I promise you this. I will not stop until he’s whole again.”
“Thank you.”
“And…I know it must seem wrong that you’re not allowed to be here. I’m not sure I agree with the philosophy, but that’s not my call. I just wanted to let you know that he won’t be alone. The agent who is retrieving the chip, Kai Paterson, he’s your brother’s friend, right?”
Niko nodded.
“He’ll be my co-leader when he returns. And…I think…I hope…Rafe will recognize me, too.” The last part was said so quietly, Niko knew she hadn’t really meant for him to hear it.
She plunged her hand into her coat pocket and pulled out a business card. “Here’s my cell phone number. Call me any time you have questions or just want an update.”
Knowing he had someone to keep him updated on Rafe eased Niko’s need to storm to his brother’s rescue. Between Kai and Dr. Montague, Rafe was in capable, compassionate hands. “Thanks. Promise me you’ll call if there’s any change at all.” He dug around in his own pockets, but he couldn’t find any business cards. Dammit, when he’d left home to chase after Rafe he hadn’t planned on networking.
“Here,” Jenna said. “This has both our cell phone numbers on it.”
Thank God for his organized wife.
Dr. Montague grabbed onto the card. “I swear, I’ll keep you updated.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to get back. Good-bye”
Niko watched her go. He remembered Rafe’s good spirits after his team had brought Dr. Montague to the SSU. At the time, he’d suspected Rafe of having an affair with the pretty doctor. Now he was certain. “What do you think?”
“I think Rafe made another conquest,” Jenna said with a smile. “She’s in love with him. She’ll fight harder for him than anyone else on the team except Kai.”
“Yeah.” And it went a long way toward easing his pain at having to leave his brother behind.
Thursday, Afternoon
Moscow, Russia
“You’re wanted in connection to the firebombing of Susana Dias’s archaeological dig in Brazil, and the death of SSU agent Enrique Gonzales,” Ryker told Mark across a secure phone connection. “Turn yourself in to me,” he continued. “Give me the name of the man behind Kaufmann’s lab and I’ll work to clear you of all charges.”
So Jamieson had cast him in the role of scapegoat, had he? Mark let his outrage simmer. He didn’t like being used. And he hadn’t intended for Jamieson to kill Gonzales, only to put him somewhere safe from the SSU. The man had provided a great deal of useful information to Mark over the years and helped undermine the SSU’s status in the private special operations community. He’d deserved better than having his throat cut and being dumped in a rough Moscow neighborhood.
“No,” he told Ryker. Mark stepped up to the window of the suite’s master bedroom, aware that the SSU agents in the other room blocked his escape. Ryker’s men had arrived at Ivanov’s compound just as the Russian security agents who’d accompanied Paterson had finished securing the place. One group of Ryker’s men had grabbed Susana and Paterson and rushed off to a medical center, while another group brought Mark to this hotel while the team decided what to do with him.
“It’s not safe—” Ryker started.
“I know. But if word
gets out that I’m with the SSU, my boss will cover his trail. You’ll never get him.” On the streets down below, Muscovites went about their business, unaware that Mark was about to make the most important decision of his life.
He opened his palm and stared down at the tiny microchip. He’d taken it out of one of the machines in Ivanov’s lab while he’d waited for help to arrive. It looked enough like Nevsky’s chip to fool Jamieson.
He hoped.
“I have a decoy chip,” he told Ryker. “My boss doesn’t know Paterson swallowed the real chip. He’ll talk to me.”
“So?”
Mark closed his fingers over the chip. “You need more than just my word. Even if I tell you his name, it will take time for you to find evidence against him. I can get it for you.” He needed to do this.
He’d known when Jamieson approached him three years ago that Kerberos pushed the envelope of legality. He had no problem with that. Most of the rules pertaining to the intelligence community were put in place by frightened politicians who rode the latest liberal wave in order to avoid being defeated at the polls. As a result, the existing laws favored the criminals, despite repeated assurances to the contrary.
Mark had looked forward to working for a group that didn’t have to adhere to those laws. He’d spent his whole life bending the rules, even breaking them when it suited him and when no one could take action against him.
Molding the world to suit his needs.
He’d turned his head from some pretty nasty scenarios over the years. Been involved in a couple of situations that turned his stomach in order to get closer to the men who’d murdered his father. Made certain that the murderers died in as painful a way as possible.
He’d vowed to do anything Jamieson wanted to get the name of the man who’d ordered his father’s death, so he could complete the vengeance he’d promised as his father lay dying.
But the shock of what he’d seen at Ivanov’s lab still reverberated through him. Violence he understood, even approved of under the right conditions. At the core, however, he considered himself a civilized, erudite man. Human in the best sense of the word.
No matter what morally questionable acts he’d committed in his life, the people Mark dealt with always retained their biological integrity at the end.
Betrayal (SSU Trilogy Book 2) (The Surgical Strike Unit) Page 29