Terror at being bound and incapacitated had her pulling against the cuffs. Her heart felt as if it were about to break out of her chest. She gasped and was slammed against the wall as Jake rushed Fowler. Her forehead snapped against a hard edge, bringing forth a flash of dark then thousands of shooting stars beneath her eyelids. Cassidy shook her head and blinked away the pain. The NWP lackey pointed a gun and fired.
Cassidy screamed. “Let go of me.” A surge of emotion slammed against her chest, and she struggled against her restraints to reach Jake.
Foul breath hit her face-on. “Quit yer whining, bitch. He’s not dead.” Fowler gripped her arm painfully.
Shivers of relief cascaded down her back as she focused on the slumped body of Jake. There was a dart jutting out of his shoulder. A tranquilizer. Cassidy felt her knees buckle and leaned against the wall of the plane for support.
“We have time for a little fun?” The disgusting brute who’d secured her hands ground himself against her backside. She twisted around and planted a solid foot smack into his family jewels.
“Get off me.” She spun on her heel and began another drop-kick, but Fowler intercepted her. He gripped the edge of her foot, twisted, and threw her flat on her back before she could retaliate. The restraints on her arms made an even battle ground difficult. “What,” she gasped, “is going on?”
Fowler knelt and pushed her hair from her face. “Sorry, bitch. You should of just done as you were told in Africa.”
Cassidy tamped down the burning terror that had her senses whirling and shook her head. Her heart pounded and adrenaline coursed through her veins, making clear thinking difficult. “You’re behind the release of this virus into Yellowstone?”
“Stop whining.” He bent forward and whispered against her cheek. Her stomach clenched, and she gagged. “You need to provide us with a bit of information, and when you do maybe you’ll get to live.”
“What information?”
He yanked her roughly to her feet and pushed her down the plane’s exterior stairs. She stumbled against the railing, the cool metal biting into her arm. With a resolve that was entirely concocted, Cassidy moved confidently down the remainder of the metal steps. When she reached the bottom, he dragged her to the left. Her eyes widened at the sight of a military-looking helicopter.
She glanced around, searching for hope but found only deserted hangars. Her stomach heaved again as the dire situation ballooned into a full-fledged nightmare. No way out. Fowler picked her up and tossed her roughly onboard. She struggled to her feet and landed heavily on a wire mesh bench. Cassidy watched, stiff with terror, as Nick signaled to the men dragging Jake and Steve across the tarmac. She ran a million and one escape plans through her mind and discarded every single thought. Don’t panic. But the wild beating of her heart and short breaths contradicted that statement.
Fowler reached down and pulled Jake onto a bench opposite her. She glanced at the line of blood dripping across his forehead, her fingers itching to feel his pulse. His vulnerability undid her. She stared at him and willed him awake, wanting nothing more than to see that snarky grin light his face. But he didn’t move, and she bit her bottom lip in despair.
“You see,” Nick spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, interrupting her thoughts. She detected the hard anger that lay behind his words, and it chilled her. “There are things happening within the Niger Delta. No more will our country be dependent upon others. But you”—he shoved his rifle into her gut—“wouldn’t write the fucking report the government wanted. Instead,” he sighed, “you screeched about the dangers of oil production.”
Cassidy began to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. “How much?”
“Money?” A man spoke from behind her, and Cassidy twisted in her seat to face him.
She tried not to gape, but the sudden appearance of New World’s president scattered what little sense she’d been making of this situation. With a will she didn’t know existed, Cassidy shut down her fear. The exposure of Cole’s identity didn’t bode well for her predicament. “Cole.”
He laughed, and the rest of his men joined in. “It’s not about the money, Dr. Lowell. It’s about freedom from OPEC and the ever-rising fuel costs. It’s about being in the forefront of the twenty-first century gold rush.”
She closed her eyes and tamped down on a fresh bubble of terror. “So you’re going to shoot me because I wouldn’t write a damn report? Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme?”
He bent over and dropped a wet kiss on her cheek. She moved her head away, swallowing against the nausea his damp lips provoked. “I’m not going to kill you, sweetheart. I’ll just offer you a helping hand out of the chopper.”
“And them?” Cassidy nodded toward Jake.
“Them, too. After all, I’m not a monster. You should have some company during your slow death in the wilderness.”
Cassidy furrowed her brow. What the hell did he mean? She was afraid to ask.
The silence of predawn was shattered by the rhythmic whirring of helicopter blades. Cassidy bent her head and whispered a soft prayer, calling on the soothing memories of her mother. The machine vibrated, and she dug her fingernails into her palm as it rose from the tarmac and swept into the sky. A blast of cold air snatched the ends of her sleep-tossed hair, whipping it around her head in Medusa-like tendrils.
She swore against the idiocy of not having refastened her hair the instant she’d awakened. Small details gained advantages. With her hands tied, there was nothing she could do about the thin strands of hair striking her face and blinding her.
Cassidy blinked and twisted her neck, clearing a mass of tangles from her eyes. She scanned the interior of the chopper, ignoring the lewd gestures and words being spouted by the occupants. Think. Think. Think. Four men dressed in black camouflage outfits sat on the narrow metal benches that flanked the interior of the helicopter. The largest and most threatening man was positioned directly to her left. Nick Fowler.
His eyes roamed across her body, stopping often at the curve of her neck. The fire within their bleak depths spoke of a lunacy Cassidy could only guess at. Death wasn’t indifferent to him. It was a neighbor, a trusted friend.
Steve and Jake were directly in front of her across a narrow stretch of riveted metal. Jake’s head lay slumped to the side, his hair hanging in matted clumps across his face. Cassidy worried her bottom lip. She ignored the fear that raked her heart at the thought of his death and convinced herself her concern lay solely in their combined safety.
Her stomach flipped as the chopper flew through the turbulent wind current of the Tetons. Cassidy swallowed and fought against the bile that rose in her throat. She glanced across the aisle. Steve sat next to Jake staring out the open door, his face hard and unreadable. She didn’t recognize him. He held himself straight and still, no foot tapping or fidgeting. His quick smile and easy laugh were gone, replaced with anger and hatred. He glanced in her direction and shook his head, indicating she needed to remain quiet.
Cassidy’s mind churned over the past few years. Glimpses and pockets of their numerous late-night chat fests whirled in her mind. She concentrated but found no trace or link to this side of him. This soldier.
Robert Cole sat on Steve’s other side. He held a gun loosely upon his lap, pointing it directly at Jake’s heart. Cole turned his head and stared at her. Cassidy didn’t flinch, didn’t offer a silent plea. She’d be damned before she laid her fear at his feet. His eyes were cold and flat. Another blast of air whisked through the doors and forced her to bend her head and block the stinging lashes of her hair.
She felt rather than heard Cole approach her. His black scuffed boots were less than six inches from her bench. He grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked her head back. Her eyes watered, and she glared defiantly into his face. “What?”
He didn’t answer but gathered her hair, pulling and yanking on the wild locks. Robert stripped a bandana off his neck and secured the mess of golden curls on top of her head.
&nbs
p; “I suppose I should say thanks, but somehow I don’t think that was an act of kindness.”
He grunted and motioned with a lift of his chin to the brute seated next to her. “Better, Nick?”
The strange man laughed bitterly, sending a sliver of fear down her spine. “If it hit my face one more time I was gonna shove her out that door … now.”
Cole shrugged. “Those aren’t my orders.”
“Fuck the orders.”
“Fuck you.” Cole turned and grabbed his gun from one of the other men’s laps. He seated himself back in place, prodding the tip of the cold metal into Jake’s stomach. The biologist didn’t move.
Cole and Fowler debated softly, their attention temporarily averted from Cassidy. She swept her eyes across the interior of the helicopter, noting a cluster of bags at her feet. By their size and shape, she figured they were basic gear bags that contained flashlights and other miscellaneous small items. The why and what questions as to the necessity of these bags tickled her mind, but she shoved them away.
She moved her foot until it rested on top of the nearest bag. With slow purposeful twists of her ankle, the lumps beneath her boot moved around. They appeared long and rectangular, confirming her theory of flashlights and such.
Either that or it was a bagful of dynamite. Cassidy decided to take her chances that the bags were exactly what they appeared to be. Military gear backpacks.
Something told her the exit from the helicopter wasn’t going to be an easy one. She inched toward the door and snuck her foot into the shoulder loop of the top backpack and then repeated her action on the one below. She tugged the bags closer; a small flame of hope sprung from this action and stopped her from completely falling to pieces.
Moving her leg back, she repeated the steps, making sure that she’d snagged both bags. No one paid attention; they were deep into a discussion about their search for Edward Fiske.
Nick’s voice carried across the compartment. “They traced the Internet connection to a hotel in Salt Lake City. We’ll dump these two and head over there.” The man smiled, flashing nicotine-stained teeth. Cassidy’s skin crawled.
The meaning of his words penetrated her mind. How did they have knowledge of Fiske’s whereabouts? She tugged the bags closer. If they were going overboard, so was this gear. Cassidy twisted her back to the foul creature beside her and focused her attention on Jake. They’d tied his hands but not his feet. She worried if the gash on his head was deep enough to cause concussive results. He still hadn’t opened his eyes. Cassidy stared at him, once more attempting to will him awake. His finger moved.
Her heart nearly burst out of her chest. The chopper tilted to the left and she braced her feet, preventing herself from sliding into stink-bag Nick. Her eyes never left Jake’s lap. His thumb curved upward. Cassidy concentrated on not showing the relief that flooded her system. Jake was fine, simply playing unconscious. She swept her gaze to his face and noticed his lashes flutter beneath the thick mane of hair that dropped across his cheekbone. Jake pointed at the bags and she allowed herself a smug grin at having figured that one out on her own.
The helicopter dove toward the right. Beneath the full moon, tree-tops glistened on the ground. She leaned closer to the door, attempting to determine their location. A meaty paw grabbed her shoulder and shoved her hard against the back of the helicopter. She growled her frustration and turned toward Cole.
He approached her and clung to the arm loop above her head. Sweat bled from his armpits, staining an oblong patch on the black shirt he wore. Cole’s hair was slicked back except for one thin strand that split his forehead with needle-like precision. Cassidy glared into his face. “Don’t look at me like that, Dr. Lowell. You did this to yourself. You have something I want.” He ran his thumb over her lips, and she bared her teeth to bite him. “That’s not very nice. Where’s the report?”
“What report?”
“The printout of the geological survey your worthless assistant gave you.”
Cassidy attempted to cover her surprise. Her mouth went dry as her mind tumbled through the ramifications of what he wanted. “I don’t have it.”
“I’m not a patient man, Dr. Lowell. Where is it?”
She glared at him, her brain whirring in a thousand different directions. The damn geo-survey. That’s what this was all about? “I don’t have it.”
Robert’s eyes never left her face. Her heart skipped at his icy stare, then stopped completely as she watched his arm raise and discharge the gun. Steve’s head snapped back and blood splattered everywhere, coating Jake’s shocked face.
Cassidy sat stunned, staring at the red pattern seeping down the metal wall of the helicopter. Her nose burned, and her voice disappeared. She screamed Steve’s name, but nothing came out. She watched, frozen, as his body slumped forward and fell to the ground, motionless. Lifeless.
Pain engulfed her heart, and it threatened to send her spiraling into oblivion. She shifted her gaze away from Steve’s body and glared at Robert Cole. Hate and anger replaced her grief. Kill him. Kill the bastard. Her mind raged and screamed, but her voice wasn’t responding.
Cassidy’s eyes blurred with tears, and she collapsed forward keening softly. Rocking back and forth, she attempted to gather her shattered emotions together. Don’t let them see you like this. If they see, they hold power. Sitting back, she averted her eyes and turned so that Steve’s body didn’t cause her conviction to waver. “You bastard.”
She pushed forward, fighting against her restraints. Kill him. Kill the bastard. The helicopter dipped toward a jagged outcrop. Cassidy shoved back the ball of grief that lodged itself in her stomach as they crested Upper Falls and moved east. She felt her body begin to shake and a deep chill spread across her nerves. She inhaled several times, her nostrils flaring as she attempted to draw in the oxygen that would save her from succumbing to shock.
She glanced up, and Jake stared at her. Sadness softened his eyes, and she held onto the sight of him as if he were a life raft. His eyes glistened with moisture, and Cassidy swallowed hard. She stared and pulled strength from his presence. He moved his head, and she followed his gaze outside the chopper. Her brain kicked into gear, and survival became top priority. If she wanted to dump someone in the middle of nowhere, Mirror Plateau wasn’t a bad choice. It was outside the main caldera and remote. The chopper dropped lower, and even under these circumstances the beauty of Yellowstone stole her breath. A waterfall fell in cascading curtains of white ribbons, crashing against the rocky riverbed below.
Steve was there now, within the twinkling stars that hovered above the jagged peaks. She needed to believe that, to hold onto her faith, or else they’d never survive.
Cole shouted. “Now where’s my damn report?”
The chopper dipped toward the falls, floating about ten feet above a narrow ridge to its left.
Cassidy inhaled and screamed as loud as she could. “I don’t have it, you son of a bitch.” Her throat was raw, and she bit her lips to stop them from trembling. “Damn you, I don’t have it!”
Nick grabbed Jake, dragged him to his feet, and hustled him toward the door. Jake head-butted him, breaking loose. Twisting to find Cassidy, he locked eyes with hers. He nodded, and she offered him a tight smile. She knew exactly what he wanted. They were going to jump under their own power. Ignoring the tug on her heart and warmth that spread from her toes to the top of her head at the trust that crossed his face, she stood up.
Cole swore loudly and Nick reached for her, but Jake charged straight ahead, slamming into her chest and pushing them both out and over the rim of the helicopter. Frigid air and fear snatched at her throat and Cassidy gasped, fighting to control her panic. Arms flailing, she felt the bags smacking against her legs. On reflex, she twisted and tucked and struck the ground with head-splitting force. Opening one eye, she bit back the pain that filtered from every inch of her body.
“Jake?” Her voice came out as nothing more than a meek whimper. “Jake!”
&nb
sp; Nothing.
She flopped on her back and gazed at the helicopter. The turbulence from its rotors kicked up dirt and debris across the ground, causing her to cough and choke. Her eyes widened, and fear froze her in place. Nick aimed a rifle at the center of her chest. Cassidy glanced down, following the movement of the small infrared dot until it rested on her heart. She inhaled deeply, anger melting away the fear. She stared up at him, her eyes daring him to pull the trigger.
CHAPTER 30
THE THOUGHT OF STEVE’S ASHEN FACE FLOODED CASSIDY’S mind, igniting a tornado of hatred that raged through her system. “Kill me, you chicken-shit asshole!” she screeched at the helicopter, not caring that she sounded more like a wounded hawk than a fierce lion. Chaotic wind, whipped into a frenzy by the helicopter rotors, yanked her hair from the bandana and slashed it against her face in painful lashes. She didn’t avert her eyes from the figure of Nick Fowler.
He shifted the angle of his shoulder and aimed at her head. “You bitch.”
Staring into the eye of the machine gun didn’t scare her anywhere near as much as dealing with the loss of her best friend. She gasped at the anger that twisted his face into a gruesome mask and saw the flick of his finger that ignited a bright line of firepower.
Cassidy twisted to the left. The bullets struck the vicinity of her feet, pummeling the gear bags. She swore and rolled into a tight ball, glancing over her shoulder and watching in amazement as the helicopter banked away from her position. It was leaving.
Jake.
She struggled to her feet and hobbled on sore legs in the direction of the chopper, her gaze flickering over the bullet-ridden bags. Black nylon with wide gashes spewed leaky bottles of water and an assorted cluster of items not clearly visible in the darkness onto the hard-packed earth. Ducking her head, she pushed her cheek against her shoulder attempting to free the hair that clung to her face.
Cassidy glanced up at the helicopter and felt an instant kick of relief when Nick was yanked away from the door by one of the other men. She opened her mouth and screamed as loudly as she could, releasing her fear, hatred, and grief in a call of the wild and dispossessed. It burned her throat but lightened the crush of despair.
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