Cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
Not a deer. An ibex. She’d watched that video of Mark abducting Luke.
Calliope. Banner. Ibex. That pipe organ was a calliope, the narrow flag was a banner, and that deer was a fucking ibex.
It was Luke’s stun code.
Unless she was imagining things. The other side of the screen kept flashing, too. Those images had to be Zade’s codes. Stun code, release code, kill code. She didn’t know which was which. The price for getting it wrong was Zade’s death.
She studied the images feverishly, racking her brain for the best word for each one. Braxton’s diseased mouth stretched in a ghastly smile as he plunged an air bubble out of the syringe he was holding, tapping out a glittering drop of fluid.
Zade’s button cam vibrated with his body’s tension.
Nothing for it. Go. She ducked into the stairway, feeling her way into the darkness. Leaping down the steps, four at a time. She stumbled, hit her head against the wall. Shoved the pain down. The codes, the codes, the fucking codes. She struggled to remember the sequences of images as she hurtled toward the light spilling out the door at the bottom of the stairs.
She burst into the death chamber, screaming out the first code that came into her head. “Monster! Scarab! Dagger!”
Zade exploded into movement with a bellow of rage, knocking the syringe out of Braxton’s hand. Zade lunged for it and snagged it out of mid-air.
“No!” Braxton shrieked as Zade stabbed the syringe down into his thigh.
In that endless split instant that followed, as Braxton dragged in air to scream out Zade’s kill code, Simone looked for a weapon. A length of rebar on the floor caught her eye.
She grabbed it up. Sprinted toward them. Braxton was already shouting but she screamed at the top of her lungs to drown out the sound he made.
She swung the rebar down onto Braxton’s head.
A wet, crunching thud. Blood, bits of bone, brain flew everywhere. On the floor, on Zade, on her.
She staggered backwards and fell. Landed on her ass, bouncing and rolling.
Zade lay on the ground, chest heaving, looking from Braxton to Simone and back again. “Holy … fucking … shit,” he finally gasped out.
She couldn’t speak, just gasped for breath. The blood-smeared length of rebar fell from her numb fingers, rattling on the tile floor.
Zade dragged himself up onto his knees, then got to his feet. He supported himself against the wall and gingerly nudged at Braxton’s head with his boot.
It rolled to the side, revealing the bloody caved in hole. Braxton’s eyes were wide and staring. His mouth was still open, forming that last fateful word.
“Nice swing,” Zade said hoarsely. “Bad-ass.”
Simone couldn’t have replied, even if there had been anything relevant to say. She tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry.
Zade held out his hand. “You saved me,” he said. “Fucking wow.”
She reached up, feeling heat and strength pour into her at the contact with his hand. He pulled her up into the circle of his arms, tight and shaking.
“Enough,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
A name left unspoken: Luke.
They staggered up the cramped dark stairway, emerging like ghosts blundering out of the underworld, blinking at the fading light of day.
The air outside was cold. It smelled sweet and pure after the stench of decay under Mark’s house. They gulped it in gratefully.
Zade stopped on the near side of the riverbank, pulling out his phone and tapping it. He lifted it to his ear. “Asa? Yeah, we found it … No, Luke was definitely here for some time, but now he’s gone. There was a shithead Midlands researcher here … Yeah, trapped me. Wanted to eat my brains … Simone took him down, whanged him with fucking rebar, for real … Yeah, you’re telling me. Fucked him up but good … Uh huh. You got a fix on us? We can make it out of here, but we’re in crap shape, so if you have anybody in range … Yeah, good. Thanks. Later, then.”
He slid the phone in his pocket and took her hand with a fleeting, exhausted smile. “Let’s get out of here.”
Water swirled and bubbled over their feet as they made their way over the slick planks and through the torrent. The shock of icy water made her shiver uncontrollably. One foot in front of the other. Almost there—
“Simone Brightman and D-13!” blared a disembodied, amplified voice. “Stop right where you are!”
Chapter 31
Zade spun around on the edge of the footbridge, trying to pinpoint the booming voice, until it spoke again. He heard three loud words—
Again. Oh fuck, no. Stun coded. Frozen like a fucking statue.
His anguished eyes fixed on Simone. Wild water whirled and gurgled violently under the wet planks of the narrow bridge. His heart pounded crazily.
“Simone Brightman!” the voice blared. “We have his kill code! Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she called out, her voice nearly drowned out by the roar of the water.
“Take the gun from his hand,” the voice instructed. “Throw it into the water.”
Simone turned slowly and reached out to Zade, meeting his eyes.
“Say one word to him, and I shout out his kill code. Do you understand?” the voice demanded.
“Yes,” she said again.
“Speak only to me, and only when I tell you to. Take the gun.”
She pried it from his hand with some difficulty. It was pure chance that his grip on it had been relatively loose at the moment they’d stun coded him.
“Throw it,” the voice instructed. “Downstream.”
She obeyed. The gun sank into the foaming water.
Jordan and Phillip Holt emerged from behind Zade’s SUV.
It was useless to fight a stun code. Zade knew that from long experience. It only ratcheted up the muscle tension, turning extreme pain into agony. But he couldn’t help it.
His own fucking fault. Snagged again. Twice in a single half-hour. He couldn’t protect Simone. He was nothing but bait.
Holt’s eyes flicked over the two of them, cold and contemptuous. “Look at you two,” he said. “You thought you were so smart, but you both did exactly what I needed you to do. We now have the identities of two lost Midland rebels and their control codes.”
Simone made no reply.
“In fact, you seemed to be operating completely within your parameters,” Holt said. “Good work.”
Simone looked up into Zade’s eyes. He read her thought even as it formed in her mind. He felt the exact instant she realized that those bastards had no idea how much of her programming had been burned out by the stim sickness fever.
And no idea that she had a .38 revolver in her jacket pocket.
“I try,” Simone said. She gestured in his direction. “What happens to him?”
Holt’s smile faded. “He’ll be euthanized as soon as we debrief him. Which will be much easier now that we have his control codes.” He studied Simone’s face. “It’s painless,” he added. “He won’t feel a thing.”
“But why kill him at all? He’s an incredible asset.”
“Obsidian policy,” Jordan said impatiently. He held up a smartphone. “Let’s wrap this up.” He tapped the screen.
Those goddamn chimes sounded. Simone’s evil ringtone, hugely amplified.
Simone’s eyes rolled back and she wobbled on the slippery walkway like she was going to fall into the water. He couldn’t even move to help steady her.
Jordan’s lips curved. He liked controlling her. Sadistic prick.
Holt stepped onto the end of the bridge, close enough to peer into Simone’s face. She looked back at him as the chimes continued to sound, eyes frozen wide.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Holt said softly. “But you crossed a line, Simone. And we can’t help you unless we hurt you. So that you know who’s in charge. We could move you up to a higher level, with us. And you would never feel this terrible se
nsation again. Think about that.”
Simone’s eyes met his again. She was blinking rapidly, but he couldn’t tell if she was fighting residual programming or trying to signal him.
Baby, I know this isn’t your fault. You know it, too. This isn’t you.
Holt sidled past her on the narrow bridge, edging between them, and looked Zade over. Inches away from him. Asshole. He got off on exerting control.
“Monster! Scarab! Dagger!” Simone shrieked suddenly.
Released. Zade seized Holt in a crushing bear hug.
“Gargoyle! Magpie! Vortex!” Holt bellowed, struggling in his grip.
Zade froze once again with Holt still clamped against his chest. Stun-coded while in motion. Toppling with Holt howling in his grip, his face muffled against Zade’s chest. Falling.
Icy water closed over them.
* * * *
Simone pulled out the gun and shot Jordan. The kick of the weapon took her by surprise and she lost her balance, already unsteady on her feet.
Everything tipped sideways. She hit the water, and the powerful current swallowed her. She fought up, gulping for air, shocked by the intense cold.
She got sucked right back down again. So fast, so strong. She fought to the surface again and again. Tried to swim. Lungs aching for air.
Whack. A huge blow to her shoulder smacked her brutally back to full consciousness. It hurt like hell, but she wasn’t moving, and she could cough out water. Gulp in air, spitting and choking.
Coughing hurt. Breathing hurt.
She was pinned against a jagged rock atop others barely visible under foaming, leaping brown water.
Zade. Where was he?
She squinted through stinging eyes, gasping, tried to drag herself out of the water, but couldn’t. Her shoulder was dislocated. She didn’t have the strength to drag herself out of the huge, sucking pull.
Then she saw him. Trapped against a logjam. His face underwater.
She heaved herself free, ignoring the stabbing pain. Pulled herself around the rock and dove back into the swirl and shove of the torrent.
She bobbed, choking on mouthfuls of muddy water with every desperate breath. Knocked and slammed against rocks, logs, broken branches.
Another shock of pain, and she was no longer moving. She’d hit the logjam. She was deafened by the water’s terrifying roar.
Zade. There he was. Only a few yards away.
She pulled herself toward him, inch by inch. Blood welled out of the gashes on her hands and arms whenever she lifted them up to seize the branches and pull, pull, pull. The current pummeled her relentlessly from the side, but she kept on.
She finally reached him. Clutched his coat collar and dragged his face up above the surface of the water. He was deathly pale. Eyes closed.
“Zade!” she yelled over the water’s roar, but she couldn’t hear her own voice. He was so big, so heavy. Still clutching Holt. The other man was completely submerged.
She pulled Zade up until she could see Holt’s wide, sightless blue eyes. Done for.
She struggled to remember the release code. Her brain felt frozen along with the rest of her. Just three goddamn words. Zade seemed lifeless.
She forced her battered brain to work again. The images floated back.
She put her mouth to Zade’s ear. “Monster,” she gasped out. “Scarab. Dagger. Monster, scarab, dagger. Monster, scarab, dagger.”
He did not respond.
“Zade!” she shrieked into his ear. “Don’t leave me alone! Fucking Monster! Scarab! Dagger!”
Zade’s arms floated loose. Holt’s body drifted free and slowly sank out of sight. Two things: The release code had worked, or else …
No. Not possible.
She slapped Zade’s face. “Breathe! You can hear me, you cast-iron son of a bitch! I need you! It is time to fucking … breathe!”
Zade coughed suddenly. Choking and sputtering out water as his beautiful dark eyes opened a little. Squinting at her. Disoriented.
Simone. His lips formed her name. No sound.
“Can you move?” she shouted.
Zade reached out slowly and grabbed an overhanging branch. A big one. Then he seized her by the arm, pulling her behind him. His grip was strong.
Together they fought their way out of the pounding water. They crawled up onto the wet rocks and lay there, spent and helpless. Simone tried to get up, but she just kept falling down again. Zade was in even worse shape.
Then she saw it, flickering on the corner of her eye. Flashlights in the gloomy trees. Men, dark-clad, moving toward them.
Obsidian thugs. Had to be. They came closer.
Zade just lay there. No fight left in him. Same with her. She reached out. Took his icy hand. Tried to squeeze it. Her muscles barely responded.
She avoided the gaze of the man looming over them.
He unfolded a silvery thermal blanket and wrapped her in it. “Are you Simone?” he called, over the roar of the flood.
More men circled around. One bent down by Zade, covering him too.
She stared around at them. “What? Who are you guys?”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Asa sent us.”
Chapter 32
Simone awakened with a start. Ouch. It hurt like hell to breathe.
Chaotic memories of choking wild water and violence rushed into her mind. She was lucky to be breathing at all. She ran a hand over her body. There was tape wrapped around her ribs.
She looked around the small room, noticing its deep gabled windows. She was back in Asa’s house. A heavy layer of blankets anchored her to the bed.
She looked at her bandaged hands. Stiff and sore. Her shoulder hurt. Everything hurt, including her face. She tried to roll over and gasped. White hot screaming agony.
Zade?
She struggled to sit up and failed. With a huge effort, she flung the covers back, dragging in shallow breaths against the pain. Where was everyone?
She concentrated and picked up a low hum of conversation in another room. Downstairs, from the sound of it. Male voices. “Zade?” she called out.
The voices stopped. She heard doors bang. Thudding noises. Someone sprinting up the stairs.
The door opened and Zade burst in. “You’re awake?”
“Yes.” Just looking at him made her feel better. His hair was wild and tangled and his beautiful face looked thinner, battered, and dark. Worried.
He kneeled by the bed, placing his hand gingerly on her arm, as if afraid of hurting her. “You doing okay? You’ve been out for a while. You were a mess.”
“No shit,” she said. “Everything hurts.”
He ticked off everything on his fingers. “Cracked ribs, dislocated shoulder, bruises and contusions, hypothermia. So how do you feel now?”
“I’m fine. You?”
“I’m good. I’ve got that fast-healing thing going for me.”
The silence that followed felt almost shy. Charged with emotion.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up,” he offered. “I wanted to be here, hovering over you. And I was, just ten minutes ago. Crap timing.”
She smiled at him. “Don’t sweat it. Your timing is perfect when it counts. Who were you talking to downstairs?”
“Brenner. He’s going to pilot one of the helicopters we’ll use to look for Luke. Guy can fly anything. Even cutting-edge military stuff. Helicopters, fighter planes, you name it.”
“Excellent,” she said. “The more the merrier. You’re heading out now?”
“Yeah. The Midlanders are flying in. The meet-up point is Cheyenne. We’re going to comb the shit out of those mountains, with everybody’s ASP amped to the max and a fuckton of auxiliary tech. We’ll check every square mile of the Bighorn Mountains for starters.”
“That’s great,” she said. “So what are you doing still here?”
He hesitated, eyes sliding away. “I was, uh, just waiting for you to wake up.”
“Okay.” She patted his hand. “I’m awa
ke now. And I’m fine. So go on. Get to it.”
Zade’s eyes looked wary. “Just like that?”
She tried to read the tension in his face and failed. “Meaning?”
“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. We’re going to turn over every rock in those damned mountains. And do a photography data-sift the likes of which has never been done before. It’ll take us weeks. If not months.”
“I would expect nothing less,” she said. “I can call for updates, right? Ask how it’s going?”
“God, yes. Of course,” he assured her. “I just wanted to be sure … that is, I wanted to know if you still wanted to … ” He trailed off, looking hunted.
Now she was getting nervous. “Zade? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Oh, fuck it,” he muttered. “I’ll just come out and say it.”
She wound her hands into his hair, tugged it, and let go. “Please do. Because you’re making no sense at all.”
Zade grabbed her hand and pressed his cheek to it, then his lips. The delicious contact made her hand tingle and glow.
“Your life … it’s going to be really different now.” His voice was halting. Still raw from his near drowning.
“That’s not news to me,” she said. “Actually, it’s been pretty damned different from the second that I met you, Zade. You’re just that kind of a guy.”
“You’ll have to go underground,” he continued doggedly. “You’ll have to stay completely off Obsidian’s radar, until we take down those motherfuckers once and for all and grind them into powder. And who knows when that will be.”
She waited. “Yes,” she said patiently. “I know this. And?”
His words came out in a nervous rush. “So I just wondered, you know. If we’re still good. You and me.”
A thread of cold fear began to unspool inside her. “Ah … I don’t know, Zade,” she said slowly. “Are you telling me that you’re not?”
“No!” He sounded horrified. “No, that’s not what I meant. I am head over ass in love with you. In lust. In awe. But I can’t take anything for granted after what just happened. You saw how Braxton fucked me up with the control codes. And then Holt and his spawn did it again, right afterwards.”
“Yes. So?”
My Next Breath Page 28