Drew pulled the car over to the curb and he and Luke watched the pickup truck turn into an estate drive. The wrought iron gates opened, the truck drove through, and the gates closed.
Luke frowned. Most of the homes they’d passed were discreetly hidden by fences and trees, and this property was no exception. A high stone fence and tall cedars obscured any view of the property itself.
Who owns this place?
Drew’s cell phone rang and he answered it as Luke’s fingers flew over the keyboard. He could access any number of databases that could give him that information.
Drew covered the phone and turned to Luke.
“It’s Reese. He wants to know why we left the scene without a proper debriefing with the local agents. Apparently they want to talk to us.”
Luke didn’t look up. “Tell Reese there’s another player in motion, and we’re on his tail.”
Drew relayed the information as Luke brought the property owner’s record up on his screen.
His jaw dropped. He hadn’t seen that coming.
Drew covered the phone again. “Reese says he’ll inform the locals and organize backup for us. He also said you better have a good explanation for blowing up his safe house, and some guy is making claims about a stolen motorcycle.”
Luke shook his head as he double checked the property information. Yep. Same name.
“Tell Reese that’s the least of our problems.”
Maggie’s head hurt. A lot. Her eyelids flickered. A haze of red and yellow swam into focus.
Damn. I’m in hell
. She could even smell smoke.
What is that? A flower?
She pulled her head back a little and groaned, or at least tried to. A gag covered her mouth. Her head was doing its best to separate from the rest of her body. She blinked the white stars out of her vision and took a couple of deep breaths. She was lying on a rug. A very nice rug, from what she could see. Burgundy with a golden fleur-de-lis pattern stretching off into the distance until it ended at dark paneled walls.
She tried to sit up and realized her hands and feet were bound. She glanced around her.
Where the hell am I?
It was a large room, but it gave an impression of intimacy. A massive fireplace took up a large portion of one wall. Logs were burning, yet Maggie still shivered. So it wasn’t the fires of hell she’d smelled burning. The dark paneling covered the lower portion of the walls, and coupled with the deep green above it, gave a closed-in effect from her spot on the carpet. She could vaguely make out the patterned ceiling. A desk—larger than her mother’s bed—sat in a prime position in the room, before floor to ceiling windows half-covered by rich, burgundy curtains. She hadn’t expected to land amid such masculine opulence when Tiny had abducted her. A warehouse, or some other seedy location, maybe. Not a luxuriously appointed study. Her stomach clenched. She didn’t know what to plan for, didn’t know what was coming her way. Waking up here was a surprise, and she was beginning to hate surprises. Who owned this place? Whoever it was, she doubted they would help her?
She dragged her cheek against the carpet, working the gag loose in short time. Should she scream? Or would that alert her abductors?
She needed to assess the threat level. But to be able to do that, she needed to move freely.
She struggled against her bonds, her teeth sinking into her lip as the skin of her wrists and ankles burned. The rope was tight, and she couldn’t find any give in it.
Her shoulders slumped. How did they do it in the movies? Maybe if she got her wrists in front of her, she could use her teeth to undo the knots?
She bent over at the tummy and tried to slide her wrists down her legs. She let out a breath, trying to fold her body as tightly as possible. Her eyes bulged and she could feel her face heating with the effort. Her head still throbbed.
She gasped, relaxing. Her hands rested against her buttocks. Obviously those movie stars must do yoga or something. She just wasn’t that flexible.
She lifted her head, listening. Nothing. Silence. Was she here alone? Somehow, she didn’t think so. She didn’t know how long she’d be left to her own devices.
She rolled to her knees, her movements slow and inelegant. She paused, waiting for the rest of her head to catch up with her. Her stomach heaved.
Ugh
. She swallowed, fighting off nausea. When her head stopped spinning she took stock.
Oh, good
. Now she could see the desk. Surely every evil mastermind had a letter-opener conveniently sitting on their desk. She hesitated. The mastermind.
Of course
. Viper had committed the act, but the spy was hired by somebody. Somebody with enough money to pay the man a small fortune to murder and steal top secret military research. She didn’t know any of the international players in the spy game, though.
Who hired Viper?
Footsteps echoed in the hall. She heard them approach the study door.
Maggie froze as the door handle began to turn.
Luke eyed the front gates, wanting to yell. His fist thumped against the car door. “Dammit, Maggie could be hurt.”
Or worse
. Luke pushed the thought out of his head.
Drew tilted his head back. “Reese told us to wait for backup.”
“And meanwhile, Maggie is in danger, alone.”
Luke flung the door open and stalked to the trunk of the car to survey the small armory available.
“Look, I realize you want to go in there and save the day, but we should at least have a plan.” Drew got out of the car and faced Luke over the roof.
Luke slid the magazine into one of the guns he’d selected. “You can tell the plan to the reinforcements when they arrive.”
“What if I have a better weapon?” Drew asked. He ducked his head back into the car and reached for something in the back seat.
Luke heard the sound of a zipper, and when Drew stood up again, he clutched a dark, shimmery fabric in his hand.
Luke gaped. The Visi-suit. “Aren’t the feds supposed to have that?”
Drew shrugged. “I was getting around to it, but Maggie disappeared before I had a chance to hand it over.”
Luke shrugged out of his jacket and hauled his shirt over his head. “No wonder the feds are so eager for their debriefing,” he said, his lips kicking up at the ends.
He’d checked all available floor plans and satellite imagery. He knew the mansion he planned to breach was well-secured. There were surveillance cameras everywhere, sensor detection and patrolling guards. He could handle most of the technology, and the Visi-suit would handle the rest.
“Tell Reese there’s a flaw in the security. The property backs onto Lake Washington, and the dock only has minimal security. The feds can come through there.”
Drew nodded and withdrew his cell phone from his pocket. “We’re going to need every advantage.” He frowned. “I still don’t understand, though. Why him?”
Luke pulled on the suit and activated the code at the collar, just as he’d seen Viper do at the hotel. “Tell Reese to check on his family. Maggie mentioned a daughter.”
“Damn, that’s freaky,” Drew murmured in awe as Luke’s form shimmered, then slowly faded from view. Drew frowned. “Don’t forget the hood, your head is floating.”
Luke pulled the hood over his head and closed the mask around his face. He was surprised how well he could see through the material. “Thanks. See you soon.”
“Good luck,” Drew’s voice reached Luke’s ears as he jogged to the stone fence. He waved, realizing too late that Drew couldn’t see him.
Talk about freaky
. He was now a phantom. All thoughts of his friend left his mind as he focused on the task ahead. Calm descended over him like a Seattle fog. He moved with a single-minded purpose.
Save Maggie
.
The door opened, and a middle aged man with salt-and-pepper hair strode in. His face was instantly recognizable.
Maggie’s shoulders slumped in relief.
“Oh, thank God you’re here.” She held up her wrists and twisted to see over her shoulder.
“Can you get this rope off me?”
Richard Bates, billionaire CEO of the largest technology firm in the world, cocked an eyebrow as he walked further into the study.
“Oh, I don’t think so. That would make the whole exercise pointless, now wouldn’t it, Viper?”
A dark figure followed Bates into the room, Maggie swallowed as Tiny crossed over to the fire and put his hands out, as though trying to warm himself. Her eyes darted between the two. Did Bates know what kind of animal he had lurking in his study? She was sure Tiny was responsible for the deaths of his companions back at the warehouse, as well as Kandy Karamel. She forced herself to focus on the conversation. Her brows pulled together in a frown.
“I’m not Viper,” she told him. Was this a misguided effort to retrieve his stolen research? But wasn’t Tiny working for the man behind the theft in the first place? So how did Bates know Tiny? Confusion only made her headache worse. “Viper was caught earlier this morning.”
Richard’s face grew grim. He strode up to her, pulled one arm back and slapped her face. Hard.
She bit back a scream as heat rushed to her cheek.
“Try again, Kincaid. I know it was you.”
Maggie shook her head. Her face felt like it was on fire.
“No,” she choked, “you’re mistaken. I’m not Viper.”
Bates put his hands on his knees and hunched over so his face was on level with hers. “I know who I deal with, Kincaid. I must say, you weren’t trying very hard to hide your identity.” His lips pulled back in an ugly sneer. “I know exactly who I hired. Now, where is the suit?”
The blood drained from her face. Maggie felt as though her circulation had just shut down. In shock. “
You
hired Viper?” Her thoughts were sluggish, as though trying to understand a problem with the complexity of quantum physics. “Why? Why would you hire a spy to steal your own work from you?”
Bates sneered. “You’re almost convincing, Kincaid. I can understand now why Fletcher cut you so much slack.”
He straightened. “But I’m not so trusting. Perhaps you need something to help jog your memory?” He nodded to Tiny, and Maggie watched in horror as the large hulk of a man placed a poker into the hot embers.
Her gaze shot to Bates. “I’m not Viper,” she told him. “Viper was caught, and your suit was retrieved. It doesn’t matter how much you hurt me, I can’t give you something I don’t have.” Her words were fast and low as she desperately tried to make Bates see reason. “Viper used my identity to frame me for his actions.” How could she get through to the man? His expression was implacable.
A log shifted, and Maggie whipped around in time to see Tiny poke at the logs, pushing the brand into the heart of the fire.
“What about your daughter?”
Make your enemy see you as a person,
she thought. She knew she was clutching at straws. “You said I reminded you of her.”
Bates’s face darkened, and his hand shot out to wrap around her neck. Maggie fell back onto her wrists, her eyes bulging as he cut off her air supply.
“How dare you talk about my daughter,” Bates shouted. “
Maggie struggled, thrashing her body in an effort to fight off the man choking the life out of her. The pounding in her head grew louder as pressure built inside her skull.
Gagging noises came from her throat as his grip loosened, and she tried to breathe. She’d struck a nerve.
“What—happened—to—her?” She managed to choke the words out.
Bates let go and stood back, breathing hard from his exertions.
“She died in Iraq.”
Maggie rolled to her side, gulping in deep breaths as she tried to think.
Iraq?
His daughter had been in the service? But why would he steal a weapon that could help the military? Or be used against it?
“I don’t understand,” she admitted hoarsely. “Why do you want the suit if your daughter fought for our country?”
Bates snorted. “She wasn’t in the military, you fool. She was there for business when the war started. They called her a casualty of war.” He made a noise of disgust. “Friendly fire. The man got away with murder.”
Pieces started to fall into place.
“You want the suit for revenge against the military for the accidental death of your daughter?” Horror seized Maggie. She wasn’t sure she had it right. How could he blame the very people who were fighting on his behalf? The whole country’s behalf. What did he plan to do with the suit? And how could he hope to get away with it?
Bates remained calm, impervious. As though what she was saying didn’t bother him in the least. Realization hit.
“It’s not the whole military, though, is it? You’re a wealthy man, one with connections. You found out his identity, didn’t you?” Her eyes widened. “You want to go after the man who pulled the trigger.”
“He dropped a bomb, actually. And the pilot will never stand trial for my daughter’s murder.”
Goosebumps broke out over Maggie’s arms. All this was a complex plan for murder. There were no international interests for the suit. No fanatical belief system spawning a diabolical plan of annihilation. It was revenge, pure and simple.
“You want to kill him with your bare hands, is that it? In a way that no one will be able to prove it was you. It’s hard to witness a murder if the murderer is invisible, is that it?”
“Something like that,” Bates admitted, nodding to Tiny. Maggie twisted to see what the man was doing.
He pulled the poker out of the fire, its tip glowing red against the dark-walled background, like an evil eye glaring from the depths of hell.
Tiny approached her, his intent obvious.
“No,” she pleaded, learning a new level of fright. They were going to kill her over something she had no control of.
She thought of her mother, of not giving her mother a proper mourning, of the things she’d planned to do with her life and hadn’t yet had the opportunity to do. And she thought of Luke, wishing she’d had more time with him to explore the new emotions he’d inspired. She wished she’d had the opportunity to discover if they really had something special between them.
“Now, suppose we try again? Where is my suit?” Bates asked, his tone polite. As though he hadn’t just tried to kill her.