Vortex (14 page)

Ryker left the motorhome and was on his way to the lab when Preston rushed toward him, still wearing his ski mask. “Marx and Juarez are dead,” he said.

Ryker flinched. “
Dead?
What the hell happened?”

“A mountain lion.”

“Take that damned mask off, Preston, I can’t understand what you’re saying. Now—
what?
”

He took the mask off. “A mountain lion, Marx was attacked by a
mountain lion
.”

Ryker pulled in his chin and squinted at Preston. “Are... are you serious?”

“
Yes.
Juarez shot and killed the lion, then that woman shot Juarez. They’re both dead.”

“Jesus Christ,” Ryker muttered. He wasn’t surprised to learn that the woman had been armed and had shot someone. Obviously, they were dealing with professionals. But... a mountain lion? “All right, all right, uh... look, I’ll have to deal with this later. I’ve got things to do. Is everything under control?”

Preston nodded. “Yes. Garfield and Weiss are bringing the man from the house.”

With an abrupt nod, Ryker walked away from Preston and went into the lab, still puzzling over the fact that one of his men had been attacked and killed by a mountain lion. Once inside, he removed his black overcoat and hung it on a hook by the door with a few others.

The intruder lay on one of the tables where Carla tended to her. Beyond her, on another table, Pyk lay motionless, still unconscious.

Ryker approached Dr. Wu. “How is your arm?”

“Cleaned, stitched and medicated. I’m fine.”

“Good. Update me.”

Dr. Wu said, “She was shot once in the shoulder. In and out, very clean, just some bleeding. She’s in a lot of pain, but she’s fully conscious. Carla has cleaned and dressed the wound. Do you want us to give her something for pain?”

“Not just yet,” Ryker said. “Any ID on her?”

“Nothing but her gun.”

Ryker watched as Dr. Wu prepared a syringe. “What’s that?”

“Antibiotics. We don’t want her to get an infection.”

Ryker walked over to the table and looked down at the woman.

The pain in Karen’s shoulder and arm was excruciating. She resisted the urge to react by groaning or even wincing and held it in, shoved the pain deeply inward. She wanted to remain in control and fully aware of her surroundings because she knew she was in danger.

She lay on a cold examination table, naked from the waist up. A few different people had been coming and going since she arrived. The blonde woman called Carla finished dressing her wound, removed her latex gloves and walked over to a sink to wash her hands. There was Dr. Wu, and two other men who’d been there earlier but had left, one black, one white. The black one had cut her sweater off of her with a pair of scissors shortly after she arrived.

The man who’d just entered had to be Ryker. He had the air of a man who was in charge. He had that look men get when they’re certain that their orders will be carried out without question—Karen had seen it before. It was not very becoming on Ryker, who would look suspicious even without it. His narrow face, sharp features and a certain cruelty in his dark eyes made her think of school bullies, religious fanatics and mug shots all in one brief glance.

As the man she assumed to be Ryker talked to Dr. Wu, Karen turned her head slightly to the left and looked over at the small form lying on the table about five feet away. It was covered by a thin, pale blanket. She assumed it was Pyk. Penny had said he was small—like a child but not a child. He appeared to be unconscious. If that was the case, how had he managed to “push” that mountain lion to attack her captors? Had he done it at all? Surely that wasn’t a coincidence. She hoped he was conscious. If he wanted to protect her, he’d better get busy pretty fast.

Ryker came to her side and joined his hands behind his back. His eyes moved over her body. They paused on her breasts and his eyebrows bobbed once, ever so slightly.

“Who are you?” he asked pleasantly.

“Someone with a very good lawyer,” she said coldly, her voice dry and hoarse. It required effort not to clench her teeth against the pain in her shoulder and arm.

“Why are you here? Who sent you?”

“We’re here on business.”

“What kind of business.”

“None of
your
business. Are you cops? What
is
this place?”

“Who is we? Who are you here with?”

“My husband.”

He cocked a brow and nodded once. “I don’t believe you, of course.”

“Now ask me if I care. My husband and I are writers and we’re researching a novel. And I have been abducted, shot, and now you’re holding me against my will.”

“What kind of writer carries a gun?”

“A writer who firmly believes in the Second Amendment of the Constitution.”

Ryker rolled his eyes, then turned to Dr. Wu as he approached with a syringe.

“The antibiotic?” Ryker said.

Dr. Wu nodded and said, “Yes.” Then, holding the syringe in a fist, he swung his arm backward, then forward in an arc with great force, and drove the needle into Ryker’s throat.

Gavin said nothing as he walked through the snow flanked by two of the armed, masked men in black. But he did a lot of thinking. Before leaving the house, they’d searched him and taken the 9mm tucked in the small of his back. They’d taken his wallet, too. They would not speak to him when he asked them who they were and where they were taking him. He was without a weapon and ignorant of his situation—not the circumstances he would prefer. But his biggest concern was Karen. According to Burgess, Penny knew that Karen was “in big trouble.” That worried him.

Up ahead, something was heaped in the snow. As they got closer, Gavin saw a lot of red spread over the white. Part of the heap was a human body dressed exactly like Gavin’s escorts. Beside it lay a large hump of golden fur.

The men flanking him slowed their pace.

“Who is that?” the man on his left said.

“Is that a... a
mountain lion
?” the other said.

“It’s not our problem. Let’s just get him to the motorhome.” A small shadow passed over them and Gavin tilted his head back to look up. All he saw at first were fat snowflakes falling into his face. Then he saw the birds.

He saw one at first, then a second. They were not small birds, and they were getting larger because they were—

The hawks released piercing shrieks at the last moment, just before they slammed into the men on each side of Gavin. The man on Gavin’s right went down hard and landed on his back while the other flailed his arms and staggered over the snow shouting, “Jesus fucking
Christ
, what the
hell
!” The hawk had dug its talons into his shoulder and was pecking the side of his head as it furiously beat its wings. He managed to clutch the back of the hawk, tear it away from his shoulder and throw it to the ground, then he aimed his gun and fired four times until the bird was still.

Gavin’s attention was caught by movement out on the snowy field. Two animals were charging across the expanse of snow toward them—a mountain lion from the left and a black bear from the right. The animals did not seem aware of each other because as they rushed closer and closer, kicking up snow and huffing clouds of breath, they looked directly at Gavin.

R
yker made a horrible gurgling sound as he staggered backward with the hypodermic needle in his throat. Dr. Wu jerked the needle out, then plunged it back in again.

Ryker swung an elbow around and slammed it into Dr. Wu, knocking him against the table on which Karen was lying.

Still standing at the sink, Carla spun around, saw what was happening and shouted, “What are you
doing
?”

Ryker staggered further backward, the syringe jutting from his throat, until he fell on his back. Dr. Wu pounced on him, wrapped both hands around Ryker’s throat and squeezed.

As Ryker and Dr. Wu struggled on the floor concrete, Carla stood motionless, staring at them with bulging eyes but not making a sound.

Karen turned to look over at Pyk. He stirred under the blanket and slowly sat up. He seemed calm, utterly relaxed as he swung his legs over the edge of the table. Wearing what looked like a thin, pale-green hospital gown, he sat there and watched Ryker and Dr. Wu, and Karen realized that Penny and Gertie had been right—he looked like a child. But he was not. His skin was a pale blue, and when his lips parted, she saw that his teeth were... not right.

Carla turned to Pyk and said, “
You’re
doing this!”

He looked at her, still completely calm, and tilted his head slightly to one side.

“No!” she shouted. She turned and rushed toward the door, arms outstretched. She grabbed the doorknob, then bent her head forward and slapped a hand to the side of it. “No! Not me! Not again!
Please
!” Moving as if against great resistance, she pulled the door open, then fell against the doorjamb. She leaned out the door and screamed, “
Help! Somebody help!
”

For a moment, everything felt surreal to Gavin, as if he had stepped into someone else’s nightmare. But it quickly fell together in his mind. Discovery Channel memories flashed in his head—not all black bears hibernated but they weren’t out running around like this one at this time of year, and mountain lions were nocturnal animals. He remembered what Penny had said about Pyk being able to “push” others to do what he wanted. He remembered her prediction that Pyk would somehow harm the people who were holding him now that he and Penny had been separated.

He’s doing this
, Gavin thought.

The man who’d shot the hawk was on one knee pulling the other hawk off of his friend. The hawk was flapping its wings and clawing with its talons, and in the struggle, the man had set his gun on the abdomen of his prone companion.

Gavin took one step toward them and kicked the kneeling man in the face. He flew backward with a grunt and before he landed, Gavin had picked up his gun. He tossed a glance in the direction of the approaching animals—they were a lot closer and moving in fast, and the masked men hadn’t noticed them yet. The prone man was still fighting with the hawk while trying to get up, still clutching his gun in his right hand. Gavin stomped his foot down on the man’s gut. The man doubled up with a grunt, dropping his gun in the snow. Gavin bent down and snatched it up.