Mack saw Kane wince and covered for him automatically, catching Jaimie's chin and forcing her to look at him. "Does he know you've been collecting evidence against him?"
"Get off me, Mack." She bit out each word between her teeth. "Right now."
He stayed where he was for a full minute, looking into her eyes. With a sinking heart he realized the truth. "You don't trust me."
He had lost something beyond measure if she didn't trust him. Jaimie had believed the sun rose and set with him. She had believed in everything he did and said. He'd been her hero. He waited but he saw it on her face, in the way she schooled her expression. She wasn't going to tell him anything about her current life. Not one thing. And that just might get her killed.
"Damn it, Jaimie. This is Mack. You know me. You know Kane. We're your family."
The voice in his head whispered again. One is a sniffer, like Jacob. He's running his hand along the doors and windows and he knows they're wired to blow them to kingdom come. I could take them out.
We don't know enough yet, Mack objected reluctantly. He wanted Jaimie safe and the temptation to kill the two men was strong. But if they were GhostWalkers under legitimate orders, Mack's team had already made one serious mistake when Javier killed the two men earlier. They were trying to identify the bodies fast. They didn't need to add two more.
He eased his body away from Jaimie. She sat up, her back to the wall, drawing her knees up, staying below the window. They stared at each other.
"We're family, Jaimie."
She shook her head and there was a flash of pain in her eyes. "I don't know what we are anymore, Mack, but we aren't family. You chose them over me. The GhostWalkers. And they're evil. I can't trust anyone who is part of it."
He swore and turned away from her, his hands itching to shake her. This was his fault. He knew it was. She'd lost faith in him and no longer looked to him or the others to help her. But whatever she was into was definitely trouble.
"We have the same code of honor we've always had," Kane said, his voice calm, much calmer than Mack could have managed. "That's ridiculous for you to think just because an evil man started the program that it makes us all tainted. Our commanding officers run legitimate missions and we save lives. We specialize in hostage rescue and put our lives on the line all the time."
"So why are you here, Kane?" she demanded again.
Mack frowned. Jaimie was being very persistent and Jaimie was extremely intelligent. He looked at his best friend. "Do you know something I don't, Kane?"
Kane sighed. "Do you really think this is the best time to go into it? Of course I knew they'd watch Jaimie; you knew it too. She's a multimillion-dollar weapon and she's smart as a whip. Not to mention she can do things no one else can do and no one, not even Whitney, can figure out how the hell she does it. I have no idea what she's into or why these men are sniffing around her home now."
Gideon's voice whispered in Mack's head again. Superman has joined the party. He's good, Mack. His camouflage is every bit as good as or better than mine. He's like a damned ghost. I barely caught sight of him. He moved to get a better angle on the two moving around Jaimie's house. He's got the mean end of a rifle on them and looks like he knows how to use it.
Mack looked at Kane over the top of Jaimie's head, knowing Gideon had sent the information to Kane as well. They had another player in the mix, with no way of knowing if he was a friend or enemy.
Has he spotted you? Kane asked.
I don't think so, but I'm pinned down. If I move to check out the two below, he's got a clear shot at me.
Mack turned the information over in his mind. Stay where you are. Javier wouldn't have left an opening for visitors to come in, and Jaimie's got this place fully secure. If they break in, we'll know about it, most likely with a big boom. Keep your eye on Superman. Try to get a good look at him through the scope, but don't expose yourself. Just watch him.
"Are you going to let me in on what's going on?" Jaimie asked.
"Like you share information with me?" Mack asked and instantly regretted it. "We're trying to sort it all out. Gideon spotted the two men moving around the first floor, looking for a way in. They were obviously looking for their friends, the ones Javier took out."
"I see. Did you tell Gideon not to include me in the broadcast, or did he make that decision all on his own?" She knew Gideon had to be following orders.
Mack ignored her question. "And then someone else showed up on one of the rooftops and he's watching them too. We're fairly certain he isn't with the others. I think we've got two factions here."
"Great. You show up, Mack, and my life is instantly turned upside down." Jaimie swept both hands through her hair, struggling not to cry.
The insanity had started all over again. And the hurt. As much as she hated it all, she should have been included. She fought to make a life for herself, but now . . . She shook her head. She couldn't entirely blame Mack, although she wanted to. It would be so much easier to drive a wedge deeper between them, but that was a coward's way out. She didn't want to love him. To feel weak inside when he was close. Her body felt out of control, alert and alive around him. Almost desperate, and she wasn't a desperate woman.
She was blaming him unfairly for the firestorm she'd brought down on herself. She'd been gathering information against Whitney, but more important, she'd been trying to find out who was supporting him, who was sanctioning his criminal experiments. Hacking into a government site was risky business. She had a high security clearance, but not high enough, not when they were protecting their connections with Whitney. Someone had buried him deep and there were so many layers and red flags, she may have tripped one without knowing it. She hadn't thought so, but she had no doubt in her mind that if she was found out, they would erase her. She'd gone after them anyway.
Whitney had taken all their lives. He'd promised to enhance them psychically. He already had conducted experiments on children, which none of them had known. He knew the effects it would have on them, but he'd done it anyway. Worse, he'd altered them genetically as well. And he'd paired them using pheromones, with the idea of breeding the perfect soldier. The man was a maniac and someone had to stop him. Unfortunately he still had powerful friends in high places and he had access to all the money in the world. He could move around from one facility to another and often had military protection where he went.
She couldn't blame Mack, as much as she'd like to, and it made her ashamed of herself that she'd let him think she believed he'd brought trouble with him. As much as she didn't want to admit it, he probably had saved her a lot of trouble. She had two escape routes, and may have gotten away, but she had sunk most of her money into her current project, looking to build a future not only for herself but for the others should there be need.
"I'm sorry, Mack. I shouldn't have said that. This isn't your fault and I know it isn't." Jaimie sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I had a couple of years to pretend my life was my own. I don't know who these men are. As far as I know, I haven't had anyone watching me until Gideon discovered the room across the way. And I have to tell you, no one has ever managed to surprise me, so either he just set up there, or I'm losing my abilities."
"The room had been lived in for a time, Jaimie."
She bit her lower lip and looked away from him, for the first time very shaken. If her radar system was faulty, she was in real trouble. She'd always been able to detect danger. She knew where the enemy was and became aware of anyone stalking them. Even snipers would have a difficult time targeting her. If that was no longer true, there was no place she was safe.
"What does Gideon say?" She knew Gideon was always their eyes. The man was an eagle, a ghost, and a phenomenal shot all rolled into one.
"He calls the man Superman. Says this Superman has the same attributes as he does. Do you have trouble detecting Gideon? Maybe it's something in his makeup."
She frowned. "I don't know. Gideon's never hunted me. At least not to my knowledg
e. He's always been with the rest of you."
"Do your thing, Jaimie," Kane suggested. "Tell us where they all are. Everyone you can detect."
Her brows drew together. It was a gift they all wished they had, to be able to detect the enemy's exact position. She was never certain exactly how she did it, her mind just expanded and she felt the energy, dark, sometimes malevolent, but always strong. They all wanted to know how she did it, but there was no real explanation. They thought she was stubborn, and maybe she'd become stubborn, sick of what they wanted from her.
She closed her eyes, inhaled to clear her mind and let go, seeking outside of herself to find those hunting her. She felt the ocean first, the surge of power that connected with her almost immediately, heightening her senses and expanding her range. She felt the two men moving around the corner of her warehouse, staying low as they carefully examined the building for weaknesses in security.
She felt their heartbeats, the adrenaline in their systems. She felt the breath moving through their bodies. Anger. Fear. Puzzlement. She could almost read their thoughts, but the body chemistry was enough to know they were enemies. She forced herself past them to encompass the street and buildings running alongside her warehouse.
A man huddled on the steps of the building to the right of her. His mind was a haze, a blur of no thinking, just shivering. He was cold and wanted more alcohol, but was oblivious to anyone else. Up the street a group of a four partied together. Drugs raced through their systems, not adrenaline. She examined the rooftops. She knew Gideon was up there somewhere along with the one they called Superman, yet she couldn't find either of them.
She opened her eyes and looked at Mack. "I don't know how long I've been under surveillance. He has to be a GhostWalker. I can't detect Gideon either."
"But you can detect both of us?" Mack asked.
She nodded. "And the two outside moving around the first floor, looking for a way in."
"But not Gideon or the other man?"
She shook her head. "That's never happened before, Mack. Not once. Not in all the times I trained. What's different about Gideon?"
"I don't know, but I don't want you saying anything. We'll need to protect that information. Don't document it," Mack cautioned.
She crawled away from the window to the center of the room where her furniture was. "Because you know they'd dissect him to see if they could make you all that way."
"The mysterious 'they' again," Mack said. "You use 'they' and 'you' a lot. You're a GhostWalker too, Jaimie. You gave your consent just like the rest of us. And not everyone in the program is corrupt."
She sank into a chair across from Kane. "I know that, Mack. I just despise the entire mess. Whitney's given some people cancer. He's hurt them in order to see if he could speed the healing process. He's so far out of control and someone knows it. More than one someone, yet they protect him. They want his research and we're all expendable to protect it. And we have foreign governments wanting one of us to dissect so they can build the same kind of soldier. Do you think any of us are going to have a life if we don't get out now?"
Kane slipped his gun back beneath his sleeping bag, knowing Jaimie hated the weapon. "We're going to be fine as long as we stick together, Jaimie."
Her eyes met his. There was despair there. She was too intelligent to be reassured like a child and they both knew it. She had logged in hundreds of hours going over Whitney's experiment. It read like a horror story. Her temples throbbed with pain, an aftermath of using psychic ability. It helped with Mack and Kane in the room, but still, the pain made her stomach lurch.
She didn't want to think about all the children Whitney had conducted his experiments on. The adults had been bad enough, but she knew there had been children involved. The man was still out there, on the loose, condoned and aided by a group of power-hungry men who believed themselves above the law. The men in GhostWalker Team Three were all members of her family. No, they weren't bound by blood, but they'd chosen years ago to band together and make it through life together. Now they were all in jeopardy.
"I can't save them," she said aloud, and then was horrified that she'd spoken without thinking.
She could no longer trust either Mack or Kane. They had embraced their new bodies and minds and they believed they could make a huge difference. They were honorable men and they fought for what they believed. She was no longer part of that circle. No matter how familiar, no matter how much she loved them, she had to remember she wasn't part of what they were doing and if orders came down regarding her--both men would follow those orders.
As if reading her mind, Mack sank into the chair beside hers and reached out to take her hand. "We're here in San Francisco hunting this shipment of weapons and the men who are going to buy them. It's our one chance to get at the Doomsday unit. They happen to be in the same neighborhood you're living in. Whatever that means. However it happened. Someone is threatening you. Let's just call a truce until we remove the threat and I have my terrorists in custody."
"You don't take them into custody, Mack," she pointed out. "You assassinate them."
"I do whatever it takes. And I'll do whatever it takes to keep you alive, Jaimie. Whatever is going on here is not of my making. You wanted out. I was hoping you would get out and make a life for yourself."
He had hoped she'd come back to him and tell him she was missing him every single minute of every single day--that she couldn't breathe without him. That hadn't happened. It didn't look like it was going to happen anytime soon.
"We're a family," Kane added. "We'd never leave you until we knew the threat to you was past. So we'll be moving in here for a long while. We've already gotten permission. The boys are setting up their rooms; we'll be here with you. You'll be safe."
"What does Sergeant Major want in return? He doesn't do anything for free."
"That's for us to worry about," Mack said. "Not you. Let's just enjoy whatever time we have together while we figure all this out. I missed you, Jaimie." There was an ache in his voice. An unexpected lump in his throat. She had no idea. He'd felt shattered. Fractured. And he'd had no idea how much he needed her or depended on her until she was gone.
There was resentment in him. Stubbornness. She'd left him. Walked out. Whatever her reasons, however stupid he'd been, she'd left him. For a moment it took all his discipline not to yank her out of the chair and shake her into seeing sense. They were meant for each other. He'd thought--hoped--that when he saw her again, the impact she had on him would lessen, but it was worse than ever. He craved her like some terrible addiction. He wanted the adoration back, that look of absolute love in her eyes. He wanted her soft body streaking fire through his. He wanted the sound of her laughter and her trust. More than anything he wanted that back.
Jaimie pushed both hands through her hair. Living with Mack again. She doubted she could survive it. But what else could she do? She wasn't stupid. Someone had sent GhostWalkers after her and that meant Whitney was probably on to her and she was in danger. If he knew the evidence she'd been compiling against him, he'd never let her live. And she was tracing his connections, getting closer to his supporters. They would be even more dangerous than Whitney. He was obscure. A ghost. But his backers had political lives. They were powerful men with lots to lose and they'd never let her expose their crimes to the world.
She'd known when she started researching and documenting that she was entering a dangerous game, but she had always known she had to find a way to protect her family. She loved them and she wasn't going to see them thrown to the wolves. No one was going to set them up to be killed by sending them on a bogus mission. She'd make certain of that.
"Can't you stay in one of the places around here, Mack? I'm used to being on my own and you're bossy."
Kane made a sound in his throat that was cut off when Mack shot him a warning look. "I'm not in the least bit bossy. I know how to keep you alive, and you tend to trust everyone."
She scowled at him. "I do not. Do you see what
I'm talking about? I've been in business for two years, Mack. I haven't needed you to tell me who I can work for."
"That doesn't mean you couldn't have benefited from my experience."
A slow smile curved her mouth. "Now you're just teasing."
"I'm glad you remember what teasing is."
She deserved that, she knew. Mack and Kane were the two people she loved most in the world and she hadn't exactly been hospitable. She'd accused Kane outright of betrayal, and there was still a certainty that he had known the address was wrong. He had been close to the one new man when they'd come into her home, the one they weren't certain of, and it had been Kane who had blocked his weapon, almost before Mack had identified her.
"Okay, fine. But you're getting your own beds. I mean it. I'm not sharing my bed."
"Who wants that tiny little thing?" Mack scoffed. "We'll get manly furniture tomorrow."
The two poking around are leaving, Top. I have the feeling they'll be back, Gideon reported. But they're going to do a little investigating. Superman has slipped away.
Did he see you? Mack asked.
Naw. I just became part of the wall. Never moved.
We're going to get some sleep. Thanks, Gideon. Be careful. And don't trust anyone not our own.
Okay, Mom. Gideon laughed softly in his ear.
Mack sighed. Trying to keep them all in line was difficult. "We can turn in. The threat's over."
"Lucky us," Jaimie muttered.
CHAPTER 5
Morning light filtered through the windows when a loud blast shattered the peace of sleep. Kane and Mack leapt to their feet, both reaching for their weapons, or at least both tried to. Kane nearly crashed to the floor, whirling around a little wildly, gun in his fist.
"What the hell?" Kane demanded, wiggling free and crawling across the floor to the window.
Jaimie dragged the blanket over her head with a groan. This was not the start to the day she had anticipated. "It's the doorbell. It's probably Joe."