Nathan shook his head. "Then you'll understand why we don't trust you."
Carlos took it in stride. "I don't trust me most days. However, I'm an expert at... difficult extractions. Give me the address so I can get her back and give her a piece of my mind."
"Like hell," Nathan growled. "You let them take her. He's the only one going with me." He pointed at Stoner.
Carlos sent a dismissive glance at Stoner, then raked Nathan with black eyes. "I didn't let anyone take shit, boy. And I can level the same thing back at you. How you let her get taken?"
Nathan hated the fact that he had a point.
"What I thought," Carlos said. "She don't listen to me or you. Now we got to go get her." He looked at Stoner. "You got any experience?"
Stoner smirked at Carlos with bored patience. "I'm former army intelligence, Special Forces, on contract to the U.S. government now for national security. That good enough for you, amigo?"
Carlos returned the stare with one that said he was less than impressed. "It'll do."
Nathan shoved his phone in his pants pocket. "I'll take your number and call if we need you, but"he stepped close to Carlos"if you show up where you aren't invited and put her at further risk, I'll kill you before they get a shot at you."
"Trust me. You're a rookie." Carlos gave them his cell number. "You can't fight these people alone."
"I lost rookie status long before you were born. I don't intend to fight them," Nathan replied. "Marseaux wants me. I'm going to trade places with Terri. You got a helicopter close by?"
"I can get one."
"Then get it if you want to help. If we need the cavalry, you won't reach us fast enough without one."
"At least give me an airport or location close to where you're going."
"Lakefront Airport." Nathan looked at Stoner. "Let's go."
*
"He's coming," Terri told the man who identified himself as Duff, which she doubted was his real name. She used her free hand to close the cell phone and placed it on a small desk.
"Make yourself comfortable and have a seat." Duff stood at the front of the ravaged classroom, pointing his gun at her sweet grandmother like a demented teacher picking on a helpless student.
Broken windows did little to dissipate the smell of mildew crowding the air in the abandoned school, another casualty of Katrina.
Terri lifted the two vials lying on the desk into her left hand, careful to keep her 9 mm aimed at the deadly capsules.
Her bluff had worked, almost. But not as she'd planned.
Spiked blond hair, tall and slender, the man who had identified himself as Duff was attractive for someone insane. He clearly enjoyed this.
He'd broken out in laughter at her offer that she'd hand over the vials as soon as her grandmother was delivered to the closest police department where someone could call to confirm she was safe.
Duff suggested what he considered was a better idea. Call Drake and Terri could walk out with her grandmother or he'd kill both of them right now. That's when she'd found out there had been ten vials originally and Duff's people only needed six, right now. Losing this pair carrying the virus and the antidote would be inconvenient, but wouldn't delay their schedule.
However, if he delivered the two she held at gunpoint he'd be handsomely rewarded. So he'd deal if she would.
Terri had to choose. Her grandmother's life for Nathan's.
Noooo. Bile lurched up her throat every time she thought about what she was drawing Nathan into. His voice echoed in her mind: Trust me. I can handle this.
Trusting a criminal had almost gotten her killed last time, but there was no one she trusted more at the moment. BAD would come in with a team. That might work or Duff might be alerted and kill her grandmother.
Nathan was highly trained and as stealthy as a ghost. He would find a way in without putting her or her grandmother in danger. She just wished she knew he would have a way out. Terri wasn't leaving without him.
"Don't want to sit down?" Duff taunted. "Then hand me the vials so you can both leave as soon as he gets here." He grinned, toying with her like a cat played with a mouse.
She scoffed at him. "Contrary to many obnoxious jokes, blondes aren't stupid."
Terri split her vision between the vials and her normally robust grandmother, who now huddled next to Duff looking frail and old. Grandmas intermittent silence mixed with low murmurs scared Terri. She needed her grandmother lucid enough to escape when she gave her directions.
"If not for your being a nuisance and Drake's interference, this wouldn't have happened." An arrogant smile tilted his lips.
Now Terri understood what drove Nathan to hunt down his brother's killer. If anything happened to Grandma and Terri survived, she would hunt this man to the end of the earth.
Even though she'd met plenty of snakes like this, she still didn't understand them. "Why are you killing people? Are you part of a terrorist group?"
Duff laughed, his gun bobbing carelessly around her grandmother. "Terrorists? Be real. Don't compare me with those bottom feeders. Their vision is too narrow and self-serving. Like they deserve to inherit this world? They're no more capable of ruling than the rest of you ignorant fools."
Weird and mental guy, but Duff was hinting at his leaders. Terri asked, "So who does deserve to rule?"
"The most enlightened geniuses of our generation."
Geniuses. Could this be some wacko cult? If so, this would be the first one sophisticated enough to bring in a deadly virus. No, this was too international feeling. And, if this group was truly made up of geniuses and possessed any serious level of organization, the world could be facing something far worse than a cult.
Terri narrowed her gaze at him. "So these killings aren't about some terrorist demand?"
"A terrorist demand is trite compared to what we fight for."
Keep him talking. The more she learned, the more she could use to find these bastards and stop them. If she lived. "So what are you fighting for?"
"No harm in telling you since you, unfortunately, will not be here to see the results of our labor." Duff's shoulders tipped back, full of self-importance. His eyes glowed with the chance to brag. "We're committed to protecting the world from itself. There is no one nation with the intellectual capacity and true power necessary to rule all nations, but there is a governing body of geniuses that will one day emerge when the world is ready for their leadership."
Lunatic. Zealot. Moron. Take your pick, any of those would fit this man. Terri sorted through all he said, but came up blank. No terrorist group. No particular nation. What did these people want?
The door behind her opened.
She froze.
"Don't shoot her, Teto," Duff called out. "She's got a gun on the vials."
A sob from her grandmother reached Terri's ears. Tears threatened at how afraid her grandmother had to be. God forgive her, but Terri wanted these men to die.
Footsteps tapped coming up from behind her, then passed on her left and walked toward Duff A Hispanic man wearing a camo T-shirt and jeans walked up to whisper something to Duff, who smiled and said, "You have everything ready?"
"Yes."
Duff turned to Terri. "Our company has arrived."
*
Nathan stopped just inside the tree line and studied the expanse of weed-ravaged playground between him and the school through his night-vision monocular. The sun had dropped out of sight, leaving the world tinted with twilight. Stoner peered through a pair of night-vision binoculars, sweeping them slowly across the terrain.
"They know I'm here." Nathan recognized a trap.
"Yep. You set?"
Nathan reached in his pocket and pulled out the Army Ranger coin and offered it to Stoner. "Keep it this time."
Stoner lowered the glasses, looked at the coin, and shook his head. "Not yet. I think it's got one more life in there for you. I'll call Carlos as soon as I have Terri and her grandmother."
Nathan shoved the coin back into hi
s pants pocket. "I hope you're right about the coin, but either way, get them out of here."
Waiting any longer wasn't going to lower his chances of being shot on the way to the school. Nathan pointed to the right and Stoner disappeared into the woods. If Nathan didn't take a slug going straight in, he'd meet Stoner next to the entrance door, which stood wide open.
He kept low to the ground, zigzagging across the field until he reached the door. A minute later, Stoner arrived with his monocular in place. Nathan led the way into the dark building. Light shined from one doorway. When he neared it, he peeked around the corner and took in the scene.
Terri stood with her back to him in the middle of the room.
Two men at the head of the classroom faced her, with Grandma between them.
Nathan raised his monocular and stepped into view. "I'm here. Let the women go."
Everyone in the room tensed except for Grandma, whose lips quivered.
"In due time." The one holding Terri's grandmother had spoken. "Put your weapon down."
Nathan tossed his gun onto the closest desk. "Who are you?"
"Me? I'm Duff." He grinned. "And this is my partner, Teto. Want to introduce your partner?"
"What do you want?" Nathan kept his eyes on Terri, who hadn't moved a muscle.
"Terri knows what I want, don't you?" Duff said.
She nodded.
"Bring the vials up here and we'll trade, as agreed."
When she moved, Terri lifted two small vials off the desk in front of her and carried her SIG in her other hand.
Nathan realized she'd been holding them at bay by threatening to shoot the vials. His heart hammered at each step she took forward, but he couldn't move and risk getting her shot.
When Terri reached the front, she held up the two vials with the weapon pointed at her hand. "I'll blow my hand off if you try to trick me. Turn my grandmother loose first."
"Terri, don't, they'll"
"I know, Nathan. Please take my grandmother out of here."
"As you wish." Duff led her grandmother by the arm to the center aisle, then instructed her to walk straight forward.
When her grandmother reached Nathan, he took her arm and whispered, "My friend Stoner will take care of you. I'm not leaving without Terri."
Tears streamed down her wrinkled face. She trembled violently. He eased her out the door and passed her off to Stoner, who had been close enough to hear everything. Then Nathan turned back to Duff. He realized then that Terri intended to give her life to free him and her grandmother.
"Marseaux wants me, not Terri. I'll come willingly if you'll let her go."
"No, Nathan!" she cried out. "They released the virus in Chicago"
Duff raised his .357 magnum to shoulder level, pointed at Nathan. "Hand Teto the vials or he dies now."
She handed the vials to his partner.
Duff whipped an arm around her throat and choked her into silence. Once she was quiet, he shoved the nozzle of his weapon under Terri's throat. "Marseaux isn't part of this. He's just a puppet we use when necessary. You give him too much credit." He kept his gaze on Nathan, but spoke over his shoulder to his partner. "Check the vials to make sure they are marked correctly and she didn't switch them, then prepare to leave."
Teto nodded and turned away to a box on a table to the side of where they stood.
"Handing you over to Marseaux isn't near enough payback for causing me to look bad with the order," Duff told Nathan. "Much as I'd like to exact revenge on you, I can't do so without permission. Everyone within the Order, including me, must follow rules, or there is chaos."
"What order?"
"Fratelli de il Sovrano, of course."
The F and S from Jamie's note. Nathan didn't know what kind of bullshit he was spouting and frankly, he didn't care. All that mattered was getting between that gun and Terri. "So what do you want?"
"You have the vials, let him go," Terri pleaded with Duff.
Nathan shook his head. "If you want revenge, trade me for her."
Duff cackled. "You think this is a negotiation? No, no, no. I have you exactly where I want youin the middle of nowhere."
And sharing more than expected, which told Nathan these two planned to kill him, Terri... and her grandmother, which would include Stoner. He pressed for more.
"Why are you releasing the virus? What do you hope to gain?" Nathan shifted his weight, but was actually moving forward with each slight adjustment in his stance.
"You wouldn't understand." Duff glanced out the broken windows as if he expected someone.
"Why wouldn't I understand?" Nathan wanted to hold Duff's attention.
"You don't have the IQ, not like your brother's. He could have comprehended the significance of our work."
"Jamie?" Nathan fisted his hands. "What do you know about him?"
"That he was never meant for this world. He was too soft and naive. Actually, he was too stupid to live. That's when I realized he couldn't be the brother with military background."
The walls closed in. Jamie had been used as a pawn in some freaked-out plan. And Nathan knew without a doubt that he was facing Jamie's killer. He wanted to find out more, then kill this animal, but not with Terri's life at stake. He'd lost everyone he'd ever loved.
What a hell of a time to realize he loved Terri and couldn't lose her.
Why was this Duff talking so much? The skin along Nathan's neck tightened as it always did when something wasn't right. "What are you waiting for?"
"My next orders, of course." Duff removed his arm from around Terri's neck, then said, "Make a move and Teto will shoot your boyfriend."
Nathan picked up the distinctive sound of a helicopter approaching. Carlos was quicker than he'd have thought possible, and closer than he would have expected them to come.
To buy some time and help cover the sound, Nathan asked, "Why did you kill my brother?"
"I needed a body. He was handy. But after all the trouble I went through to steal Brady's gun to shoot your brother, your girlfriend let the body disappear before hanging Brady with the murder. My life would have been much simpler for the past two weeks if she'd just done her job."
This bastard had to die. Nathan's hardest decision would be choosing which way to kill this animal so as to cause the most pain.
The chopper whomped louder.
Nathan couldn't believe the agency Terri worked for had just landed outside the building without one of them out there waving the team in.
"There's my ride," Duff crooned. He shoved his weapon into his belt and reached over to the desk for something, then turned to Terri. "Don't go looking for your buddy Stoner. You didn't really think I'd let him walk away with your grandmother."
"You bastard!" Terri shouted, jerking hard against Duff's grip, but he held her firm.
"Every good general has a sweeper to clean up behind. He'll assure that neither you nor Drake will leave here. Besides, you'll be busy once I execute my last order for the two of you."
Terri twisted her head to face him. "Doing what?"
Duff grabbed her arm, yanked her to him, and stabbed a hypodermic needle in her back. "Fighting for your life."
"Oh, God, the virus!" Terri screamed, grabbing at her shoulder and backing away.
"No!" Nathan charged forward.
Teto's gun exploded.
A bullet hit Nathan high in the abdomen, spinning him around. His chest hurt like hell. He fell over a desk and landed on the floor, but shoved himself upright and turned back to Terri.
She stumbled toward him.
Duff and his partner raced from the room.
Nathan reached Terri. He snatched the needle out and held her to him. "BAD's sending a helicopter. Just hold on."
The chopper outside lifted off.
Terri trembled, then shook harder. "Stop... Duff." She started panting, fighting for air.
"Don't talk." He lifted her into his arms and turned for the door. "Stoner called" Please, God, tell him Stoner made the call. N
athan had to take a breath. The slug hadn't gone through his bulletproof vest, but it might have broken a rib. "He's on the way to a safe place with your grandmother. He called Carlos. Your agency is on the way." They'd better be, but he needed her to believe her grandmother was safe.
"They can't save me."
"Don't say that."
"Nathan." She struggled for every breath. "Please, listen. I-I..." Terri gripped his shirt, eyes wild with fear and fighting to speak.
"Baby, save your energy." He carried her outside and stood in the empty schoolyard, dividing his attention between watching her and listening for any sound of a chopper. The bleak exterior of the building looked as desolate as he felt.
Where was that damn chopper?
"No, listen. I'm sorry I told you to turn yourself in." She swallowed. Her face twisted with pain. "You were right about Jamie." She wheezed. "I understand now."
Staring into the face of the woman he loved, he saw what blind revenge had cost him. He should have seen where this was all going to end up. "No, I was wrong. I should have tried harder to protect you." All he cared about right now was keeping her alive.
His ears perked at the sweet sound of a chopper heading their way. "You're going to be okay."
"It's impossible." Her breathing evened out, giving Nathan renewed hope. Terri lifted a hand to his cheek. "I love you."
"Nothing's impossible. I'm not losing another person I love." Nathan smiled and started to kiss her when she convulsed violently and screamed in agony. He struggled to hold her in his arms.
The helicopter landed. Armed men poured out, weapons pointing at him.
"Put her down, Drake. You're under arrest," Carlos ordered.
"I'm unarmed and I'll turn myself in," he yelled over the roar of the jet helicopter blades. "She was injected with a virus. Help her," he begged, tears in his eyes.
*
Duff climbed the stairs rather than take the elevator, as directed by Consul Vestavia in his last text message. Fra Bacchus had said to follow Vestavia's instructions to the letter. The Fra would not be disappointed. Duff had carried out his orders precisely as Vestavia had instructed him to handle the Mitchell woman and Drake.
He didn't always understand the purpose of a task, but Duff had proven he was one of the fratelli's best generals.
Duff exited the elevator on the fourth floor of an office building along Canal Street. The Fratelli de il Sovrano probably owned the building. Hell, he didn't meet a soul on the way in and none of the doors he walked past had any business identification. At the last office on the left, he entered a room with one window, but it was on an interior wall, not one that showed outside.