Dahlia moved fast, running toward the row of what looked almost like safety-deposit boxes. Each was large and deep, able to hold most anything a research team needed to leave in safety. She bent to open one nearest the floor. In amongst the stacks of paper and zip drives, she found the precious disks holding the data on stealth torpedoes. There were no identifying marks, but she recognized the strange red circle the professor at Rutgers liked to use on his correspondence.
Dahlia tucked the disks into a Ziploc bag and shoved it inside her tightly woven jumper where she had a hidden pocket. Once it was safe, she arranged everything to look exactly as it had been, closed the vault, and took to the vent. She was going out toward the side entrance where the bushes were close instead of back up toward the roof. It was easier to get through the vents. She simply had to remember to be cautious of the motion sensors.
She had to take a few minutes to orient herself in the maze of vent tunnels before choosing the one she needed that would take her directly to the side entrance facing the narrow street. There was a yard to the back, and dogs were often left loose to guard it at night. The side entrance had less light and only two cameras. Dahlia unscrewed the screen and slipped out of the vent into the office. She could hear the guard talking to someone in the distance. Grateful that she just missed the guard and his dog, she hastily deactivated the alarms at the window and opened it. It was a fair distance to the ground, but she jumped, landing in a crouch close to the wall. She took one step toward the bushes when she heard the door hinges squeak. Men's voice intruded into the night.
Dahlia shrank back against the wall, stilled, and closed her eyes as two men emerged through the side door. Obviously in the middle of an argument, they remained close together, halting just a foot from her. She recognized Trevor Billings, one of the researchers reputed to be a boy genius. The man Jesse Calhoun had been investigating. He glared at Roman Howard. "I told you not to come here anymore."
Roman shoved Trevor so hard, the smaller man had to grab his glasses to keep them from flying off his nose, and at the same time, he flung out a hand to grab the wall to steady himself. Dahlia could see his fingers only a scant few inches from her shoulder. She stared at them with a kind of sick horror. It seemed impossible that they wouldn't see her, but she concentrated on keeping her image as blurred as possible.
Trevor held up a placating hand as Roman stepped close to him. "We've got a good thing going. You bring me the research, and I develop it, and we can sell it to the highest bidder. You're going to blow it if you keep this up. What's wrong with you? The research was taken and unless we can recover it, we have to focus on the next step."
"Don't talk to me like you're a somebody, Billings. You were nothing, a pissant gofer no one noticed until I brought you the idea and set the entire thing up. My people are the ones taking all the chances while you sit in your little office and get the glory, looking like the genius. We both know you couldn't think your way out of a paper bag."
Dahlia couldn't get past the two men. She was trapped in the dark corner very near the bushes, but light from the streetlamp bathed the path in yellow. They would see her moving and know they weren't alone. She dared not even breathe with Trevor gripping the wall so close to her.
"We lost this one, Roman. I don't understand why it's so important that you'd risk everything. You're hurting people. Sooner or later they'll come after us."
Roman smirked at him. "We're killing people, Billings. That's an important part of the work and you're too much of a weasel to do it yourself. Get the hell out of here and don't be telling me where I can or can't go. I tell you what to do."
Dahlia was suddenly hit hard with the ferocious violent energy, the urge to kill. The mass of energy swarmed around Roman, raced to hammer at Dahlia. She felt the rising need as it gained force. She wanted to shout at Trevor Billings to run. He must have seen the promise of death in Roman's eyes because he pulled himself away from the wall and began to edge away, stumbling toward the street.
Roman took a couple of steps after him, but then stopped abruptly and turned back as if he caught sight of something--or someone. She was certain he sensed someone close.
Dahlia froze, pushing her small body hard against the side of the wall, using every ounce of experience she had to control her breathing so that there was nothing to give her away. She kept her image blurred, but Roman Howard was close. So close she could reach out and touch him. He was furious. His anger radiated from him. He turned his head this way and that, sniffing the air, wanting to ferret out his enemy. He paced away from her, about five steps, and the light from the street lamp spilled over him for just an instant as he turned. Dahlia saw the knife blade laid flat against his wrist, the hilt in his closed fist.
Her breath caught in her throat. She pressed closer to the wall, wishing there was a crevice she could crawl into. Not only could she feel his anger, but violent energy poured from his body. Surrounded him. Ate at him until he was mumbling beneath his breath, hissing in retaliation, certain he was being watched and wanting to kill. Air slammed out of his lungs. He wanted to kill. Even needed to kill something or someone. The craving was so strong she feared for any innocent passersby.
The energy hit her in waves and she could read the ugly truth of Roman Howard's life. Always one step behind his brothers, yet a brilliant man who believed he could outwit everyone. He hated. The emotion boiled and churned in him, poisoning and eating away at him until he could barely control and conceal his actions. Dahlia felt it all, and the energy massed around her, choking her, filling her until the pressure was unbearable. She bit down hard on her wrist, concentrating on the pain, trying to block out the violence of Roman's emotions.
A shadow stepped from the wall not more than six feet from where she was concealed. Roman spun around and froze. Mesmerized, she watched his fingertips stroke the knife hilt.
"Martin, what are you doing here?" Roman cleared his throat and attempted a faint smile. "I thought you were on some big investigation. Louise told me you were in Atlanta."
"I was on my own investigation. I started wondering how anyone could have found out about Dahlia Le Blanc."
"Who? I don't know what you're talking about."
"I wish that were true, Roman, but only a very few people knew about Dahlia. We buried her under layers of flags and not one of those flags was ever raised. That's how I knew whoever went after her didn't find her through the computers, and they couldn't have had personal knowledge of her. Jesse knew where she lived, but it would be ludicrous to think he tortured himself." Martin ran both hands through his hair, dark shadows in his eyes. His face was etched with pain. "Dahlia paid Louise a little visit last night. Jesse's condition wasn't common knowledge, but you knew. How would you know, Roman? You didn't think I'd be talking to Louise so soon after you told me, did you? You let me believe she told you, but she didn't know anything about Jesse and was shocked when I gave her the news."
Roman shrugged. "Who knew they were going to keep it a secret? Why would they? It made sense that Louise would know. A small mistake, but in the end it still won't matter."
"It was enough for me to know what you were doing. Why, Roman?"
Roman's smile was a parody, his teeth bared like a wolf. "You tell me. You're Martin, the almighty. You can never do anything wrong, but I think when they start investigating, they'll see you aren't so innocent."
"You planted evidence to incriminate me."
"Someone has to take the fall. You're too squeaky-clean to be true. How would I ever be a suspect? They won't find a single bug, anything at all to connect me to anything. I didn't know the woman. I've never heard of the woman."
Martin spread his hands out in front of him. "So this was all about jealousy? You wanted to get back at me?"
Roman burst out laughing. It was an ugly sound and the waves of violent energy nearly became a tidal wave washing over her. "Don't flatter yourself. It's about money and power. Of course they chose the golden boy for the experiment,
when I had far more ability than you. And of course something went wrong, and they compensated you with a trust to set you up for life. Why you, Martin? We both know I have more natural talent than you do. You lied to them about me. You and Calhoun kept me out of the program."
Dahlia choked back the bile rising in her throat. Her body was trembling, nearly shaking apart. She knew if she didn't expel part of the energy, she would have a seizure. And that meant allowing the two men to know they weren't alone. The research material was burning a hole through her skin, reminding her that she had to protect it at all costs. She was wearing work clothes. Both men would know she'd been recovering something and they would search her body.
She turned her head and focused on the middle of the street where nothing could possibly burn. Flames leapt through the air. The road blackened. Both men turned their heads toward the fiery display.
Roman swore savagely, took a step toward his brother. Martin frowned at the leaping flames, then looked carefully around him, suddenly wary. Suddenly aware Dahlia had to be somewhere close.
"What is it?" Roman demanded.
"How the hell would I know?" Martin asked. "How far are you into this, Roman? What have you done?"
Roman laughed. "I'm not into it at all. You forget you're the one they have the evidence against. Are they going to believe I can read minds? That I've been reading Louise's mind for years? I don't think so. They'll blame you, Martin. Louise will even blame you, her golden boy." He stepped closer, his knife hand at his side, concealing the weapon.
"Do you really think I'll let you destroy my reputation and everything I've worked for?" Martin asked.
Dahlia's gaze was on the knife hand. The fingers caressed the hilt. She could feel Roman's rising excitement, the lust for the kill. She stepped away from the wall. Nicolas cursed, his protest loud in her mind.
"He has a knife, Martin, and he intends to use it on you," she said softly.
Both men spun toward her. She stayed in the shadows and kept her image as blurred as possible to prevent either man from seeing the bad shape she was in.
"You!" Roman spit on the ground, his eyes narrowed and dangerous. "I should have guessed it was you."
"Are you going to kill both of us with your knife?" she asked. The shaking was worse, rising in direct proportion to Roman's eagerness for violence.
"No one would believe a crazy woman." He took another step toward Martin.
Dahlia sucked in her breath. "Don't!" she said sharply. "Don't get any closer to him. Can't you feel it? Can't you feel the guns trained on you? They'll never let you get close to either one of us. Put the knife down and let the lawyers handle it."
Martin looked around them, a long careful search of their surroundings. "It's them, isn't it? The GhostWalker team. They're out there watching us."
She nodded. "They have a sniper with them, Roman. He's a remarkable shot. Put down the knife. This isn't worth your life."
"You're lying."
"She isn't lying," Martin denied. "You should be able to feel them, Roman, I can. Who's the sniper, Dahlia?"
The violence was building to an appalling level. She felt her legs turn to rubber and she sat down, frightened at her own weakness. She was only a few feet from Roman. If he chose, he could easily leap on her and stab her, and there was little she could do about it as weak and helpless as she felt. It took all of her concentration to keep from having a seizure. "Nicolas Trevane," she answered.
Roman's head jerked up and he began swearing repetitiously. With each oath, the energy spewing from him swirled around Dahlia, black and ferocious.
Get rid of it. Nicolas sounded calm. Dead calm. Ice-cold calm. She knew immediately he was in hunter mode, and he was locked on target.
I didn't want to distract you.
I don't get distracted. There was complete confidence in his voice.
Dahlia turned her head and once again focused on the street. Fire rained from the sky. White-hot streaks of orange and red fell in a shower and danced over the street, some flames leaping as high as six feet.
Martin looked at the display with a kind of awe. Roman shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, bringing his knife hand low, blade up, as he lunged at his brother. Dahlia saw the impact of the bullet before the sound reached them. Roman's body jerked. Like a rag doll, he was flung forward and fell into Martin, driving him to the ground with his dead weight.
The rush of energy hit her hard and fast, sending her over the edge. She fell to the ground, a seizure taking her, bile choking her, fighting to stay conscious to protect the data she had recovered. It was impossible to stay focused as the energy ate her alive, her temperature soaring and the pressure building and building until there was nowhere for it to go.
Kaden reached her first. Nicolas had been trapped on the rooftop, protecting her and, although he was certain of his shot, he didn't dare take his eyes off his downed target, or even Martin, until Kaden signaled him an all clear. Kaden knelt beside her and put both hands on her shoulders, trying to absorb the energy consuming her. He glanced at Martin who knelt weeping beside his brother. "Are you an anchor?"
Martin hesitated, and then nodded.
"Get the hell over here. Put your hands on her," Kaden ordered.
Martin complied, somewhat in shock as the other GhostWalkers joined them. Gator made the call to Lily to inform the director of the NCIS that the data was recovered and the traitor found. Nicolas rushed to Dahlia's side and gathered her into his arms.
"This is the last time. I swear, never again, Dahlia," he whispered as the convulsion eased and left her staring up at him with wide, dark eyes. "You scare me to death. The only way I'm going to breathe properly again is if you come home with me where I can keep my eye on you around the clock."
"Just get me to some place where the data will be safe until I can give it to the admiral," she whispered.
He brushed a kiss across her forehead. "I'm on it."
CHAPTER TWENTY
"When I asked you to bring me somewhere safe," Dahlia said, "this wasn't what I had in mind." She swam to the edge of the pool and shaded her eyes to look up at him. "And I can't believe you made the director fly out here himself to collect the data. Research, which, by the way, is probably not even going to yield a weapon for them."
"I didn't force him," Nicolas pointed out. "And he could have sent someone else. He wanted to see you."
Dahlia scowled, or pretended to. She was feeling too relaxed and happy to conjure up much of a protest. "He just wanted to meet you and talk about the GhostWalkers. His poor men are struggling through so many problems. Do you really think Lily can help them?"
"She helped us. I told the admiral all they had to do was call her, identify themselves, and she'd bring them into the program. It isn't like it's a deep dark secret that they exist. Lily suspected some time ago that her father had performed the experiment on the girls first, on us, and then on another set of men privately in his laboratories. We haven't uncovered the research on them, but it was only a matter of time. Dr. Whitney was thorough in his research data. He recorded everything. It's in the lab, and Lily will find it. They may as well come in and let her help them."
"I still say you forced the admiral to come here on purpose." She studied his face for a long moment, her gaze moving lovingly over him. "You wanted him to see the contrast in how I was living before, and what I'm doing now, with you," she guessed shrewdly. "You wanted to throw it in his face."
He shrugged easily and shook his head. "I'm going to maintain I didn't force him." He gave her his most expressionless stone face, but it didn't last, turning almost immediately into a smirk. He had made the point in a quiet way, but he knew the admiral had gotten it.
Nicolas stood near his fascinating waterfall, almost hidden among the lush greenery, looking primitive without a stitch on his hard, muscular body. Dahlia sent up a plume of water and pushed off, floating backward away from the edge. She knew he liked watching her, his black gaze drifting over her b
ody, dwelling on every curve and secret hollow. There was always hunger in his gaze, an intense desire he never hid from her. It shook her up inside and she was certain it always would. "Yes you did," she replied. "You told him I couldn't travel and he needed to get the data to a safe place. Basically, you left him no choice."
Nicolas shrugged, in no way perturbed. "We had a good visit." He crouched down beside the edge of the pool and offered her a glass of strawberry lemonade. It was an enticement, pure and simple. Dahlia loved the drink, and he knew she'd eventually swim to the side of the pool and he would be able to devour the sight of her body gliding through the water, her breasts floating free and the occasional inviting temptation of her feminine channel flashing at him as she swam around first. She loved the water and spent a great deal of time swimming naked in the pool.
Sometimes he enjoyed just sitting in a chair watching her swim, his body reacting with a hard, painful ache he knew he could assuage at any time.
"Is this a trap?" she asked warily, eyeing the frosted glass.
"Could be." He didn't bother to hide his body's reaction to her. He was hard and thick and throbbing with an urgent desire. But he enjoyed wanting her. He loved what she did to his body, bringing him such complete pleasure. It never mattered where they were or what they were doing, she could move a certain way and the air between them crackled with sexual tension instantly.
Her fascinating mouth curved into a small, enticing smile. "Really? I do so love your little traps. I've been here nearly two weeks."
"Yes, my prisoner. I've got you where I want you." He took a sip of the strawberry lemonade and ran his tongue over his bottom lip to catch every drop. "And I don't intend to let you go."
"That's so not fair! You know I'm addicted to that lemonade."
"It's ice-cold, just the way you like it too," he tempted her. He took another slow swallow, allowed icy droplets that beaded on the glass to run down his skin. Her gaze followed the small drops, her black eyes suddenly blazing with heat.
"You know what I think?" she asked. "I think you're trying to make me forget I've been living in your house for nearly two weeks and doing nothing but playing." She ran to her heart's content, all along the small narrow paths winding through the mountainous property. She spent hours swimming in the pool, feeling incredibly decadent. They worked out together in his gym and sparred in his dojo. And they made love everywhere. Wherever he wanted, or she wanted. Or when emotions were so intense they had to be indulged. Sometimes it was a dark and ravenous hunger and sometimes it was unbearably tender and gentle.