"Ken," Jack said, his voice low, "are you all right?"
Ken wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. Jack was far too tuned to him for him to hide any strong emotional reaction. Jack wouldn't willingly lose his twin, but it was only a matter of time before Jack would be forced to accept the truth--and that would endanger Mari's life and Briony's well-being.
Ken held out one hand. As steady as a rock. "I'm fine. Just trying to figure what we're going to do about this situation."
"Lily says she'll be up waiting for her. Flame, Gator's wife, is working on hacking into Whitney's computers," Logan reported. "She's very skilled and doesn't leave any trace, so hopefully Whitney won't catch on that she's able to access his files. So far, Lily has no real data on Mari. No one really remembers much about her before she and Briony were taken away."
Ken knew Gator was out of the original GhostWalker teams. The two teams had become much closer after Nico and his wife Dahlia, both members of the original team, had rescued Jesse Calhoun, a member of the SEAL GhostWalker team, stealing his bullet-ridden body right out from under the protection of his captors. They had combined their resources and fallen back on trusting each other rather than the chain of command.
"Did you speak to the admiral, Logan, to confirm who gave the order for protecting Senator Freeman, and where the threat came from?" Ken asked.
Logan shook his head. "I tried, Ken, but they said he'd headed for Boston, that he had a meeting and would be contacting me as soon as possible. I've been maintaining silence just in case anything we're doing is monitored. There's definitely activity on all the bases. They want this woman back. Were you able to find out anything?"
"Only that she's a GhostWalker and her team seemed to be there protecting the senator from the same threat we were," Ken answered. "She heals far faster than we do. If Lily can add that in for us, it would be helpful. Her leg was in bad shape and she lost a lot of blood. I can't believe how fast she's healing."
"Actually, Lily noticed that with Flame. She was attacked by an alligator and her arm healed at an amazing rate of speed," Logan replied.
"Has Flame kicked the cancer?"
"It seems to be in remission. Lily is hopeful for a full recovery this time. She's asking everyone who is physically enhanced to come in for tests as soon as possible, just to be on the safe side."
"Whitney deliberately gave her cancer. He didn't like her," Ken said, as his gaze drifted over Mari's face. He knew the moment she regained consciousness. She didn't move, didn't speak, listening to their conversation, but his heightened awareness of her and his enhanced abilities in the dark made him all too aware of her breathing changes, and she was giving off the scent of fear.
He forced back the need to gather her into his arms and hold her, to reassure and protect her, a reaction he hadn't expected when every other reaction connected with her seemed so violent. He knew he should break contact, but he couldn't, not when she was so afraid. Jack glanced at him and knew immediately she was awake. Ken shook his head slightly, and Jack stared out the tinted window, ignoring everyone.
"Whitney has a lot to answer for," Ken said grimly.
"Ryland has been worried Whitney may try to snatch Lily's baby. They've been reinforcing all the security systems so if he makes a try at the house, he'll run into trouble."
"It would be ridiculous for Whitney to try to take down Miller's GhostWalker team, especially there. That house is a fortress."
Ken felt a tremor run through Mari, and he slid his hand along her shoulder and down her uninjured arm until he found her hand. His fingers laced with hers. He half expected her to pull away from him, but she curled her fingers around his and held on.
You drugged me.
I knew the ride would be painful. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not, so I won't bother lying about it. His thumb slid over the back of her hand in a small caress. No one is going to hurt you, Mari.
No thumbscrews? There was a small note of humor that managed to cut through the fear.
No. Lily is going to run a few tests though, just to make certain Whitney doesn't have any nasty surprises up his sleeve. Ken glanced at Logan, who was rubbing his temples. Logan was a powerful talent, and Ken was fairly certain he was well aware they were communicating telepathically, but he didn't allow his expression or his gaze to give him away. Mari, energy waves like to spread out and keep going through all surfaces, including human beings. We find them disturbing, so people around us often react with headaches. When you talk to me, concentrate only on me. Think of a small stream with precise banks. Send the energy wave straight down that path, from you to me. You're used to sending to a team, not one person.
I'll try. Ken? I wanted to tell you something important. I'm a little doped up right now, so I may not be saying it right, but all that stuff about you being like your father, well it just isn't true.
You can't know that, Mari. You can't trust me. Hell, I don't trust me.
Brett makes my blood freeze every time he gets into the room with me. The other women feel it too. I don't have that reaction with you.
Whitney programmed you to have a physical reaction to me; that's all it is, Mari. Don't make anything else out of it.
Mari kept her eyes closed, not wanting to deal with any of the others. The vehicle was swaying, tires bumping over obstacles occasionally jarring her, but it was still peaceful. She could smell the night, clear and fresh after a recent rain. She had no idea where she was, no way to escape, and she was naked beneath the sheet, feeling entirely too vulnerable, especially now when there were other men close by.
She knew by the scents that there were two men, the driver and one who was closer to her. He was dangerous. She sensed his alertness, the way he held himself still and quiet. They were always the deadliest of the soldiers. Sean was the same. Jack was like that. Ken was like that. Men, coiled and ready, quiet and calm but able to strike so fast no one would ever know what hit them.
She should have been terrified, but Ken made her feel safe and protected, which was silly when he was just as much of a threat--maybe even more so to her--than the others. She lay still, eyes closed, pretending he was holding her hand on a date. She'd never had a date. Never been to a movie that wasn't a training film. She'd never walked down the streets of a city holding hands, and she'd never gone out to dinner in a restaurant. She wouldn't know how to act in a family setting. It was a dream, a silly, foolish dream, but it suited her to pretend--even if it was only for a few minutes.
The compound would be waiting for her when she found a way back to it, and then her "sisters" were going to have to get serious about escaping because she was not putting up with Brett and his punishments for not cooperating with him. She'd thought of a dozen ways to kill him, but she knew Whitney would punish the other women. Ivy was proof of that. Mari had to go back regardless of whether or not the Nortons and their team were on the same side. She had to go back because Whitney was a megalomaniac whack job and he had far-reaching tentacles.
Do you think Whitney ordered a hit on the senator? Mari asked Ken.
She loved the sound of his voice. It seemed to move through her, as slow and thick as warm molasses. The sound felt like a caress inside her head, sliding over her skin and into her body to heat her bloodstream. He wasn't trying to seduce her, and it was frightening to think what would happen if he actually set his mind to it. She tightened her fingers on his, uncaring how much of her emotional state she was giving away.
Why would he, unless the senator was going to give him up? I take it Freeman knows about Whitney's laboratory experiments? After all he married one of them.
Violet. Violet had been a good friend. Whitney had paired her with the senator. He'd sent her to be his bodyguard, and the next thing anyone knew, Violet was married. Whether or not Whitney still pulled her strings--and Mari couldn't imagine him letting her go--she seemed to love her husband.
What's the tie between Senator Freeman and Whitney? Ken asked.
His father an
d Whitney went to school together.
Ken considered her answer. It wasn't the first time he'd heard it. Logan, contact Lily. Have her find out as quickly as possible who Whitney's friends in school were. He only ran with the very intelligent and very wealthy.
Marigold jerked her hand away, her eyes flying open, glaring at him, knowing he could see her in the dark--just as her enhanced vision allowed her to see him. You passed that information on to your friend.
Ken stared down at her furious face. He didn't spill energy--not ever. She was tapped into him more than just through pheromones. What the hell had Whitney done? And how? When? She was reading his thoughts without benefit of expression, energy spill, or anything else. What kinds of psychic abilities did she have? How dangerous was she? As much as he wanted to protect her, he had to think first of Jack and Briony and the twins Briony carried. Whitney would go to any lengths to get his hands on those children--even sending Briony's own sister.
Jack. Briony isn't waiting for you at Lily's, is she?
Jack stirred, a predatory tiger stretching. His gaze was flat and cold as it drifted over Mari. Yes. It was the only safe place I had to stash her. Ryland and his crew are watching over her. And I thought if she was going to meet her twin for the first time, it was the safest place. There was a question in his tone, although he didn't voice it.
Don't! Mari blinked back sudden tears. He was warning his brother off, sending Briony away. For the first time Mari really let herself think about seeing her sister. Just a quick glimpse, that was all she really needed. Just to know she was alive and happy. Mari desperately needed Briony to be happy.
Mari wasn't touching him, but she knew. Ken could see it on her face, read it in her mind. There was panic, sorrow, anger, all mixed into one, as if Mari couldn't quite make up her mind how to feel about what he'd done. But he had no choice.
Get her out of there, Jack. Send her to Jesse Calhoun or Nico and Dahlia. We have to have Lily take a look at Mari, and we just can't take the chance without knowing what's going on. She has talents we don't have a clue about.
Jack swore softly. Briony was anxious to see her sister. He had made her a promise that he would find Marigold, and he meant it. But Ken was right. There were no taking chances with her. Until they knew what Whitney was up to and whether or not Mari was really on their side, they just couldn't take the risk.
How could you warn him off of me like that? What kind of threat could I possibly be to my sister? That's what you did, isn't it? I'm a prisoner, surrounded by trained GhostWalkers, and I have a broken hand and leg. You must think I'm really good.
Shaking with anger, she stared up at Ken's expressionless face. He was every bit as cold and unfeeling as she'd first thought him. He'd managed to fool her because Whitney had set it up that way, made her vulnerable to him. Whitney so loved his little jokes. He loved to feel superior, and she'd defied him so often. This was probably his punishment--to make her believe she was close to seeing Briony. She'd been right not to think about her, not to hope.
Mari, we have to protect her until we know for sure.
She wouldn't listen to that caressing voice, so velvet soft and playing through her body like a musical instrument. Not again--never again. Her throat felt raw and her eyes burned, but she stared up at Ken defiantly. Let him try to defeat her. Nobody, not even Whitney, with all his humiliations and his tricks, had defeated her.
Wouldn't you want Briony protected?
I don't want you to say her name. She's dead to me. She's not my sister. My sisters are back at the compound waiting for me, and believe me, I'll get back to them. There is no Briony. It was a trick, a fairly vicious one at that. I accepted her death a long time ago.
He wasn't going to use her sister to hurt her. She had to put everything out of her head except her desire to escape. If she didn't do it soon, before they arrived at their destination, it would be nearly impossible. They were going to a fortress; she'd heard Ken say so.
Ken knew better than to touch her, and yet, even without touching her, he knew what she was thinking. He was catching images, emotions, impressions she wouldn't want him aware of. Something is happening that I don't understand, Jack. I know what she's thinking and I don't have physical contact. And she can do the same with me. It isn't perfect, but we're picking up the gist of it as if there's some sort of silent transmitter between us. Do you have something similar with Briony?
Jack shook his head and shifted his weight slightly, leaving his gun in an easier position to pull out should he need it.
Mari shut out everything around her. The swaying vehicle. The pain. The fuzziness in her brain. The men. It was hardest to block out the image of Ken and the mask that was his face. Those eyes that always stared directly into hers. She forced her thoughts down a long, dark tunnel, bringing in waves of water to wash away random thoughts. She needed to focus on only one thing. The steering wheel. It was her only chance. She planned out every step carefully and then locked on to the wheel.
She couldn't actually see it, so she built the image in her mind. She could see it clearly, feel it in her hands, hard and smooth, ready to do her bidding. She tested it just once, a very small little movement to the right. The vehicle jerked to the right and then was back on track, running smoothly down the road. It wasn't a freeway, more of a back road. And that meant there would be foliage.
"Would you mind opening a window? I can't breathe." Not too pitiful, just the right balance of neediness and defiance. She didn't dare look at any of them; they were too skilled, so she kept her face averted, her fingers gripping the sheet.
Logan hit the button to bring in the night air. She inhaled, taking in the scents of the evening. Trees for certain. Lots of them. Grass. Animals. Oh, yeah, if they were heading for a city, they were taking the back road in. She could so deal with that!
Whatever you're thinking, Mari, don't.
She wasn't going to talk telepathically to him again. It was a shade too intimate for her liking. She had to find a way to break the mesmerizing sexual web he'd trapped her in. "I have no way of knowing this isn't one of Whitney's traps. He loves to play with people's minds."
"How so?"
"He knows what I think about his breeding program. It's common knowledge the other women are following my lead and resisting. It would be just like him to pair me with you, use my own body against me, to punish me, to force me to do his bidding." She glanced at him, when she knew it was a bad idea. The night hid the mask covering his beautiful face, leaving him looking too handsome with his brilliant eyes. His eyes were like jewels, diamond hard and so intriguing. One moment so cold she felt burned by their touch, the next alive with some hidden pain she wanted to soothe away.
"I haven't seen Whitney in a couple of years and he certainly isn't pulling my strings." I know you're upset about Briony, Mari, but if you really care about your sister, you would want to know she was getting the best protection we can give her.
She wouldn't be swayed by his looks or his voice. She concentrated on the road, utilizing every bit of information the air would provide. There was only the dim light from the moon, partially obscured by clouds. There were no sounds to indicate farms or ranches, or even the occasional house. She didn't even know what state she was in. She couldn't smell the ocean, so they had to be inland.
She focused on the brake, building the shape and feel of it in her mind, the cables and the way it worked. She tapped, just for a moment, and the car lurched and ran smooth. It was just a fraction of a second, barely noticeable, but she heard a man's voice, coming from the driver's seat, swearing. She immediately filled her mind with other things, puzzling out whether Whitney had paid these men to trick her.
It had to be a trap. She remembered Whitney, the last time she'd seen him, furious because not only the women were upset and uncooperative, but some of the men had become reluctant. He had locked them in their rooms, refusing to allow them to interact, blaming Mari for the mutiny. He had promised her retaliation if she
didn't do as he wanted. She thought sending Brett had been what he meant, but evidently she was wrong. It was no wonder it had been so easy to convince her unit to allow her to go along to plead their case to Senator Freeman. Whitney had to have virtually orchestrated everything. And that meant these men were his men and her "sisters" back at the compound were in danger.
"Talk to me, Mari."
Her plan had to be carried out with precision and without hesitation. They had made the mistake of not securing her. To keep Ken off balance and from reading her plan, she kept images of Brett in her mind. Brett bent over her. Brett touching her. Brett tying her down to keep her from fighting him.
Ken clenched his teeth, a muscle ticking along his jaw. His fingers curled into fists. His eyes glittered in the night, twin swords of steel piercing through her body, seeing far more than she wanted him to see. He knew she was deliberately taunting him.
You're playing with fire, Mari.
He bit the words out between clenched teeth, the sound stabbing at the walls of her mind. Mari turned her face away from him, all too aware he could see clearly in the dark. She stared at the door straight across from her. The vehicle was slowing for a turn. She groaned and pushed herself up, leaning forward to clutch at her leg. The sheet slipped down, exposing her breasts. The men froze, staring at her. Ken growled deep in his throat, adding to their immobility. It gave her the precious second she needed.
She attacked, using her mind, applying pressure to the brake, wrenching the steering wheel from the driver and opening the door in front of her. Using enhanced strength, she dove out, hands in front of her, as if springing off a board, prepared to break her fall in an aikido roll, even as she changed the color of her skin to match her surroundings.