Mind Game (GhostWalkers #2)(75)
Author: Christine Feehan

He nodded at Kaden. “Don’t worry, I’m on board.”

Dahlia walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. It was a small gesture, but he knew the cost to her. She wasn’t a woman who touched others, and certainly not publicly. His thumb feathered over her wrist. “What did you do?”

“I waited in the vent until I heard them call off the search and then I followed the primary suspect, a man by the name of Trevor Billings. He heads up one of the many departments at Lombard Inc.” She named a primary company the defense department often used for building prototypes and weapons. The company was reputed to be heavily guarded and under the tightest of security. “Billings has been a suspect for some time. The NCIS believed he was selling weapons to terrorists and other governments, basically anyone who can pay for them, but they can’t prove it. The word is, he has a small army of his own and a couple of senators in his pocket to insure he gets the contracts he wants. Jesse believed someone inside the NCIS was tipping him off when anyone came up with new ideas for weapons and Billings was stealing the data before the contracts were given out. That way, he didn’t have to pay off his senators and he didn’t have to share with anyone. He just creates a couple of accidents for the professor, or whoever happens to think up the idea, and then he claims it belongs to his company and sells it to the government, or whoever is the highest bidder. It’s a win-win situation for him.”

“It’s not a bad idea. If he uses accidents and covers all of the United States, not hitting in the same place too often, he could really have something and no one would be the wiser. People get government grants all the time to think things up. From one end of the country to the other, teachers and students and private corporations seek grants,” Kaden mused aloud. “I can see how it would be much more profitable to him to get the data and suddenly come up with the idea himself and then market it.”

“Jesse wanted it stopped,” Dahlia said. “He wanted proof that Billings had those professors killed, and he wanted the data back.”

“Well we certainly wouldn’t want to disappoint Jesse, not with your life at stake,” Nicolas said. There was a small note in his voice that sent alarms skittering down her spine. There was ice in his eyes and in his veins and his mouth was a merciless slash.

“I take a great deal of pride in what I do. I’d never failed before, and I wasn’t about to do so this time.” Dahlia wanted to sound calm, but to her horror, she actually sounded as if she were appeasing him and that brought her own temper flaring. Snatching her hand back, she glared at him and paced away from the suddenly smothering group. “I don’t have to explain myself to you or anyone else. I stayed to get the job done, that’s all.” Why did she feel she owed him any explanation at all? No wonder there was a need for a relationship manual. Men were idiots. Supreme idiots, and women were just as bad trying to soothe men’s egos.

Nicolas followed her, feeling a fool. He knew part of the problem was the close proximity of so many men to Dahlia. He was still fighting off the feeling of watching her slip through his fingers. Combined with his fear for her safety, he was reacting to the amplification of his own emotions by the very energy he was drawing away from his men and from Dahlia. He sighed. So much for self-discipline and control.

I’m sorry, Dahlia. I really am.

She wanted to stay angry with him. There was a form of protection in staying angry, but the aching sincerity in his voice was her downfall. She took the hand he held out to her. He drew her close to him, so close she could feel the heat of his body through the thin material of their clothing.

“I’m good at what I do, Nicolas. If there’s danger, I’m careful to keep it to a minimum. And my size is an advantage. I work at night when most people are already gone. Most of the time, I’m in and out and no one is ever the wiser.”

“Dahlia,” Kaden said, “you must have to travel. Do you fly? How do you get around the traveling aspect of your job?”

“Private plane. I always use the same pilot. He’s ex-military as well and works for the NCIS. He was a Green Beret. Most of the men I’ve met from the NCIS division were in some kind of Special Forces training.” She looked at Kaden. “That’s not normal, is it?”

“Are they GhostWalkers, Dahlia?” Kaden asked.

“I have no idea.” She shrugged lightly and then pushed a hand through her hair. “Maybe. Maybe that’s the connection between them. They all seem to know one another and are close. Max is the pilot, and when I’m with him, I never seem to have problems. We don’t talk much, so I didn’t give it a lot of thought. He’s very quiet.”

“Max who?” Kaden signaled to Tucker to bring out the satellite phone to call Lily. The more information they had the better.

“Logan Maxwell. Everyone calls him Max.” She watched as Tucker talked into the phone, relaying the information. It amazed her that Lily was on the other end. For so long she didn’t know if Lily was a figment of her imagination or if she were real. Now, she was almost afraid to believe in her.

Tucker looked at them, his expression grave. “Someone’s been trying to track us. They’re using sophisticated equipment to do it. This place might not be safe anymore.”

Dahlia felt her heart thud. None of the men looked particularly concerned. They were used to the violence in their world. She took a deep breath and tried to look unafraid. It wasn’t so much the terror of having mortar rounds fired at her, so much as the onslaught of the violent energy seeking her out in the aftermath. It seemed such a weakness in the face of the strength the other GhostWalkers possessed.

Nicolas slipped his arm around her shoulders. “How do you contact Maxwell for a ride when you’re heading out for a mission?”

“Jesse usually arranges transport, but I also call Henderson’s secretary and she arranges it for me. She gives me the location of a small field and a time. Max is always there well ahead of me and ready to take off.”

“So let’s do that. Call the secretary, what’s her name?” Kaden asked.

“Louise Charter. I’ve never met her face-to-face, but I’ve spoken numerous times with her on the phone. She’s a nice woman.”

The men exchanged a long look. Dahlia’s eyebrow shot up. “What? You aren’t going to tell me that Louise is behind all this. She’s close to sixty. She’s the widow of an FBI agent.”