Phantom in the Night (B.A.D. Agency, #2)(37)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

"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. Nathan 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.

Blinds on the other side of the window shielded any view.

What hit him as particularly odd was the utilitarian feel of four blank white walls, a table, and a chair in the middle of the room. They usually went in for a snazzier style than this.

A black box the size of a gift box for a writing pen sat in the center of a basic gray metal table.

"Please have a seat, Duff." The tinny voice came from a speaker he now saw above the window.

The door lock clicked.

Duff stared at the doorknob, then at the window. "What’s going on?"

"I’m Consul Vestavia. Do you have the vial?"

"Yes."

"You injected the woman with the other one?"

"Of course," Duff said, wary now. "I did exactly as instructed."

"Good, but I’m sorry to tell you there’s a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"We’ve encountered one case of airborne infection. Took a while for it to show up."

"What!" Duff’s eyes bulged. His mouth dried out.

"Yes, but don’t panic. That’s the reason we’re in two different rooms, just as a precaution. And that’s why I sent for you right away."

Sweat trickled along Duff’s neck.

"You deserve the contents of that vial you’re carrying. There’s a syringe on the table. You have my permission to inject yourself."

The antidote. His knees weak, Duff scrambled to fish the vial from his pocket. He sat down at the table and reached a shaking hand to open the black box. The syringe inside was more precious than gold at that moment.

He jabbed the needle at the rubber-sealed end of the vial and missed, cursed, then jabbed again and drew the liquid into the syringe. He stretched out his arm, relieved to find a plump vein standing up. Duff stuck the needle in and injected the fluid, clenching his teeth over the burn.

The loud panting he heard was his own. He was hyperventilating.

"Take it easy. You’ll experience some discomfort due to receiving a stronger dosage through injecting rather than a diluted amount in water."

"Y-yes, sir." Duff thought about Teto. Must not rank high enough to be saved. Too bad for Teto.

"You have served the Order well on this project."

Duff tried to calm down and let the medicine work.

"Not quite finished, but I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. I’ll deliver the other two vials to the cities once you tell me where. Be there in time for the vote." His skin itched and his mouth tasted awful.

"That’s not necessary. We’ve always had everything in place to assure the anticipated outcome of the pharmaceutical company vote in the Senate."

"But the Fra said_"

"Fra Bacchus is no longer in charge of this operation."

Duff shivered. "Are you now a fra?"

"I am much more powerful than a brother. You address me as Father."

Duff drew back in shock. He scratched at his skin. His stomach churned. "No one in the Fratelli de il Sovrano is more powerful than a fra. This is blasphemous."

On the other side of the window, Consul Vestavia, a direct descendant of geniuses all the way back for twelve hundred years, pressed a button. He waited as the window became transparent from both sides.

Duff stared, open mouthed. "Impossible."

Vestavia leaned back in his chair, enjoying the expression on Duff’s face. "Surprised to see me? Nothing is impossible for us. True blasphemy is you and Fra Bacchus running your own little operation, putting this Order in jeopardy. Did you think no one would notice your special projects?"

"I did as instructed. I_"

"Yes, you did follow instructions. But you killed Jamie Drake even when you figured out which brother he was. I gave Jamie my word he’d be safe, that he was under my protection. You killed a brilliant mind we_the angeli_never got a chance to tap. The Fratelli di Sovranoi has survived for seven hundred years only because of the angeli, the truly enlightened. The fratelli are mere servants. They just don’t realize that all of you will eventually serve us."

Duff’s face crumpled. "I don’t understand. What about_" He coughed."_the Renaissance?"

"It is well under way. The fratelli are executing each step toward the Renaissance they believe is within their power, for now. As one of the ten angeli, I make sure the fratelli on this continent follow the steps precisely. The viral attacks in remote areas have been tests to see the level of response from different nations. This attack on U.S. soil is merely one more test. We are methodical and patient. It takes time to slowly collapse the walls of an enemy. Citizens will lose faith in ruling governments when we build fear with biological warfare and undermine financial institutions. With twenty-one hundred strong across the world in prominent positions, the fratelli are undefeatable. And in the end, the angeli will emerge from secrecy to take their place as the rulers."

"I-I didn’t know about you, but I can serve you now." Duff coughed harder and shook. Sweat covered his face and arms.

"You have broken too many rules, but two in particular. The sin of the flesh and unnecessary deaths. Did you think no one would find out about the women you took out on your boat who never came back?"

Duff grabbed his head with both hands. "The serum is making me sick."

"As it should. You see, I figured out what you and Fra Bacchus were trying to do to me. The virus is not airborne. You just injected yourself with the virus. You will now become the supreme sacrifice as a message to any who fail to follow the rules."

Duff twisted out of the chair in pain, hitting the floor and convulsing. "No! Give me the antidote. Pleaseeee." He screamed and jerked. His body curved at unnatural angles. His wailing cries filled the speaker.

Vestavia smiled and removed the DEA badge from his suit that identified him as Special Agent Brady and placed it on the table at his right. The door to the hallway opened.

"Hello, sweetheart. Figured you’d be ready to celebrate."

Vestavia turned to Josie, who carried two martinis. She handed him one and sat down on the arm of his overstuffed chair. "Brilliant plan to spike Fra Bacchus’s wine, then send Duff the text message. Nothing nicer than predictable servants."

"Thank you, my dear. Duff really thought I didn’t know he’d stolen my weapon to kill Jamie. I consider this act a matter of weeding out the gene pool." He studied Josie’s flawless features. He had to give the fratelli credit. They were unmatched when it came to choosing women who would serve the Order. But he was the master who had seen potential in this woman to be more than a mere servant to the old fratelli.

Duff writhed in pain, screaming and clawing at his skin.

Josie wrinkled her nose in disgust. "How long will it take, Brady?"

"Father," he corrected.

She grabbed her throat. "I’m sorry, Father. I meant no disrespect."

He pulled her onto his lap and cupped her breast. "That’s all right. You’ll have all night to pay penance while the rest of the plan falls into place."

"As always, I am a loyal angeli servant." She smiled seductively.

"Your family trained you well and their loyalty will be rewarded."

"The reward of serving you is ample." She eyed his crotch.

"More than that, you’re about to get a promotion."

"Really? I’m honored, Father. When will this happen?"

"At the same minute I receive my promotion and you’re given orders to hunt me down."

* * *

Nathan paced his room. If they were going to hand him over to the Louisiana penal system, what were they waiting for?

A sick feeling hit him. Could they be waiting to see if Terri died? It had been almost twenty-four hours. Please, God, tell him she’d lived. She survived the short flight to Kenner, but he’d been taken away in handcuffs the minute they landed. Nobody had said a word. Strangely enough, he’d been given clothes and toiletries, then put in a room with a bathroom and shower. This three-story building was close enough to the New Orleans airport to hear the jet traffic landing and taking off.