Ruthless Game (GhostWalkers #9)(77)
Author: Christine Feehan

Brian! Stay with Rose, Mack commanded. She is your responsibility, and you cannot fail in your mission. Hold on to that rope and keep her face out of the water.

Brian shook his head to clear the cobwebs from his brain. He couldn’t quite remember how to hold on to the rope. His fingers weren’t cooperating with his brain.

Jaimie, Mack knew his wife was tuned to the telepathic path used for missions. She would be anxious for any news. Tell Eric to set up for surgery. He’ll need to be ready fast. Have Javier bring up a vehicle now.

Roger that. Her voice shook, but she didn’t break protocol.

Brian! Mack put every ounce of command a master gunnery sergeant possessed after years of leading an elite unit of soldiers. Fucking hold on to that rope, soldier.

Brian’s mind felt sluggish. He heard Mack’s command, and he always obeyed Mack out in the field, especially when Mack swore, which was on very rare occasions. Top meant business, and there was no disregarding an order, no matter how difficult. He took hold of the rope, steadying Rose as the next wave took them under. He felt the tug on his arms as Mack and Marc began to pull them steadily through the water toward the pier.

His left arm flopped into the water. He tightened his fingers on the rope, unable to do more than keep Rose’s head from going under, but he didn’t let go, refused, even though he barely knew what was going on, to let Top down. She moved now, obviously semiconscious, knowing something was terribly wrong but unable to focus.

Don’t fight, Brian soothed. Mack’s got us. He’ll get us out of this. Just relax and let him pull us up.

There was a feeble, weak stirring. Kane?

Kane heard Rose’s voice. She sounded weak and very vulnerable. Most of all, she sounded far away, as if she was calling to him from a great distance.

We’ve got her, Kane. Mack’s voice was as steady as ever. He would never lie—Rose had to be all right.

Kane waited until the boat slipped into place at the north end of the pier, just feet away from where the divers had emerged, before surfacing. He realized that the enemy had prepared at least three different exits. Whitney wanted Sebastian and Rose and had gone to great lengths to acquire them.

He emerged beside the boat in complete silence. The engine idled while they waited, peering through the fog to try to find their divers and Rose. The dense fog was perfect for hiding them from the shooters on the roof but made it nearly impossible for them to see what was happening in the water.

Kane could hear two men whispering, the words somewhat muffled by the sound of the water beating against the pillars.

“Do you see anything, Randy?”

Kane listened carefully, mapping the exact location of the speaker in the boat. He adjusted his own position so that he was lined up with the man.

“They were just here,” Randy responded, almost hissing.

From his voice, Kane knew Randy was toward the back of the boat and in a sitting position. He took a breath and went into motion, catching the side of the boat with both hands and powering his body into a back somersault, knees to chest until he cleared the side of the boat. As the enemy stood and staggered toward him, Kane exploded his legs straight out, catching his opponent in his gut. Kane was a big man, very muscular, and his strength was enormous. Adrenaline running added to the impact. His enemy went tumbling over the side of the boat, falling backward into the water.

Kane landed hard and rolled toward Randy. The boat rocked crazily, tilting sharply, throwing Randy off balance as he fired his automatic, drilling holes in the side of the boat. Kane hit him hard under the chin as he drove upward, putting his considerable weight behind the blow, and then spinning around to deliver an elbow to the jaw. Randy clung grimly to the weapon, his finger glued to the trigger.

The sound of the gun spitting bullets was deafening inside the blanket of fog. Kane trapped Randy’s wrist, stepping in close to keep the man from turning the weapon toward him. He slammed the wrist back over Randy’s shoulder, forcing his body backward and his feet out from under him. Randy went down, and as he did, Kane ripped the gun from him, turning the weapon back toward his enemy. The bullets created a bloodred zipper up the man’s chest and into his throat.

The fight had taken seconds, but exhaustion was hitting along with the shivering that signaled his body was too cold. They had to finish this soon. He peered down into the water, looking for the man he’d knocked overboard. He could just make out the outline of two men struggling just beneath the surface. He recognized Jacob and put the gun down, looking around him for anything that might give him clues to where the men had been directed to take Rose and Sebastian.

Jacob surfaced beside the boat, dragging the body of the man he’d drowned with him. Kane reached down and helped pull the dead man into the boat. Jacob swam to the pier where the diver in the red and black suit was stuck against a pillar. It took a bit longer to get the body into the boat.

“You okay?” Kane asked. Jacob was shivering nearly uncontrollably, and the force of the waves had battered him so that his movements were sluggish.

“Good enough to get the job done. I’ll run them out to sea and get rid of them. Javier has a body or two to add to our collection.”

Top, we’re cleaning up. Is Rose okay? Sebastian?

Paul says Sebastian is as happy as a lark. He thought the entire thing was a great adventure. Rose is still out of it. We’re taking her to Paul, hoping he can counteract whatever they gave her.

They drugged her then. Kane and Jacob pulled the last diver into the boat and sank back, shivering from the cold water, arms and legs growing heavier by the moment.

Yes. Mack’s voice was grim. Bring the boat around to the southern pier. Hurry, the wind’s picking up, and we’ve got to dump the bodies before the fog lifts. Javier will take them out. The two of you come in.

Top, Jacob protested, I’ve got this.

That’s an order; come in. Mack’s voice was implacable. Brian took a hit. We’re prepping him for surgery.

Kane and Jacob exchanged a long look and redoubled their efforts at speed.

What the hell happened today, Top? Kane asked as they slipped across the water toward the southern end of the pier. Does Jaimie know?

She’s reviewing the security tapes now. We’ll go over everything that went right and everything that went wrong when you come in.

And Brian? How bad?

We don’t know yet. Eric and Marc are going to do the surgery. Paul’s staying with Sebastian.

Of course they would keep Paul away from Eric. Eric wasn’t a GhostWalker, nor was he part of their team, and no one, no one outside of their team could ever have a clue about Paul’s capabilities—and now Rose’s. Both had talents that Whitney would want to spread throughout his soldiers, and to do that, he’d try to understand how the talent worked. He had no qualms about taking apart a person for “the greater good of mankind.”