Street Game (GhostWalkers #8)(19)
Author: Christine Feehan

“Maybe I can accept manipulation better than I can accept betrayal.”

Mack swore and yanked her around. “What the hell does that mean, Jaimie?”

She blinked back tears and met his furious gaze. “Kane knows what it means. Am I being set up, Kane?”

“Well, damn it, Jaimie.” Kane sounded astonished. “You’re my family. You’re Mack’s woman. Why the hell would you get it in your head that I’d do anything but protect you?”

“This doesn’t feel like protection to me.” Jaimie moved away from Mack with a small, defensive gesture.

Mack’s stomach knotted. “Jaimie.” He didn’t know what to say.

“I have a life now.” She motioned toward the window. “And now I’m right back in the middle of something I don’t want. I’m not an anchor the way all of you are. I barely get by. It’s a struggle every single day. Most nights I lie in bed with a killer headache wondering if I’m going to make it through the night. I’m not going back, not for either of you.”

Mack ignored her small retreat and followed her, wrapping his arms around her.

“You never get headaches if I’m with you.”

Not headaches. But heartaches, and that was worse. She wasn’t going to let him comfort her, or change the subject. Deliberately, Jaimie stepped away from him.

“What are you really doing here?” Jaimie walked to the sink and poured herself a glass of water to gain her equilibrium. Mack looked hurt. He felt hurt. That was the last thing she wanted, but their coming was no coincidence.

Mack raked both hands through his hair in agitation. “I told you it was a mistake.”

Jaimie wandered across the room to the street side, staring moodily down at the tendrils of fog reaching in off the bay.

“Come on, Jaimie,” Kane said, his voice utterly calm. “We didn’t bring this down on you and you know it. We’re the convenient whipping boys. You were manipulated and you let yourself be. You wanted out and you jumped at the easy way out. It came with strings. As for who is watching you, they were here before we got here. You’re safer with us close than not.” He yawned. “I’m not getting up at five A.M. to hash this out. If you two are going to keep talking, do it in sign language.”

Get her away from the window. Get her back! Gideon’s voice burst into Mack’s head.

Without hesitation, Mack leapt forward and tackled Jaimie, bringing her to the ground. Kane rolled off the couch, hitting the floor and fighting his way out of his sleeping bag, gun already in his hand, indicating Gideon had called the warning to both men telepathically. Kane crawled to the window, where Mack’s body covered Jaimie’s. She didn’t protest or ask questions, but lay quietly beneath both men.

What do you have, Gideon? Is Superman back?

I wish. I think these two came looking for their buddies. They’re loaded for bear.

Can you get a shot at them?

Yes. I can take both out, but it won’t be quiet, boss.

“Tell me,” Jaimie said.

There was no panic in her voice, but there was suppressed rage. Mack’s gaze met Kane’s above her head. “Who are they, Jaimie?” Mack asked.

“You tell me, Mack,” she shot back and for the first time, struggled to get out from under him.

“You little liar.” Mack hissed the words in her ear, bending close, trapping her beneath him. “You know who they are. They aren’t terrorists coming to get you, are they? Not the ones we’ve been following.”

“They aren’t any friends of mine.” She turned her head to glare at Kane. “I’m not going back. Not ever. I don’t care how many you send after me. I will never go back to work for Whitney. I’ve hacked into enough files to know what he’s doing and he isn’t alone in it. He experimented on children. And he’s got a breeding program. The women are forced to pair with a man of Whitney’s choosing. It’s barbaric and illegal and the women are held prisoners with no one to help them.”

Mack saw Kane wince and covered for him automatically, catching Jaimie’s chin and forcing her to look at him. “Does he know you’ve been collecting evidence against him?”

“Get off me, Mack.” She bit out each word between her teeth. “Right now.”

He stayed where he was for a full minute, looking into her eyes. With a sinking heart he realized the truth. “You don’t trust me.”

He had lost something beyond measure if she didn’t trust him. Jaimie had believed the sun rose and set with him. She had believed in everything he did and said. He’d been her hero. He waited but he saw it on her face, in the way she schooled her expression. She wasn’t going to tell him anything about her current life. Not one thing. And that just might get her killed.

“Damn it, Jaimie. This is Mack. You know me. You know Kane. We’re your family.”

The voice in his head whispered again. One is a sniffer, like Jacob. He’s running his hand along the doors and windows and he knows they’re wired to blow them to kingdom come. I could take them out.

We don’t know enough yet, Mack objected reluctantly. He wanted Jaimie safe and the temptation to kill the two men was strong. But if they were GhostWalkers under legitimate orders, Mack’s team had already made one serious mistake when Javier killed the two men earlier. They were trying to identify the bodies fast. They didn’t need to add two more.

He eased his body away from Jaimie. She sat up, her back to the wall, drawing her knees up, staying below the window. They stared at each other.

“We’re family, Jaimie.”

She shook her head and there was a flash of pain in her eyes. “I don’t know what we are anymore, Mack, but we aren’t family. You chose them over me. The GhostWalkers. And they’re evil. I can’t trust anyone who is part of it.”

He swore and turned away from her, his hands itching to shake her. This was his fault. He knew it was. She’d lost faith in him and no longer looked to him or the others to help her. But whatever she was into was definitely trouble.

“We have the same code of honor we’ve always had,” Kane said, his voice calm, much calmer than Mack could have managed. “That’s ridiculous for you to think just because an evil man started the program that it makes us all tainted. Our commanding officers run legitimate missions and we save lives. We specialize in hostage rescue and put our lives on the line all the time.”