Allison Brennan - Sudden Death

“And if he couldn’t?”

“He may start acting erratic and unpredictable, like he’s trying to scratch an itch he can’t reach.”

“Perhaps like killing two innocent civilians for no reason.”

“Perhaps.”

“Why is Padre important?”

“He saw Karin at the church. They talked. She knew he was a priest and that he was part of the Delta team. But she couldn’t set him up. I think she had a Catholic upbringing. Team up with him; he may be able to talk her into letting Megan go. She has a healthy dose of respect for and fear of priests.”

“Fear?”

“I probably said that wrong. I meant, she respects and admires priests, but has a fear of God. That if she hurts a priest, that’s it.”

“She’s already going to Hell, Dillon.”

“I’m not making a moral judgment; I’m getting into her head. She justifies her actions because she’s not killing a man of God. Everyone else is guilty of something.”

“So she’s a religious nut job killing for God?”

“Absolutely not. She’s not insane, and she knows exactly why she kills.”

“Why?”

“Because she can get away with it.”

Icy water hit Megan across the face like a brick. She jumped and kicked, her thoughts jumbled. She was drowning. She coughed, breathed air through a raw throat, then received another slap of cold water.

Kicking again, Megan realized she was restrained. She shivered uncontrollably and opened her eyes, but even the dim lamp light made them ache.

“Come on, Meggie Eggie, time to wake up!”

Karin. The tranquilizer. She’d been talking to Hans and then … her ex-partner appeared.

“Karin.” Megan’s voice was low and raw from disuse. How long had she been unconscious? She squinted through dim, artificial light. Outside was complete darkness.

Megan had no idea where she was. She inhaled deeply, smelling the fresh, cold, pine scent of mountain air. What mountains? More pine than redwood. The room was large and open, like Jack’s cabin in Hidalgo but larger and lived in.

She couldn’t stop shivering and realized she had no clothes on. Only her bra and panties. She was tied to a table that had been tilted at a forty-five-degree angle.

“Karin,” she repeated.

“Great, you figured it out. Took you long enough.” The sarcasm rolled off her tongue.

“What do you want?”

“I want to hurt you.”

Megan’s head was still fuzzy. She started to ask another question, her training reminding her to keep the kidnapper talking, to buy time.

A prick like a bee sting pierced the back of her hand. She opened her mouth to protest, but screamed as pain shot up her left arm. Megan couldn’t think. She could scarcely breathe. Her arm convulsed against the restraints.

Then the pain was gone, only a residual throb.

“I’ve learned a lot,” Karin said. “I’ve learned that my mother was right. Revenge is best served cold. You didn’t see me coming. If Ethan hadn’t fucked up and used the wrong gun, I wouldn’t have had to act so quickly. But it was fate. I never expected to find you down here. The FBI has gotten lenient over the years, letting you roam outside of your jurisdiction.”

“You killed Ken Russo with the same gun you killed the Hoffmans, General Hackett, and Barry Rosemont.”

Karin made a buzzing bee sound with her mouth and pierced Megan again, this time in her neck. Instantly, Megan’s head felt like it was on fire. She moved it side to side trying to alleviate the pain.

Karin was laughing.

“I didn’t kill those people. They weren’t a problem. Ethan just lost it. He was insane, you know.”

Megan took a deep breath, mentally pushed aside the residual pain as best she could. “But you’re not, Karin. You know exactly what you’re doing.”

“If only I were a better shot, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Why didn’t you kill me back there? Twelve years … you had twelve years to what? Seek revenge because I turned you in for being a fucking sociopath?”

Karin pricked her on her right hand this time. Megan bit her lip to keep from screaming. She tasted blood. Her eyesight wavered and a sob escaped.

“You can do better than that,” Karin said, poking behind her ear.

Megan’s body convulsed, she lost control. Tears streamed down her face and she cried out, a primal sound she’d never heard before. Her vision blurred as a tidal wave of pain crashed over her. Then everything turned gray.

“No, no, no,” a distant voice chanted. “You can’t pass out on me! We’re going to have fun. Well, I’m going to have fun and you’re going to suffer exquisite pain.”

Megan’s vision slowly returned. Karin stood before her, staring. “I could have killed you, but I’ve killed before. It’s fleeting. When I met Ethan, I found someone who could teach me about suffering. He suffered. Those soldiers who were supposed to protect him? Why should they live happily ever after while poor Ethan was tied down and poked?” Karin stuck a needle between Megan’s toes. “And prodded.” Another needle between two more toes. Megan’s chest heaved with sobs-she didn’t want to let go. She didn’t want to give Karin the pleasure of her pain. “And tortured for months.”

A needle slid into the sensitive area next to her small toe and Megan screamed, turning her throat raw. Through tears, she looked at her foot and saw three needles protruding.

Through the haze of agony, Megan knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Karin didn’t give a shit about Rosemont’s pain and suffering when he was held captive in Afghanistan.

“You don’t care about anyone, not even Ethan.” Megan swallowed, her breath labored.

“Ethan was a whiner. Do you know how many times I saved his pathetic life? The nutcase should have been committed.”

“If it weren’t for you, none of those men would have died. They didn’t deserve it. They didn’t deserve to be cut down and tortured like prisoners of war. You pushed Rosemont into murder.”

“He thoroughly enjoyed it, though he never actually killed anyone before those people at the rest stop. Killing was my job. He would have stuck needles in those bastards until the end of time if I didn’t cut him off. So far, only one of them died in the process.”

“John Doe. Heart attack.”

“Give the special agent a blue ribbon! Or should I say supervisory special agent?”

Karin stuck a series of ten needles on the underside of each of Megan’s arms.

The pain came in waves that never completely receded. The throbbing increased and decreased in rhythm with Megan’s heart. She thought of her family, the father she’d adored, the brother she would miss. Her younger half-sister she barely had the chance to know.

Jack.

Karin would tire of this. Eventually, she would kill Megan. Either “accidentally” like with John Doe or with a very deliberate bullet to her head. Megan had no idea where she was or how she got here. She didn’t even know how much time had passed. Hans knew who to look for, but would he know where? She didn’t even have her cell phone, did she? No, she remembered dropping it. Her BlackBerry had a built-in GPS. It didn’t help if she didn’t have it with her.

She looked around. It was dark outside-the high windows near the roofline were uncovered. Was it the same night she’d been taken? She didn’t feel as if she’d been unconscious for days. She couldn’t assume anything, though. She turned her head, saw a digital clock on a table against the wall: 1:34. That would be a.m. based on the dark. Officer Dodge ran out of gas around five in the afternoon. It had been at least eight hours she’d been in Karin’s control.