Christine Feehan: Predatory Game

“I have to make sure the office is destroyed with everything in it and I’ve got to kill every one of these bastards. The cops will be showing up any minute and I don’t want any of them to die because I ran.”

She couldn’t argue with that, but she wasn’t certain she believed him. The calm, easygoing man she’d been living with for the past year was riled, and he wasn’t going to cut and run until he’d taken out the men who had threatened his family. In a strange way it made her feel safe knowing he was that kind of man. But she also felt as if she should grab him and drag him into their bolt hole. She didn’t trust his legs. He hadn’t walked one single step, and the wheelchair was on the other side of the door.

“One man is approaching the office. The door’s gone. Let’s see if my failsafe works. All data on the computers should be corrupted beyond repair even if they managed to get a hard drive intact, but just in case…” He murmured aloud, talking more to himself than to her.

Saber leaned closer to peer at the monitor. Smoke and dust swirled thickly. A soldier wearing a gas mask emerged out of the rubble and stood at the entrance to the office, staring inside. He turned and looked up at the man on the landing, holding his thumb up to indicate they’d found the computers. She felt Jess go still, and then his adrenaline spiked. His arms tightened around her, pulling her into his chest, his head going over hers.

The initial explosion shook the house, the ground, but didn’t stop there. More followed, each blast louder than the last. The energy came at them in a series of waves. Saber was left feeling sick, her head pounding. Even with Jess’s presence absorbing all of it, the initial rush was a shock to her body.

Jess raised his head to take a quick glimpse at the monitor and swore. He caught at her, for the first time standing, pulling her up with him, dragging her down toward the grate. “Get down the steps, take the gear. Move fast, Saber.”

She couldn’t see what had alarmed him, and she didn’t wait around to find out. She caught up as many weapons as she could, tossing the gas masks down into the tunnel before she dropped into the hole. The stairs were narrow and steep, leading down to a very small tunnel. She could walk upright, but she knew Jess would never be able to.

“Jess, we don’t have your wheelchair.”

“I can walk. I won’t be winning any races, but I really can get my legs to work.” He was already swinging his body through the gap and reaching for the stairs with his legs, pulling the grate after him. “Go, he’s blowing the door.”

She watched him come down the stairs, bending to keep from hitting his head as he neared the bottom. She wasn’t running down that corridor until she knew he was safe.

“Go, damn it.”

“Are you sure you can do this?”

He gave her a little push, indicating she should run ahead of him. Saber whirled around and sprinted down the length of the tunnel. She was very small and could move fast, but from the little she’d just observed, Jess was still unsteady on his legs. He was also tall, with broad shoulders. He had to stoop and turn his body at an awkward angle to get through the winding passageway.

The blast was loud, reverberating through the tunnel. Smoke and dust poured in. A thin trail of red light led the way as they followed the corridor deeper into the earth. The sides were shored up with thick timber and wire over the dirt walls.

“They’re in,” hissed Jess. “The one trying to get data from the office is toast, and the first one into the exercise room won’t have a chance, but we’ll still have the one with the grenade launcher, and we can’t be caught inside this tunnel.”

“Are you certain they won’t get your files? What about the one you had on me?”

“I destroyed it. Run, Saber, stop worrying about me. In another minute we’re going to have someone shooting at us with a grenade launcher.”

Saber could feel him right behind her, so she accelerated her speed. She wasn’t particularly strong, but she was fast. Gene therapy had seen to that. “Your beautiful house is being destroyed.” She’d tried not to think about it too much, but the loss of the first place she’d ever thought of as home was devastating.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does. It’s the first home I ever had. I loved it.” Her vision blurred and she wiped at her eyes, the gas mask clunking against her arm.

The tunnel curved and began going up again. She could see that just ahead the thin red line abruptly stopped. “Where? Tell me where to go.” She slowed, seeing nothing but a dead end blocking their way. They appeared trapped.

He put his hand on her shoulder and reached up to feel above them with one hand. Immediately the tunnel was plunged into complete darkness. There was no light coming in from anywhere to help with the unrelenting blackness.

Her breath caught in her lungs. Jess seemed larger than ever, more solid. He gathered her close and put his mouth next to her ear. “None of it matters, you know. We’re all that matters. You and me. Wherever we are together, Saber, that’s our home. You’ll love the new house I’m going to build for you.”

He reached above her again and found the latch that hid the door in the ceiling overhead. A head leaned in from above and Ken grinned at them.

“You’ve been having fun without us,” he accused.

Jess caught Saber around the waist and lifted her out of the tunnel. She blinked as the light filtering through the forest struck her in the eye. The house was on fire a short distance away. Ken caught her in firm hands and pulled her all the way up, setting her to one side in order to reach down for the equipment Jess had.

Saber could see they were surrounded by grim-faced men, all holding rifles as if they knew how to use them. GhostWalkers. Jess’s GhostWalkers. She turned to watch the house burn, her heart heavy. Mari stepped up beside her and took her arm.

“I’m sorry about your home.”

The sympathy was unexpected, but for the first time, she felt as if she might really be able to be a part of these people. She didn’t feel anything but sympathy and a determination to keep her and Jess safe. Maybe, just maybe, she was already home.

“Jess, you’re back.” Ken Norton glanced at his watch. “Four in the morning and you’re getting married tomorrow. You cut it close, bro.” He was crouched low on top of the boulder guarding the entrance to the Norton land.

Jess and Saber were temporarily staying in a cabin the Norton twins had up in the mountains of Montana.

Jess paused on his way in through the twisting trail. The night was moonless and the clouds obscured most of the stars-just the way they liked it. “I didn’t have a lot of choice. The meeting with Rear Admiral Henderson and General Rainer went as well as I could expect, I guess, but neither of them were very happy that we’d been investigating them.”

Ken shrugged, cradling his rifle in his arms, his eyes making a sweep of the tree line below. “I doubt if you or Ryland offered much in the way of an apology.”

“Hell no. We gave them our findings and a copy of the tape. The original is here and we’re keeping it that way.”

“You’ll be happy to know the escrow went through. You officially own eighty-six acres up here. Ryland and Lily are purchasing land as well. In fact they’re buying up everything they can in the hopes that more of the GhostWalkers will settle here later. I’ve been messing around a little with ideas for buildings we can more easily defend.” Ken shrugged his shoulders. “Was hoping you’d take a look later.”

Jess nodded. “Definitely. I want to start building as soon as we can. Patsy is willing to build her home near mine so I’ll know she’s safe as well. That means we’ve got to put up two homes next spring.”