Part 3 (1/2)
Andrews laughed mirthlessly, his hand on the b.u.t.t of a gun. If he draws I'm going to take him, Delgado thought, and felt the clear calm of adrenaline freeze lower over him. And if I take him, I have to take everyone in the van, too, and then figure out some way to get the h.e.l.l out of here.
”You think I'm going to send you out with a full team? I'd never hear the end of it. All right, we'll set up check teams and do chatscans as well. She won't get away this time. One of the snipers got her in the shoulder. The rats'll have a wounded golden girl to get out of the city, and that'll slow them down.”
Not likely. Everything he'd seen from her pointed to a resourceful enemy who wouldn't let a wound slow her down. And if Henderson was able to command a severely-compromised group away from the wreck and ruin of the Society's Headquarters, he was capable of getting a team with one wounded member to safety. All things should be so easy.
But the thought of her hurt, the idea of a bullet in the body that housed that clean, deep mind ... He had to exert control, keep himself still and collected.
”-the Tracker,” Andrews said.
Del replayed his mental footage. They're going to send us the Tracker.
What the h.e.l.l?
”You mean that blind guy?” Delgado's skin went cold. Please tell me I didn't just hear that. ”With the j.a.panese bodyguard?” The one that never loses his target-or he didn't, until they set him to hunting me. I'm the only one that got away from him, and I had to nearly get killed to do it. If it wasn't for Henderson I would have been dead.
”Yeah.” Andrews grinned like a death's head. ”I'm waiting for confirmation from the Colonel, but I thinkwe'll get him out here by tomorrow with that j.a.p watchdog. Your favorite buddy Jilssen, too. And then we'll hunt her down like a dog.”
The grin widened when Delgado didn't respond. ”Cheer up, Del. When we catch her, I might even let you have a taste.”
Chapter Five.
Rowan came back to herself in stages. Her shoulder hurt as if a drill was burrowing into the flesh-her healing talent working overtime. The only drawback to healing a lot more quickly was that all the pain got compressed into a shorter time.
I'm doing well for only the second time I've gotten shot, she thought hazily, swimming up through the fuzzy gray blanket of shock. Her head hurt, a pounding relentless ache curiously removed from the rest of her.
”Justin?” Her own voice, soft and slurred.
”She's coming around.” Yos.h.i.+, sounding tired. ”Rowan, just relax. We're safe.”
”No,” she objected immediately, her voice slurred and breathless. ”He was there. We have to go back.”
Listen to me, I sound like I'm drugged. ”He was there.”
”She's saying it again.” Sound of movement, clicking of keys. ”I don't like this. They're suspiciously quiet out there.”
Henderson sighed. ”I know. Just keep digging, find the channel they're using, and break it. I've got one of those feelings.” The quiet warmth of the General's attention spread over her skin, his dry, steel-hard fingers taking her pulse. ”Rowan, quit trying to get up. Just relax. We've got a couple hours.”
She took a deep breath, drawing in the familiar smells of a clean house-fabric softener, computer fans going full-blast, Cath's strawberry incense, the smell of gun oil and healthy human animals. And the crackling smell of fear-their fear.
I'm their talisman, she thought. A protection. And I just got shot again.
Two and a half months ago, Sigma had found them again as they scrambled to salvage what they could from the ruin of Headquarters. It had been Yos.h.i.+'s quick thinking and Zeke's berserker rage that had saved them. Rowan had been ingloriously shot in the first few moments of the attack and spent the rest of the mad scramble bleeding and feverishly trying to be of some use.
She opened her eyes, feeling the electric buzz of dampers against her skin. I never get used to that. She was on the cot in the comm room, with Henderson squatting right next to her. ”Hey,” he said quietly.
”Welcome back. Lew's safely on his way to Eleanor in Calgary, and we're all in one piece. If we still had a Headquarters and infrastructure I'd court-martial you.”
”Nice to see you too,” she managed. He knew the first thing she'd be worried about was Lewis.
”Water?”
He helped her sit up. Her shoulder was tightly bandaged, and a wave of fierce hot pain made her bite her lip. Then the old man handed her a bottle of Evian, thoughtfully twisting the top open for her. She took it in her left hand and took a few deep swallows. Her stomach boiled, flipped, and decided to keep the liquid down. She cast a practiced eye over the room-Cath's Dr. Who scarf was gone, and so were the chairs. They were preparing to blow this town now that they had Lewis and Sigma had shown their hand.
”That was foolish, Rowan.” Henderson looked grave. His mouth turned down at the corners, and his gray eyes were pale and cold in a way she had rarely seen before. ”They could have caught you.”
”They didn't,” she pointed out. ”Henderson, Justin was there. He helped me escape.””You saw him?”
”Not precisely.” Her cheeks felt hot. Was she blus.h.i.+ng? ”He made contact, linked with me. He...”
He killed the woman with the cropped hair, she realized. A Sigma psion. The other woman must have been her handler. And Justin had reached through Rowan, using his talent to crack a mind like an egg.
”He reached through me to kill one of the Sigs and told me how to get out of the net. He was there.”
Henderson sighed, reaching up to rub at his steel-colored eyes behind his spectacles. He looked tired.
”Are you sure?”
Rowan's shoulders sagged. A fresh jolt of pain tore through the right side of her body, making her vision swim and her eyes fill with reflexive tears. ”Of course I'm sure.” You trusted my instincts before, General. Why not now?
”If he's here, he'll show up when he can. You disobeyed a direct order.” Henderson didn't look mollified in the slightest. His eyes were sharp and his mouth was a thin line. ”Don't do that again.”
”I had to get Lew out,” she answered. ”And draw them off.”
Still not mollified. Not even close. ”You're not superhuman. You're only human, with some very special talents. You're acting suicidal, and that's bad for the team. Clear?”
”Crystal.” Rowan had to suppress a sigh. More irritation rose, fighting with the incredible eye-watering pain for control of her stomach. I did what I had to do, General. You wouldn't have hesitated either, in my place. ”What's the plan?”
”We're going to lay low until they've pa.s.sed us by. Boomer's already gone to take Lewis up to Calgary.
You and Cath will head to Vegas, and Yos.h.i.+, Zeke and I will peel off and start causing trouble northwest. I've got a mind to make a run on a Sig installation.” The old man's eyes glittered behind his gla.s.ses.
”With only two support staff? Now who's suicidal?” Rowan's jaw set. Her legs ached. Had she pulled something? She hoped not. ”Don't do it, Henderson. Go back with Brew and Boomer.”
”If you're going to Vegas, I want Sigma chasing their own tails. We're not going to take out an installation, just make a run and cause some confusion.” His jaw was set, and Rowan felt a faint whisper of alarm. It wasn't like him to be f.e.c.kless. ”And if Del's in town, he'd approve. I shouldn't be sending you to Vegas at all. He's going to be upset.”
Do you, or do you not, understand that we need some cash if we're going to get Headquarters running smoothly? And do you, or do you not, understand that I felt Justin, I know he's here?
She gathered the last sc.r.a.ps of her patience and tried to keep her voice even. ”He's here, Daniel. Please ... don't do this.”
”Um ... guys?” Yos.h.i.+ broke in. He didn't sound happy, and Rowan's nape started to p.r.i.c.kle. She moved to swing her legs off the cot, and her shoulder ran with acid fire. She almost wished she didn't heal so quickly. The compressed pain tore into the wound and made it difficult to think clearly.