Check Mate (15 page)

"Where is Jake?" Agnes asked.

"He's upstairs," Mariah answered.

Oliver Grimble glanced around, noting that both Burgess and Lester were in the room. "You've left Jake unguarded?"

"He's quite safe and secure," Mariah assured them. "There are bars on the upstairs windows and no means of escape."

"Yes, of course." Agnes turned to her husband. "My dear, I know you'd like to be the first to take a look at what Dr.

Brooks has accomplished with our Jake, so why don't you go on upstairs and have a talk with him. I'll be up shortly."

Agnes removed her coat and handed it to Mariah, then pointed to Burgess. "You go with Dr. Grimble."

"Perhaps I should go," Mariah said, clutching Agnes's coat. "After all, I'm the one who has worked with Jake and the person he'd feel most comfortable with at this point."

"I've promised Oliver a few moments with Jake without any interference." Agnes patted Mariah's arm. "It's frightfully cold outside and I'm quite chilled. Why don't we share a cup of coffee and you can explain the methods you've used that have worked successfully."

Mariah's fake smile made her face ache, but she kept it in place by sheer force of will. All she could do now was pray, because it was going to take a miracle to save them. "I'm afraid I didn't have time to put on coffee, but if you'll come with me into the kitchen, it won't take long to prepare a fresh pot." Mariah laid Agnes's coat on a nearby chair.

As she escorted Agnes into the kitchen, Mariah glanced over her shoulder in time to see Burgess following Oliver up the stairs. How would Jake react when he saw the man who had brainwashed him when he'd been a child? And
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more importantly, what would Dr. Grimble do when he discovered that she had made absolutely no progress at reprogramming Jake?

While the coffee brewed, Mariah racked her brain for every ounce of knowledge she'd gained in her college psychology courses, hoping her responses to Agnes's questions seemed genuine. As the minutes passed, Mariah tried not to glance at her wristwatch or the clock on the stove. Thankfully, at the moment, Agnes seemed more interested in enjoying the fresh, hot coffee than anything else.

"Would you care for something to eat?" Mariah asked.

"No, thank you." Agnes lifted the coffee mug to her lips again.

"I really think I should go upstairs and help Dr. Grimble. Jake might respond better if—"

"You seem awfully nervous, Dr. Brooks."

"I am nervous. I'm concerned about Jake, about how he might react to Dr. Grimble. He was totally uncooperative at first and downright hostile."

"Until he was told that we now have Gideon back with us."

"Yes, until he learned his brother had been captured."

"I realize that you might feel proprietorial where Jake is concerned and consider yourself his doctor, but must I remind you that Oliver was the person who programmed Jake and his siblings. If you've done your job and conditioned Jake correctly, then Oliver should have no trouble in making quick progress with him."

"Jake could react violently when he sees Dr. Grimble."

"Yes, he could. That's why I sent Burgess with Ollie."

Mariah realized that all the talk in the world was not going to change anything. Perhaps she should consider another alternative. Was there any way she could get the upper hand in this situation? Could she take on Agnes and Oliver, as well as Burgess and Lester? No, she couldn't. If she tried to play the hero, she could easily get Jake killed, not to mention herself, too.

The minutes dragged by, each second like an hour. Mariah finally gave in to temptation and glanced at the clock on the stove. Damn! Oliver Grimble had been upstairs with Jake for nearly twenty minutes, while she'd been faking a hundred and one answers to Agnes Payne's endless questions. Once or twice Agnes had cocked an eyebrow as if some of Mariah's responses had surprised her, so Mariah had no idea if she had convinced the woman that she actually knew what she was talking about.

Suddenly the kitchen door burst open and Burgess shoved Jake into the room. Jake, who was now handcuffed, hazarded a quick glance in Marian's direction and when their gazes met, she read the bad news in Jake's eyes.

Oliver Grimble marched into the room and pointed a condemning finger at Jake. "He's useless to us as he is now."

Grimble glowered at Mariah. "I don't know what she's been doing with Jake, but she has made absolutely no progress in conditioning him for reprogramming."

Agnes snapped her head around and her beady-eyed gaze raked over Mariah. "You've been lying to us, Dr.

Brooks."

"No, I haven't been lying. I truly believed that I'd made progress with him. He seemed receptive. He—"

Agnes slapped her open palm down on the table. The sound reverberated throughout the kitchen. "Stop lying!

You've failed at your first important assignment for us. And I'm asking myself why."

"I got a good answer to that one." Lester came out of the shadows.

Agnes focused on the loathsome creature. "And you're...?"

"Lester. And I know why Dr. Brooks didn't do what she was supposed to do to Mr. Genius IQ."

"And just what is your theory, Lester?" Agnes asked.

"She's got the hots for him. My guess is that instead of brainwashing him, she's been messing around with him. If you know what I mean."

Agnes turned her wicked glare on Mariah. "Is that true? Have you fallen in love with our Jake?" Agnes walked across the room to where Burgess stood guard over a subdued Jake. She reached out and ran her fingertips over Jake's cheek. He recoiled as if her touch had poisoned him. "He is quite beautiful, isn't he? The ideal man."

"Lester's crazy," Mariah said. "He's angry with me because I rebuffed his crude advances."

"Whatever her reasons, Dr. Brooks has done nothing to condition Jake," Oliver said. "We've wasted time—wasted days—depending on her to prepare him. I'll be starting at square one and from what I've seen of him tonight, I'm not sure Jake can be reprogrammed."

Agnes clutched Jake's chin. "If you don't cooperate with us, we will kill Gideon. I'd hate to lose him because I believe he can be useful to us again in the future, but the choice is yours. Your brother's life is in your hands."

"I want Gideon set free," Jake said, his voice terse, his jaw clenched.

"In exchange for?" Agnes asked.

"My full cooperation."

A deep sigh died inside Marian as she tightened her lips to prevent its escape. No, Jake, don't do this, she wanted
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to scream. Don't sacrifice yourself! I can't bear it if I lose you.

Ten

"An interesting proposition," Agnes said as she studied Jake, who held his head high and looked his enemy right in the eye. "I'm curious as to why you didn't make this offer to Dr. Brooks—" Agnes shot a sidelong glance at Mariah

"—unless of course you thought you could manipulate her. Is that what happened? You used your charm to persuade her that she means something to you in order to use her to your advantage?"

"Dr. Brooks is a flunky, much like Burgess and Lester," Jake said. "I don't deal with underlings. I outsmart them.

And that's what I did with Dr. Brooks. I simply outsmarted her, made her believe that I was succumbing to her hypnosis techniques."

"Is that what you want me to believe?" Agnes smiled.

Agnes's sinister grin sent cold chills up Mariah's spine. The woman suspected Mariah was not on the up-and-up. It was only a matter of time before she found out the truth—that Mariah wasn't a psychiatrist dedicated to the Coalition, that she was a federal agent who had infiltrated the organization.

"If I were to believe that, I'd have to assume that Dr. Brooks is totally incompetent and her credentials are fraudulent." Agnes got right up in Jake's face. "That's it, isn't it? Our Dr. Brooks is a fraud."

"I have no idea who or what she is," Jake replied. "For all I know she's Minnie Mouse in disguise. I'm telling you that she sure as hell had me fooled. She certainly conducted herself the way a Coalition psychiatrist would. It isn't her fault that I'm not susceptible to mind control."

"He's lying," Lester chimed in, his gaze darting back and forth from Agnes to Mariah. "She treated him way too good from the very beginning. She coddled him, that's what she did."

Agnes pinned Burgess with her stare. "Is he right? Did Dr. Brooks treat Jake with kid gloves?"

"Yes, ma'am. In the beginning. But when those tactics didn't work, she started getting tougher with him."

Agnes contemplated the situation. Mariah could practically see the wheels in her head turning. She knew the woman was smart—too smart not to put two and two together and come up with the obvious four.

"I'm not sure what to believe at this point," Agnes admitted. "I need time to think." She turned to her husband. "We need to talk. Privately." Oliver nodded. Agnes then looked at Burgess. "Take Jake and Dr. Brooks upstairs and lock them in for the time being. I want you or Lester guarding the door at all times until I decide what we're going to do."

Agnes surveyed Mariah from head to toe. "Remove Dr. Brooks's gun. She's not going to be needing it."

Mariah didn't protest—how could she?—when Burgess followed Agnes Payne's orders and took the Smith & Wesson from her hip holster.

"Make it easy on yourself," Jake said. "Let me see my brother, assure myself that he's all right, then when you release him, I'm all yours."

"That does seem an easy solution." Agnes laid her hand on Mariah's shoulder. "But it doesn't solve our problem with Dr. Brooks. She's a puzzle I intend to solve."

"Dr. Brooks has nothing to do with it," Jake told Agnes. "I told you that I fooled her. You can't judge her abilities as a psychiatrist by whether or not she was able to condition me for reprogramming."

"Perhaps you're right, but I don't intend to make any hasty decisions—about you or Dr. Brooks." With a flick of her hand Agnes motioned for Burgess to remove Jake and Mariah.

Both she and Jake cooperated. After all, what other choice did they have right now? Once upstairs, locked in and alone, they might be able to put their heads together and come up with a plan. Mariah led the trek, with Jake behind her and both Burgess and Lester trailing them. She despised Lester all the more now because he was enjoying her predicament far too much. It was only a matter of time before he tried something with her now that he knew he didn't have to take orders from her.

"Get inside," Burgess instructed when they reached the bedroom.

Mariah rushed inside, but before Jake could follow, Burgess gave him a hard shove that sent him crashing into the room and onto his knees. Lester, who had followed them upstairs, laughed like the braying jackass he was. Burgess slammed the door shut and locked it. Mariah rushed to Jake, but he put up his hand in a back-off warning. He lifted himself to his feet, then standing straight and tall, he glared at the closed door. Glancing at Mariah, he put a finger to his lips to indicate silence. She nodded. After she moved across the room to the point farthest from the door, she motioned for Jake to come to her. He joined her immediately. They hovered in the comer near the closet.

"It's only a matter of time before they move us," she whispered. "I have to act quickly." Mariah balanced herself by placing a hand on Jake's shoulder, then she crossed her leg and lifted her booted foot upward.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jake asked, keeping his voice low.

"I've got a micro-transmitter hidden in the heel of my boot. It's for emergency use only. If I send a signal, federal agents will surround this place within a couple of hours."

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"Why haven't you used it before?"

"Because the goal of my mission was to keep you safe, at all costs, even my own life. I couldn't risk Burgess or Lester killing you if we were stormed by federal agents. But now that my cover is all but blown and you've decided that our only way out is to sacrifice yourself, we have nothing to lose, do we?"

"What about Gideon?"

"If you make a deal with Agnes and Oliver, you have no guarantee they'll keep their end of the bargain. My bet is they'll keep both you and Gideon. A deal with them is a deal with the devil."

"Don't send the transmission." Jake grabbed her hand. "Please."

Mariah knew that Jake wasn't a man who begged. Not ever. He wasn't the type who'd asked favors or depend on others. But he'd said please. And she could see by the look in his eyes that he was pleading with her.

"Sending the signal could be our only chance of survival," Mariah told him. "Is Gideon's life worth more to you than your own?" Is his life worth more to you than mine?

"As long as we're alive and cooperative, we've got a chance. But Gideon has no chance. And he's got Brooke. So whose life is more important?"

Yours. Your life is more important to me. But she understood Jake's reasoning. If it were one of her brothers, she'd exchange her life for his with few second thoughts.

Mariah snapped the boot heel back in place, lowered her foot to the floor and looked directly at Jake. "Is there a Plan B?"

Jake grinned. "That's my girl." He skimmed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Plan B is to cooperate with the enemy—up to a point."

"Up to what point?"

"Up to the point where they free Gideon and you," Jake told her. He halted her protest. "I've got to get you out of here. Agnes is downstairs right now putting everything together. Now that you're under suspicion, she'll do whatever she has to do to find out what you're all about. And once she knows you're a fed—"

"I'll be as good as dead."

He grasped her shoulders and shook her gently. "I'm not going to let that happen. The first opportunity you get to leave, I want you to go and not look back."