Code Name: Luminous (12 page)

The men shoved off the walls and exited with a
disdainful look as they passed him. Lumin looked like a scared rabbit who was
trying to keep a brave face. Her right cheek was red and inflamed. Her hands
were tied behind her back, sitting in the center of the room. Slowly, he closed
the door. “Lumin, these men will not stop hurting you until they get answers.”
She stared at him, tears welling in her eyes and dripping down her cheeks. He
didn’t really care if they skinned her alive, but he had to make her believe
that he did. He hunched down. “Lumin, I know you were dragged into this, but
you don’t have to be involved. Just tell us what Carmichael told you before he
died.”

“Who are you?” she whispered, choking on a dry
throat.

“I’m Dr. Billings.” He looked over his
shoulder as if checking to make sure no one else was around. “I’m as cornered
in this as you are. I’m just trying to stay alive. Dr. Carmichael and Dr.
Bjornson were my friends. Now Carmichael is dead and I’m afraid Cliff is as
well. I want to find him. I need your help.”

“I want to leave,” Lumin said, closing her
eyes as another tear squeezed out. “Let me go.”

“I will, my dear. I promise, but you have to
tell us where Cliff is.”

“You’re going to kill everyone.”

“I don’t want to kill anyone. If I could stop
this I would, maybe I still can, but not without Cliff.”

Lumin opened her eyes and blinked to clear
them.

“Please, they won’t give me much time alone
with you.
Lumin—please.”

“Dr. Carmichael died even though he helped
you.”

“That was Dafoe, not me.”

“You didn’t save him.”

Vincent was losing his temper. He couldn’t
tell whether or not she was stringing him along or on the verge of spilling
what she knew.
Patience
.
“I am in a position to get you out of here. You have to trust me.”

“My friends, what about them?”

If he promised her everything she’d know he
was lying. “I’ll try.” She shook her head. “If they talk before you do, I can’t
help you. Dafoe’s men will kill you.” He patted her on the leg. “I’ll get you
some water. Be right back.”

Vincent exited the room and looked for
Azeel
. He heard a woman threatening someone and he headed
for the next door. One of
Azeel’s
henchmen had a tiny
brunette around the throat, squeezing the air from her. “Let her go,” he
demanded. She staggered and reached for the chair, but fell to her knees before
she reached it. He strode across the room and helped her. “There is no saving
this country. Why don’t you tell me where Bjornson is and end your suffering?”

The woman raised her pretty face and stared at
him with dark, benign eyes. She concealed her pain deep inside. “Your plan is
already screwed. Are you Dafoe?” she said, through a blossoming lip where
someone had fisted her.

“No, I’m a scientist. I worked with Clifford
Bjornson. I need to find him.”

The brunette’s gaze lowered to the floor and
her head drooped. “Good luck with that.”

He grabbed her hair and yanked her head back.
“Listen to me. I’m losing my patience. One of you is going to talk or two of
you are dead.”

* * * *

Azeel
slowly paced around the table Nina was pinned face down on. It
took two strong men to hold her there. She was definitely a fighter and that
turned him on. He leaned over and looked into Nina’s eyes blistering with hate.
“Would your husband still touch you if I took you myself, or would he be
sickened at the thought?” She struggled, but the men held her down by cranking
her arms behind her, way past the point of pain. “Stand her up.” He ripped her
top open, the buttons flying off and bouncing on the cement floor. With a knife
he pulled from his pocket, he cut through her bra front and once through each
shoulder strap. With a flick of his hand, he revealed her breasts. “I’m going
to fuck you dry, Red.”

“How do you fuck someone without a dick?” she
spit at him.

He gripped the band of her skirt and yanked it
down, exposing her black satin panties. “Very sexy,” he said, running a finger
across her shoulder and then around her breast, playing with the tip of her nipple
with his thumb. “Believe
me,
I have enough to fill you
and more. Probably the best fuck you’ll get for the rest of your life,
considering that’s imminently short.”

The door burst open. “What’s going on in
here?” Dr. Billings shouted.

“Come to watch the show, Doc?” He stood behind
Nina and grasped both of her tits, pulling her against him. Dr. Billings looked
unnerved. “I’m going to fuck the truth out of this one.” He bit her shoulder
hard and she suppressed a cry of pain. “Oh, sweetheart, look you’re bleeding,”
Azeel
said with a mocking tone.

“Where is Dr. Bjornson?” Billings said,
stepping in front of Nina. “Tell us or I’ll let him do what he wants.”

Azeel
grabbed her face roughly and dug his fingers into the hollows of
her cheeks. “Look at the man when he talks to you, Red. You got an answer for
him or not?”

“Bite me,” she hissed.

And he did, digging his teeth into the already
swollen openings of his last mark. Nina screamed.

Gunfire erupted from the main area. Billings
stiffened. “What’s that?” He forgot he was within striking distance. Nina
kicked him in the nuts, doubling him over, and used his falling body to spring
back against
Azeel
. He stumbled back, and she
swiveled without pause and kicked him in the groin. He nearly blacked out with
the power of her long leg. The door flew open and a soldier with a weapon at
eye level entered the room.

“Nina,” the soldier yelled. “Look out.”

A little late for the fiery redhead though,
and
Azeel
plunged the needle into her shoulder and
pumped the contents into her body.

The soldier gripped her to his chest
protectively and yanked her away, pulling out the needle and dropping it on the
floor. “Do we need him?”

 
“Tinman?
Don’t tell Mace, please, Tony.”

“I can’t do that, Ninja Girl.”

“He won’t be able to do his job. Promise me.”

“Do we need him?” The soldier’s eyes were cold
and calculating.

Nina nodded and then gasped out, “Yes.”

“Too bad, soldier boy.
Have to kill me another day I guess.” He didn’t expect the
bastard to come down on the trigger and fire into his knee. Before he blacked
out he heard Red say to the soldier. “We definitely need that other guy.”

“Don’t shoot me,” Billings screamed.

* * * *

Mace parted from Tony and headed for the
farthest closed door. He kicked it open and then rammed himself against the
wall. Taking a careful look inside, there was only one chair and one occupant.
“Kayla?”

She raised her head and he ran to her, undoing
the ties behind her back. She threw her arms around his neck. “Thank God.”

He gently touched her lip.

“I’m all right, Mace.
Where’s
Nina and Lumin?”

“Other rooms, I think. Come on.” He wrapped an
arm around her waist and helped her to the door. “Ghost is going to shit a
brick when he sees you.”

Kayla choked out a laugh. “Tell the Admiral to
keep his knickers together. We’ve got information. Not all of it, but more
pieces to the puzzle.”

“Ya really think that’s going to help when he
sees you like this?” he said, walking through the doorway with her.

Mace looked to his left and saw Tinman come
out of the other room with Nina. He’d covered her with his camo jacket. Her
face was bruised, and his anger drove his good sense to the brink.

“Nina,” he called. She looked up, and blew him
a kiss. God, the woman made him nuts. “Where’s the Admiral?” Mace asked.

The rest of the Tangos were under control and
on their bellies on the floor. A single shot coming from the last room made
everyone’s head crank up. A few seconds later Ghost appeared with Lumin draped
in his arms.

“Secure the area,” Tony shouted.

“She passed out,” Ghost said, laying Lumin on
a table.

Mace slung his weapon to his side and moved
toward Nina. Tinman raised his hand as if he wanted him to stop, and Nina
stepped behind him. What the hell was going on? Ghost reached for Kayla,
embracing her with a concerned look.

Tony left Nina’s side and hovered above Lumin,
searching her face. Her cheek was puffy and red. Someone had worked her over,
but she was breathing and that’s probably all that mattered to Tony. He gently
pulled her hand against his heart. “Lumin, wake up. You’re safe.”

Lumin’s head rocked and her long lashes
fluttered. “Tony? Tony,” she said, and then flung herself into his arms.

He rocked her, holding her tight. “It’s okay.
Everything is going to be okay.”

“Who got the worse end of the stick, you or
them?” Mace asked Nina, taking another step toward her and stopped when she
distanced herself. “You look like hell, baby.” Nina wrapped her arms around
herself. “What’s wrong? What are you doing?”

“I love you. I’ll always love you,” she
whispered, but her face was a mask of barely restrained emotion.

Nina’s body began to tremble. “Hey, it’s okay,
babe. The cavalry is here. Everything’s under control,” Mace said.

“Sir,” one of the squad members from DEVGRU
waited for Ghost to turn around. “I found this on the floor. It’s empty.”

Ghost’s brows shot together and then his eyes
widened with concern. All three of the women stared at Ghost. “Which—” he
paused and his jaw grew taut.
“Which one of you?”

Mace’s heart started to thump hard in his
chest. “Is that what I think it is?”

Lumin stood, protected in Tinman’s arms as his
gaze went from the needle to meet Nina’s eyes. Mace’s blood ran cold. “No,” he
said sharply. He vaulted toward Nina. Tinman tried to stop him, but he tore
from his grip and wrenched Nina to his chest.
“Nina, no.”

“I’m sorry.” Her brows crumpled. “I’m so
sorry, Mace,” she tried to push away from him.

Mace’s gaze bounced off of every face, until
he found the one he wanted. He had the guy with the white lab coat against the
wall by the neck. “Where is the antiserum?”

The guy offered a seething glare. “She’s as
good as dead. Just like my family. The ones you Americans slaughtered in my
country.”

With his first swing, the bones in the guy’s
nose shattered. “Where…is…the…antiserum?” Mace hollered inches from his face.

The guy spit out a piece of tooth when he
said, “Twelve hours. You can watch her die in front of you, and it’s
agonizing.”

Mace got one more strike in before he was
pulled away and watched the man slide down the wall, unconscious.

“She has to be quarantined,” Ghost said
quietly, letting go of Mace’s arm.
“Ditz?”

“Sir,” Ditz said, giving Mace an uneasy look.
“I’ll advise USAMRIID,
U.S. Army Medical
Research Institute
, for transport.”

Mace took a step toward Nina, and Ghost
stopped him. “Nina?” Ghost warned.

She nodded briskly, swiping the tears from her
cheeks, understanding that no one could come near her anymore. “Mace, promise
me—”

“No, I won’t promise a god damn thing. You’re
going to live. You hear me?
Gabbs
needs you. I need
you,” he said hoarsely.

Nina’s face pinched together with agony. She
raised her hand to her belly.

Kayla sucked in a breath. “Oh, Nina, no,” she
said, with a rare showing of emotion. “Please don’t tell me you did this with—”

Mace was confused.
“With
what?
What? Nina.” He saw she still protected her stomach, and then it
dawned on him.

“It was a surprise.” A gust of air came out
with fresh tears. “I was going to tell you on our last night in Mexico, but
then…”

Mace felt like he’d been enveloped in a cloud
of numbness.

Nina nodded and gave a half-hearted smile.
“We’ll be all right,” she said, clutching her stomach.

He scrunched his eyes closed and let out a
deep breath. “I will find the antiserum,” he vowed, forcing away the
hopelessness. “I will search every hole in this desert to find it.” He lifted
his gaze to his friends, his family. “I’m going to be a father.”

Ghost gripped him around the shoulders and
held onto him. “Yes, you are, Mace.” He paused and said, “Meeting in there.”
The Admiral pointed to the middle room.

* * * *

Tony’s arm propped Lumin up, and she needed
his help. They filed into the dilapidated office she’d been held in, but as
soon as they entered the room he left her. Only the members of Alpha Squad were
present. Ghost faced the wall for a moment and then slowly turned to speak to
them. One fist was clenched tightly, but that was the only sign he was
unnerved. Lumin couldn’t keep the tears at bay. Nina could die, and it was
because she’d protected her. Tony must hate her, and she wouldn’t blame him.
She’d brought this to them, and now Nina was infected. Ghost tried to speak,
but then his head lowered as if he was trying to keep it together. When he
rested his gaze on them, Lumin was shocked to see tears in his eyes.