Collision Course (25 page)

When she
closed her lips over him, he tightened his hold on her head. Jesus, her mouth
felt so soft, her tongue so wicked and hot. She lapped and sucked and stroked
and squeezed until he thought his eyes would cross. Then she took all of him
into her. His breath whistled through his teeth as he tried to contain himself
and let her have control, but holy shit! She had such a magic touch, it killed
him.

The heat
bloomed through his body, sizzling his nerves, twisting them in knots. She
surrounded him with liquid heat, scorching him. Her naked breasts pressed
against his thigh adding more to his sensory overload. He was about ready to
explode.

“Casey.”
The word came out in a strangled sound. “God, Casey, please. Have mercy.”

She
hummed against his rigid flesh, a sound of satisfaction. She increased her
rhythm, sucking on him, rubbing him, the feeling so exquisite as to be
torturous.

She
dragged her teeth across the sensitive tip and pulled him deep into her mouth
and he went off like a rocket. His body arched, nearly bowing off the bed as he
jetted into her throat and she swallowed and swallowed. When she’d milked the
last drop from him, he lay limp as a dishrag, struggling to get his breath.

Casey
licked him clean then moved her body so she lay next to him, her head on his
shoulder.

“Damn,”
he said when he could speak again with some coherence.

Trey
turned and sought her mouth, thrusting his tongue inside so he could taste
himself, his flavor mingled with hers. He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to
move again, or even if he wanted to.

At last
his heart slowed to an acceptable rhythm, but the shrill beep of the cell phone
broke the sense of languid sensuality. Casey reached over to get it and handed
it to him. While he answered, she rearranged her clothing then sat listening.

Trey
eyed the phone for a long moment then punched Talk.

“Hello?”

“My wife
said some man who sounded like hell was chasing him called here.” Max Rider’s
smooth Georgia drawl, with a touch of humor, rolled through the connection.
“She said he told her he was Trey Haggerty but I said, naw, Trey never breaks a
sweat about anything.”

“Yeah,
well, it’s me. Thanks for returning my call, Max.”

“You
don’t sound like you just want to touch base with an old friend.” Max was all
business now, the edges of the drawl clipped. “What’s going on? I thought you
were set for life in your cushy job with Charles Bennett?”

“Are we
on a secure line?” Trey asked. “I mean really safe?”

“Safe as
HS can make it. Why? You about to give me some state secrets?”

Trey put
his arm around Casey and pulled her against him. “Max, I’ve stumbled onto some
information you aren’t gonna believe. I—”

A knock
on the door interrupted him.

“Hold on
a minute,” Trey said into the phone.

“Hey,”
Joe called. “You need to come out of there and see what I found. You’ve dug into
some nasty stuff.”

“Coming,”
Casey told him.

“Max?
You still there?” Trey asked.

“I’m
here. What the hell’s happening?”

“I’m
taking the phone with me into the other room.” He opened the door and tugged
Casey along with him, talking as they walked. “I’ve got someone helping me but
I need to give you the background before I give you the latest details. You
sure we can’t be eavesdropped?”

“As sure
as I can be.” Max’s voice held a tinge of impatience. “Let’s have it.”

As
briefly as possible Trey filled him in on everything to date, beginning with
the telephone call he answered by mistake. He explained about Casey, how they
met, her history and why they were on the run. Max made no comment, just let
him finish getting his story out.

By now
he and Casey were standing behind Joe watching in stunned silence as lines of
text filled the screen.

“A
friend of hers who knows a lot more than me about breaking down firewalls just
unlocked some of the documents I couldn’t and shit, Max. It’s all there. Names,
dates, activities. Do you happen to know who Tobias Serrano and Hassan
El-Salaki are?”

There
was dead silence on the other end of the line. For a minute, he thought Max had
hung up on him.

“Hey,”
he said. “You still there?”

“Where
are you?” Max asked, his voice now cold and uninflected. “Who’s helping you?”

Trey
covered the speaker on the phone and raised his eyebrows at Joe and Casey,
relaying Max’s questions.

“You
can’t tell him,” Casey began.

Joe
shook his head. “It’s okay. Max should know who I am. I’ve done work for
Homeland Security before, testing software.”

“I’m at
Joe Panko’s,” Trey answered. “He said you know who he is.”

“Damn
right I do. How the fuck did you get there? How’d you hook up with him?”

“He’s an
old friend of Casey’s. She called him when the two guys tried to haul me away
earlier today.”

“Stay
put,” Max order. “Destroy this telephone as soon as you hang up.”

“What?
Why? I need to get the information to you.”

“No
shit. Hold on a second.” Trey heard him talk to someone else then return to
their conversation. “Serrano and El-Salaki are two men on our most wanted
terrorist list. If Bennett’s mixed up with them, the scandal will spread
globally. Jesus. What a fucking disaster.” He gave a short, rough laugh. “Man,
when you step into it, you don’t mess around.”

“So what
should I do?”

“Nothing.
Stay right where you are. I’ll come to you. And tell Panko to turn off his air
alerts. I’ll be coming in by helicopter and I’d like to make it safely to the
ground.”

“All
right.”

“Let me
talk to him for a minute.”

Trey
gave the phone to Joe who listened, nodded his head a few times then handed the
phone back to him.

“He
wants to talk to you again.”

Trey
took the phone. “Max?”

“Consider
yourselves in lockdown. I don’t think Bennett’s been able to track you,
somehow, but we’re not taking any chances. I’m getting things in motion as we
speak. See you soon.”

He hung
up and Trey stood there, shock and fear curling in a nauseating spiral in his
belly. For Max to get so worked up about it, it had to be bad. Really bad. He
took the phone apart with meticulous care, then tried to figure out what to do
with it next.

“Gimme.”
Joe reached out a hand and Trey gave him the phone. “I’ve got a compacter I’ll
run it through.” He reached over to a tall, rectangular machine near him, lifted
the lid and dropped the cell inside. As soon as he pressed a button, the
machine made a grinding noise then finally stopped.

“Okay,”
Joe told him. “It’s toast. Casey, do you mind making us some coffee? I have
some shit to take care of. Then I’m going to go through the rest of the files
with Trey and save them to encrypted disks before I wipe them off my system.”

He rose
and went to another setup, the one beneath the screen with all the views of his
property, and began keying in instructions. Red lights blinked on a wall panel
and a low hum filled the room.

“What’s
going on?” Casey wanted to know.

“I have
an electromagnetic field protecting the open spaces out there. The sensors are
well concealed. If anyone tries to get in here by air, I can fry them in seconds.
Or at least their transport.”

“Holy
crap!”

“Yeah.
Well, can’t be too careful. Anyway, I had to turn off one sector so Max can
land here safely. But I bumped up the security in the fence and the gate. And I
have another couple of tricks if we need them.” He gave the keyboard one last
tap. “Okay, Casey. How about that coffee?”

“Right
away.” She hurried into the kitchen.

He
motioned Trey to sit next to him. “Come on. I’ll show you the nasty things your
boss has been up to.”

*****

Charles
Bennett sat in the darkened room next to Adam and watched the man’s fingers
dance over the keyboard.

“I
always think of this stuff as a new challenge,” the techie said. “Every time
Homeland Security or one of the alphabet agencies ups their security, it’s a
game to me to see how fast I can break it.”

“And
you’re sure you’re right?” Bennett pushed. “I can’t afford another mishap.”

“The
last one had nothing to do with me,” Adam reminded him. “I got the info and
pinpointed Haggerty’s location. No way I could know he hooked up with a modern
version of Wonder Woman.”

“All
right, all right. Play the conversation back again.”

“It’s
him,” Adam insisted. “He even identifies himself, right?”

“And
Rider has no idea his line is tapped?”

Adam
laughed. “They’ve never even seen equipment like mine. It’s so over the top, I
don’t think they even believe it exists. They’re all so convinced their
electronic security is impenetrable.”

“I’ll
have to take your word for it. And Joe Panko?”

More
keyboard tapping and another image appeared on the screen along with numbers.
Adam pointed.

“His
file’s buried deeper than old shit but I managed to get into it and find his
address. There are the coordinates.” He shifted his gaze to his boss. “The
conversation took place at least fifteen minutes ago. If you want to beat
Homeland Security, you’d better get moving. They’re already gearing up.”

Bennett
pulled a cell phone out and pressed a button.

“The
helicopter,” he told the man who answered, and barked out more instructions.
One more call and he’d be ready to move. He was closer to Panko than
Washington, D.C. was, so he had a good chance to get there first. He made no
calls to Serrano or El-Salaki. He’d take care of the situation himself. In
person. Then it would be done.

It would
have to be.

*****

Joe broke
his own standing rule by letting Casey and Trey watch him at the keyboard.

“Thanks,”
Casey told him with a tiny smile. “I guess you know we’re strung tight as wire
about this.”

Joe
winked at her. “Only for you, sugar, Only for you.”

He was
still working, Trey and Casey standing behind him drinking coffee and watching
the screen, when they heard the distant hum of a helicopter.

“Talk
about fast.” Trey set his mug down. “Where will they land?”

“About a
hundred yards from the back door.” He hit some buttons on the panel and
floodlights lit up the yard. “Come on. Max will be chomping at the bit to see
you.”

They
walked through the kitchen to the door. Joe punched in the codes on three locks
and swung the door open and they all stepped out onto the small porch. But Joe
stopped dead before hitting the first step.

“Hold
it. Something’s wrong here.” His voice was dead flat. “That’s not a Homeland
Security helicopter. Or even one from another agency.”

“How can
you tell?” Trey asked.

“Wrong
kind. Homeland Security uses light utility helicopters. The one coming in is
bigger and heavier. They wouldn’t send an armed unit to ferry people to a
meet.”

“Maybe
he wanted anonymity?” Casey suggested.

“No, not
possible. Shit. See how it’s open along the side? Like a small gunship.”

They all
spotted the open cabin and the men perched in the opening with rifles. Aimed
directly at them. Joe had it right. What he was looking at was no passenger
helicopter.
As it made its first pass over the area, the sound of rapid
fire filled the air seconds after bullets spat into the grass, stitching a
heavy line up to the house. The helo banked and turned, skimming over the roof.
The next round of bullets aimed at the floods, plunging the field into
darkness, the only illumination coming from the rising moon.

“Get
inside, you two. Now.” Joe shoved everyone ahead of him into the kitchen,
slamming and locking the door and plunging them into darkness. He raced into
his workspace and began punching codes into the wall panel again. “Okay, we can
only defend one side here, so I’ve activated the explosive charges around the
perimeter.”

“How are
they set up?” Casey wanted to know.

“Tripwires
and pressure mats. But so I don’t blow myself up accidentally when I’m outside,
they’re all wired to a remote activating switch. I just set the ones in front
and at the sides to go hot. If they try to come through there, they’ll blow
themselves to hell.”

“Why not
do it with the back, too?” she asked.

“Had to
leave an escape hatch if I needed it. And the rear is easier to defend. Here.
Put these on.” He handed out night vision goggles. “I’m going to assume they
have them, also, since they shot out the lights. We can’t be blind in here.”

Trey
slipped his on, adjusting to the unfamiliar green glow and the images in the eerie
green light. He took a quick glance out the window, saw the helicopter turn
once more and set down. Armed men jumped lithely to the ground and Trey spotted
Charles Bennett’s squat muscular figure exit the helicopter behind them,
hunching in the shadow of the copter. The men headed toward them in slow
motion, firing as they moved. Bullets pinged off the windows and the outside
walls in a steady hailstorm as the gunmen continued forward.

“Don’t
worry,” Joe said over his shoulder. “The glass is bulletproof and the outside
is coated with a new impervious material. They can’t reach us unless they try
to bomb us out or use shoulder fired rockets.”

“Pleasant
thought.” Trey managed to swallow, even with a dry mouth. “Can they do that?”

“They
might try but I’m guessing they’ll do it as a last resort. Bennett wants you
alive so he can question you before he kills you. Also, they won’t be expecting
us to be able to fight them off so we can slow them down a little.”

Something
exploded right outside the door, fire and smoke spurted into the air and a
chunk of the porch disappeared.