Payback (16 page)

Faith swallowed a lump of fear and gave a thumbs up. As Dr. Montague started the video, Mark put his arm across Faith’s shoulders. She reached up and clung to his fingers as horrific images filled the screen.

It didn’t do any good to tell herself to just look at faces, scanning for Toby. There was too much pain. Too much desperation, fear and rage. Faith stared in revulsion as the scientists put the men through horrific exercises, testing obedience to orders the men clearly fought against obeying. All the while, the scientists took notes and conferred with one another with clinical detachment. Oblivious to the suffering going on around them.

“We’re only holding on to the tapes until we’re certain everyone responsible for the program has been punished,” Dr. Montague said tightly. “And, of course, we want to make certain that all of the victims have been identified so that their respective agencies can close their investigations and notify any next of kin. The notes you turned over, combined with the data pulled from Kaufmann’s lab before it was destroyed should make this a fairly straightforward task.”

Watching the violence, and the brutal reactions of the men to the simplest command, Faith prayed that she got to Toby soon. And then she prayed some more that Dr. Montague would be able to restore him.

Faith glanced at the doctor and saw that she had her hands clenched into fists. “Dr. Montague? Are you okay?” The doctor wore the frozen expression of someone enduring past her limit. Still, she gave a curt nod.

That’s right, Dr. Montague had been tortured by Dr. Kaufmann. Not only would the video remind her of her own ordeal, but also of what her lover, Rafe Andros, had suffered.

When the video finally ended, Faith gave a sigh of relief. That had been more difficult to sit through than she’d expected. But necessary. Now she fully understood that Toby might be beyond rational thought when Mark found him. Her brother might not understand language enough to grasp that Mark wanted to help him. Or Toby might have been conditioned to consider every stranger an enemy.

Faith glanced over at Mark, knowing that the plan was for him to leave with the SSU team tonight on their mission to stop the Kerberos men. “How is Mark going to get through to Toby when he finds him?” According to the data recovered from Kaufmann’s lab, Toby had not been part of the one group whose members were controllable via a code phrase. Her brother had been trained to respond only to direct orders given in person by his handler.

Dr. Montague rubbed the back of her neck. “That’s a good question. You’ll have to think of something that serves as a trigger to better memories. With Rafe, it was a scent that we piped into his room.” She blushed, and Faith figured the scent must have triggered a memory of their romantic relationship.

Dr. Montague cleared her throat. “I don’t think that will work in this case, since Mr. Tonelli will mostly likely be confronting your brother outdoors. I suggest using an audio recording, instead. Is there some silly phrase you used as kids? Maybe a song you used to sing together?”

“Yes. Toby always loved the lullaby our mother sang to us.”

“Good. Hopefully, when Mr. Tonelli plays the recording the familiar sounds will stall Toby long enough so Mr. Tonelli can tranquilize him before he attacks.”

Faith froze.
Stupid. Stupid.
Her heart had blinded her to so many truths these past few weeks. Why hadn’t she realized that Toby might try to kill Mark? She glanced over at him. The thought of her lover fighting for his life against her enraged brother made her vision waver.

Mark must have read her concern in her expression, because he gave her one of his arrogant smiles, then bent his head and gave her a quick kiss. “I’ll be fine.”

“Mark…” She swallowed. She didn’t want to lose him. And yet…she couldn’t give up on Toby. No matter how far gone he was, she needed him brought to the SSU, where there was at least a glimmer of a chance he could be cured. How was she supposed to decide between them?

“I’ll bring Toby back,” Mark said quietly. “I promise. You’ll see both of us again.”

Out of the corner of her eye Faith saw Dr. Montague step away, giving them some privacy. “You’d better come back,” Faith said fiercely. She gave him a hard kiss of her own. “Because I love you, dammit, and I refuse to lose you.”

T
he SSU’s plane would be leaving for the South Pacific in a few hours, but after spending the entire evening in briefings, Mark needed time with Faith.

He cautiously opened the door to their guest apartment, in case she was asleep.

“Mark?” Faith called sleepily from the bedroom. The light went on. “Is that you?”

Relief flooded him at the sound of her voice. Amazing, really, how quickly she’d become his anchor. His solace. Him, Mark Tonelli, the man who didn’t care, had become addicted to the loving companionship of a spirited reporter.

“Yes,” he called as he slipped out of his shoes and lined them up neatly to the side of the door.

Faith appeared in the bedroom doorway. “How’d the briefing go?”

Mark took a moment to just study her form, backlit by the bedroom lamp. He felt the familiar tightening of his body as arousal sparked, but also a contented glow. Was this what happily married men experienced every time they were reunited with their wives?

“Mark?” she prompted.

“The briefing went well. Once upon a time I’d have disparaged their skills, but the truth is, Ryker’s assembled a highly efficient and extremely capable group of men and women. I’m not a military planner, but it seems they’ve prepared for every contingency.”

“It’s clear that they’re not to harm Toby?”

Mark crossed the living room and took her in his arms. “Yes. Everyone has seen his photo. I’m confident he won’t be harmed unnecessarily.”

He saw the shadow cross her face. “Faith, you—”

She placed a quick kiss on his mouth. “I know. If Toby attacks and can’t be safely tranq’d, then the SSU agents might be forced to fight him and he could be hurt. I don’t like it, but I understand.”

Mark inhaled, catching Faith’s sugar-cookie-and-cinnamon scent mingled with unfamiliar honeysuckle that must have come from the body lotion the SSU had stocked in the bathroom. “I’m proud of the way you’re handling this, Faith.”

She gave a shaky laugh that made him tighten his arms around her. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew how scared and disturbed I feel. Before you came in, I’d been lying in bed for a couple of hours, desperately trying to sleep, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the images from the video. I—” She shuddered.

“Violence isn’t new to me. I’ve covered wars, riots, and massacres, although my focus was always on the people involved and on discovering the hidden injustices that accompanied such encounters. After the first few assignments I learned how to compartmentalize my emotions. How to burn off stress and to use meditation to calm my mind before sleep so the chance of having a nightmare was reduced.”

“I hate the idea of you experiencing nightmares,” Mark murmured.

There was that unfamiliar protective streak again, but he didn’t care. When Faith hurt, he hurt.

“Thank you. While I wasn’t nearly as jaded as many of my fellow investigative journalists, I thought I had a fairly broad idea of the types of atrocities human beings committed against one other. But Mark—” Her words choked off on a slight sob.

He found himself making nonsense soothing noises and stroking his hands gently over her back.

“Mark, what we saw on those videos was wrong on a fundamental level.”

“I know.”

“That’s right, you’d already seen similar activities at Ivanov’s lab, hadn’t you?”

“Yes, and they continue to bother me to this day.”

Faith snuggled against him. “Yeah, I have a feeling the images from Kaufmann’s videos will be starring in my nightmares for years to come. But before you say ‘I told you so’ let me remind you that it was my choice. If I’m going to help Toby heal, then I needed to understand what he’s been through. No matter how horrific the images.”

She raised her tear-drenched face to his. “I’m so scared that you and Toby will face one another and one of you will end up seriously injured. Or dead.” Her voice caught. “Please be careful. I don’t want to lose either you or Toby.”

Mark’s heart swelled. Since his mother and stepfather had died, no one had given a damn about him until Faith. His previous lovers had only been concerned about short-term pleasure. He wasn’t even certain if they’d liked him. But Faith knew the worst of him and still loved him. Would fight for both him and her brother, no matter the risk to herself. “You are one brave lady, you know that?”

“Naw. I’m just too stubborn to do what’s safest.”

Mark stepped back so he could look her in the eyes. “No, Faith. You’re loyal. You love deeply enough to ignore the risk to yourself in order to help your brother and to keep going even when most women would have been scared off. That’s courage.”

Faith reached up and touched his cheek. “You’re wrong. The love between brother and sister is strong enough that I’m sure you could find plenty of women who wouldn’t give up. I—”

Mark leaned down and gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Why are we talking, Faith? I have to leave in a couple of hours.”

Knowing how much she loved it, he bent and scooped her into his arms, grinning at her delighted shriek as he carried her into the bedroom. Humbled by the fact that this amazing woman loved him, he laid Faith gently on the bed. The lamplight bathed her body in a soft glow.

“Come here, Mark.” She gave him a seductress’s smile and held out her arms.

Buoyed by something he thought might be joy, he lowered himself to the bed and proceeded to show her once again how much he loved her.

Chapter Twelve

The Next Day

Washraiti Island, Salaqut

M
ark knew that Faith had changed him on a fundamental level when he stepped off the plane on Washraiti Island without a complaint on his lips. Oh, he noticed the humidity, the stench of the jungle, and the bugs that swarmed him on the short journey from the plane to the Jeep, but for once his first thought wasn’t disgust. Instead, he was filled with anticipation of the upcoming confrontation. Two of his primary goals were about to be accomplished. First, the information he’d provided Ryker had led both to this assault and to the SSU taking action back in the States that would land Jamieson in jail. It wasn’t the direct revenge that he’d longed for, but given the circumstances, it was enough.

More importantly, he was about to rescue Toby, making Faith happy. He’d never have believed it possible to fall so deeply in love so quickly, particularly not so soon after his ill-timed infatuation with Susana Dias. But he had.

He’d been hurt when Susana fell for SSU agent Kai Paterson, the man who’d reached her before Mark. Now, though, he owed the man a debt of gratitude. What he’d felt for Susana had been just a shiver of emotion. His feelings for Faith were an earthquake.

As he settled into his assigned mobile housing unit, he smiled despite the spartan accommodations. Since he’d started chasing Nevsky’s microchip he’d been in the jungle more times than he cared to count. Complaining all the way. Yet today he’d eagerly entered the jungle. Because, for the first time in years, someone else’s happiness was more important than his own.

Thinking back, he was grateful for his visit to Ivanov’s lab. That trip had opened his eyes, revived his underutilized conscience, and brought to life unfamiliar feelings of empathy. It had started the softening of his harsh attitude toward other people, making him receptive to the connection he’d forged with Faith.

As strange as it sometimes felt to care about another person, he liked the man he was when he was with her.

He sighed. Even knowing he was heading out on a mission to help her, it had been incredibly difficult to leave Faith last night. She’d been curled against him in bed and Mark had hated to leave her warmth. She’d been so exhausted, she’d barely stirred when he kissed her lightly and slid out of bed. Then he’d stood there for a long time, just watching her sleep. Experiencing an unfamiliar peace. He’d felt as if she belonged in his bed not just for a night, but for always. Which made no sense. He’d never wanted a wife or children. Yet the idea of marrying Faith wouldn’t leave him alone.

So this is love,
he’d thought.
I like it.

Finally, he’d shaken himself out of his daze, stepped away from their bed and headed into the shower. He shouldn’t have bothered. After two minutes in this humidity he’d been drenched with sweat. He glanced down at the jungle fatigues he wore and grinned. At least he wasn’t ruining one of his prized suits.

The SSU soldiers hadn’t wanted him along and had voiced their disapproval when he’d been given a uniform. Many of them looked at him with animosity, no doubt having heard how he’d left Rafe Andros to die on the tarmac in Cozumel. At the time, Mark had been in a desperate race to get to a man who could provide the location of Dr. Nevsky’s microchip. Rafe had been bleeding from a gunshot wound when Mark found him at the airstrip. Mark had convinced Rafe to reveal the address where the other Andros brother, Niko, was headed to meet the informant. With that information obtained, Rafe had become nothing but an inconvenience, so Mark had walked away.

Mark didn’t blame the SSU agents for viewing him as an enemy. Yes, Ryker had explained that Mark was only along to help retrieve Toby. But it would take more than words for them to trust him.

No matter. He didn’t need their trust, just to be left alone. Luckily, the notes on the flash drive contained details on Toby’s mission and staging point, so Mark wouldn’t have to go chasing all over the island. Instead, he’d accompany the SSU’s team, wait until Kaufmann’s teams were subdued, then search among the defeated men for Toby.

Every SSU agent had been shown Toby’s picture. Yet no one could guarantee that in the flurry of battle Toby would be recognized and left alone. All Mark could do was stay alert and be ready to intervene on Toby’s behalf if necessary.

Because there were too many variables for Mark to control in this situation, he’d found himself increasingly relying on hope. Another foreign emotion.