Riordan (21 page)

little while before Mrs. Harrison would be brought in, but she’d come with her. Then he was

introduced to their bodyguard.

“No one is to go near her unless they are wearing one of these.” The man showed him the ID

that was hidden under his flak jacket. “If anyone comes to you and asks something, you don’t

know. If they want something from you, refer them to me. If they…pretty much, if anyone so

much as looks at you wrong, tell me. I won’t be far from you, but you’ll see more than me.”

Riordan didn’t even ask him if this was necessary. Viper and his men were still out there,

and since Blackson was dead, there was no way for them to find out from him what he might

know. Riordan sat in the chair and took Storm’s hand in his. He kissed the back of it and held it

to his cheek as the realization of what was going on hit him.

People were guarding him and his family. They were being escorted to and from everywhere

they went until this thing was over. His place of business was being overrun with men in similar

dress as the one that was currently standing at attention and letting no one near them. One he’d

thought he could trust was dead, and another was currently in federal custody. Storm had taken a

bullet for her country, and he was going to be trained in self-defense and handling a gun, as well

as being given a long list of things that he could no longer do, thanks to his top secret clearance

that the president had gotten for him. And there was a madman out there trying to find Storm.

His future wife was going to find this man and tear him apart, of that he had no doubt. And

Riordan was going to stand back and let her. She was better equipped than he was to handle

anything the bastard could throw at them. He thought of the conversation that they’d had the

morning that Burkhardt’s wife had been put on the plane.

“The other phone belongs to Burkhardt. He’s in on it with Blackson.” He told her that had to

be wrong, that he’d been friends of the family forever. “Maybe so, but he’s a traitor. Do you

remember what I told you about Brewer and that he was with me in the car? Well, Blackson

didn’t know that and laid blame for this on him when there was no way he could have been

involved.”

“You’ve known for a while then that he was in on it.” She told him she’d thought so but had

not been sure. “And what are you going to do now?”

“Go and find the evidence. It’s what I do best.” And she had, too, all of it. Blackson had

been a traitor to his country almost from the start of his career with the armed forces.

Viper wasn’t a happy man. Not only was the place crawling with armed men, but he could

no longer get in touch with Blackson. The man owed him money, and a great deal of it. Even

trying his personal number netted him with nothing more than a voicemail request for him to

leave a message. And his attempts to reach Burkhardt were getting him nowhere.

Smiling, using his most charming look, he walked up to the woman at the desk who looked

like she was close to the edge of screaming. This was the perfect person to talk to when you

needed answers. When she looked his way, he nearly backed off. Perhaps she wasn’t in the kind

of receptive mood he’d been hoping for.

“What is it? If you don’t have a number, I can’t help you. Take one that’s hanging on that

wall over there, then have a seat. In case you didn’t notice, we’re a little on the crowded side.”

He looked around when she nodded to the packed lobby. It wasn’t like there were that many

injured people, but the armed men were checking everyone. He looked back at her, and she

snapped, “What is it? I’m busy.” Viper wanted to kill her right then and there.

“I was wondering about a patient you might have here. I heard that she’d been injured.” All

he really knew was that the news reporter on the television had said that someone at the Harrison

Complex had been hurt and that the woman had been taken here. No other news could be found,

no matter how much he’d tried to get it. He had no idea why he assumed it was Browning, but he

just knew it was her. “She was brought in from the Harrison building about an hour ago. I heard

it on the scanner and was wondering if the family might need me to do something for them.”

Like he gave a shit if they needed anything. But he was going to find this woman and take care

of her, and get the hell out of this country. He despised this place more than he did anything.

“Yeah, let me look it up for you.” It wasn’t going to give her any more information than he

already had, he knew that. He’d already hacked into their system and all he could find was that a

female had been brought in and was in surgery. “Says here she’s in recovery and that no visitors

are allowed in to see her.”

That was something new. He asked her if they had said it was Browning. Viper had no idea

what her first name was, so he only mumbled past that part when asked. A few more clicks of the

keyboard and she looked up at him, frowning.

“Something wrong?” Viper reached into his coat and put his hand on the gun. If there was

something there that was going to bring the entire squad of men in the room with him down on

his head, he was going out fighting.

“The woman’s name that was brought isn’t Browning. I can’t give you any more than that.

But like I said, you can’t go and see her. They have her in lockdown.” Nodding, Viper left the

desk to make his way out of the building. Just as he was near the doors, he slipped into one of the

curtained off rooms and waited. He was going to find the bitch and put her out once and for all.

Stepping between the other curtained off rooms, he was careful to avoid the cameras. There

was one in each section pointed right at the beds. At the end of the hall, he paused to get his

bearings and moved to the hall again. There he found himself right in front of a set of elevators,

and standing near the biggest man he’d ever seen.

He was tall, and he had hair that reminded him of a cat. He had no idea where that thought

had come from, but it was there, right in front of his mind. A large orange cat that would kill and

do so quickly and quietly.

As they both got on the elevator, Viper had a very clear vision of the man ripping his throat

out. Again, the image of it was so clear that he put out his hand to stop the doors from closing.

There was no way he was riding up with this man. But when someone coming down the hall

shouted to a Mr. Harrison, he let the door go and it slid into place before the man coming toward

them could enter the opening. When the man turned to him, Viper pulled out his gun and pointed

it at his chest. This was going to be much easier than he’d thought.

“Don’t fuck with me, Harrison.” The man nodded and put his hands up. “When we exit the

elevator, you’re going to get me to Browning. If anyone shoots even in my general direction,

you’ll be dead. If I’m stopped, you’ll be dead. Anything comes at me—”

“Yeah, I get it, I’ll be dead. There is something that you should know, even before we get

there. I’m not going to let you touch her. I’ll take you to her, even help you get past the guards

that are with her, but I’m not going to help you. And believe me, you’re going to need all the

help you can get when you fuck with her.”

“You think so? From what I am to understand, she is incapacitated. And only a woman. She

might have others fooled, but not me. I know what she is.” He asked him what he thought

Browning was. “A whore and a bitch that will pay for the lives that she took from me. Children

were on that compound when she had it bombed.”

“You do realize that it was you that had those children there. Yeah, I know who you are and

what you think you are owed by her. Viper, right? You thought that if the US saw them, they’d

never bomb you. So it’s you that’s to blame for this.” Viper hit him with the gun, and the man

staggered. He’d not meant to hurt him just yet. He was going to die, there was no doubt about

that, but he needed him mobile to get to Browning.

The elevator stopped, and there was no one in the hall. The desk, like the one in the lower

level, was there, but it, too, was devoid of people. Even the guard that he’d fully expected to be

at a door wasn’t there. It was as if the entire floor was not in use.

“Where are we?” The man moved out of the elevator and told him that she was down the

hall. “You’re lying to me. There is no one here.”

“Viper.” He heard the woman’s voice but not where it had come from. When she stepped

into the hall, he wanted to blow her brains out, but knew that he’d need her to get out. The man

was no longer any use to him. He started to turn to him and kill him, but Browning spoke again.

“You lost, dumbass? You did come here to kill me, didn’t you? Well, I have a few things to say

to you before you do that. If you don’t mind. Oh, you might need to know that Burkhardt has

told us all about you.”

She was hanging onto the wall. Her gown was thin, and he could see that she was naked

beneath it. His cock hardened at the thought of fucking this woman until she was dead, but she

laughed at him then. He moved forward, lifting his gun as he went. What did he care if she got

answers or not? And Burkhardt only knew as much as he’d let him.

“You shoot me now and how the fuck do you think that you’ll get out of here? I’m your only

safe way out.” He didn’t lower his gun but continued toward her. “Blackson sends his love. He’s

in hell about now, but dead all the same. But before he died—I killed him, by the way—he told

me all kinds of things about the two of you. Like how the president was going to be killed in

three days. That you have plans in the works to receive a shipment of guns in a week. That’s not

going to happen, by the way.”

Viper paused in mid-step and watched her. She was bluffing. There was no way that she

knew that the two of them were together on this. And he’d been told those guns were in port, that

all he had to do was pick them up.

“You’re coming with me. And if my shipment is delayed, you’re going to die in a fashion

that will make you suffer in ways that you will never begin to imagine.” She laughed at him and

lifted her gown up. He’d been wrong about her being nude…her panties were there, but it was

the bloodied gauze that had him wondering what had happened.

“Blackson didn’t play nicely before he was killed.” She moved to the little chair that was

just outside the room she’d been standing in front of. “You’ll have to wait a bit on me, I’m

afraid. Unless you want to carry me. I’m supposed to be on bed rest, but you’ve fucked that up

for me too, haven’t you? After you’re dead…and you will be…I’m going to go on a long

vacation. Not to anywhere that I’ve been before, but somewhere nice. And quiet. I think I like

quiet now.”

“Where are your guards? There are any number of them downstairs; why aren’t they up here

as well? ” Harrison was gone as well. Viper asked her where he was, and she laughed at him.

“You’ll keep a civil tongue in your head, woman, or I’ll shoot you now.”

“You’re very hyped up to have me dead. Let me ask you something while I catch my breath.

What did you hope to accomplish by killing me? I mean, you could have done it so many times

over the last months. I’m sure that Blackson told you where I was.” He said nothing to her. Viper

didn’t feel he had any reason to explain himself to a woman. Especially this one. “Not talking,

huh? That’s fine. I think I have it figured out anyway. He dangled me in front of you as the one

that killed all your men, when in actuality, he was the one that gave the order. I was just as happy

to die hanging there, but he had me doing reconnaissance while I stained your sand red with my

blood.”

“He said that you had called him on the two way and that you told him there were children

on the lot.” She was shaking her head. “Why should I believe you when you are nothing but a

liar and a woman?”

“Yeah, I’m the last part, no shit, but I won’t lie to you. Why do I care if you believe me or

not? I’m just telling you what went down. Did you know that he was buying an island?” He felt

his heart leap in his chest. It had been his plan as well, to be where no one would ever find him.

He could raise his daughter there, make her his sole priority. “I saw the paperwork for it in his

desk. You should also know there was a kill order for you, too.”

“No.” She stood up slowly and moved to the desk. Opening a file he’d not seen, she held it

out to him. He didn’t move until she laid it on the desk and moved back to the chair. Blood was

now seeping onto her gown. He walked to the desk and picked up the file. “This is made up. We

were partners, he and I. We did a great deal of work together that netted us both more money

than we could spend in two lifetimes.”

“Maybe you did, but he was hiding his offshore, and he was getting a lot more than he was

telling you, I bet. Was it fifty-fifty, or was it really thirty-seventy, as he was paying you? And I