Deadly Game (GhostWalkers, #5)(100)

Jack watched the woman walking beside the senator. She looked confident and tough. Her gaze was restless, searching the trees and bluffs, and twice she said something to one of the senator’s guards and he immediately moved a step or two to further blanket her husband. Senator Freeman reached out and took Violet’s hand even as he nodded and smiled, clearly feeling as though he was safe.

There’s no way the senator and Violet believe that Whitney put a hit out on him, Jack reported. They’re walking in like they own the place. They’re cautious, but not ‘we’re f*cked’ cautious.

And Violet thinks she’s safe because she managed to get her own team in place. The senator must have been the one who tapped someone at the top to change the team, Ken concluded.

Mari’s got to warn them, Ken.

Ken rested his head in his hands. He didn’t want to have Mari get in the middle of Whitney and the senator’s battle. And she would.

There was deep affection in Mari’s voice when she spoke of Violet. She obviously thought of the woman as family. And if Mari got in the middle of Whitney’s fight with the senator, her chances of survival took a sharp downturn. Whitney already disliked her. She was a rebel and stirred the other women to mutiny. If he decided to eliminate one of the women to keep the others in line, his most likely choice would be Mari.

If they’re walking in like they own the place—maybe they do. Maybe we have this all wrong, Jack. We know Freeman helped Whitney lure us to the Congo. Maybe they’re strutting because they have reason. Mari trusts Violet, but that doesn’t mean Violet’s not part of this whole thing. She could have sold out for money and power. People do it all the time. Fuck the senator and his wife, I’m not letting Mari risk her life for them.

Ken felt Mari stirring in his mind. Violet says they’re on their way up.

Don’t you tell her anything, Mari, about your escape plans, Ken cautioned. Think of the other women. I’ll be monitoring the conversation, so don’t worry about relaying me information.

Senator Ed Freeman and his wife, Violet, entered the facility, flanked by the security team. Mari, we’re going to come talk to you about things and then Ed will straighten everything out with Dr. Whitney. Violet’s voice was calm, controlled, and very confident.

We want out of this facility, Violet.

There was a slight hesitation on Violet’s part, but when she replied, her voice was even smoother. Ed is going to try to help. I told him about the breeding program and he thinks it’s appalling. He’s ashamed he ever helped Whitney.

Mari pulled back abruptly. On some level she had known, but the confirmation of the senator’s complicity still shocked her. What did he do for Whitney?

There was a small silence. He didn’t know about us, Mari.

Don’t make excuses; just tell me what he did.

Violet sighed, clearly reluctant. He was on the appropriations committee and kept Whitney well funded.

And . . . , Mari prompted.

Violet was silent for another long moment. Ken’s stomach hardened into knots. He resisted sending another warning to Mari.

Mari, we’re here to help you. This is unnecessary.

Maybe to you. I don’t think you’re all that safe, Violet. You and your husband may be the ones needing help. You’ve been away from Whitney a long time.

What does that mean? What do you know?

Mari caught the impression of Violet striding down a narrow hall, suddenly looking around herself warily. Answer me, Violet, or you’re on your own.

Damn it, Mari. We came here to help you. Violet hesitated again and then capitulated. He helped Whitney draw a couple of GhostWalkers to the Congo for some experiment he was conducting. Ed didn’t bother to ask what it was. He just was the bait to draw the men there. In return, Whitney and the others put him in a good position for the vice-presidential candidacy.

Mari’s stomach heaved. She knew Ken was listening, felt him go very still. She desperately wanted to wrap her arms around him.

Was he aware that the man who went to rescue him was captured and tortured? That Ekabela was waiting for him? Violet, he had to have known, and he led them there anyway in order to get a better political position.

I know. It was a terrible thing to do, and he regrets it. I’ve talked to him, made him see what a monster Whitney is.

Mari closed her eyes. Ed Freeman was directly responsible for Ken’s capture and torture by Ekabela. Ken had gone to the Congo to rescue the senator. He’d literally put his life on the line to save him. And Freeman betrayed him for a place on the vice-presidential ballot. Neither Violet nor her husband could possibly conceive of the damage Ed Freeman had done to Ken—damage that would last a lifetime. It sickened Mari that Violet could love such a man.

Ken considered himself a monster. He feared the violence in himself, but Mari knew one Ken was worth a million Ed Freemans. Ken would never, under any circumstances, deliver another man to the enemy, especially knowing how bloodthirsty and brutal Ekabela was. Everyone knew his reputation for genocide, for torture, for the mass murder of opposing forces. Yet Whitney had made a deal with him, and Senator Ed Freeman had gone along with that deal to further his political career. She was suddenly very suspicious that if Freeman was capable of betraying a soldier for political gain—he just might have his own agenda coming here to this place.

Mari broke off contact with Violet. Ken, I’m so sorry you had to hear that.