Deadly Game (GhostWalkers, #5)(66)

You have such an ego.

With good cause. Deliberately he sounded smug. What’s your plan? You do have a plan, right?

We’ve been working on one. She broke off abruptly.

Alarm spread through him. Mari? He swore. “I think someone heard us. I kept the energy spillage to a minimum, but Mari isn’t as experienced at it. Sean is close to her. He may have caught the energy surge. Damn it. Have Logan give us a report.”

“Ken,” Jack cautioned. “We don’t want to chance Sean spotting Logan. We’ve got men all over. Ryland’s crew is helping us out. She’s got a tracking device they don’t know about and can’t find on her, even with good electronic equipment. Whitney doesn’t have this or access to it. Relax a little. She’s not getting away from us.”

“I don’t care if the entire navy is watching. I want one of ours to eyeball her and let me know she’s alive and well and we’re staying right on her.”

The edge to his voice made Jack shoot him another quick glance, as if assessing his mood. He started to protest, met Ken’s glittering glare, and shrugged. “I’ll let them know. But if they blow it, we’re in trouble.”

“We’re already in trouble.” At least Ken was. His gut was a series of hard knots that wouldn’t relax. He’d never had a problem carrying out a mission, but he’d never felt anything before when he did. He was always—always—emotionally detached. Right now he was afraid that if anyone said or did the wrong thing near him, he wouldn’t be able to control the violence pounding to break free.

He had awakened from nightmares with his heart slamming against his chest and his body drenched in sweat. He’d awakened with a gun in his hand. He’d even stabbed the mattress a few times, and once, when the flashbacks had been particularly bad, he’d shredded his down comforter so badly he’d been plucking feathers off the floor for weeks afterward. None of those times had felt like this.

His mouth was dry, his lungs burned, his palms felt sweaty. He was burning in hell for his sins and he had too damn many to count. None of the others would know, but Jack did. Jack always knew. He’d cover for him, they always covered for each other, but it was harrowing to suddenly have to contend with the terrifying realization that someone you didn’t have in your control could change your life forever.

“Logan’s got a visual on Mari,” Jack reported. “Sean must have knocked her out. She’s lying on the seat, buckled in, but he’s cuffing her.”

Ken swore, a blistering string of obscenities that would have shocked a sailor. “I knew I should have capped that bastard. What the hell was Mari thinking trusting him?”

“I don’t know that she did trust him, Ken. All I caught was her need to get back to the women she loves—her family.”

“I should have stopped her. I could have. I just let her go right back into the enemy’s camp.” His gaze glittered hotly, his mouth set in a grim, implacable line. “She’s the primary mission, Jack. You make certain the others understand that. They don’t want to be hunting me, and that’s what’s going to happen if they blow this. She’s primary. The other women and Whitney are secondary.”

“That’s understood, Ken,” Jack assured. “You’re letting this get to you. She’s a soldier and she’ll act like one. Trust her. Hell, Ken, she saved our lives and she bested you, even knocked your ass out. She acts fast, hits hard, and does the unexpected. She gave us enough information to lull us into a false security, but nothing that would trip up her team or lead us back to her base.” There was respect in Jack’s voice. “I put a gun to her head, Ken, and she didn’t even flinch. Did you notice that? Her mind was working the entire time. She doesn’t panic and she’s sorting through all the possibilities fast. There’s no backup in her.”

“She must have driven Whitney crazy. He doesn’t like opposition of any kind, but he wants those very traits for his supersoldiers. He’d want to control her, but not break her spirit,” Ken said. “I’m planning on using sex. Lots and lots of sex.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.” Jack quirked an eyebrow at him as they turned onto the road leading to the small airfield where Lily had private transportation waiting. “Am I missing something here or didn’t you already have sex with her, really great sex, and her answer was to knock you out? Am I wrong? Didn’t that happen?”

“Shut the hell up.”

Ken shouldered his pack and stalked across the tarmac to the waiting plane. Jack followed at a more leisurely pace, whistling off-key.

Kadan, Ryland’s second in command, joined them, glancing from one to the other. “You haven’t switched roles on us, have you?” he asked. “Because, frankly, Ken’s looking a little hostile.”

“Yep. I’m the easygoing Norton,” Jack said, prodding his brother with his satchel. “Isn’t that right, Ken? He got beat up by a girl and he’s sulking.”

“Keep it up, Jack,” Ken said, “you’re not going to make it to your next birthday.”

“But then Briony would be all upset and cry all the time. She probably would never get out of bed, and you’d have to take care of the babies.”

Kadan’s eyebrow shot up. “Someone must have given you a happy pill, Jack.”