Deadly Game (GhostWalkers, #5)(68)

The smile faded from Rose’s face. “We were counting on that.” She lowered her voice. “Whitney brought in his other guards. Even if some of the men help us, those men are killers.” She shivered, running her hands up and down her arms. “I hate the way they leer at us when we’re in the yard.”

We can’t trust Sean. Something’s different about him. Mari wanted to perfect her telepathic technique. Manipulating energy directly to one individual without other psychics receiving a faint “buzz” was extremely difficult. If Ken and Jack Norton could do it, then that meant it was a level of skill. Mari was always top of her class in everything. Competition alone could drive her to succeed.

He was freaked out when they said you were shot. And Brett went crazy. He tore up the complex like a madman. That’s how Whitney found out. We were all trying to keep it quiet, hoping the team would find you and get you back here, but Brett didn’t care about the rest of us. He made certain Whitney knew.

“Stop it, Mari,” Sean snapped. “If you want to say something, say it out loud.”

Mari shrugged. “I was just telling Rose what a horse’s ass you are. She agreed. She especially liked the part where you were so concerned about how I was treated as a prisoner and worked so hard to make certain I was healed from the bullet that nearly killed me. Well, the Zenith nearly killed me. What about that, Sean? Did you know about the time limit on the Zenith? Do all the men know, or only Whitney’s chosen few?”

The door opened. Mari stiffened. Although her back was to the door, she knew the moment Peter Whitney entered the room. There was a distinct scent about him she couldn’t quite identify, something “off.”

“Well, well,” Dr. Whitney said in greeting. “Our little Mari is stirring up trouble as usual. You’ve been off on an adventure.”

Mari had no idea what Whitney had been told, but she wasn’t going to give him anything for free. She turned, stretching lazily, striving to look bored. “I’m a soldier. Sitting around waiting for that idiot Brett is boring. I took a chance and went for a little action. It’s what I’m trained for.”

“You’re trained to follow orders,” Whitney corrected. “Rose, leave now.”

Rose squeezed Mari’s arm, her body blocking the gesture. Without a word she went from the room, leaving Mari alone with Whitney and Sean.

“Sean tells me you need the morning-after pill to make certain you’re not pregnant. Have you been a fraternizing with the enemy?”

She lifted her head and stared him right in the eye. “Ken Norton. He’s the one who shot me. It seems you made him part of your program as well.” She saw the shift in his expression. Elation. Hope. Emotions played behind his superior expression. He wanted her pregnant by Ken Norton.

“So Sean is right and you could be pregnant?” Whitney knew her cycle better than she did.

Mari shrugged. “We had sex. I suppose it could happen.”

Whitney studied her with the same detachment she’d observed in him studying his lab animals. “We’ll give it a few days and test you.”

Sean took an aggressive step forward. “No. No way. If you wait to see, it will be too late and she’ll have to have an abortion.”

“Norton carries a remarkable genetic code,” Whitney said. “Paired with Mari’s, the child could be everything we’ve been hoping for. No, we’ll wait and see. Meanwhile, Mari, you’ll need a medical examination to determine if your injuries can in anyway impair you, and of course, you’ll be locked up for a few days to make certain we don’t have a repeat of this incident.”

If she could establish that she’d gone AWOL for reasons of inactivity, that the rebellion among the women was mostly due to boredom, he might buy it. Whitney had raised them in a military environment, and it stood to reason that after running physical exercises and learning weapons for hours every day, they would be unable to just sit around.

“I need action, Dr. Whitney. Sitting around waiting for a man to knock me up is making me crazy. I’m a soldier. At least give me some training exercises. The other women feel the same way.”

He smiled at her, a cold, empty smile. “You want me to believe inactivity is the reason you’ve been causing so many problems lately?”

“I tried to talk to you a couple of times.” She glared at Sean as if he hadn’t carried messages to the doctor. “Nobody would let me near you.”

“And your rejection of Brett? Was that out of boredom as well?”

Mari rubbed her pounding head. “Brett is an ass. I don’t want to have his baby. I made that very clear. He’s not nearly as intelligent as you seem to think he is. And it’s way too easy to make him lose his temper. My child is going to be cool under fire at all times. I’ve never lost it during a mission, not once. I read Brett’s file, and he has issues I’m not passing on to the next generation.”

“Well thought out as always, Mari,” Peter Whitney said. “And what are you objections to having a child by Ken Norton?”

“I have none, although I’d like to read his file if you have one on him. From what I could see, he has extraordinary psychic talents, and he’s earned a reputation as one of the best snipers in the business. Sean told me.”

“I did not.”