Into the Lair (Falcon Mercenary Group #2)(74)

The graphic flashed on the screen and the lines spread out, signaling the layout of the area. A hundred-mile radius. He frowned and keyed the code in again.

“What the f**k?” Braden demanded as he looked over Ian’s shoulder.

“That’s impossible.” Ian keyed it in for the third time. “Something’s wrong.”

“What is it?” Tits asked as he too came over to look.

“She’s not showing up,” Braden said.

“Maybe all the snow interfered,” Tits offered cautiously.

Ian shook his head. “That thing would work on the bottom of the ocean.”

“Could it have fallen off?” Braden asked.

“It would still show up on the receiver,” Ian said. “Marcus sewed it into her damn stitches. It didn’t just fall out. The only explanation…”

He turned to Braden, afraid to hope, afraid to let Braden see his hope.

“What?” Braden demanded.

“The only explanation is that she’s beyond the search radius,” he said slowly.

Light sparked in Braden’s eyes. “Widen it.”

Ian rapidly keyed in the coordinates for the world map and held his breath. And then a small dot on the display screen started to blink.

Excitement exploded in his chest. Relief so profound he felt lightheaded. He yanked his gaze to Braden to see the same excitement burgeoning in his eyes.

“Where is she?” Braden asked hoarsely.

Ian frowned as he crosschecked the latitude and longitude. Then he looked back up at Braden and Tits.

“If my coordinates are correct, she’s somewhere over the Atlantic.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

It really pissed Katie off that she had to be grateful to this creepy jerk for saving her life. She stared over at the worm who’d introduced himself as the notorious Esteban and curled her lips in disgust.

At least she’d stopped shaking. Finally. And the interior of the plane was nice and toasty. Which was good because she was convinced her skin had turned permanently blue.

Still, she hitched the blanket higher around her chin, more of a protective measure than one of true discomfort over the temperature.

Esteban’s stare raked over her, and he locked gazes with her. She stared boldly back, refusing to let him cow her. She’d faced down enough bastards to recognize that he wasn’t anything special in the sleaze department. Just a typical man full of himself and assured of his own importance.

He smiled, flashing crooked teeth. “You don’t look very happy that I pulled you from the snow, Katie. I could have left you there, you know.”

“I’m glad you pulled me out. I just wish you’d left me alone once you did,” she snapped. “Where the hell are you taking me, and why do you want me so badly? I can’t possibly have anything you want.”

“Oh, but you do,” he said softly. “You have something I want very much. You are, in fact, key to my success. Perhaps the key.”

She furrowed her brow in genuine confusion. He was utterly serious, and for a moment, he even seemed sane. Which was scary in its own way. She didn’t want to relate to this creep or even see him as half a human being.

“You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not feeling too charitably toward you. You gassed my brother and his team. You made them what they are, and you’re responsible for my brother’s death. That makes you a son of a bitch, and I’d just as soon see you rot in hell than ever be the key to your anything.”

“I regretted Gabe’s death very much,” Esteban said tightly. “It was senseless. He was vitally important to my program. He chose his path, and he chose to sacrifice himself for two failed prototypes.”

“Prototypes? What the hell? They were men. Men you f**ked over and made into unpredictable wild animals.”

Esteban rubbed his face tiredly. “I don’t expect you to understand. You’re not a scientist.”

“And you are?” she scoffed. “From what I heard, you own a pharmaceutical company, and you like to play God in your spare time. How the hell does that make you a scientist?”

She leaned forward. “Why do you want me? What part could I possibly play in all of this, and how could I be of any importance to your program?”

“You’re Gabe’s sister,” he said evenly. “That makes you extremely important. You share the same genetic material. He was one of my successes while the Thomas brothers were dismal failures. How do you explain the stability of one man and the instability of another when they were introduced to the same set of conditions?”

She stared at him in shock. She opened her mouth to speak, but she honestly couldn’t formulate a single word.

“You’re getting the picture,” he said with a small smile. “If Gabe was a success then chances are you will be too. And any children you have.”

Nausea welled in her stomach. “You’re not changing me into some wild animal,” she whispered. “And I won’t be a breeding machine.”

He shrugged. “There’s nothing to say you’ll turn out to be a wild animal. Gabe could become invisible. Part of what makes this so interesting is learning what your gift will be. If you’ll share the same traits as Gabe did or if all we’ll be guaranteed is your stability, your ability to control your shifts and retain human cognizance in shifted form. It will be a fascinating experiment. Your eggs will be harvested for breeding purposes, so you don’t have to worry about losing your figure to a pregnancy.”