Operation: Midnight Guardian (17 page)

“I’m a federal agent,” he said. “This is an emergency. I’m commandeering your vehicle. Put your hands up and get out.”

The man’s eyes widened, his hand reaching for the knob. “Wh—whatever you say,” he said.

“Get out.
Now.
”

The man slid from the seat and stumbled from the vehicle. Cutter hit the gas and left him standing in the street. By the time he reached the edge of town, he was doing sixty miles per hour,
driving like a madman through deep snow and icy patches. The vehicle slid dangerously close to the ditch several times, but Cutter didn’t slow down.

He’d located a sporting goods store while waiting for Madrid to call with the coordinates. There, he’d bought tools: wire cutters, flashlight, hunting knife, even a cheap GPS unit. He’d plugged in the coordinates and mapped out a route to the compound. It would be tough going, but if he could keep up this pace he could be there in half an hour.

“Hang on, Mattie,” he whispered as he maneuvered a curve at a treacherous speed.

The passage of time hammered at him as the vehicle sped into the darkness and snow. Fear chased him no matter how fast he drove. Cutter had endured some of the worst things a human being could face. But the thought of Mattie facing the same fate at the hands of The Jaguar tore down his defenses like nothing else ever had in his life.

He made the half-hour drive in twenty minutes. He checked the GPS coordinates twice, fearing he had somehow missed the place. He took the SUV down a narrow stretch of dirt road when suddenly through the thick trees he saw the lights of the compound.

Nestled between two ridges, the place, built into the side of a mountain, was fortresslike. It was protected from the air by the high cliffs, protected from access by land because the roads were narrow and dirt. The perfect location for a terrorist training center.

He cut the headlights and eased the four-wheel drive vehicle down the narrow road. Even with the chains, the tires spun in the deep snow. At the half-mile point, fearing the vehicle would be seen, Cutter ran the truck into a deep ravine and set out on foot. He ran quickly in the darkness, knowing he had to reach Mattie before The Jaguar began his terrible work.

The compound was a massive stone-and-brick structure. Concertina wire surrounded the outer perimeter. Though he couldn’t see them because of the falling snow, Cutter knew there would be spotlights, motion detectors and, of course, armed sentries. The Jaguar hadn’t become the most powerful terrorist in the world by being lax in his security.

No, he would have it all and then some.

He approached the building from the north, used the wire cutters to make an opening in the concertina wire and crawled through on his belly. Once through the wire, Cutter jumped to
his feet and looked around. He was twenty yards from the main building. From where he stood, he could see a guard tower. Dual spotlights shone from each corner of the building and swept the grounds in ten-second intervals.

Using the snow for cover, he sprinted to the north wall and flattened himself against the brick. No doubt all the entrances would be locked down tight. The windows were high and more than likely rigged to an alarm system.

The sound of a door opening startled him. Twenty feet away a man in a blue parka stepped outside. Cutter pressed closer to the brick and watched as the man pulled out a pack of cigarettes, tapped one out and lit up.

I just found a breach in your security system, you son of a bitch.

He waited until the man had finished smoking and punched the reentry numbers into a keypad. The second the door opened, Cutter took him out with a single blow from the wire cutters. He confiscated the man’s assault rifle and uniform, then dragged him to a nearby stack of pallets where he would be out of sight. He gagged and bound him, then quickly changed into the uniform.

Cutter could feel the seconds ticking by as he entered the building. He couldn’t stop thinking
about Mattie. How frightened and alone she must feel. At that moment he would have given his own life to save hers. But he had to find her first.

Hang on,
his mind chanted.
I’m coming for you.

He slithered down a darkened tiled hall that intersected with another, wider hallway. In the distance he could hear heavy footsteps. The occasional slam of a steel door. Even in the dead of night the place was alive with evil.

Ever aware of the passage of time, Cutter headed toward the main part of the building. He was midway down the hall when a scream tore through the air.

The sound stopped him dead in his tracks. It was a sound so filled with terror that Cutter felt that same terror ripping through his own body.

Oh dear God, The Jaguar was torturing her.

Cutter closed his eyes against the images prying at his brain. He could not let himself think of her in personal terms because he knew it would render him useless. He leaned against the wall, struggled to overcome the dark emotions building inside him. But the fear and rage were so powerful that for a moment he could do nothing but stand there and shake.

Then he heard a second heartrending scream, and tried to discern where the scream had come from. To his right a steel door stood ajar. Cutter walked to the door and found himself looking down a steep and dimly lit stairwell.

Beyond, he heard voices. Heavy footfalls against concrete. The clang of steel against steel. He’d found The Jaguar’s inner sanctum.

Forgetting caution, Cutter stepped into the darkness and started into a place he could only describe as hell on earth.

MATTIE HAD THOUGHT she had been mentally prepared for what she knew would happen. But as the men strapped her to the gurney, she knew no human mind could ever prepare for the horrors of torture.

She lay on the cold, hard gurney and listened to The Jaguar gather the tools of his trade. She struggled against the straps binding her, but the nylon restraints remained secure. Panic assailed her. But there was no escape. No hope. The best she could wish for was a quick end.

She’d vowed not to cry, not to beg. But the realization that her life was going to end at the hands of an evil man like The Jaguar sent a sob to her throat. So many things left undone. So
many words left unsaid. She would never marry. Never bear children.

She would never have the chance to tell Cutter she’d fallen in love with him.

To find love now and never have the opportunity to say the words was bittersweet. The irony of it broke her heart.

“I believe we are ready to begin.”

Every nerve in her body drew taut at the sound of The Jaguar’s voice. Mattie raised her head. He stood facing her a few feet away, a tray in his hands.

“There’s still time to do this the easy way.” Crossing to her, he set his hand against her cheek. “It really would be a shame to mess up that pretty face.” His fingertips slid down her throat, pausing at the valley between her breasts. “You are so very lovely.”

Repulsed, Mattie shuddered.

“I was married once, you know. Her name was Monique, and she was every bit as beautiful as you are. Has Cutter told you about her yet?”

Mattie didn’t know what to say. Cutter had told her about Monique, but acknowledging that would likely only fuel his sadism, so she said nothing.

“No matter.” He waved the question away. “I
loved her very much. I had to kill her, you know. You see, she slept with Sean Cutter and I do not share my women with anyone.”

Mattie could hear her labored breaths echoing within the confines of the small room. She couldn’t stop trembling.

Cutter, where are you?

“I want you to tell me about the next phase of the EDNA Project.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Playing dumb does not become you,” he said nastily. “It certainly will not buy you time.” To prove his point he touched her leg with an electrical probe.

The spark of electricity sounded like a gunshot. The pain wrenched a scream from her throat. Her body jolted violently. Her vision swam. Sweat beaded her forehead even though the room was chilly. Oh dear God, don’t let him do this…

“Just a little test,” he said. “You see, I can give pleasure or I can inflict pain. The choice is yours.”

“Tell me what you want to know,” Mattie said in a quivering voice.

“I want to know about the next phase, of course,” he said, picking up the probe again.

Mattie choked back tears. She knew even if she told him what he wanted to know he would
not let her go. He would not let her live. The only thing she could do now was try to come up with a convincing lie so this wretched excuse for a human being could not use the technology she had invented against the free world.

“I-in the f-final phase of EDNA,” she began, “we were going to begin work on miniaturization.”

“Excellent. You’re an extremely intelligent woman, Ms. Logan.” The Jaguar put down the probe. “You see how it works? You speak to me, and the pain stops. Sean Cutter never got that.”

Hot tears burned her eyes, but she blinked them back. She wondered where Cutter was. If he was frantic with worry and trying to find her at this very moment?
I’m sorry…

“Untie me,” she tried.

A cruel smile twisted his mouth. “I will release you after you tell me what I want to know.”

“Or maybe you’re a lying son of a bitch and plan to kill me even after I tell you what you want to know.”

Something utterly terrifying flickered in the depth of his eyes. “I am a man of my word.” He opened a drawer, pulled out a tiny hand recorder and turned it on. “Now, tell me about the miniaturization phase of EDNA or I will have no
recourse but to hurt you. Next time I will not stop when you scream.”

Lying there bound and helpless and trembling uncontrollably, she began to speak. In a shaking voice she told him about an early phase of EDNA. Unbeknownst to The Jaguar, it was a phase that had later failed during the testing stage. The theory had been good, but when the system was tested, fatal flaws were discovered.

The Jaguar recorded her every word. All the while she prayed Daniel Savage hadn’t already spoken about the failed program. She knew The Jaguar would eventually see through the lies. But if she was lucky, lying to him now might buy her some time.

Hope came to a grinding halt when the door swung open. Mattie’s gaze flew to the door. A chill passed through her when a man in paramilitary fatigues stepped into the room.

“I just spoke to Savage.” He thrust an accusing finger at Mattie. “She’s lying.”

The Jaguar turned to her, his eyes glittering with anger and sadistic anticipation. “Ah, Ms. Logan, you disappoint me.”

“I’m not lying,” she choked.

“You should have known I would discover such an unsophisticated ploy.” He picked up the probe
and frowned. “You’ve left me no choice but to do this the hard way,” he said and started toward her.

CUTTER TOOK OUT the sentry with the knife. He dragged the body into a utility closet and locked the door. The screams had stopped, but they’d rattled him badly. Deep in the bowels of The Jaguar’s compound, he realized the place was much more than the nerve center for a terrorist cell. There were elaborate laboratories where, he suspected, scientists from all over the world converged to create weapons of mass destruction. There were underground gun ranges. But the worst thing Cutter saw were the torture chambers. He could smell the terror. A smell that conjured up memories he could not let himself dwell on.

He approached a T where another hall intersected. At the sound of voices, he stopped and peered around the corner. Two men with automatic rifles stood just outside a steel door, smoking cigarettes. One of the men he recognized as The Jaguar’s personal bodyguard. A man who never left The Jaguar’s side. And Cutter knew he’d found Mattie.

Breathing hard, he pressed his back against the wall. He darted past the hall and kept going. There was no way he alone could take out two
men with automatic weapons. There was no cover. Even if he was lucky enough to take out the two men, the commotion would alert The Jaguar and allow him time to harm Mattie….

Feeling desperate, Cutter kept walking. He went through a double set of steel doors and entered a separate wing. He glanced through the tiny window of a steel door as he passed by it. Within he saw bars and concrete—and stopped dead in his tracks. Prisoners. Looking both ways, he ducked through the door. The single guard looked up from his desk when Cutter approached.

“What the—”

Cutter slammed the wire cutters against the man’s temple. Using the last of his rope, he bound the man’s hands and feet. He fished the ring of keys from the guard’s pocket, then stood and faced the cells.

A dozen or more men looked out at him. Their eyes were sunken and flat. Many were injured. All looked half-starved. “I’m an American,” Cutter said. “I’m freeing you. Help will be here any minute now. Do you understand?”

One of the men stepped forward. Reaching out, he dropped to his knees. “Thank God,” he said with a German accent.

“Who are you?” Cutter asked.

“I am a scientist from the university in Frankfurt,” the man replied. “I was kidnapped by terrorists two months ago.”

“Ransom?” Cutter asked.

“They’re forcing me to help them build a weapon of mass destruction,” the man said with disgust.

“Are there any more prisoners besides all of you?”

The man shook his head. “This is all that’s left.”

Cutter went to work unlocking the cells. “I’m here to rescue a young woman,” he said to the men. “A scientist. She’s in grave danger. I need your help to save her life.”

The men left their cells and shuffled closer. “You just saved our lives, mate,” a man with an Australian accent said. “Tell us what to do and we’ll do it.”

Cutter picked up the guard’s rifle and handed it to the Australian. Their eyes met, and a silent understanding passed between the two men.

“I need a diversion,” Cutter said.

A murmur of enthusiasm went through the men. He figured most were scientists or researchers or engineers. Family men whose scientific knowledge or job had put them in danger. Even though they were from different countries
with different beliefs and religions—and weakened from weeks of starvation and torture—not one of them refused.