Retribution (SSU Trilogy Book 3) (The Surgical Strike Unit) (22 page)

Mark didn’t let his surprise show on his face. He’d suspected that the assassination team he’d run afoul of on his assignment in Brazil had been sent by Jamieson, but he’d never expected his boss to admit it. So what game was Jamieson playing now? Softening Mark up by hinting that all was forgiven? Mark could work with that. Just as long as he remained part of Kerberos.

Mark had spent the past several weeks proving his usefulness to Jamieson. When his boss stated that retrieving Nevsky’s chip was no longer enough to gain Mark entry into Kerberos, Mark had played along and asked what else he could do. Jamieson had hinted that he funded a scientific program similar to Nevsky’s, and that it could use some new researchers.

So Mark had arranged for two of Ivanov’s scientists to escape from jail in Moscow and sent them to Jamieson along with as many notes from the lab as he could gather. He wasn’t a scientist. He didn’t understand the notes, so he didn’t know if what he’d provided to Jamieson had been valuable. He’d also taken half the notes he accessed and sent them to the SSU, along with copies of all the notes he’d passed on to Jamieson.

Luckily, Jamieson didn’t realize Mark had a new agenda. His boss still thought he was the same ambitious man of a month ago. The man driven by two things: the need to avenge his father’s death, and the need for such power that he’d never again feel as helpless as he had when his father died in his arms.

Before his visit to Ivanov’s lab, Mark would have looked around this office and immediately started plotting the best way to take Jamieson’s place. But the hours he’d spent at the Russian lab had changed him profoundly.

Ivanov had been proud that he’d succeeded in forcing men to commit acts that went against their personal moral code. Mark shivered. He’d thought himself immune to morality. He was the ultimate survivor, willing to commit any act to further his own agenda. Eight-year-old Mark had survived on the streets of Moscow because he’d been meaner and faster than the competition. And because he hadn’t been squeamish about doing what was necessary to bring him the money to buy food for his ailing mother.

But watching the horrified anguish in a man’s eyes as he killed his brother, unable to fight against the orders of the doctors who had him under mind control, had touched the conscience Mark thought long dead. What a shock to discover he still possessed a fragile moral code after all. Taking away a man’s free will just to turn him into a killing machine was wrong. Mark felt a flash of sympathy for Rafe Andros. He’d learned that the SSU agent had been caught and put through Dr. Kaufmann’s program.

A program Mark now realized that abused its subjects in the same way that Ivanov had. Which left Mark with the moral responsibility—he nearly gagged at the word, it was such a foreign concept—to shut down Kaufmann’s lab. And to do that, he had to destroy both Kerberos and Jamieson.

Given Jamieson’s power and the secrecy surrounding Kerberos, Mark’s best shot was to undermine the organization from within. Then, once he’d secured the name of his father’s murderer, he’d bring the SSU in to finish the job.

“You spent time at the SSU,” Jamieson commented, indicating that Mark should sit down.

Mark nodded cautiously. A few months ago, he’d been part of an inter-agency exchange program between the SSU and the CIA and had worked with freaky Jenna Paterson on an assignment in Moscow. He moved toward the armchair closest to the desk. As he lowered himself onto the seat, a flash of bronze next to the phone caught his eye.

Only decades of deception saved him from giving away his shock. It was ingrained in him to keep his gaze moving, never allowing an opponent to see what had caught his attention. Slowly, as if nothing was wrong, as if his world hadn’t just shifted on its axis, Mark sat down.

“The SSU has become an increasing threat to Kerberos,” Jamieson said. “I want your help in destroying them. In particular, we need to eliminate Rafe Andros and any other escapees from Kaufmann’s program. I need you to tell me everything you remember about the SSU’s security and the layout of their compound.”

Mark nodded, glad that Jamieson appeared unaware that the only reason Mark had been allowed to leave Russia with the scientists was because he’d struck a bargain with the SSU.

But Mark’s attention wasn’t really on Jamieson’s words. His peripheral vision confirmed what he’d thought he’d seen. A small, bronze, Etruscan horse with a dent on its left shoulder sat next to Jamieson’s telephone.

Mark had last seen the figurine in his father’s hand. It had been his father’s good luck charm, handed down through the family for generations. But the little horse had been missing from his father’s pocket the night his tortured, barely alive body had been dumped on their front lawn.

Mark had been desolate, desperately wanting the horse as a reminder of his father. Many years later, when he’d tracked down and killed the mobsters who’d kidnapped and tortured his father, Mark had demanded to know where the horse figurine was. They’d claimed ignorance with their last breath.

Now he understood why. All his martial instincts flared to life as he realized he was in the middle of a game with far deadlier implications than he’d anticipated. Jamieson had lied to him. Promised that in return for Nevsky’s microchip, Jamieson would give Mark the name of the man who’d ordered the death of Mark’s father.

His father had been a prominent judge in Massachusetts who’d earned the enmity of the mob, so no one questioned the investigators’ conclusion that his death had been a mob hit. Yet no one had ever been arrested. No one had been made to pay until Mark had joined the CIA and developed the skills necessary to ferret out and destroy the men he believed were responsible. Then Jamieson had hinted that the real mastermind still lived.

Mark had been played. All along the guilty party was Jamieson.

He wondered if today’s summons was deliberate. Did his boss intend for Mark to see the horse? Was it supposed to be a warning that Mark was as disposable as his father had been?

Cold, hard determination settled in his stomach. No matter what he had to do, his goal had now changed. It wasn’t enough just to shut down Kaufmann’s lab and Kerberos.

Jamieson had to die.

J
amieson watched Tonelli leave the office. The man continued to surprise him. After Moscow, and Jamieson’s decision to give the man another chance, Tonelli’s attitude had remained as arrogant and ambitious as always. He appeared to be the same conscienceless man. Someone willing to do whatever necessary to get ahead. Yet the expression on Tonelli’s face had flickered briefly into disgust when Jamieson had described Kaufmann’s work.

Jamieson picked up the bronze horse and rubbed his thumb along the dent in its shoulder, trying to figure out the cause of Tonelli’s disgust. The man hadn’t visited Kaufmann’s lab or seen any of the subjects at their worst, so there was no reason for the reluctance Jamieson sensed in him about becoming further involved in Kerberos.

Most likely, Tonelli had seen something at Ivanov’s lab that he couldn’t stomach, and he’d rightly concluded that Kaufmann’s lab would be the same. Jamieson glanced over at the Mona Lisa. She seemed to smile in agreement at his deduction. He returned her smile.

It was always satisfying to find a man’s weakness. The more Tonelli showed a disinclination toward involvement with Kaufmann, the more Jamieson would push him in that direction.

Should the worst happen, and the President’s anniversary demonstration fail, Tonelli needed to be in position to take the fall. The SSU was still sniffing around, trying to find out where Andros had been held. They already had reason to distrust Tonelli, with the way he’d turned Susana Dias over to Ivanov. So it would be a simple matter to throw evidence to the SSU supporting Tonelli’s guilt. He didn’t expect the SSU would look very hard at the evidence. If, after Tonelli’s arrest, the SSU did figure out it was a setup, Jamieson would already be long gone.

SSU Laboratories

Georgia

N
iko walked up to the covered observation window of Rafe’s room. The last time he’d stood at this window, Rafe had flown into a killing rage and nearly shattered the window trying to get to Niko. But the doctors had finally decided that it was safe to let Rafe meet Niko again.

That moment continued to live in Niko’s nightmares, along with the first time he’d seen his brother after his capture by Kaufmann. Under the scientist’s orders, Rafe had tracked Kai into the Amazon jungle. Rafe had been pounding Kai’s head against the jungle floor when Niko and Jenna showed up. Rafe had barely recognized his brother. Niko had fought Rafe, but in the end his brother had been too strong. The only way to stop him had been to tranquilize him.

Niko rubbed the scar tissue on his biceps. He still felt sick every time he remembered the sight of the darts sticking out of his brother’s body.

Staying away these past weeks had been hell, but he wasn’t a scientist and since Rafe tried to kill him on sight, there’d been no reason for him to stick around. Still, Niko’s protective instincts had insisted that it was his duty as big brother to help fix Rafe. Walking away from the lab had been the hardest thing Niko ever did, and that included his undercover work.

The second hardest thing had been explaining to his mother and younger sister that Rafe was ill, but that they couldn’t see him. His mother had gotten that stubborn look he so feared and threatened Niko with her wooden spoon if he didn’t take her to her youngest son. Niko had been forced to get Dr. Montague on the phone. Without giving away the truth of the situation, Dr. Montague had somehow managed to convince his
mamá
that Rafe would be fine, but that he couldn’t be allowed visitors yet.

Niko hadn’t wanted to leave the house he’d grown up in, wanting his
mamá
to have the security of one of her sons being present. But he’d also known that he’d go crazy staying home with nothing to do but worry.

Ryker had done his best to distract Niko by sending him out on physically grueling assignments. Jenna had been there to hold him in the middle of the night when he woke up from nightmares where Rafe killed everyone he loved. Dr. Montague had kept her promise to send him frequent updates on Rafe’s progress. But nothing had filled the aching hole in his chest.

Now Niko took a deep breath, let his arms hang loosely by his sides, and nodded to Kai who stood off to the left. Slowly the drapes to Rafe’s room opened.

Rafe stood facing his activity board, his finger touching what looked to be a photograph. Niko knew that Rafe’s therapists had prepared his brother for this moment by adding Niko to Rafe’s schedule. Niko had also given them the faded baseball cap that Rafe now wore backward.

As if sensing his brother’s attention, Rafe turned toward the window. For a moment there was no expression on his face and Niko’s hopes started to sizzle and die. Then Rafe’s face broke into a wide grin. He whooped and grabbed the baseball cap off his head as he ran toward the window. “Niko!” He waved the cap at his brother. “Bro-ther!”

Niko tried to swallow past the stone lodged in his throat. “Hey, little brother,” he said in Greek. “You feeling better?”

Rafe nodded. Then he glanced at the door. “In?”

Niko looked over to Kai for approval. His brother-in-law cleared his throat, blinked, then rubbed the tip of his nose. “Yeah, I think it’s safe to let you in.”

No sooner had Niko stepped into Rafe’s room, than his brother swept him into a giant bear hug. “Missed you,” Rafe declared.

Niko tightened his arms around his brother, so relieved at Rafe’s attitude that his eyes grew damp. “Yeah, I missed you, too, Rafe.”

Rafe pushed away and tugged Niko over to the easy chair. When Niko had settled himself, Rafe sat on the bed. “
Ma-má
? Ma-ri-a?”

“They’re good Rafe. They’ve been worried about you.”

Rafe’s eyes widened in panic. “Know?”

Ah, hell. “No. Sorry. We told them you’ve been sick. Nothing more.”

Rafe nodded. “Good. Thank you.” He waved the hand holding the baseball cap toward the door. “What. News?”

Niko began to fill Rafe in on everything that had happened since his capture. Despite his simplified speech, Rafe nodded and seemed to understand what Niko told him. In his halting language Rafe explained how Dr. Montague and the other good doctors had been helping him. Rafe called Dr. Montague Gab-by and glanced fondly at a small stuffed teddy bear whenever he said her name.

Niko had never been so grateful that his brother had fallen in love before his disastrous mission. He wished he’d been the one to pull Rafe out of his painful memories, but the relief of being able to hold a conversation with Rafe again outweighed his regret.

Niko understood that Rafe might never regain his full cognitive abilities, but sitting here, seeing the same teasing, love of life spark in his brother’s eyes, Niko didn’t care. As long as his brother wasn’t trying to kill him, all was good.

Chapter 19

SSU Laboratories

Georgia

“I
t’s ready,” Gabby announced, stepping into Ryker’s office ten days later and shutting the door behind her. She’d finally hit on a formula she thought might break through Rafe’s mental barriers.

Kai and Ryker exchanged glances of relief and guarded hope.

“There’s still a danger it could drive him insane,” Gabby warned. She gave each man a copy of her report, but she was too nervous to sit. Instead, she paced along the edge of the utilitarian office, waiting for them to finish the report.

Overall, the results were encouraging. Rafe was almost back to his original weight. He’d probably always carry ten or so extra pounds of muscle, but he’d shed the ungainly bulk from the enhanced steroid component. His reflexes and strength remained above average, but not so much as to make him a freak. Yet he still couldn’t speak with adult complexity, and he still threw fits of rage when any reference was made to his imprisonment.

God, she missed the old Rafe so much. Being with him every day, yet with him unable to interact as before, was torture. After having failed in every other attempt, all Gabby could think to do was give Rafe a pure dose of Nevsky’s original intelligence-enhancing drug. The one created for the side of his program meant to produce extraordinary spies.