Retribution (SSU Trilogy Book 3) (The Surgical Strike Unit) (27 page)

“The heart of Kerberos,” Jamieson said with enough pride to cause Mark to do a double take.

Mark surveyed the room, hoping Jamieson would take his interest as being awe or at least respect for what he saw, instead of a way to burn the details into his memory to be reported to Ryker later. Men sat at workstations set into a long, u-shaped desk that reminded Mark of the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Some of the men typed feverishly at keyboards. Others barked into headsets.

Screens lined three of the walls. One showed a global map illuminated by pinpoints of light in a variety of colors. Another showed a satellite photo of a village surrounded by lush jungle, viewed from above. That photo morphed into a night shot of a team of men climbing over rocks on a rugged hillside. One of the men toward the rear of the group paused. He slammed his forehead once, then twice, into the rock in front of him. The man behind him reached into a pocket, withdrew a syringe and jabbed it into the man’s neck. Before Mark could figure out what was going on, the image changed to an open, empty sea under a storm. The final screen was split between security shots of the interior and exterior of this building.

“Jonas,” Jamieson said. “Bring up the training exercise please.”

The image on the middle screen changed to show a group of men in fatigues working through what appeared at first glance to be an ordinary obstacle course. Then Mark noticed that the walls were extremely high. The distances the men had to jump or swing seemed excessive. The speed at which the men completed each obstacle made them appear to be moving at double time.

These must be Kaufmann’s men.

“Kerberos has recruited men from every branch of the military, law enforcement and intelligence community to form the most elite assassination squad in the world.” Jamieson glanced at Mark, no doubt wanting to see how he reacted to the news that the assassins that had almost caught him in Brazil had come from Kaufmann.

Mark wasn’t an amateur, though, and his face remained devoid of emotion.

“But that isn’t enough,” Jamieson continued. “Why settle for ordinary men? There are jobs the President needs done that a normal man just can’t handle.”

Jamieson waved at the monitor. “This is the latest batch of recruits from Dr. Kaufmann’s program. Men with physical abilities that put them worlds above the elite of any special operations group in the world. Men who obey our every command without fail, no matter the physical toll. Men who are already presumed dead, so if they die on a mission, there’s no one to mourn them and raise questions.”

Mark checked the image for signs of Faith’s brother Toby, but the camera angle wasn’t close enough to allow facial identification. All the men had similarly bulked-up bodies that spoke of heavy steroids use, so he couldn’t even use body type to guess at Toby’s presence. “How far into the program are these men?” Mark asked. He made sure his tone was stiff with distaste, but with an underlying curiosity, as if he was fascinated despite himself.

“Excellent question. I see that despite your personal objections, you’ve been paying attention to the reports I sent you. These men are in the first week of Level 1. They are part of a recently developed accelerated program, so they’ve been with Kaufmann for about six weeks.”

That was the right time frame for Toby. Mark tried harder to determine any distinguishing characteristics of the men, but they were running a complicated pattern across a field, so Mark gave up trying to make an identification. He’d just have to go about this another way.

“Why are you showing me this?” Mark asked.

“Because these men are training for a very critical upcoming mission dear to the President’s heart. I need you to understand what’s at stake, so that you can run interference with the SSU.”

Mark hoped the chill that came over his body at those words didn’t show in his body language. He hadn’t wanted to believe that the President would go behind the backs of all the legitimate organizations tasked with protecting the nation to create his own squad of soldiers. But it fit with what Mark had learned.

According to Ryker, the SSU had been asked to investigate disappearances of military and law enforcement personnel. Every time the agencies involved had started an investigation, they’d hit stone walls. No one had wanted to believe the interference originated at the White House, but Ryker had expressed doubts that anyone else could have so effectively stalled the investigations.

Mark acknowledged the irony that he now trusted Ryker more than Jamieson, when once he’d considered the SSU to be beneath his contempt. Strange what a reawakened conscience could do to a man.

At a softly spoken command from Jamieson, the middle screen returned to the satellite shot of the village in the jungle. “This is an island in the South Pacific,” Jamieson said. “A place hated by our President.”

“Why?” Mark asked with feigned confusion, even as it felt like a giant fist had a vise grip on his heart. He’d heard rumors, but the shreds of his idealism that had survived the death of his father had refused to believe them.

“This village,” Jamieson said, gesturing to the screen, “Is the birthplace of three of the men who carried out the attack in Jakarta that killed then Ambassador MacAdam’s son. It’s been five years since the boy died. President MacAdam has decided it’s finally time to exact retribution. His weapon will be Kerberos’s soldiers.”

The rumors had been right. For a moment Mark was five again, watching the man he admired most, his father, die in his arms. He’d felt the same bone deep cold then as now. Only this time the cause was betrayal. He hadn’t wanted to believe the President capable of targeting innocent civilians as part of a scheme for personal payback. Mark managed to keep his breathing even and his face expressionless as he studied the image of the village, trying to commit to memory details that would help the SSU figure out which of the thousands of islands was the target. He’d never heard a specific name tied to the terrorists’ home.

The image showed a typical, sleepy village. Brightly colored laundry hung around what seemed to be a communal well. Pens held farmyard animals. Children played in dusty streets. “I don’t understand,” Mark said.

As Jamieson went on to outline the basic plan, Mark realized that Toby had been way ahead of him in discovering Jamieson’s purpose. But who’d been feeding Toby information? And was that person still around for Mark to use? He needed the name of that island. Even without the name, he had to get this information to Ryker and hope the SSU could stop the plot that would leave an island of innocent people dead.

Kaufmann’s Lab

Blue Ridge Mountains

“W
e have the woman, sir. She is in transit to the facility.”

Kaufmann smiled and shifted the cell phone to his other ear. “Excellent. Update me when you are half an hour away and I will have a team escort you in.”

He disconnected the call and replaced the phone in its belt clip. This was how Jamieson must feel when his teams successfully completed a mission. Elation. A feeling of such power, he felt capable of taking on the most challenging opponents and winning.

No wonder men became addicted to power. Because of him, Dr. Montague’s life was at risk. He could just as easily tell his men to kill her as to transport her.

That wouldn’t serve his purpose, of course, but his blood hummed at the possibility of causing her death. This was the first time he’d deliberately set out to harm another human being for no other reason than she stood in his way. All of his subjects’ deaths and tortures contributed to science. This, though, was personal. He knew Dr. Montague had sicced the SSU on him. He wanted her to suffer.

But his revenge had to wait. First he needed her help boosting his formula.

Kaufmann scowled. He didn’t like being beholden to the woman he hated. But all his attempts to stabilize his subjects at Level 1 had failed. Montague had worked with Rafe Andros. If anyone could come up with the breakthrough he needed, she could.

After…well, then retribution would be served.

Three Hours Later

SSU Laboratories

Georgia

“R
afe, what’s going on?” Ryker demanded.

Rafe spared a second to check over his shoulder, long enough to notice that Ryker had brought Kai and two security guards with him, then returned his attention to the lab assistant.

“Get it now,” Rafe ordered.

The young man shot a frightened look in Ryker’s direction.

“What’s the problem, son?” Ryker asked.

“He…uh…he wants…” the young man stammered.

“I want more of the drugs Gabby gave me before she was kidnapped,” Rafe bit out.
Dios
, it hurt just knowing she was gone. He couldn’t even think about what she might be going through or he’d turn back into a raging beast.

Rafe looked quickly around the lab, trying to find what he needed on his own, but there were too many bottles to choose from and he didn’t understand the scientific labeling. He turned to Kai. “He’s afraid to give me the drugs. So you do it. Give me the highest dose you can.”

Kai looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Are you crazy? You know the danger.”

Rafe got up in Kai’s face. “I don’t fucking care about the danger,” he snarled. “Kaufmann. Has.
Gabby
.” The anger and fear inside him was a thick, swirling cloud that threatened to choke him. “I can’t rescue her if I don’t remember the location of the lab, and I can’t do that until this damn mental block is gone. The drugs she gave me last time helped. I can almost remember. So give me more.”

“Rafe, that’s too dangerous,” Kai protested. “Nevsky’s subjects went insane on high doses of these drugs. Gabby has made some alterations, but even she doesn’t know the potential side effects.”

Rafe swallowed back words that would turn this into a fight, wasting time he couldn’t afford, and clenched his fists. “If I do nothing, Gabby is lost. She’s not a fucking SSU agent, so she hasn’t been chipped. How the hell are we supposed to find her unless I remember? No one else has a goddamned clue where Kaufmann is.”

Gabby was alone. Scared. Probably hurt. Rafe wanted to tear Kaufmann apart with his bare hands, but first he had to rescue Gabby.

“Do you have any fucking idea what Kaufmann will do to her?” Rafe shouted. “Do you know what it feels like to have his needles slide into you? When the drugs are injected into your blood they burn like acid. The pain goes on and on, until you’re lucky you don’t lose your mind trying to escape it.” Even thinking about it had his heart racing in fear. “When the pain finally stops you discover that you
did
lose your mind, because you’re now under Kaufmann’s control.”

How much worse would it be for Gabby? Rafe knew she wouldn’t willingly work with Kaufmann again, which meant the scientist would have to use drugs to force her cooperation. Yet all of Kaufmann’s subjects were male. Would the scientist calibrate the drugs for a woman’s body? Even if he did, how could Gabby survive such treatment?

“Every second we stand here arguing is a second more that Kaufmann has to hurt Gabby. It took Kaufmann weeks to break me, but I had training. Strong as Gabby is, her mind won’t survive long.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I have to do everything in my power to help her. If I go insane, fine. At least there’s a chance I’ll reveal the lab’s location before I flip out.”

Uh-oh. The room had fallen so quiet, he could hear the faint ticking of the clock. Ryker and Kai stared at him with identical looks of pity.

“What?” Rafe demanded.

“That’s the first time you’ve talked to us about what happened,” Kai said gruffly. His expression was nearly impassive thanks to years of undercover work, but Rafe sensed his friend’s shock.

On second thought, maybe it wasn’t a hint of pity Rafe saw in Kai’s eyes. Kai had been tortured recently. He knew about pain and helplessness. Maybe his eyes held understanding.

“Can we find an acceptable dose to give Rafe?” Ryker asked.

Kai looked over Rafe’s shoulder to the assistant. What he saw there must have reassured him. “Yes,” he said.

“But Rafe, there’s no guarantee this is going to lower your mental barrier,” Kai warned. “We don’t know all the steps Kaufmann took to block the memories.”

Rafe crossed his arms over his chest. “Hypnosis didn’t work. Regression didn’t work. Psychotherapy didn’t work. The barrier feels thinner since Gabby gave me the drugs. It will work.”

“If it doesn’t,” Ryker said, “that doesn’t mean Gabby is lost. We’re actively searching the region where the helicopter disappeared from radar. We
will
find her.”

Rafe gritted his teeth. Finding her wasn’t good enough. He needed her unharmed. Unfortunately, every second in Kaufmann’s presence equalled agony.

Chapter 22

Later That Night

Kaufmann’s Lab

Blue Ridge Mountains

“W
hy isn’t she awake yet? I need to question her.”

Floating between consciousness and unconsciousness, Gabby froze at the sound of Kaufmann’s arrogant voice.

No!

What had happened? Where was she? Her memory was a warm, fuzzy blur, punctuated by bursts of pain from the side of her head. That’s right. Someone had hit her. Yes. Kaufmann’s men had dragged her from bed. When she’d fought back, one of them knocked her out.

Her kidnapping had been so well orchestrated, the SSU must have a spy in its midst. A flare of anger helped burn away some of her lethargy.

“The men gave her too large a dose of the sedative.” The unknown voice was more nasal and less emotional than Kaufmann’s. “They misjudged her weight. We don’t know how long it will take to wear off.”

“So give her something to wake her up,” Kaufmann said.

Oh, God. Gabby wanted desperately to drop back into darkness, but she was too terrified of what Kaufmann might have planned for her. So she kept her eyes closed and let herself continue to drift in semi-consciousness.

“If that’s what you want,” the other voice replied. “However, I have to remind you that she’s been given so much of the drug that forcefully bringing her back to consciousness will expose her to the side effects. Even with wake-up drugs she won’t be sharp enough to interrogate for several hours.”