Retribution (SSU Trilogy Book 3) (The Surgical Strike Unit) (8 page)

Although Rafe had never hesitated to tell Niko about a woman before, he couldn’t bring himself to discuss how he felt about Gabby. So he just shrugged it off and filled his brother in on the details of the mission.

“We’re gonna have to go back,” Rafe said. “Rescue the other men and shut the program down.” He rubbed the back of his neck. He needed to get some sleep, then discuss this in more detail with Ryker.

He also needed to question Gabby. Find out exactly what was being done in those lower labs. Work on getting her to trust him so she’d give him the necessary information to plan a successful return raid.

And if his blood heated at the thought of spending more time with her, that was an unexpected bonus.

G
abby’s hands trembled as she blotted her hair with a towel. Showering had felt like a hard won luxury after believing Rafe and his men were going to kill her. That she’d been assigned this guest apartment instead of ending up in a cell for what she’d helped Kaufmann do seemed like a minor miracle.

But she felt most grateful for the privacy. She’d never been certain if Kaufmann had video or audio surveillance installed in the cabins. When she’d asked about whether the SSU monitored the guest quarters, Ryker had given her a sympathetic look and assured her that the SSU fully respected the privacy of its guests and the only cameras were in public areas, to alert the security team of any threats.

Maybe she was crazy, or so exhausted that she’d become gullible, but Gabby believed Ryker.

The knowledge that no one could see her now made her weak with relief.

Combing her damp hair back from her face, she slipped into the terry cloth robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door, then walked into the bedroom. She liked the surprisingly homey mix of mission and rustic style furniture that filled the apartment. The earth tone fabrics and black-and-white nature photos fit perfectly with the surrounding woods. Such a stark contrast to the sterile, institutional furniture of her cabin at Kaufmann’s compound. The soothing environment added to her sense of safety.

Gabby turned on the bedside light. Maybe someday she’d stay in one place long enough to have a house of her own. A smile touched her lips. When she was thirteen, she’d seen a stone cottage tucked into the woods during a drive to the house of one of her aunt’s interior decorating clients. For weeks after, she’d dreamed about growing up and living in the cottage. Imagined how she’d decorate it. Thought about what plants she’d have in the garden. And decided that she wanted two cats and three dogs.

But since leaving her aunt’s house to go to college, Gabby had mostly lived in quarters provided by whatever medical facility she’d been working for. There had been no quaint cottage for her and no pets to welcome her home. Her last place had been a small low-rent apartment near the veterans’ home. Ryker had said that during their pre-mission research on her and the other people in the satellite photographs, the SSU had sent a team to her old apartment. Her things were gone and the apartment had new tenants. What Kaufmann had done with her personal items and the few mementos she had of her parents and her childhood, no one knew.

Squashing a flare of melancholy, Gabby sorted through the clothing she’d bought at the SSU’s general store. When he learned that Gabby had nothing but the one change of clothes in her go-bag, McDermott had offered to take her shopping after her meeting with Ryker. Although she’d needed both clothes and toiletries, she’d told McDermott the shopping trip would have to wait until she found a way to pay for the items. She had only a few dollars in her wallet, left over from her vacation before Kaufmann had whisked her away. Kaufmann had deposited staff salaries into special bank accounts controlled by his finance department. Before her escape, Gabby had been unable to touch her money without arousing suspicion. And her purse with her credit cards had mysteriously disappeared between the moment Kaufmann approached her about the job and her arrival at his compound.

Yet McDermott had waved off Gabby’s concerns about money. He’d been instructed by Ryker to set up an account for her at the store and explained that they’d work out the payment details later.

Though she hated being dependent on others for her basic needs, Gabby had given in and let McDermott lead her around the store. Used to the uniforms and generic toiletry items distributed by Kaufmann’s supply team, she’d found the available choices overwhelming. Eventually, though, she’d settled on a few purchases, knowing that if she wanted to pay the SSU back she would have to either accept Ryker’s job offer or quickly find a job in the outside world.

While she wanted to help Nate Ngoro and the others, part of her was afraid of ending up in another situation where her work was misused. Although her gut instinct said to trust Ryker, she had no way of knowing if his intentions would change once he had access to Kaufmann’s data.

She sighed. Unfortunately, Rafe and his men had confiscated all her notes and test tubes. She didn’t like having them out of her control, but even if another doctor got hold of them it would take months to replicate a program as heinous as Kaufmann’s.

She tossed the damp towel on the bed and pulled on her new pajamas. If she accepted Ryker’s job offer she’d have access to Nate Ngoro and the other escapees. She’d be able to take blood samples and check to see if they, too, had traces of Agent Styx in their blood.

If they did…

Her hands stilled on the knot of the drawstring waistband as hope fluttered deep inside her.

For years she’d listened to Vietnam veterans tell stories and pass along rumors of horrible acts committed under the influence of experimental chemicals, and of the terrible long term side effects. Finding one blood sample with the marker for Agent Styx in the blood of her patient back at Kaufmann’s compound wasn’t enough proof that Kaufmann had been using the supposedly destroyed chemical. But if Nate and the others all showed the Agent Styx markers in their blood, then maybe she could ask Ryker to help her investigate how Kaufmann got hold of the drug.

With any luck, such an investigation would lead back to the men who’d created the chemical in the first place. The men who’d given it to her father during the Vietnam War.

The same men her father had been trying to expose before his death. Even though she’d been a child, she’d understood that the mysterious phone calls that spooked her mother and her father’s insistence that Gabby stay inside as much as possible had meant trouble.

Her suspicions had been confirmed when she turned twenty-one and the key to a special safe deposit box had been forwarded to her by a lawyer. What she’d discovered in the box had changed her life.

Medical reports from his time in the army that proved her father’s rages had been the result of exposure to Agent Styx. A list of other symptoms. Vials of the chemical, along with a copy of the chemical’s destruction order from the U.S. government. And several coded pages Gabby still wasn’t able to read, no matter how hard she tried to crack the code.

The contents of that box had further fueled her desire to go into medicine so she could find other veterans like her father and help them before it was too late. She’d analyzed the samples of Agent Styx, then searched for those unique markers in the blood samples of her patients. When she did find veterans with traces of Agent Styx in their blood, she’d gone out of her way to pamper them. Done her best to ease their symptoms, even while she searched desperately for a way to lessen the rages and other symptoms.

With Nate Ngoro and the other men possibly the latest victims of the deadly chemical, could she really say no to Ryker’s job offer? Gabby carried the damp towel into the bathroom and hung it up to dry. To be honest, she couldn’t turn down Ryker’s offer. She owed it to the victims of Agent Styx and of Kaufmann’s program to help in any way possible.

Once she regained access to her notes, she expected to be able to continue isolating Agent Styx and working toward a counteragent. She’d also work on reversing the effects caused by Kaufmann’s unique combination of drugs. With live samples from Nate and the others, maybe she’d even find a way to stop the physical deterioration before Rafe’s friend also succumbed to death.

Then maybe you can get a real life.
Gabby shook her head as the voice of her late aunt whispered in her head. It was an argument she’d had too often with the woman who’d raised her after her parents had died in a suspicious car crash when Gabby was twelve. Aunt Leticia felt the past was better left as dead as her sister and brother-in-law.

But Gabby couldn’t forget the look on her father’s face the night he’d died. The police had ruled the crash an accident. Claimed her father must have experienced one of his rages and lost control of the car.

Gabby never believed it. Her father hadn’t had one of his fits for months before the accident. He’d been perfectly safe to drive. Otherwise, her mother never would have climbed into the car with him.

To this day, Gabby believed her parents had been murdered by the men he’d been investigating. Her parents had argued the night of the accident. Her father wanted both Gabby and her mother to stay at her aunt’s house for a while. He’d insisted it was the only way to keep them both safe. Her mother agreed to send Gabby away, but refused to leave her husband. He’d been furious, but her mother had held firm.

From the way her dad had kissed her forehead before telling her to be a good girl and always listen to her aunt, Gabby had been scared she’d never see him again. She’d cried and begged him not to leave. She’d been mad at him for leaving her with Aunt Leticia instead of staying with her. She’d been equally mad at her mom for going with him when she suspected a threat.

When the police officer showed up early the next morning with news of the accident, Gabby had told the officer that her dad had known something bad was going to happen. But the police claimed there was nothing suspicious about the accident, and the matter had been dropped. In her heart, though, Gabby had always believed someone killed her parents.

With any luck, by accepting Ryker’s job offer she’d achieve both her goals. Restore the victims of Agent Styx and the men in Kaufmann’s program to normalcy, and find the one responsible for her parents’ deaths.

Kaufmann’s Compound

Adirondack Mountains

“H
ow many subjects did we lose?” Dr. Leonard Kaufmann glared at Rufus Cygan, his head of security.

“Five dead, sir. Eight missing. Three more with injuries that will take them out of the current round of testing.” Cygan paused, then continued resolutely. “Half of sector seven suffered extensive damage from the explosion and will require significant repair before the staff can move back in. One doctor, two staff, and three guards are dead.” He cleared his throat. “And Dr. Montague is missing.”

Kaufmann stilled. “How is that possible?” Of all the staff, Dr. Montague had proved the most valuable, despite her reluctance to aid him.

“We believe Dr. Montague planned tonight’s attack and that she had outside help. Our chase team fell under automatic weapon fire when they pursued the stolen transport truck.”

“
Outside
help? Dr. Montague was supposed to have no contact with the world beyond this compound. Who assisted her in contacting an assault team? She worked with crazy, dying veterans. None of them could have participated in tonight’s rescue.”

“Unknown, sir. We’re looking into it.”

The pencil in Kaufmann’s hands broke. If word got back to Wayne Jamieson about tonight’s losses, the man would throw a fit. Kaufmann had enough trouble managing his egotistical funder without presenting the man with such a failure.

He couldn’t afford to lose Jamieson’s money right now. Or to lose the protection of Kerberos, Jamieson’s ultra secret black ops group. Kaufmann’s program was at a turning point. Even the slightest change could set their progress back weeks. “Did any of the papers or computers in section seven survive?” He needed Dr. Montague’s research.

“No, sir. However, we will be able to retrieve electronic data from backup.”

Kaufmann ground the broken end of the pencil into the scarred wood of the desk. “See that you do that as soon as possible. I won’t let this attack slow down our progress.” He’d have to assign another doctor to Montague’s task and hope similar results could be obtained quickly. “Our location has been compromised. I want you to look into moving the facility. Keep the potential relocation a secret both from our staff and from the outside world. I don’t want morale affected and I certainly don’t want any more attacks.”

“Understood, sir.”

“You’ve sent a team out looking for Dr. Montague and the missing subjects?”

“Yes, sir. We should know where they went within a few hours.”

“Good. When you find them, kill the subjects. But bring Dr. Montague back to me.”

Chapter 8

E
arly the next afternoon, Gabby headed across the SSU campus, looking for the communal dining room McDermott had mentioned. She’d slept long and deep, and while she didn’t yet feel fully rested, she felt markedly better than she had during the past several weeks.

As she exited the apartment building, she once again had to appreciate the differences between the SSU’s compound and Kaufmann’s. No guards stood watch at the building’s entrance and no one followed her as she walked. Strolling along the well-manicured paths through a cluster of cabins, she saw personal touches ranging from child-sized bicycles left on front lawns, to melodious wind chimes. A few runners nodded in greeting as they passed.

Kaufmann’s housing complex had been as sterile as the labs, with interaction between staff strictly monitored. Runners and walkers were assigned times to use the special track set up behind the complex, but even there they’d been monitored. The staff had largely ignored one another as they focused grimly on their workouts. After a few tense runs, Gabby had instead chosen to perform a routine of ballet and Pilates moves in the privacy of her cabin.

Gabby hadn’t realized how starved she’d become for normal human contact, free of fear and suspicion, until one of the runners smiled at her and Gabby felt her lips curl in answer. Basking in the peaceful atmosphere, she strolled slowly along the tree-lined path. Under the warmth of the sun, the terror filled minutes when she’d thought Rafe and his team would kill her faded into memory. A burst of childish laughter coming from the yard to her right startled her into another smile. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard a child’s laugh. There’d been no kids at Kaufmann’s compound.