Trapped In Shadow (Shadow Walker Romance Series Book 4) (14 page)

Jim shook his head. “Lucy is with her mother. Judy would never go for it. She loves being part of Zenith, loves the power it gives her.”

“If we could get Lucy and bring her here, would you let Judy go and disappear?”

“I need to think about it.” Knox closed his eyes. His skin turned pasty white.

“Once the authorities get here, we’ll have to turn you over to them. If you’re going to disappear, you need to tell us now!” Dasan pushed.

Knox’s eyes flew open. “Bring Lucy to me, and I’ll tell you everything. Judy and Lucy are at the house in Alexandria. We have a good security system. You’ll need to be careful getting in.”

Stacey nodded and turned toward the door. She paused and turned back. “One more thing. We do this, and you betray us, I will kill you. There’s no turning back.”

Knox nodded his head and sighed. “Bring me my daughter, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

“I think he’s busy with the bodies from the attack. Dr. Rick went in there.” Hugh pointed at a door down the hall.

The smell of cleaning fluid and antiseptic filled the air of the clinic. Stacey wrinkled her nose.

“No wonder Zenith always seemed to find us. Thank goodness the Shadow Dimension cuts out the signals to the microchips. At least they don’t know that Nadezhda is still alive. Maybe she can take advantage of that and disappear.” Stacey would ask Nadezhda to lie low. Her sister deserved a life with her new husband.

Hugh opened the door to the room. Dr. Rick looked at something on a microscope sitting on a table to the side.

“Dr. Rick?” Stacey put her hand on the man’s shoulder. He jumped.

“What? Oh, it’s you. What can I do for you, Ms. Holland?”

“That’s Mrs. Thunder Hoof now, Rick.” Hugh reminded him.

“Yes. Sorry.” Dr. Rick wiped his hand over his brow.

“Is something wrong?” Stacey asked. It wasn’t like the doctor to be so distracted.

“I found something in the bodies. Here, take a look.” He waved at the microscope.

Stacey peered at the small glass vial holding a microchip. “So they chipped their own men?”

“It appears that way. I’d like Charlie to take a look at it. It looks like they’ve made a few changes to the original design.”

“I’ll call him.” Hugh took out his cell phone.

“While Hugh is doing that, do you think you could remove the chip they put in me?” Stacey asked.

“They chipped you, too? Let me get my equipment set up.” The doctor moved around the room rolling a large machine over.

Stacey glanced at the two bodies that lay on the stainless steel tables. Something clicked in her memory. She walked over and studied the face of one of the men. She knew him. He’d been with the gunrunner at the hotel. One of his bodyguards who had fanned out in the lobby of the hotel. It seemed years ago, instead of a few days.

“Do you know him?” Hugh asked joining her.

“I think he worked for the arms dealer I assassinated in D.C. That was the night I saw Nadezhda for the first time.”

“What about the other one?” Hugh pulled the zipper on the body bag.

“Nope. I’ve never seen him before.” Stacey glanced at the doctor who put together a sterilized tray of instruments. She winced as the scalpel was put in place.

Hugh picked up the guys wrist and studied the small tattoo on his arm. It was a stylized version of a mountain. He walked over and checked the second man. He, too, possessed a mountain tattoo. “What do you think about this tattoo? Could it be a symbol of Zenith? They both have it.”

“I’m not sure a secret organization would be so bold as to mark its members.” Stacey shook her head. “Maybe it’s a gang tattoo. We can check the database.”

“If you’re ready, we can begin the procedure,” Dr. Rick said.

Stacey bit her lip and nodded. She hated doctors. Not personally, just their profession as a whole. She knew that scalpel would cut her and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She rolled up her sleeve and sat where the doctor indicated.

“I’ll use the ultrasound to find the exact location.” He turned on the machine and squirted gel on her skin before running the paddle over Stacey’s arm. “Luckily, whoever inserts the chips seems to put them in almost the exact same place every time. The fleshy part of the right arm. Ah, there it is.”

“Get it out of me!” Stacey felt sweat roll down her back. She closed her eyes and breathed slow and easy. She could do this.

The doctor wiped off the gel and strapped her arm down to the table. “I’m going to use some Novocain spray to help numb the tissue, but this is still going to be painful.”

Stacey nodded. Hugh began to lightly massage the muscles in her neck and shoulder.

“She can take it, Rick. Just get it done quickly.”

The doctor picked up the scalpel and Stacey closed her eyes. It was better if she didn’t watch. Hugh leaned over and kissed the top of her head. Stacey smiled, grateful for the distraction.

“Got it. Let me stitch this up,” Dr. Rick said. Stacey grimaced, and kept her eyes closed even when she felt the tug on her skin. “Okay, it’ll be sore for a while. Let me get it bandaged for you.”

Hugh’s warm hands still rested on her shoulders. Stacey opened her eyes and glanced up at her new husband. He stared down at her, his gaze concerned. She tried to smile in reassurance, but her arm really hurt as the Novocain wore off. The doctor put another piece of tape on the gauze pad and pressed it down.

The door opened and a nurse waved Charlie into the room. “So they chipped their own people. This could be a big break for us. If they can track their people, we can too. Let me have a look.” Charlie’s face glowed with excitement as he looked into the microscope the doctor indicated.

“What do you think?” Hugh asked.

“I think I would hate to work for Zenith. They’ve added quite a lot to my original design. Probably a later model. If I’m not mistaken, this one part is a self-destruct measure.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?” Stacey asked.

“I mean this small vial contains a substance I would guess is poison. It can be activated remotely.”

“So if someone steps out of line, they can be taken care of.” Stacey shuddered.

“Why didn’t Stacey and Nadezhda have one with poison in it?” Hugh asked.

“I would guess they were chipped before this was added. They were lucky. Instead of blowing up Stacey’s cabin, Zenith would have activated the code for the poison.”

“Dr. Rick needs to check Knox and make sure he isn’t chipped. We don’t want to lose our informant,” Hugh said.

§

“Come on, you guys. Raven is waiting to toast you in the conference room and don’t you have a mission tonight? It’s getting late.”

Hugh looked up from his microscope at Derek standing in the doorway. After finding the new microchip and the doctor removing the one imbedded in Knox’s arm, Stacey and Charlie followed him up to the R & D Department to see what they could learn.

They’d paused only long enough to give their statements to the authorities who’d finally pulled out about thirty minutes prior. Dasan took charge of Knox, making him begin the process of writing down what he knew, and hid him from the authorities. They still needed to fetch Lucy from her home, which was the mission scheduled for tonight.

“Just a minute. I think we’ve got the right frequency. I need to see if I can trigger the poison. Has everyone been screened by the doctor?” Hugh asked. If Stacey was chipped without her knowledge then others could be too.

“Everyone in the building has been checked. The doctor and his team have been screening everyone.” Derek grimaced. “We didn’t find anyone else to be chipped. We’ll have to check the day shift employees tomorrow.”

“Okay, here we go then. Charlie, you’re sure the poison is cyanide? I don’t want to accidently poison myself.” Hugh looked over at his friend at the computer.

“Yes, don’t touch anything and you should be fine.”

“All right then, trigger the device.”

Charlie adjusted a machine to reach the proper frequency before he pressed a button. “That should do it.”

Hugh paused a moment. He didn’t want to take any chances of accidental poisoning. Finally, he looked into the microscope. The small vial had broken and a fluid covered the chip. 

“I’ll take a sample so we can double check this liquid. Now we know how to activate this thing. I wonder how many people have been chipped with the device including the poison.” Hugh rubbed his hand through his hair.

“I think the more important question is how many innocents have one of these in their arm?” Stacey shook her head.

§

The night was quiet as they stepped out of Shadow. The small neighborhood of homes where Stacey had lived as Ana Powers slept unaware of their presence. Stacey took Hugh’s hand when he finished closing the portal. She looked across the street to the empty lot where her house had been.

Zenith made sure she couldn’t return by causing a gas leak and blowing her house up. The items she missed were the pictures her mother left her. Thank goodness Hugh procured copies of the pictures in Montreal. She should upload copies of them into the cloud. Everything else was just stuff and it could all be replaced. Still, an ache settled in her chest as she looked at the burned earth.

Hugh squeezed her hand, always sensitive to her moods. “You ready for this? I’ll disable the alarm system.”

Stacey nodded. “Lucy sleeps in the small bedroom at the back of the house. I want to look for any evidence of what Zenith is doing before we take her.”

“Good idea. I’m loaded with sleeping darts. It looks clear. Let’s go.”

Hugh pulled her behind him as they hurried and crossed the street. He immediately went around the house and worked at disabling the alarm. Stacey stood at the entrance from the carport and kept a look out.

“It’s done.” Hugh stepped up to join her on the stair.

Stacey reached into her pocket and pulled out her set of sterling silver lock picks, a present from Hugh. The door opened in seconds. She smiled. She hadn’t lost her touch. They slipped inside the kitchen and heard the heater kick on. Warm air began to flow from the vents.

Stacey hurried into the room that was a combination living room, dining room. The light from outside streetlights filled the room with a soft glow. She searched every wall and surface looking for something that might tell them what Zenith was up to.

Behind a picture on the wall was a small safe. Stacey grabbed a glass off the table and deftly worked the dial while listening for the tumblers to drop. Once the safe was open, she grabbed the stack of papers inside and laid them out on the table. Blueprints of a building in Manhattan were on top of the stack. Stacey studied them. They were schematics of the heating and air system in a large building. She took note of the utility room. Hugh pulled out a small camera and began to take pictures of the designs.

“We can study these when we get back,” Hugh whispered.

Stacey nodded and moved on, continuing her search for any kind of evidence that would help them take down Zenith. She pulled at the neckline of her top. The room grew hotter. Someone needed to turn down the thermostat.

A post card from New York City sat on one of the side tables next to the couch. She picked it up and flipped it over to find the other side blank. Stacey ran her hand across her forehead. It came away wet with sweat. She blinked her eyes, and looked around the room. She heard something clatter to the ground and turned to find Hugh slumped over the dining room table.

“Hugh?” her voice came out a croak, her mouth filled with cotton.

She began to shake and a wave of weakness overtook her. Stacey dropped to her knees. Her mind disengaged and the room spun. Blackness surrounded her. She fell.

§

“Stacey, wake up, honey. Come on, I need you to wake up.”

Stacey heard Hugh calling her, but couldn’t seem to answer him. Her body felt heavy, her mind sluggish. Sound suddenly filled her ears, the sound of plane engines.

Gentle hands lifted her and placed something under her back. Straps slid over her arms and buckled at her waist.

“Stacey, I need you to wake up. Now, baby, or a lot of people are going to die!”

The urgency in Hugh’s voice finally got through the cotton in her head. She blinked her eyes open. Hugh peered down at her, worry in his gaze. He brushed her hair back and cupped her cheek. Then he lifted her so she leaned against the inside wall of the plane.

“I need you to listen to me. We don’t have much time. I’m going to open a door into Shadow and you’re going to jump from the plane. I’ll get the plane down as close as I can to the ground. As soon as you jump into Shadow, the parachute will begin to disintegrate, but should slow you enough to survive the drop. You need to picture the clinic at Isanti’s. Shadow will put you right inside the clinic when you land. Use your hands to open a portal. You’ve seen me do it several times.”

“What about you?” Stacey pulled herself straighter. She glanced around. “What happened to us?” They appeared to be in a small jet that had been stripped to bones inside. Metal struts were visible and nylon webbing hung from hooks on the sides. The cockpit door was open and no one was at the controls. They must be flying on autopilot.

“We were knocked out. Gassed. Lucy’s house was a trap. Knox may have betrayed us. Can you picture the clinic in your head? I’ve got to pilot the plane close to the ground so you can make the jump safely. Baby, there’s a bomb on the plane.”

“A bomb?” Stacey remembered the explosion and flames when the cabin was destroyed. “You have to come with me.”

“I can’t. Once you’re out of the plane, I’ve got to get it back up to altitude and head it out to sea.”

“Hugh!”

“I know. Come on. I’ve got to open the portal before I pilot the plane near the surface.”

Hugh grabbed her hands and hauled her to her feet. That’s when she saw the bomb. A timer quickly worked down to zero. They had fifteen minutes before the device exploded.