Betrayal (8 page)

“And when it gets dark?”

“Don’t know. Let me ask…uh…we’re anchoring here tonight.”

“Good. Tomorrow, you and your men head upriver to the archaeological dig and wait for Dias to arrive. There’s a good chance she’ll head back there. Don’t let anyone see you. I’ll warn my contact that Dias is alive and to notify you if she arrives.”

“We…uh…don’t have a boat.”

Mark cursed. “Then you need to convince the other mercenaries that the best way to find Dias is to head to her dig. I don’t care if you have to take over the gunboat, just get to her camp before she does! Notify me when you’ve arrived.”

Mark pressed the off button and tossed the phone on the bed. He paced rapidly from door to window and back again. He was due to check in shortly, but he couldn’t talk to Jamieson when he was this angry.

The next time I call, if you don’t have the chip, I’m sending down a cleanup squad. And you’re one of the items they’re going to clean up.

Mark stopped pacing. He’d heard rumors about Jamieson’s cleanup crews. Assassination crews, to be honest. Still, the odds of being found in this low-rent hotel were slim. Jamieson couldn’t yet know he’d left Belém.

Could he?

To hell with it. Jamieson probably had someone watching him. If not, there was always the possibility that the mercenaries he’d hired would talk to the wrong person.

Mark grabbed his suitcase out of the closet, added his toiletry kit, and was out the door within five minutes.

Amazon Jungle

“U
h…do you have any more aspirin?” Susana asked. “I think I might be running a fever.”

Kai choked back an involuntary sound of dismay. Fever in the jungle was as potentially lethal as infection. He stepped toward her, hand raising to check her forehead. Then he shook his head. “The air is too hot, you’re going to be warm to the touch either way.”

He turned so his rear backpack faced her. “The first aid kit is in the front pouch. Right…no, your left side.” He felt her rummaging around. Heard the rattle as she shook some pills out.

Then she moved next to him. With a tired smile, she said, “Okay, I’m ready.”

Damn, she looked exhausted. No wonder, he’d been pushing them hard, knowing the mercenaries would eventually lose the signal from the monkey. And keep searching regardless.

Susana, bless her, hadn’t complained once.

He frowned a little. She hadn’t muttered, either. For a woman who talked to herself, a lot, her silence was disturbing.

She really must not be feeling well.

And why not? She’d nearly drowned, been kidnapped, seen violent death, had minor surgery performed on her, and raced through the jungle. She had to be both in pain and exhausted.

Yet she kept going, regardless.

Kai wanted to kiss her.

Out of respect. Comfort. A show of strength. Who the hell knew.

Just because.

And if he stood here being sappy all evening, they’d never find a place to make camp before the lowering sun disappeared completely. “Hang in there just a little longer. I promise we’ll make camp soon.”

Susana hummed slightly in acknowledgement. Or maybe it was disbelief.

He walked past her and started along the faint animal track they’d been following.

Fifteen minutes later he heard the murmur of running water ahead and noticed that the trees thinned to his right. He changed course and discovered a patch of uncluttered ground perhaps fifteen feet by twenty. More importantly, two sturdy trees at the far edge had just the right distance between them for the hammock.

Susana stumbled to a halt next to him. Her skin was stretched tight at her eyes and mouth, showing her exhaustion. He felt a twinge of guilt, then immediately directed it at her father.

If Nevsky hadn’t implanted the chip in her, none of this would have happened.

“We’ll set up camp here,” he told her.

She nodded and just stood there as if now that they’d stopped, her body didn’t know what to do with itself. He put his hands on her shoulders and guided her over to a fallen tree. “Sit,” he said gently. He took off the backpacks and set them at her feet, then pulled out the foldable water jug, purification tablets, and the small purifying system.

“Guard the packs while I fetch water.” He was also going to scout around to make sure there was no sign of wildlife, but she didn’t need to hear that.

“Okay.” Her voice was thick and slurred. He figured she’d be asleep when he returned ten minutes later, but she was awake.

Sort of.

Her eyes were open and looking across the clearing, but he couldn’t say if she recognized what she saw.

He placed the gallon jug full of water on the ground. The purification tablets would have it drinkable by morning. A smaller amount of water was running through the UV purifying system in the canteens. Satisfied that they’d soon have enough water to drink, he set about quietly unpacking the supplies. He pulled out the hammock and strung it up, then draped the mosquito net across the top.

There were facial wipes in the pack and he used one to clean himself up. Then he dug out the insect repellent and sprayed himself. The light was about to go and the insects swarmed, searching for food.

He repeated the cleaning routine on Susana. She blinked up at him when he touched her, but otherwise was non-responsive. He checked her pupil response, which was normal, and her temperature, which was only slightly elevated at one hundred.

So her near-catatonic state was just exhaustion. And shock.

Kai checked to make sure her bandages were still secure and not bleeding through, but left them alone.

“Hold out your arms. I need to spray you with bug repellent.”

Susana obeyed, but her arms quivered and she couldn’t quite get them all the way up to shoulder level. Feeling an odd tug in his chest at this sign of how deeply depleted her energy was, he sprayed her quickly so she didn’t have to hold her arms up for long. Then he got his hands wet with the stuff and carefully applied it to her face, trying his best to avoid the cuts and scrapes.

When he was done, he stuck a straw into a packet of energy drink and made sure she swallowed the whole thing. She needed the electrolytes.

Once she was finished, he lifted Susana into his arms.

She was asleep before he took two steps, not even stirring when he placed her in the hammock and tucked in the mosquito net.

For a few moments he allowed himself the luxury of watching her, taking an inordinate amount of pride in having her safe and under his protection.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you again.” The quiet promise slipped out of his mouth with a conviction that shocked him.

What the hell was he doing? He knew better. Protection wasn’t something that could be guaranteed. He’d thought by working to keep biochemical weapons out of the hands of terrorists, he’d make the world safe for his family.

Instead, his work had led to their deaths.

Yet his promise to Susana rang through him, firming his muscles with resolve. Practical or not, he knew this was a promise he’d die trying to keep.

Chapter 7

Sunday, Morning

Rocky Mountains, Montana

“N
iko.”

Every hair on Niko Andros’s neck jumped to attention. His younger brother’s voice was barely recognizable, little more than an animalistic growl across the phone line.

“Rafe. What’s wrong? Where are you?” Niko’s worried voice caused his wife, Jenna, to glance at him in alarm. His brother had been missing for over a month, ever since Ryker, their boss at the SSU, had sent Rafe and his team to take out a lab run by Nevsky’s former second in command, Dr. Kaufmann.

“God, Rafe,” Niko said. “We’ve been searching frantically for you.”

On the other end of the line, Rafe gave what might be called a harsh laugh, but sounded more like an engine choking. “In trouble, bro. Ouch…Shit…”

“Rafe!” Niko’s fingers tightened on his cell phone as if he could force the pain away from his brother.

“Ah…sorry…headaches…” His brother cut off with a gasp of pain.

“Stay with me, Rafe. What happened?”

Niko heard Rafe take several shuddering breaths. He was afraid his brother wouldn’t answer, but finally, Rafe continued.

“Security…waiting for us… others dead…”

Ah, fuck.

“Gave me…drugs.”

“Jesus Christ!”

An icy fist squeezed Niko’s heart.
Dios, por favor
, not his brother. Kaufmann had been continuing Nevsky’s work and there was currently no way to reverse the mental and physical changes caused by Kaufmann’s drugs. Subjects only lived a few months. By the time the drugs caused an internal hemorrhaging that killed the host, the men had deteriorated to being little more than enraged animals.

“New…treatment…accelerated results…aagh!”

Niko stared helplessly down at his wife, surprised to find her hand tightly gripping his own.

“Rafe, where are you?”

Another frightening laugh. “New York City. Heading…to Brazil… They…ordered me…find Kai…kill him… Kill anyone…tries to…stop me…Ordered…get chip…get Susana Dias.”

“Rafe, what has the drug done to you?” When they’d first learned that Rafe was going after the lab, Niko had insisted on learning everything the SSU knew about the drugs. He’d needed to understand what his brother was up against.

According to the doctor who’d once worked at Kaufmann’s lab, his treatment program increased muscle strength and mass, turned off pain receptors, reduced the body’s need for sleep, and opened up the mind, making the subject highly suggestible. It also dimmed intelligence and destroyed the ability to tell right from wrong. Subjects did exactly what their handlers told them to do, and were as unwavering and unstoppable in their mission as robots.

“Body,” Rafe panted. “Small changes…mind…shit, I’m losing it again…mind only sometimes my own…headaches when can think inde-pend-dent-ly…otherwise, only think of mission…shit…I’m losing control again…will try to…slow myself…down… Please, Niko, you gotta…stop me…do whatever you have to do…don’t let me succeed… They tell me…hate you…hate everyone…can’t do it…can’t kill you all…”

“Rafe!” Niko tried to draw his brother back via his voice.

But on a harsh groan, the line went dead.

Niko squeezed his eyes closed. Holy Christ, his fear all but suffocated him. They’d recently lost their father. He couldn’t lose Rafe, too.

Jenna’s arms encircled him from behind and she pressed her cheek between his shoulder blades.

“What’s wrong with Rafe?”

Niko spun around and crushed her in a desperate hug, needing her warmth and vitality to chase away the chill of fear. He didn’t know how long he held her, absorbing her strength and soaking up the comforting words she offered. Then, in a shaking voice, he began to explain. “Rafe has been sent to kill your brother…”

Sunday, Morning

Amazon Jungle

“L
et’s head toward the river,” Kai told Susana as they prepared to leave the campsite the next morning.

She was feeling much better today. Kai had let her sleep late, then fed her a meal in a pouch that was passably close to being eggs, and some energy drink. He must have been a Boy Scout as a kid, because the depth of his supplies was mind-boggling.

He’d had the hammock and mosquito net stowed by the time she’d finished eating. He strapped on both backpacks, ignoring her protests that she could carry one. But he’d agreed that because she was more familiar with the jungle, she should lead today.

His suggestion to get closer to the river made sense. Not only would they be able to use the river as a navigation aid, letting them know which way was upstream toward her camp, but if a search party from her dig was out on the water, she needed to be able to signal them.

She knew Jacie and the others would organize a search party. Yet even if someone had witnessed her being pushed into the river and convinced the supply boat captain to follow immediately, the current would have quickly carried her out of sight.

“Susana?” Kai prodded, making her realize he’d been speaking to her. “You okay?”

She shrugged. “Just thinking about my crew. They’ve got to be worried sick. When they don’t find me, they’re going to think I’m dead. Or that I’ve been kidnapped by the person who’s been trying to shut the dig down.”

“You mentioned something about that before. Tell me what’s been going on.”

She shoved aside a hanging vine before it slapped her in the eye. As concisely as possible, she told him about the property damage and the threatening notes.

“It has to be the same person who knocked me into the river,” she concluded.

“No,” Kai said. “The person behind the threats targeted the entire dig, not just you. Having you disappear into the river won’t make the others go home, will it?”

Susana hesitated. “Not right away. They’ll stay and search for me. Then most of them will probably stick around and work until the first scheduled break. But after that?” She shrugged. “The funding comes through my contract with the Adventure Channel. I don’t know if the producers care enough about the site itself to finish excavation.”

“Right. So if someone wanted the site closed, he or she had to force all of your staff to leave. But the mercenaries only needed your abdomen in order to retrieve the chip, and the tracking device gave them an easy way to locate you.”

Susana flinched. God, it made her sound like a thing instead of a person. “But…that means there’s one person in camp in league with the mercenaries. Plus a second person vandalizing the site?”

“Most likely.”

“Damn. I can’t believe one of my crew is involved. It makes no sense.”

“How well do you know them?”

“Most of them have been with me for years. I trust them absolutely. I like to have consistency. And that’s particularly important after my deal with the Adventure Channel. Viewers want to see the same people on each show. It gives them a better chance to identify with us.” She’d much rather think of a stranger hiding in the jungle, coming out only to wreak havoc, than to think one of her crew hated her enough to conspire to have her killed.

She glanced back in time to see Kai raise his eyebrows in disbelief.