Forbidden Touch

Chapter Eighteen

The ground shuddered under Iris's feet, and she staggered against the wall. She had told the others that Grinkov was telekinetic, but now she wasn't sure she was right. Whatever was happening here, she couldn't imagine Grinkov was doing it on purpose, for along with the sparking of energy came rolling waves of unadulterated panic. Grinkov was terrified, and that fear was finding substance through the energy pulsing through the laboratory, leaving chaos in its wake.

The combination of sensations overwhelmed her, driving her to her knees. She twisted until she was sitting with her back to the wall, trying to absorb the shock waves of Grinkov" s unfettered energy, hoping it would be enough to keep the lab from falling down around them before they could safely escape.

But the waves kept coming, rising on an angry sea of emotion. A large chunk of ceiling crashed into the floor a few feet from Iris, shattering into dozens of pieces that skittered across the tile floor. She blinked as particles stung her eyes and tried to push to her feet.

Suddenly, blinding pain exploded behind her eyes, and the world went black for a moment. It took a second for Iris to realize that the ringing sound in her ears was the dying echo of a gunshot ringing through the laboratory's maze of hallways.

The flood of energy was gone.

Her vision seeped back, bringing with it the dim lights lining the corridors. Though the surge of energy had abated, debris continued to fall in sporadic thuds around her, echoing down the hallways. She no longer felt anything from Boris Grinkov, not even pain. Only a cavernous emptiness she'd never felt before, not even from Alexander Quinn.

Grinkov was dead, she realized, her stomach twisting.

The nausea built, thick and fetid. She swallowed convulsively, pushing herself up the wall into a standing position. Sudden, dark emotions shook her, pushing her back to the floor. Rage. Hate. Vicious determination.

Footsteps moved closer, coming down the hallway around the corner. The urge to run pushed her back to her feet again, but the only two exits she knew of both lay around the corner. The person she heard approaching stood between her and escape. She started to run in the other direction, but her legs wouldn't move.

Her knees buckling, she fell to the floor, catching herself with her hands. Pieces of debris dug into her palms, but she barely felt the sting, too overwhelmed by the approaching darkness. A hard pain formed in her side, as if someone had kicked her. She found it difficult to breathe.

She pushed to her feet again and leaned against the wall, turning her head toward the sound of the approaching footsteps. Through tears of pain, she saw it was a man dressed in black jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. A black ski mask covered his face, but as he strode purposefully toward her, his steps slow and steady, she glimpsed a pale patch of skin on the inside of his left wrist.

Tahir Mahmoud, she realized with a sinking heart.

"That was a gunshot, wasn't it?" Tom asked.

Maddox double-checked the dock's 18-round clip and tried to hide his rising panic, "Yeah, I'm going back in to get Iris."

"I'll go with you."

Maddox shook his head. "Someone has to protect these people until the extraction team arrives."

"Be careful." Tom said.

Swallowing a wave of nausea, Maddox nodded and headed back toward the lab.

Maddox stepped inside, took a deep breath, and listened over the thunder of his pulse. The building was unnaturally quiet; from their hiding place, they'd seen several vehicles speeding away from the laboratory, while other people ran down the rutted roads through the driving rain. Was anyone besides Iris left inside?

He took a few steps down the hallway, wincing as his toe caught a chunk of ceiling and sent it clattering down the hallway in front of him. The hall way was dim, it only by low-wattage emergency lights. Apparently whatever had caused the building to shake had knocked out the power, as well.

He crept down the hall, taking care not to displace any more debris, and turned the corner. Ahead in the gloom, he spotted what looked like a body lying in a heap halfway down the hall. Panic overcame caution for a moment, and he raced toward the crumpled form.

Halfway there, he realized that it was a man's body. The man lay face down drenched in blood from what could only be a gunshot wound to the head. There was no way to be sure, but it was the right build for the Russian scientist, Grinkov.

He skirted the body, avoiding the blood spreading across the tiles at his feet. Someone else hadn't been as careful, he noted, spotting bloodstained footprints heading down the hall. Tightening his grip on the dock, he followed the footprints as they turned the corner to another corridor.

And stopped dead.

Fifteen feet away, a man dressed in black from head to foot stood with a gun to Iris's head.

Maddox whipped into tiring stance on instinct.

"Do not do it. Sergeant." Tahir Mahmoud's clipped British accent was unmistakable. "I will kill her. You know that."

Maddox felt his vision blacken at the edges. He fought the gut-churning deja vu and met Iris's terrified gaze.

Not this time, he thought, taking slow breaths to steady himself, I won't let it happen this time.

"I see you find this as familiar as I." Tahir Mahmoud's breath burned against Iris's ear. He pushed the barrel of his weapon into her temple. "I would have liked to use a knife to make it truly authentic, but one does what one must."

"You know who l am." Maddox said.

"Of course. I know everything about you. When associates told me about Grinkov's experiments here on Mariposa, I knew I had to come here myself."

"Because I was here." Maddox murmured.

"I've been thinking about this a long time, you know. You cheated last time. Let a woman spill her blood to save you."

Maddox's face blanched as his gaze shifted from Tahir's face to lock with Iris's. She felt his fear, his pain, his shame, but she also felt something she'd never really sensed from him before. Pride. Determination. And a growing strength of will pouring into her veins like liquid fire.

"Put down the gun. Heller."

Maddox hesitated. Tahir knocked the gun barrel against the side of Iris's head. She tried to bite back a cry of pain.

"Do it now " Tahir ordered,

"You're going to kill her anyway, aren't you?" Maddox asked, not budging. "This is your game. You kill her in front of me. Then you kill me like you didn't get to do last time."

Tahir laughed. Pain shot through Iris's side, making her gasp. He was injured, she realized. Maybe a cracked rib.

"I'm not playing your game, Tahir."

"You have no choice" Tahir dropped the gun to Iris's belly, "lean shoot her now. Gut shot. It won't kill her right away. She'll just wish she were dead. You can make it hard for her. Or you can make it easy."

"Don't do it!" Iris said.

But Maddox bent and laid his gun on the floor at his feet.

"There's no honor in killing a woman who has done nothing to you. How does that promote your Jihad?"

"Jihad?" Tahir laughed in Iris's ear. "Do you believe everything your television tells you? This is not about religion. This is about power. My country is up for grabs. Sergeant. My very oil rich country. Only the daring will rule."

"And killing an unarmed woman is daring?"

"It will give me a story to tell to those whom I wish to influence." Tahir said. "Now kick the gun over here."

Maddox pushed the gun across the floor with his foot.

Tahir began to lift the gun back to Iris's head, giving her the opening she'd hoped for. She whipped her elbow back into Tahir's injured rib cage, grunting as she heard a snapping sound. She pitched forward, swallowed by agony, slipping from Tahir's loosened grasp. Her vision darkened as something rushed past her. Maddox, she realized, diving for Tahir.

Biting back pain, she scrambled for Maddox's gun a few feet away. Nearby, Maddox and Tahir struggled over Tahir's weapon, the Kaziristani putting up a vicious fight despite his injury. Maddox jerked the ski mask from the man's head and stared at him a moment, as if to assure himself he had the right man. Then he slammed Tahir's hand against the wall, knocking the gun loose. It clattered to the floor and slid down the hall away from them.

A shuddering rumble built underneath Iris's knees as she grabbed for Maddox's gun. The whole building began to shake, huge chunks of ceiling and wall starting to fall around them. Tahir slammed his head against Maddox's, knocking him backward. Maddox lost his grip on the Kaziristani, who turned and started running down the hall.

Maddox started to give chase, but an enormous chunk of the ceiling fell in his path, showering him with debris. A cracking sound drew Iris's eyes upward, and she saw a support beam sagging precariously through the gap in the ceiling, "Maddox!" she cried as the beam started to come apart. "Let him go! The place is going to collapse!"

He looked up as the beam snapped free and started to fall. Scrambling out of the way, he grabbed Tahir's discarded gun, tucked it in the waistband of his jeans and raced to Iris. Taking his own weapon from her shaking hands, he half pushed, halt earned her toward the exit at the end of the hallway.

They burst into the rain-washed air outside as the rumbling behind them grew to deafening proportions. An explosion rocked the jungle, the shock wave slamming into their backs. Maddox grabbed Iris as she lost her footing. He lifted her over his shoulder and carried her fireman-style into the jungle.

Tom Stanton greeted them as they reached the rendezvous point, his gaze moving toward the laboratory. Maddox looked behind him and saw that the building had begun a slow, thunderous implosion, the outer walls toppling in on themselves. He set Iris on her feet. She sagged against him, agony etched in her delicate features, 'There are people in there-"

Maddox caught her face between his hands. "Look at me." She struggled to focus her gaze on his face, "Give it to me. Iris. Let go of it and give it to me." She seemed uncertain what he was asking for a moment, but he bent his forehead to hers and whispered.

"Give it to me."

He saw understanding in her eyes just before they fluttered closed. He couldn't feel whatever she was releasing into him through her touch, but her cheeks grew pink and the tension in her body melted away. Her knees buckled and he caught her up in his arms, pressing a kiss to her temple. 'There you go"

She lilted her head. "Sandrine?"

"Right over here, baby" He helped her to the wheelchair where a camouflage-clad man was checking Sandrine's vitals,

"Sandrine." she cried, grabbing her friend's arm. She swayed slightly, and Maddox eased her to a crouch by the wheelchair, tucking himself behind her to cradle her body while she talked to her friend. He felt her trembling and tightened his grip, pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

Sandrine's eyes fluttered open. "Iris?"

"That's right, Sandy. It's me, I found you."

Sandrine managed a weak smile. "I knew you would."

The medic gently removed Iris's hand from Sandrine's arm, slanting a look at Maddox. Maddox returned the gaze, daring the man to say a word.

He kissed Iris's hair. "Let's get out of here, baby."

As soon as the extraction team delivered the survivors to the U.S consulate. Quinn and a pair of grim-looking CIA types had separated everyone out for questioning. Now, twenty-four hours later, Maddox had reached the end of his patience. He knew now why Sandrine Beck had been spared- apparently Grinkov and Mahmoud had ordered tests to determine how the experiments had caused her coma in the hopes of counteracting those side effects in the future.

He knew that Mahmoud had ordered lab security to dispose of Celia Shore and Andrea Marquez once Grinkov determined they were faking their so-called psychic abilities. What he didn't know was where the hell Iris was and why they wouldn't let him see her.

"I want out of here." he growled at the interrogator across the table from him, "I've answered every damn question three times, and nothing has changed. Where's Quinn? I want to talk to Alexander Quinn."

A moment later, verifying Maddox's certainty that he was being observed, Quinn entered the cramped interrogation room. "What do you want?"

Maddox rose to his feet. "Out."

"We have more questions-"

"That's crap and you know it. Where is Iris Browning?"

Quinn glanced at his watch. "Probably boarding a plane to the States as we speak."

"What?" Maddox's heart dropped. She'd left? No goodbye, no "Thanks, it's been fun"? Pain settled in his chest, black and hot.

"Now, can we get back to the questions?" Quinn asked.

"How about you answering one for me?' He closed the distance between himself and Quinn, letting his gathering pain feed his anger.

"Did you find Mahmoud?"

"Yes. We found Grinkov, as well. Both dead."

He thought he'd feel relief. He didn't, "What about the experiments?"

Quinn shook his head. "We debriefed the participants. There are any number of uses for the infiltration Grinkov and the focus-group members were experimenting with"

And now the CIA knew what Iris and her friends could do. Was that why Quinn was keeping him away from Iris? "Can I go now?"

"We have a few more questions-"

"No, you don't" Nicholas Darcy said from the doorway. "Mr. Heller, thank you for your cooperation. I will be happy to return you to your home now." The RSO glared at Quinn as if daring him to argue.

Quinn gave a shrug and got out of the way.

"Thanks, man. I owe you." Maddox told Darcy as they walked through the back hallway of the consulate building.

"Quinn is an ass." Darcy opened a door and bright sunlight slanted through the opening, making Maddox squint.

He followed Darcy into the consulate's back lot, where a dark sedan was idling.

Darcy turned to look at him. "The plane to the U.S. is currently waiting out a twenty-minute boarding delay. I've instructed the driver to take you to the airport posthaste."

Maddox stared at the RSO, a flutter of hope tickling his chest. "You're a stand-up guy, Darcy."

Darcy's lips twitched, but he managed to hold back a smile. "I wouldn't delay if I were you"

Maddox settled in the backseat of the sedan, his heart pounding with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.

Iris paced the boarding gate area, glaring at the CIA agent keeping watch a few feet away. Sandrine sat in a wheelchair nearby, watching her with a bemused expression.

"Wearing a hole in the carpet won't make them let us board any faster."

Iris pressed her lips into a thin line. She didn't want to board any faster. She didn't want to board at all. Not without seeing Maddox one last time. Not without knowing if he shared the ripping sensation currently burning through her gut at the thought of never seeing him again.

Sandrine caught her hand, stilling her movements. "You don't want to go, do you?"

Iris slumped into a nearby chair, "Why are they rushing us out of here? You're not even recovered yet."

She and Sandrine had spent the night St.Ignacio Hospital, and while Sandrine had improved drastically. Iris had been surprised when Alexander Quinn had arrived that morning and told them they were booked on a 10 a.m flight to the U.S.

She'd asked about Maddox. Quinn claimed not to know where he was and suggested she try phoning him on the way to the airport. But so far, Maddox hadn't answered her calls. What if he didn't want to see her again, now that the mystery of Sandrine's disappearance had been solved? What if she'd ever been to him was a diversion to pass the time?

The sound of a scuffle elsewhere in the terminal drew her attention. Frustration tinged with anxiety slammed into her as she recognized Maddox's voice. "You damn well are going to let me through!"

She jumped up and raced toward the cluster of guards she saw gathered about twenty yards away, catching the CIA guard by surprise. Maddox was grappling with two uniformed security guards at the security gate, but he looked up as she called his name.

His blue eyes lit up from the inside, and the sensation that washed through her made her knees wobble and her heart sing. "Iris!"

She tried to pull the guards away from him. "Let him go!"

A Sebastian policeman entered the fray, speaking quietly to the security guards. A moment later, they let Maddox go, and he pushed through the guards to grab Iris in a bear hug.

"I thought I wasn't going to make it in time." he murmured in her ear.

"So did I." she admitted, burying her face in his neck.

He let go and cradled her cheeks between his hands, searching her face, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She tucked a lock of overlong hair behind his ear. "How about you? You look tired."

His expression relaxed, dimples forming as he managed a smile. "You know Quinn-loves to whip out the thumbscrews"

She scowled. "He said he didn't know where you were."

"Baby, you're surprised that Superspook lied to you?"

"I'm glad you're here."

Behind them, Sandrine cleared her throat. "You must be Maddox. We didn't get a proper introduction the other day during the whatever you call it."

"Extraction." Iris supplied.

"Nice to meet you, finally." Maddox said.

Behind her the CIA agent shot Maddox a dark look and cleared his throat. "The plane is boarding." He grabbed the handles of Sandrine's wheelchair.

"Wait just a minute." Iris said. "I'm not through here "

"Your plane is leaving in ten minutes. If you don't get a move on now-"

"Give us a minute " Iris said sharply.

The agent frowned but pushed Sandrine's wheelchair toward the loading gate, leaving them alone.

Iris turned to look at Maddox. His slate-blue eyes were slightly narrowed as he returned her gaze. "Do you want me to go?" she asked softly.

He threaded his fingers through her hair. "No. I want you here with me."

"Why?" she asked, although she could already feel the reason why, sweeping through her in joyous waves.

He managed a watery smile, "Because I love you."

"I love you, too." she whispered against his lips before she kissed him.

He deepened the kiss, staking claim to her with a hunger that left her shaken.

She reluctantly withdrew. "I have to go with Sandrine, I can't abandon her now."

"I know." He kissed her. "You know where to find me."

A minor chord drifted into the symphony of happiness soaring through her. Coming from Maddox. It was homesickness, she realized with a start.

She brushed her lips over his again. "Or you could come with me. There's another flight in an hour. We could change our tickets, buy you one and all go back together."

The minor key darkened with a combination of loneliness and dread. "I can't go back."

"But you want to."

The desire in his eyes was unmistakable,

"You won't be alone in this." she said. "There are a lot of people who believe in you back home."

He cupped her cheek, "All I care about is what you think."

"I think you should come home with me, I want you to meet my sisters and their husbands. I have a beautiful niece and a nephew on the way. We'll be your family."

"Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?"

She kissed him again. "Do you?'

He laughed, hugging her tight. And for the first time in a long, long time, Iris felt nothing but pure, soaring joy.