Night Watch

16

London, England

WHAT THE HELL?

Lynch glanced down at the caller ID on his phone, and he was not liking what he saw.

Dr. Dianne Michaels.

Any way he looked at it, this was not good.

“Hello, Dianne. This is a surprise. I don’t even recall your having my number. What’s the-”

“I didn’t.” Kendra’s mother’s voice was angry, strained, and brimming with tension. “I’ve spent the last two hours talking to those idiots at the FBI and trying to find someone there who had it. They acted as if I were some kind of threat to you. I finally reached Griffin and made him give it to me.”

“Made? Griffin seldom permits himself to be made to do anything. You must have been-”

“Shut up. Let me talk. Why the hell are you in London when you should be here taking care of Kendra? I’ve never thought it a good idea for you to be anywhere near her, but she says that you’re valuable. Well, you’re not valuable if you’re thousands of miles away from her.”

“It was necessary that I come here to-” He broke off as the underlying reason for Dianne’s call became clear to him, and he cut to the chase. “And why should I be there taking care of Kendra, Dianne?”

“Because she phoned me two hours ago, and now she won’t pick up my calls.”

“And why are you so concerned about it that you caused an uproar at the FBI?”

“It was a good-bye call, dammit. She was telling me good-bye.”

Lynch froze. Don’t panic. “Is that what she said?”

“No, she asked me about my damn seminar. She told me how much I’d meant to her over the years. She was loving and awkward, and it was a good-bye.”

“You could be mistaken.”

“I know my daughter. Good-bye. She thought there could be a reason that she might not get another chance to say it. Now why the hell did she make that call? Why is she in so much trouble, and you don’t even know about it? Or do you know and don’t give a damn?”

“I give a damn. What else did she tell you?”

“Just that you were in London. And something about how Waldridge had been so important to both of us. She tried to keep it light, but there was no way. She’s never been any good at pretending.” She paused. “And she said that she loved me.” She cleared her throat. “That’s what it was mostly about. She didn’t want to leave me without a good-bye. Now, dammit, tell me what’s happening.”

“I don’t know.” But she was frantic, and he had to tell her something. “Waldridge is being held somewhere, and we haven’t found out where. She was concerned.”

“She’s still concerned,” Dianne said. “It’s tearing her apart. And I’m not sure that she hasn’t found out where he is.”

That’s what Lynch feared, and it was bringing up a nightmare scenario. “It’s a possibility.”

“Screw possibilities.” Her voice was shaking. “It was good-bye. And why in hell are you still over there?”

“Because she didn’t call me to say good-bye. She left me completely in the dark. I don’t know what’s happening. I’ll call you back as soon as I do.” He hung up.

He took a deep breath. He’d like to think that Kendra’s mother was reacting emotionally but without reason. But he was scared to death that wasn’t true. Dianne was not only brilliant, she had strength and good common sense. And the bond between her and Kendra was so close that she would recognize and identify what Kendra was attempting to do in any given situation.

Good-bye.

“Shit.” He reached for his phone and called Kendra.

No answer.

He hadn’t thought there would be. She’d evidently wanted to be off radar after she’d talked to her mother.

He dialed Jessie Mercado.

No answer.

He dialed her again.

She picked up the phone on the sixth ring. “You’ve heard from Kendra’s mom, too? I just got off the phone with Griffin. That’s why I didn’t pick up right away. He’d evidently taken a lot of abuse from her and wanted to know what the hell Kendra was doing.” She paused. “It took a little while to tell him. I had to let him know everything, so he’d realize that he’d have to pull out all the stops to work with us. He didn’t like my answer.”

“I probably won’t either.”

“No, you won’t. You were first on Kendra’s list of those I couldn’t talk to about it.”

“Kendra’s mother was almost hysterical. Why did Kendra call her?”

“I didn’t know Kendra intended to phone her, but I can see it. Kendra knew exactly what she was getting into. Maybe she wanted to prepare her.”

“Prepare her for what?”

“Kendra staked herself out so that Dyle’s men would find it easy to take her. She had me place a transmitter under her skin, so we’d be able to track her location.”

Lynch began to curse. “I might just strangle you. Why did you let her do it?”

“I couldn’t stop her. Do you think I didn’t try? She was afraid Waldridge would die. She kept saying that we had to move faster.”

“And you couldn’t call me and let me try?”

“Not if I wanted her to not walk away from me and do it by herself. Waldridge means a lot to her.”

“I know. What’s happening? How much time do I have to get hold of her and persuade her to-”

“It’s already gone down, Lynch.”

He froze. “What are you saying?”

“An hour ago, her car was involved in an accident near her condo. When the police got to the scene, Kendra was gone and so were the passengers of the truck. A witness said that the woman in the Toyota was removed from the scene by two masked men who took her away in the truck.”

“My God, Jessie.”

“I know,” Jessie said harshly. “Do you think I don’t know that I should have been able to stop this somehow? I risked having her find out that I was keeping an eye on the studio. But she would have realized that I was following her car. She was on the alert and watching. She was ready for it.”

“And she got it,” he said grimly. “I’ll catch the first flight out of Heathrow and be there asap. You’ve brought Griffin on board? When did you get the first GPS transmission after the accident?”

“We had a steady reading for thirty minutes after she was taken. They were heading east. Out of the city.”

He tensed. “Only thirty minutes?”

Jessie didn’t answer.

“Jessie.”

“We didn’t receive anything after that.” Jessie paused. “The device doesn’t appear to be functioning anymore.”

WALDRIDGE WAS SITTING BESIDE Kendra when she opened her eyes.

“Hello,” he said softly. “This is not how I wanted us to meet again.” His hand reached out to gently stroke her hair back from her forehead. “Believe me, I did everything I could to prevent it, Kendra.”

He was alive.

Through the dizziness that was still clouding her mind, that was the only thing that was clear and important. His face looked leaner, there were circles beneath his eyes, his lower lip was split. But she reached up to touch his hand, and it was warm and strong and alive. “Are you okay?”

“Shh.” His lips tightened. “That’s what I should be asking you. You were out longer than you should have been from that shot those gorillas gave you. It was beginning to worry me. It was too much to hope that they knew what they were doing. If they’d overdosed, they could have killed you.”

The truck. The two men running toward her, the smothering black hood. “Well, evidently they didn’t do that.” She tried to sit up, but another wave of dizziness swept over her. “Bathroom,” she gasped. “I have to throw up.” She struggled to get to her feet.

“It’s across the lab.” Charles was beside her, holding her as he hurried her across the room. “Damn, I knew they’d screw up the injection.”

She’d reached the bathroom, and she slammed the door and headed for the toilet. When she’d finished, she splashed water in her face, grabbed the glass on the vanity, and rinsed her mouth.

“Kendra. Open this door. I’m a doctor, for God’s sake. Are you okay?”

She opened the door. “No, but better. Still dizzy.” She was weaving her way back across the lab toward the cot. He slipped his arm around her waist until she reached the cot and he got her settled. She closed her eyes for an instant. “Do you know what they gave me?”

“Yes. Pentobarbital. Ted Dyle gave me a blow-by-blow description of how they intended to take you.” His lips curled bitterly. “He wanted to make sure I knew how helpless I was to stop anything he chose to do. That’s been his latest game plan.” He added harshly, “I was praying that he wouldn’t be able to pull it off. You’re so damn smart, you had to know there would be a threat to you. I knew there wasn’t a chance that you wouldn’t be searching for me. I was just hoping that you’d realize you’d have to watch out for yourself.”

“You’re right, there wasn’t one single chance in the universe I wouldn’t try to find you.” She shook her head to clear it and looked around. She’d been aware they were in a lab of some sort. Now she saw that it was a large laboratory, with long worktables containing test tubes, incubators, instruments, and other equipment. A desk with a computer occupied the far wall. No other furniture except the cot on which she was lying. “And I do watch out for myself.” Her gaze was still scanning her surroundings. “Dyle didn’t give you very luxurious quarters, did he?”

“He considered the cot a luxury. He didn’t want me to do anything but work.”

“Do you know if this room is bugged?”

“It’s not. I checked it when I first got here. No reason. Dyle wanted me to perform, demonstrate, step by step. He wanted to film and document so that it could be repeated.” He grimaced. “And I guarantee he knew that the formulas I’d created were too complicated for me to mutter them in my sleep.”

She nodded. “Okay, then I guess we’re safe to talk here.” She looked at the teak door closest to them. “How long do you think they’ll leave us alone?”

“I have no idea. You’ve been unconscious for hours, much longer than they expected. One of the guards came in ten minutes ago to check on you.” His lips twisted. “And Dyle might want me to sit here for a while and worry a bit about you. A softening process. That’s what this is all about, you know. Nothing else has worked for him, so he thinks that I might cave if he uses some of his charming methods on you.” His hand tightened on hers. “God, I didn’t want you here.”

“But here I am.” She tried to smile. “And Dyle is a fool if he believes that you’d give up all you’ve worked for to keep me safe. You’ve always known what’s important and how to balance that against the risks you had to take.”

“And you’re just another risk?” He shook his head. “I might have a problem with this particular risk. And Dyle knows it. He knew that night I let you slip away from the program in Monterrey. Why do you think that I didn’t contact you for all those years? You were a potential weapon he could use against me. I’ve known for years that Night Watch could become a monster.” His gaze was holding her own. “But, Kendra, the potential. It could also become a God that could save lives. I could see it shining and, with every advance I made, it became stronger, brighter. I couldn’t let it go.”

“I know you couldn’t. No one would want you to give it up.” She smiled. “Miracles, Charles.”

“Which are now being hijacked by the monster. And you may be one of the victims.”

“Then we have to make certain the hijack doesn’t come off. Which means that we have to get you out of this place. That’s why I had to be here.”

“What?” He was gazing at her with horror. “Shit. Don’t tell me that you deliberately let yourself be taken. I don’t want to hear it.”

“You will hear it. You’d been gone too long, and it was getting increasingly dangerous for you. Biers said that you could be killed and were probably being tortured. We had to get you out.”

“Biers? You talked to Biers? When?”

“Yesterday. Jessie Mercado finally located him. He’d been in hiding since he reached California and found Shaw was dead.”

“He’s safe? I thought he might be dead, too. Dyle kept telling me how he’d gotten rid of all the scientists on the project except me. It was another way to isolate me.”

“He’s safe. Jessie stashed him in her apartment. After he told us what was going on with Night Watch… and you. He said he could only make guesses, but he assumed that you might still be alive since you were the linchpin of the project.” She gazed searchingly at him. “He also thought you were probably being… hurt.” She lifted her hand and touched his cut lip. “He was right?”

“That was just a little initiation to show me possibilities.” He made a face. “Dyle got much more innovative after the first session. He got someone who knew about the chemical injections used on prisoners in Iran. Extremely painful, like pure fire in the veins and able to be repeated frequently without danger of heart attack or brain damage. Dyle particularly didn’t want to risk brain damage.”

“My God. How could you stand it?”

“Oh, I was a complete coward.” He smiled wryly. “No stalwart Navy-SEAL attitude for me. I’m a scientist, for God’s sake. They had me crying like a baby.”

“But you didn’t give in to him.”

“Maybe I got used to it.”

“Yeah, sure.” She repeated softly, “Coward? And you wouldn’t have told him what he wanted to know no matter what he did to you.”

“Well, it helped that I thought that after he got what he wanted, he’d kill me anyway. You’re making me out to be some kind of hero.” He smiled faintly. “You always made that mistake. I’m only a man who has a skill and sometimes a dream. I’m flawed in so many ways. I’m driven, and sometimes I can be ruthless. I’ve never been able to maintain relationships unless they were connected to my work. I’m a workaholic, and I expect everyone around me to be as-”

“I always knew you were no hero,” she interrupted. “I wasn’t that blind. But I learned who and what you were, and that was always enough for me. And I’m learning more all the time, so stop treating me as if I’m a gullible child. Yes, I came because I owe you. But I also came because you’re one of the good guys. There aren’t that many left in the world. We have to make sure that they don’t become extinct. So stop lecturing me on why I shouldn’t have come to help you, and let’s think of a way to do it. You said you don’t know how much time we have.”

He was silent; and then he nodded. “Point taken.” Another pause. “And if you decided to bust me out of this place, I trust you have a plan or assistance?”

“I thought I had.” Now that the haziness was dissipating, she realized that she was experiencing a dull throbbing ache in her left side. Not good. There had been no pain after the first few hours when Jessie had inserted the device. She shifted and pulled her shirt out of her pants.

A bandage was taped over the incision formerly containing the device. “Shit!” She ripped it off and looked down at the neatly stitched wound. “A GPS device was inserted under the skin that should be sending out a message to Jessie and the FBI. It looks as if it was found and removed.”

“Let me take a look.” He moved closer and examined the wound. “At least, it looks clean and professionally stitched. As I said, those goons Dyle has working for him aren’t usually this careful.”

“Jessie made it almost impossible to detect. I was hoping that…” She shook her head. “We’ll just have to find another way.”

“So you’re caught, too. Dyle is always careful. He must have run a test and found that signal. You’re lucky he didn’t have his men just rip it out. As I said, some of them are gorillas.”

Yes, she was caught. The only ace in the hole she’d possessed was no longer available. So find another way to go.

And that other way was sitting in front of her.

Charles Waldridge.

“I’m sure you’ve not just been sitting here waiting for someone to rescue you, Charles. You were here, observing, paying attention to routine. What were you going to try as soon as you got the opportunity?”

His lips tilted up at the corners. “No, I wasn’t just sitting around waiting. Dyle managed to keep me fairly occupied in the last few days.”

Torture. She didn’t want to think about that right now. It made her too upset. “That wouldn’t have stopped you from thinking of ways and means. What can we use?”

“I do love the way you discard inessentials and go for the jugular.” He shrugged. “I’ve played over a dozen escape scenarios in my mind, but unfortunately most of them result in my violent death.”

“Okay, we can immediately eliminate those. What about the ones that don’t end with your dying?”

“Still problematic. But there are some things in our favor. This facility seems to be operating on a skeleton crew. At any given time, there are only perhaps four armed guards present.”

“Only?”

“Dyle could afford an army, but I’m guessing he wants to minimize the number of people who know about this operation. They’re probably private security officers he uses in his riskier overseas trouble spots. As far as I can tell, John Jaden runs the entire team. White hair, tan, gray eyes, about forty. He has a special place in Dyle’s organization.”

Kendra stiffened. “I think he must have been one of the men who took me. I recognize the description. What kind of special place?”

“He’s a combination of enforcer and executive troubleshooter. I only knew him in the latter role when I was in London. It was only when Dyle decided he needed more firepower after we took off for California that Jaden showed his true spots. He’s quiet, superb at his job, intimidating in an iceman kind of way. He sometimes leaves the team and does private jobs for Dyle.” He added grimly, “I’d bet Shaw was one of those jobs. It was Jaden who took me down in my hotel room that night. I didn’t have a chance against him. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was the one who planned and carried out your abduction. Dyle was very disappointed that the first attempt against you failed. He’d want a sure thing this time.”

“Anything else?”

“Only that each one of those men carries an automatic rifle.”

“… which brings us back to your violent-death scenarios.”

“Exactly.”

Kendra glanced around. The two entrances were situated on each end of the long room. “Any idea what’s on the other side of these doors?”

“They always come and go from the door on the far side. That’s the central living area. I assume the other one leads to another room or perhaps another building.”

Kendra turned back and looked at the door behind her. She shook her head. “There’s been a tiny bit of sand tracked in from that entrance. It probably leads outside.”

She squinted at the light brown walls. “What kind of building is this?”

“Prefab carbon fiber. Light, but very strong. It’s easy to transport and assemble on-site, often used in military operations. An entire village can be erected in just a few hours.”

She reached out toward the nearest wall and drummed her fingers against it. It felt almost like plastic. She turned back to Waldridge. “Could an acid weaken these walls?”

“Afraid not. Carbon fiber is extremely resistant to chemical attacks. It’s very similar to sturdier metals in that respect.”

She nodded. “Damn.”

Waldridge stepped back toward the workbenches. “But I think you’re on the right track. They’ve given me a fairly well-equipped lab that could work to our advantage. Properly combined, chemicals can be awesome weapons. The problem is, we still need a way out. Brute force isn’t going to do much for us against those automatic weapons.”

“I might have that part covered,” she said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

She opened her hand to show him a small rubber capsule, about an in inch long. “I swallowed this before I was taken.”

“What is it?”

She tore open the capsule. “Have you ever heard of a bump key?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“Neither had I until Jessie decided she had to pull out all the stops and get me something more than that GPS to keep us alive. She’d used it in Afghanistan. It’s a specially cut key that you insert and strike as you turn it. Each strike causes the tumblers to jump for a moment, just long enough to enable the lock to be thrown.”

“It actually works?”

“According to Jessie, it works on about 95 percent of the locks out there.”

“And you have one?”

“I have six. All contained in this capsule. It has to be the right size as the lock you’re trying, so I brought an assortment. Jessie got them for me and showed me how to do it.” She glanced at the doors on each end of the lab. “There’s a good chance it will work here.”

Waldridge looked at the keys in her hand. “You regurgitated that capsule when you first woke up…”

“I really wasn’t all that nauseous. I just had to get it out.”

“You might have told me.”

“I didn’t know if the place was bugged or anything about the situation.”

He smiled. “You did come prepared for a rescue mission.”

“Sorry I couldn’t swallow an AK-47.” She walked over to the workbench. “So assuming I can get us through that door, what do you have in mind for those chemicals?”

“I’ll show you later. But we’ll need to be very careful with them. Volatile.”

“What isn’t in this situation? I’ll leave it to you. If it’s got to be done, we’ll do it.” She looked down at her side. “But everything would have been simpler if I could have managed to keep that device.” Her glance lifted to him again. “You’re all right? Once we get out of here, you’ll be able to function? That stuff they gave you didn’t cause you any internal damage? You said not to the heart or brain, but anywhere else?”

He tilted his head. “What would you do if I said it had?”

“I’d have to adjust to the situation.” She moistened her lips. “But it would scare me and make me angry.”

He smiled. “And make you go after the bad guys for me?”

“Not right away. I’d need to get you somewhere safe first. But I have someone who would show me how to do it later.”

“Amazing,” he said gently. “You must tell me about that someone. But I’m more interested in your dedication to punishing my oppressors. I feel honored.”

“Bullshit.” She braced herself. “Now, is there any immediate or permanent damage?”

“No. Weakness and soreness after the convulsions caused by the shots, but no damage. I’d be able to keep up with you, Kendra.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I don’t know what we’ll be facing once we get-”

Kendra was startled by the sound of the dead bolt being thrown on the large door at the far end of the lab. The door suddenly opened, and two men with automatic rifles shoved a third man into the room.

The third man wore a dark hood identical to the one that had been placed on Kendra. His hands were bound behind his back, and he fell to his knees.

The men with the rifles left the room and locked the door.

“Friend of yours?” Waldridge asked Kendra.

“No,” Kendra said as she moved toward the prisoner. “But I think he may be a friend of yours.”

She pulled off the hood.

It was Hayden Biers.

He was dressed just as Kendra had last seen him, but his shirt was now torn and showed several bloodstains on the chest and collar. His hair was covered in perspiration.

Waldridge turned to Kendra. “You said he was safe.”

“I thought he was.” She picked at the duct tape binding his hands behind him, but wasn’t able to loosen it. “Dr. Biers?”

“Kendra… I’m sorry.” He tried to stand, but fell weakly back to his knees.

Waldridge quickly stepped toward him. “Take it easy, Hayden. It may take a few minutes.”

Biers looked up at Waldridge as he approached. “Charles… I was afraid you were dead.”

Waldridge grimaced. “Not yet. But Dyle is constantly persevering toward that aim.”

“What happened?” Kendra asked.

Biers shook his head. “They knew Jessie Mercado was looking for me. I suppose they were watching her home and office. They grabbed me in her apartment.” His gaze shifted to Waldridge. “I’m sorry, Charles. I had one job, and it was to not let myself get caught.”

Waldridge shrugged. “I obviously didn’t do so well at that job either.”

The dead bolt rapped, and the door was once more thrown open. This time Ted Dyle entered the room. But the two men with automatic weapons were a silent threat behind him. Her gaze flew to the guard on his right. White hair, gray eyes, fortysomething… It was the man she’d seen when she’d been taken. That must be John Jaden. She could see how he might be in charge. There was a quiet air of authority about his demeanor and the coldness was also evident. Iceman…

“Good evening, Dr. Michaels.” Dyle was dressed more casually than in the photo Kendra had seen, in which he was wearing a suit. Here he wore slacks and a white pullover shirt. His sleek dark hair was as carefully barbered as she remembered from that night in Monterrey. “I see you’re with us again. It’s delightful to meet you at last. Though I’ve always been a fan from the first time I heard you speak. Inspiring. Really inspiring.”

“And did I say all the things you wanted me to say? I understand that you were forcing Dr. Waldridge to make me dance on your strings.”

“Not true, Kendra,” Charles said. “They were my strings, and I was careful to make sure that nothing you said would be against your principles. Dyle merely wanted Night Watch to become a household name, and I could go along with that.” He met Dyle’s eyes. “As long as he realized that I had full control of any project in which I was involved.”

“The man who pays the bills makes the rules,” Dyle said. “Stubborn. Incredibly stubborn. Eventually, you’ll come to realize that.” He turned back to Kendra. “Did you enjoy your time with Waldridge? I wanted to give you a little time to become reacquainted. By the way you were tearing around L.A. and San Diego trying to find him, I gather you wanted that desperately.”

“You’re fully aware how grateful I was to Waldridge. You were there from the beginning.”

“Really before the beginning of your association. I was there with the money when he was developing that stem-cell operation. I thought it had great promise. Not wonderful monetary potential, but I could see what Waldridge was working on down the road and that you were only the beginning.” He inclined his head. “Quite a splendid beginning. I was very upset when Waldridge let you run out on us.”

“You mean and actually have a life?”

“Debts must be paid. I’ve been trying to demonstrate that to my friend, Waldridge, during our time together, but he’s not being reasonable.” He smiled broadly as his gaze shifted from her to Waldridge, then Biers. “The band is back together. Or at least two of the three. Regrettable that Dr. Shaw couldn’t join us.”

“Enjoying this, Dyle?” Waldridge took a step toward him, but one of the armed guards motioned him back with his gun. “Yes, I think you are. You want to grandstand in front of a new audience instead of our usual more intimate sessions? I’ll play along. You wanted to point out that you’d killed Shaw, a brilliant man who wanted only to make his work mean something? We get it.”

A flash of anger crossed Dyle’s face. “Perhaps if the three of you hadn’t left with my intellectual property, it wouldn’t have been necessary.”

“It was never supposed to be just a vehicle for your pharmaceutical-sales division.”

“I have a right to earn back my investment.”

“You already would have done that thousands of times over,” Biers muttered.

“Thousands of times versus millions of times,” Dyle said. “What sounds like a more prudent business plan to you? Especially if the second questionable option requires even more research and development.”

“I told you we could do it,” Waldridge said. “No side effects, no lifetime dependence on our medication.”

Dial shook his head. “I made a financial decision. Sorry you didn’t agree. My only regret is that I let you squirrel away our project’s formulas.”

“You didn’t let me do anything. The project is virtually mine anyway. I had to protect it. I could see where this was headed.”

“You’re holding the process hostage. We could be helping people right now.”

“And then hold them hostage. How many times have we gone over this? You’re not getting it until it’s finished,” Waldridge said. “My way.”

“You son of a bitch.” Kendra could see that Dyle’s sleek mask had vanished, and he was practically trembling with rage as he stepped closer to Waldridge. “Always have to be the great man, don’t you?” He was glaring at him. “You’ve always been so quick to take the credit for Dr. Michaels’s miracle of sight. But too often, you’ve happily ignored the fact that none of it would be possible without funding.” Dyle turned toward Kendra, and she took an instinctive step back as she saw the sheer malevolence in his expression. “I paid for those eyes of yours, Dr. Michaels. If your idol here doesn’t see fit to give me what’s mine…” Dyle turned back toward Waldridge, and spat out, “I must insist on taking them back.”

Kendra recoiled in shock. She couldn’t breathe. She could only stare at Dyle.

Nightmare. Her worst nightmare…

She was barely aware that Waldridge had gone still beside her. “What are you saying?”

Dyle smiled. “Do I really need to say it? I believe I’ve made myself clear.”

“Yes,” Kendra said unsteadily. “Say it.”

“I’m certain you’ve already researched me enough to know who I am, Dr. Michaels. I’m a man who gets what he wants. And if I don’t get what I want from Dr. Waldridge, I’m going to take your eyes.” His voice was soft, full of venom. “First your right eye, then your left eye. Is that clear enough for you?”

“You’re a monster,” Biers said. “We were right about you. That’s why we left.”

Dyle ignored him. His gaze was fixed on Waldridge’s face. “One hour,” Dyle said. “Then I’ll come back and take Kendra’s right eye. No anesthesia. I want both of you to feel every cut. If you want to stop me, you’d better get to work, Waldridge.”

He turned and walked toward the door, his whole bearing brimming with arrogance and self-satisfaction. He thought he’d played the winning card, Kendra could see. He didn’t care that card was hideous and the stuff of her worst nightmares. Perhaps he had won, she was too shaken right now to tell. But she couldn’t let him leave this room with a complete victory.

“Wait.” Kendra stepped toward Biers. “Take your errand boy with you, Dyle. If you intend to blind me again, I don’t want one of the last things I see to be this scum. I can’t stand to look at him.”

Dyle turned. “Excuse me?”

“Biers has been working with you.” She stared at Biers. “I don’t know for how long, but I’m guessing it’s been since before these three men left England. It’s how you were able to find Shaw and Waldridge so easily.”

Waldridge’s gaze was narrowed on her face. “Kendra?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry, Charles. You trusted the wrong man. Biers is in Dyle’s pocket. He’s playing you.”

Dyle smiled. “What makes you say that, bitch?”

“I know he’s been here before,” Kendra said. “He probably even set up this lab. For all your precautions with the hood over my head, I know we’re about ninety miles east of San Diego, somewhere in the Anzo-Borrego Desert.”

“Interesting,” Dyle said. “I hadn’t heard that an uncanny sense of directions was among your gifts.”

“It isn’t. Everyone who has walked in this room has been tracking in a coarse sand that is only found there, at least in this part of the country. The remains of thousands of years of underwater life. It’s very distinctive. There are granules wedged in the ridges above your soles.”

Dyle looked down. “What does that have to do with-”

“Biers had the same granules wedged in his shoes when I first met him. He’d already been out here.” She turned to Biers. “You wanted us to find you at your apartment. You knew Jessie would somehow be watching your place.”

“That’s it?” Dyle said. “Sand?”

“That, and Biers was the only other person who knew about the tracker that Jessie put in me.” She felt her hip. “It was cut out of me before I even woke up. He had to have told you. Or maybe he did it himself. Charles said someone who knew what he was doing did the stitches. Did you bring him in here to put more pressure on Waldridge? Another friend whom only he can save if he gives you what you want?”

Waldridge looked at Biers with disgust. “Get on your feet, Hayden. You can stop the act now.”

Still on his knees, Biers glanced at Dyle. Dyle gave Jaden an impatient gesture, and Jaden pulled Biers to his feet and cut the duct tape binding his wrists. Biers rubbed his wrists and brushed himself off before smiling at Kendra. “I did do the removal.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out the small disc. He showed her the tracker and the thin battery he’d removed from it. Then he slipped the items back in his pocket. “You’re lucky that Dyle told me to do it. You might have ended up with blood poisoning. Dyle’s men are good with knives, but not in that capacity. Not that it would have made much difference at this point.”

“I trusted you,” Waldridge said to him. “Why?”

“That was your mistake,” Dyle said. “Not everyone sees the world the same as you do, Waldridge.”

Waldridge was still staring at Biers. “Shaw is dead because of you. As surely as if you pulled the trigger yourself.”

Biers shook his head. “Shaw was a foolish old man. He sealed his own fate, just as you did. We were all partners in this project. Yes, you were the guiding force and held the patents. But you had no right to hijack it.”

“You never told me you felt this way.”

“Would it have changed anything?” Biers didn’t wait for a response. “Of course not. You would just have cut me out of your plans. I was better off with Dyle. He said that he’d make me a minor partner. Do you know how much money that will mean?”

“May I point out that your time is growing shorter with each passing word,” Dyle said as he glanced at Kendra. “Come along, Biers. I believe your colleague has some soul-searching to do.”

Biers avoided Waldridge’s and Kendra’s eyes as he followed Dyle out of the lab. One of the guards followed him, but Jaden didn’t move, his gaze fixed on Kendra.

She instinctively tensed. The ordeal wasn’t over. “What do you want, Jaden?”

He smiled. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m glad you’re here. I was amused to see how you saw through Dyle’s little trick. I always knew you’d be clever. I was looking forward to the challenge of taking you out. But then Dyle changed his mind and robbed me of the pleasure.”

“Changed his mind?”

“When you were doing the publicity circuit all those years ago, Dyle was thinking that Waldridge might need a martyr scenario to drive him deeper into the Night Watch Project. The death of his pride and joy, supposedly committed by a hate group like the one who was fighting to make the government shut down the research? Anyway, you seemed to be the perfect candidate. He genuinely cared about you. But then Waldridge let you go about your merry way, and Dyle decided his commitment wasn’t strong enough to go through with it.” He smiled, his silver-gray eyes glowing with malice. “But that’s all changed now, hasn’t it?” He turned toward the door. “With an interesting variation. I wonder if Dyle will assign me to be the one who takes out your eyes…” A moment later, she heard the door lock behind him.

Shock on top of shock. “Dear God, Charles. Eight years? Even that far back?”

“I had suspicions, but no knowledge of this kind of… evil. I just didn’t like the feel of it. And I wanted you to be free to enjoy your life.”

“And you let me go.”

“It appears we were both lucky it was a joint decision.”

“Yes… lucky.” Shock and revelations and that last confrontation with Biers and Dyle were taking their toll. She felt limp now, her knees trembling. What good had any of it done? The situation was still basically the same.

No, it wasn’t the same. She didn’t feel as weak and ineffectual. Dyle couldn’t feel as all-powerful as he had before. Both were good results in a bad scenario. And she had now been able to gauge the depth of Jaden’s ruthlessness and the fact that he would never stop. Knowledge was also power. She needed any good results that came their way right now.

If you could call it good when her stomach was twisting, and she had to fight not to fall back into that pit of sheer terror.

Waldridge stepped closer to Kendra. “You’re shaking,” he said gently. “Don’t fall apart now. You were bloody magnificent.”

“I couldn’t let them have it all their own way,” she said unevenly. “I hate bullies, and I wanted to smack Biers when I realized what he was doing.”

“Well, you slapped him down figuratively. I would have liked to do a good deal more to him.” His expression was shadowed. “I was in a world where I could trust no one, and I allowed myself the bad judgment to trust Biers. He was so brilliant and enthusiastic. I suppose money and power can change people.”

“He’s weaker, but just as bad as Dyle,” she said, remembering Biers’s expression when he was looking at Waldridge. “And he’s jealous of you. I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on that.”

“We were colleagues. I celebrated any success he made. I thought he did the same.”

“And you trusted him,” she repeated. “But he belongs to Dyle now. He didn’t even get up off his knees without Dyle’s okay. He was the one who cut that GPS out of me. If Dyle told him to cut out my eye, he’d do it in a heartbeat.” Her lips twisted. “Of course, he might have to fight Jaden for the pleasure.”

He muttered a curse. “No way, Kendra.”

“I hope we can keep that from happening.” She had to stop this shaking. “I guess you know how I’d feel about that. Dyle managed to hit a bull’s-eye. No one can really know the difference unless they’ve been there.”

“I won’t let him touch you.”

“You might have to let him go ahead and do it if we have to find a way to stall.”

Waldridge took her in his arms and held her. Comfort. Friendship. Togetherness. “No, then we’ll find another way to stall.”

“How? You can’t give him what he wants. You said if you gave in, you knew it would only be signing your death warrant. Do you think he’d let me live afterward? Not likely.” She pushed him away and drew a deep breath. The shaking had almost stopped. She was getting better, that moment of realizing that she was not alone in this battle was helping. “You can’t do it. We’d both end up dead.”

He didn’t speak for a moment. “Quite possibly.” His lips twisted. “Then we’d best come up with another solution. Dyle believes he’s come up with the perfect mechanism to force me to his way of thinking. He knew what seeing you tortured would do to me. He was entirely serious about taking your eyes.”

She had known that, and the fear had nearly paralyzed her. Snap out of it. They could get through this. They had no choice.

“Tell me about the layout of this place.” She looked at the large, reinforced door through which Dyle had just exited. “Do you know where that leads?”

“Oh, yes. That leads to an office-sitting room and a kitchen.” His lips twisted. “And a small room where Dyle spent a number of hours trying to convince me of my duty to him.”

Torture. Would that be where she’d be taken if Dyle decided to take her eye? Don’t think about it. Concentrate. “So that’s the main part of this encampment? Where do the guards sleep?”

“Not in the main facility.” He nodded at the other smaller door. “You said you thought that led outside. You might be right. There might be an outbuilding out there. When they were taking me back and forth to my charming little home away from home, I saw a few tents as I passed the window in the office.”

“So there will be tigers behind either door. We just have to plan a way to get past them.”

“Or invite them into our parlor?” Charles asked. “I believe Dyle has already issued a command invitation himself.”

“That’s an hour from now.” She took another step back and glanced around the lab. Concentrate. Memorize everything about it. “In an hour, we won’t be here.”