Toxic Game (GhostWalkers 15)

Cameron put up his hand to caution Orucov. “I’d like to hear what she has to say.”

“He’ll take you back and see that your names are cleared. You’ll be working for him for a very long time—and he didn’t specify how long that would be—with little pay and no weekends away from the compound.”

“In other words, as his slaves,” Orucov protested.

“You’d most likely be treated the way he always treated us. You didn’t seem to mind when he kept us under lock and key.”

She kept her voice strictly neutral, but she was on high alert, every sense totally focused on Agus Orucov. He was the one with the virus capsule making the threats, and there was pure desperation in his eyes. He looked to be completely unraveling, but not in the childish way Tyler was losing his mind.

Orucov’s gaze kept shifting wildly around him as if he could see the GhostWalkers in the shadows. She knew he couldn’t, but that didn’t stop him from trying. His entire body shook, not just his hand.

“It’s not the same,” Orucov told her. “We’re educated men with something great to contribute to the world. What are you?” Contempt filled his voice. “A woman bred for genetics that aren’t even your own. We can’t be put in a cage, doing only what Whitney decrees. He isn’t smarter than we are, no matter how much he lords it over us.”

Cameron took a step closer to Orucov, and Shylah wanted to yell at him to stop. It wouldn’t take much to push the scientist over the edge, nor would it matter where the shove came from.

“I want to hear her out, Agus,” Cameron said.

“Did she tell you she killed Montgomery? I’m sure she did it. He didn’t just die or wake up one day to commit suicide. They have ways of making it look like that.” Beads of sweat broke out on the Indonesian’s face.

“Montgomery apparently was into autoerotic asphyxiation. He was found with a rope wrapped around his neck as well as other body parts. His father covered that up. No one believes he tried to commit suicide, but there was a porn flick on and he took his kink a little too far.” She shared the information matter-of-factly. “I can’t imagine how you think I was in any way involved with that. On the other hand, Whitney is giving you three an out. Your reputations will be restored. You’ll remain alive. You gave him what he wanted most of all—a biological weapon and the vaccine needed to be able to wield it if necessary. You’re really his golden children.”

Cameron’s facial expression changed. “She’s right, Agus. Tyler. If there is a vaccine, he’s going to be jumping up and down for joy. We did create exactly what he wanted. He has to be happy about that and we’re still useful to him. We just have to eat a little crow for a while and then we’ll be back on top.”

“What about Lupa Suku? How do we get out of that mess?” Orucov demanded, his voice swinging out of control. “They all died. Every single one of them.”

“Yes, they did,” Shylah agreed, “but that’s on the MSS, not you.”

“You have an answer for everything. The fishermen. The MSS didn’t kill them.”

“That’s on your conscience. You know damn well Whitney doesn’t have one and he believes one or two lives taken for the good of others is perfectly okay.”

“She’s right, she’s right,” Cameron said. “Whitney does think that. You’ve heard him say it dozens of times. We didn’t create this mess. The MSS did. Montgomery insisted,” he added, looking eagerly at Shylah. “He said it had to be that village.”

Shylah pitched her voice low and soothing. “Agus, all this time we thought it was you who had chosen that village, but we know it was Montgomery. No one is going to blame you for that.”

Orucov stepped back away from Cameron, shaking his head almost violently. “She’s lying, Cameron. The minute I hand this over, she’s going to kill us, or her friends will. If she’s with Whitney, what’s she doing with them?”

As he protested, his voice swung out of control, going to a high-pitched shriek. Shylah had never taken her focus from that very real threat. She saw it in his eyes first, that insanity that overcame good sense. Movement started, his arm muscles jerking and dancing before he went for the throw.

Now. Take him out, Rubin. He had been selected as the sniper. Diego was his spotter. She’d been told they were a pair that didn’t miss.

She threw up her hands and cast with silk, needing to be more precise than she ever had been in her life. As with her blowgun, like everything else she did, she had practiced for hundreds of hours and that training didn’t let her down. The vial went into the air and she followed the trajectory even as she wove her funnel web. She spun fast, marking where the vial would fall and placing the silk cone directly beneath it. The glass hit the funnel and slid down the silk to land safely in the bottom of the basket.

The sound of the rifle was loud, reverberating through the swamp. Agus Orucov’s head seemed to jerk back so hard he flew backward, his feet leaving the ground as he went over like a bowling pin.

Shylah calmly drew her weapon and shot Cameron and then Tyler right between the eyes. “Yeah, Cameron, you were directly responsible. All three of you, for every single life that was lost.”

Skirting around the bodies without looking at them, she retrieved the silk basket. Draden came up behind her, attending to the dead, making certain their eyes were closed. She could have told him it didn’t matter. She didn’t want to look at the three men who had deliberately caused so many innocents to die and then expected a free pass.

“You’re damned fast,” Joe said.

She shrugged and handed the vial wrapped in silk to Trap. “They all three have backpacks. They dropped them when we came upon them. God only knows what they have inside them.”

“No worries,” Malichai said. “We’ll do cleanup. Not bad for a girl. Zero hesitation.”

She heard the teasing note in his voice. For an answer, she threw out more silk, dropping it over his body fast, spinning it in tight circles so he was wrapped and cocooned in the web. She sent him a smile. “Zero hesitation every time. Your skills aren’t up to a girl’s, my man. I suggest more training.”

The GhostWalkers reacted with taunting laughter. Draden whipped out his phone and took pictures along with all the rest of his team. Malichai pretended to take a nap. Shylah ignored him when inside she was laughing. His antics definitely helped to calm the adrenaline pouring through her body.

Draden held out his hand to her and she put hers in his. His fingers closed around hers and they walked away together, back toward the Fontenot home. “Did Whitney really make them that offer?”

Shylah shrugged. “Does it matter? It was never going to happen.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“Wha

t difference would it have made? It was my job to take care of them, and I did. They weren’t going to be rewarded for what they did. If they were turned over to the military for a trial, Whitney and his friends in high places still might have gotten them free. They were always going to die.”

“You sounded very convincing when you were making your offer.”

She glanced at him. “That’s why I’m so good at my job, Draden. I do whatever it takes. I make myself believe what I’m saying so they believe it. I used my knowledge of Whitney as well as what I’d learned about them. Tyler and Cameron were weak. They would want to take the out offered to them because they’ve skated their entire lives. They thought because they were intelligent, that made them superior. Agus Orucov was always the wild card.”

His hand moved up her back to the nape of her neck. “You’re upset, Shylah. You didn’t have to do that. I would have done it for you.”

She glanced up at his face. “I had no problems taking them out, Draden. None. Zero. They were dead the minute Whitney put me on their trail. I wasn’t certain how you’d react. I’m still not certain. There’s a part of you holding back from me. That’s part of who I am. I track down the ones that think they can escape justice. I don’t hesitate because I believe they need taking out. I absolutely know there is no other way.”

“Are you apologizing to me?” He sounded and felt incredulous. “Are you out of your mind? I thought you were magnificent. I was so fucking proud of you I could barely breathe. Not to mention you’re the hottest woman in the world. Watching you work is a thing of beauty, Shylah.”

He meant it. He meant every word. Relief swept over her. Love swamped her. She wasn’t ever going to have to try to hide that side of her. Not from him. He stopped abruptly and turned to pull her into his arms, taking her mouth, pouring love and fire into the darkest corners of her soul.

20

Shylah perched on the counter, drawing her legs up as she watched Zara Mazza add two lemons and two limes, both cut in half, as well as half an orange to salted water in a Dutch oven. She loved watching Zara’s face when she was cooking for everyone. Shylah had helped her with the main dishes—Cajun chicken pasta as well as salad and freshly baked bread. The pasta was homemade by Nonny, so they knew it was good. The fresh bread was Zara’s, and it was so fragrant they’d been fending off the men all evening.