Memory Zero (Spook Squad 1)

Gabriel clicked the audio off, letting his brother see and hear but not speak. He had no idea how acute Suzy’s hearing was, but given she was a shifter, he wasn’t about to take a risk. The vent was still in place. He squatted behind a bench that offered him cover while still allowing him to see most of the kitchen.

After several minutes, metal scraped, and the grate covering the vent clattered to the floor. He drew his gun. With a soft grunt, Suzy appeared, slithering from the vent to the floor like a small sack of potatoes. She climbed to her feet near the far end of his bench and headed toward the stoves. Once there, she began to turn on the jets. A soft hissing filled the air.

Gas, he thought. They were going to blow up the kitchen, not the more obvious fuel depot. He rose and held his gun at the ready.

“Not another step, Suzy.”

She jumped and swung around. The red light reflecting from the overhead emergency beacon made her pale features seem harsh. “Gabriel. What are you doing here?”

“I might ask you the same question.” She had something in her right hand, and though he couldn’t make out what it was, it appeared to be the wrong shape for a gun. “Drop whatever you’re holding,” he ordered.

A smile touched her lips. “I don’t think so.”

He clicked the safety off. “I mean it, Suzy. Drop it.”

“Ah, but if I do, we’re both dead,” she said, her amusement more evident this time. “It’s a grenade, and the pin is out. It’ll cause enough damage by itself, but in a kitchen flooded with gas—” She shrugged.

The kitchen would go up like a rocket, and Kazdan would have his diversion. He motioned toward the stove. “Turn the jets off and step away.”

“As I said, I don’t think so.” She ducked, moving away with a speed that surprised him. White light flared, followed by the flash of a laser. The bright light whizzed past his head and bit into the wall behind him, showering him with concrete dust. She’d missed by several feet, so maybe she couldn’t see too well in the dark.

She scrambled around several benches. He turned off the jets, then waited, his laser aimed toward the main doors. Except for the vent and the emergency exit to his right, it was the only way out. When she reached the bench closest to the door, she stood and fired several shots, then raced for the exit.

She never had a hope. He fired. The laser’s blue-white light cut silently across the darkness and arrowed into her back. She gasped, her arms flung wide, but her hand was still clutched around the grenade as she was thrown to the tiles. He pressed the audio button as he ran toward her. “Get the medics down here.”

“Show me her face,” Stephan said tightly.

Obviously, he feared it was Lyssa who lay dying, but Gabriel felt no rancor at his brother’s disbelief. If the situation had been reversed, he’d be asking the same thing.

She was gasping for breath, still struggling to move. He removed the laser and the grenade from her slack grip, noting that the pin on the grenade hadn’t been pulled. He put them on the bench, well out of her reach, and squatted beside her.

“Don’t move,” he said gently. “The medics are on their way.”

Her gaze swung toward him, her features in the midst of change, Lyssa’s features fading into those of the dark-haired woman he’d met only a few hours before. Kazdan’s wife, as Sam had said.

“Tell him I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I didn’t want him to die … He was good … to me …”

Surprise rippled through him. He had no doubt that she meant Stephan, and he wondered if Kazdan knew his wife had fallen in love with the man she was supposed to kill. “So it was you who sent the warning to the SIU?”

She licked her lips. “I didn’t want to be responsible for all those deaths, no matter what he said.”

“And the child?” he asked softly. “Whose is it?”

“I don’t really know,” she said. “But it’s probably Jack’s.”

“Probably” still left a question mark, and that meant they had to do everything in their power to keep her alive. If it was Stephan’s child she carried, then he would want to raise it.

“You’d better leave the bitch,” Stephan stated into his ear, his voice deadpan and tightly controlled, “and head over to the control center. Sam hit the alarm button about a minute ago. I sent two State boys over, but we’ve since lost contact with them all.”

Gabriel swore and headed for the exit.

SAM SHIFTED HER WEIGHT FROM one leg to the other, trying to ease the ache in her feet. She needed something, anything, to happen; otherwise she was in serious danger of falling asleep. She glanced at her watch. Three-o-five. The PM was obviously running behind schedule. Why couldn’t a politician actually keep on schedule just this once?

She stifled a yawn and checked the .44 for the umpteenth time. It wasn’t a weapon she?

?d normally use. She didn’t like the feel of it, nor did she like the kickback. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers. Security operation or not, no one was standing ready with an arsenal of weapons. They’d taken what was available, and Gabriel had taken the only laser.

She put the Magnum back in its holster and wondered what he was up to. He was supposed to contact her when he’d reached the elevator mechanic’s room. So far, her wristcom had been worryingly silent. Maybe there were problems, though she’d heard no noise, no sound of gunfire.