Ruthless Game (GhostWalkers 9)

He'll be down for a while. Jaimie's going to take care of him until we can get a nurse we can trust. We could use Rhianna right about now.

Javier straightened to allow them to get past him.

Sebastian stared solemnly at the man and then suddenly smiled, leaning toward him. The move was unexpected and strong enough that Rose had to catch him with a little gasp. Her heart jumped. There was no doubt her son wanted Javier to hold him. She had to console herself with the fact that Sebastian had already shown he could sense and recognize an enemy.

She swallowed hard and made her first attempt at accepting Kane's family as her own. Sebastian wants you to hold him.

Javier's smile flickered for a moment in his eyes and then faded away. He held out his arms for the child. Top, have Gideon give it a try. I can't spot anything, and I want to hold my nephew. It's time we got acquainted.

As if testing her, Javier cuddled the baby close and, moving in his silent, fluid way, turned his back and strode out of Rose's sight behind the tent. Rose's pulse thundered in her ears, and she literally had to twist her hands together to hold herself in place beside Kane.

Kane dropped his arm around her shoulders and moved her closer beneath his broad shoulder. He bent his head, turning his body partially, shielding her from the stairs. He brushed a kiss along her hair. "Javier's taking Sebastian away from what we believe is Whitney's camera or some sort of monitoring device." The words were barely audible.

She let her breath out and turned her face toward his, needing to kiss him, uncaring if any of them saw her. She was grateful he was the kind of man who read and cared about her feelings. He nearly lifted her off her feet, his larger frame completely shielding her, reminding her of when he had gotten her pregnant. He had not only destroyed Whitney's cameras and recorders, but he had kept his much larger body positioned over hers to protect her from the guard's prying eyes.

It was silly, really, to think that she needed a white knight, but he made her feel protected, cherished even. There was something to be said for a man who was so willing to offer a woman his own body to use as her armor and shield. She slipped her arms around his neck and clung, unashamed, allowing herself a moment of weakness. It was difficult to trust her son to anyone out of her sight, let alone the most dangerous of all the team members.

He keeps smiling at me.

The moment Javier spoke inside her mind, she felt herself settle, the wild churning in her stomach subsiding. There was awe, maybe even a hint of joy in the tone.

He's so little I thought I might crush him, but he's strong, isn't he?

She recognized an uncle's pride, and something hard inside her broke open. Javier was a man dedicated to his team and his country--but everyone else was an enemy. She could hear in his voice that Sebastian was family and always would be.

Rose blinked rapidly and tightened her arms around Kane's neck for courage. She made herself laugh softly in her mind. He's very strong. He pushes up off the floor already. Sometimes when he's kicking, I have to duck very fast, because he's got quite the kick.

Javier's laughter slipped into her mind. Kane urged her forward, and she moved toward the hospital tent. She knew it was impossible for someone like her--someone with her background--to trust the people around her, but they were soldiers, and they knew their jobs. They worked well together, knew one another. They were offering her the opportunity to have everything she'd ever wanted--a family--and to be able to serve her country as part of an elite unit. She spent nearly every waking minute of her life training to be what these people were--a GhostWalker--and she wanted the chance to use her skills again.

She smelled bleach and blood as she skirted the makeshift hospital. Is Brian going to be able to recover fully?

Kane had to have been holding a bridge to allow the others to communicate telepathically with her, because once again, it was Mack who answered.

Yes. It will take some time. We were fortunate that we'd already arranged to have surgical equipment here. The "hospital" was going to be set up in the second building up the block, but we haven't fully renovated it yet. We've only set up security.

Gideon winked at her as he slipped by, taking Javier's place at the stairs. If something is here, Top, I'll find it, he said with confidence.

Gideon's eyesight is enhanced, Kane explained. He can see things we can't, and if Javier didn't find anything, then Gideon's our last hope.

You swept for bugs? Rose asked.

Mack nodded. They had moved around the tent now, out of sight of the stairwell. "Found several in your living quarters and two up here where Eric planted them while his physical therapist was doing his best to kill Kane by overdoing it. Jaimie's checked their every movement with all the surveillance tapes frame by frame. We're confident we were able to find them all."

Rose was listening, but her gaze had jumped to Javier, sitting in a rocking chair, Sebastian in his arms. The man had a big grin on his face.

"Thank you, all of you, for getting Sebastian back," she said simply. Emotion was nearly overwhelming, welling up so fast it was impossible to hold it in check. "You all risked your lives for us . . ."

"You're family," Javier dismissed her stammering thanks with a wave of his hand. "You'd do the same."

The confidence in his voice warmed her. "Nevertheless, I wouldn't have survived if Whitney had managed to get his hands on Sebastian."

Kane threaded his fingers through hers and brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth. "Yes, you would have, Rose. We would have gone after him."

"And we'd never stop until we had him," Mack confirmed.

"The thing I don't understand," Javier said, inhaling the baby's scent, "is why Whitney thinks we would stop. He knows us, or he should know us."

"He can't know our bond," Mack said.

"Javier has a point, Mack," Kane agreed, "He knows us as individuals."

"Which is why he had you assigned to the compound, Kane," Rose said. "He read all about you, what you were like, and he knew you would appeal to me."

"Then he has to know if he took you from me, I would never stop looking for you unless I was dead."

"And then we'd continue," Mack added. "I think there's a part of him that likes to see if we'll win. Like playing a game, only with human beings for game pieces. He sets up a battlefield and throws the players onto the board and amuses himself watching what will happen."

"That's pretty sick," Javier said. He smiled at the baby, his tone softening. "And Whitney thinks I'm a psychopath." The baby wrapped his fingers around Javier's index finger as if in response. "For future reference, a psychopath is considered very bad."

Rose glanced at him. Javier had sounded hurt, yet when she looked at him, he was bending his head to kiss the baby's fingers.

"Actually," she said, "that's exactly the type of grand experiment Whitney would enjoy. It probably doesn't even matter all that much which side wins as long as he can observe and document . . ." She trailed off. "He had to have been here in San Francisco when they tried to take Sebastian. He would have been close enough to observe. He would never plan something so elaborate with so many different ways for his team to escape with us without watching it all play out."

Mack and Kane exchanged a long look. "Why the hell didn't we figure that out ourselves?" Kane lowered his voice.

Javier beckoned Rose. His face had lost all expression, his eyes once more going flat and cold. Sebastian stared up at his face, immediately ceased gurgling happily, and looked carefully around the room with so much awareness in his eyes that Rose shivered as she took him. She glanced at Kane, worried. The baby was only a couple of months old, and already he was picking up his cues from the adults around him, recognizing danger far before he should.

What kind of a childhood is he going to have? There was despair in her voice and fear creeping under her skin. There's no way for our son to have any kind of normal life, is there?

Kane stroked a single caress over her hair and then reached out to tak

e the baby. He'll be safe, happy, and prepared, Rose. It's up to us to make a new normal for him.

He recognized the difference in Javier and is already alert to the changes in all of us. She wanted to cry for them all. She didn't want that for her son. She wanted her little boy free to play and laugh with others, not living the kind of life she had--already training for a life of warfare by the time she was able to walk.

"This is our life," Kane said aloud. "This is his life. He'll have a playground, and he'll have a happy childhood. He'll just know from early on that, like us, like his family, he's different, and he has to live differently. That doesn't mean worse, Rose, it means different."

Nodding, she swallowed the terrible choking lump in her throat, blinking fast to get rid of the shine of tears in front of the other team members.

Javier touched Sebastian's head with a gentle hand. "He'll be safe, Rose--and very loved. We'll see to his needs, all of us. We'll help provide everything he needs. You tell us, and it's yours."

She looked around her at the circle of faces. They all nodded. Some of the tension eased. She couldn't help smiling. Even as they reassured her, they were sliding weapons into clothing, readying for battle. There seemed to be an armory on every floor, hidden of course, but well stocked with just about any weapon they might need. She knew they went armed everywhere outside the house, probably in it as well.

"You good?" Kane asked.