Agent M4: Riordan (17 page)

“Roger that, Naylor.” Shrugging out of his jacket, Riordan rolled up his sleeves to expose his armbands. “We’ve got him on Powers’ private navigation system. He’s headed east on C Street.”

“I’m there. Give me five.” Naylor signed off.

Watching the road, Hope glanced over at him for a minute. “Did you say Naylor? As in Robert Naylor?”

“Dar is his son. He works for D.I.R.E.”

She pointed in the air as if connecting the dots. “So you work with the son of the man, or really,
the man
that sent you to Mongolia?”

“I used to work
for
him, Hope. Dar knew nothing about sending me away until it had already happened.”

Giving him a leery gaze, she said, “Are you sure we can trust him?”

Trust. His Achilles heel. Yet, he had no problem defending Dar.

“Yes. He’s part of my team.” Riordan held up his arms. “Rose is up next.”

Her eyes went to the rearview mirror before bouncing back to the road.

“What are those?” Her eyes swirled with interest.

Powers’ voice came over the internal speakers with no telephone system. He spoke in low whispers. “Hope, did you find Riordan?”

“I’m here, Powers.”

“He stopped at the construction site of the new Warner building. They disappeared behind some temporary plywood walls. We followed them inside but didn’t want to get too close. It looks like he’s taking her up to the top floor in a cage elevator.”

Riordan shared an incredulous look with Rose. Damn, his father had done that for Dan Meeks’ daughter?

“Don’t put yourselves in danger, Powers. We’re almost there.” Softening his tone, he added, “And thanks. I owe you.”

“We’re here if you need us. Out.”

The high rise appeared in the near distance, a shell of concrete floors and steel beams. A lighted crane sat on top, an aerial beacon flashing intermittently. Looking up, out of the windshield, Riordan counted twenty floors, including the roof. Clamp lights lit every floor, some with frosted plastic walls, others open through to the opposite side.

Unbuttoning his shirt, Riordan shrugged out of it and threw it on the floor. Kicking off his shoes, he pulled off his socks.

“Oh my-“ Hope swallowed hard as she came to a stop. “Oh, Riordan...”

Ignoring her response to his scars, he looked back at Rose. “I’m climbing up the back wall beams.”

“
Climbing
?” Her voice echoed in alarm as she pulled to the curb and cut her lights.

“Rose, when Naylor arrives, have him take out the elevator. You wait it out in the stairwell.”

He gave a short nod.

Riordan turned to his sister. “Hope, you need to get your father and get out of here. We’ve got this.”

“Hold up.” She held up a hand as if asking for patience. “I’m still way back at
climbing
.”

Opening the door, Riordan said, “Rose, you fill her in. I need to go get my girl.”

Natalie tried to hold up her head. Sweat beaded on her forehead and cheeks before dripping to the concrete at her bare feet. Carpenter nails and sawdust littered the ground around her, a plywood table and tools close by. Lethargy blanketed her in a scalding cocoon, John’s hands heating her to near unconsciousness.

He held her in front of him, facing the stairwell. Waiting. Watching.

For Riordan.

There was no doubt in her mind that he would come. He was her warrior, her protector, self-assigned to keep her safe.

He had to be fighting an army of self-hatred right now, knowing he’d allowed her to get away, knowing John had gotten the upper hand.

The fault remained on her. She’d refused to run when he told her. Now, she’d forced him into this confrontation with John. Forced him to risk his life for her.

Behind them, plastic sheets rippled and bowed as the night breeze tried to rush through. He’d chosen a small space sectioned off on the top floor, the temporary walls confining his intense heat. Her dress was soaked through, her hair a matted curtain of sweat around her face. Her leg throbbed in rhythm with her heart.

John kissed her neck, his lips cool against her flushed skin. She gritted her teeth against his trespass, wanting to strike out.

She had strength to do no more than flinch.

“I had planned to kill your boyfriend tonight, Natalie, but it looks like he’s not going to show.”

Natalie knew better. “How could you do this, John? I don’t understand.”

“What? Killing?” His laugh held a patronizing tone. “After you kill once, it comes rather easy.”

Her gasp caught on her runaway heart. John had killed and would kill again. They weren’t just dealing with a maniac. John was a murderer. This changed everything.

“You’ve killed before?”

His fingers skimmed along the moist flesh of her shoulder. Gooseflesh popped up on her skin, his touch cool against the excruciating heat of her body.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know…”

“Know wh-?” Shock reverberated through her, leaving her trembling in his furnace of death.
No. God, no. Not-

“Paul.” His lips brushed her earlobe.

Natalie’s knees buckled. Tears blended with her sweat to drop on the floor. He’d killed Paul. His own
brother
.

John picked her up by the shoulders, his hands hot, scorching against her bare skin. “I re-wired the suit to short circuit when he powered it up. All I had to do was suggest he try it under his tuxedo. Brilliant, don’t you think? Having it go off at Mills’ fundraiser?”

Hard sobs racked her frame as she thought about Paul. John had always bullied him in one way or another. The abuse had been at the heart of Paul’s counseling issues. Only in the few months prior to his death had Paul shown signs of overcoming it.

Despite the abuse, Paul had trusted his brother. Loved him. He’d tried to mend the tattered bond between them.

All the while, John had been planning his murder.

“Why?” Her voice sounded just above a whisper.

“
Why
?” His tone sounded incredulous. “Paul always stood in my way, whether it was new technology ideas, plans for the company or… you, Natalie.” He inhaled against her neck. “I took him out of the picture. Just like I plan to take out St. James.”

He growled under his breath. “I’d hoped to do so tonight but obviously, you don’t mean as much to him as I thought.”

“Guess again, Warner…”

Gasping, her heart lurched, relief rushing through her like white-water rapids. John whipped around, dragging her limp body like a ragdoll. She lifted her head, her hair hanging in her face.

Riordan
. He stood before them barefoot and bare-chested, his armbands gleaming in the sketchy lighting. Sweat glistened on his powerful, scarred chest, his hair free of its tail.

“That woman is my life, Warner. My life was taken from me once. It won’t happen again.”

“How did you get up here?” John’s voice held a note of panic as he searched the area around them with wild eyes.

A thin slice split the plastic against the back wall. He’d cut through the barrier.

“Come here baby.”

Riordan held up his hand, palm out. The webbed cuff on her bicep wobbled against her heated skin. They shared a smile when her arm lifted toward him.

John locked his arms around her. “
No
. Not until I get what’s mine.”

With a frightening scowl, Riordan lifted his other hand. A ripple washed over her, heavy and warped, before she and John stumbled toward him. John growled as he fought it, pulling away, fighting against it.

Once she was within arms reach, Riordan snatched her away from John. She fell into his arms. He kissed her hair before shoving her behind him. Sweat ran down his back in rivulets.

“You were saying, Warner?”

With a loud roar, John grabbed a hammer off the table and threw it at Riordan. It flipped end over end as it sailed toward him. Catching it, he shot it back at John, striking him in the forehead. He flew backward, hitting the concrete with a hard thud before sliding several feet. Shaking his head, John jumped to his feet.

“I want my
money
.”

John charged across the space. Rebar shot up from the ground and into Riordan’s hand. He repelled it at John, one piece after another, in quick succession. Covering his face, John ducked and dodged as he came closer, rebar bouncing off of his body with grunts and groans. He stumbled as he stepped on a pile of nails.

“You
sonuvabitch
.” His growl reverberated through the area as he dove for Riordan.

Riordan met him halfway, tackling him to the ground. Holding John against floor, Riordan punched him in the face, again and again, leaving John no chance of retaliation. John lay limp on the concrete, breathing hard.

Riordan moved to rise. John caught his fist in a firm grip. Riordan stared at their joined hands with wide, incredulous eyes. His fist shook with violent tremors, the flesh charring, smoking as John slowly overpowered him. Riordan growled in pain.

God, no
. She had to help him. It was her fault Riordan had come in the first place. He couldn’t gain new hands only to see them destroyed again.

Natalie rushed toward him. “
Riordan
.”

He yelled over his shoulder. “For God’s sake, get back, Natalie.”

Backing against the plastic, she watched John lower Riordan’s hand to the ground, the smell of burning flesh rancid and overpowering. Tears spilled from her eyes.

“Didn’t Robinson tell you a magnet loses its power at Curie point, St. James?”

Backhanding John with his other hand, Riordan threw open John’s jacket and grabbed a handful of his shirt. The sound of material ripping resounded in the air.

“Didn’t your brother tell you that if the hydrogen fuel cell grows unstable, it could cause a nuclear explosion?”

With wild, frantic eyes, John tried to scramble to his feet. “
Nooo
...”

Jumping up, Riordan sped toward her, his bare feet hauling as he yelled orders. “Wrap your arms around my neck, Natalie.”

Her heart pounded wildly. “
What
?”

Without stopping, he scooped her around the waist. She held onto his neck, her legs wrapping around his middle. He dove through the slit in the plastic - and off the side of the building.

Her screams echoed off the surrounding skyscrapers, the wind rushing past her in heavy gusts. Pounding madly, her heart shot to her throat and lodged there as the ground quickly rose up to meet them.

His hands sliced through the air behind her. They slammed against a steel beam, knocking the breath from her lungs. Time stilled for a moment.

“Hold on.”

Riordan’s hands gripped the steel on either side as they slid down the beam at lightning speed. The lighted floors of the building across the street rushed past her in a dizzying blur, the wind rushing up her dress in a powerful blast.

His injured hand dropped from the beam. They skidded to a stop. He uttered a short, succinct curse before clamping onto the beam again with more pained curses. They sailed on.

The sidewalk rushed closer. Natalie squeezed her eyes shut. Riordan dropped his hand again, slowing them, but never stopping.

As soon as his feet touched the sidewalk, he ran, his legs swift as they flew across the pavement. Natalie held onto his neck.

Stopping across the street, Riordan backed against the wall of the skyscraper. Lifting his hands toward the Warner building, he growled through gritted teeth. The sound of steel creaking and grinding echoed off the nearby structures with a deafening roar.

Two of the beams peeled away from the shell. The top floors shook with booming thunder before falling in.

“Get the hell out,” Riordan cried over his armband as he took off running again. “Warner’s gonna blow.”

Rose and Naylor shot across the street and kept running. A bright light flashed in the air before the Warner building exploded in brilliant white. The ground shook beneath them.

“Get in.”

Powers’ bodyguard, Ringo, held open an SUV door. Riordan dove in the passenger seat, Rose and Naylor in the far back. Clem sped away, tires squealing.

Natalie held onto Riordan as she stared out the back window. The building fell like a tower of blocks, steel and concrete flying through the air in all directions. A huge wall of smoke and ash billowed out as the structure came down.

“Holy shit.” Rose stared through the back window with Naylor.

Dar turned to the front of the car. “You’d better haul ass. That ash is on us.”

A wall of ash and debris rushed up from behind, rolling and building in height. Rubble pummeled the car, a stick of rebar cracking the back window before bouncing away.

Rose’s voice held an imminent tone. “We’re screwed.”