Master No (37 page)

“He lied to you. You weren’t sick that day. Your mother didn’t call the pediatrician to make an appointment. She had an appointment with a divorce attorney. She also had spoken to a lawyer at the Justice Department. They had opened a file on your father. After your mother was murdered, they closed it. Theo can show you everything. He’ll also explain why your father was the man behind your kidnapping in Ghana.”

Faith had to take a step back. She felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach. All the air seemed to rush out of the room and for a moment, her peripheral vision began to fade.

Erin was suddenly at her side, offering her support even though she still had to be in pain from the sutures.

Faith forced herself to stand. She couldn’t count on Erin. She couldn’t count on anyone.

“I want to see what you have.” She walked out to the hall where Brody waited to show her where to go, wondering if she would have anyone she could believe in after the next few minutes.

And she wondered if any of it mattered because she already knew she would do whatever it took to get Tennessee Smith back. She would let him go, but she had to make sure he was alive.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“I should go with them.” Faith stared at the monitor.

“Nope. You should stay right here with me.” Hutch sat back and yawned a little as though a nighttime raid of a dangerous man’s fortified home was really no big deal. The man who couldn’t be older than his mid-twenties was the only one left in the van with her. He’d brought along his computer and some very high-tech equipment she didn’t understand. Apparently he was some sort of hacking genius and had already broken into the security feed around the mansion. “They have to get in and out. You’ll hold them back. There’s a storm coming.”

After the singularly named Hutch had gone over the multitudinous ways her father had betrayed both her and his country, he’d explained that they were on a timeline. A tropical storm was coming in a few hours and they had a very small window to get Ten and get the hell off the island. Even as it was a few would remain behind since the plane was small and could only hold four passengers and the pilot.

Apparently the Russian was also a pilot. So Theo had decreed it would be Nick piloting Tennessee, Faith, Erin, and Des off the island and back to the relative safety of the mainland.

She didn’t like to think about the fact that Theo had talked about bringing back Tennessee’s body if they had to.

He was alive. He had to be alive.

“You’re a go on the south side, boss.” Hutch had on a set of headphones and spoke into the microphone attached. He turned the screen of the computer so she could see four shadowy figures making their way along the south wall of the compound.

All four figures were dressed in black in deference to the darkness around them. The night before the moon had been spectacularly full, but this was a new moon night and in the absence of city lights, everything was dark around them.

There was a brief knock and the door opened. Erin climbed inside. “What’s going on?”

Hutch shrugged. “Nothing yet. Shouldn’t you have the Jeep all fired up and ready to roll?”

“Can’t roll anywhere without my crew. When they start hauling ass back here, I’ll fire up the Jeep. What’s security look like?” Erin grimaced as she took the bench on the other side of Hutch.

They hadn’t spoken more than a few words since Faith had gotten the four-hour report on the lie her life had been. Whoever Liam O’Donnell was, the man was thorough. She now believed that her father had her kidnapped to pave the way for an American corporation to keep its interests in Ghana lucrative. She’d seen the money trail. It was a money trail that led to her. Shortly thereafter, her father had used a portion of the same money to help fund her new clinic. She remembered that check like it was yesterday.

Her father’s actions had led to Ten’s brother’s death. Tennessee Smith had been trying to right a wrong. He’d been trying to find justice for his brother.

She wished he’d told her that in the beginning rather than allowing her to fall in love with a man who didn’t exist.

Her heart was heavy in her chest. Since learning the truth about her father, she’d been a walking bag of bones. Every movement was forced because all she really wanted to do was lie down somewhere and sleep. Maybe never wake up.

Her father had put out a hit on her mother. She’d been trying to expose him.

It was up to Faith now. Once she was sure Ten was all right, she was going to the press. If her father wanted to kill her, let him try his hardest. She intended to prove more difficult to kill than her mother.

If her sister got in her way, Faith would have to take her down, too. She would deal with Hope at some point if only to find out what she knew about the experiments at the clinic.

Of all the things she’d been told, the secrets revealed, the idea that Hope would experiment on non-consenting patients was the easiest to believe. Hope had always been about her research. Science required breaking a few eggs, her sister had told her. And in Hope’s mind, some eggs were more important than others. Faith had been comforted by the fact that FDA regulations and little things like laws would keep her sister in line.

Hope had found a way around them.

“Security is only a tad different than what Faith said it would be.” Hutch’s voice brought Faith back to the moment. “The only difference is several more guards on the front entrance. See?”

Hutch clicked a button and the screen became four blocks of security feed. The entrances to the main house and several of the outlying buildings showed up on screen. Hutch pointed to the right uppermost block. There were five armed security guards.

“They’re waiting on something. I don’t like it. Call Theo back.” Erin’s mouth formed a flat line as she stared at the screen.

Hutch touched another button. “Boss, your girl here thinks this is some kind of a setup and wants your ass back here. There are three extra guards on the front gate. Apparently that means something to Erin.”

Erin grabbed the extra headset with a growl. “Theo, they’re looking for someone. Something’s going down.” There was a pause before Erin shot back. “Instinct, little boy. I’ve done this more than you. Yes, you’re my superior on this mission, but I’ve logged more time in the field than you and Case combined. Something’s wrong. Turn around now.”

Hutch winced in a way that let Faith know Theo hadn’t agreed with Erin.

“You’re going to get everyone killed.” Erin took off the headset and looked to Hutch. “I’m calling Tag. Get me a line out.”

Hutch put up his hands. “Erin, I know you have many ways to disembowel a man, but in this one case, I’m more afraid of Theo than I am of you. This was Ten’s operation and Theo’s my teammate. He’s in charge so I’m not going to pull that line for you. Relax. They’re professionals.”

Erin sat back, her eyes staring straight ahead at the screen as Theo and the group made their way toward the outermost building.

“That building is supposed to be for the gardening equipment and all the stuff the maintenance team uses,” Faith said, her voice dull.

“It’s got some serious security measures on it for a storage shed. Someone really doesn’t want the riding mowers stolen.” Hutch reached for a bag of chocolate covered peanuts. “Want some? They’re protein.”

“No, thanks.” She’d forced down a protein bar for dinner. It had been a little surprising that it hadn’t come back up. She’d spent hours pouring over the evidence against her father. Much more time than she’d spent on Ten’s records. If the McKay-Taggart team was lying, they were far more comprehensive than her father. She’d spent another hour comparing the evidence.

They could both be right. She believed some of the things about Tennessee Smith. The ruthlessness was true. No doubt about that. She could believe that he’d sent men out into dangerous situations, even out to die. But why would Jesse Murdoch vouch for the man? According to her father’s report, Ten had sold Murdoch out along with James Grant. Yet Murdoch and his wife—who had also been James’s wife—stood beside Ten.

The money trail told the tale in the end. Who had profited? Her father. Her sister.

When she looked deep into her soul and asked herself if she believed her father was capable of murder, she had to answer yes.

So she was here, ready to betray her family completely, and then she would be alone.

“How are they going to get into the building?” She hadn’t sat in on the mission briefing. She’d been putting together a field kit and preparing, though they’d told her they planned to get in and out as quietly as possible.

If they couldn’t get to Ten easily, they were supposed to regroup and wait for a better time.

That’s what Theo had said. She wasn’t sure she believed him. Theo seemed determined to prove himself in the field. If they were still friends, she’d talk to Erin about it. She’d sit beside her and lend Erin her strength.

Not that she had any.

“Theo’s got a program on his tablet I set up to run through a list of possible combinations. He’s going to hook it up, give it two cycles, and then we’ll call it. I’ll have more data even if it doesn’t work. It might take two or three tries, but we’ll get in there.”

“He’s got C-4,” Erin said flatly.

Hutch’s eyes widened and he was playing with his headset again. “Boss, you’re coming up on the building. You’ve got one guard to your right. I’ve been watching him, and if you give him two minutes, he takes a smoke break. I’ve watched him for a couple of nights. Once he steps out, you’ll have about five minutes when that door is unguarded. I’ll handle the cameras.”

Faith watched as Theo moved in behind the guard and silently took him out.

“Shit,” Hutch swore. “Don’t do this, Taggart. Follow the plan.”

“This is his plan,” Erin said with a shake of her head. “It was always his plan. He was never going to leave Ten inside that building. Living or dead, he won’t leave Ten behind.”

Faith’s heart sped up. “Are you sure Ten is even in there?”

Hutch’s hands were fists. “His tracking device leads us there, but it hasn’t moved since the night he was taken. He could be a corpse or they could have found the device and cut it out of him. There’s zero guarantee Theo’s going to find Ten. There’s a one hundred percent shot that he’s going to tip off your father and his guards that we’re here if he blows the damn door.”

“He doesn’t care. He thinks he’s smarter and faster than everyone, and I pray to god he’s right,” Erin said. “Because those guards at the gate are waiting for something and it’s not a pizza delivery.”

Faith watched the screen. The small group moved in now that the guard had been taken care of.

“Naturally I get a call I can’t refuse now,” Hutch said under his breath. “It’s coming in off the sat line so it’s going to come over the speakers.” He went silent as he fiddled with the computer.

“Is he really going to blow the door?” Faith asked Erin as Hutch tried to answer the call.

Erin sat forward, the screen casting ghostly shadows over her face. “He’s going to do anything he can to get Ten out of there. He can’t leave his boss. He knows what’s happening in there. Theo won’t leave Ten to be tortured and killed if he thinks for a second that he can get him out, but he’s not being careful.”

Torture. She didn’t want to think about it. It seemed like forever since Ten had walked out of her room and into her father’s care. What had happened to him in that time?

“Chelsea? Are you there?” Hutch hit a couple of keys. “Damn storm is moving faster than we thought it would.”

Faith had seen men who had been tortured. She’d treated the wounds to their bodies, but the ones to the soul never went away. “Theo cares about Tennessee.”

“Theo wants to be the hero. He wants to be his big brother, but what he doesn’t understand is that his brother wouldn’t be this reckless. Not with a team on the line. He’s trying to be Big Tag, but Ian has so much more experience than he does.” Erin stopped and brushed her hand across her face. “He’s going to get someone killed. And even if he doesn’t, Ten is likely going to murder him for pulling this shit.”

“He’s saving Ten.” Faith couldn’t see how that would be a bad thing.

“Ten would never do this at the expense of his team,” Erin explained. “Ten is a big boy. He knows the rules of the game. He knew going into this mission that he might not come out of it.”

Her skin chilled. “Ten didn’t fight my father when he came for him. He didn’t fight or try to run away.”

Erin turned serious eyes Faith’s way. “He knew you could get hurt. He weighed the likelihood of getting away versus you being harmed and chose the path he was okay with. Theo’s being too optimistic.”

On the screen she saw Theo at the door to the building. He had something in his hands and he was placing it on the door.

“You there, Hutch?” A feminine voice came over the line. This wasn’t the private line. This call came straight out of the computer’s speakers. “Stop it, baby. You can’t eat that. What’s up with putting everything in your mouth?”

“What?” Hutch asked. It seemed he’d finally found a good line.