Mind Game (40 page)

Dahlia lay still, so spent she couldn’t move. He should have been too heavy but she wanted him draped over her, tangled with her, arms and legs everywhere so she couldn’t tell where he started and she ended. “What does
kiciciyapi mitawa
mean?”

He kept his head on her breasts. “What?”

“You called me
kiciciyapi mitawa.
It sounded so beautiful. It wasn’t Japanese. What was it?”

“It’s the voice of Lakota. It would sound silly in English.” He cupped her breast, his fingers moving lightly over her skin. His breath warm on her heart.

“I want to know. It didn’t sound silly when you said it. It sounded . . . beautiful. It made me feel beautiful. And loved.”

He kissed her breast. “I called you my heart. And you are.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The street, in the upscale neighborhood, was empty at three in the morning. The wind blew gently through the flower beds and across recently mowed lawns. A dog lifted its head as the breeze carried an unfamiliar scent. He got stiffly to his feet and faced the west, a growl rumbling deep in his throat. Dark shadows darted through the street, moving fast, a blur as they scattered to surround the large, two-story house at the end of the quiet cul-de-sac.

The dog barked a warning, but stopped abruptly when one of the shadows turned back and stared at it. The dog retreated slowly, the hair settling on its back as it once again lay down on the porch, eyes brightly watching the intruders moving around the house into position.

The light from the streetlamp didn’t quite reach to the house itself, set back as it was from the road. Trees darkened the surrounding yard even more. Shadows flitted around the yard, and swarmed up the sides of the house in complete silence like dark wraiths.

Nicolas went up the side of the house, a spider crawling up to the second story. He studied the window for some time before proceeding to the roof. Crouching on the slope he spoke into his radio. “We’ve got ourselves a real operator,” he whispered. “I found a string across the window. Use extreme caution.”

“One on the front door,” Kaden confirmed.

“And back,” Sam intoned.

“So they’re either expecting trouble or want to know if someone is nosing around. How many good citizens go to that much trouble?” Kaden asked.

“Soft probe,” Nicolas reminded. “We’re going in soft, information hunt only. We want to get in and out without being detected. If they have silent alarms on the outside, I’d say we’re going to have a little trouble inside. Be ready.”

“We’re always ready,” Gator’s soft drawling voice replied.

Nicolas silently lowered his body to the edge of the windowsill. The smartest and easiest of all alarms was a tiny bell hooked in place to tinkle a warning. If the NCIS agents had been Special Forces, they wouldn’t look to easily bypassed security systems for protection. Already, Ian was circumventing the system. It wasn’t hard with their particular psychic skills.

The house was used when three of the agents were in town. The intelligence Lily had given them was that the three agents, Neil Campbell, Martin Howard, and Todd Aikens, were all out of town. The house should be empty, but if not, and they awakened at an inconvenient time, well, Nicolas was remembering Dahlia’s sobs in her sleep, and he wasn’t feeling particularly generous or gentle.

“Two cars in the garage.” Ian’s voice was a soft whisper in his ear. “Security system is down. There was a backup, but it didn’t last long.”

The team had decided to use radios instead of telepathic communication just in case anyone in the house was like Logan Maxwell or Jesse Calhoun. They might feel the subtle flow of power or even hear what was said. The team was used to working mind to mind, but their first training had been the miniscule radios so they were accustomed to them.

“We’ve got at least one, possibly two or three inside,” Nicolas reported to the others. “Proceed with extreme caution.” Lily always supplied them with state-of-the-art equipment and the latest was an air-cooled, sealed CO2 mini laser glass cutter. It had a circular suction cup pivot and cut completely silently. The laser cutter was microcomputer controlled, with the computer built into the case of the laser assembly. A computer was necessary to prevent the laser from cutting completely through the glass and passing into the room and burning things in its path. It cut almost through, leaving the suction cup with its levered handle to pull the glass out. Lily would be happy to get the report that it worked silently and efficiently, allowing him to remove the glass without triggering the alarm set on the inside sill. He set the glass aside carefully in preparation to enter the room.

“Strobe, damn it, strobe,” Gator reported.

Nicolas bit back a particularly ugly curse. Gator shouldn’t have made such a mistake. A tiny strobe light was often used. If the switch were tripped at the window, the light would flash brightly. The light was tiny, but the strobe would awaken anyone trained to sleep lightly.

“Fall back,” Nicolas ordered. His gut was churning. He was taking his men into the line of fire armed only with nonlethal ammunition. They didn’t want to take a chance on harming a civilian, and being GhostWalkers, they were certain they could get in and out of the house unseen. But the house wasn’t empty, and the men inside were combat trained.

“Negative, sir, the room’s empty.”

“Fall the hell back now, soldier,” Nicolas hissed, his voice implacable. “He’s in there waiting for you. Secure that position and let’s contain him.”

“Yes sir,” Gator responded. “Securing position.” Nicolas felt carefully along the inside of the windowsill for the trip wire to a bell or the switch for a strobe he was certain would be there. The others would be more alert now that they knew there were alarms inside.

“In,” Kaden announced. “Downstairs, dining room. Don’t like the feel, Nico. There’s power here, and someone’s using it. Shotgun strapped to the tabletop. Ninja stars in the silverware drawer. Dining room’s clear.”

“Intercept,” Nicolas ordered immediately. Kaden was a strong telepath. He could hunt down another without breaking a sweat.

Nicolas held the bell still with his mind while he made his entry. “In. Left bedroom. I feel a surge here as well. They’ve been warned. Be ready.”

He felt the first assault to his brain, a jab, much like a punch coming at him, but mental rather than physical. He blocked it before it could incapacitate him. The GhostWalkers had practiced such attacks as well as fending them off, but they had never used them or had to defend against them, and Nicolas found he was slower at it than he would have liked. “Game seven. They’re using our game seven to attack,” he announced. Each of the mental attacks had been choreographed much like a chess game. Whitney had done the choreographing. He sent his own move crashing back before they could follow up, a blaring punch much like shards of glass jabbed into the skull. He wanted them to know they weren’t the only GhostWalkers in town.

He felt the instant withdrawal. The shock. Much like the shock Jesse Calhoun had exhibited when they’d first touched mental paths.

“In,” Ian’s whisper was in his ear. “Through garage into kitchen. Two booby traps, one fairly lethal. Found interesting food in the freezer. A Beretta. Isn’t that your weapon of choice? Kitchen’s clear.”

“Their communication path is shut down,” Kaden said with evident satisfaction.

“In office, ground floor,” Ian said. “Checking for IDs and any incriminating evidence. Keep them the hell off my back.”

“Kaden, stay on Ian,” Nicolas ordered.

“Naughty, naughty, handgun taped under desk,” Ian added.

Nicolas stayed to the shadows of the room, checking the ceiling, the closet, and the corners for an occupant. There was no sound. No breathing. But someone was close. He could feel him. Smell him. Knew him by his finely honed instincts. He waited in silence—a heartbeat, a second. Survival instincts took over, and he upended the bed, rapid firing his weapon, the rubber bullets spraying in a tight arc across the floor where the bed had been. In the small confines of the room, the shots were thunderous, hurting his ears. He saw the flash of fire as the agent snapped off live rounds simultaneously. Upending the bed knocked the aim off and the bullets thunked into the wall somewhere behind him. Nicolas heard the impact as the rubber bullets struck flesh. Something metal clattered to the floor. He rushed forward, kicked the gun away from the downed agent and hastily checked him, knowing the agent felt as if he’d been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer.

He was alive, but he was fighting mad, yet unable to move from the powerful kick of the rubber bullets knocking him against the wall. Nicolas searched him for weapons, found two knives and a clip. He taped the man’s hands, feet, and mouth and left him to search for the second agent.

“They have live rounds,” he reminded his men.

“I’ve got one trapped in the bedroom, right side, corner,” Gator said. “He’s armed.”

“Stay out of the line of fire, but keep him contained,” Nicolas ordered. “Tucker, you in?”

“I’m tearing apart the bedroom. Lots of weapons in the closet. C-4 and plastic. A couple of detonator caps. I think my boy likes to play with bombs. Bedroom clear on ground floor.”

“Anything fancy? We’re not looking at money here,” Nicolas said.

“Nothing down here,” Ian said. “Looks clean, damn it.”

“Dart board with a nice set of throwing knives,” Nicolas reported as he reentered the bedroom where the downed agent was tied up. “My friend looks a little pissed, but I can’t say as I blame him.” He tossed the room hastily, searching quickly for anything that might identify a traitor. Too much money. Too many luxuries. A book of matches or a pen with the name of the company Dahlia had been sent in to recover the data from. Even a university sweater or jacket from the campus where the three professors had been murdered. He went to the man, crouched down beside him. “You okay?”

The man watched him through wary, ice-cold eyes. He nodded his head.

“I’m looking for a traitor. Someone who would sell your friend Jesse Calhoun down the river. You have any ideas?”

The agent frowned, shook his head. Nicolas felt the push at his brain, but his barriers were strong and impenetrable. Just to stay in practice, he pushed back until the agent glared at him and subsided. Nicolas reached out and ripped the tape from the man’s mouth. The agent swore like a sailor.

“You have something to say worth hearing?”

“I don’t know anything about a traitor,” the agent said, “but if you know something about Jesse, I want to hear it. You owe me that much.”

“You shot at me.”

“You broke into my house.”

“You’ve got some illegal weapons here,” Nicolas pointed out mildly.

“Is he alive? What the hell’s going on? Jesse Calhoun is a friend of mine. No one will tell us anything other than he’s in a hospital, somewhere we’re not allowed to know about.”

“And so you protected yourselves here, didn’t you?” Nicolas said thoughtfully. “You decided whoever went after your friend, could very well come after you.”

“It’s logical.”

“What’s your name?”

“Neil Campbell.”

“Tell the agent in the other room to walk out with his hands in the air and no weapons on him. We’ll talk,” Nicolas offered. He knew the others were hastily going through the house, but his gut told him the two agents they’d cornered were innocents.

Neil hesitated and then shook his head. “I can’t get through to him.”

“I’ll tell my man to allow you to speak to him. You don’t want him dead, and we’ve got him boxed in. I don’t want any of my men dead.”
Kaden, monitor them if you can.

I’m on it.
As always Kaden was relaxed.
He’s telling his buddy to come out without a weapon. That we’re GhostWalkers looking for a traitor in the NCIS. He says he believes us.

“There are three of you who use this house. Where’s the third?”

“You have intel on us.”

“That would be affirmative. I can tell you every bone you’ve ever broken in your body. I even know about your training with Whitney.”

Neil’s face shut down immediately. He stared blankly at Nicolas. Before he could protest, Nicolas shook his head. “Don’t bother. I’ve already gotten the ‘I’m not at liberty to discuss that’ speech. I don’t need confirmation. You, Maxwell, Calhoun, your buddy,” he jerked a thumb toward the other bedroom.

“Norton, Jack Norton,” Gator said into his radio. “He’s very cooperative.” The molasses in his voice was dripping, which meant his prisoner was combative.

Nicolas froze for a moment when he heard the name. It was legendary in the world of snipers.
Kaden, did you get that? Tell the men to spread out, look for another sniper hidden somewhere. High ground, he’ll go up. Jack has a twin.

In spite of his tension, Nicolas kept his expression tranquil and continued with his conversation as if he hadn’t recognized the name. “And your buddy Norton all volunteered for a classified experiment Dr. Peter Whitney talked you into. He enhanced your psychic abilities and you were trained as a unit to work missions using your new talents. Unfortunately, there are severe repercussions to using them. All of you suffer continual headaches and other much more debilitating effects. When you’ve all had enough and want to learn how to function in the world without having to have the protection of your anchors at all times, put out the call to Lily Whitney, the doctor’s daughter, and she’ll help you.”

Ian’s voice whispered in Nicolas’s ear. “Lot’s of security on the computer. Far more than normal.”

“Bringing him in,” Gator reported.

Nicolas stepped to the side of the door and waited for Jack Norton to be brought into the room. He was a stocky man with beefy arms and chest, the defined muscles of a man who worked out daily and kept in shape. He looked a fighter, and his eyes were flat and cold and immediately jumped to Neil and then back at Nicolas with the promise of retaliation.

“Kneel down, Norton,” Nicolas ordered. “Keep your fingers locked behind your neck. You search him, Gator?”

“Knife the size of a sword on him,” Gator commented. “And just to be special, he had several throwing knives on him too.” He winked at Nicolas. “Thought I might miss those while I was staring in awe at that he-man knife.”