Predatory Game (33 page)

Saber moved fast, her small figure a blur as she came rushing toward him. The elevator door slammed shut and they were moving. Jess counted the seconds it took to get to the first floor—an eternity when the two gunmen had only to run down a flight of stairs. He could only hope that both were so shaken by the strange phenomenon of flying art that they remained where they were for a few moments, although they were professionals. They hadn’t fired blindly, or panicked, either of them.

The door slid open and he propelled the chair out onto the floor of the small room Patsy used as a den. That was the other advantage Jess figured he had. The elevator shaft was hidden in the walls and all the panels appeared to be smooth. Even if the enemy had a house plan, the location of the elevator doors wasn’t included. Patsy had installed the lift within the past year. They wouldn’t have any way of knowing which room the elevator opened into.

“You hanging in there, Pats?” Jess asked, worried about his sister.

Her breathing was shallow and her pulse was racing. Her skin was cold and clammy and she wasn’t even attempting to hold herself up, slumping against him as if she were too exhausted to move.

“Talk to me, sis,” Jess said, powering the chair down the hall to the back of the house, where he’d parked the van beside the ramp.
Saber, something’s wrong.

Saber shook her head. They were in a hell of a mess. She could hear the men running through the house.
They have radios. Someone’s outside.

Fuck. I left the van running. They’ve got us trapped.
Because whoever was outside would be waiting in that van, or at a vantage point where they could pick off anyone running to it. He had two women to protect, and if the enemy got their hands on either of them, they’d have Jess by the balls.

Give me some direction.
Saber skidded to a halt.

The basement. Through the kitchen. The door’s to the left of the pantry.

Stairs?
She was not hiding in a basement while he tried to outrace them in his chair.
Jess, I’m not leaving you.
She didn’t care if he used his manly I’m-in-command voice and glared at her, she was sticking to him like glue.

I’ll be with you. Just go. Get there fast before they find us.

Saber ran, following Jess’s instructions on left and right turns. She yanked open the door. Her heart sank. The stairs were narrow and steep, although there weren’t that many of them.

Help Patsy.

Saber dragged the taller woman from Jess’s lap, getting an arm around her waist. Patsy said nothing, barely opening her eyes, slumping her weight against Saber, nearly knocking her down the stairs.

Hurry, Saber. You’ll have to get my chair and then close the door.

Saber didn’t look at him, terrified at what he planned. She concentrated on getting Patsy down the stairs. The woman wasn’t walking, so Saber had no choice but to half carry, half drag her. She left Patsy slumped on the floor of the basement and rushed back to see Jess swinging his body from his chair and, using only upper body strength, began to descend the stairs.

The muscles in his arms and shoulders bulged with the effort, and she found her breath catching in her throat. There was determination on his face, his mouth firm, eyes glittering with menace. Even on the stairs, pulling the lower half of his body, he managed to look more predator than prey. She swallowed her admiration and jumped over him, landing like a cat beside the chair to yank it out of the way so she could close the door.

The basement instantly went pitch black. For a moment there was silence, then Jess swore beneath his breath and struck a match. “There’s a light switch near the door, Saber, can you see it?”

She flicked it and below, back toward the wall, a single bulb lit up. “I take it Patsy doesn’t use this much.”

“No. Hurry. Get down here. We’ll have to turn off the light again and unscrew the bulb so it won’t work when they try it.”

She was already carrying the chair down to him, taking the stairs two at a time. Placing the chair beside him, she raced to the back of the room and unscrewed the lightbulb, once more plunging the room into darkness.

“They’ll be coming, Jesse. They aren’t going to be fooled into thinking we’re gone.”

She crouched down beside Patsy and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, aware of Jess moving toward them in the dark. Only the energy field allowed her to “see” where everyone was. Although she was listening intently for the sound of the enemy, she automatically picked up the rhythm of Patsy’s heart—and stiffened.

“Jesse. We’ve got a problem. Can you get over here now? Feel your way to us? You have a clear path. Right now.” She turned Patsy’s limp body over so she lay on her back. Pressing her palm over Patsy’s heart, Saber looked toward Jesse in dismay.

C
HAPTER
14

“P
atsy’s having a heart attack,” Saber said. “If we don’t help her now, her heart could be damaged beyond repair by the time we make it to a hospital.”

“What the hell are you saying?” For the first time, Jess’s composure was truly shaken. “She can’t have a heart attack, she’s too young.”

The wheelchair shot across the basement floor. Jess leaned down to find his sister’s pulse, his fingers searching in the darkness. “Are you certain, Saber? I can’t tell.”

“Yes, I’m certain.”

“Do something.”

Saber shoved back her hair, sitting back on her heels, one hand pressed to her forehead. Patsy needed help fast. The enemy was searching the house and the grounds and eventually would find them. Jess couldn’t run. Neither could Patsy. They were royally screwed unless the GhostWalker team arrived in the next few minutes.

She took a breath, let it out, and laid her palm over Patsy’s chest. At once she could feel the heart squeezing, clamping, laboring when it should have beat steadily.

“What are you doing?” Jess demanded, his breath coming in a harsh rasp.

“The only thing I can think of. I’m going to try to trip her heart back into rhythm.”

“Using an electrical charge?”

“Do you have a better idea?” Fear made her snap at him and she was instantly ashamed. She couldn’t blame him for questioning her. She killed people, she didn’t save them. “I’m sorry. You do what you think will help.”

Jess swallowed a retort and pushed down the urge to order Saber away from Patsy. “Do you have to sync up your rhythm with hers? Is that how it works?”

“Yes. And we don’t have time to discuss this.”

“It’s too big a risk for you to take.” Because he damn well wasn’t losing both of them. “Give her to me and we’ll make a run for it.”

“She doesn’t have that kind of time.” Saber ignored him, drawing air into her lungs and breathing away her fear of killing Patsy—her fear of losing Jess. The only thing that really mattered in that moment was saving Patsy’s life. And she was Patsy’s only chance. For once, she would try to use what gifts she had to help someone.

She felt the jolt as her own heart squeezed hard, shifting off rhythm. Her chest hurt, the pain worse than expected, but she fought it back and concentrated on her own rhythm, steady and true. Patsy moved weakly, bringing up her hand to cover Saber’s. Fingers fluttered against the back of her hand, and Patsy’s mind moved against hers. Tears burned in the back of Saber’s eyes as she felt Patsy’s acceptance of their merging. Rather than fight her, Patsy was trying to rise above the pain and fear to help connect.

For a moment it worked, Patsy’s heart following direction, settling into a steady beat, but almost at once the jarring pain was back, squeezing down on both of them. Saber moistened her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. She had no choice. If she was going to keep Patsy alive, she was going to have to shock her heart back into a normal pace.

She put her other hand on top of Patsy’s, the only warning, and sent the jolt sizzling through her body. The heart stuttered, bumped, picked up the beat, falling into a steady tempo once again. Saber waited, silently counting the seconds, aware of Patsy’s heart and the ebb and flow of blood through her veins. She had no idea she was whispering until Jess touched her shoulder and she jumped, shocked that it was her chanting—
please, please, please
—aloud.

“Patsy?” Jess said softly. “Can you sit up?”

“Not yet,” Saber said. “Give her a few minutes.” The pain was beginning to recede, the tight bands in her chest easing.

We don’t have the time, baby. I can hear them coming. I can hold the door against them for a few minutes, but they’ll know we’re in here. They could burn us out or simply stand at the top of the stairs and spray the basement with bullets. We don’t know what kind of firepower they have.

She hated that he was right. She was exhausted, and her body still felt as if she’d been in a train wreck.
Tell me what you want me to do.

Jess hated the utter weariness in her voice. He had to ask more of her, although he knew the drain of using psychic abilities. She had just risked her life to save his sister and she’d felt whatever pain accompanied a heart attack with the same intensity Patsy had. And Patsy…Patsy had been tortured and terrified, driven into having a heart attack—all because of him and his choices in his life. It was a hell of thing for a man to have two of the most important women in his life in jeopardy while he—a man who’d spent his life working to save others—was helpless to save them.

“Can you two make it to the vent leading under the house?”

Saber’s swift intake of breath told him she knew what he planned. “We’re not leaving you, Jesse. That’s not an option.”

“Saber, I’m trusting you to get Patsy out of here.”

“Not without you. No way. I mean it, Jesse.”

He reached out and snagged the nape of her neck, his fingers settling around her to give her a small shake. “Don’t fucking argue with me when we’re all about to die. Get Patsy and get the hell out of here.”

She caught his arm with both hands and rested her head against him. “I can’t leave you. I can’t.”

“Baby, do this for me. I need you and Patsy safe. I can take care of myself, but I can’t take care of the two of you. Hurry. We’re out of time.”

Saber spun away from him and crawled to Patsy. “Can you walk?”

“If I have to,” Patsy said, her voice strained.

Saber reached down and took Patsy’s arm to help her up. Without looking at Jess she helped Patsy toward the screened vent. It was easier for her because she could “feel” where objects were in the dark. “If you aren’t with us in ten minutes, Jess, I’m coming back for you.”

“Make it twenty.”

“The hell with that.” She yanked at the screen until it pulled from the frame. In the dark, no one was going to notice it, not when Jess would be sitting down in the basement in plain sight like a sacrifice. She wanted to scream and throw things in protest, but instead, she pushed Patsy through the opening.

“Where’s Jess?” Patsy asked.

Saber took her hand and yanked her forward. They had to go slow, bent over, and find their way. “We have to hurry.”

Patsy came with her obediently but she was beginning to be more aware. “Where’s my brother?”

Saber kept dragging her along. It was difficult to determine the correct direction, especially since her mind was on Jess rather than on their escape. “Just hurry, Patsy.”

Patsy suddenly swung in front of her and stopped, forcing Saber to do the same. In the dark, she reached out and touched Saber’s face, feeling the tracks of tears. “He isn’t coming with us.”

“No. He could never have made it through here with the chair and he wanted us safe. I’ll go back as soon as I know you’re out of danger.”

Patsy pressed a hand to her chest. “We can’t just leave him. Those men…” She trailed off and a sob escaped.

“Shh. You have to be quiet. Jesse can take care of himself.” Saber sent up a quick prayer that he could, wheelchair and all. He often looked as if he could, and he certainly had psychic gifts, ones that were a little scary when she thought about it. “In any case, it’s too late. If we went back now, he’d think we were the enemy. Right now, all he’s thinking is that anyone coming at him is out to harm us. That’s his advantage—he won’t have to think about anything beyond pulling the trigger.” While she talked, she kept tugging at Patsy’s hand, keeping her moving away from the basement and toward what she hoped was the wooded area at the side of the house.

They were forced to go to hands and knees to continue moving. Saber was used to closed-in places, but Patsy began to shake even more. She pressed her fingers to her mouth, trying to suppress the constant weeping. “I’m so afraid. And I hurt. There’s so much pain.”

“I know,” Saber murmured, shifting her gaze back toward Jess, wishing she could be in two places at one time. “We’ll get you to a hospital, but we have to keep moving, Patsy. I’m sorry. I know it hurts, but we don’t have a choice.”

They were near the screened vent. Saber could see it was much lighter outside. Dawn had crept in, pushing away the night and all cover. She stilled Patsy with a hand to her shoulder, cautioning her to stay quiet and not move. Saber carefully removed the screen and set it aside, all the while listening, trying to pick up any sign of their enemy. When it appeared quiet outside, she signaled Patsy to remain still and she slithered out on her belly, making herself small, cloaking her body as best she could so that she faded somewhat into her surroundings.

Thunder crashed in the distance and the rain fell in a steady downpour, soaking her instantly. She crawled through the flower bed, staying low to the ground as she moved out into the open ground. Once out from the shadow of the house, she spotted a guard near the back porch. He had one foot on the stairs and the other planted on a small shrub as he cradled his gun and peered into the house.

Saber sighed. She could have made it to the woods and safety if she’d been alone, but no way with Patsy. She had no choice but to take him out. Steeling herself for another psychic blast of violent energy, she began to scoot across the ground in plain sight, inch by inch, moving toward her prey.