"I am nervous. I"m concerned about Jake, about how he might react to Dr. Grimble. He was totally uncooperative at first and downright hostile."
"Until he was told that we now have Gideon back with us."
"Yes, until he learned his brother had been captured."
"I realize that you might feel proprietorial where Jake is concerned and consider yourself his doctor, but must I remind you that Oliver was the person who programmed Jake and his siblings. If you"ve done your job and conditioned Jake correctly, then Oliver should have no trouble in making quick progress with him."
"Jake could react violently when he sees Dr. Grimble."
"Yes, he could. That"s why I sent Burgess with Ollie."
Mariah realized that all the talk in the world was not going to change anything. Perhaps she should consider another alternative. Was there any way she could get the upper hand in this situation? Could she take on Agnes and Oliver, as well as Burgess and Lester? No, she couldn"t. If she tried to play the hero, she could easily get Jake killed, not to mention herself, too.
The minutes dragged by, each second like an hour. Mariah finally gave in to temptation and glanced at the clock on the stove. d.a.m.n! Oliver Grimble had been upstairs with Jake for nearly twenty minutes, while she"d been faking a hundred and one answers to Agnes Payne"s endless questions. Once or twice Agnes had c.o.c.ked an eyebrow as if some of Mariah"s responses had surprised her, so Mariah had no idea if she had convinced the woman that she actually knew what she was talking about.
Suddenly the kitchen door burst open and Burgess shoved Jake into the room. Jake, who was now handcuffed, hazarded a quick glance in Marian"s direction and when their gazes met, she read the bad news in Jake"s eyes.
Oliver Grimble marched into the room and pointed a condemning finger at Jake. "He"s useless to us as he is now." Grimble glowered at Mariah. "I don"t know what she"s been doing with Jake, but she has made absolutely no progress in conditioning him for reprogramming."
Agnes snapped her head around and her beady-eyed gaze raked over Mariah. "You"ve been lying to us, Dr. Brooks."
"No, I haven"t been lying. I truly believed that I"d made progress with him. He seemed receptive. He-"
Agnes slapped her open palm down on the table. The sound reverberated throughout the kitchen. "Stop lying! You"ve failed at your first important a.s.signment for us. And I"m asking myself why."
"I got a good answer to that one." Lester came out of the shadows.
Agnes focused on the loathsome creature. "And you"re...?"
"Lester. And I know why Dr. Brooks didn"t do what she was supposed to do to Mr. Genius IQ."
"And just what is your theory, Lester?" Agnes asked.
"She"s got the hots for him. My guess is that instead of brainwashing him, she"s been messing around with him. If you know what I mean."
Agnes turned her wicked glare on Mariah. "Is that true? Have you fallen in love with our Jake?" Agnes walked across the room to where Burgess stood guard over a subdued Jake. She reached out and ran her fingertips over Jake"s cheek. He recoiled as if her touch had poisoned him. "He is quite beautiful, isn"t he? The ideal man."
"Lester"s crazy," Mariah said. "He"s angry with me because I rebuffed his crude advances."
"Whatever her reasons, Dr. Brooks has done nothing to condition Jake," Oliver said. "We"ve wasted time-wasted days-depending on her to prepare him. I"ll be starting at square one and from what I"ve seen of him tonight, I"m not sure Jake can be reprogrammed."
Agnes clutched Jake"s chin. "If you don"t cooperate with us, we will kill Gideon. I"d hate to lose him because I believe he can be useful to us again in the future, but the choice is yours. Your brother"s life is in your hands."
"I want Gideon set free," Jake said, his voice terse, his jaw clenched.
"In exchange for?" Agnes asked.
"My full cooperation."
A deep sigh died inside Marian as she tightened her lips to prevent its escape. No, Jake, don"t do this, she wanted to scream. Don"t sacrifice yourself! I can"t bear it if I lose you.
Ten.
"An interesting proposition," Agnes said as she studied Jake, who held his head high and looked his enemy right in the eye. "I"m curious as to why you didn"t make this offer to Dr. Brooks-" Agnes shot a sidelong glance at Mariah "-unless of course you thought you could manipulate her. Is that what happened? You used your charm to persuade her that she means something to you in order to use her to your advantage?"
"Dr. Brooks is a flunky, much like Burgess and Lester," Jake said. "I don"t deal with underlings. I outsmart them. And that"s what I did with Dr. Brooks. I simply outsmarted her, made her believe that I was succ.u.mbing to her hypnosis techniques."
"Is that what you want me to believe?" Agnes smiled.
Agnes"s sinister grin sent cold chills up Mariah"s spine. The woman suspected Mariah was not on the up-and-up. It was only a matter of time before she found out the truth-that Mariah wasn"t a psychiatrist dedicated to the Coalition, that she was a federal agent who had infiltrated the organization.
"If I were to believe that, I"d have to a.s.sume that Dr. Brooks is totally incompetent and her credentials are fraudulent." Agnes got right up in Jake"s face. "That"s it, isn"t it? Our Dr. Brooks is a fraud."
"I have no idea who or what she is," Jake replied. "For all I know she"s Minnie Mouse in disguise. I"m telling you that she sure as h.e.l.l had me fooled. She certainly conducted herself the way a Coalition psychiatrist would. It isn"t her fault that I"m not susceptible to mind control."
"He"s lying," Lester chimed in, his gaze darting back and forth from Agnes to Mariah. "She treated him way too good from the very beginning. She coddled him, that"s what she did."
Agnes pinned Burgess with her stare. "Is he right? Did Dr. Brooks treat Jake with kid gloves?"
"Yes, ma"am. In the beginning. But when those tactics didn"t work, she started getting tougher with him."
Agnes contemplated the situation. Mariah could practically see the wheels in her head turning. She knew the woman was smart-too smart not to put two and two together and come up with the obvious four.
"I"m not sure what to believe at this point," Agnes admitted. "I need time to think." She turned to her husband. "We need to talk. Privately." Oliver nodded. Agnes then looked at Burgess. "Take Jake and Dr. Brooks upstairs and lock them in for the time being. I want you or Lester guarding the door at all times until I decide what we"re going to do." Agnes surveyed Mariah from head to toe. "Remove Dr. Brooks"s gun. She"s not going to be needing it."
Mariah didn"t protest-how could she?-when Burgess followed Agnes Payne"s orders and took the Smith & Wesson from her hip holster.
"Make it easy on yourself," Jake said. "Let me see my brother, a.s.sure myself that he"s all right, then when you release him, I"m all yours."
"That does seem an easy solution." Agnes laid her hand on Mariah"s shoulder. "But it doesn"t solve our problem with Dr. Brooks. She"s a puzzle I intend to solve."
"Dr. Brooks has nothing to do with it," Jake told Agnes. "I told you that I fooled her. You can"t judge her abilities as a psychiatrist by whether or not she was able to condition me for reprogramming."
"Perhaps you"re right, but I don"t intend to make any hasty decisions-about you or Dr. Brooks." With a flick of her hand Agnes motioned for Burgess to remove Jake and Mariah.
Both she and Jake cooperated. After all, what other choice did they have right now? Once upstairs, locked in and alone, they might be able to put their heads together and come up with a plan. Mariah led the trek, with Jake behind her and both Burgess and Lester trailing them. She despised Lester all the more now because he was enjoying her predicament far too much. It was only a matter of time before he tried something with her now that he knew he didn"t have to take orders from her.
"Get inside," Burgess instructed when they reached the bedroom.
Mariah rushed inside, but before Jake could follow, Burgess gave him a hard shove that sent him crashing into the room and onto his knees. Lester, who had followed them upstairs, laughed like the braying jacka.s.s he was. Burgess slammed the door shut and locked it. Mariah rushed to Jake, but he put up his hand in a back-off warning. He lifted himself to his feet, then standing straight and tall, he glared at the closed door. Glancing at Mariah, he put a finger to his lips to indicate silence. She nodded. After she moved across the room to the point farthest from the door, she motioned for Jake to come to her. He joined her immediately. They hovered in the comer near the closet.
"It"s only a matter of time before they move us," she whispered. "I have to act quickly." Mariah balanced herself by placing a hand on Jake"s shoulder, then she crossed her leg and lifted her booted foot upward.
"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" Jake asked, keeping his voice low.
"I"ve got a micro-transmitter hidden in the heel of my boot. It"s for emergency use only. If I send a signal, federal agents will surround this place within a couple of hours."
"Why haven"t you used it before?"
"Because the goal of my mission was to keep you safe, at all costs, even my own life. I couldn"t risk Burgess or Lester killing you if we were stormed by federal agents. But now that my cover is all but blown and you"ve decided that our only way out is to sacrifice yourself, we have nothing to lose, do we?"
"What about Gideon?"
"If you make a deal with Agnes and Oliver, you have no guarantee they"ll keep their end of the bargain. My bet is they"ll keep both you and Gideon. A deal with them is a deal with the devil."
"Don"t send the transmission." Jake grabbed her hand. "Please."
Mariah knew that Jake wasn"t a man who begged. Not ever. He wasn"t the type who"d asked favors or depend on others. But he"d said please. And she could see by the look in his eyes that he was pleading with her.
"Sending the signal could be our only chance of survival," Mariah told him. "Is Gideon"s life worth more to you than your own?" Is his life worth more to you than mine?
"As long as we"re alive and cooperative, we"ve got a chance. But Gideon has no chance. And he"s got Brooke. So whose life is more important?"
Yours. Your life is more important to me. But she understood Jake"s reasoning. If it were one of her brothers, she"d exchange her life for his with few second thoughts.
Mariah snapped the boot heel back in place, lowered her foot to the floor and looked directly at Jake. "Is there a Plan B?"
Jake grinned. "That"s my girl." He skimmed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Plan B is to cooperate with the enemy-up to a point."
"Up to what point?"
"Up to the point where they free Gideon and you," Jake told her. He halted her protest. "I"ve got to get you out of here. Agnes is downstairs right now putting everything together. Now that you"re under suspicion, she"ll do whatever she has to do to find out what you"re all about. And once she knows you"re a fed-"
"I"ll be as good as dead."
He grasped her shoulders and shook her gently. "I"m not going to let that happen. The first opportunity you get to leave, I want you to go and not look back."
"Do you expect me to leave you, to let them-"
He silenced her with a kiss. Quick, tender and totally effective. When he lifted his head, she simply stared at him. Quiet. Pensive. She realized it would be no use to argue the point with him. Jake had made up his mind to sacrifice himself to save Gideon-and to save her. What he didn"t know was that she wasn"t the type to accept his n.o.ble sacrifice, at least not for her. Either Jake and she came out of this together or not at all. He wasn"t the only one willing to put his life on the line for the people he loved.
"Jake... no matter what happens, I want you to know something."
He stared at her quizzically.
"I"m glad we"ve had this time together, despite the circ.u.mstances."
"Yeah, me, too."
Mariah slipped away from him and walked over to the window, raised the blinds and stared up at the dark night sky. If only there weren"t any bars on the windows. If only Agnes and Oliver hadn"t shown up when they did. If only- Jake came up behind her, slid his arms around her and pulled her back against him. He nuzzled the side of her neck and whispered her name. "Mariah. My wonderful Mariah."
Less than an hour later, Burgess unlocked the door and he and Lester stormed into the room. Burgess handcuffed Jake and herded him out of the bedroom. A leering Lester grabbed Mariah"s arm and dragged her toward the door.
"I"m in charge of you now." Lester"s broad grin revealed his crooked, yellow teeth.
Mariah swallowed hard. A tight knot of apprehension formed in the pit of her stomach. She hated having him touch her. He took such perverse pleasure in their reversed circ.u.mstances.
When the four of them reached the living room, Agnes was nowhere to be seen. Oliver issued the orders. "Cuff her, too. We want her treated as a prisoner for the time being. Put them in your vehicle and follow closely behind us. We"re moving them to another position tonight. Somewhere we know they"ll be secure. We"re too close to getting what we want to take any chances."
Mariah stole a quick glance in Jake"s direction and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was- that it wouldn"t have mattered if she"d sent the SOS earlier. By the time the Feds could have gotten here, they"d have been long gone.
Neither Mariah nor Jake put up a fuss when Burgess and Lester escorted them to the Saturn SUV. Now was not the time to try for an escape. But Mariah would be waiting and watching for an opportunity, one less risky than the present situation.
Burgess opened the side door and shoved Jake inside, then he opened the pa.s.senger door, reached inside the glove compartment of the SUV and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. After tossing them to Lester, he said, "Cuff her, then toss her in the back with Ingram. You"ll have to keep an eye on them while I drive. We don"t want any screwups."
Lester eagerly manacled her wrists, then jerked her back so that he could easily whisper in her ear. "Just think of the fun we"ll have later. You with your hands bound behind your back and my hands all over you."
Mariah glared at him. He laughed, then kissed her neck. She quivered with revulsion. When he yanked her around to face him, he grabbed her face with one hand. She knew he intended to kiss her on the mouth. Acting on pure instinct, she spit in his face. He stopped dead still, shock and anger etching his features.
He reached up and wiped the spittle from his face with his palm, then wiped his hand on his jeans. "A regular little spitfire, aren"t you? That don"t bother me none. All the more fun for me to tame you."
"Stop fooling around and get her in the back seat," Burgess ordered. "Dr. Payne is motioning for us to head out."
Les shoved Mariah into the back with Jake, then fastened her seat belt. And for good measure, he squeezed her left breast. Jake growled. Mariah turned to Jake and gave him a warning glare, sending him a silent message. Please, Jake, don"t do anything stupid. Jake quieted and within minutes Burgess started the Saturn and headed out, Agnes and Oliver directly behind them.
In the darkness, Mariah couldn"t see anything more than the outline of Jake"s face and body, but she could feel him next to her. Feel his heat. Sense his concern. And somehow knowing he was there beside her made the uncertainty more bearable. Neither of them knew what lay ahead. But unless she could come up with an alternate plan, things didn"t look good.
They traveled for hours, well into the night. Jake tried to take note of any road signs or markers on their route and he knew Mariah was doing the same. Undoubtedly their captors weren"t concerned that Mariah and he might figure out where they were being taken. They had traveled a series of back roads where the traffic was minimal. Guessing at time, Jake figured they had headed up another mountain close to thirty minutes ago. Or was it the same mountain, just on the other side?
Jake prided himself on always being in control of his emotions. Never the type to open a vein and emotionally bleed all over the place. But seeing Agnes and Oliver again had stirred up a hornet"s nest of deeply buried anger and hatred. On some level-the primitive level-he wanted to rip out their hearts for what they"d done to his family. But the logical, sensible part of him knew that the best way to exact revenge on the ones who had taken away his family and stolen his father"s life-long work was to bring down the Coalition.
When Burgess pulled the Saturn to a stop, Jake glanced outside, but saw nothing but a row of fencing and a large metal gate. The car following them pulled up alongside the SUV and within seconds a gate swung open and the car drove up a winding drive. The SUV followed. Ahead lay a small, isolated cabin. Not new. Not large.
When Agnes and Oliver exited their vehicle, she motioned for Burgess to roll down his window, which he did.
"We"ll stay here overnight, then head out first thing in the morning. I"m lining up a better place to put Jake for safekeeping," Agnes said. "Bring them inside for now."
Jake rubbed his shoulder against Marian"s. He wanted to find a way to rea.s.sure her, to remind her that things weren"t hopeless. Even if he wasn"t so sure himself, he didn"t want her to give up hope. Odd how, despite her being such a strong, independent woman, he felt he should be her protector. She might consider herself to be his bodyguard, but in the deepest part of his masculine psyche, he felt that their roles were reversed. Or at least they should be.
Once inside the cold, dank old cabin. Burgess used his flashlight to locate the kerosene lamps that were apparently the only source of light for the place. After the lamps were lit, Agnes ordered Jake and Mariah separated. While he remained in the living room area, Lester took Mariah into what Jake a.s.sumed was the kitchen.
Agnes shouted out orders. "Burgess, build a fire in the fireplace and warm this place up. It"s freezing in here. And, Oliver, go check on Dr. Brooks. Tell Lester to keep his hands off her."
Jake didn"t wait for things to settle down before he repeated his former offer to Agnes. "Let"s end this thing here and now. Take me to see Gideon, then set him free and I"ll-"
"You are in no position to make a deal," Agnes snapped her reply. "Sit down and shut up."
"My offer won"t stand indefinitely," Jake continued, disregarding her warning. "I"ll be totally useless to you. Is that what you want? If Gideon is more important to you than I am, then just kill me now and get it over with. Otherwise, I am in a very good position to make a deal."