Night Game

mere. Flame won’t let anything happen to you.”

Nonny hugged him back. “I’m not afraid. This is excitin’ stuff at my age.”

Gator stood for a moment, wanting to say something to Flame, to tell her how much he loved her, but he couldn’t find the words. He looked his fill and abruptly turned on his heel and walked out.

He heard Flame’s soft whisper behind him as he closed the door.

“It was you that went shopping for our romantic night, wasn’t it, Nonny? It wasn’t Wyatt after all. I don’t think you should be talking about washing my mouth out with soap.”

There was a hint of laughter in Flame’s voice, maybe forced, but Nonny wouldn’t hear that. She’d only hear how confident and natural Flame sounded. His heart clenched hard. He’d lost her. She’d never panic. She’d fight with her last breath to protect Nonny. She was everything in a woman he’d ever wanted, or imagined, and he’d thrown away his chance with her.

He locked the heavy door behind him and ran down the corridor leading to the outside. It wouldn’t be easy to break in, but it wasn’t impossible. For the first time he allowed himself to really think about Flame’s childhood. He had never dared to examine her past before, knowing it was too dangerous. Now, they were coming for her, and if he felt rage toward them, if his control slipped, the consequences were on them.

Her childhood had been ruthlessly ripped away from her and she’d been used exactly like a laboratory rat. Exactly. Whitney hadn’t liked her, couldn’t control her, so she had been the perfect object for his experiments. He’d dehumanized her in his mind and simply used her.

Yeah, he felt rage all right, but it was cold and calculating and very scary. It welled up like a volcano, a melt down of his careful control. He shook with anger, with the need for action. You’re not going to get her, you son of a bitch. He meant it. He’d kill everyone; flatten them all be fore they laid one hand on her. And God help Whitney if Gator ever found out where he was hiding, because there would be no mercy for him.

He stepped into the night, crouching low and remaining motionless to acclimate himself to the sounds out side. He heard the scurry of steps, men moving in standard two-by-two formations. Cover and move. It was a textbook play. He counted eight coming in from the north and four at the front and back of the building with another eight on the other side. Whitney wasn’t playing games -he wanted Flame back.

Around the corner he found a downed soldier. He knelt to feel for a pulse. The kid didn’t look older than twenty and he was already dead-dead because a mad man thought himself above the law. Fury shook him.

Kadan. Clear our men away from the north wall. Have all the general’s men drop back completely clear of the area. Send them away. I’m not having these kids die for a son of a bitch like Whitney.

There was a small silence. Kadan’s voice was very calm. Negative, Gator, stand down. That parking lot funnels directly into the street. It’s a natural corridor for sound to travel.

Then fuckin’ do your job. You’re shielder, throw up a shield at the far end of the lot because I’m taking them down. You have about ten seconds to get everyone clear.

Kadan didn’t bother to argue, reading the tone and knowing it was useless. Move them out of there, Tucker. You too, Ian. Send them to the far end of the compound and tell them to take cover. S when you’re all clear. And Gator, I’ll need more time to seal the place off. It’s not that damned easy.

Rage was boiling. Gator couldn’t have stopped it if he tried. His body trembled, broke out in a sweat with the effort to contain it. His vision narrowed, tunneled, until every detail of the northern side of the building was etched into his mind in vivid imagery. He saw the men as shadowy targets, nothing more. They had come for one purpose. To take Flame back to a cage where Whitney could torture her, infect her with diseases. God only knew what he would do next. Impregnate her? Take her child from her? The man was capable of anything.

He snapped his teeth together, biting down hard as the sounds welled up, demanding release.

Maudit! What the hell is taking so long? I’m not going to be able to hold back.

Damn it, Gator. Have you even thought about what you’re doing? You could be blowing your entire career.

I’m taking out his army. I can’t get him, but I can hurt him, put him back several years. I don’ care how much money the bastard has, it takes time to build up manpower.

The general isn’t going to be happy about this. Kadan gave it one last try.

Where the fuck is the seal?

The soldiers are clear but the seal isn’t finished on the street. A couple of innocents driving by. We can’t take the chance. You have to hold. Kadan’s tone said he expected it, didn’t like it, but knew he couldn’t stop the inevitable.

Ian’s voice broke in. I’m taking out the four in the front.

Wait for backup, Ian, Kadan instructed. Tucker’s on his way to you.

Gator’s gut churned, knotted, the rage moving through him like a living entity. It was rising, much like lava needing to spew forth, impossible to contain. It was all there, swirling like a tornado inside of him. Flame believing he’d betrayed her. Whitney’s atrocities. The terrible deeds done to Joy. The dead soldier.

You have a go.

The note burst out, a low-level wave of infrasound invisible to the human ear. It traveled the corridor along the north side, slamming into everything in its path. It traveled through a small structure, flattening it as the sonic wave struck. It hit living tissue, vibrating internal organs. The wave remained at seven cycles per second, corresponding with the median alpha-rhythm frequencies in the brain.

They’re down. They’re down. Back off.

Like hell. I’m going to the south side. Eight came in that way. Let me know if our soldiers are in the clear.

Gator took a breath and let it out, trying to calm the seething rage as he surveyed the downed targets. Infra sound waves stayed close to the ground. They traveled long distances through just about anything in their path and were considered unstoppable. As the GhostWalkers had discovered in earlier field tests, without Kadan’s shields, the sound waves continued to travel, destroying everything in their path.

There were eight downed targets with eight more on the opposite side of the building. If the other Ghost- Walkers were able to take down this sizable force, it would be a significant blow to Whitney. Even paying for an army meant finding good men and if Whitney was enhancing some of them, that took time.

Gator began moving around to the other side of the building. Moving through the front area. Don’ mistake me for a target. He crouched low, rifle in hand, and eased his way through the wide row of trimmed bushes.

Go in close to the building, Tucker advised.

Gator worked his way to the southern corner of the building where the other eight mercenaries were closing in. I have a visual. I count eight You have a shield up?

It won’t work on this side. The opening is too large and the sonic wave will break through. You have to narrow the corridor, Kadan answered.

Gator studied the layout of the buildings and fences. It looked like a maze and Kadan was right. He not only would flatten several buildings, killing anyone inside, but they would be unable to contain the infrasonic wave. It would travel through the streets smashing everything in its path with the force of a volcanic eruption. He pushed back the need to strike, to neutralize the threat against Flame instantly, and forced his mind to think logically.

The best bet is to push them toward the maintenance yard. We’ll have to go in and take them out.

Gunfire erupted around the front of the building. It acted as a signal and immediately the eight men on the south side began spraying the area around them, moving in a much tighter and faster formation toward the building. Four gained the wall and flung what appeared to be grenades into the bank of windows Gator knew were offices. The explosion blasted the smoke into the air, obscuring vision.

Ian? Tucker? Check in, Kadan demanded.

Two down in the front. Two to go, Ian reported.

Tucker interrupted. He’s hit.

I’m not hit-well, maybe a little hit, but no problem.

Gator swore under his breath. He’d been the one to pull the soldiers back. He had eight men swarming one side of the building with at least six more front and back. Ian was hit and there were men on the roof. For one brief