married again, it’s not a big deal.”
He sat her down on the table and pinned her thighs when she tried to push away from him. Tears glittered in her eyes along with an angry fire that would get him a right hook in the jaw if he wasn’t careful. He took her mouth in a slow deep kiss and stroked inside of her once—twice—until she was pliant in his arms.
“I never said I didn’t want to get married again. I just said it wasn’t necessary.” He found her ring, a smaller replica of his own also hanging from a sturdy silver chain, in the bottom compartment of her rifle case. “Because we’re still married.”
“Wha—”
“I see you’re speechless for once.” He fastened the chain around her neck and kissed her again. “I’m sorry to say it, but I shredded your divorce papers.”
She laughed and threw her arms around him in sheer joy. “I love you, Gabe. Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“My pleasure, sweetheart.”
Gabe kissed her again, and her legs tightened around his waist while his shook with desire. He didn’t think he’d be able to make it back to the bed, so he lowered them to the carpet and laid flat on his back. She was like a goddess above him—her head thrown back in surrender and his ring flashing like fire as she rode him with complete abandon. All thoughts of control were lost as he felt her clamp around him and cry out his name. All he could do was follow.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“I found your test subject,” Ethan yelled through the door, pounding against it just to make sure he was heard.
“We’ll meet you downstairs,” Gabe called back, grabbing for his pants.
“I guess it’s back to work,” Grace said. “I want to help, Gabe. I know I disappointed the team before, but I can still do something.”
He looked at her long and hard, but she’d put her shields back in place, and he couldn’t see any hint of the vulnerability he thought he’d heard in her voice.
“I can’t make any promises.”
She nodded in understanding, and he breathed a sigh of relief. They dressed quickly in black cargos and matching T-shirts, arming themselves to go one floor below just as if they were going out on a mission. Old habits were hard to break.
“You two look rested,” Jack said lazily as they entered the second floor off the main staircase.
Grace ignored Jack and went to stand over Ethan’s shoulder, and Jack and Gabe shared a silent look. She hadn’t spoken to Jack at all since she’d been rescued from Kimball. Part of her was embarrassed that he’d seen her so out of control, Gabe knew, but another part of her was hurt that he didn’t back her up when Gabe told her to leave Iran. They’d work it out eventually, but there was tension in the air. Only Ethan seemed oblivious to the fact.
Jack was straddling a chair and playing a game of solitaire on the coffee table while Logan was working in the protected area they’d set up for him so he could safely play with explosive materials. He wore clear goggles and seemed to be concentrating intently on his task, but Gabe knew he’d heard every word since they’d walked in.
“What do you have, Ethan?” Gabe asked.
“Check out screen one.” Ethan pulled up files from his computer and displayed them on the wall screen. “Speaker of the House William Sloane was speaking at a college about job growth in front of a crowd of more than three thousand people when he suddenly fell ill and collapsed on stage. The paramedics on scene originally thought it was cardiac arrest, which I guess technically it was if you’re talking about all your organs turning into soup.”
“Ethan,” Gabe said, tiredly. “Stay focused.”
“Right.” Ethan put up photos of varying states of Sloane’s body as the evening progressed on screen two. “Sloane was still conscious and communicating as they airlifted him to the hospital. By the time they were halfway there, the medics stated in their report that he began to bleed profusely from his ears, nose, and mouth. Sloane was dead by the time they landed.”
“I guess Kimball is getting rid of his competition,” Jack said. “He’s not going to want anyone around who knows what The Passover Project is capable of.”
Ethan brought up another screen that had nothing but jumbled letters and numbers on it, and he typed in a long series of codes until words formed. He was locked into the investigating agent’s computer, reading his report even as the man was adding to it.
“Homeland Security has already filed Sloane’s death as top-level security and they’re testing the body, or what’s left of it, as we speak,” Ethan said. “They’ve searched his home and office, but Sloane wasn’t stupid. They won’t find what they’re looking for, and if Kimball’s scientist recreated The Passover Project in its entirety, then the doctors testing Sloane’s body will find no trace of what killed him.”
“If Homeland Security looks hard enough, they’ll find Sloane’s ties to Standridge. There are too many connections between his corporations and the experiments. Even his interest in Frank Bennett. They’ll know he was involved in something he shouldn’t have been.” It was the first time Grace had spoken since they’d come downstairs.
“Every file you could think of that might possibly lead the agents investigating in the right direction has been wiped clean,” Ethan said.
“They’ll bury Sloane as a damned hero,” Jack said, tossing down his cards and standing up to join them in front of the screen. “And no one will ever know that the man who was third in line for the Presidency was a terrorist. He would have had control of the world in just a matter of years.”
“Now that honor belongs to Kimball,” Ethan said.
“Not if we get to him first,” Gabe said. “And the end justifies the means. We know the kind of man Sloane was, and he’s paid in full for his crimes. We’ve got to focus on Kimball. What have you got on possible auction sites?” he asked Ethan.
Ethan cleared the three screens of Sloane’s death and went back to work at his computer. “I know Kimball has got something in the works. I tapped into his secure phone line and have been piggybacking his calls since I couldn’t eavesdrop through conventional means, and I’ve deciphered his code enough to know that the auction will take place in three days at sunset. What I don’t know is where it’s going to be.”
“What are the options?” Grace asked. “And do you know who’s going to be in attendance?”
“I’m putting the list of attendees up on screen one, though I’m not a hundred percent sure that’s everyone.”
A list of eight names came on the screen—seven men and one woman—and Jack let out a low whistle. “No, that pretty much looks like everyone. The ones on this list are the only ones who could afford to meet Kimball’s price.”
Gabe took Grace’s hand when he saw Tussad’s name on the list, and she gently squeezed his fingers in reassurance.
“They’ll want to see a demonstration,” Logan said. “Sloane’s death won’t be proof enough for them because the details have been covered up. They’ll demand to see what it can actually do. The auction site will have to be secure for several hours so they can see the weapon work from start to finish.”
“And they’ll want to be comfortable,” Grace said. “The people on this list won’t give up creature comforts for that long. They’ll expect to be wined and dined and given proper accommodations. It’ll be like a damned summit meeting for terrorists.”
“The first possible location is in Kiev,” Ethan said.
“No,” Gabe and Grace said together.
“Alexi Sokolov has a home in Kiev,” Gabe explained. “He’s on your guest list. Kimball won’t show partiality by making the auction in one of the attendees’ hometowns. It needs to be neutral territory.”
“Ooookay,” Ethan said. “Here are the other two options.”
The wall screens filled with information and photographs, and they all took in the information, processing what they knew about Kimball and the rest of his guests.
