Lying there bound and helpless and trembling uncontrollably, she began to speak. In a shaking voice she told him about an early phase of EDNA. Unbeknownst to The Jaguar, it was a phase that had later failed during the testing stage. The theory had been good, but when the system was tested, fatal flaws were discovered.
The Jaguar recorded her every word. All the while she prayed Daniel Savage hadn’t already spoken about the failed program. She knew The Jaguar would eventually see through the lies. But if she was lucky, lying to him now might buy her some time.
Hope came to a grinding halt when the door swung open. Mattie’s gaze flew to the door. A chill passed through her when a man in paramilitary fatigues stepped into the room.
“I just spoke to Savage.” He thrust an accusing finger at Mattie. “She’s lying.”
The Jaguar turned to her, his eyes glittering with anger and sadistic anticipation. “Ah, Ms. Logan, you disappoint me.”
“I’m not lying,” she choked.
“You should have known I would discover such an unsophisticated ploy.” He picked up the probe and frowned. “You’ve left me no choice but to do this the hard way,” he said and started toward her.
CUTTER TOOK OUT the sentry with the knife. He dragged the body into a utility closet and locked the door. The screams had stopped, but they’d rattled him badly. Deep in the bowels of The Jaguar’s compound, he realized the place was much more than the nerve center for a terrorist cell. There were elaborate laboratories where, he suspected, scientists from all over the world converged to create weapons of mass destruction. There were underground gun ranges. But the worst thing Cutter saw were the torture chambers. He could smell the terror. A smell that conjured up memories he could not let himself dwell on.
He approached a T where another hall intersected. At the sound of voices, he stopped and peered around the corner. Two men with automatic rifles stood just outside a steel door, smoking cigarettes. One of the men he recognized as The Jaguar’s personal bodyguard. A man who never left The Jaguar’s side. And Cutter knew he’d found Mattie.
Breathing hard, he pressed his back against the wall. He darted past the hall and kept going. There was no way he alone could take out two men with automatic weapons. There was no cover. Even if he was lucky enough to take out the two men, the commotion would alert The Jaguar and allow him time to harm Mattie….
Feeling desperate, Cutter kept walking. He went through a double set of steel doors and entered a separate wing. He glanced through the tiny window of a steel door as he passed by it. Within he saw bars and concrete—and stopped dead in his tracks. Prisoners. Looking both ways, he ducked through the door. The single guard looked up from his desk when Cutter approached.
“What the—”
Cutter slammed the wire cutters against the man’s temple. Using the last of his rope, he bound the man’s hands and feet. He fished the ring of keys from the guard’s pocket, then stood and faced the cells.
A dozen or more men looked out at him. Their eyes were sunken and flat. Many were injured. All looked half-starved. “I’m an American,” Cutter said. “I’m freeing you. Help will be here any minute now. Do you understand?”
One of the men stepped forward. Reaching out, he dropped to his knees. “Thank God,” he said with a German accent.
“Who are you?” Cutter asked.
“I am a scientist from the university in Frankfurt,” the man replied. “I was kidnapped by terrorists two months ago.”
“Ransom?” Cutter asked.
“They’re forcing me to help them build a weapon of mass destruction,” the man said with disgust.
“Are there any more prisoners besides all of you?”
The man shook his head. “This is all that’s left.”
Cutter went to work unlocking the cells. “I’m here to rescue a young woman,” he said to the men. “A scientist. She’s in grave danger. I need your help to save her life.”
The men left their cells and shuffled closer. “You just saved our lives, mate,” a man with an Australian accent said. “Tell us what to do and we’ll do it.”
Cutter picked up the guard’s rifle and handed it to the Australian. Their eyes met, and a silent understanding passed between the two men.
“I need a diversion,” Cutter said.
A murmur of enthusiasm went through the men. He figured most were scientists or researchers or engineers. Family men whose scientific knowledge or job had put them in danger. Even though they were from different countries with different beliefs and religions—and weakened from weeks of starvation and torture—not one of them refused.
Leaning close, Cutter lowered his voice. “Here’s what I want you to do.”
Chapter Eighteen
Mattie struggled against the binds, but her efforts were in vain. But even facing death and the fear that in the end she would probably talk, her thoughts were on Cutter. On the future they would never have. The sense of loss devastated her.
“Rest assured, Ms. Logan, you will tell me what I want to know.”