“I’m a businessman,” he said, unfazed. “I have a product to develop and sell. When problems get in the way, I remove them.” He looked from her to Zack, then back to her. “You and Devlin have become a problem, Emily.” His eyes were as gray and cold as ice. “You see, the new generation of RZ-902 has not yet been tested on a female subject. We suspect there will be slight differences in the way the female nervous system responds.”
A chill went all the way to her bones when she realized what he was saying. She could feel the tremors moving through her body.
Raising his hand, Carpenter snapped his fingers. “Take her to the testing chamber.” He turned his gaze on Zack. “Take him directly to the crematorium and burn him alive.”
ZACK HAD ALWAYS BEEN GOOD at getting out of dire predicaments. He’d saved his own life and the lives of others by the skin of his teeth on more than one occasion. But for the life of him he didn’t know how he was going to get them out of this one. For the first time he seriously considered that both he and Emily would be killed, and no one would ever be the wiser.
Three men were holding high-powered rifles on him. Marcus Underwood was standing near the door. Clay Carpenter was standing a few feet away from Emily. Zack couldn’t take his eyes off her. He couldn’t think of a single thing he could say or do that would stop what was about to happen.
From where he stood, he could see her trembling. He could see the rapid rise and fall of her breasts. He could hear the hiss of her breaths coming short and fast. When her gaze met his, he saw the terror in its depths. He wanted to touch her, to comfort her, to let her know everything was going to be all right. That he was going to get them out of this. If only he knew how….
“Let her go,” he heard himself say. “Take me. I’ll go willingly. I’ll do whatever you want. Just let her go.”
Carpenter and Underwood exchanged knowing looks, then Carpenter spoke. “She is lovely, isn’t she, Devlin?”
Zack met the other man’s gaze levelly. “Let her go.”
Carpenter grimaced, looking appropriately distressed. “I’m quite fond of her myself. But she knows too much.”
Zack wanted to rip the other man’s heart out. He could feel the rage rushing through his veins. He could feel his fists clenching with the urge to strangle Carpenter right then and there.
He used his last resort. “The agency I work for will hunt you down. They will not stop until your twisted scheme is as dead and buried as you.”
Every muscle in his body tensed when the door opened. Zack glanced over. Shock jumped through him at the sight of Avery Shaw. Surprise gave way to confusion when he saw Shaw was alone. That he wasn’t armed. Then the truth hit him. Shaw had not come here as part of the MIDNIGHT team to break up an illegal weapons-testing facility.
“I see you’ve got everything under control.” Shaw’s gaze went to Zack.
It wasn’t often that Zack was totally surprised. But he was now. The realization that his friend Avery Shaw was the mole struck him like a sucker punch. “You’re the mole,” he said.
“Of course.”
“Why, Avery?”
“Let’s just say I owe you.” Shaw’s gaze went from Zack to Emily, then back to Zack. When Zack said nothing, Shaw shook his head. “Come on, Devlin, you’re quicker than that, aren’t you?”
Zack’s mind whirled with possibilities, but he couldn’t think of a single reason why Avery Shaw would double-cross him and get an innocent civilian killed in the process. It just didn’t make sense.
“I loved her, you know,” Shaw said.
The situation crystallized. The truth pummeled him like a thousand fists. “Alisa Hayes.”
A dark emotion flashed in Shaw’s eyes. “She and I were together. Then you stepped in and…you took her from me.”
Zack scrubbed a hand over his face. The pain of a friend’s betrayal cut him. “She came to me, Avery.”
“Lying bastard. You seduced her. You…slept with her. Then you got her killed, damn you.”
The old guilt churned even as Zack denied it. “I didn’t know.”
“They had to dig a bullet out of my spine because of you,” Shaw continued. “The doctors didn’t know if I’d ever walk again. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to leave the field to sit behind a desk? Do you have any idea how painful a spinal injury can be to a man?” He looked at Emily, a malicious smile spreading across his face. “I must say, this is one instance where the revenge is going to be sweet. I’m going to hurt her, Devlin. I’m going to enjoy watching you suffer.”
“Don’t do this, Avery,” Zack warned. “Enough people have died. Stop this now.”
Shaw glanced at the sandy-haired man with the rifle. “Cuff him. Cuff his feet, too. Watch him closely. He has a black belt.”
Marcus Underwood nodded. “I’ll have Dr. Lionel sedate them so they’ll be easier to handle.”