“In return for this offer, what do I have to do?” Delaney sounded wary. He was a soldier, Special Forces, and his every instinct would be to keep information to himself.
“You have to do exactly what I laid out for you. I don’t need you to tell me anything about how you got into this or who did it with you. We’ll take you to a hospital at an undisclosed location. You will be allowed one phone call to your wife where you will tell her you were called up for a special mission you can’t talk about. Tell her you love her and to wait for you, to give you one more chance. Let her know you’ll probably be gone several months. Cooperate with the doctor. I won’t lie to you: We don’t know how to undo the genetic enhancements; the doctor will probably have to counteract them in some way. I have no guarantee for you other than my word as a fellow GhostWalker that I’m telling you the truth.”
Tom Delaney turned his face away, but not before Kadan saw him choking with emotion. “Let’s do it then,” the soldier said gruffly. “And if it doesn’t work, promise me you won’t let me leave that place alive.”
“You have my word on that.” Kadan motioned him to stand and turn around, indicating that he put his hands behind his back. “It’s safer for you. You’ll have guns on you all the way to the transport vehicle. They’ll knock you out so the voices can’t reach you.”
Tom Delaney stood quietly while Kadan put handcuffs on him. “Look man. I know I don’t deserve it, but if something goes wrong, tell my wife I really loved her. She has to know I really love her and my boy.”
“I’ll take care of them. You have my word.”
Kadan led him back toward the top of the hill, where Ryland had a van ready. Ryland gave Delaney no time to change his mind or think about things; he knocked him out with one swift shot of the air syringe.
“The puppet master is a dreamwalker. You’re certain he can’t get to Delaney that way?” Kadan asked.
Ryland shrugged as he watched the van head out toward the waiting plane that would take Delaney to the small up-to-date facility Lily had built in the mountains of Montana. “It’s Nico’s concoction and he says no dreamwalker can get past that barricade.”
“Five down,” Kadan said and climbed into the SUV.
Jason Sturges, aka Bull, weaved his way cautiously through the animal pens, making his way in the dark along the narrow paths between fences. The steers pawed at the ground and bellowed occasionally, restless and distressed over the unfamiliar scents and the intruding shadows flitting through their territory. A few stomped their feet and pushed against the fences, rattling the boards with their heavy weight.
Bull smiled and crouched a little lower, listening to the waves of restless cattle. The man who was trying to blackmail him was somewhere near the lower fences. He could tell by the way the curious cattle swung their heads. He knew animals and he knew how to fight. Confident, and rather amused, he inched toward the lower pens where the bulls were kept.
Come alone, the voice had whispered hoarsely on the telephone. Hell yeah, he’d come alone. Maybe he should have invited a couple of his teammates to come along for the fun, but sometimes a man just needed to have his own good time. He’d have bragging rights after he killed his blackmailer. Anyone dumb enough to mess with a bull deserved the horns. Inwardly he laughed at his own joke and kept pressing forward, following the call of the cattle.
“Gator’s directing the cattle,” Nico reported into Kadan’s ear. “He’s herding Bull your way. I can’t always get a clear shot. He’s got a lot of cover.”
“Tell Gator to keep him moving. I want him in motion at all times so he’s easier to spot.”
The report on Bull had been astonishing. As a soldier, he had a good reputation, was reputed to be excellent at his job, and had no damaging reports in his file. As crazy as the man was, Kadan had expected to find a few rumors floating, but Bull was either lucky or good, and Kadan had the feeling he was just that good. Flame had uncovered an alarming pattern of deaths on Bull’s team. Nearly every mission a man was lost. His team had the highest loss rate of any team in the service, yet no one had questioned that each downed man was a legitimately explained death.
Sturges had been a serial killer long before he’d been enhanced. Flame had covered his high school and college years. There’d been dead students every year, and again, he’d never been so much as suspected, but Kadan was certain the man had been killing for years.
“He’s close now, Kadan, and he’s aware something’s up.” Nico said. “I don’t have a clear shot.”
Kadan hadn’t expected less of Bull. The man was highly skilled and a GhostWalker. He couldn’t fail to have radar. Sturges was in his sight now, moving slow, a gun in one hand, a knife in the other. He moved with a fluid ease, light on his feet, covering territory but staying in the shadows and keeping the cattle between him and everything else.
Without warning the man sprang, leaping into the air, twisting and firing several shots in Kadan’s direction. Bullets hit around him, but none came too close. His instincts were more than good; Sturges had a sense of survival. He was back on the ground, flattening himself against the pens while the cattle stirred restlessly, running from one side to another, forcing Gator to struggle to keep them contained.
“No shot,” Nico reported calmly. “He’s fast, he’s good, and he knows he’s cornered now. He’ll be dangerous.”
Kadan said nothing, rolling beneath the fence, worming his way through the cattle, using his elbows to propel him, relying on Gator to keep the big steers from stepping on him. The mud and straw stank, drowning out any scent the other man was giving off.
Without warning Bull charged the fence, at the last moment rolling under it, not leaping over, giving Nico nothing to spot. Sturges almost landed on top of Kadan, his knife slashing across Kadan’s back, kissing skin and laying out a burning brand that stung like hell. Kadan rolled, coming up to meet the other man, the two bodies slamming together hard, each locking the other’s wrists so they knelt, shaking with power and strength, gazes locked as well.
Sturges hissed, recognizing the GhostWalker and for the first time realizing he really could die. He allowed one elbow to bend and rocked back, trying to throw Kadan. The grip on his wrists was relentless. He couldn’t move either hand. He lunged forward with a head butt. Kadan shifted as if he’d been waiting for the move. Using Sturges’s forward momentum, he flung him forward and up into the air. His head topped the fence and the cattle for just one split second.