Burned: Black Cipher Files #3 (Black Cipher Files series) (33 page)

“Good.”

But as if he’d conjured them, Jamie Hunt and Lucas Goodman sauntered into the reptile house.

Shit, shit, shit.

Zeke pretended a keen interest in the actual Komodo dragon in the glass case to their right and hoped his lack of hair, they’d shaved the rest of his fuzz to eliminate the patches left by the electrodes, so now he was completely bald, and different clothes in the dark would be enough to keep them off their tail. He eased Sunshine into the curve of his arm so she hid most of his body.

“They’re here.” Dammit. He’d hoped that he would be able to interrogate Susan Chen first.

Zeke flashed back to the last time he’d tried to hide while following Jamie and the ease and quickness with which she’d made him. He sighed.

But Jamie didn’t approach them. He had his phone on silent. He took it out to pretend to take a picture, and checked the screen for messages, but she hadn’t called him. She was on her cell now, shaking her head, arms crossed over her chest. Lucas had eased down onto the bench exactly opposite them and stretched his jeans-clad legs out in front of him.

He’d tilted his head and was studying Jamie, a small smile playing over his mouth, seemingly absorbed in watching his girl. But then he raised two fingers to his brow and flicked them in a universal sign for hello.

“Did they see us?” Sunshine was staring into the glass-front of the reptile cage as if she could find the answer to all their problems in the armored scales of the Komodo dragon. He realized that she was actually watching Jamie and Lucas’s reflection when she said, “Looked like he signaled.”

Zeke tensed. Lucas had seen them. But he wasn’t approaching. And Jamie was ignoring them.

Before he could figure out exactly what was going on, Susan Chen walked into the room. She paced inside, glanced around. Her gaze darted from corner to corner, ignoring the couples and focusing on the two families with children in the room.

But her shoulders slumped when she realized her ex and daughter weren’t in the structure.

Jamie had wrapped her arms around Lucas’s neck and appeared to be making out with him. He was hand signaling Zeke. He watched carefully and understood that Lucas was telling him to get to Susan while he had the chance.

“They saw us,” Zeke said.

“Sure?”

“Yes, and they’re giving us the chance to talk to her.” Zeke squeezed her shoulders and then let his arm slide down her back. “Get the recording button ready.”

Susan Chen walked jerkily around the perimeter, not even pretending to look at the various snakes and lizards. As she approached their corner, Zeke eased to standing. She still had her eyes on the entrance. So when he curled his fingers around her bicep, she whirled and sent the flat of her hand flying toward his nose.

Fortunately he’d anticipated the move and bent backwards so she literally spun and fell into him.

Zeke wrapped his arms around her and across her chest at the bicep level. Even as she struggled he said quietly into her ear, careful to keep out of range of a head butt, “I’m not here to take you in.” Which was true. Jamie and Lucas were here to take her in. Not Zeke. “I just want to know how you got my encryption program.”

She stilled in his grasp. “What?” Her voice was frantic as if she was so terrified she couldn’t comprehend what he was asking for.

“I don’t care about you or Oliver or your daughter. I just want to know how you got my encryption program.”

“Seriously?” she asked shrilly, drawing the attention of the other patrons.

“Yes.” He didn’t explain he was in trouble. He didn’t give her any leverage. “I know Oliver is coming soon. So tell me what I want to know and I’ll let you go.”

“Fine. No, you didn’t give it to me.”

That still didn’t help him. “Then how did you get it?”

“Liam,” she faltered as if remembering the last time she’d seen Liam, dead on the hotel room floor, the carpet and her splattered with his blood. “Some friend of his from boarding school.”

“Boarding school?” Zeke had researched all the way back and still he was stunned. Liam had gone to boarding school in England. The American School.

“They went to some super special school where all the expatriates at the time sent their kids. They were besties ever since sixth grade.” She snarled, “Now leave me alone.”

“Do you know his name?”

“No.” She shook her head so hard she knocked into Zeke’s jaw but he could tell it wasn’t to harm him. She was so frantic that she wasn’t thinking straight. “Liam always called him Army.”

“So he was in the armed services?”

“I don’t know.” She started to struggle. “It was his nickname.”

Zeke contemplated that information.

“That’s where they originally came up with the idea to modify human DNA. They used to dream about creating a super spy.”

So whoever gave them his program had to either work at the NSA or had to have a very high contact. And the man had to be older, old enough to be Liam’s peer and to have been in the Army.

“How did you get the names and contacts to conduct the experiment?” Now that she was talking, Zeke wanted it all.

“Same guy gave us access.”

“What does he look like?” Zeke couldn’t resist asking.

But she was done. She broke away from him.

“Go away,” she whispered fiercely.

“One last thing I thought you’d want to know.” Zeke could feel her tension, her wish for him to leave her alone. “The antidote.”

She stopped, didn’t breathe, didn’t move.

“It mostly worked.”

Tears flooded her eyes and leaked from the corners. “Really?”

“I still have a few lingering effects but I’m actually functioning better than before I had the drug in some ways.”

She dropped her head to his shoulder for a second. The relief made her wobble against him.

“I’m sorry about your daughter.”

She swallowed down a sob and nodded. “I need to fix it. Fix her.”

“We’ve got what we need,” Zeke said to Sunshine.

Zeke hand signaled to Lucas that they were done. Then asked if they needed help. Lucas signed back, Leave, even as Jamie stuck her arm behind her back and flipped him her middle finger.

Zeke grinned.

“What are you laughing at?” Susan Chen snarled.

“Good luck with your daughter.” Zeke pulled Sunshine to her feet just as Jamie headed to Susan.

Susan whirled around and nearly ran into Jamie. “No,” she whispered.

“You need to come with us.” Jamie and Lucas surrounded her.

Chen shook her head violently. “My daughter.”

Lucas touched his finger to his earpiece. “We’ve got your daughter and your ex-husband.”

“No harm will come to her? And I get to see her?” Chen had pulled out a knife with a large, serrated-edge blade. It was clear she didn’t want to use it. But she would if pushed.

“You’ll get to see her.” Lucas put his palm on her shoulder, ignoring the weapon.

Jamie gave him a look. “Really? Step away from the weapon, Goodman.” She was clearly unhappy with the fact that he hadn’t even flinched at the danger.

“As long as you don’t mention….” Lucas jerked his head toward Zeke.

“Yes. Okay. Fine. But I want to see my daughter.” She started to put the weapon away but Jamie very effectively disarmed her and tucked the knife into her pants.

Zeke stood there uncertainly.

Finally, Jamie looked at him. “Better get out of here before Carson spots you.”

“Shit. Forgot about Carson.”

“After what happened the first time we apprehended her,” Jamie said. “He couldn’t afford not to be here.”

“Uncle Carson is here?” Sunshine piped up from behind him.

Jamie shook her head. “Another Uncle?”

“Mama was right.” Sunshine whispered, “He did send you.”

“What are you talking about?” Zeke turned to Sunshine.

Then she frowned. “Carson works for the NSA?”

“Voice down,” Jamie growled at Sunshine.

Zeke didn’t want to actually ask her about bringing him in, but he knew she would do what she had to. “What about me?”

“Am I really known for playing by the rules?” Jamie cuffed him on the arm. “But best to avoid Carson, his compass isn’t as ambiguous as mine. He’d probably have to bring you in.”

“You knew I’d be here?” Zeke said.

“Hell yes.” Jamie smirked. “Knew you wouldn’t be able to resist trying to talk to her. Planned for contingencies.”

Zeke sighed. “So you made me right away.”

“Nope. Nice job hiding behind the girl.” She adjusted the collar of his plaid shirt in a very uncharacteristic touchy feely gesture. Then she rubbed his mostly bald head. “You’d never be caught dead in this shirt. And the haircut completely changes the way you look.”

Zeke flushed.

“Better get out of here,” Jamie said.

“I didn’t give away the program.” Sunshine stood silent behind Zeke. He purposely placed himself between Sunshine and Jamie, giving her a chance if she needed to run. “We taped her denial. And found out that Liam was working with a friend he knew from boarding school in England.”

“I’ll tell Carson, but it might not make any difference.”

Zeke hesitated. Then held out his palm to Sunshine. She instinctively knew exactly what he was asking for and handed him the cell phone. “The recording is on this phone. There’s more intel about Liam’s contact. I’m trusting you with my future. With my life.”

Zeke pressed the phone into Jamie Hunt’s hand. Her look was solemn. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She glanced at the way he had shielded Sunshine.

“So that’s how it is. Carson’s on his way. Better get out now.” She gave Sunshine an assessing look. “Don’t hurt him.”

Thirty-Eight

October 22

5:00 pm

Ocean Beach

We’d done it.

Between us we’d come up with a way to lure John Stanley to us and get him for good. “You think it will work?”

Since we had figured out that Stanley had found me through my old cell deactivation and new cell activation locations, we knew he likely had both my and Mama’s information. So I called and left a message on Mama’s old cell voice mail. I gave her the location of where we were going to be, and told her to meet us here in about half an hour. Mama wouldn’t check those messages. But….

“If Stanley is as resourceful as we think, and he is monitoring your old cell numbers, then yeah, I think it will work. And in half an hour we’ll nab him.”

Zeke was kind of jittery. Now that Susan Chen confirmed he hadn’t given away the program, he had realized that whoever did give her the program had to be much higher up the food chain at the NSA. And John Stanley might just have a name for him.

Ever since he’d connected those dots, he hadn’t been still.

I stood motionless on the beach. We were plenty far from the waves but I was still nervous.

I needed to channel the way I felt yesterday, before Stanley had accosted me.

Zeke stopped pacing and stood in front of me. “How you doing?”

Did I want to confess? No, I didn’t. But he probably needed to know.

I swallowed hard. “Um, not great.”

“Maybe I can help.” He turned me around to face the waves. They were still far enough away that I was safe. He carefully lowered my purse which held my gun for the confrontation with my stepfather to the damp sand. Then he walked me two large steps toward water. My heart rate accelerated and sweat bloomed on my face and palms.

“I’m right here with you,” Zeke said in my ear. His front pressed against my back, and his arms wrapped around my waist. He was a comforting presence behind me. We stopped about five feet from where the waves were encroaching on the shore.

“Take off your shoes.”

Zeke kicked off his Chuck Taylors. My hiking boots were a little harder to manage. But I finally got my boots and socks off.

“Dig your toes into the sand.” He laced his fingers with mine. “You want to connect to the ground.”

Now who was the one sounding hippy-dippy?

“Okay.” I curled my toes in the cool, damp sand. A shiver worked its way up my body.

“Look. The ocean won’t hurt you,” he murmured. “Don’t be afraid of it.”

I watched the water slide further up the shore. The waves were still about three feet away from where we stood and I vibrated with the need to back away. But Zeke was behind me, holding me in place. And I knew I could do this. With him supporting me I could do anything.

“You’re stronger than the fear.”

“The only time I wasn’t afraid was when you were between my legs the other night.” I confessed.

“That’s—”

Zeke’s whole body jerked. He dropped, like Sir Thomas Newton’s apple straight to the ground, and pulled me down with him. What the hell?

I rolled, in a panic, and looked up into the face of evil. It had worked. John Stanley had found us. But this wasn’t how we’d planned out his capture. He was early.

“What did you do?” I cried.

He held up a stun gun. “Tased him.”

“Who are you, Veronica Mars?”

“Shut up,
Claire
.” He sneered.

I shifted to kneeling, legs covered with sand, feet bare and Zeke lying prostrate next to me.

Our plan had worked. Except Stanley was early, and the plan didn’t include Zeke unconscious.

I could hear the waves behind me. Coming closer. But I had bigger problems than the water right now. The gun was in my purse, only about six feet away but that chasm between me and the weapon was practically the Grand Canyon right now. I sank my fingers into the damp sand and realized I had another weapon at my disposal. I curled my hands into fists, holding as much sand as I could. Then, I stumbled to my feet, trying to watch over Zeke and keep John and that Taser a manageable distance away from me.

“What do you want from me?” Of course, I knew he didn’t want me. He wanted my mother.

“For such a genius, you sure did grow up to be an idiot.” He advanced on me. In my nightmares he was a giant. So huge and powerful that I was helpless against his bigger size.

But now that I was an adult, he really wasn’t that much bigger than me. And fear left in a burst of rage so great, it threatened to drown me, the emotion rose up and geysered from me in a torrent of sheer fury.