Lethal Consequences (30 page)

He didn’t have time to speculate. Landon pushed to his feet and tugged on his shirt. Gripping the phone in his hand, he said, “I’ll find her. Get that damn system back online, then get down to the lab as soon as you can.”

“On it. Miller, there’s something else.”

There was more? God Almighty. “What?”

“Ryder called. He found a picture of Danica Crossler. In it, she—”

The line went dead in Landon’s ear. He pulled the phone away, stared at it. Hit Talk again. Nothing happened.

“Son of a fucking bitch!”

Behind him, Dani said, “What’s happening?”

“The security system’s down, and the phone just went dead.”

Her face paled. “Wh-what does that mean?”

“It means we’re in trouble.” He tossed the phone on the bed. “It also means we’re moving.” After shoving his feet into his boots, he gripped Dani by the arm, tugging her toward the door. “Where did you see Olivia? Don’t think about lying to me this time.”

“I . . .” Her voice shook. “She was closing your bedroom door when I was coming up the stairs. She didn’t see me. I don’t know where she went. She walked into the living room, but I didn’t look to see where she was heading.”

No, because she’d seen her chance to make her move and she’d pounced. Pushing her behind him, he gripped the Sig in one hand and carefully opened the door just enough so he could look out into the hallway.

The house was quiet and dark. No sound echoed on the first floor. Slowly, he drew the door open farther and stepped out into the corridor. When he found it empty, he motioned for Dani to follow.

They made their way down the stairs to the lower level. He checked open doorways before they passed. Everything looked normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Behind him he could feel Dani’s fear vibrating in the air, but all he could think about was getting her locked somewhere safe, then finding Olivia.

The door to the lab was pushed partway open. He hesitated a foot away and whispered, “Did you close this before you left?”

There was just enough light coming from the lab to see her nod.

Landon’s adrenaline shot up. He gripped the gun in both hands and moved forward a careful inch. Hesitating, he listened. A scratching sound echoed from inside the lab.

He nodded for Dani to move back against the wall. Eyes wide as saucers, she listened. When she was out of range, he shoved the door open with his shoulder and swung the gun in front of him.

Across the room where she stood at the far counter, Olivia lifted her head, dropped the pen in her hand, and gasped. The pen clattered against the Formica surface and stopped near what looked like an insulated lunch bag.

“Jesus, Livy.” Landon’s heart lurched into his throat. He quickly lowered the Sig and tucked it next to the Glock at his spine. “You scared the shit out of me. What the hell are you doing down here?”

“I . . . I was just leaving you a note.”

“A note for what?”

Olivia’s gaze skipped past him, to what he knew was Dani moving into the room, then back to his face. Nerves danced over her features, then darkened her eyes. “You were supposed to stay asleep, Landon.”

He was having trouble following her, but tingles ran down his back, and a strange heat flushed his skin, telling him something about this whole situation was wrong.

He took another step into the room. “What are you talking about?”

She grabbed the insulated lunch bag on the counter and moved back, toward the door on the far side, keeping the island between them. “I’ve already made up my mind, and you can’t change it. This is the only way things are going to work. I’m going to die anyway.”

His heart felt like it stopped, right in the middle of his chest. His gaze shot to the lunch bag in her hand, then to the open centrifugal machine on the counter.

“No.” She’d taken her blood samples. She was leaving with them. Taking the signal with her so no one could track her here. Saving him. She had no idea the Red Brotherhood could already be outside. “Olivia, wait.”

He moved to the right. She rushed for the door on the far side of the room.

Panic closed his throat, and he reached for the edge of the counter, trying to get past it. Olivia shoved the door open and took one step into the cement stairwell that led up to the lawn, then yelped.

Landon’s adrenaline went sky-high. He reached back for the SIG. Two burly men dressed all in black shoved Olivia back into the lab. The lunch bag hit the ground at her feet. At his back, Dani gasped. Landon pulled the gun and aimed his sights on the thug holding Olivia at the throat. “Let her go.”

“I wouldn’t advise that,” a woman’s voice echoed from the stairwell.

Footsteps sounded, and then the woman stepped into the lab. A woman who was supposed to be dead. “You’re not going to need that weapon, Mr. Miller.”

The blood drained from Landon’s face, and against the gun, his hands grew damp.

Victoria Crossler’s dark gaze skipped past Landon and landed on Dani at his back. “Hello, darling. I’ve been looking for you.”

“
Mom?” Danica gasped.

Mom?
Hands gripping the forearm against her throat, Olivia glanced from Landon to Dani, then to the scarred face of the woman who’d moved into the room.

“Yes, it’s me,” the woman said. “I know this is a surprise, dear, but I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Dani’s cheeks were ashen. And Landon’s didn’t look much better.

This was the woman he thought he’d killed. Olivia’s mind scrambled for a name. At one point she was sure she’d heard someone with Aegis call her Victoria. A thousand questions whipped through Olivia, especially when she noticed the puckered burn scars over one whole side of Victoria Crossler’s face, but when she opened her mouth to ask them, the forearm tightened at her throat, cutting off her words.

“How . . . ?” Dani sputtered, taking a step closer to Landon. “Why . . . ? You were dead. I heard the fight.”

“Not dead,” Victoria Crossler answered, her icy gaze skipping to Landon. “Just injured. Luckily, my associates saw the fire when the lab went up in flames and pulled me out.”

Dani’s mother stood several steps ahead and to the left of Olivia. Dressed in slim jeans and a loose-fitting blouse, she was in good shape for her age, but her pinned-up hair exposed the intense scarring running over her cheek, down her neck, and across her bare arm. And it also left the tattoo on the nape of her neck visible for anyone to see. The same tattoo Olivia had seen on the people who’d taken them in Sardinia. The compass in a circle cut by two diagonal blades.

“Your associates,” Dani gasped. “You were already working with the Red Brotherhood? Did Dad know?”

“Of course your father knew. Who do you think got him connected? Your father’s work was very important to our cause. He made Cerberus for us. We were training you to join us when this man”—she nodded toward Landon—“got in the way.”

“But how . . .” Dani sputtered. “How did you know to come here?”

“Splitting the signal was a smart move,” Dani’s mother said, looking toward Landon, “but we know more about Cerberus than either of you. The signal fades rapidly outside the body.”

Faster than they’d obviously calculated. Olivia’s fingers tightened around the hand at her throat. The man at her back was big. Muscular. Landon’s gun was trained on his forehead, and Olivia could see that his gaze was skipping from one person to the next, calculating how and where to shoot to get her free. She ran through self-defense moves in her mind. The ones Mick Hedley had shown her in Italy.

“Put your gun down, Miller,” Victoria Crossler snapped.

“Let go of the girl, and I will.”

The second thug pulled a large black gun from his side and held it to Olivia’s head.

“I’ll not say it again,” Dani’s mother snapped. “Put the gun down.”

For a heartbeat, no one moved. And Olivia’s pulse turned to a roar in her ears.

Tension filled the air. Slowly, Landon lowered the weapon, but his gaze didn’t flick to Olivia’s. His expression didn’t change. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking or what he was going to do next.

“Kick it over here,” Victoria Crossler snapped.

He did as she said. The rasp of metal sliding over cement filled the room. At his side, Dani stiffened and moved closer to him.

“I’m tired of how long this is taking,” Dani’s mother said, picking up Landon’s gun. “Tracking these two all over Europe to get to you, dear, has messed with my schedule. So this is the way it’s going to work. Dani’s going to come with us, and no one will get hurt.”

“No, Landon,” Olivia blurted out. “You can’t let them take her. You know you can’t.” If they took Dani, they’d have the antidote. They’d control Cerberus completely. There’d be no stopping them.

The arm tightened around her throat, and she gasped as her airway was blocked. Pain spiraled up her spine. Her eyes flew wide as she grappled to breathe.

Across the room, every muscle in Landon’s body tensed, and his jaw clenched down hard, his eyes blazing. “Let her go,” he growled.

“We will,” Victoria Crossler said. “As soon as Dani comes along like she knows she needs to do.” She looked to her daughter. “There’s no choice for you here, dear. If you come with us willingly, everything will be fine. I promise. If you don’t”—her gaze skipped back to Landon—“I’ll kill him.”

She lifted Landon’s gun and pointed it at his chest.

Fear rushed over Dani’s young face. She looked to Landon, then back at the gun in her mother’s hands. Indecision warred in her blue eyes.

No, Dani, don’t.
Tears formed in Olivia’s eyes. Tears of pain. But not for herself. This wasn’t about her. This wasn’t about Landon. This was so much bigger. “Landon,” Olivia gasped, pulling the arm away enough so she could draw a ragged breath. “Do something. You can’t let them take her.”

A split second of indecision rushed through his eyes. Olivia saw it. She didn’t want to make him choose, but he had to. He couldn’t save them both. He had to know that.

He pulled a second gun from somewhere at his back and held the barrel against Dani’s temple.

Dani’s eyes flew wide as saucers, and terror streaked across her features. “Landon, oh my God, what are you—”

“Drop your weapon,” Victoria Crossler hissed, fury flashing over her face. She closed both hands around the gun she was holding, but Olivia saw it shake. “Drop it or I’ll shoot you and my associate will kill your girlfriend.”

“Do it and Dani’s dead.” Landon’s voice was flat. Emotionless. Colder than Olivia had ever heard it. “No one wins here. Walk away from this before it’s too late.”

“Landon . . .” Dani cried, shaking. “Please.”

Landon didn’t move. Didn’t respond to Dani. Didn’t take his eyes off Victoria Crossler. His jaw was a slice of steel beneath his skin, and his eyes were as hard and lifeless as Olivia had ever seen them, but she knew in the bottom of her heart that he wouldn’t actually shoot Dani. He was bluffing. Playing the last card he had. And Olivia had never loved him more.

Rage rushed over Victoria Crossler’s face, pulling at the scars on her cheek and around her eye. Tense moments ticked by in the standoff. Her fiery gaze finally flicked to her daughter. “He can’t keep you away from us forever. We found you once, we’ll find you again.” She nodded to the two men at her back. “Go. Take the girl.”

“But . . .” The thug holding a gun to Olivia’s head looked right and left.

“We have other ways,” Dani’s mother snapped. “Go.”

The man at Olivia’s back yanked her toward the door.

“No.” Panic rushed over Landon’s face. His stance widened, but he didn’t drop the gun from Dani’s temple.

“You have something of mine,” Victoria Crossler said, inching backward as well, “now I have something of yours. Consider it payback, Miller.”

“Livy,” Landon said, his voice pained.

“It’s okay.” Her feet slipped as they reached the threshold to the stairwell, but the brute at her back hauled her up, keeping her from going down.

And it was okay. It really was. She was so damn proud of him for making the right choice. For
not
saving her. “Just keep Dani alive,” she rasped.

The door slammed shut in her face, blocking her view of Landon’s tormented features. And then she was dragged up into darkness.

“Goddammit.”

Landon dropped the gun from Dani’s temple and lurched around the island, heading for the exterior door.

Dani crumpled to the floor. Just as Landon’s hand wrapped around the door handle, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the hall.

Instinct overrode everything else. Landon lifted the gun, whirled toward the door, and yelled, “Dani, down!”

Her scream rose up in the air, but her body hit the floor. The door burst open. Two more thugs, both decked out all in black, sporting Red Brotherhood tattoos and holding semiautomatic weapons, spilled into the room. Landon lined up his sights and pulled the trigger, nailing the first right between the eyes. His body dropped to the ground with a thunk. The second lurched behind a table and flipped it over as a shield.

“Dani, get back,” Landon yelled, moving around the counter in the middle of the room.

The girl screeched again and crawled rapidly toward the far end of the island, then climbed up onto the metal shelf flanking the long counter, kicking books and bottles aside as she shook. Landon darted toward the other end of the counter and fired toward the table. The ricochet of bullets hitting wood sounded in the room. The guy behind the table hurled a wooden stool in Landon’s direction. Landon ducked out of the way. The guy popped his head up and let off a stream of gunfire that lit up the room.

Dani screamed again, covering her head with her hands. Glass shattered, exploding in the air. Landon lurched to the ground behind the counter. His body hit the cement floor with a crunch. He rolled to his back and glanced up toward the ceiling.

Some kind of fancy lab equipment with large beakers filled with different colored liquids, glass tubing, and a multitude of Bunsen burners caught his attention. It stood six feet high near the wall, only inches from the psycho with the machine gun. Shifting his gun that direction, Landon fired multiple times into the apparatus. More glass shattered, hitting the man in the side of the face, the arms, anywhere his skin was exposed. Acid—at least Landon hoped to hell it was acid—scalded his skin. He swore and stumbled back, lowering his weapon two inches. Just enough.

Landon bolted to his feet. He lifted the Glock in his hand, braced the end of the grip against his palm, lined up his shot, and fired.

The bullet pierced the man between the eyes. He hit the ground like a board.

Crossing the floor, Landon kicked the weapon away and knelt down toward the terrorist’s lifeless body, feeling for a pulse. “Dani.”

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God,” she chanted.

“Dani.” He pushed to his feet, moved to the other terrorist, and kicked his weapon away as well. “Dani, pull it together.”

Footsteps pounded in the hall again. She let out an ear-piercing scream.

Landon lifted his weapon and whipped around. Raleigh Stone rushed into the room, gun drawn, eyes wide.

“Fucking A,” Landon muttered, lowering his weapon. “Where’s Bentley?”

“On the sat phone. All the landlines are down.”

Landon moved for the door they’d dragged Olivia through, urgency pushing him forward. He nodded toward Dani, still hiding under the counter, and pushed the door open with his shoulder. “Get her somewhere safe.”

He didn’t wait for Stone’s answer. He took the steps three at a time up to the back lawn. A light breeze rushed over his cheeks when he reached the grass. The lawn was empty and dark, only a scatter of moonlight illuminating the area.

Gun in front of him, he listened. Some kind of commotion echoed from the direction of the stairs that led down to the water.

“Olivia . . .”

He raced in that direction. The wooden steps zigzagged down the hundred yards to the water. He slowed when he reached the top and looked over the edge of the cliff. Victoria Crossler was already on the beach, running for a boat moored at the dock. He lifted his gun to take a shot, but the sound of a struggle echoed up to his ears, distracting him. Landon glanced to the side. Halfway down the steps, on one of the many landings where the stairs shifted directions, Olivia
wrestled
with the two men who’d grabbed her.

Landon’s heart lurched into his throat. He swung his gun toward the man Olivia was fighting but couldn’t get a shot off. She was moving too much, shifting right and then left, getting in the way. If he fired, he might hit her.

His adrenaline went sky-high. He rushed down several flights, lifted the gun again, closed one eye, and tried to get a better shot.
“
Hold still,” he muttered. “Dammit, Livy, just hold still for two seconds.”

She turned and shoved her knee into one guy’s groin. He stumbled back and bent over. The other guy grabbed her by the hair, whipped her around, and slammed his fist into her jaw. Her head snapped back. She staggered into the railing.

Landon’s vision went red. He aimed and fired. The bullet dug into the railing inches to the left of the brute who’d hit her. The guy looked up the staircase. When he spotted Landon, his eyes flew wide, and he lifted his weapon and fired back, shoving Olivia forward as he moved.