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Chapter One French PolynesiaOne week later Gina Torno padded barefoot toward the ocean, wearing nothing but a midnight-blue bikini, keeping an eye out for the motley staff that worked on their mysterious host’s private island. The rest of her team—Carly, Anita and Sam—were all busy conducting their own recon missions. They needed to cover ground quickly, which required splitting up. Two workmen were hammering something at the dock, wearing jeans and nothing else, swearing up a blue streak. The yacht that had brought the women in the night before from Acapulco was still there, as were two motorboats. The water was the most brilliant azure. Unlike Seven Mile Beach, which they had left behind on Grand Cayman, where tourists stirred up the sand. The contrast between the gorgeous, unspoiled environment and the evil-hearted man who owned it was startling. If their mysterious host was Tsernyakov. They’d been hunting for the man for months now, and he proved to be as elusive as the morning mis
Chapter One
Chapter Two “What do you mean, he caught you?” Anita’s forehead tightened with tension. Gina took a deep breath and recounted the events of the last hour, watching the path that led to their bungalow, standing in the cover of the half-open door. “So who was he?” Sam kept an eye on the back through the bathroom window. “What kind of computer was it?” came from Carly, who already had a gleam in her eyes. She was going through the kitchen, looking for makeshift weapons. They’d identified as many as they could upon arrival. She was now distributing them so they would be on hand if anything happened. “You’ll get your turn with the PC, I’m sure.” Gina shook her head with a half smile. Carly was computer crazy. Not surprising from a former hacker. “You bet I will.” She paused midtask and reached for a cookie on the kitchen counter under the window through which she kept an eye on the beach. “Sugarcane cookies.” She made a face. “I could kill for a doughnut.” Gina winced at the word choice. Be
Chapter Two
Chapter Three Not only did she not know anything about birds, she didn’t know the first thing about hiking, despite what she had told Mark. She’d been a city cop, born and raised in Philadelphia, a city girl through and through. Gina trudged behind Cal, uphill on slippery mud. Under the thick canopy, the soil hadn’t yet had a chance to dry out since the last storm. They’d had to leave their four-wheelers behind halfway up the mountain. “Watch your step,” he said without turning around. She didn’t respond but kept her attention on her surroundings. Without him, she would have been lost already. She did great with city mazes, back alleys, irregular streets and winding boulevards. She knew the marks to pay attention to, could orient herself by smell alone. Chinatown had a distinct scent, as did the old industrial district and its factories that had been converted into high-priced condos, the Italian market, the park system that started behind the Art Museum, the projects. The jungle left
Chapter Three
Chapter Four “So how long have you known Towers?” Gina asked as they moved forward in the night. The going was easier now that they were walking downhill, but they still had to watch their footing to make sure they didn’t slide on the soggy soil. She was relieved to be walking with Cal. Following him through the night jungle had been a nerve-racking experience. She’d been scared stiff thinking she might lose sight of him and get lost. “Most of my life, I suppose, in the sense that I knew of him. You know, the family grapevine. As far as the aunts and uncles know, he’s a successful businessman, all legit. We didn’t meet until a couple of months ago.” He sounded uneasy. “So how did you two end up meeting?” He hesitated. “We’re on the same side,” she reminded him. He walked on, watching the narrow forest path they were following. “I’m glad, actually.” He glanced over. “It’s a good feeling not to be alone in this.” He flashed that half grin of his. “I’m sure that’s not terribly macho to ad
Chapter Four
Chapter Five “Yes, sir,” his secretary said. “I will notify them right away.” Tsernyakov didn’t like the look in the man’s eyes. “I will change the date of our meeting as many times as I feel necessary until I’m sure that there is no way our security has been compromised.” Not that he owed his secretary an explanation, nor the School Board—the terrorist organization that was his buyer for the virus. They’d probably been giving his secretary hell over the frequent changes in parameters in the last week or so. He was getting antsy, feeling on the edge. It had been a long while since he’d worried about anything like this. Not that it wasn’t understandable. Never before had he had this much at stake. “Certainly, sir. Anything else, sir?” He shook his head and waited until the door closed behind the man before phoning Mark on the island. “Everything okay?” He listened to the status report on the postcyclone repairs. There were a million things going on and he had to keep on top of it all. “
Chapter Five
Chapter Six “So it’s a virus and it’s here,” Gina said, summing up the information she’d gained on the mountain. “We figured the virus part,” Carly said. “I chatted up the younger doc. They work in oncology at the moment with oncological viruses—viruses that prefer cancer cells. They are both top experts in virology, recruited by a pharmaceutical firm for research on an anticancer vaccine, then ended up at a major experimental oncology clinic.” They were gathered in the kitchen once again, just as they used to at the office—except everything had escalated a thousandfold since. And this time they were cut off from Law and Tarasov, had no one for backup. Gina nodded. “Two expert virologists. Makes sense.” She reached for another piece of chicken satay the others had saved for her from dinner and dipped it into the peanut sauce. “The virus is locked up tight.” “Should I give it a try?” Sam asked. “Not that I know that much about bank safes…Anita?” “Just because I worked in a bank once doe
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven “So we think there’s an extra room upstairs,” Anita said, after Cal had left and the other women had returned to the bungalow. “How big of an area are we talking about?” Gina asked, grateful that none of the women mentioned her being caught with Cal. She was confused on the issue enough already. She couldn’t possibly explain something to others that she herself didn’t yet understand. What had she been thinking? “Not much, maybe three or four hundred square feet. I’ve spent a lot of time in the kitchen lately, and when I was looking around upstairs last night, I started to compare the square footage with the area below. It’s definitely not a match.” Anita rubbed her temple. She looked tired. They all did. They were working their plan every minute of the day, learning as much as they could about the place, knowing every piece of information would be vital when the commando team got here. “So when do we go back?” Gina asked, relieved to have something to focus on other than
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight “It’s me.” Cal had recognized her body the second he’d come in contact with it and ducked to avoid the head slam coming his way. Gina stilled. He’d found her. He let himself relax. She took advantage of that to heave herself up and reverse their positions. What the hell— “You betrayed us.” With her hands still tied together, she couldn’t pin his down. He didn’t struggle—that would have just drawn out the fight. He needed to figure out what was going on in her head and talk her into listening to him. “We don’t have time for this. I have to get you out of here.” “How did Mark know about us?” Her voice was sharp. She thought from him? That stung. But it was a valid question, one he hadn’t had the chance to pose to the man. “Maybe Sergey found something suspicious in your place and they were watching the lot of you.” She wouldn’t let up. She wasn’t buying any of it. “In the interest of time, I think you should get off,” he said, exasperated, and wiggled his torso. Big mistake
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine She had to admit the horses did come in handy. They were at the choppers in thirty minutes. On foot it would have taken them close to two hours. Cal stopped his horse before they got to the clearing and slid out of the saddle. She did the same. “Better tie them up.” He took the reins from her and tied both horses to a low-swung branch of a flowering hibiscus. They immediately began nibbling on the leaves. Cal stole forward. She followed. The clearing seemed deserted. Two helicopters sat on a flat area where vegetation and rocks had been removed and the ground was packed hard and relatively even. “You know anything about these?” she asked belatedly. “I flew a couple of times when I was doing business with a megacompany. They sent the corporate chopper for me. Very plush.” He flew in a chopper? That was the extent of his knowledge? “We’re doomed,” she said before she could stop herself. He just flashed that cocky grin. “How hard can it be? We’re practically superspies.” She
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten “Have you seen anyone else?” Tsernyakov asked. The wind was howling now, bending trees, the rain soaking them to the skin. “No. But we heard some choppers above,” Cal said, giving Gina a look she couldn’t understand. What was he trying to tell her? “What were you doing in the woods?” Tsernyakov kept grilling him. Then he looked at Gina and flashed a half grin. “Never mind.” If Cal meant to make a move now, what was he waiting for? Gina walked with them, expecting some sort of a clear signal that the time was now, but it never came. Then they finally reached the clearing and stopped to listen and watch for danger before they stepped out. It was clear at first glance that both choppers were completely destroyed. Tsernyakov swore. Not as cool and unaffected as he appeared to be, was he? “What do we do now?” Cal asked and moved into position so that, whatever happened, he would cover Gina with his body. She made a point of moving away, trudging in mud that was deeper in the ope
Chapter Ten
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