CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Max stared at the monitor displaying Crystal’s reflection the camera picked up off the bathroom mirror. He folded his arms and dug his fingers deep into his biceps with the effort to keep his panic in check.
“I think it’s best for me to get out of here now, and we form a new plan,” she was saying. “The brothers said they would help me escape. Look for me to be with them.”
Chase and Doc were hunkered with him inside a large van with the name of the caterer working the event displayed on the side. Back at headquarters, Addison and Alisia were ready with technical support. A sideboard in the cargo area of the van held two tablets, scanners, and several computer monitors. Max sat in the lone desk chair while the others sat on the floor.
“Good girl.” Max trailed his finger over her image. The fear in her eyes made him anxious to rush in to save her, heedless of the consequences. Patience. He needed to be patient. If she made her own way out, then they wouldn’t need to blow their cover. “Just get out.”
“Who are the Daniels brothers?” Chase asked.
“Ethan and Ronan own Daniels Software,” he replied. “I’ve worked with them in the past when their father owned the company. Several years ago the entire family was in a plane crash. They were the only survivors. That must have sparked their powers.”
“I would love to get my hands on them,” Doc drawled in a husky voice that drew curious glances from Max and Chase. “For scientific purposes.”
“Liar.” Chase coughed.
“Fuck,” Max muttered when Dittmar’s face filled the screen.
“What?” They both crowded around him.
“Dittmar has her.”
A bolt of terror shot through Max at the determined look in Dittmar’s eyes as he pulled Crystal down the hall. He dragged her into a room Max recognized as his father’s formal office and pushed her against the door. The camera went dark as his suit covered the lens. Each moan over the speakers tightened the tension in Max’s body until the wood countertop under his fingers splintered with the force of his grip on the edge.
Bam. And there was the end of his patience.
“We need to get her out of there,” he barked. “Where’s Ripley?”
Chase pointed to another monitor. “Rip’s a little busy right now.”
On the screen a panther’s paws appeared in the frame as he ran through the grass. Ripley leapt and startled a soldier who gaped in shock. He tried to pull his weapon just as the panther brought him down. Lifeless eyes filled the screen before the cat moved away to silently stalk his next prey.
Max got to his feet, hunching over in the confines of the van. “We need to move out now.”
“You weren’t thinking about sampling my gift before me, were you, James?” said a voice over the speakers that made Max stop cold.
He whipped his gaze back to the screen displaying the feed from Crystal’s necklace. A haze of red clouded his vision as he sucked in a breath. Madden was in the room.
“Don’t you touch her,” he muttered between gritted teeth. “Don’t you fucking touch her.”
“Wouldn’t she want him to touch her so that she could read his past?” Chase asked.
Max growled and flicked his hand, shoving Chase against the wall of the van with a thought.
“Oww. Right. Bad idea.”
Max’s worst fear came to fruition as he watched his father fondle Crystal. An angry wave radiated from his body to rattle the equipment. The sides of the van began to creak and buckle under the force of his restrained rage.
“Max.” Doc tried to rein him in with a plea that sounded as if she were calming a rabid beast. “Ripley will get to her. Don’t lose it now.”
“We go,” he said, ignoring the request for calm. He reached for the door handle.
“Wait.” Doc stopped him, pointing at the monitor. “There’s someone else in the room with them.”
“Who?”
“They’re out of range. I can’t hear what he’s saying.”
“Addison, turn up her mic,” Max instructed.
“Is that recognition I see in your eyes?” the newcomer’s voice rumbled.
Max’s heart stopped. “What the fuck?” Impossible. It was impossible.
Anthony’s face came into view and Max’s head swam.
“What the fuck?” Blood rushed in his ears. Sweat popped out on his brow as sickening realization dawned. He clenched and unclenched his fingers as he struggled for breath. “What the fuck? What the fuck!”
Doc started to reach out then thought better of it. “Max, who is that?”
“Anthony,” he choked, still not believing what he was seeing.
She frowned. “Your friend who died?”
“Apparently he didn’t die,” Chase murmured out the side of his mouth.
Anthony DeMateo, his best friend, was alive and apparently working with Madden. Probably had been the entire time. Bile rose in Max’s throat at the thought that he had been played. Anthony was the one person he had trusted above all others. Anthony knew he would go after his father when he died. Why did he set him up?
Mac grabbed the back of the chair when Anthony kissed Crystal, caught up in the shock of the moment. When she bit Anthony and he backhanded her in response, the chair snapped, the plastic crumbling in Max’s palms like sand.
“I know you, Anthony DeMateo. I know you from the man who used to call you friend, you lying, traitorous bastard!” Crystal shouted in outrage.
“No!” Max braced his hands on the sideboard, his nose inches from the screen. “What are you doing? You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“Holy shit,” Chase breathed as they watched in horror.
The smack of Crystal’s body hitting the wall made them all flinch. Max was going to kill Anthony himself and make sure he damn well stayed dead.
Crystal’s low sultry chuckle made his throat tighten in dread and kept his feet rooted to where he stood, helpless to do nothing but watch. What was she thinking? “Do you really want me to tell you that? Do you want me to tell you everything I know about you, The Second?”
Max fell back against the side of the van.
Anthony? Anthony was the one they had been working against all this time? Nausea swirled in his belly. Fuck, he’d been such a fool.
Anthony’s fist pulled back then swung at Crystal. The view blurred as she fell to the floor before the image refocused on his shoes.
Max froze, his brain overloaded and incapable of processing the fact that his woman had been knocked cold by his friend.
Chase bolted up. “Why did he punch her?”
“Maybe she saw something in his past when he touched her,” Doc answered. “Something he didn’t want let out, so he silenced her before she could blab.”
Chase shot a nervous glance at Max. “He’s going to explode, isn’t he?”
Max blinked once. His eyes narrowed with diamond-hard focus as every muscle in his body tensed. There was no need to blow up at that moment. All of his energy was required for the field.
“We go in now.” His voice was low and as smooth as shards of glass. “DeMateo is mine.”
A knock on the back of the van snapped their gazes toward the double doors. One of the monitors showed Ronan Daniels standing just outside.
“Open up, Max. I know you’re there,” the twin called out to him telepathically.
The back doors flung open and the metal smashed into the sides with a loud clang. Max jumped to the ground. “How did you find us?”
Ronan raised an incredulous brow. “Are you kidding? You’re broadcasting so loudly, even a non-telepath could hear you.” His expression sobered. “Your girl’s in trouble.”
“No shit,” he barked then sucked in a breath.
He needed to keep his cool and his priorities in check. DeMateo would get what was coming to him, but Crystal came first.
Ronan glanced into the van and his mouth fell open. “Impressive. Hello.” He nodded to the others. “Ronan Daniels, but we’ll get to that later.” He turned back to Max. “Was Crystal on her own in there?”
“Sort of. One of our teammates, Ripley, was supposed to be with her, but they were separated. He was taking out guards so we could go in.”
“Ripley is the shifter?” Max nodded and Ronan placed his hands on his hips. “That’s a start. I’m not sure what you know so far, but that place is teaming with soldiers, and they’re not just there for show. I was able to sneak out, but Ethan stayed behind to keep an eye, or his mind, if you will, on Crystal.”
Max snorted. “He sucks at it. Madden has her. They knocked her out.”
The playboy’s expression softened. “I know. There were guards posted at the door. He couldn’t get in. But he’s tracking her progress, and between the two of us, we can keep her in the loop when she comes to.”
“They’re moving her,” Doc called out.
Crystal was lifted, the camera swinging wildly on its chain. Max couldn’t tell who was carrying her to one of the floor-to-ceiling bookcases. The case opened, revealing a tunnel.
“Where does that lead?” Chase asked.
“I don’t know.” Max narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t know it existed.”
Ronan held up a hand. His head cocked as if he were listening to the wind. “Ethan’s tracking them. They’re taking her to an underground room. Some kind of…” he paused to flick a glance at Max, “playroom. We need to move.”
“Right.” Max stalked back to the van and opened a metal locker. Rifles and hand guns glinted in the moonlight. “Load up and let’s roll.”