Whirlpool (Cutter Cay Book 6) Read online

A pair of black military-style boots came into view. A rough hand grabbed her upper arm, and beefy fingers dug into her bicep like a vice. The guy hauled her unceremoniously to her feet. Pins and needles sent shards of agony through her legs as the blood rushed to her extremities. Peri couldn't help sucking in a gasp of pain as her knees seemed to melt. It was only the man's grip that kept her upright.

  "She's our bargaining chip, Excellency," the new voice was elderly, respectful, but determined. The man was right behind her, which gave Peri the creeps. "They must not know how important she is. We do not want to show our hand until we have the tablets."

  "That's Gallagher." Theo brought the gun up to Peri's face, stroking the barrel under her left eye, then sliding it down her hot cheek, smearing the blood in a wet trail across her skin.

  His eyes were snake-dead and creepy as hell. Peri went hot then cold, then hot again.

  "He came alone, willing to die." Theo motioned someone behind her to come forward. "Get the tablets and then grant him his wish. I'll take my lady below. We'll be long gone before anyone else shows up."

  Several years ago, dogging Logan's salvage off the coast of Peru, she'd thought he was coming after her underwater. She'd ascended too rapidly and almost given herself a pulmonary embolism. Peri felt like that now. Restricted lungs made it impossible to drag in a breath, pressure on her chest, heart beating too fast.

  Panic attack. Breathe. Just breathe.

  Why didn't he kill her now that Finn had arrived, presumably with the tablets? Not that she wanted to be dead, but wasn't she redundant now? Why take her down to the caves? And how and when had Theo discovered the caverns below her house? What else had he found? The freight elevator filled with Cutter artifacts? Had he disabled Sea Witch? If so, she was really screwed. The only way out of the caverns was by water. Deep water. Dead of night black water. She was an excellent swimmer, but still. . .

  Never allow yourself to be taken to a second location rang in her head. First rule to remember if you’re kidnapped. She'd read that somewhere. But below meant Theo knew about the elevator and the caves. That was the bad news. The good news was she knew her way around down there, and, hopefully, he didn't.

  "You won't get away with th- Omph!" The man Theo had motioned forward materialized to grab her around the waist without warning, then sling her over his massive shoulder like a bag of flour. The movement jarred her wrists and caused black dots to swarm in her vision. She turned her head so she didn't have her face smashed into his back, it was hard enough breathing, let alone upside down. "If Finn doesn't shoot you on the spot, he'll beat your ass, put you in jail and throw away the key."

  No. Finn would be summarily shot. If he'd brought the tablets, the men would take them, then kill him. If he hadn't, they'd kill him, then contact one of the Cutters or her brother. They wouldn't stop until they got what they wanted.

  "Your lover won't find you, querida," Theo told her, in the creepiest, most gentle tone. He motioned the man to get going with her. Every step the guy took jarred her wrists, and made the compression on her lungs worse as blood drained to her head.

  Theo entered the pantry ahead of them. "You are an important key in the narrative of the Chosen, Ariel." He pressed the button to open the narrow door of the elevator. "Once I explain the true meaning of Blackstar's prophecy, it will all be made clear to you."

  That sounded ominous. "Give me the Cliff's Notes."

  "You will rule at my side, and bear me fine, strong sons in the New World."

  Oh, hell no. "You had your chance. We broke up way back, remember?" She listened for gunshots, but only heard her own rapid heartbeat. The shirt of the guy carrying her was damp with sweat, and he reeked of what she imagined dirty socks would smell like. She braced her bound hands on the man's belt at the small of his back so she could lift her swimming head. "You didn't seem that devastated about us breaking up at the time. I thought you were fine with us being friends."

  "I allowed you freedom of choice. All women like to sow some wild oats before they settle down. I have always known you would be my goddess, and help me lead my people. Gallagher was a misstep, I must admit. I wasn't prepared for you to fuck another man."

  "Yeah, that must've been a tough one," she said dryly while her heart ached.

  "Untenable. But I knew you would be mine in the end. Blackstar ordained it."

  "If so, Blackstar was a freaking moron. Never going to happen. Believe me, I'm no goddess, far from it. Which you would've noticed if you'd been listening to my confession this afternoon. And news flash, this is not how you win a woman’s heart."

  "I don't give a fuck about your heart. It's your womb I want."

  "My wo- Are you listening to yourself, Theo? You're nuts."

  "I've never been more sane, more focused. I've waited my entire life for this moment. In this the tablets were correct. You are my Fire Warrior, Ariel. "

  "If that part was true, why isn't the rest of Blackstar's prediction, Theo? I didn't hear anything from Dr. Vadini that indicated you could pick and choose what to believe and what not to believe."

  The man's shoulder dug into her belly. Her blood pounded in her head, and it was hard to draw air into her lungs. Theo didn't answer. "We won't fit in the elevator with me slung over this guy' shoulder like this, nor will we fit in the tunnels."

  The narrow elevator door slid open emitting a faint blue light. Theo pulled her head up by the untidy braid dangling over her face. She'd never noticed that he had the eyes of a reptile.

  He must've given the other man a signal because she was flipped onto her feet. "Don't do anything foolish." Taking out his curved bladed knife, Theo sliced between her ankles, then made a sharp upward stroke. "In three days I will become Supreme Leader of the World."

  Peri snorted out a laugh, even though the action hurt her ribs. "Supreme leader of the World? Not just Argentina, but the entire world? Theo, you're delusional." Probably not a wise thing to say to a man who was delusional.

  "You are my lifemate. Blackstar ordained it. There is no other." He shoved her into the tiny elevator first, then he and the other man got in.

  "Either you can stand beside me proudly, bear my children, and reap the benefits of being by my side. Or I will hold you by force, put a child in you, and make your life extremely unpleasant. The choice is yours."

  "My choice is none of the above."

  His black eyes flashed, and his mouth tightened, but he didn't respond. The elevator barely contained the three of them and she did her best to put space between them by crowding the back corner. The elevator moved slowly; less than five minutes to get to the caverns below. Did Theo have more men waiting there? Did he have a fast boat? Oh, hell. Was he planning on kidnapping her in her own damned boat? "How did you know about the elevator?"

  "I followed your runabout into the cave last year. I've been exploring every time you left the house."

  Which was often, as she'd been diving Napolitano every day. "Snooping." Her brain was like a gerbil on a wheel while she strategized her escape. It beat worrying about Finn, possibly already lying dead on her flokati rug in her living room.

  "You are too stubborn, Ariel. Too opinionated. Too independent. When we were together I thought you an unworthy vessel to accept the planting of my seed."

  "Thank God. My vessel would repel your seed so fast your head would spin. You really are delusional, Theo. I'm not your anything. I never will be your anything.

  "Blackstar's prophecy is clear. Not the false prophecy of the tablets you found, but the prophecy passed down to me for hundreds of years. You are my lifemate," he repeated. "We will be joined before the apocalypse."

  "If the tablets aren't the prophecy you think they should be, why the hell do you want them, Theo?" They were speaking in English and she wondered if the expressionless man with them understood what they were saying.

  "Because I am the only person who can read them. Because they will fucking say whatever I want them to say when I show them to my people. They w
ill confirm what I know. There will be eleven thousand people left after the apocalypse, and I will have you ruling by my side, Ariel."

  The elevator door opened. Heart pounding with dread she breathed in the familiar scent of sea air and the unfamiliar stink of old sweat coming from several shady figures of Theo's men waiting for them. "My name is Persephone Case, dickhead!"

  TWENTY-ONE

  Finn found himself looking down the business end of four H&K G36 assault rifles. The four men, standing in the wedge of light in front of Peri's ten-foot pivoting front door, wore flak vests and held the weapons with sure knowledge. Their hair and clothing fluttered in the draft from the slowly spinning rotors of his chopper.

  The guy in the middle seemed to be in charge as he ordered, "Link your fingers behind your head, Gallagher."

  Lifting his arms, Finn quickly plucked the small gun from it's concealed holster between his shoulder-blades, palmed it, then linked his fingers loosely behind his head. The gun pressed between his scalp and his palm. Gravel crunched loudly underfoot as he crossed the wide driveway. "I have the tablets. You have two minutes to bring out Miss Case. If not, I take the tablets and leave. "

  "You don't fucking get to give orders, Gallagher. Where are they?"

  "Núñez. No one else. One minute-forty, tell him to hurry.."

  Keeping the men in his line of sight, Finn changed focus to glance through the open door behind them. No one visible in the triangle of light coming from inside. But in his peripheral vision, he saw five or six men at three o'clock, motionless in the dark, black against black, another handful at eight.

  Where are you, Peri? His thumping heart had to believe she was still alive.

  "Stay where you are," the man ordered. A two-way radio crackled, and he spoke into it quietly, then demanded, "Where are your men?"

  McCoy, coordinating everyone with the help of the satellite imagery, was Finn's point of contact via the tiny comm transmitting through bone resonance. "Ten on the ridge, on your six. Closing in," McCoy told him. "Five snipers on the roof."

  Yeah, Finn saw them silhouetted against the night sky. "I came alone as instructed. You were a steward onboard Blackstar," he said, recognizing the guy. "Eneas, is it?" Second steward. Local hire. McCoy would have someone on his team look into this guy. "How many people inside?"

  "Tablets."

  The question had been for McCoy. Not Eneas. McCoy said, "Nine."

  "Secure," Finn responded tersely to Eneas. "Nobody gets them until I see for myself that Miss Case is unharmed." And the longer they stood out here fucking chatting, the longer she was in there with a dangerous psychopath.

  "She is with his Excellency. No harm will befall her." Eneas signaled his men, who fell into step with him, eyes watchful, weapons ready.

  Finn felt rock-steady and calm. Focus had pushed out fear the moment he landed. "Befall her. . . if?

  "She cooperates."

  "Then we have a standoff. No negotiation."

  "You're not going to offer us more money to help you?"

  Finn calculated how far apart the four men were. "Would it work?"

  "Can you offer us salvation?" Eneas scoffed. "The way to fulfill our destiny?"

  In a fairly smooth movement, Finn whipped the small gun into position and fired off four rapid shots. Bam bam bam bam. McCoy was right, the trigger was a bit stiff, but it got the job done. Two men dropped almost at his feet. The next bullet hit Eneas between the eyes and the fourth man in the back of his head as he started to turn away. "There. You've fulfilled your fucking destiny, assholes."

  He replaced the .380 in the holster, retrieved the Sig. from the small of his back. Pausing before removing his Glock from the ankle holster, he took the two way radio from Eneas' body, clipped it to his own belt then continued into the house.

  "Lautaro Eneas and his buddies were military trained in Yavoriv, Ukraine. Don't underestimate them," McCoy said via the comm as Finn strode across the gravel. "Vadini’s theory of an organized and dedicated army appears to be correct. Wait for backup, for God's sake. . ."

  "Not waiting." Walking into a confined space with nine armed men, alone, was a calculated risk. Finn was banking on Núñez’s determination to get his hands on the tablets to keep both Peri and himself alive. Peri because she was bait, and himself because he was in possession of what "Núñez wanted most.

  "I have the tablets, and I'm unarmed," Finn yelled, closing and securing the heavy front door before he stepped into view. No one could come in behind him.

  Backed by the night sky, the windows in the house became giant mirrors reflecting the bright lights, and men clustered in the middle of the room.

  Finn took in the black-garbed men, same Flak vests, same 5.56X45 mm assault rifles. Same steely looks.

  Weapons were immediately raised, and several men took aggressive steps forward.

  He aimed the gun at the glass floor as he looked beyond the fireplace to the bedroom area to see if Peri was still in the house. She wasn't. "If the glass breaks, we all plummet to the rocks below." He knew he was aiming at bulletproof glass, but judging by the way the men were clustered on the area rug, they probably weren't so sure. "Where did he take her?"

  An older man cast rheumy eyes toward the open pantry door. "Please. The tablets?"

  Finn recalled Case's words; The entire bluff under Peri's house was a labyrinth of caves." Shit. He had no idea of the layout. Or how he'd even manage to get past these goons and down there. "Call Núñez. Have him bring her back to the house."

  There was no doubt in Finn's mind that the red stain on the rug was Peri's blood. He touched it with the toe of his boot, and when he moved, left a wet, red streak on the white fibers.

  Seeing three, glossy, reale-sized splats of blood on the glass floor between where he stood and a door near the kitchen, gave Finn hope. The fresh drops indicated she'd been moved within minutes of his arrival. Most likely alive.

  Striding to the pantry door, he yanked it open.

  "Wait- You can't-"

  "Stay right where you are." The man kept walking, Finn fired off a shot. He staggered backwards, then fell to his knees, a startled look on his face. "The next one goes into the floor."

  McCoy was talking rapidly in his earpiece as Finn strode into the pantry, and slammed the door. Leaning his full weight against it, he slipped his belt from the loops. Doubling the thick leather, he made a loop, slipped the tongue end under the door, and cinched up the buckle. One of its many intended uses. Someone banged against the door. It opened a quarter of an inch, no more. The force from the other side made the makeshift wedge fit even more tightly. The wedge held.

  Raised voices, and the sharp retort of several shots being fired at the door, made him cross to the metal door at the other end of the long, narrow, shelf-lined room. Wedge or not, that door wasn't going to hold under the onslaught of bullets for long.

  "Found the bomb," McCoy told him. "Sent it out to sea on your cigarette boat. Three choppers coming in hot, Case approaching from the water."

  "On my way down to the caverns. What's their eta?"

  "Eleven minutes. I have you on tracker."

  The elevator was tiny, barely large enough for two or three people who really liked one another. Finn stabbed the down button.

  His comm crackled, then died, just as he heard the ping of a bullet ricocheting off the metal door of the elevator, now above him. "I'm coming, Núñez. You better not have harmed a hair on Peri's head."

  The narrowness of the small elevator made it simple for Finn to use his arms and legs to monkey up the metal walls. Braced near the ceiling, above anyone's expected line of sight, he waited for the lift to reach the bottom.

  The minute the door slid open, he was greeted with a hail of bullets, and the welcome sound of Peri's seconds-too-late warning shout.

  Dropping down from his elevated position, gave Finn the element of surprise. Grabbing the shooter by the forearm. Using the guy's arm as a fulcrum, he slammed the soldier against the wall befo
re he could fire off another shot. Together, they tumbled, rolled, crashed against the rough rock surface, then staggered to their feet.

  There were several other people crammed into the narrow space, but they had to wait. Using both hands, Finn grabbed the man by the neck of his flak vest and head-butted him. His opponent screamed. Seeing stars, Finn brought his knee up and drove the man's balls up his throat. Sobbing and screaming, the guy dropped to the ground in the fetal position, hands between his legs.

  Finn had a quick view of Peri's red hair before he sprang at the second man waiting in the shadows. Surprised the shit out of the guy enough that he dropped his weapon. Finn slammed him hard against the rock wall, grunting with satisfaction when the man's skull cracked against the rough surface.

  The guy staggered, disoriented, his meaty fist swinging too fast for Finn to avoid. It connected with Finn's jaw, snapping his head back. He tasted blood and came back with a roundhouse punch that had the guy's head bouncing off the wall even harder the second time.

  Without hesitation, he spun, grabbed the barrel of the gun out of the first man's hand, brought it up hard, and used the stock to strike him on the bridge of his nose. Even though there was literally no room to swing a cat in the narrow tunnel, he hit the guy with everything he had and heard the satisfying crunch of bone and cartilage. The guy dropped like a rock.

  Vaulting over the body, Finn rushed the next man. It was darker than a witch's heart, but he already had the G36 assault rifle raised like a bat. Turning sideways, he struck down using his full body weight as he pivoted. The man staggered back, making a garbled noise as if to yell for help. Finn swung again, and this time was rewarded by what sounded like a watermelon hitting cement. The guy dropped at his feet. Finn leapt over him and came in fast for the next guy in line. Finn went in with a rabbit punch to the kidneys. The man gagged. Came at him again. Hit a glancing blow to his temple. Shaking his head, Finn connected a volley of solid punches to the man's stomach as he danced out of reach.

  Finn felt a rush of air and saw a sharp movement out of the corner of his eye. Spun around. Right into the barrel of an assault rifle. Dazed, he raised his fist, and took a step back to get some bite behind the punch. But his foot came down on the rifle one of the other men had dropped, and he stumbled. The man hit him again. Down on one knee, Finn slapped a bracing hand on the wall, pushed to his feet.