Matt nodded and took off at a run.
Ryker turned, barreling through the snow as gunfire erupted at the front of the lodge. His step hitched, but he kept going. His brothers were trained, and they’d be okay. Zara and Greg needed him now. He ducked his head against the piercing cold, reaching a line of trees and scouting the area for a trail. Fresh snow covered the ground, littered with pine needles, which made it nearly impossible to see footprints, especially in the dark.
So he paused and listened. Wind, firefight in the background, ice cracking on branches. Digging deeper, he filtered all the sounds.
A heartbeat. Wild and fierce, going too fast. To the east. Another one…this one somewhat elevated yet calmer than the first one.
He ducked under swaying branches and ran, following the sound, finding what might be a trail. He was nearly upon the outbuilding when he saw it. The white cinder blocks blended perfectly into the snowstorm.
He ran full bore for the door and kicked it open.
A hard body tackled him, throwing him back into the snow, just as a woman screamed long and loud.
Zara.
Chapter
39
Zara screamed and struggled against her bindings as Todd and Ryker rolled in the snow, furiously throwing punches. Reality slammed her in the face, and she quieted. There were more soldiers around. She had to help Ryker and not bring any of them running.
The loud roar of an engine bellowed through the storm.
More troops? She jerked against the ropes, wincing as they cut further into her aching flesh. The chair was metal, so even if she threw herself backward, it wouldn’t break, but her arms might.
Ryker punched Todd in the face and jumped up, turning for her. Todd kicked out, nailing Ryker in the ankle, and he stumbled. Todd pushed up and jumped at Ryker with a snarl, throwing them both into the room and right toward her. Zara screamed and ducked her head just as Ryker pivoted to the side and smashed into the cinder blocks, taking the brunt of the impact on his forehead. His head smashed the block with a loud thud.
Zara sucked in air, concentrating on him.
He fell and then instantly bounded up, turning and punching Todd in the neck. Todd grabbed his neck and fell back, his eyes widening. Ryker followed the punch with a kick, and Todd flew out of the room to smash onto the ground and send snow spraying.
“You okay?” Ryker coughed, reaching behind her to slice the ropes with a knife.
“Yeah.” The circulation returned to her hands, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. The blood rushed back into her skin like needles.
Todd hissed and grabbed the door frame. Blood flowed down his head, and his nose was bent toward the side of his face. Slowly, with hate in his eyes, he lifted a gun toward her.
She gasped.
The first shot came from behind her, and she jumped. Blood bloomed from the center of Todd’s head, his eyes widened, and he fell directly backward into the snow.
She slowly turned her head to see Ryker setting down a gun. He gently took her face in his hands. “Jesus.”
Bruises and blood marred his handsome face while snow and blood coated his shirt and jeans, but he’d never looked better to her. Everything she would ever need was there in his eyes and his gentle touch. Tears filled her eyes, and this time she let them fall. “You came.” She’d breathed the words, her chest filling with him. She’d trusted him, and he’d come for her.
He leaned in and kissed her lips, the touch reverent. “Yeah.”
Her head jerked. “Did you find Greg?”
“Not yet.” Ryker pulled her gently from the chair by the shoulders. “Can you run?”
She nodded and found her balance.
His gaze darkened, and he drew her arms toward him by the elbows. “Holy shit.”
She glanced down at her raw and bleeding wrists. “They’re fine.”
“They are not fine.” Fury sizzled across his angled features, and tension swelled, heating the cinder-block room. “Too bad he’s already dead.” Ryker drew her out of the room and helped her over the dead soldier. “Any clue where Greg is?”
“No.” Too many emotions blasted into her, and she averted her gaze from Todd. Apparently Ryker was a good shot. “Thanks for coming to get me,” she said through numb lips.
“Always.” He drew her from the outbuilding, his solid body between her and any danger. A firefight sounded toward the lodge, and an explosion roared through the night from over the hill, sending fire, light, and debris high into the air. “Fuck. I hope that wasn’t our helicopter.” Ryker ducked into a run. “Stay right behind me, sweetheart.”
She nodded and tried to keep her balance through the thick snow. Her wrists pounded in pain and her face ached as bruises formed, but she kept right behind him, her gaze sweeping the area. They had to find Greg.
Something dark caught her eye. “Ryker.” She grabbed his arm and pointed. “There.”
He turned and followed a barely there path to another outbuilding made of cinder blocks. He set her to the side of the door and kicked it open. It flung inward and hung awkwardly. Zara hurried after him and looked around the empty room. “He’s not here,” she whispered. There had to be other buildings. Where the hell was Greg?
A gun cocked behind her, and a barrel pressed against her neck. She stiffened. “Ryker?” she whispered, her voice shaking.
Ryker turned and faced her fully, looking over her shoulder. “Don’t shoot her.”
“Drop your gun, sweet boy,” came a feminine voice. “God, I’ve missed you, Ryker. Look how grown up and handsome you are.” She almost sounded like a proud mother.
Zara shivered as nausea attacked her. “Dr. Madison. Where’s Greg?”
Ryker dropped his gun and kicked it over to the right.
“No!” Zara coughed out a sob.
Madison tapped her weapon on Zara’s head. “Go toward him and turn around. Both of you get against the back wall. On your knees.”
Zara stumbled toward Ryker, feeling that gun trained on her. The second she reached him, he shoved her behind him and backed to the wall. She tried to move to the side, but he pressed her against the hard blocks.
“Well, then. I guess I shoot you,” Madison said almost conversationally.
* * *
Ryker faced the woman from his past. “You won’t shoot me, and we both know it.” He crossed his arms, careful to keep all of Zara out of a bullet’s path, just in case. “Where’s Greg?”
Isobel Madison smiled, and those deep blue eyes sparkled. “Greg is mine again, and I’m not giving him up. Why don’t you and your brothers come with us, shackled of course, and we’ll do some tests?”
Do some tests. He remembered those words from that mouth, and he wanted to puke. “Fuck you.”
“Oh, the things I could teach you.” She kept the gun pointed levelly at his chest—center mass. “Have you missed me, sweet boy?”
He gagged. “No.”
“Liar,” she whispered, her voice seductive and way beyond creepy. “There are secrets from your past I’d share. Like you’re not alone. Not really.”
She hadn’t seen Matt or Jory, now, had she? “I don’t care about secrets, and I’ve given up the past. How about you just go to hell now?” he said, his voice shaking just enough to piss him off. Had his brothers found Greg? Where was Cobb? He had to get the gun from Madison, but she was right in front of him for the first time, and he needed to ask. “Why me? Why did you leave me in New Orleans as a baby and have me later relocated to North Carolina? Why did you mess with my life at all?”
“Mess with your life? I gave you life, boy.” Her gaze narrowed.
He rolled his eyes. “It’s no coincidence that Heath, Denver, and I ended up at the same place being tested by you. That much I’ve figured out. So if we’re different, and you and I both know we are, I have to think you know why.” He went with a false question so as not to give anything away. “Are the three of us really related? Do we share a parent?”
&nbs
p; She relaxed. “No. The three of you don’t share anything but your creation. That was me and science and brilliance.”
Zara made a sound behind him, and he shook his head. “How so?”
Madison’s eyes glowed. “Test tubes, experiments, and really good genes. If there are extra abilities in men, and I believe there are, then I created you to have them. Right?”
He didn’t answer her.
She settled her stance. “Tit for tat, young man. Right?”
He slowly nodded. “I’m smart, and my reflexes are very quick. Genetics?”
“Yes.”
“Test tubes?” he asked slowly.
She smiled. “Yes. So many embryos, and most didn’t survive. But you did, as did others. You might have biological brothers out there, but you, Heath, and Denver created your own bond, didn’t you?”
If he could keep her talking, then one of his brothers would come up behind her as soon as they discovered this building. How many buildings were getting searched? If she was here, then she wasn’t hiding Greg. So Ryker continue to play along, acknowledging that he needed answers. “Who were my biological parents?” He held his breath.
She sniffed. “Doesn’t matter. I created you. I’m your parent.”
“Biologically,” he snapped.
“A soldier was your sperm donor—a truly gifted, brilliant, hard man. He died on a mission.” Her lips turned down. “I believe your mother was a lost teenage whore with a shockingly high IQ. After giving birth to you, and taking our money, she was killed by a drug overdose.” Madison held up a hand when he opened his mouth. “We did not kill her.”
He swallowed. Unfortunately, his ability to discern the truth told him she was being honest. His parents, such that they were, no longer lived.
A part of him wished he could’ve saved his teenaged mother. Not his failure, but he still hurt for her. His chest ached, but not as badly as he would’ve expected. His brothers were his family, and that would never change, no matter how many new members they added. “Did my mother have other children?”
“Yes,” Madison said. “I also harvested many of her eggs to use with other surrogates. You probably have half-brothers out there.”
Zara pressed both her hands against his lower back in a gesture of pure comfort.
“Why are you telling me this?” he asked, his body flushing.
Madison shrugged. “Think about coming with me. I’m rebuilding my business, and you have a lot to offer. I can train you. Think of the advances we could make.”
The woman was colder than ice and more calculating than the serial killer they were chasing. “You need to be put down,” he muttered. “Your business?”
“Yes. More soldiers, more test tubes, more advances in science. In fact, I’ll have a new lab ready in a matter of weeks, and I could use additional genetic material. What do you say?”
“Additional?” he coughed.
She smiled. “I still have some, young man. It’s just been stored safely away, and soon I’ll have the proper facility.”
He shook his head. They’d have to take her out before she created anybody else. For now, he owed his brothers a chance to know their pasts. “What about Heath’s and Denver’s parents? What’s the deal?”
She shook her head and glanced at her wristwatch. “They’ll have to come in if they want answers. I’ve told you enough.” She backed away, stepping outside into the snow.
He stepped toward her, and she lifted the barrel of the gun to his face. “Why? After the test tubes, why did you leave me at an orphanage?” he asked. She’d kept the Gray brothers, but she’d set him free. Why? He couldn’t ask the entire question, because she didn’t know he’d met up with Matt and Jory. “I’d think you’d want to keep your creations close.”
She nodded. “All part of the experiment, I’m afraid. I had to see how you three boys—totally unrelated but created with superior genes—would interact and survive. You were my project. Just mine. You still are.”
A roar of a motor echoed through the trees. Ryker tensed. He needed the bitch off balance and fast. “I killed Todd.”
She nodded. “I know, but that’s all right. He’d served his purpose, and frankly, his ideals were getting in my way. You did me a favor.”
The woman had the heart of a snake. Ryker fought the urge to throw up. “I’m bringing you down, lady. Get ready.”
“I’ll be in touch, Ryker. This is by no means the end.” She took another step back, keeping her aim steady and true.
The roar increased in pitch. Snow sprayed. A snowmobile rushed into sight with Sheriff Cobb on the back.
Hatred, raw and pure, poured through Ryker. He ran forward without thought, wanting to kill more than he wanted his next breath.
Madison fired, and he ducked as bullets pinged over his head. She jumped on the machine, swinging her arm around and continuing to fire.
Cobb gave him a hard look and mouthed the word “Soon” before twisting the throttle. The snowmobile jumped forward, and he drove it through a path between two large pine trees, heading away from the lodge.
Ryker launched into motion. “Stay here,” he bellowed at Zara, lowering his head and running behind the snowmobile as fast as the thick snow would allow. He ran hard, branches slapping him, desperation spurring him on. The roar of rotors caught his attention. Sucking in air, he could hear several people behind him, also running fast.
He charged into a clearing just in time to see the door close on a black helicopter. It slowly rose into the air. Madison looked out a back window and gave him a little wave.
Matt burst through trees next to him and halted, breathing heavily.
Madison’s eyes widened, and her lips formed the word “Matt.” She smiled broadly.
“Fuck,” Matt hissed. “Is Greg in there?”
Madison slowly nodded. “I have Greg,” she mouthed very clearly. “See you soon.” Then she held up a black box.
Ryker squinted. “Is that—”
The world exploded behind them as the lodge blew up with a devastating roar.
Jory ran through trees to the east with Heath and Denver on his heels, all crashing to the ground and rolling. “They got our helicopter, and the lodge just blew. I hot-wired an SUV. We have to go. Now.”
Ryker turned just as Zara stumbled through the snow in bare feet toward him. He caught her.
“Greg?” she asked through purple lips.
Rage rushed through him so quickly he swayed. “No.”
The helicopter pitched and dropped toward the ground. What the hell? Movement showed through the windows, and the nose dipped down. Greg came into view, fighting furiously with the pilot while hands grabbed him from behind.
Ryker and Matt launched into motion at the same time, running full bore for the landing skids. Ryker jumped on one while Matt caught the other. The helicopter swayed and spun. Ryker’s wounded shoulder protested in agony. From the corner of his eye, he saw his other brothers crouching and taking aim. Nobody would fire with Greg in the aircraft.
Screaming came from inside.
The side door opened near Ryker. He pulled himself up…right into the barrel of a gun.
“No!” Greg yelled, shoving Madison to the back and then throwing himself at Ryker.
The kid hit him in the face, and Ryker let go of the door to clamp Greg in a bear hug, protecting him as he fell backward. They landed in the snow with a loud thunk.
Gunfire erupted around them, and he scrambled to cover the kid.
Matt landed over to his left and rolled, coming up already firing.
The helicopter banked a hard left and swerved out of the way, quickly rising into the sky. A frustrated scream came from within.
Ryker leaned back. “You okay?” he grunted, shaking snow from his eyes.
Greg, his eyes wide, nodded. “Yeah. You?”
“Yeah.” Everything fucking hurt beyond belief, but nothing was broken. Zara skidded in the snow next to him, reaching for his head. “Are you all right?
Both of you?” Tears were streaming down her face. “I love you. God, don’t do anything like that again.”
He smiled. Love. She loved him. Then he passed out cold.
Chapter
40
Ryker awoke with a jolt and sat up on a leather sofa. Mini stars detonated behind his eyes, and pain threw nausea into his gut. He groaned.
“You’re all right.” Zara sat next to him on a coffee table.
He blinked several times and sucked down air. “Where are we?” he croaked. Was there anybody he needed to fight?
“We’re safe. A very nice safe house outside of Hot Springs that Heath said you guys own,” she murmured, pushing hair back from his face.
He looked around a gathering room complete with plush furniture, smooth wood floors, and a climbing brick fireplace. “Oh yeah. South Dakota. I almost forgot I bought this place.” He gingerly tapped a bump on his forehead. “Jesus. How long was I out?”
“Long enough,” Matt said, striding in from the outdoors. He shook snow from his coat. “Where’s Greg?” he asked Zara.
“Here.” Greg loped in from the kitchen. “Hey, Ryker. You’re alive.”
Ryker nodded. “Somebody catch me up to speed, please.”
Matt shoved snow out of his dark hair. “We loaded everyone up in the SUV and drove for about an hour until some of our men picked us up in a helicopter. They flew us here, and now we’re waiting for the crew from Montana to show.”
Ryker threaded his fingers through Zara’s. “You okay, baby?” He should’ve asked that first thing.
She smiled, her pretty face still bruised but her eyes clear and sparkling. “I’m fine.”
“Greg?” Ryker asked.
Greg grinned. “I landed on you, dude. I’m great.”
Kids. Ryker studied Matt. “You’re fine.”
“Yep.”
Wait a minute. “Where’s—”
Matt kept his gaze. “Your Cisco offices and apartments are busted. Madison and Cobb know where they are, so you have to relocate.”