Chapter Four
Nepal
Four weeks later
Kenzie stepped into the hallway that—according to the reports she’d studied—led to Dr. Huisman’s personal office.
The one she now had the code to because while Huisman was super evil and wanted to blow up the world, it wasn’t like the dude was picking up after himself.
And surprise, he also didn’t pay well which is why that keycard was in her pocket.
“Did you find it?” Lou was in her ear. She was in a safe spot working to try to gain control of this mountain base of Huisman’s.
And Ben was here.
It seemed like forever since the last time she saw him. Last time she’d kissed him and sat on his lap and made the decision to be with him even if it was only once.
That night she’d flown to Virginia and with the help of Zach, they’d managed to save Kala and Devi.
Well, Zach had sort of, kind of kidnapped Devi.
That girl was racking up points on her bingo card.
Kidnapped three times now, if one counted the Zach encounter.
Which Kenzie didn’t because according to Kala, their cousin had been playing some serious kinky games with Zach in a barn.
Not how she would have gone, but good for Devi.
“It’s ahead of me. It looks like the outer door is already open,” she replied.
“Comms are in and out,” Lou said, her voice crackling a bit over the connection. “Be careful. I’m looking at this system, and I think he’s got traps everywhere. I’m worried, Kenz.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll get the key to Ben and circle back to help find Devi.” She moved down the hall, the sounds of gunfire in the distance. “I take it we’re already at work.”
“It’s chaos,” Lou said and then the comm went dead.
“Lou?” She touched her earpiece. “Kala? Anyone?”
Dead air. She was on her own.
Well, that was what happened when an evil villain decided to put his lair in the side of a mountain in the middle of the Himalayas. Where the Internet was sketchy. It was annoying. She would bet they had electricity problems, too. And it was cold. If only she was…
Ben was here and she was not feeling like the cool, competent agent she should be because they hadn’t seen each other since that day at Top.
She’d called but they’d had work stuff. Ben and his tech Tim had stumbled into an op being run by Henry Flanders and his daughter, Lucy Brooke.
Or LB, as Kenz called her. Or Lucifer, as Kala called her. LB answered to a lot of names.
Deep breath. She looked good. She was in Lou’s latest, a snowy white winter uniform made entirely of nanites so it could adapt as she needed it to. It fit perfectly and could double as body armor.
Also, she could make it go away with the push of a button. She could literally melt her clothes off if Ben looked at her in a panting, melting way.
Damn it. Her father was right. She was a mess when it came to this man. Deep breath. It was time. She stepped into the antechamber. If the reports were accurate, this space served as Huisman’s office, research center, and private rooms.
And there was Ben. Tall and gorgeous in all white, too. He and Tim had come up the hard way, but he looked fresh as a daisy, not like a man who’d climbed a twenty K mountain and squeezed through air ducts to get here.
He stared at her and for a moment she hesitated. He looked cold. As cold as the air around them. Huisman liked it chilly.
Maybe he’d rethought his position. If he had, then she better get through this.
“Ben, I’m sorry I’m late.” Kenzie pulled back the hood of her parka as she approached him. “We had trouble with the helo, but it looks like you handled everything with your usual aplomb. That was a lot of bodies out there, buddy.”
He studied her for a moment, his eyes taking her in, and not as cold as they’d been. “I didn’t realize you were late because you’re not supposed to be here at all.”
What kind of game was he playing? “You know we were responsible for getting the code. How did you think I would get it to you?”
“Text works.” Yep, he was upset with her.
Maybe he hadn’t felt what she had that night.
Her heart threatened to break. Somehow she’d thought this would be a happy reunion.
They both worked in a job where they couldn’t be available all the time.
He had to know she’d tried to contact him the only way she could, so this was his answer.
She was going to have to admit to everyone that she’d been wrong and this man wasn’t the be all, end all of her existence.
Professional. She could find a little of that.
“You need this along with the code. I took it off one of Huisman’s men last night at a bar.
He’s still sleeping it off, so I doubt he’ll miss it.
Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll open that door and we can be home in time for dinner. ”
He stopped her before she could get to the door. “Did you get the vaccine?”
Well, at least he didn’t want her to die.
They knew Huisman was working on a weaponized version of inhalation anthrax.
Or he was hoping she wasn’t prepared so he could leave her behind.
He was about to find out that even if he didn’t want her anymore, he wasn’t getting rid of her.
Not when it was her cousin in this facility.
She rolled her eyes, something she never would have done if he’d been even halfway nice to her. If he had, she likely would have knelt at his feet. Because she was a dumb girl. “Of course. Do you think I have a death wish?”
He seemed to consider the problem for a moment, and Kenzie worried she might have to fight him.
All in all, not how she thought this would go.
“All right, I’m going first,” he finally said.
“I don’t know if Huisman is behind that door or not.
According to our intelligence, he hasn’t left the base in a week, but he sent home the rest of the non-security employees a few days ago.
Be careful, eh? He might be a doctor, but he gave up on his Hippocratic oath a long time ago.
He will be armed, and he won’t hesitate to kill you. Stay behind me.”
She moved to the door, using the key card and punching in a five-digit code.
If he was going to be cool and casual about this, so could she.
“You know I love it when you say ‘eh.’ And hey, if you want to get murdered first, who am I to stop you? What’s wrong with the comms? I can’t get my team on the line.”
Ben stared at the door. “Apparently the storm is wreaking havoc on our electronics. Stay behind me.”
Kenzie gripped her SIG, taking a long breath and trying to shove the drama out of her head. It would be okay. She could get through this. Finding Devi was the important thing. Finding Devi and getting rid of Huisman.
When they got rid of Huisman she wouldn’t have to see Ben again. She could move on.
The light came on and Ben glanced around the anteroom. “According to the plans we stole, this is where Huisman works.”
“This outer section is part of his office. The lab is in the back. It’s a level-four biosafety lab, so we’ll have to change if we go in there.” Did he think she didn’t read the reports?
A brow rose over his eyes, his annoyed look.
Now that she thought about it, he sent her that look a lot.
“Yes, I got that intel. And we don’t have to change at all.
I’ll deal with it, and you’ll stay out here and watch for any stragglers.
And Huisman. I haven’t found him yet. He’s got to be here somewhere. ”
Who the fuck did he think she was? At least up until now he’d respected her professionally. “I’m not going to sit out here like a good girl and wait for you. I can bet what would happen. You would go in and the formula would mysteriously disappear.”
He simply turned and started down the hall.
He wanted to ignore her? Oh, she wouldn’t let that happen. “If you think I’m going to allow something that deadly to fall into your country’s hands, you don’t know me.”
They made it through the fairly utilitarian outer office to the more private part of the space.
If she was right, the door to the left led to the lab.
There was a green light blinking above. Why the hell wasn’t it locked?
Huisman’s office was on the other side. It didn’t have the same elaborate security setup the lab had. This felt like a trap.
“I don’t know you at all, sweetheart. I don’t even know your real name.
The only thing I know is that you’ll do anything for your country, including turning over a weapon of mass destruction when you would be better off destroying the formula.
” He strode down the hallway. “And don’t even talk to me about our countries.
Let’s see which one is known for being involved in every war it can send its troops into, and which one is known for maple syrup and delicious donuts. ”
She followed him. “We have excellent donuts, too. And maple syrup. Have you never been to Vermont? Name me one thing Canada has that America doesn’t. Face facts. You’re nothing but America North, buddy.”
He chuckled, but it wasn’t an amused sound. “You know what we have that you don’t, baby? It’s called common sense. Sweet, sane common sense. Which is precisely why you’re not stealing this formula.”
Ben stopped at the doorway to the office, and something about how still he went had her getting the SIG ready.
Then she realized she didn’t need it. Not for Huisman.
“Is he dead?” Kenzie walked in and stared at the body on the floor. Yep. That was Dr. Emmanuel Huisman, and he had a bullet hole in his left temple.
Ben kicked the revolver away from the doctor’s hand, but he didn’t touch the body.
“He must have decided to kill himself rather than face the Agency.” Her dad was going to be so upset. He’d wanted to murder that asshole in very medieval ways.
“Maybe he knew he was facing CFI.”
Canadian Foreign Intelligence. It was an offshoot of CSIS.