Page 40 of Fear for Her Life

Without hesitating, Carter fired to disable, not kill, and the noise bounced off the empty buildings. He moved forward as Callahan dropped the knife and staggered, clutching his side, but he wasn’t done yet and ran at him.Murder by copflashed in Carter’s mind and that was too easy for the crimes he’d committed. He’d take him in alive and paused a fraction too late to take evasive action. A vicelike grip closed around Carter’s wrist and they tumbled to the ground, grappling for control. The maniacally grinning face above him was the last sight many murdered women had seen. Carter’s Navy SEAL training was like second nature. He flipped Callahan over, regaining control, but the serial killer was back on his feet. Blood poured down one side of his body, black in the night. “Give it up.”

“Go to hell.” Callahan, eyes burning with rage came again.

Aiming for a head shot, Carter squeezed the trigger. The killer stumbled back, his foot slipping on the edge of the rooftop. For a moment he froze, balanced on the edge, a dark red spot between his eyes. Then, without a sound, Callahan fell, his body disappearing into the darkness below. Carter sat on a water tank, his chest heaving, the adrenaline slowly ebbing away. At the sound of Rio calling his name, he walked to the crumbling edge and looked down at Callahan’s lifeless body.

“He’s dead.” Rio looked up at him, hands on hips. “You okay?”

Tossing a toothpick into his mouth, Carter nodded. “Dandy.” As bricks crumbled underfoot, he stepped away. “Call it in. I’ll be right down.”

FORTY-EIGHT

JEZABEL

Souza had situated his hideout inside a survivalist’s bunker. A sealed entrance with a hatch complete with a handwheel reminded Kane of the waterproof hatches in a submarine. The spinning of the wheel as the hatch opened covered thepopof the M18 as Kane dispatched the bald guy and rolled him down an embankment. A face appeared at the entrance to the wide hole and then vanished as the man backed down a set of sturdy steel steps. Kane followed. The guard with an AK-47 slung across his chest led him along a passageway of granite walls. Hewn out of solid rock, a nest of tunnels vanished into darkness. The bunker incorporated a mineshaft, giving numerous escape routes.Interesting.

Light bulbs hung along the wall like fairy lights and underfoot a raised wooden floor led to a thick metal door. As they went along, Kane searched for guards but found none directly inside the main entrance. So far, apart from the four dead men outside, the only other guard he’d seen was accompanying him. The prison guard, Amy Clark, had mentioned three men in the chopper—two gunmen and a pilot—so maybe five or six men in total Souza could trust… or all that were left from his original organization. He considered his options as the passageway opened out to display racks of automatic weapons alongside a wooden box containing grenades. He hadn’t noticed a power supply but surmised a setup this organized would likely be using solar panels and gas-run generators. No doubt, they’d be concealed in the side of the mountain. They passed by open doors leading to sleeping quarters and a wide closed door with glass above it. Through the window, Kane made out a group of people dressed in hazmat suits involved in pill making and packaging. Strangled cries and begging drifted along the passageway and Kane went on high alert as they paused, and the guard turned to look at him.

“The boss is waiting for you.” The man chuckled as someone screamed in agony.

Kane glared at him. “Why in there?”

“He wants to show you his daughter’s work.” The man smiled, showing yellow stained teeth. “You’ll enjoy it. You might say she’s an artist.”

Nodding, Kane slowed his steps. He needed more information. “So is this a family business?”

“Yeah, six cousins are all he trusts now.” The guard frowned. “He must trust you, Angel of Death. He speaks about you often.”

Surprised the DEA undercover guy he’d replaced had set down such a great history, Kane stopped walking and stared at him. He knew way too much for a simple heavy. “The feeling is mutual. I don’t work with amateurs.” He leaned against the wall, nonchalant, like this guy was his best buddy. The guard might be a talker. “So what’s the deal with Alan Turner? He sure doesn’t sound like a family member.”

“He’s the pilot and can move deliveries around. No one suspects him. He works out of the airport and never comes here. There’s no need for a meet. You message him a code word when you require product, and you’ll get a message when the shipment is ready to be collected. You send the payment back with the delivery guy. It’s a streamlined service. Eduardo is rebuilding the network, but first we needed product in the quantities guys like you require. All the pills are made here. It’s safe and secure.”

Frowning, Kane stared at him. “Yeah, so if that’s what Alan What’s-his-name does, that doesn’t mean squat to me. Souza told me it was a family business.”

“He is part of the family.” The guard grinned. “Alan’s mom was Eduardo’s sister. She married an outsider but they’re both gone now.”

Kane nodded. “And the workers? Sisters?”

“Nah.” The guard chuckled. “They’re the old ones from the brothels. Disposable and replaceable. We have a mineshaft full of them. You should hear them scream when we toss them in. Sometimes they take days to die.”

Looking into the face of pure evil, Kane lashed out and punched him in the throat. Under his knuckles bone cracked. The guard fell flat on his back, grabbing his throat, wheezing. Windpipe crushed, he didn’t have long to live, and Kane grabbed his feet and dragged him into one of the side rooms. He looked down at him and shook his head in disgust. In seconds, the man’s eyes stared into nothing, and Kane slid from the room, closing the door behind him. The screams along the passageway grew louder with each step, and knowing Souza would likely recognize him the moment he stepped inside the room, he slid out his pistol and held it down alongside his thigh. He tapped his com and kept his voice to just above a whisper. “Get someone out to the airport. Don’t let him get away. He’ll have all the contacts of the latest suppliers. Plus he’s a family member. He needs to be buried deep or this will start up again.”

“Already done.”Wolfe sounded confident as usual.

Kane closed his eyes for a few seconds to picture Jenna’s lovely face and Tauri’s smile. He took a deep breath and slid deep into the zone. He had no idea how many people were inside the torture chamber or if they were armed with AK-47s. He opened the door and digested the scene before him. Eduardo Souza leaned against a wall, his attention fixed on a blood-covered man tied to a chair with wire. He didn’t so much as turn his head to look as Kane walked into the room. Too enthralled by the horrific torture, Souza had fixed his mouth in a satisfied grin. Kane’s finger slid to the trigger, but the pistol remained at his side as disgust flowed over him. Wearing a blood-soaked apron, her hair tied back, China looked up from her work and smiled at him before grabbing a handful of her prisoner’s hair and drawing the sharp blade across the man’s pale white neck.

As blood gushed, Kane stared at her in disbelief.

“Very entertaining.” Souza clapped. “Ten days must be a new record.”

“Aw, it’s because I gave him a few hours in between to imagine what I planned to do to him next.” China wiped bloody hands on her apron. “It makes it so exciting.” She grinned at Kane. “I saved the best bit for you.”

Bile rushed up the back of Kane’s throat. To think he’d once had concerns about China. He’d been lied to by a sadistic psychopathic murderer. There was no sister and she was just like her father. Without a second thought, he raised his M18 pistol and shot her between the eyes. As Souza turned to stare at him openmouthed, Kane ripped off the ball cap and wig and smiled at him. “She was as twisted as you, wasn’t she?”

“You.” Souza went for his weapon.

Before Souza’s gun cleared the holster, Kane squeezed the trigger.

FORTY-NINE

---