"What use is she to you?" Brodie asked, almost cryptically. Was she able to see the underlying apprehension in Addison's eyes from such a distance? "You know me, Black." Brodie slid into the helicopter, a terrified Skyler followed. "I do like my toys. This one is definitely something to play with. And the more it angers you... the more enjoyment I'll get."

"NO!" Addison ran forwards as the helicopter began to rise, a sobbing Marlene behind her, but it was no good. Their voices were drowned out in the wake of the tremendous hum of the aircraft. She looked around her, frantically searching for something, anything she could use to stop Brodie. It was too late. The helicopter moved further and further into the distance and all Addison could do was stand her ground, helplessly. She threw the MP5 to the ground in anger.

"G.o.d f.u.c.king d.a.m.n it." Addison kicked her weapon across the gra.s.s.

As the helicopter disappeared into the horizon all that remained was Addison's shallow, seething breath and Marlene's quiet sobs. The soldier turned away, facing the medieval building and carnage of bodies upon the ground. Focus, she said to herself. Her shoulders rose and fell noticeably as she breathed deep, calming breaths. Running both hands through her hair, the agent's eyes scanned the bodies. She had an idea.

Starting a search through the deceased men, Addison hunted out and found a radio. "Excellent." She turned it on, adjusting its digital readout to a specific frequency. Before speaking, Addison cast a gaze upon Marlene. The silent professor looked around their surroundings in shock. Tears of anguish, of a mother's fear for her child, trailed glistening streams down her cheeks.

"Marlene?" Addison placed her hand upon the professor's back. "I know you may see this as futile at the moment, but try not to worry. I will get her back."

"How?" The expression of fear was as clear in Marlene's voice as it was upon her face. "Do you know where that woman has taken my daughter?"

Twisting the volume dial upon the radio, Addison shook her head. "Not yet but I will." She kept her hand upon Marlene's back and ushered her into movement. "We have to get back into the building."

"No!" Marlene stopped. "I can't go back in there."

"Yes you can. Everybody inside has more than likely scattered. If I am to find out any clues as to where Brodie has gone, I have to dig around." Addison gently eased Marlene into moving. "It might very well be safer in there than out here."

"Why?"

"Because I'll be in there," Addison replied.

Marlene didn't respond but silently followed Addison.

The soldier readjusted the radio volume. "Come in H.Q. this is Black." Reaching the bottom of the spiral stairs, Addison ascended the steps with Marlene behind her.

"Roger, Black, this is H.Q. A team was dispatched to your location and is currently en-route."

"E.T.A.?".

"Fifteen minutes."

"Roger that," Addison replied. "Black out." The soldier switched off the radio and threw it over the staircase railings in anger. The realisation that she had made a mistake weighed down upon her. She thought she could keep Skyler from harm. She thought the place she had chosen for her would be safe. She was wrong. Because of that, Skyler was once again in the merciless hands of Agnes Brodie. Addison knew how deep Brodie's interest in Skyler had been and the notion troubled her. She hated to think what Brodie's nefarious mind had planned.

Reaching the top step, Addison led Marlene back inside. They crossed a narrow pa.s.sageway and entered the laboratory. Dead bodies of slain soldiers remained upon the floor. The splintering of gla.s.s and scattered instruments crunched underfoot.

"Were you aware of an off-room or office that might have belonged to Brodie?"

Marlene tried to focus her thoughts. All she could think about was her daughter, but she had to trust that Agent Black would be the person to bring her home safely. The soldier had rescued her already. "I was held in a room above this floor. Apparently it was the top one. I did notice several other rooms. One door was open and did contain a filing cabinet."

"Up it is then."

They took the stairs to the top floor. Addison began searching the rooms. Most were empty but one did appear to be a temporary office that she presumed belonged to Brodie. It was a perfectly square room. In the far-left corner sat an old wooden desk. Its light wood showed signs of distress and age by faded cup rings and a mult.i.tude of chips and dents. Upon the desk sat a laptop computer. A wire ran from its side, indicating it had been connected to a cellular phone for Internet access. Addison booted the computer as she continued to survey the room.

The walls were bare stone, adorned by nothing but the decay of time. Opposite the desk stood a filing cabinet and beside that, a small, brown cardboard box and plug-less paper shredder."

"What now?" Marlene asked.

"We search." Addison sat in front of the laptop. She flexed her sore hands, feeling the wounds split open and fresh blood trickle to the surface. "Check out the filing cabinet and that box. I'm going to have a look through this baby." She patted the compact computer.

Once ready, Addison gained access to the computer's hard drive. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she searched out prospective evidence. Behind her, Marlene began opening the first of four drawers. It was empty. She opened the remaining three to find them in the same condition. Pus.h.i.+ng the last drawer closed, the professor opened the cardboard box. Inside she found numerous manila folders containing sheets of paper. She began searching through them avidly.

Meanwhile, Addison scrolled through the computer's hard drive. She didn't know what she expected to find, but knew it wouldn't be a nice accessible folder labelled 'Brodie's secret files'. What she wanted was any sc.r.a.p of evidence, dates, incoming notifications, flight plans; anything that would give her some form of clue as to where Brodie might have taken Skyler.

She wasn't having much luck. Brodie obviously kept all files on disk and if there was anything to be found, the redhead kept it on her. In frustration, she slammed down the laptop screen. Though she did know a lot about computers, how to access deleted files wasn't top of her capabilities without specialised military hardware and that was something she hadn't been given.

Spinning around in her chair, she turned to Marlene. "Find anything?"

Marlene shuffled through the papers. "A list of names. Some doc.u.ments written in Gaelic by the look of them."

"Let me have a look at those names."

Marlene pa.s.sed over several sheets of paper. "There are a lot of what I believe to be printed maps, road maps, blue prints, underground sewage systems, and even building designs. The trouble is they all have a red cross going through them, almost like they were rejected. Maybe this was a box of garbage?"

"Maybe," Addison answered. "That would explain the shredder nearby. It doesn't have a plug so maybe these were slated to be destroyed, but they ran out of time." Her eyes slid down the paper. "These names aren't crossed out though." She read each name, one by one, hoping to seek out something familiar. She was unsuccessful.

Placing them to the side, Addison moved to the floor and knelt beside Marlene. "There has to be something." Picking up the scattered sheets she looked through them. Her eyes stopped over a familiar stretch of land.

"I recognise this one. It's almost like I know it because I have been there." Addison studied it closely then searched through more maps and blue prints. "This one looks very familiar too." She held out the detailed, sketched area of land. "I feel I have been here, for sure." She held two sheets of paper side by side. "They are all of the same scale. I bet that if they were sorted we'd have a huge mapping system here. They must fit together like a jigsaw, but we don't have time to play around now." There were no other details upon the sheets of paper but a single, seven-digit Alfa-numeric code.

"If only I could get access to that computer's recently deleted files right now."

Marlene's eyes twinkled in acknowledgement. With out a word she rose to her feet and strode over to the laptop. "Give me a minute," she said.

Addison placed the sheets of paper upon the ground; her head twisting from left to right as she tried to recall from memory, why she recognised certain parts of the maps.

Rapid tapping came from Marlene before she said, "Give me one of those codes."

Addison picked up a sheet of paper. "I324H57."

"Okay." Marlene was silent for several moments. "I don't believe it," she finally proclaimed. "I've got it."

"What?" Addison strode over to Marlene. "How did you do that?"

"I've worked with computers for as long as I can remember. I've designed and built programs myself. I know as much about them as I do myself. All I had to do was search out the files flag-marked to be overwritten." Marlene read through the list upon the screen. "That map reference refers to a section of land and buildings in Haifa in..."

"Israel," Addison finished. "That's why I recognise them. I was there almost two years ago."

Marlene picked up the list of names. "There are quite a few obviously Jewish names on this list, Agent Black."

A feeling of dread slithered through Addison's spine. She had originally thought Brodie's operation would end upon this Isle. If her suspicions were now correct, the hierarchy of this organization was larger and a lot more dangerous than she and Special Operations had originally antic.i.p.ated.

Hearing the approaching sound of military helicopters looming overhead, Addison's fear for Skyler intensified.

Chapter 13.

"What in the h.e.l.l could you have been thinking?" General Mark Blithe stood behind his desk and continued the tirade he had started over an hour ago. The Special Operations Headquarters in London was teeming with people trying to fly low under the radar of Blithe's ire.

"I sent an experienced agent on a mission and I got a novice's mistakes in return! I can't believe you took a civilian into that situation!" The general looked at her intently, his eyes searching for an explanation.

Addison had stood silently up until that point knowing there was nothing Mark could say to her that she hadn't already said to herself on the trip back from the Isle of Skye. Now, however, she had thought about it and decided to defend her actions.

"It seemed the right thing to do at the time. It was a judgment call," she said.

Mark was silent for a moment. "I've given you your head on missions, Addison, and you've given me no reason to question your judgment... until now. I'm going to need an explanation of your actions or you'll leave me no choice but to remove you from the field and place you on desk duty until an inquiry is concluded in this matter."

Addison knew there was no way she could allow herself to be removed from the mission. Her fists clenched at her sides with the very thought of it. It was going to be a calculated risk. She knew that somewhere in Special Ops there was a traitor. Someone had been feeding Agnes Brodie information; she had been too well prepared for Addison's arrival. Addison suspected everyone, but the question was: could she trust anyone? She decided to take the risk.

"Look, Mark, I'm going to be honest with you here. The reason I took Sky...Miss Tidwell with me was my hunch that we've got a leak here at HQ. I don't know that for sure, but it is a strong enough idea that I wasn't sure she'd be safe here."

Whatever reaction the general might have to her statement, she wasn't prepared for the one she got. Mark blew out a breath and slumped down into his large leather chair. "Thank G.o.d."

"Thank G.o.d for what?" Addison was perplexed.

"Depending on what you said, I b.l.o.o.d.y well would have pulled you from the field. I suspected the same thing as you ever since Marlene Tidwell disappeared from a supposedly secure area. I admit I even doubted you, but it seems to me you'd try to turn me from that thinking if you were the traitor."

Addison relaxed a little and felt better being able to confide in someone. "There's too many coincidences, too many unexplained happenings."

"Any ideas who it might be?" the general asked.

"There are a few people who are more likely than others, but at this point it's all conjecture. I've got nothing concrete right now."

"Well, I'll work on it from this end and see if I can come up with something. Meanwhile, what happened on the Isle of Skye, Addison?"

The agent frowned. "It was a cl.u.s.ter f.u.c.k. We got in just fine and I got to the professor, but after that it was as if we had no luck at all. Brodie slipped away from me by sending Marlene in the opposite direction. Then Brodie runs into Skyler who I had left in hiding and to top it all off, my shotgun jams at a crucial moment."

"Jams? What do you mean by 'jams'?"

Addison elaborated. "Just that. I pulled the trigger and nothing happened."

"That's odd. You're usually so thorough with your weapons check."

"Always, but this was a replacement weapon I got in Scotland."

"Hmm. One of those things I suppose. How are the hands?" Addison looked at her bandaged palms. The shards of gla.s.s had done damage and there was a shadowing of blood under the top layer of gauze from when she had clenched her fists.

"They're not bad," she said almost off-handedly.

"I'll bet," Mark scoffed. "Your leg would need to be nearly severed by a rusty chainsaw with an artery spurting litres of blood for you to even say the situation 'might' be serious." Addison knew the statement was close to the truth. She had grown up in a tough area and to admit a weakness was a little like letting sharks smell blood. There could be no confessing that you were in pain, that you cared or that you might need another person.

"I'll be fine," Addison commented in a slightly irritated tone. "I'm not bothered."

"You never are," the general observed. "Nonetheless, you will see Samuel for some protection for those hands. My father was a carpenter you know. His first rule was that you must take care of your tools so don't argue with me. It's futile."

Addison grumbled, but was able to acknowledge to herself that some type of cover would be advantageous. She healed remarkably fast, but while that was happening she couldn't afford to have her hands become slick with blood. "Fine," she acquiesced, "I'll see Samuel when we're done here."

"Right. Now, where are you in the process of finding and retrieving Skyler Tidwell?"

"The papers we found in the office on the Isle of Skye showed an area I believed to be in Israel. I've had Logistics check my conclusions against satellite mapping and rechecked those with terrain charts. There's no doubt about it, the territory shown is in Israel. It's basically in the same area I worked in two years ago. You remember that mission?" Addison asked.

"Very well. Your performance was exemplary and there has been no further trouble from those individuals, from those who survived at least. Do you have any contacts in that area?"

"A few," Addison shrugged, "but I'm not sure they can help me in this instance. I won't count on any outside a.s.sistance."

"So what you are saying is that we are back to where we were at the start of this entire episode. We have Marlene Tidwell, but Agnes Brodie has her daughter," the general summarized.

"I would say that's accurate, Mark," Addison admitted.

"It would be accurate except for one small detail." Marlene Tidwell spoke as she entered the office. She was dressed in dark sweats that Addison recognized as Special Operations standard issue. "Please forgive me, Miss Bakersfield said you were expecting me and that I could come in."

Leaping to his feet, Mark Blithe moved around his desk and over to the American. "How are you feeling? Please, sit down." He escorted Marlene to a chair placed opposite his desk. He made no move to return behind his desk, opting to perch on the corner of the desk near her.

"The doctor in the Infirmary says I'm fine. Thank you for insisting he examine me though, it was very kind of you. Thank you also for my two escorts, they never left my side."

The general waved her off. "It was nothing, the least we could do. I just wanted to be positive you were safe."

Addison watched the interplay between her superior and the American. She knew Mark Blithe had been a self-proclaimed confirmed bachelor and his obvious interest in the attractive woman amused her. She knew better than to let that amus.e.m.e.nt show externally though. Instead she returned the conversation to Marlene's first comment.

"Professor Tidwell, you said we were back to the beginning except for 'one small detail'. Would you care to share that detail?"

Marlene looked uncomfortable. To her credit though, she brought her gaze up and looked them in the eye. "Project Gemini has been compromised."

Skyler blinked her eyes open. Her brain felt fuzzy and her tongue felt thick. It was taking her some time to get her bearings. Only two things were clear to her foggy mind. It was clear she was on a plane to a destination that was anybody's guess. It was also apparent that though she still wore her jacket, the gun Addison had given her was gone.

d.a.m.n, Brodie, she thought. Just say 'no' to drugs. She remembered Agnes coming at her with a syringe as two muscular thugs held her. It was easy to predict the coming period of unconsciousness. She wasn't wrong.

Squeezing her eyes shut against a brief wave of nausea, Skyler's thoughts flew back and forth between her own situation and concern for her mother. She was able to take some comfort from the fact that when she saw her mother last, she was in the company of Addison Black.

Addison. The last look she saw on the agent's face as she was whisked away in the helicopter was a mixture of rage and concern. The rage was under control, like everything about the agent, but it was the concern that occupied Skyler's thoughts. Skyler couldn't forget locking eyes with the agent as the helicopter lifted off. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but she could have sworn she saw something like an apology there.

Addison had nothing to apologize for though. She has kept her promise and liberated Skyler's mother. Skyler's current predicament was her own fault and she was well aware of it. If duct tape hadn't been binding her ankles together, Skyler would have kicked herself.

Snakes? I was worried about snakes? I run from imaginary serpents and run right into the deadliest viper there is. As if on cue, the door to the c.o.c.kpit of the small jet opened and Brodie walked into the main cabin.

"Welcome back, Skyler. I'm sorry for the need to use the drugs on you again, but I couldn't have you alerting the authorities at the airport. Well-placed bribes can buy silence, but not even well paid allies can cover up a woman screaming for help," Agnes explained. "Airport security doesn't look at private aircraft as close as public ones, but I didn't have time to deal with it. Thanks to your friend, Addison Black, I needed to make a hasty exit from this part of the world."

Skyler picked up on Brodie's implication that their destination was a long way from where they started. She decided to try to reason with the mercenary.

"Look, Brodie, first of all Addison Black isn't my friend. I never met her before she showed up in Scotland. Second, you know now that I'm not my mother. I can't help you and you got away cleanly. There's no need to make this any worse for either of us. When we land, why don't you just let me go? I'm no threat to you."

Brodie laughed. "Of course you aren't, but Addison is. A very big threat and despite your protestations to the contrary, I have an idea that keeping you will give me a distinct advantage in dealing with the beautiful but lethal Agent Black. I also have an idea that the relations.h.i.+p between you and Addison is more than you're willing to say right now. Addison doesn't hesitate to take attractive women to her bed. Make no mistake; we will see Addison again. She will not take this setback lightly."

"I don't know why we would see her again. I'm not anybody. I'm certainly not worth some big British agent's time," Skyler tried.

Brodie continued to be amused by Skyler's attempts to talk her way out of the situation. "Well, one thing is a certainty. You didn't lie when you said you hadn't known Addison Black long. Addison is an agent for Special Operations, a highly secret division of MI-5, and only the best of the best work for Special Ops. These agents are deadly and determined. Addison won't let this go. I took you right from under her nose and that's going to p.i.s.s her off. Add that to the fact that she's attracted to you and we have the makings of an agent soon to be hot on our trail. That's good."