Catalyst (Breakthrough Book 3)(27)
Caesare inhaled and finally nodded. The last thing he wanted to do was to force her to come. It wouldn’t be all that different from what happened to her the first time.
He moved slowly, and as he turned, he looked to Alison, who was still watching them both. She and Caesare knew something DeeAnn didn’t. Something much bigger than trying to find a monkey. Something only he, Alison, and two other people knew and had sworn themselves to secrecy.
Caesare turned to Corso, Anderson, and Tiewater and motioned back toward the door. “Give us a minute, fellas.”
One by one, the men turned for the door.
When it clicked shut, Caesare looked at Alison.
“Tell her.”
“Tell me what?”
Alison turned to her friend solemnly. “There’s more.”
“More what?”
“There’s more to the story. About what we found on top of that mountain.”
DeeAnn’s eyes moved back and forth between them. “You mean when you were outside.”
“Yes.”
She knew what Alison was referring to. She was on the helicopter too, with Dulce. But she hadn’t wanted to know what was outside or what it was they found. Dulce had already come frighteningly close to having a complete breakdown, as had DeeAnn. The truth was she didn’t want to go outside. She was done. Finished. They had survived and all she wanted to do from that moment was to go home. To get home and start over.
DeeAnn shook her head. “I don’t want to know.”
Alison glanced at Caesare before replying. “I don’t think that’s an option anymore.”
“Excuse me?”
Alison straightened from the edge of her desk. “There’s more to this than you realize, DeeAnn, and it’s the reason Steve’s going back. It’s not just about the monkey or its DNA.”
“No! Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to know.” She looked at both of them in anger. “This isn’t my problem. Find someone else!”
“This could turn out bad, DeeAnn. Really, really bad. Not just for those at the top, but for everyone.”
That instantly stopped DeeAnn’s head shaking. “I already tried to help. I did! And what did it get me? Nightmares, that’s what! I’m lucky if I sleep three hours a night. You know why? Because up there, for the first time in my life, I was completely and utterly helpless! They were about to kill me and dump my body, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it!”
She looked at Caesare who remained quiet. “If it weren’t for you, Steve, I would be dead. Dead. Right now! I will never forget what you did. Ever. But there is no way I’m going to put myself in a position where that can happen again. I don’t care how many men you bring. Bring them, bring the Marines too, bring all of them, and I still wouldn’t go back! I’ve had enough fear to last me a lifetime. I sure as hell don’t need anymore.”
DeeAnn could no longer stop the tears. She quit talking and looked for an exit. With a sudden burst, she ran past Caesare, flung the door open, and rushed out.
Caesare emerged behind her and watched as DeeAnn disappeared down the stairs at the end of the hall. Once she was out of sight, he turned to the other men standing behind him.
Tiewater raised an eyebrow. “That didn’t appear to go very well.”
11
The small, white Ming Dynasty vase smashed against the wall with the force and sound of a small explosion, breaking into hundreds of pieces as it fell onto the plush carpet. Tiago Otero was furious. His eyes blazed as he looked for something else to throw but found nothing within reach.
He cursed repeatedly and glared back at Lieutenant Samuel Russo, the head of his own security, and the man delivering the news about his men. One was dead and the other hospitalized. They were instructed to burn the house down with Blanco’s dead family inside. But Russo’s men had failed miserably. Instead, they found the house virtually empty and someone waiting for them.
It was worse than failure, it was humiliating. Now people would know that it was Otero who had been taught the lesson –– direct challenge to his power and influence over all of Brazil. A mockery.
With lips snarling, Otero looked down at the table and the cut fabric Russo had laid upon it. “What is this?!”
“A sign.”
“A sign of what?!”
“Of who did this. It’s in the shape of a trident. The symbol used for the U.S. Navy SEALs.”
His eyes shot back to Russo. “The U.S. did this?”
“It would appear so.”
Otero’s gaze fell back to the shirt, blinking. “Why would Blanco be involved with the U.S.? What did they have to do with anything?” After considering the possibility, he finally shook his head, sneering. “It’s a prank. A diversion. Whoever did this wanted us to think it was the Americans. But they’d just as soon kill someone like Blanco as I would.”