Tempest (Guardian Security Shadow World Book 5) Page 2

"As is mine." Remi sighed.

  Jason leaned forward. "Doc, is he cleared or not?"

  "I have my doubts."

  "About what specifically?"

  "He's hell bent on revenge."

  Jason made a noise in his throat. "Wouldn't you be?"

  Ah, now that was an emotional response. Remi narrowed his eyes. "No. Would you?"

  His boss shook his head and sighed. "You're not psychoanalyzing me, Doc. What else do you have?"

  "I think he still hasn't told us everything. Especially during the time close to his rescue. He claims he can't remember some of the last months."

  "Did you talk to Maliki? Physically, the man was near death's door. Is it a stretch to think he couldn't remember everything?"

  "No, but you asked for my opinion, and I'm giving it to you. He's fixated on those last months and guarding them."

  "From what?"

  "Me, you, everybody. The woman who helped him is the key, I'm certain."

  "He hasn't disclosed much information about her."

  "No."

  Jason tapped his pen against the desk, deep in thought. Remi waited for the next question. Jason leaned forward. "Is he a threat to her?"

  "God, no. I think, to a degree, he's idolized her."

  "For helping him escape from hell? I probably would have done the same thing. Bottom line. Is he a threat to himself or others?"

  Remi chuckled as he shook his head. "Define others."

  Jason rolled his eyes. "People not coded."

  "He's absolutely a threat to the people who held him. I don't doubt for a second he's going to do everything in his power to go after them."

  Jason smiled. "Then there are no concerns on our part. We want him to go after them."

  Remi blinked at the screen. "Are you serious?"

  "He has the motivation and drive to reach the people who have been eluding us for years. Yes, I'm serious. We'll assist him in his endeavors to find and eliminate them." Jason leaned back in his chair.

  "And if they are in the United States?"

  "Above your need to know, Remi."

  "Ah." Put firmly in his place he glanced down at the files he'd accrued while treating the operative he knew as Tempest. No other name had been given, nor did he ask for it. The man had worked damn hard on his physical and mental rehabilitation. Could he release him? Yes. The question was, should he? Putting the man back in the environment where he was captured in the first place was fraught with problems, triggers, and memories. But Tempest had told him point blank he wanted to return to his previous life, that he felt he was needed in his profession. The organization had been willing to wait years for the man to recover. Tempest must be one hell of an assassin. He shifted his eyes to the screen. "May I ask a question?"

  "Ask. I don’t guarantee an answer."

  "What is his... methodology?"

  "Well..." Jason leaned forward and steepled his fingertips. "He makes statements."

  Remi stared at the screen. Statements. So, Tempest's assassinations were more than likely violent, noisy, and intended to be noticed, unlike those whose work was meant to be innocuous. That didn't really mesh with the quiet, contained man he'd worked with. Everything about Tempest was measured and calm, but the operational end of the man's work was not his concern. His mental health was, and even though he had a gut feeling Tempest was hiding things, there was no reason to hold him longer. He sighed and nodded his head.

  "I have a couple follow up sessions, but yes, unless something drastic comes up during our last appointments, I will clear him—with reservations. He's been doing this work long enough. It is my recommendation he should change positions and retire from this line of work, but I have nothing clinically to stop him from returning if he chooses to do so."

  "I'll inform Fury. Archangel out."

  The screen went black, and Remi leaned back in his chair and stared at the years of notes. It was time to let the man go.

  Tempest once again examined the vista he'd memorized long ago. He'd stared at this portion of the Arizona desert every evening for almost three years. His routine varied minimally, as necessitated by the weather or in the beginning, his health. Tonight would be the last night he'd gaze upon the purple and pink vista. Dr. Wheeler had finally given him a 'Go' on his Go/No Go evaluation. A small smirk tilted the corner of his lips. He had immediate plans, and they didn't include accepting a mission from Guardian. At least not any that would divert him from his primary objectives.

  Her footsteps were as familiar as the vista as she approached the small cottage he'd lived in for almost three years. The Rose was mostly underground, but after his confinement he only went into the underground labyrinth when it was necessary. He heard the familiar pant and smiled slightly. Liberty was by her side, as always. The German Shepherd preferred to be out at night, and with the heat during the day, he couldn't blame her.

  "Hey, sorry we're late, but Libby got the scent of a rabbit or something, and we walked forever. Did you move already?" Eve McDade sat down in the chair across from him. He chuckled as she leaned forward, saw his rook and murmured, "You did. Damn it."

  "You left your queen in jeopardy. One should always protect the queen." Tempest had been beating Eve at chess for the last year, although she'd vastly improved during the course of their evening sessions.

  She leaned forward and studied the board. "I'm going to be in check soon."

  Three moves to checkmate, two if she made a mistake and moved the bishop. "It would appear you are correct."

  Eve groaned and flopped back into her rocker. "One of these days, my friend, I'm going to win, and when I do, I'm going to make you eat your superior attitude."

  Tempest chuckled. Friend. Strange, but he considered her one, too. An unlikely pair to be sure. When Eve had moved to the complex, she’d shunned all things to do with his profession. He'd watched her epic meltdown when he was rescued and heard about her ultimatum to Thanatos. Over the years he'd watched her grow up and mellow out. No longer was she the naive woman who had surfaced at the Rose about the time he had started to take an interest in living again.

  "What occupied your day?" She pushed the decking and set her rocker in motion. Her eyes had returned to the chess board, and she studied the squares and pieces.

  "PT and sparring in the morning, a doctor's appointment in the afternoon."

  She stopped rocking. "Is everything okay?"

  He nodded. "Routine appointments."

  "Dolan said you were kicking his ass during training runs, and no one can beat you on the mats. You should be happy. He's a man who prides himself in being the best at everything he does."

  "He is no longer the best because he won’t train in the tactics and skills he needs to maintain his proficiency without your approval."

  Eve sighed. "I know. We've been talking a lot. In here, in my head, I know what he used to do saved countless lives. I know it. I'm working on it. Dolan promises me he doesn't miss that life, but I know keeping him from being able to go if he wants to leave is wrong."

  Tempest absorbed the statement and turned it around and around in his mind. Since his captivity, taking his time to decode and decipher intent and sincerity had become the norm for him—perhaps due to the intensive psychological therapy he'd gone through since he'd resurfaced.

  No. His internalization of others' words and meanings allowed him to strip his emotion from his responses. The words he uttered needed to be congruent with what would allow him to complete his goals. He had two missions to perform, and he'd be damned if a misplaced comment would sideline him from dispatching his objectives.

  He glanced at his friend. She studied the board intently. The metamorphosis of the woman since she’d arrived paralleled his. She’d grown up and he’d grown older. She’d learned to understand her husband's life, and he’d learned to understand what happened in his past affected his future. She wanted nothing but to love her man, and he wanted... two things and only two things—to free Pilar and to eliminate the three Fates thereby destroying Stratus. He stared across the darkness.

  "You've changed. So has your man."

  Eve leaned forward. The tactic was one she employed when she wanted him to look at her. A tick of a smile twitched at the corner of his lip as he glanced at her for a moment. Only then did she ask, "What do you mean?"

  "He's happy here. Content and settled. He wasn't before you."

  She drew a ragged breath. "Thank you. You don't know how hard it was to come here and draw a line in the sand, to tell him what I needed to make our relationship work. The doctor warned me some people would call me selfish or self-centered, but it wasn't why I asked him to walk away from his past."

  "Then why did you?"

  "Well, I guess it was so we both could get to this place. The point where logically I know he'll go again if one of you is in jeopardy or he believes his skills are needed. Doctor Wheeler worked with both of us, and because Dolan agreed to step away from it when he did, we were able to walk down this path together. I was so ignorant. Arrogant even, but he never gave up on me."

  "He loves you."

  "And I love him." She reached down and shifted the pawn forward one block. It was the best move in an impossible position. "What are you going to do now? Scuttlebutt downstairs is that you've been cleared to work."

  "Ah." He chuckled and moved his knight, taking the pawn. "Check." He smiled at her groan. "I have some people I want to reacquaint myself with."

  "Yeah? Anyone special?" The tease in her voice danced on the night air.

  "Special is a vague adjective." He arched a brow as she moved her king to the right one space. "You're still in check."

  "Damn it." She slid the piece back and flipped her gaze up to him for a second. "Okay smarty, are you going to visit a woman?"


  "Indeed." Four women to be precise. Numbers One, Two and Three, but before he paid each of those women a deadly visit, he would find the one female who was the reason he was rescued.

  "What's her name?" Eve's face split in a wide smile. She was a child in a woman's body sometimes.

  Savior, comfort, peace, deliverer, strength, beauty all the words fit her, yet none were enough to describe what she'd been for him. "Her name is Pilar."

  "Pilar? A very interesting name... unless, is it a code name?" Eve's smile wavered a bit.

  "No. It's her given name." Or it was the name she'd given him when she’d held his hand.

  "How do you know her?"

  "She was the one who had access to a computer and watched for a message. She memorized what to say and how to phrase it in order to respond to the query your husband sent. She answered it. I didn't." This was the skimmed down version of the truth he’d told his handlers. The real depth of what she'd done for him would never be spoken. Pilar was the reason he’d clung to life as long as he had.

  Eve leaned back in her rocker. "I've heard portions of Dolan's side of the story. I never asked myself how you answered his email. Lord knows you were in no condition to find or gain access to a computer when we arrived."

  He arched an eyebrow at her, and she rolled her eyes.

  "I know. Dolan did what he had to do. I see it, now. But put yourself in my shoes for two minutes. You know about my past. Mentally at that point in my life, I wasn't ready to see or understand anything that happened that day. I couldn't pick it apart and examine it for a long time."

  "Yet your man stayed with you."

  "He did, and I'll stand by him as he does what he has to do. I hope he'll never be in the position to take a mission, but if he does, I'll be here when he comes home, and I'll love him as hard as I know how because that's what he's given me. Unconditional love." She reached forward and tipped the king, dropping him to the board. "Two moves and I'm in mate, no matter what I do. I must bore you to tears."

  Tempest chuckled. "To be honest, you're a slow learner."

  She gaped at him before she laughed, "But, I can be taught."

  "This is true."

  "Will you be leaving soon?" Eve stood and whistled for Liberty who'd sniffed herself out into the desert.

  He nodded. "Very soon. There is one more conversation I need to have before I leave."

  "Well then, I'll say farewell because I don't want this to be goodbye." She walked to him and dropped a kiss on his cheek. "We can play chess online."

  He shook his head as she dropped off the porch and waited for her dog to return. "I'll contact you when I can."

  "You better or I'll have Dolan come find you and kick your ass."

  "He'll need help."

  "I'll send the freaking cavalry after you if I have to. Don't make me prove it." She waved and walked back to the clinic and the elevator which would take her and Liberty into the underground training facility.

  Tempest waited for several long seconds before he spoke quietly. "Would you like a transcript of the conversation?" He heard low chuckles from one side of the porch and a crunch of gravel from the other.

  Fury dropped into the rocking chair vacated by Eve and glanced at the chessboard as Thanatos settled into a relaxed lean against the front post of the porch. He removed three fat cigars and passed one to each of them. The clippers followed, with a gold-cased lighter making the same path. Thanatos puffed his cigar to life last and blew a stream of smoke. "What's the plan?"

  Tempest puffed on his Cuban. Damn, it had been forever since he'd allowed himself the indulgence. "I'm going to leave."

  "No shit." Fury's disdain for his answer hinged on the end of his voice the way the ashes hung on the end of his cigar. "Be specific."

  "I need to find her. I believe her to be as much of a prisoner as I was." He knew Fury had read his transcripts with the doctor. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if Thanatos, as Fury's second here at the complex, had read them, too.

  "Do you know where to start?" Thanatos hiked himself up to sit on the porch rail.

  "I do."

  Fury puffed a bit before he remarked, "You're not alone in this."

  He pushed his rocker a bit and enjoyed the cigar and the companionship before he answered. "Everyone is alone in life... and in death." The memory of Pilar's hand stroking his cheek as he suffered flitted through his mind. "If you're lucky, you find someone to walk beside you." He took a puff on his cigar. "I've never been lucky."

  Fury snorted. "Damn good thing you're not counting on luck. Check in with Anubis. The new protocols are in effect."

  "Ah, yes, the collar and leash."

  There were teams specifically trained and dispatched to the last known location of those who did not report in on time. No longer would Shadows be without support. After he was recovered and had reported the events that had transpired, it had been a logical step to ensure Guardian’s assets could access support immediately. Archangel had stipulated teams locate to a Shadow's general position for support. Check in was every twenty-four hours. Period. One minute late and the teams would be dispatched to go in and extract the Shadow. Logistically sound for retaining assets, but it put restrictions on people who should be able to act independent of control.

  "Asset protection." Thanatos tapped his ashes into his hand.

  He puffed his cigar and flicked his ashes onto the deck, sliding his foot on top of them to ensure there was no spark left. "Irritating and restrictive."

  "Necessary," Fury added.

  "Tell me you would have agreed to such limitations." Tempest rolled his head and stared at the original Shadow.

  Fury shook his head. "No, but I worked in a different world at a different time. Now there are ways to check in that won't compromise position or concealment."

  "And if the enemy should learn these methods?" Tempest stared at the red tip of his cigar.

  Fury shrugged. "Then we move to the next method. Nothing is forever. Tech changes, we change."

  Which was true, yet he couldn't help wondering... "Have you considered the Shadows may be moving toward obsolescence?"

  "As long as there are monsters upon the earth, and innocents without hope, people like us will always be needed." Fury tapped his ashes onto the porch.

  "I'm going after them." Tempest cleared his throat. "After I find her, I'm going after them." There was no need to define who 'them' was. Stratus and the Fates were his. He'd survived their version of hell, and he’d earned the right to send them to Satan’s depths, permanently.

  "How will you find them? Guardian with all its vast resources haven’t been able to locate them." Thanatos extended his arms wide. "I know where you're coming from, remember I made a vow about my parents' killers. It became an obsession which nearly ruined my career and my life. Besides, Shadows aren't sanctioned to work in the States."

  "True. True." He puffed on his cigar again. Guardian might not know how to find them, but he believed he had a lead. First, however, he had to locate Pilar. He prayed she'd done as he'd asked, and stayed safe until he could come for her. Tempest pushed his boot on the boards and set his rocker going again. It had been so long, she probably thought he was dead. Did she continue to rebel? Had her mother's desires become hers as well? The questions chased themselves around his mind.

  They smoked together in a quiet, comfortable silence until the cigars came to an end. Thanatos slid from the rail and extended his hand. "I will miss you, and so will Eve."

  "Take care, my friend."

  "Always. I'm here if you need me as long as you need me." They shook, and Thanatos tugged him in for a hard hug before the man headed back to the clinic entrance of the facility.

  Fury spoke, low and quiet, "No bullshit, there are no doctors around, are you okay?"

  Tempest rocked in his chair and thought about the question. He'd probably never again be the man he had been, but he was as well as he could be. He had a future which consisted of ensuring the woman who saved him was well and happy and then tracking down and killing every member of Stratus he could find. Hopefully, the trail would lead to the Fates. No, he wasn't okay. Okay wasn't a word in his vocabulary at this time. He stared at the stars and said, "I'm... changed."

  "Who wouldn't be." Fury rocked for a bit longer. "Wheeler gave you a Go, with reservations. He thinks you've been doing the job too long. He'd rather you transfer or retire."