Ghostwalker 05 - Deadly Game

silence. He didn't know about us, Mari.
    Don't make excuses; just tell me what he did.
    Violet sighed, clearly reluctant. He was on the appropriations committee and kept Whitney well funded.
    And…, Mari prompted.
    Violet was silent for another long moment. Ken's stomach hardened into knots. He resisted sending another warning to Mari.
    Mari, we're here to help you. This is unnecessary.
    Maybe to you. I don't think you're all that safe, Violet. You and your husband may be the ones needing help. You've been away from Whitney a long time.
    What does that mean? What do you know?
    Mari caught the impression of Violet striding down a narrow hall, suddenly looking around herself warily. Answer me, Violet, or you're on your own.
    Damn it, Mari. We came here to help you. Violet hesitated again and then capitulated.
    He helped Whitney draw a couple of GhostWalkers to the Congo for some experiment he was conducting. Ed didn't bother to ask what it was. He just was the bait to draw the men there. In return, Whitney and the others put him in a good position for the vice-presidential candidacy.

    Mari's stomach heaved. She knew Ken was listening, felt him go very still. She desperately wanted to wrap her arms around him.
    Was he aware that the man who went to rescue him was captured and tortured? That Ekabela was waiting for him? Violet, he had to have known, and he led them there anyway in order to get a better political position.
    I know. It was a terrible thing to do, and he regrets it. I've talked to him, made him see what a monster Whitney is.
    Mari closed her eyes. Ed Freeman was directly responsible for Ken's capture and torture by Ekabela. Ken had gone to the Congo to rescue the senator. He'd literally put his life on the line to save him. And Freeman betrayed him for a place on the vice-presidential ballot.
    Neither Violet nor her husband could possibly conceive of the damage Ed Freeman had done to Ken – damage that would last a lifetime. It sickened Mari that Violet could love such a man.
    Ken considered himself a monster. He feared the violence in himself, but Mari knew one Ken was worth a million Ed Freemans. Ken would never, under any circumstances, deliver another man to the enemy, especially knowing how bloodthirsty and brutal Ekabela was.
    Everyone knew his reputation for genocide, for torture, for the mass murder of opposing forces. Yet Whitney had made a deal with him, and Senator Ed Freeman had gone along with that deal to further his political career. She was suddenly very suspicious that if Freeman was capable of betraying a soldier for political gain – he just might have his own agenda coming here to this place.
    Mari broke off contact with Violet. Ken, I'm so sorry you had to hear that.
    I'm all right, baby.
    But he wasn't. She knew he wasn't. Tears for him burned her eyes. Ed Freeman is an asshole, Ken, and Violet's an idiot if she really could love a man like that. I'm not sure what to say to them.
    It's a trap, Mari. I don't know what they expect to get out of this visit, but they want something, and it isn't to get you and the other women out. Warn the others not to talk to her at all, not to give out any information.
    They won't. Mari could feel Violet tugging at her mind, trying to open the pathway between them. Mari kept her out, but it wasn't easy. Her head pounded, and she felt the thin trickle of blood at her ear.
    Tell me what you want to do, baby.
    She made up her mind. They had to go now. Whatever was happening, they couldn't wait, they had to try to make their escape.

    Ken, get to the other women and get their cells unlocked. Do it now!
    Roger that. I'll give Jack the word they're coming out.
    Violet shoved hard at her mind and Mari let her in. Mari, honey, I'm afraid for you. Dr.
    Whitney seemed really upset with you. He didn't want Ed talking to you. He offered to allow him access to all the other women, but I convinced him to insist on speaking with you.
    Mari sank down onto her cot, slamming her mind closed again to Violet. Ken, Violet is well aware any of the women
    could tell her husband what's going on here. This isn't about the superbaby program, that's for sure.
    We're going with your instincts, sweetheart. I've got your back.
    Mari let her breath out. Of course he did. Ken could be counted on. Get the cells open fast before Whitney pulls his ace out of the hole. Violet's playing with a cobra and she's bound to get bitten.
    The little group came around the corner, Senator