Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

Two females, just as our informant said. One is slumped over, possibly unconscious. The smaller one is alert.
    A guard sat in front of a television set just to their left, and beyond the door, and out in the hal way, a second one sat playing with a handheld game.
    He relayed the information to al the team members, drawing a precise map for them in his head. I can’t see the placement of the guards on the roof, Ethan. They’re beyond my range of vision.
    No matter. That was Ethan, short and to the point.
    Kane swept the smal apartment on the ground floor for their informant. They needed to make certain she was legitimate and this was no elaborate trap to capture or kil members of the elusive GhostWalker team. He took a couple of deep breaths and squeezed his eyes closed tight, conscious of the tremors running through his body. Using psychic energy always took a tol , but emitting sound waves and reading them was particularly difficult.
    He sent the pressure waves directly toward the smal apartment. It had taken months of practice to read the various impressions caused by the distances the sound waves had to travel. Like a ripple effect, the sound traveled in repeating patterns, al owing the sensors Dr. Whitney had built into his body to detect reflected waves.
    Kane could see a lone woman in the apartment. Short, wearing jeans and a loose top, she moved with control ed speed, shoving things into a smal pack. She’s getting ready to run. Something about the way the woman moved was familiar to him. His heart began to pound. His pulse thundered in his ears. She didn’t look pregnant. She’d suspected she was carrying his child before the escape. It had been imperative to get her out before Whitney realized he’d succeeded in his goal.
    He heard the col ective gasp from his team as they felt the shock of recognition slam into him. Everyone went completely stil . He could taste excitement in his mouth. He could taste— her. Once she got into the wind ... she’d be gone like the ghost she was. But the baby ...
    Mack broke the tension. Kane? Talk to me.
    It’s Rose. My Rose. She’s the informer, Mack, and she’s getting ready to run. If she gets away from me again, I’ll never find her.
    Kane didn’t take his eyes from the figure moving around the house. Her movements were slow and control ed, with no wasted motion, very efficient.
    She knows we’re here, Mack. I can’t let her get away again.
    We’re here to recover the hostages, Mack reminded. Take a breath, Kane. We won’t lose her. Gideon’s going in. She won’t recognize him as a GhostWalker. She’ll know we’re out here, but she won’t suspect him.
    GhostWalkers recognized one another. Their energy was different, but Gideon was an exception. He’ll go in and get our information and plant a little bug.
    I’m on it, Kane. She won’t get away from us, Gideon assured.
    I’m telling you, she already knows. Kane couldn’t look away from that smal apartment. His world had suddenly narrowed to the woman who had eluded him for months. He’d searched everywhere for her, cal ed in every favor, and she’d been impossible to find. And now ... He was on a mission, and his team counted on him for his ful focus.
    He swore under his breath as she slid into a harness that fit snugly under her shoulder and strapped a knife to her thigh and shoved another into her boot. She was readying herself for a fight. She stuck something in her hair and added more weapons to her belt. He was particularly impressed with the way she moved, the efficiency. He remembered her as a fragile creature he needed to protect. Rose was built smal , like a little pixie. It was strange to see how she handled weapons with such smooth familiarity. He had to be careful of underestimating her. She was a GhostWalker—the same as he was.
    That meant enhanced psychic ability. She’d grown up with military training. She was probably every bit as lethal as he was or—he conceded—more.
    I have to be the one, Mack. She knows me. I helped her escape Whitney’s breeding program. Even thinking about the vile place enraged him.
    Thinking about what he was forced to do to Rose sickened him. She’s my responsibility, Mack. I have to do this.
    Mack swore under his breath, but each of them, as connected telepathical y as they were, heard it. We’re on a fucking mission here, Kane. Don’t blow this.
    Ethan moved as if he’d been a racehorse waiting at the starting gate, flowing across the