Operation: Midnight Guardian

“Check the van!” he shouted to the other three men. “Find the scientist. I want her alive!”

Knowing she would be discovered within minutes if she didn’t get out of there, she frantically looked around. But there was no place to run. No place to hide. Oh dear God what now?

The ravine offered her only route of escape. It was steep and rocky and as black as an abyss, but if she wanted to live she was going to have to risk it. Silently she slithered on her belly to the edge of the cliff.

“There are tracks here!” came a gruff male voice scant yards behind her.

“Spread out!” came the killer’s voice. “I want her found!”

Gripping an exposed root, Mattie slid over the ledge. Her feet dangled. She could hear rocks falling below. Saying a silent prayer, she let go of the root and tumbled into space.

Chapter One

Sean Cutter knew from experience that good news never came in the dead of night. For an instant he considered not answering his cell phone.

“Cutter,” he growled.

“It’s Martin.”

Uneasy surprise rippled through him at the sound of his former superior’s voice. Martin Wolfe was CIA and at the very top of the agency food chain. At one time the two men had been friends, but that friendship had ended a year ago when Cutter walked away from a career he’d invested twelve years of his life in. A fact that made this call at two o’clock in the morning all the more ominous.

“Why in the bloody hell are you calling me at this hour?” Cutter snapped. But he’d always known the call would come. He’d known one day they would want him back, that he wouldn’t be able to refuse.

“The Jaguar is in the country,” Wolfe said.

The name slammed into Cutter like a fist. For several interminable seconds he couldn’t speak.

“You there?”

Shaking himself mentally, Cutter sat up, threw his legs over the side of the bed. “Talk to me.”

“I got three dead U.S. Marshals and a missing Defense Department scientist. The Jaguar wants the scientist.”

Cutter got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Why?”

“She was the brain behind the EDNA Project.”

The situation solidified in a terrible rush. The EDNA Project was a top-secret weapons program funded by the Department of Defense. Though his knowledge of the weapon itself was limited, he knew DOD had been developing a new generation of weapons. A technology The Jaguar would do anything to obtain. If he got his hands on the scientist, he would possess a weapon the likes of which mankind had never seen.

“Martin, I’ve been out of the CIA for two year—”

“I need you back, Sean. I don’t have to tell you what this son of a bitch is capable of.”

Cutter knew exactly what The Jaguar was capable of. He had the scars to prove it. And even after two years, he still had the nightmares…

“If he gets his hands on EDNA, every city in the world will be at risk of being incinerated. We can’t let that happen.”

Cutter closed his eyes, the gravity of the situation sinking in. “Why me?”

“Because you know The Jaguar better than anyone. You’ve got the training. The experience.”

The killer instinct, Cutter thought darkly and felt a little sick. After what happened on his last mission, he’d sworn never again…

A refusal teetered on his lips, but he didn’t voice it. Sean Cutter might have walked away from his career, but he never walked away from duty. Not even when he knew it could probably kill him.

“I want you to find the scientist before The Jaguar does, and bring her in.”

It seemed a simple assignment on the surface. But Cutter knew there was more. With Martin Wolfe, there was always more. “What else?”

“I want you to bring The Jaguar in this time, Sean. Homeland Security has given me forty-eight hours to get this done. After that I have to take this public. Bring in local law enforcement and FBI.”

“And if The Jaguar gets to her before I do?”

“You have the authority to do whatever it takes to make sure she doesn’t talk.”

“What are you saying, Martin?”

“I’m saying she’s expendable. If the situation boils down to her life or the population of Los Angeles or New York or Houston, I want you to take her out.”

Cutter closed his eyes, dread seeping from every pore like fear sweat.

“I’ll catch the next flight out.”

“I’ve got a Lear waiting.”

“Pretty damn sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“No, but I am sure of you.”

If only you knew, Cutter thought, and disconnected.

He sat down hard on the bed, dread roiling in his gut. Putting his face in his hands, he tried not to think about what he’d done.

IN THE PREDAWN DARKNESS, Mattie took the trail at a reckless speed. The cuffs binding her hands hindered, but she didn’t slow down. Her labored breaths echoed against the canyon walls. A cold wind swept through the gorge, whipping the trees into a frenzy.

She’d been running for what seemed like hours. She didn’t know where she was or where she was going, raw panic driving her forward. All she knew was if she stopped she would die.

She couldn’t believe her life had come to this. One short year ago she’d been living comfortably in a Washington, D.C., suburb. She’d driven her little blue Jetta to work every morning. She’d been happy. Challenged by her work. And falling for her attractive coworker, Daniel Savage. Everything had come to a grinding halt the day two grim-faced CIA agents walked into her office and arrested her for treason.

Treason.

Even now the insanity of the charge still stunned her. Overhead a spear of lightning split the sky. Mattie ducked reflexively but she didn’t slow her pace. She knew it would take a miracle, but if she could reach a phone, she could call Daniel. He would know what to do. He would help her if she asked, even if it meant risking his own reputation to do it. All she had to do was find a house or passing motorist.

Something rustled in the brush to her right. Biting back a cry, Mattie veered left. Don’t stop! the little voice inside her head chanted. Don’t look behind you!

The shadow of a man appeared seemingly out of nowhere and lunged at her. She pivoted, trying to scramble away. But she wasn’t fast enough, and a hard body plowed into her with the force of a Sherman tank.

Mattie had expected claws and teeth or maybe an expedient shot to the head. Instead, strong arms clamped around her like a vise and tackled her to the ground. Spitting dirt, she rolled and lashed out with both feet. Satisfaction flicked in her brain when her assailant grunted. The next thing she knew he was on top of her. With her arms bound she could not defend herself.