“Ye know the man’s the first one in history who wants me for mybrain,”she says. “He dinnae care about my marital status.” Michael and I bookend her, marching her into the building. “I dinna think my French stalker will swoop down from the sky like an eagle and carry me away, husband.”
I discreetly kiss her hand. She’s trying to recover from the stress of the gunfight with sarcasm. That’s my lass.
All the heads of the MacTavish family thatare available are assembled in the Chieftain’s office, and Mala squeezes Cat hard. “You’re okay, sweetheart?”
“Fine, Mum. Grand. Lucas was picking me up just as the attack started.”
“That man has some uncanny timing, and a preternatural awareness of all things you.” Mala smiles at her fondly. “Ah, it looks like your father’s ready to start, let’s sit down.”
As we do, the entire dynamic in the room suddenly shifts.
While the Chieftain seats himself at the head of the table, and after pulling out a chair for Cat, I take the seat at the other end, facing him head on. It’s a position Cameron usually takes as second in command. However, he smiles slightly and pulls out the chair on the other side of Cat.
“Dubois has been busy this afternoon. While he’s been golfing with the Vice President of Chile for a well-documented alibi,” I click the remote and the big monitor lights up. “His team attacked your residential building and attempted to kidnap my wife. He’s a multi-tasker, that one. He also created a display for his potential buyers with the new poison.”
The scene is horrifying. A compound littered with bodies, at least twenty. Most are curled up and more than one MacTavish at the conferencetable has to look away for a moment.
“The poison, C-1161, sends the human body into severe muscle spasms in the final moments before death,” Cat says numbly. “It operates like strychnine in that way.” She’s examining the video, jaw tight. I know she’s trying to force herself to stay detached so she can explain. “Dubois is showing off for his buyers, but it’s also a warning.”
“In what way?” Cormac asks.
“He’s telling us that he’s prepared to let it loose, even without the antidote.” I think of the bare minimum she was willing to tell me about that bastard poisoning her at dinner for ‘a fun little exercise.’ “What these people went through…” She looks at me. “Were they civilians?”
“No. It’s an Albanian group that’s been giving the Orlov Bratva some trouble,” I say. “ThePakhan, Vasily Orlov, would have no compunction about using poison on his enemies.”
“I know you’ve been working night and day on this antidote,” Cormac says, “what can ye tell us?”
Cat rubs her eyes wearily. “C-1161 can be transmitted orally, in addition to epidermal contact or inhalation. What’s stopping me is finding the compound that could disable the poison with all three methods of application.”
“If the poison is dispersed, how long is it active?”Mala asks.
“Once the poison is in the host, the threat is greatly reduced to anyone nearby,” Cat explains. “It will go inert on surfaces, dissipate in water, and dissolve out of the air within two minutes or less. However, that’s if a tiny amount is used. For a large amount, like a stockpile, I’m not sure how that would change it.”
“My first intention was to kidnap Dubois,” I say. “Simply hold him until all the compounds were destroyed and then I’d cut his-” Not the time for revenge fantasies. “He’s surrounding himself with high-ranking officials. Trying to go that route would mean convincing someone powerful enough to issue an arrest warrant for him. Of course, once they do, he’ll simply leave the country. I dinnae have enough proof to convince French officials that he’s a direct threat.”
“There’s only one thing to do.” Cat looks at me, her expression impassive. “I have to let him kidnap me again.”
“Never.”
My words whiplash around the room, slicing through the shocked silence.
“Here it comes,” sighs Duncan and Wallace gives a low whistle.
“Catriona-” says Mala.
“There’s no fecking way-” from Michael.
“Are ye out of your mind?” Cormac sputters.
I say nothing more, staring at my wife who just offered to give herself to a madman.
“It’s the only way.” She’s watching the monitor, at the sad remains of the bodies. “I canna finish here. Maybe, with six months more and unlimited resources. But without the full formula for C-1161, I’ll never get it created in time. The‘beauty,’” she says viciously, “of this compound is that it canna be replicated because it leaves no trace.”
“That will never happen.” My self-control is slipping in the face of her stubbornness. “Ye think ye can go into the belly of the beast and come back out? He will kill ye. With one of his poisons, likely. Just a wee bit of a show.”
“Catriona-” Mala begins, and Cormac puts a gentle hand on her arm.
“Lucas. Catriona.” He locks eyes with me. “We’ll give ye some privacy.”
