"He doesn't have a gun."
"Yes, he does. He shot Ben with it."
Baxter frowned.
"You know, there's another way this could've played out," I said slowly.
"How's that?"
"Maybe Holly didn't kill Dan," I replied. "Maybe Aaron did."
Chapter 75
The tip of a blade pressed into the back of my skull as I strode into the Whitlow laboratory. I stopped cold in my tracks. Slowly, I turned around.
My heart practically exploded in my chest. "Beverly?"
Her blade hovered an inch beneath my chin. And the longer I stared at it, the more I realized something was wrong.
It was definitely Beverly Ginger. Despite the loose-fitting shirt, I could still see traces of her classic hourglass figure. Long locks of chestnut brown hair cascaded down the sides of her head. Tight black pants showed off her long, shapely legs. Her facial features were beautiful and her magnificent eyes, a vibrant violet, still stopped my heart.
But she'd changed. Her skin no longer radiated a youthful glow. And her eyes, while magnificent, were downright disturbing. They looked bloodshot and flitted wildly from side to side.
On a deeper level, I sensed the damage to her soul. When I'd first met her, she'd been perfectly composed. Now, wrath and lunacy consumed her.
She took a few steps backward. Her knife hand remained steady. I knew better than to challenge her. She'd been educated at West Point and had served in the Marine Corps. Afterward, she'd spent several years working at a private military corporation named ShadowFire. In short, if she wanted to kill me, she could do it without breaking a sweat.
"Beverly?" I held my ground. "It's me."
She gave me a blank look.
"You helped me find a missing subway car under New York City."
She blinked. A trace of recognition appeared in her eyes.
"You left a gold bar behind. I used it to follow you here."
Baxter burst into the room with Graham close behind him. "Drop it." He pointed his pistol at Beverly. "Before I drop you."
Her knife remained steady. Her fingers tightened around the grip. Her brow furrowed as if she were calculating the length of time it would take to kill us all.
"Put it down, Pat," I called out.
"No way," he replied.
"I don't think the two of you have been properly introduced." I waved my hand at her. "Beverly, that's Pat Baxter. The other guy is Dutch Graham. Guys, this is Beverly."
Baxter growled. "I don't care if she's a damn angel. If she doesn't lower her blade, I'm putting a bullet right through her head."
Beverly didn't move a muscle.
Neither did Baxter.
"We found him." I cleared my throat. "We found Jeff Morin."
"Where?" Her voice sounded tired and scratchy.
"Not far from your Sno-Cat."
"Is he …?"
"He's dead."
Her whole body shuddered.
"He was missing an arm and a foot. The rest of his body was torn to shreds."
Her knife wavered slightly. "It was that … that
thing
."
I nodded.
"I never saw it coming. There was this earthquake. Then the snow started swirling." She cringed. "It jumped on me, pushed me to the ground, went for my neck."
I exhaled a long breath.
Her chest heaved in and out. "I got loose. But it pinned me down."
"Then what happened?" I asked.
"Jeff was injured. But he lunged at it. That's the last thing I remember."
I pushed her blade down.
She resisted.
I pushed harder.
A small tear formed in her eye. Her knife dropped an inch.
I stepped past it. My hand brushed the tear from her cheek. I wrapped her in my arms and held her.
"Oh, my God." Her knife hand dropped. She choked up.
I didn't know what to say. So, I just held her.
I'd shouldered responsibility for the deaths of others. So, I knew the harsh truth. It wouldn't matter how many tears she shed. It wouldn't matter how much her heart grieved.
Death was permanent. Not just for the deceased.
But also for the living.
Chapter 76
Her palm smacked my face. I recoiled and touched my cheek. It felt tender and hot. "What the hell was that for?"
She pushed me away and slapped me again.
My head flew to the side. My ears started to ring. "Damn it, Beverly. That hurt."
She didn't say anything. Instead, she balled up her fingers and launched an exhausted fist at my stomach.
I grabbed her arm and yanked. She tumbled to the ground. She lay on her back for a minute, breathing heavily. She seemed worn out and weak, a far cry from how I remembered her.
"You need to rest," I said. "No offense, but you look like hell."
She glared at me. "You always had a way with words."
"Are you hungry? Thirsty? We've got plenty of food and water."
"Nothing. Just … just give me a minute." As her breathing normalized, she rose to a sitting position. "We were running. You know, when the beast attacked us."
"Why?"
"Someone was shooting at us. Jeff called him Ben."
"That was Ben Savala," Baxter said. "Somehow he and Roy smuggled guns past our security checkpoints."
"Do you know why he was shooting at you?" I asked.
"Not exactly. We were searching for
Werwolfsschanze
. Next thing I knew, bullets were flying." She waited a few seconds. "Did Jeff suffer?"
"I think so."
"I wish I could've helped him."
Baxter cleared his throat. "Did you see it? Did you see Fenrir?"
"Fenrir?"
"It's a nickname," I said. "For the beast."
"I didn't see its face. But I saw its teeth." Beverly looked around, suddenly aware of her surroundings. "Why's it so dark in here?"
"Someone blew up the power plant," Graham said.
"I hope you're joking."
"I'm afraid not. We're thinking the same person blew up the
Desolation
."
"The
Desolation
?"
"It was a cargo ship. It exploded two days ago."
She winced. "Anyone die?"
"Actually, a whole lot of people."
"Two days ago." She looked thoughtful. "It was a big explosion?"
"Gigantic."
"That must've been the quake I felt. Maybe it, I don't know, stirred this Fenrir thing?" She looked at me. "What else did I miss?"
"A lot," I replied.
"You can tell me about it on the way." She struggled to stand up.
"You're in no condition to travel."
"I've waited long enough. Let's go find
Werwolfsschanze
."
"Do you even know what happened here?"
She shook her head.
"The Whitlows were conducting experiments in a hidden basement under Kirby. They nearly froze Dutch."
"He looks fine to me."
"That's not the point. Holly took off in a Sno-Cat. We're going to wait here, catch her when she tries to sneak back in."
"You do what you want. But I need to go to
Werwolfsschanze
."
I trusted Beverly. She'd sacrificed a lot to help me back in New York. Still, I couldn't help but wonder what she wanted from
Werwolfsschanze
. She had deep ties to the military and had spent numerous years working at ShadowFire. Did that explain her interest? Had she been hired to recover the
Großen Sterbens
bacteria by one of her former colleagues?
I crossed my arms. "We know about the bacteria."
"What bacteria?"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about."
"I'm afraid I don't."
Her words rang true. "Then why'd you come here?"
"That's my business."
"Are you after the Amber Room?"
"No."
"You stole a fortune in gold. Then you seek out an old Nazi base that contains one of the greatest treasures of all time. Do you really expect me to believe you don't care about it?"
"First of all, I didn't steal anything. I melted one bar and sold it to fund this trip. The rest of the gold is well hidden." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "And second of all, I'm not here for treasure. Some things are more important than money."
"Like what?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
Her voice cracked around the edges. "It's personal."
"We need to get on the same page." Graham eyed Beverly with curiosity. "Do you know anything about
Großen Sterbens
?"
She shrugged.
"The Amber Room? Nazis?
Großen Sterbens
?" Baxter frowned. "What's this all about?"
"Just listen for now," Graham said. "I'll fill in the details later."
"
Großen Sterbens
is a type of bacteria," I told Beverly. "It was supposedly preserved millions of years ago in amber. That amber was later used to build the Amber Room."
"What's so special about it?" she asked.
"The Nazis thought it caused the Great Dying. In other words, this stuff could be responsible for the worst extermination event in all of known history."
Her face paled.
"The details are sketchy," I continued. "But it looks like they wanted to create a cure for the Great Dying and then spread the bacteria across the world. Only the inoculated few would survive it. Sort of like a system reset for Mother Nature."
She exhaled sharply. "So, that's it. That's what Raven was after."
"Who's Raven?" I asked.
"Raven is a former colleague." She sighed. "Long before I got into the military, I was searching for something personal. Every time I thought I'd found it, it turned out to be a dead end. Eventually, I discovered it was concealed within a mysterious ODESSA stronghold named
Werwolfsschanze
. That's how I popped up on Jack Chase's radar screen."
I remembered Chase, remembered him well. He'd once served as the CEO of ShadowFire. A few weeks ago, he'd hired me to find a lost subway car buried deep within Manhattan's maze of underground tunnels. He'd paired me up with Beverly and everything went to hell. In a matter of days, I was fighting Chase deep under the streets of Manhattan, next to a raging underground river. I'd survived.
He hadn't.
"As you know, Jack was looking for a separate ODESSA facility," she continued. "But he figured there was some overlap between our goals. So, he recruited me. I made for a good asset. I was already in the military so I was a natural fit for his company. Plus, I spoke German."
"You speak German?"
She nodded. "Jack told me locating ODESSA's Manhattan facility would help me find
Werwolfsschanze
. And I've got to give him credit. He might've been using me. But he was right."
"Where does Raven fit into the picture?"
"I met Raven long before I hooked up with ShadowFire. He was looking for
Werwolfsschanze
too. He knew it was in Antarctica but had no clue where to find it. We agreed to team up. I never told anyone about him, not even Jack."
I sensed there was more to the story. "The two of you had a falling out right? That's why you didn't bring him here."
"At first, I thought we were after the same thing," she said. "But the more I got to know him, the more I realized I wanted nothing to do with him. So, I decided to cut him loose. When we found those gold bars, I instantly realized he could use them to find
Werwolfsschanze
. That's why I hid them."
"That doesn't make sense," I said. "If you were worried about him locating the gold bars, you wouldn't have left one behind."
She avoided my gaze. "That wasn't intentional."
My jaw dropped. "What about the inventories? The shipping logs? The correspondence?"
"Truthfully, I didn't plan on leaving any evidence behind. I was going to clear out the entire room. But you and that blonde girl—Diane—showed up first." She shrugged. "Something came over me. I etched a quick message onto one of the bars and tossed it back into the room. Then I hid in the shadows with the rest of the gold. I kept waiting for you to notice me. But you never did."
"So, the gold bar wasn't intentional?" Shock surged through my system. "You didn't want me to follow you?"
"Like I said, I'm here for personal reasons." She hobbled toward the door. "Speaking of which, I'm leaving. You can come with me or you can stay here. It's your choice."
She hadn't left a trail out of guilt or a deep-seated desire to see me again. Instead, I was an afterthought. The realization burned me up inside. At the same time, the fact that she'd left a trail at all had to mean something.
I cleared my throat. "Do you even know how to get there?"
She turned around.
"We found a book," I continued. "It's got a map of the area. You're going to need it."
"I know how to find it. Jeff and I were almost there when that lunatic started shooting at us." She shook her head. "I already told you this."
"You did?"
"Yeah," she said slowly. "Right after you brought me up here. You laid me on the mattress. We were talking."
"I didn't carry you up here. That was Aaron Jenner."
Her features froze. "Who?"
"Aaron Jenner."
"What does he look like?"
"Mid-thirties. Tall. Black hair. Oh and he's got these scars—”
"Where are they?"
"Across his neck."
"Oh my God." She clapped her hand over her mouth. "He's here. Raven's here."
"Aaron is Raven?"
Suddenly, everything made sense. Jenner had searched Antarctica for years. Eventually, he'd discovered the gas chamber. He'd even found the collapsed colony of tardigrades. But he couldn't find
Werwolfsschanze
. He'd recruited Holly and Rupert to study the dead tardigrades. Most likely, he'd been using their research in an attempt to reconstruct the deadly bacteria.
"He must be wealthy," Graham said.
"Outrageously wealthy," Beverly replied. "Raven—I mean Aaron—is one of the world's foremost mercenaries. He gets paid millions to do all sorts of shadowy things."
Graham looked at me. "We can't let him get the Amber Room."
I set my jaw. "We won't."