Violet, her eyes on Jefferson’s face, held the glass under her nose and inhaled.

“We’re on the same side, Violet,” Jefferson reminded.

“Anyone in my position can’t be too careful, and Whitney and I didn’t part on the best of terms. He had my husband shot.”

“He saved his life. No one else could have done that operation,” Jefferson pointed out.

“He wouldn’t have needed the operation if Whitney hadn’t arranged for an assassination.” She put her drink down and leaned forward. “Let’s quit playing games, Jefferson. I want Whitney off our backs.”

“It isn’t going to happen, Violet. You can join the other side and try to wipe out all the GhostWalkers or you can come back to the fold where you belong. Without us, your husband has no career and without Whitney, he’s a dead man.”

Mack was watching the woman’s face closely. Jefferson was a man in extreme danger. He thought he was holding all the cards, but she was weighing whether or not to kill him. She looked cool and composed, but Mack knew exactly what was going on in her mind.

Jefferson appeared confident, but he must have felt death in her silence. He set his drink aside and shook his head. “What good would it do you to kill me, Violet?

Whitney would retaliate against you by letting Ed die. This is about him, isn’t it?

Your husband? You want him alive. Only Whitney can keep him alive.”

“As a puppet,” she snapped. “We both will have to do his bidding.”

“Without Whitney, neither of you would have a decent life. It’s time to pay the piper, Violet,” Jefferson said. “It isn’t like Ed is a viable candidate for the vice presidency. Whitney had to practically replace his brain.”

“My husband can still have a political career.”

Jefferson sat back in his chair and once again picked up his glass, regarding her over the top of it. “Now we come to the real reason you’re here. What exactly do you want and what are you offering?”

“I can find the missing women for Whitney. They escaped. Whitney wants them back. I can get them for him. I have the resources. And I can tap into the women’s networks better than anyone else. In return, I want Ed completely well.”

“He was brain-dead, Violet.”

“Not anymore. Not with this new technology. Get him up and running and put him back in the political arena. I can handle everything else. No one will ever get close enough to know he’s not all human.”

“You’re asking a lot,” Jefferson said, and took a sip of his brandy.

“One of the women is pregnant. The father is a GhostWalker. She has extraordinary talents, as does he. Their child alone will be worth what I’m asking.

You and your friends back Ed’s career and we’re back on track. Whitney will have a friend in the White House for life.”

Gideon gasped. “That bitch. She’d sell out her own mother.”

“Just make certain you’ve got this all recorded,” Mack said.

Jefferson’s smile turned malicious. “He’s already got friends in the White House.”

“He has enemies too. I can find them for you. You know I’ll do it too. I keep my promises.”

“Do you?” Jefferson asked. “You turned on Whitney before and you have no problems turning on the women who regard you as their sister.”

Violet tapped her perfectly manicured nails on the arm of her chair. “Don’t judge a woman in love, James. I would do anything for my husband.”

“Or for the power. We both know who’s behind the proverbial throne, Violet, so don’t play the loving wife to me. You were prepared to sleep with me if that’s what it took, but you knew the moment you looked into my mind that wouldn’t serve your purpose,” Jefferson said shrewdly.

Javier growled deep in his throat. “She really is a cobra.”

Violet shrugged her shoulders. “Why should I deny it? I am prepared to pay whatever price Whitney wants from me.”

“And if he demands a fail-safe?”

She sucked in her breath, for the first time her composure shaken. She recovered very quickly. “He’s put a fail-safe program in Ed?”

“Of course he did, my dear, and he’s prepared to use it. You not only will deliver the women to us, but you’ll find whoever in the White House is going against the GhostWalker program and you’ll deliver them as well. If we decide to put Ed back into position to use him, believe me, Violet, it will be our decision without coercion.”

Even from his position a distance away, Mack could see the woman’s eyes glittering with malicious intent as she rose. “I would be very careful of threatening me, Jefferson. You may hold all the cards, but if you push too far, you’ll find out just what a woman will really do when you’ve put a bullet in her husband’s head.”

Her voice was utterly cold. Deliberately spiteful. Mack swore under his breath.

Jefferson would know exactly what she meant and he would take her threat seriously.

That would make it doubly difficult to kill him.

“You’re getting him back,” Jefferson reminded. “A new, improved model, wholly devoted to you. There won’t be any chasing skirts, or aides under his desk; he’ll live for you.”

Mack inhaled sharply. “Whitney paired her with him, but didn’t bother pairing Freeman with her. Whitney sold her into service with Freeman to aid his political career.”

“He couldn’t know the monster he was creating,” Gideon said.

“I can’t even feel sorry for her,” Javier said. “She’s willing to give up the other women to a breeding program, knowing what happened to them in that compound.”

“She’d kill all of us if it got her husband one step closer to the presidency,” Mack said, watching with a small frown. “He’s glanced at his watch again. You think he’s got more than one visitor coming tonight?”

“Maybe it will be Whitney and we can blow them both to kingdom come.” Javier sounded hopeful, eager even.

“You’re so bloodthirsty tonight,” Mack reprimanded.

Javier shot him a grin. “Must be the company. Bad influence and all.”

Violet put down her drink and stood up, drawing their attention back to the scene in the house. “I have to go, Jefferson. You’ve given me quite a bit to think about.”

Jefferson rose with her. “I hope you’ll give me your answer soon, Violet. I don’t think Ed has long, hanging in limbo. You want him up and running around, you commit to Whitney’s program and work for us, not yourself.”

She said nothing at all, but walked, head up, out to her waiting car. Jefferson watched the vehicle pull down the long drive before he snapped open his cell phone.

“She was here. She’s going to come on board, but she’ll turn on us the moment she thinks she has an out. She’s ambitious. You might think about getting rid of her before she causes any more trouble.”

“You getting this, Jaimie?” Mack asked.

“I’m running a trace,” she answered. “I think he’s talking to Whitney. I’ve got a voice analysis program and it should give me a match any second. Yep. Whitney.”

Jefferson snapped his phone off and went back into the house after one more long look after his parting guest. He shook his head, disgusted, and slammed his door.

“I’m sorry, Mack, he didn’t stay on long enough,” Jaimie said.

Mack didn’t take his eyes from Jefferson. The man took meticulous care to clean up after his guest. Several times he looked at the clock. They weren’t at all surprised when a second car came up the drive.

“He’s busy tonight,” Mack said, watching the dark car pull up to the house.

“What’s behind door number two?”

The driver jumped out and opened the door behind his seat. An older man emerged. Mack concentrated on getting as good a picture as possible. There was only a profile available; the man kept his hat low and his head turned away from them. He looked older, and walked with a cane and a bit of a limp. He was a big man. A trench coat covered his very expensive business suit. He went straight up to the house.

Jefferson met him at the door and clapped him on the shoulder, his manner familiar.

“We’ve got company, boss,” Gideon hissed. “I think Violet’s come back.”

Javier touched the knife in his scabbard. “I need to be on the ground to protect the operation, Mack,” he said. “If she spots us, we’re finished.”

“She can’t spot you, Javier. I’m giving you a direct order. Do not engage unless she finds us.”

Javier sent a cocky grin over his shoulder at Mack. “I’m hearing every word, Top.”

“Before you go, tell Jaimie I need everything she’s got on that man now. Right now. Tell her to move it.”

“It’s not like we gave her much to go on,” Javier pointed out, but dutifully sent the text. “Oh, yeah, she’s not happy with you and said to remind you that she’s not a miracle worker.”

Mack glared at him. “Tell her I expect results, not a lot of excuses.”

“Oh, sure, boss, I’ll just send that to Jaimie. We’ll feel the volcano blast all the way from San Francisco.”

“I gotta agree with Javier on this one, boss. Give her a few minutes.”

Mack scowled at them and turned his attention back to the house.

“Going silent, Mack,” Javier said. He sent Gideon a quick, sympathetic grin and hastily made his way to the ground.

“Keep an eye on them, Gideon,” Mack ordered.

“You got it, boss.”

Mack knew Gideon didn’t have to use night goggles or any equipment that might tip off a GhostWalker to their presence. He was the most difficult of all of them to spot. Javier was a ghost, a phantom, stalking the night. Violet could walk right up to him and not know he was there. She’d be uneasy, but she wouldn’t find him. Even so, Gideon would ensure that Javier was safe at all times if there was any slipup.

He put the headphones on to listen to the conversation taking place in Jefferson’s home.

“What’d she want?” the newcomer demanded.

“The same thing her father-in-law wanted. Of course Andrew thinks his son is intact. Whitney says we’re nearly ready for the trial run. If we can fool Andrew, we can fool everyone,” Jefferson said.

“I’m not entirely easy about this. Andrew’s been a good friend for years.”

Mack knew Andrew Freeman was Senator Freeman’s father. He had gone to school with Whitney and Jefferson when Jefferson was Phillip Thornton.

“Okay,” Jaimie’s voice whispered in his ear. “You’ve got Jacob Abrams there.

He’s been best friends with Senator Freeman’s father for forty years or more.

Billionaire. A genius. Banker. He and Whitney and Freeman were all part of a club at their university for very smart students. The club is still shrouded in secrecy. I’m working on more data for you. Abrams controls a great deal in the market and some say he’s part of the real power in the world, not necessarily the leaders of the countries. He’s a very big fish, Mack.”

“Thanks, Jaimie.” Mack switched back to the conversation in the house.

Jefferson poured a drink for Abrams and handed it to him. “At least he has his son, Jacob. Ed was brain-dead. Anyone else would have pulled the plug on him.

Violet and Andrew had given up and were going to tell the world he’d been killed when Whitney made his proposal to try to save him. He didn’t do it for Andrew.”

“Enhancing psychic ability is one thing, but stimulating a dead brain with whatever the hell he does makes Ed part machine, doesn’t it?” Jefferson sighed and sat back in his chair. “Whitney has no fear of trying anything.”