Pandora's Box Page 20

  Sharp female laughter floated out from the kitchen. Like fingernails on a chalkboard. Madison recognized the sound. Roxie, the notorious Blonde Assassin.

  Madison relaxed somewhat. If Roxie had wanted to kill her, the assassin could have shot her through the door instead of kicking it. Roxie was becoming more annoying than anything. In a loud voice Madison asked, “What do you want? Why are you here?”

  “Same reason you are.”

  “And that is?”

  “Looking for the truth.”

  Roxie flipped into the room just like Madison had flipped off the bed and into Tyler’s arms. The Blonde Assassin kicked the gun from Madison’s hands. It flew across the room, striking the wall with a dull thud. But Roxie didn’t attack Madison. Instead, she wandered into the living room.

  Madison jumped to her feet. She took a moment to catch her breath, her eyes on the living room doorway. Roxie turned the light on before hunching down in the center of the photographs. She moved them around, seemingly fascinated. Seeing the woman’s hands on her father’s pictures made Madison feel sick inside.

  “Ah, this one is a nice one of you.” Roxie lifted the picture high. It was the one of Madison, age six, learning to ride a bike. That photo had been taken just before her mother’s death.

  “Put it down!” Madison demanded.

  Roxie let it slip from her fingers. She stood slowly. Her eyes narrowed on Madison’s face. The woman purposely stepped on the picture with her black stiletto heel, grounding it hard for a second before turning away.

  “What’s wrong, Madison? Don’t like to share?”

  “You have no business here.”

  “You’re wrong.” Roxie licked her bright red lips. “I have every right to be in this house. After all, the man who owned this house could have easily been my father. He should have been my father.”

  Madison shook her head. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Still haven’t figured it out.” Roxie made little shame-on-you noises with her tongue and wagged a finger at Madison. “You’re slow for such a smart agent. Well, let me clue you in, sister. My mother was your mother. She gave me away, probably because her husband wasn’t the father. Rico raised me.”

  Ridiculous! Madison’s mind screamed, refusing to believe such a bold lie.

  “Maybe you should sit down before you faint,” Roxie said. She jumped high in the air, kicked Madison in the chest. Madison landed hard on the sofa. She gasped for air. The breath had been knocked out of her. Roxie added, “Sit right there and listen.”

  Roxie pulled out a gun. She straddled the nearby ottoman, her long legs bent awkwardly at the knees. While Madison struggled to breathe, Roxie told her story in a cold, toneless voice.

  “I figured it out long ago. I knew I was adopted, so I put two and two together. For a while I thought Duncan Grey was my father. He thought so too.” Roxie glared at her. “You look surprised, Madison. I approached your father for a DNA test and he agreed to do it. But it wasn’t him.” She used her gun as a pointer, jabbing it in the air. “Lucky you, you were legitimate. I should kill you for that alone.”

  Madison found her voice. “Did you test my mom’s DNA? What in the hell makes you think she was your mother?”

  “She loved me. I saw it in her eyes every time I came over. Then I learned I was adopted. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together.”

  “You are not my sister.”

  Roxie laughed louder this time.

  “Denial just ain’t a river, huh, Madison? You need to get on the same page with me, honey. Otherwise, you won’t understand when I get to the punch line. Okay?”

  The Blonde Assassin leaped off the ottoman. She grabbed Madison by the hair and forced her head up and down in a hard nodding motion. She said, “That’s right. Now we understand each other.”

  Madison grabbed the sofa cushions, digging her fingernails deep to keep from knocking the blonde’s head off. She needed a moment to recuperate from the kick before she could beat the snot out of the blonde lunatic.

  Roxie paced the length of the room while she talked. “Anyway, I already checked Rico. I tested his DNA without his knowledge, and he’s not my father either. Too bad for him. He was a good mentor. He taught me everything I know.”

  “How to kill in cold blood, you mean,” Madison said. She struggled to sit up straighter, her body aching all over. When the time came, she’d be ready to fight.

  “He was a good surrogate father,” Roxie said. “He reined in Dr. Grainger for me, convinced that stupid rodent to share his invention.”

  “You planted the microchips.” Madison tried to stand abruptly and winced at the pain streaking through the center of her. She had at least one bruised or cracked rib. “Why?”

  Roxie’s red lips twisted into a bitter line. “Figure that one out for yourself. You have one. Did you know? I can make you do anything I want. How does it feel, Madison, knowing that you’re nothing more than a puppet?”

  So Roxie didn’t know Grainger had rendered the microchips useless. That was a huge advantage for her.

  Roxie removed a silver remote from her pocket, a smaller version of the one Grainger had used on Madison. She pointed it at Madison. “With this I can control the world—or destroy it. Whatever rocks my boat.”

  Madison jumped to her feet. She clenched her hands into tight fists. What was she going to do about Roxie? If the woman was her sister, she couldn’t kill her.

  Roxie smiled as she headed for the front door. Her voice was casual as if they were two old friends enjoying a nice visit. “We’ll see each other again real soon, I’m sure. Take care.”

  Madison pulled out her cell and quickly dialed Tyler’s number. She was interested in hearing what his father had to say for himself, but that would have to wait. She wanted to get to Las Vegas as soon as humanly possible.

  Tyler picked up and she said, “Feel like jetting off with me again?”

  “Where to this time?”

  “I think we should pay Rico Boracci that visit now.” Her eyes went to the front door where her enemy had stood moments before. “There are a few things he needs to clear up for me. Either he’s working with his daughter or he has no idea what she’s doing. If he doesn’t know, I’d like to be the first to tell him.”

  Tyler agreed to meet her at the airport, but this time they weren’t going to tell anyone about their flight plan.

  ******

  The Boracci estate seemed deserted. No party this time. Scaling the wall was easier in trousers, and Tyler gave Madison a boost. He practically hoisted her to the top. When she hit the ground on the other side, she waited for Tyler to join her before heading for the house. They ran across the lawn, heads down, but there wasn’t a security guy in sight. Madison wondered if Boracci was expecting them. If so, they were walking into a trap.

  Tyler said, “You take the side door and search the first floor. I’ll climb up to the balcony and enter that way. Take out everybody you come across. We’ll find Boracci, perhaps his daughter, and we’ll meet in his study.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Don’t use your gun unless you have to. Right now we have the element of surprise.”

  She nodded. “Be careful.”

  Madison fought the urge to touch him. They were two agents on a mission, not lovers traveling in different directions with a tearful goodbye at the airport. He shared a quick smile with her before turning away. He scrambled across the terrace and ran around the mansion. Madison didn’t move until he had disappeared from view.

  She went to the terrace doors and picked the lock. Pulling them open as quietly as possible, she stepped inside and closed them behind her. The sun hadn’t fallen yet, so it was too early for everyone to be in bed. Madison stopped and listened. She couldn’t hear a sound.

  She crossed the room, went into the hallway, and followed it to the end. She opened each door as she came to it and glanced inside. Nothing. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Even if Boracci had gone out f
or the evening there should be a multitude of bodyguards running around the house. Madison had a bad feeling about the whole thing. Something didn’t feel right.

  She found the door leading to the basement. The sound of voices drifted up to her. She pulled her gun out, getting ready even though Tyler had told her it was too risky to use it. She couldn’t tell how many people were downstairs. Her eyes went to the ceiling. She should let Tyler know about the people in the basement.

  The front door opened, and the choice was snatched from her. She ducked through the basement door and shut it softly behind her before the newcomer could catch a glimpse of her. She stood on the top stair, frozen with indecision. If the newcomer opened the door it would be all over for her. On the other hand, if she went downstairs she would probably be spotted by the owners of the voices.

  Madison carefully picked her way halfway down the stairs. The voices grew louder, more clear until she could understand every word. She immediately recognized Boracci’s angry voice, raised and sharp.

  “Where is my daughter now?” he asked. “Did she tell you to bring Agent DeMarco here? What in the hell is going on?”

  “Uh…she told us you wanted us to kill the guy, boss.”

  “Did she?”

  “Yeah. She told us the agent is useless now and you’d want him put down.”

  “What else has she been telling you to do in my name?”

  Madison barely heard the mumbled response. Whatever he said set Boracci on a long ride of curses. Apparently Roxie had been working her own angle behind her father’s back. At least they weren’t working together. They’d be easier to take down if they were fighting each other too.

  Cold metal pressed against Madison’s throat. She didn’t have to glance down to know it was the muzzle of a gun. Roxie had come down the stairs behind Madison, quiet as a mouse.

  Roxie said, “You got here fast.”

  She pushed Madison forward, and Madison nearly fell down the remaining stairs. She grabbed onto the metal railing, kept herself on her feet, but she lost her gun. Three steps and they were standing on the concrete floor of Boracci’s basement.

  Madison looked around in awe, her eyes wide.

  The basement had been converted into a five star laboratory. A scientist’ dream. There were cubicles, gurneys, test tubes, Bunsen burners, computers and microscopes. State of the art machines that Madison had only seen on television blinked a variety of lights. Now she understood why Grainger had been so willing to trust Boracci. Any scientist worthy of the title would have killed to work in such a well-stocked environment.

  DeMarco was tied to one of the gurneys, looking like a cat who’d been dragged through a wringer in reverse. He mumbled incoherent words and his head rocked back and forth while his hands shook, obviously delirious.

  Roxie said, “You should be more careful, Rico. This one was eavesdropping on you.”

  Boracci made a violent gesture with his hands. “I don’t care about that! I want to know what you think you’re doing telling my men what to do, giving them orders in my place! This is my operation. Not yours. Mine!”

  “Relax, Rico. Don’t have a coronary. Everything’s fine.”

  “No, everything is not fine!” Boracci took a deep breath and lowered his voice. He pinned his adopted daughter with a cold, black stare. “You weren’t even born when Grainger and I first met. The microchips, using them, was my idea. I set everything up, I got Grainger to cooperate, and I will be the one who decides when and how the president dies. On top of that, you kill Grainger without my permission.”

  Madison glanced around again, working on a plan. Even if she could get her hands on a gun, knock Roxie’s away, she was still outnumbered by Boracci and his two men.

  Roxie smiled at Rico. “Actually, you haven’t been in charge of this for a long time. I’ve been calling the shots. Want me to prove it? Roberto, who do you work for?”

  Boracci’s bodyguard pulled a gun and aimed it at the boss. The other guard grinned, smug about turning the tables on Boracci.

  “You’re going to regret this,” Boracci told them. “All of you.”

  “You killed your own father,” Roxie said. “Remember when you shared that bit of information with me? You and your buddies killed your father so you could take over his empire. I’m surprised you didn’t see this coming.” Roxie laughed. “Is it because I’m a woman? You weren’t intimidated by me? Maybe you thought I didn’t have that killer instinct. Or did you think I lacked the ambition?”

  Tyler appeared behind Roxie. He pointed his gun at the back of her head and said, “Drop it.”

  Madison took her first easy breath since entering the basement. “What took you so long?”

  Roxie’s loud laughter drowned Tyler’s reply.

  “This is too delicious,” Roxie said. She lifted a smaller version of Grainger’s remote to her mouth and spoke into it. “Kill Rico for me.”

  Tyler’s expression changed, hardened as the light in his eyes died. His gun swung in Boracci’s direction. He squeezed the trigger without hesitation. Surprise registered on Boracci’s face as he clutched his chest. Blood seeped through his fingers. He went down.

  “Now kill Madison Grey,” Roxie said to the remote, not missing a beat.

  Before Tyler could turn his weapon in her direction, Madison jumped high and kicked at the gun. Her foot caught the barrel. The gun flew sideways. Madison didn’t wait around to see what would happen next. She flew through the air, landed on a gurney and rolled over the side of it, tipping it and taking it with her. The gurney crashed next to her on its side, blocking her body from view.

  Two wild shots rang out, missing her by a mile. The sound bounced off the walls and echoed around the huge warehouse like room.

  “Forget her,” Roxie said. “Let’s go.”

  Madison peeked around the gurney’s edge in time to see Tyler racing up the stairs after Roxie. Overwhelming grief rocked her body and soul. This whole time she’d been worried about having a microchip in her head, but it hadn’t even occurred to her that Tyler might have one. Now he could be lost to her forever.

  Roxie stopped at the top of the stairs and shouted, “If I were you, I’d head down to Mexico, Maddie. If I see you again, I’ll kill you for sure. Or Tyler will.”

  Then they were gone.

  Madison sagged against the gurney, defeated. She couldn’t fight Tyler. She couldn’t hurt him. A bloody hand reached out and touched hers. Rico Boracci struggled into a sitting position. He leaned against the tipped gurney, his face close to hers.

  “I’m going to tell you what you need to know so you can stop her,” he said. “Nobody steals from me and gets away with it.”

  “I’m listening,” she said, even though her thoughts were with Tyler. Somehow she had to save him from whatever Roxie’s twisted mind had in store for him.

  Boracci winced, and he clutched his wound tighter. “My wife couldn’t have children, so we decided to adopt. But I wanted my own child, my own flesh and blood. So I got one of the maids pregnant, set her up in a nice house, and gave her money once she popped Roxie out. Then I took Roxie home and told my wife the adoption had gone through sooner than expected.”

  “Quite a coincidence that both your wife and Grainger couldn’t have children.”

  Boracci shook his dark head. “Grainger lied to his wife. He got fixed behind our backs because we all agreed in the beginning that we would give our children implants to test them. That way it would be fair. My wife couldn’t have kids, so I had one without her, and we gave her a microchip. Malcom gave one to Tyler, and Duncan fixed you up with one, but Grainger refused to have a kid with an implant. He made sure he’d never have a child.”

  Seemed a bit extreme until a person thought about how dangerous the microchips were, and Grainger would know that better than anyone.

  Boracci coughed into his fist before continuing. “We told Roxie she was adopted from the beginning because my wife thought it was important. Roxie was such a needy chi
ld, never having enough love, never enough attention. Like you, Roxie was given a microchip, but it didn’t work. Something went wrong. We had to render it useless. She was never the same after that.”

  “Are you telling me that her psychotic tendencies began with the microchip?”

  Boracci shrugged. “No one will ever know that for a certainty. After my wife died, Roxie got worse. For some reason she got it into her head that your mother was her mother. She thought Sharon Grey had given her up for adoption. I told her it wasn’t true, but she wouldn’t believe me. I suppose I could have told her then that she was my actual child, but I was afraid of how she would react.

  “For a while she thought Duncan was her father, but I guess she had his DNA tested last year. I was having problems with Malcom Law by that time. He started thinking that he didn’t need us anymore because he had the White House. He stopped taking our phone calls and he went against the group on almost every decision. I wanted him dead and usually Roxie would have handled that for me, but she was preoccupied with her own private matters. So I used that to my advantage. I set her up to believe that Malcom was her father.”

  Madison didn’t get it. “How would that make her want to kill him?”

  “She was obsessed with having what she calls a real family. She felt cheated. When she did a DNA test done on him, I had someone fix the results. I know my girl. She wants revenge…blood.” The man was actually proud to have raised a crazy killer. “Tell her the truth. Take the wind out of her sails if you want to stop her.”

  “Didn’t it ever occur to her that you might be her father? Why didn’t she have you tested?”

  “She did. I made sure the tests came back negative.”

  Madison actually felt sorry for Roxie. She’d been a victim of the four men and their power-hungry ambition as much as Madison had. She wanted to ask Boracci what sort of man, what sort of father could do something like that to his daughter. He could have told Roxie the truth at any time. He’d decided not to for his own selfish reasons.