Eyes still closed, Burke said, “Mr. Yarborough. I need to ask you some questions.”

The red eye rolled in Burke’s direction.

“You were alone with the leader of this group for some time,” he continued. “I know that during this time, he removed your eye and hand. And I assume he also forced you to tell him your passcode.”

Yarborough’s voice was a harsh, gurgling croak. “How do you know about … code?”

“We’ve seen the lab hidden beneath the facility. Tell me about what was going on down there?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t … want to know. Just opened the door for them.”

“So all you did was allow access for the scientists? I assume the researchers themselves had their own passcodes, but it was a two-man system. You only acted as the second key and never went down?”

“Never went …” His voice trailed off.

“What can you tell me about the big South African man? Their leader?”

Yarborough’s lip curled up in a snarl. “I can’t stand men like that. No respect. Just greed.”

“Did he tell you anything about what they were planning, why they needed your code, what they planned to steal?”

“No, he just told me about the lions. Kept saying that I needed a demonstration.”

“What lions? A demonstration of what?”

“He said lions ate his mother. Only him and his future wife survived the attack. The Ghosts of Timbavati. His mother didn’t appreciate the power of …”

Yarborough’s voice trailed off as he seemed to pass out from sheer exhaustion.

Burke thought about those last words. Lions. A wife. There was something gnawing at the back of Burke’s mind. Something he remembered thinking earlier about lions. It was like the name of a song that was right on the tip of his tongue but just out of reach.

It all hit him at once: a wife, an inside man, the scars on the blonde hostage’s neck … caused by the claws of lions.

Chapter 81

The black panel van dropped Nic off in front of the Walmart quarantine. The light assaulted his eyes when the door slid open and two goons shoved him out. His head throbbed and ached. He felt like he’d just woke up after a three-day bachelor party.

At his back, Yoshida said, “Tell your friends that they’re done. All is forgiven for now, but they had better stay out of my way. The US Marshals are going to be taking point on the hunt for the fugitives with the CIA and FBI giving assistance as needed. Your part in this case is over, but we’ll get them. We’ll avenge all our friends who died, Officer Juliano.”

“And I’m just supposed to take your word for it?”

“I’m sure you’re good at what you do, but this is what we do. And we will find them, as long as you and your friends don’t get in the way. And if any of you figure something out or have anything to contribute, you call me immediately. We determined from the security footage, no thanks to you, that Burke and Carter stole my hard drives. From the look of what they took, there’s no chance of recovery, but if they are able to retrieve even one file off those drives and don’t contact me, then I’ll charge you all with treason and espionage. In case you forget, those carry a sentence of death.”