Free Killer Dreams by Iris Johansen

insane. Yet here was another threat to Michael. Damn Sanborne. “And I don’t want a drink. I want this night to be over.”
     
    “Has Caprio checked in yet?” Boch asked when Sanborne picked up the phone.
    “Not yet.”
    Boch muttered a curse. “I told you that you had to be careful with him. He was a sniveling two-bit hit man when we took him on, and REM-4 didn’t make him any smarter.”
    “But it made him loyal to me. I told him exactly what to do and he’ll do it. The experiments demonstrated that intelligence doesn’t always make the best subjects. Look at Royd.”
    “He was the best subject we ever had.”
    “Until he shrugged off the training as if it didn’t exist.”
    “It wasn’t that easy for him. But we’re not talking about Royd. I want to know why Caprio hasn’t contacted you. Send someone else to Sophie Dunston’s house.”
    “And chance them being seen when the bodies are discovered? No way. We’ll wait.”
    “You’ll wait. I’m not that patient. I have my own men and they’re not zombies like your choices. I’ll give you another two hours to take care of her.”
    “Why are you frothing at the mouth? She doesn’t even know about you. She’s after me.”
    “And how did she know that REM-4 was at this facility? If she knew about that, then she might have found out about our connection. You should have gotten rid of her when she set up shop on our doorstep.”
    “There was a possibility she could have helped us if I could have gotten my hands on her. REM-4 isn’t perfect and she jerked the follow-up research she was working on that could have increased the effect tenfold and made it safer.”
    “Nothing is perfect. We didn’t need her. She wasn’t the only fish in the sea. What we’ve got now is good enough.”
    “Your clients might not think so. Three out of ten end up dead or insane.”
    “That’s an acceptable casualty percentage. I can’t afford to have her snooping around. In three months my retirement goes into effect and I have to be clean if I’m going to keep my contacts.”
    Boch’s precious connections, Sanborne thought impatiently. But those connections would prove important to both of them. The bastard knew every crooked military man in the service and he had overseas links that would be invaluable once REM-4 was set up. He struggled to regain his temper. “You’ll keep them. For God’s sake, Caprio’s only an hour late checking in. Why are you so nervous?”
    Boch was silent a moment. “My informant with the CIA phoned me and told me that Royd’s left Colombia.”
    “What?”
    “It could mean nothing. He could have taken on another job. He’s in demand.”
    “You told me you were going to send someone to take him down.”
    “I did. Three times. He’s good. We made him good.”
    “And you’re a fool.”
    “You can’t talk to me that way. I won’t have it.”
    I’ve hurt the idiot’s giant ego, Sanborne thought bitterly. “He was out of the country and it was your best chance to bring him down.”
    “I kept an eye on him.”
    “So well that you let him slip away. Jesus, I remember him at Garwood. Good? He was a damn expert. No one was better than Royd.”
    “I’ll find him.” Boch paused. “But don’t you ever talk to me like that again.”
    Sanborne hesitated. Shit. Pacify the son of a bitch. “Sorry.”
    “And mind your own concerns. Sophie Dunston may only be a woman but she has to be eliminated. I want to be free and clear before we set up on the island.” He hung up.
    Did Boch believe he didn’t know that? Sophie Dunston had been a thorn in his side since the moment she had found out he was continuing the Amsterdam experiments. He had been able to block her but she wasn’t going to give up. She just kept on searching, digging, trying to find someone who would listen.
    But he could be worrying about a problem that had already been solved.
    If Caprio had strung up the bitch.
     
    “Taken care of?” Jock asked Royd when he