Guarding Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 7)

by Kate Allenton

  “So, they were legit?” I asked.

  “Depends on how you look at it. They were FBI at one point, but all three were fired and fell off the grid,” Grant answered.

  “And what about the dead guys who went after Justice? Were they FBI like the fake guys claimed?”

  “Not even close. Hired mercenaries,” Grant said.

  His words made me pause as I stood in the doorway to the TV room. “Great. So, none of them were real. They were all just hired muscle.”

  I watched Flint from across the room, unsure now whether we’d made the right call and shouldn’t have sequestered him someplace else out of reach. Resolutely, I squared my shoulders and crossed the room.

  Flint was a fidgety guy. Tall and wiry and he talked in sentences that didn’t make much sense, sometimes stepping over the thin line that separated genius from crazy.

  I stopped next to the table just in time to hear Flint say, “Those women didn’t deserve to die.”

  “How did you figure out what was going on?” I asked as curiosity overcame me.

  Flint glanced at Carson and raised a brow.

  “It’s okay, she’s with us,” Carson answered.

  Flint nodded. “I bet you’re expecting me to give you some long drawn-out answer and calculations proving how I outsmarted them,” Flint said with a smile. “But that wasn’t the case. It was more a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I overheard the discussion of how they were going to take the children. I tried to stop it and warn the others, but no one believed me. One by one, the mothers all ended up dead, and at my trial, when I tried to tell everyone, they all thought I was insane.”

  “I’m sure that didn’t have anything to do with you saying the Easter Bunny made you do it,” I said and raised my brow.

  “I’m doing time for murders I didn’t commit.” He glanced around the area. “I think I chose wisely, don’t you?”

  “Let me ask you this.” I tilted my head. “You’re smart. How do I find Ross Granger and save the kids?”

  “Considering you’re already using me as bait”—he leaned in—“which I don’t mind, by the way, you’ll find the kids the same way I found the mothers at the lake.”

  “I give up. How did you do it?”

  His eyes searched mine. “You’re a hunter, aren’t you?”

  I shared a concerned look with Carson.

  “Don’t worry, it’s not written on your face,” Flint said. “You remind me of the others. You really want to know how I found the women?”

  “No,” I said, amending my question. “I want to know how to find the kids.”

  His lips twitched at the corners. “That’s simple. You follow my blood.” He glanced between both of us. “Which one of you would like to do the honors of providing a knife?”

  Rising from my seat, Carson put his palm over my arm. “No, Lucy. You have enough.”

  “Carson, I have to do this for my child.”

  Flint glanced at my stomach. “Is yours one of mine too? They mentioned freezing my sperm to produce more.”

  We ignored the question. “That’s exactly why you can’t do this. Think about your baby and what that extra blood could do to you. If you die, that baby does too.”

  A hopeful look registered on Flint’s face. “Break out the cigars. I’m going to be a father again.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Hold the child support payments. This baby isn’t yours.”

  Flint’s shoulder deflated even though his eyes twinkled like he was enjoying the banter.

  “How did you find the women, Flint?” Carson asked.

  A sly smile split his lips. “I’m a hunter too.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t explain how you found the women. You didn’t have their blood. Maybe the children’s but not the mothers’.”

  His lips quivered. “I might have broken the rules a time or two in the event the women quit the program and took my children with them. My children might one day want a relationship with their father. I couldn’t let them grow up without knowing me.”

  My jaw dropped as I hit the man with a hard stare. For as smart as he was, there was a hint of crazy in his words. I could see it now—the stalkerish tendencies forming behind his eyes.

  “You absorbed the mother’s blood?” I asked.

  “Good thing I did, or no one would have found those bodies,” he said with a shrug.

  “What about the children?”

  His lips curved again at the edges. “Blood of my blood. Blood of their mothers. It’s all coursing through me. Living inside me and it’s like a double whammy. Extra strong with a kick.”

  Carson’s mouth tightened.

  “You can find them, can’t you?” I knew the answer before I asked.

  “You are the smarter one. I can see that now.”

  “Help us save your children from the man that will probably kill them all when my child is born.”

  His gaze dropped to my stomach again. “What makes yours so special?”

  “I’ve been drugged with all of the program juju. The doctor was trying to make mine super-special with the added crazy.”

  Flint’s gaze narrowed. “My children are special.”

  “I agree,” I said. “So, help me find them and save them.”

  “I would.” Flint’s voice turned playful. “But the only way for me to do that is to go with you, and that’s not going to happen for at least another twenty years without Dr. Gerard’s approval or permission from the courts.”

  “We’ll have to see about that.” I stood.

  “No,” Grant said into my earpiece as I headed toward the doors.

  “What choice do we have, Grant?” I asked as I hurried through the hallways toward the psychologists' offices. I swiped my card key and entered the forbidden space. “If we want to save the kids and catch the guys responsible, then we need Flint Greymore.”

  “Lucy, the case they made on him being the killer was pretty solid, not to mention he’s not quite right in the head. Tell me you realize that.”

  “I do,” I answered. “And as far as the case against him, it doesn’t matter. What matters is finding those children and stopping Granger from taking mine. I have no choice. I absorb Greymore’s blood, or we take him.”

  “Lucy. I don’t like either of those options,” Ford’s voice and words gave me a moment of pause.

  “We have to, Ford,” I whispered. “It’s the only way.”

  I paused outside the psychologist’s door. “We can do this the above-board way, or I’ll just have to bust him out. The choice is yours, Grant, but he’s leaving this place one way or another.”

  I waited for a nurse to pass and glanced inside the darkened room, looking to see which room might have a window without bars.

  “Fine. Do not do anything illegal, or you’ll be giving birth in a place just like that, and then Gigi is really going to be pissed at both of us. Let me work on it.”

  “You do that, while I start planning my exit strategy,” I said.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I hadn’t needed to use the doctor’s ID card I’d stolen from the darkened shrink’s office to sneak us out. I hadn’t even had to pull the fire alarm to cause a panic. Instead, Greymore was sitting comfortably in the passenger seat of the van, handcuffed and strapped in. Ford, Sam, Grant, and I were in the back. Grant sat with a gun resting on his lap, ready to shoot should the need arise.

  “Where to?” Carson asked.

  “Three streets up and take a right toward the highway,” Greymore said before glancing back at us. “I love road trips, don’t you?” Enthusiasm radiated off Greymore as he leaned forward, staring at a flock of birds flying in the sky. “A lot has changed in the years I’ve been incarcerated.”

  I gave a slow nod of understanding. I remember the feeling of the sun on my face when I left the psych ward. The freedom in the air had me on the verge of running from my jailers on my first excursion beyond the bars and outside the stone wall. I stared a hole in the
back of Greymore’s head as if trying to read his mind.

  “Carson, you got the child locks on?” I asked.

  There was an unmistakable click in the car. “Now I do.”

  Greymore glanced back with a grin again. “Such a smart woman.”

  “Takes crazy to know crazy,” I said with a lift of my brow. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the front seats. “Know this, Greymore. I’m not like the others. I don’t care about your personal safety. I have a dog in this hunt. You screw us, I’ll kill you, and they won’t find your body. You feel me?”

  “Smart and dangerous. My kind of woman.” He winked. “Don’t worry, Lucy. I’ll take you to the kids.”

  “It’s Dr. Bray.” I leaned in closer. “And just so you know, I know how to nick all the major arteries and make it look like an accident.”

  “Feisty too.” His grin widened. “Don’t worry, Dr. Bray. The kids are still alive. I can feel them, but I hope you brought some snacks and a change of clothes. Our trip is going to take a while.

  “Where are we going?” Carson asked, glancing at Greymore.

  “Crater Lake, of course. It wasn’t a coincidence those women were found there. It was a convenience.”

  Ford and I shared a look with each other. We hadn’t known this trip was going to take us several states away. “Is it too late to charter a plane?”

  I’d been around lakes before. Even a couple that had spirits attached to them, but nothing like Crater Lake.

  There was no breeze in the trees. The air was still and humid. Other than the dark inky waters lapping against the shoreline, no birds chirped or animals played nearby. The sound of wildlife in the underbrush was absent adding to my feeling of unease. Dead Lake would have been a more appropriate name.

  We’d driven all night, only stopping for dinner and gas. By the time we arrived the next day, the noontime sun was partially hidden by fluffy gray clouds. More ominous storm clouds low in the sky hinted at rain in our future.

  Carson was standing next to me on the porch of the cabin we’d rented. Finding a place to spend the night hadn’t been difficult. There were rental signs everywhere. Smart people didn’t spend vacations here. Not when the water alone looked like a cesspool of infestation.

  Ford pulled up in the van and got out carrying pizza boxes, and my stomach growled.

  “Come eat,” he invited as he passed. “We’ll plan tonight and hunt tomorrow.”

  We all followed the smell of melted cheese and Italian herbs and spices back into the cabin. I wasn’t shy about grabbing several pieces even though heartburn might make me regret it later.

  I took my food outside, and Ford followed, sitting on the wooden swing next to me. Houses didn’t have these front porch swings anymore, but I loved them just the same. It was a reminder of the peace I’d found on Noah’s farm.

  “We’re going to save those kids,” Ford said.

  His words pulled me from my thoughts. “I know.”

  “Then why the worried look?”

  I shrugged. “I was just thinking about front porch swings and Noah’s mother’s ranch. How the peace of it helps to stop oncoming headaches and my killer tendencies.”

  “Hmm,” Ford whispered. “Well, I’ll take you back for a visit when this is all over. It sounds like a peaceful place for the rest of your pregnancy.”

  “Yeah, it does. How is Noah, by the way? Any more word on how he is or where they moved him?”

  “Nothing. Special Agent Hunt came in and took over and moved him out of that hospital pretty quickly when they realized the potential danger. Not just to Noah, but to other patients and employees.”

  I nodded, understanding the need to move him out of harm's way. It was one less thing I’d need to worry about. “Has he gotten any leads on the pyro guy?”

  “Not that any of us have been told,” Ford said, wiping the pizza sauce that dripped down my chin.

  Unease crept down my spine like a spider. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the cause. It felt like I was being watched. There was something just beneath the surface and out of reach that I hadn’t quite figured out.

  I scanned the trees and fought a shiver. “Let’s go inside.”

  “Creepy lake versus killer inside. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather stay out here where we’d have a better exit strategy?” he asked with a chuckle.

  That was my guy. Always thinking ahead. “I want to get this over with, and Greymore is the one with the answers.”

  I headed back inside with Ford trailing behind me. Greymore was at the dining room table, his hands still cuffed as he chowed on pizza. Another shackle secured his leg to the chair. If he’d wanted to escape, it wouldn’t have been hard, assuming he could break the chair without one of the men in the room shooting him on the spot.

  Sam was seated at the other end of the table, with his laptop humming, a half-eaten slice of pizza next to the computer. His fingers flew across the keyboard, and he’d stop periodically and take a bite before wiping the grease from his fingers on a napkin and starting up again.

  “Where are we going to find Granger and the pyro?”

  “Pyro?” Greymore’s lips twisted at the corners. “You must be referring to Nikko Porter. He is a foul man. At least he was back in the day before my incarceration. He’d been in on the conversation about disposing of the mothers and stealing the children. He’s the type of guy you don’t want to cross.”

  Of course, the crazy man knew the pyro’s name. I shouldn’t be surprised. “Sounds like our guy. Was he in the program?”

  “He was like me,” Grant said with a sigh. “I was your muscle. Your guard dog, if you will. You hunted, I retrieved. Nikko Porter was a handler too.”

  My breath stuttered. This guy was bad. I knew how trained Grant was. What he was capable of, and if this Nikko guy was wired the same way, we were dealing with more than just Ross Granger, a genius albeit, unbalanced doctor. With Nikko, it seemed we were dealing with a psychopath trained in the art of killing.

  “He’s not one to be trifled with. Even under a calm façade, there was always a storm brewing. I could often see it in his eyes. He took great pleasure in fighting the demons of the night,” Grant said.

  “I guess he had a change of heart and turned into what he hated most,” Ford said.

  “The job will do it to you,” Greymore answered, meeting Grant’s gaze. “Isn’t that right? I’m sure there are several that you were chasing that ate bullets and never made it into a pair of cuffs.”

  I tossed my plate on the table and advanced on Greymore. I was just reaching for the pen in my hair when Carson caught my arm, stilling me.

  I met Carson’s gaze, and my eyes flashed.

  “Not yet.”

  “Stabbing me would be counterproductive, Dr. Bray. I’m here to help you save my children.” Greymore held up his shackled hands. “I didn’t mean any offense by my statement. I’m sure we all know several killers we hunted that we’d prefer to cut the connections with.”

  I slowly lowered my gaze to Greymore. Determination and a calmness vied beneath my skin. I smiled one of those smiles that suggested I was going to bite his head off and throw it in the same lake he’d found those women.

  Greymore frowned. His brows furrowed. “I’m truly here just for the children.”

  “So am I,” I said, picking up my plate, adding another piece of pizza to it, and taking a seat in one of the dining room chairs. Ford came to stand behind me, settling a calming palm on my shoulder. He kissed my temple.

  Greymore raised a brow as he watched the exchange. “You’re the child’s father?”

  Ford ignored him and pulled up a chair next to me. “Where do you think we should start?”

  “They’ll need lodging for at least seven children. Someplace without close neighbors and people who would be paying attention. We’re looking for somewhere remote with room to stretch.”

  “That fits this area,” Carson said and glanced at Sam. “How many properties in a fifty-m
ile radius make the cut?”

  A few seconds later, Sam answered. “About twenty.”

  “We start there,” Grant said.

  “We need to narrow it down more,” I said, racking my brain for what we could use to cull the list further, the type of property that would work for kids. “It needs to be a controlled environment. Controlling seven or more children would be difficult.”

  “That’s implying he’s not keeping them drugged,” Carson said.

  “He’s not,” Grant announced. “Not if he’s been testing their abilities and found them lacking. You heard him say he wanted Lucy so he could do away with the rest.”

  “They aren’t lacking.” Greymore’s voice was eerily quiet in the room.

  Ford and I exchanged a look. “Tell us where they are.”

  Greymore met my gaze. “They're a lot closer than you can imagine.” He cleared his throat. “I can take you to them, but be forewarned; if Ross Granger and Nikko have had them for years, he might have trained them to protect him, and I can’t have you harming my children. What guarantees can you give me that they’ll walk away from this unscathed?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ross Granger

  Ross Granger called this facility his second home. The place he enjoyed over all others. He and the children had room to stretch here, and they didn’t feel like they were stepping on each other’s toes. They had their own bedrooms. Ross had a lab, and after several years, they worked like a well-oiled machine.

  Ross had Myra lying in the reclining chair they used for viewing. She was the easiest child to work with. One who didn’t ask many questions when tuning in. She was a teen now, much older than when Nikko and Ross had inducted her into the program. Myra’s skills had developed nicely. She would have made an excellent tracker had it not been for her daily childhood seizures. The medicine cocktails Ross had been giving her had cut those seizures down from daily to once a month. She was the child most in tune with Greymore.