Guarding Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 7)

by Kate Allenton

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Myra pleaded. “You have to believe me.”

  No way was the fear in Myra’s eyes a ploy. I’d seen that same scared look in the mirror when I’d lost people I cared about. Her fear was genuine. Regardless of what we were walking into. “If we’re doing this, we all need to be careful.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. I jumped down from the barrier fence onto the property. Surrounding trees gave us cover, but not much. The clouds in the sky dimmed the moon’s light, hiding our position. The drive had taken us twenty minutes. I can’t imagine how many hours it took Myra to get to us without the use of a car or wheels.

  A playground sat next to the building, complete with monkey bars, a swing set, and a slide.

  There were three vehicles in the parking lot. A beat-up truck like the ones Carson’s brothers drove. A van that looked like it could haul around a half-dozen kids and then an SUV. One with windows so dark that they couldn’t be street legal.

  I pointed. “That’s the SUV the fake feds were driving. I’m sure of it.”

  “We should have brought Myra. She can tell us what rooms they’re in,” Grant said.

  “No, she’s safer in the van with Sam,” I whispered as Ford moved in next to me.

  “I can find the children,” Greymore said. “I can feel them.” He pointed to the opposite end of the building. “They’re in those rooms, down there.”

  “How do you want to play this?” Carson asked.

  “Surveillance is down,” Sam said into my earpiece.

  “You heard Sam. The cameras are dark, so how about we walk through the front door,” I said, lifting the gun and standing, revealing my hiding spot, confident I wouldn’t be seen. I didn’t wait on the others to follow as I jogged toward the entrance.

  I wasn’t a cop. I’d never been trained, and God knew that no agency in their right mind would ever give me a badge. I wasn’t one for taking votes. And I wasn’t one for waiting to see what happened.

  Myra’s face flashed in my mind. She and the child in my belly were the reason I was going in with guns blazing.

  This stopped here and now.

  I pressed my back against the brick and peered around the corner into the door. The hallway lights were on, but there was no movement inside. I yanked the door open, and one by one, we filed down the hall.

  Ford pulled me to a stop, and he pointed to the ground.

  Blood drops, fresh and wet. It was nice of Nikko to draw us a map.

  “We need to keep moving and split up,” Grant said as he moved past us, checking one room while we moved on to the next.

  Greymore squatted next to the blood and stuck his finger in it. His eyes glazed over, and his expression blanked. He rose. “Nikko went this way.”

  Greymore started to walk as if he were on the end of a string being pulled and he knew which way the maze of halls in the building twisted and turned.

  We paused at an open door. The sound of voices drifted out into the hallway. Grant and Carson snuck us by the opening. Carson pointed down the hall to Greymore’s disappearing back, telling me and Ford to follow.

  I jogged down the hallway, praying the others wouldn’t get hurt.

  Greymore paused outside an industrial-sized door. The glass in the door showed the kids inside. Five locks bolted the door, and panic seized my soul.

  Greymore continued up the hall, leaving the room full of kids behind as if he were a dog being promised a ribeye steak by his master if the canine followed commands.

  I rested my hand on Ford’s arm and gestured to the door. “You’re quicker with locks. You need to stay and get them out.”

  His eyes searched mine. A look of resolution crossed his face.

  “You know I’m right,” I said and gestured with my head. “I’ve got to go with Greymore. Get the kids out and take them to the van.”

  “Lucy…” Ford growled.

  His voice trailed off as I sped away from him, following Greymore. I turned the corner as three gunshots rang out.

  My heart raced as my adrenaline spiked. Panic spurred me down the hall. I peered into each room I passed until I found Greymore.

  Greymore was standing over Nikko’s body, holding a gun pointed at him. Ross was lying across the room with his eyes closed and blood seeping and soaking his shirt.

  “He killed one of my children,” Greymore said. His voice was eerily calm and stoic, as if reciting facts to a teacher.

  “Where did you get that gun?” I asked, slipping the weapon free from his fingers.

  “Nikko attacked me. He hit me, and I wrestled for his gun,” Greymore said, turning to face me. His face was red as if Nikko had gotten in a good hit. “The gun went off.”

  “The gun went off three times?” I asked.

  Greymore’s lips twitched. “It must be defective.”

  As defective as the man who’d used it.

  “And Ross?” I asked, glancing at the man who hadn’t moved.

  “I had to stop him too,” Greymore said. His glazed eyes cleared, and he shook his head as if coming out of his dream or trance.

  “Go get Ford and the others.”

  He nodded and took off.

  I felt for a pulse on Nikko. None. I rose and moved to Ross and touched his neck. His pulse was strong, even with the blood soaking through his shirt.

  His eyes shot open, and he grabbed my hand. “He shot me.”

  I pried his fingers from my arm. “I would have, too, had I found you first.”

  I yanked my arm away and rubbed at the spot. He was amazingly strong for being wounded.

  “You don’t understand.” Ross coughed. “You can’t let him near those kids. You have to save them.”

  “He won’t hurt the kids,” I said.

  “He killed their mothers and planned on kidnapping them.”

  “And let me guess, you beat him to it?”

  “We didn’t kill the mothers. Greymore did. We tried to stop him, and we took the children to keep them safe, so he didn’t kill them too.”

  “You’re dying, Ross. Don’t you think it’s time to confess your sins? You were drugging me, and Myra was tracking me by my blood. How do you explain that?”

  “You have it all wrong. I was trying to fix you, not hurt you. I needed your blood and the baby’s to reverse engineer the damage passed down to the children. I was trying to save all of you, not harm you,” Ross said.

  “And this Billy kid?” I asked.

  “He snuck into my lab to test the serum. He must have overheard us discussing it.”

  I shook my head not believing him. “You blew up the Watermill.”

  “We got rid of the evidence. No one was supposed to get hurt. We watched you leave and followed you to the store.”

  “I wasn’t there. You followed my twin.”

  His brows knit at the realization. “No one was supposed to be inside the building. Least of all you.”

  The building had been empty. Was it possible what he was saying was true? “Why lie about your identity?”

  “Director Matthews suggested I use a fake name. He had other plans for the program. He had talked Greymore into working on a new program. A superhuman.”

  “How and why would Greymore want to hurt the children?”

  “The same reason he killed the mothers. He wants their blood. He’s a hunter just like you. He thinks if he has all of the trial drugs in his system and he produces more offspring that he’ll be unstoppable.”

  Ross swallowed and coughed again, only, this time, blood spewed from his lips.

  Ford came running into the room. He checked Nikko for a pulse.

  “Call an ambulance,” I said.

  “Lucy…if we save him, he’ll just come after us,” Ford said with a wild look in his eyes.

  “I’m not sure he’s guilty or innocent in all this. But call an ambulance,” I repeated as the sound of gunfire from down the hall went off. I rose when Ford re
sted his hand on me. “You stay here while I go check on Grant and Carson.”

  “Where’s Greymore?” I asked.

  “He was taking the children to the van. He told me you were shot.”

  “Nothing is as it seems, Ford. Greymore is the one we need to stop.”

  Ford sprinted from the room, his footsteps pounding loudly.

  I called an ambulance and then dialed Sam’s number.

  No answer.

  “He’s going to kill them.” Ross’s voice was weak.

  “I took his gun,” I reminded him.

  Ross coughed again and grimaced. “You only took Nikko’s from Greymore. He still has mine. Leave me and go save those kids.”

  I hesitated for a split second when Ross rested his hand on my arm again. “Save them. Save yourself.”

  I don’t remember the run back to the van or how my feet got me there. My mind raced, fighting what I might find. I ran toward the fence and into the trees to where our van had been parked and slowed my speed trying to catch my breath.

  The van was gone, and with it, Sam.

  “Crap.” I ran back to the facility to find Carson was using Ford’s shoulder as a crutch, limping out of the building while holding his ribs. They were followed by the three fake FBI guys that had showed up on my doorstep days ago. They looked just as banged up.

  The Linebacker looked worse with a bullet wound to the leg. The Undertaker and Stubbles, were helping him out.

  Grant had a busted lip, but he had the three fake agents at gunpoint. They all looked a bit beat up but still alive.

  “You guys finally figure out we’re on the good side?” I asked the Linebacker in passing.

  “How were we supposed to know? You hid the kid after you saved her,” Stubbles answered.

  “Where’s Greymore?” the Undertaker asked.

  “He kidnapped the children and my IT guy,” I answered.

  “And here we thought the guy was a genius. That wasn’t very bright,” Ford said.

  “You can say that again.” I checked the clip in my gun. Not only did he take one of my team members, but he took the one whose blood flowed through my veins—the easiest one for me to hunt.

  “Which one of you has keys?”

  Ford pulled a key chain out of his pocket and dangled it in front of me. “I found these beauties in one of the rooms, and you know me, I always have an exit strategy, dear.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Grant stayed behind with the fake agents. While he was no Noah, he was still pretty good at cleaning up our messes, not that he’d had much choice. We didn’t take a vote of who’d stay behind. Even though bruised and banged up, Carson came with us. He probably wouldn’t admit it, but he was fond of Sam even though they were from different ends of the spectrum.

  We were family regardless of whether any one of them wanted to admit it. And the truth was, we’d kill to save Sam’s life. Without question.

  I closed my eyes and tuned in to Sam’s energy while Ford drove. I found the tendrils that connected my blood with Sam’s. It didn’t take much to pinpoint him in the cluster of other lives I’ve attached to through my blood transfusions. Sam was like a beacon of innocence in a sea of faces. He was driving, and he was scared. A gun was pointed at him even as he glanced at the kids in the back. There were six of them. All that looked just as confused. Myra was huddled with them, a look of uncertainty in her eyes. “She’s coming.”

  Sam heard her whisper. She could feel me. They all could. They’d all made the blood connection, thanks to Ross. There would be no sneaking up on them. But Greymore was a different story. He had no clue.

  “Where are they, Doc?” Carson asked.

  I turned my attention back to the road with Sam, looking for any street signs or anything to give away their location.

  “It’s a rural road. No signs yet,” I whispered as anger stirred in my gut. I needed something, anything.

  “You don’t need signs. Follow the pull to Sam,” Ford said.

  “He’s traveling east,” I said.

  Ford slammed on the brakes and yanked the wheel spinning the beat-up truck around. I was smooshed like a sandwich between the two, grabbing the dash.

  “A little warning would be nice,” I said, meeting my fiancé’s gaze.

  “Sorry.” He winked. “Connect and feel the pull, guide me.”

  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes again, concentrating on Sam.

  He was still driving. Greymore was shouting directions in the quiet of the van but they were on a bumpy dirt road. The only sounds were the kids in the back whispering amongst themselves.

  I pointed out the directions of the pull, knowing it would take me to Sam, but not sure if it would get me there in time.

  Sam turned on a dirt road; the sign was familiar.

  “He’s on the road to the lake,” I said with determination in my voice.

  Ford pressed down harder on the gas, revving the engine. I refused to open my eyes. Refused to break my connection.

  What seemed like an eternity was only five minutes or so until the truck slowed, and I opened my eyes.

  “He has them all still inside the van. I don’t think he’s thought this far ahead. Controlling one person with a gun is easy, but not this many. If he takes one out to kill, the rest will scatter and run.”

  The truck was barely in park before Carson, Ford, and I were out of the truck. We weren’t near our cabin. We could see it in the distance, but Greymore had the van stopped on the bank of the lake.

  Fear cascaded with hope through my veins. Hope that we reached them in time and fear that Greymore was just plain crazy. He was out of options. Or at least I’d thought.

  The passenger door flew open, and Greymore got out with the gun still pointed at Sam and threw open the back of the van. He grabbed Myra out by her hair while the other kids screamed.

  Tears streamed from her eyes as she held his wrist, fighting the hold on her head as Greymore dragged her toward the water as if to drown her instead of shooting her.

  He had his gun pointed at the van. “Don’t even think about moving.”

  “I don’t have a clean shot,” Carson whispered before sneaking off in a direction away from us. None of us had a clean shot.

  Greymore moved the gun to Myra’s head and pressed it against her temple, causing all the fighting to stop instantly.

  “He’s going to kill her and then open fire on the van.” I don’t know how I knew, but I did.

  My heart clenched tight as I turned to Ford. “I’ll get you a shot. You take it.”

  “Lucy, no.”

  “He has an ego the size of Texas. I’m the only one he’ll stop for.”

  I ran as fast as I dared along the treeline before stepping out from my hidden position. I held the gun pointed at Greymore, and he spun Myra in front of him to block me from killing him. He picked her up and held her in front of his face.

  Smart, but it wouldn’t be enough to save his life.

  “Let her go, Greymore. Ross told me everything,” I said, slowly moving at an angle toward the van, getting closer with each step and twisting Greymore’s attention away from the trees.

  “How did you find me? You don’t have my blood.”

  “I didn’t need yours. You made a mistake,” I said, earning a glare from one eye over Myra’s shoulder. “You aren’t as smart as you think you are.”

  “I’m smarter than you, and I’m smarter than any of them,” he said as I reached the van and stood near the door. I met Sam’s determined gaze sitting behind the wheel and mouthed the word, “Leave.”

  “Not another step,” Greymore said.

  “Have you figured out how I tracked you? Do you want me to tell you what mistake you made?”

  He didn’t answer, but his hold on Myra was starting to slip.

  “You took Sam.” I shrugged. “You could have kidnapped any of the other guys, but you took my Sammy.”

  “He’s a computer geek,” Greymore said. “Had I tr
ied to take the others, I wouldn’t have made it out of there alive. I didn’t stand a chance.”

  “Yeah, but that computer geek, he’s special. He and I are connected by blood. I can find him anywhere. So, let Myra go, and we’ll take you back to your cushy cell at the psych ward.”

  “I’m not going back. I’d rather die,” he said.

  “Well, at least we can agree on that.” I lowered my gun and pulled the trigger, hitting Greymore in the leg.

  Everything happened at once. Sam had the van in reverse and speeding backward down the dirt path.

  Greymore fell to his knees, and his hold on Myra dropped. She struggled splashing in the black inky water to get away, but he caught her by the ankle, pulling her to the ground. The gun was still tight in his hand.

  “You’re going to die for that,” Greymore said.

  “You got a shot?” I whispered into my earpiece.

  “Negative. Myra is in the way,” Carson whispered.

  “Ford?”

  “No,” Ford growled in frustration.

  I held my gun steady.

  “If you shoot me, I’m taking Myra with me.”

  “No, you’re not.” Myra kicked with her other foot, hitting Greymore in the forehead and struggled to get away from him.

  I took the opening and pulled the trigger. The shot rang out in the woods and over the dead lake. As if that sound was natural in a place like this. Greymore fell back into the water with a splash, with his glazed eyes open, staring up at the cloud shrouded moon.

  Myra ran toward me and threw her arms around my body. “Is he dead?”

  “Yes, sweetie,” I whispered as Carson and Ford stepped out of the tree line. Carson went to Greymore, took him by the hand, and pulled him to the shore.

  Ford came to me with an angry look in his eye.

  “This is me. There’s still time to back out.” I offered.

  “Never.” He rested his hand on my cheek. “I have a feeling I’m the only one keeping you sane.”

  I smiled. He’d finally figured that out. He grounded me. He was my true north, my home.

  Carson was on the phone when Sam ran back to where we were.

  “What’s going to happen to us?” Myra asked. “Mr. Ross, Nikko, and our parents are dead.”