“That why you’re seeing a wheel about a mermaid?” asked Wheeler with a soft laugh and a wink.
Cody grunted. “Armand told you about that too.”
“Yes, but he wouldn’t tell me where it came from, only that it was important you and I meet and it had something to do with a mermaid. When I was done laughing at him, he told me to be sure I was here on time. That you’d need a friend tonight. I was hoping you could enlighten me on the whole chick with a fish tail bit.”
“Wish I could,” confessed Cody. “But I’m as lost as you are.”
“Ever get the sense you were sent on a fool’s errand so you’d go out, get drunk, and unwind? You know, and not run headfirst into danger to go after Helmuth?” asked Wheeler.
“I think that is exactly what is going on,” replied Cody. He stared down at his hands, remembering the loss of control he’d had and the partial shift in the SUV earlier.
“Armand mentioned there was an incident today,” said Wheeler.
“Thanks for sugarcoating that for me.”
Wheeler nodded. “We’ve all been there.”
“True.”
“Still having issues tonight?” asked Wheeler, no judgment in his voice.
Cody cracked his knuckles as his shark stirred deep within him, making itself known. “Yes.”
Wheeler gave Cody the slightest of shoves. “Don’t go losing it and turning into something I can’t explain and will have to pee on or something to keep moist.”
The visual the man painted was so vivid, Cody was jarred out of his oncoming rage. “Pee? You’d really pee on me?”
“If you were stuck in shark form on land, I’d do what needed to be done to keep you from drying out and dying or something,” added Wheeler.
“Gee, um, thanks. But peeing on me won’t help, so how’s about we totally take that option off the table?” Cody groaned.
Wheeler tilted his head. “Okay, but if you change your mind…”
“Yeah, positive that is never going to happen. I’d rather have the whiskey.”
“What?” asked Wheeler.
Cody found it in himself to grin somewhat as he thought about Mac’s offer to waste perfectly good liquor on him should he lose control and shift into a shark. “Long story.”
Wheeler snorted, but his laughter faded rapidly, and a somber expression moved over his face. “Cody, I’ve never apologized to you for Costa Rica.”
“There is nothing to apologize for,” said Cody, meaning every word of it. “You didn’t take me. An asshole did.”
“But I could have looked for you,” stressed Wheeler. “Hell, I could have realized you were missing. I thought you were off on a swimming bender like you did often. I didn’t know you’d been taken. Had I known, I’d have done whatever it took to get you back. I wouldn’t have caught a flight out, leaving you to be held and tortured for how many years? I’m a shitty best friend. I’m sorry.”
Cody nodded. “You didn’t know I was taken. How could you? How many times before that did I take off for weeks at a time to stay in shark form? Huh? How could you have possibly figured out that wasn’t like every other time I did it?”
Wheeler bent his head. “I should have sensed it.”
“Bullshit.” Cody didn’t like seeing his friend suffer for something that wasn’t his doing. “Odds are, had you come after me, they’d have gotten their hands on you too.”
Wheeler swallowed hard. “Do you think they got Kaiko?”
Cody licked his lower lip and clasped his hands before him. “Yes. When I got free and learned Kaiko was missing, my first and only thought had been that they managed to get their hands on him too. He wouldn’t just vanish without a word to the Outcast Network. He’d have told us if he was planning to go off the grid fully. Doesn’t matter how seat-of-the-pants he could be.”
“Think he’s still alive?” asked Wheeler.
Cody reflected on his time being held and all that he’d been put through. He’d seen so many alpha males come through the various facilities he’d been kept at all around the world during his time being a captive that he’d lost count. Nearly all of them had died horrible deaths. “No. You?”
“No,” whispered Wheeler. “When we do find these fucks, I want to help kill them all.”
“The more, the merrier,” said Cody with a half-smile, when he really wanted to jump up and head into PSI to see what, if anything, the twins and Armand had uncovered about Helmuth’s whereabouts. Screw trying to be stealthy and going to the Para-Regs for help. Cody was about to storm the PSI castle.
“You’ve gone quiet,” said Wheeler.
Cody looked down at the ground and got lost in thought a moment, his mind going back to Costa Rica once more. Not to Helmuth or the torture, but the little girl who had been drowning. “I wish I knew what happened to the kid.”
“The kid?” asked Wheeler.
“That little girl who was injured and drowning,” said Cody. “The one I tried to save before I was taken.”
Wheeler shook his head. “No clue what happened to her. So much went on back then, that bit seemed the least important to me. Didn’t you tell me later that you were sure you heard another boat approaching for her?”
“I did, but I’m not sure if she survived,” said Cody, his stomach knotting more at the thought the little girl might not have made it. “She was so tiny, so vulnerable.”
Wheeler nodded. “Put you in a pretty vulnerable position herself, didn’t she?”
Cody’s entire body tensed at the suggestion the child was at fault in any way—even small—with what had happened to him. “She didn’t have anything to do with me being taken and tested on.”
“I’m not saying a little kid orchestrated your capture, Cody.” Wheeler leaned forward, his elbows going to his knees as he hunched partway over on the bench. “What I am saying is the timing of it all has bothered me since your escape—since you and I reconnected. Think about how statistically rare it is that at the same spot and second some random little girl is in the middle of the ocean, alone, and in need of help, you’re there and so is The Corporation.”
Cody hadn’t really thought of that before, and it wasn’t as if he hadn’t had plenty of time to reflect on the events of that day. For most of his time in captivity, he’d dwelled on what had gone down that fateful day. On how restless his shark had been in the days leading up to his capture. About the dreams he’d had about someone he loved needing his help, and then how he’d happened upon the child in her hour of need. And how much of a total ass-face his shark side had been about allowing him to shift into human form.
He’d played the scene out, again and again, trying to imagine what, if anything, might have gone down differently had he been able to take human form. Would he still have been captured by Helmuth and the rest of the men aboard the vessel bearing Donavon Dynamics’ logo, which they all learned later was a company owned and operated by The Corporation? Would Cody have been able to evade capture and make sure the child reached the shore? Or would he have still been taken and never truly know the fate of the little girl?
“Your face says you’re still pissed I suggested it’s too big of a coincidence that the girl was there with you right as you were taken,” said Wheeler. “You’re like a brother to me, Cody. I’m allowed to state my thoughts on something and worry about you.”
“I know,” said Cody. “But I’m telling you. She wasn’t part of that. She was just a kid.”
“Was she a kid they held and were testing on too?” asked Wheeler, posing another question that Cody hadn’t ever asked himself before.
At the thought of it, his shark stirred awake, threatening to be an issue very soon. It didn’t like thinking the child was a pawn in the sick fuck’s games any more than he did. Was Wheeler, right? Had the little girl been a victim of The Corporation and Helmuth too?
An entirely new fear struck him. One he’d not considered before.
Suddenly, it felt as if Cody had been kicked right in the gut
. Worry and fear for the little girl slammed into him, nearly knocking him from the park bench.
If she had been one of Helmuth’s victims—or precious test subjects, depending on who you were asking—was she dead?
No.
He refused to believe she was dead and gone.
He’d clung to the hope the child had made it for seventeen years now. Giving in to any other line of thinking would do what the bad guys tried so hard to do for so long—break his spirit and his mind.
Nausea rose quickly and the next thing Cody knew, Wheeler was forcing him to bend forward, with his head between his knees as his breathing came in shallow, fast breaths.
“Calm down,” said Wheeler in a hushed yet authoritative tone. “Hyperventilating and panicking isn’t going to do jack to help the matter.”
Cody tried to protest that he wasn’t doing anything of the sort, but the fact he couldn’t form any words because of his inability to take in enough air spoke to the contrary. He was panicking, and all because he was worried about some little girl he didn’t even really know. A child he’d met briefly in passing seventeen years ago.
As he thought on it more, he realized that was precisely what he was doing.
In spades.
He took long, measured breaths, and after a few of those, his pulse rate slowed to something close to normal. It was then he realized sweat was beading on his brow. He swiped his hand over his forehead, moving away the moisture before sitting up fully and staring out at the people walking by. He shook his head, his thoughts still on the little girl.
“What if you’re right? What if she was wrapped up in that entire thing? What if The Corporation ended up with their hands on her? Oh God, Wheeler, we’ve read the reports about what they’ve done to children. All the testing. The deaths. Who knows what else?”
Wheeler sighed. “Shit, Cody, I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t know why I did. It’s just, well, it’s been seventeen years this week since it all happened, and I’ve had Kaiko on my mind lately. I’m sure the kid is fine. Bet she wasn’t swept up in it all. She was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time.”
Cody shot his friend a sideways look. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
Wheeler was quiet for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t think she was a secret operative for them or anything. Not with as little as she was. She wouldn’t have been a willing pawn. That makes it even worse.”
“You think she was taken by them too? The same day I was? The drugs they pumped through me once they caught me made it nearly impossible to focus or know what was real and what was imagined for weeks or months after. Was she there, close to me all along, and I did nothing to stop them from hurting her?”
“You can’t blame yourself,” said Wheeler. “You were hardly in a position to help yourself, let alone anyone else.”
Cody’s heart began to race once more. “Maybe she wasn’t taken.”
Wheeler sighed. “My gut says she was tied to The Corporation in some way. Man, it almost feels like she was bait for you. Their version of chumming the water. Crazy, isn’t it?”
Cody went to protest but stopped. His friend’s words felt oddly right. He paled, feeling as if he might be sick. “If they hurt her…if they touched her…I will hunt every last one of them down and kill them slowly. They’ll beg me for death, but I’ll make them wait for it. I’ll rip their fucking throats out.”
He tried to say more, but his mouth picked then to start to do a partial shift, a sign of just how far gone his control was. He bent his head fast to keep any humans from seeing the start of shark teeth. Explaining away five rows of jagged teeth wasn’t something that could be done with any sort of ease. More of a worry was the fact that if Cody lost any more of his limited control, he’d end up fully shifted into a shark, right there in the middle of Johnson Square.
That would go over great in a day and age when everyone was walking around with a smartphone ready to record in real-time what was happening.
The I-Ops and PSI were already fighting an uphill battle to keep leaked information off the net. Having to try to sweep the net clean of video footage and talk of a man turning into a fucking shark would not end well.
Wheeler jerked up and stood fast. “You need to calm down, or I’m going to knock you out for everyone’s safety. I may think of you like a brother, but I’ll kick the ever-loving shit out of you until you’re unconscious. Or I’ll offer to pee on you again.”
That made Cody laugh enough to return the shape of his mouth to human form. He looked up at Wheeler. “Thanks. Always willing to pee on me. Not sure what to say to that fetish you seem to have.”
Wheeler shrugged and then winked. “You all right?”
Cody rubbed his upper chest. “Yeah. I think so. We should maybe change the topic. I’m not sure I can handle thinking that anything happened to that kid.”
Wheeler snorted. “No shit. And, Cody, if she survived and all was fine, she wouldn’t be a kid anymore. She’d be a grown woman.”
That made Cody’s breath catch.
Wheeler was right. She would be an adult now.
Chapter Nine
“Where is Rene meeting us? Did we decide on a bar yet?” questioned Gena as she and Bonnie walked down the sidewalk, in the direction of Johnson Square.
“You’re still in a mood, aren’t you?” asked Bonnie with a shake of her head. “I swear, you spent the entire drive back to Savannah pouting.”
“Did not,” said Gena with something close to a pout, serving to prove her friend’s point.
Bonnie rolled her eyes. “For the billionth time, I’m sorry. I’d go in your place, but he didn’t ask me.”
Gena stared at her friend. “Because you disappeared again with that hot guy.”
“Kahale,” said Bonnie. “He is exceptionally good-looking, isn’t he? And I didn’t disappear, I finished the conversation I’d started with him before he’d gotten pulled away with the phone call. I can’t help that meant you had more one-on-one time with the man single-handedly footing our research center bill.”
“You keep reminding me he’s our main funder,” said Gena with a huff. “It’s not like I forgot. I know how important his money is to the center.”
“Yet when I met you out front by the van before we left, you were acting as if he was a leper. And when he asked you to meet him for lunch tomorrow, I really thought you were going to say no.”
“Me too,” said Gena.
When Bonnie had wandered off again with Kahale, shortly after lunch had been served, Gena had been left to dine alone with Helmuth. That had meant more awkward silence and a lot of staring at her on his part. Then, he’d asked her to meet him tomorrow for lunch on his yacht so they could talk about her thesis paper. She’d been about to tell him no when Bonnie had reappeared.
“There is just something about him,” added Gena. “I don’t know. I might be overthinking this.”
Bonnie was quiet for a bit as they walked more. She then stopped and touched Gena’s arm lightly. “Listen, if you’re uncomfortable meeting him alone, don’t do it. No amount of money is worth you being put in a situation you’re not at ease in.”
While Gena appreciated Bonnie saying what she did, they both knew deep down that the center needed the additional funding. Their passion for what they did was unrivaled, and Helmuth’s offer to give them the money they needed couldn’t have come at a better time.
Gena thought about her reactions to Helmuth and the things that had set her off about him. The more she focused on it all, the sillier it seemed. “No. It’s totally fine. I’ll meet him to talk about my thesis.”
Bonnie snorted.
“What?”
“Nothing,” said Bonnie with a shake of her head.
When they’d gotten back to the center, Bonnie had vanished into her office to change yet again and Gena had gone to her boat to do the same. Gena had used that moment to text Clara and Nicolette to see if they wanted to meet for drinks as we
ll.
After a quick shower Gena had come out to find Bonnie there, on the boat, picking out something for Gena to wear for their celebratory evening out.
Gena’s wardrobe wasn’t exactly extensive. Since all she did was work, she had very few items to wear out and about that weren’t shorts, t-shirts, dive suits, or swimsuits. Bonnie had managed to find a dress that Gena’s sister had sent her for her birthday the year prior. It had still been in the same box it had arrived in. The sleeveless paisley dress was made of lightweight material and came to Gena’s midthigh. It was done in blues with orange accents. It wasn’t anything she’d have ever bought for herself because she wasn’t the type to indulge, but even she had to admit it was comfortable and looked good on her.
Bonnie had gone with an all-white off-the-shoulder dress that fell above her knees. She had on a pair of sandals that were thankfully devoid of logos from her haul. Her hair was down, skimming her shoulders. It was strange seeing Bonnie in makeup since it wasn’t something the women wore to work on a day-to-day basis. The woman was a total knockout and had been turning heads on their short walk to the bars.
Gena had gone with clear lip gloss and tied her hair into a new bun. Sadly, the bun was already coming loose. As the night wore on, she’d let it down, but it was too hot at the moment.
They reached Johnson Square and Bonnie drew to a stop, looking around.
“I can’t remember if I asked but did, we pick a bar to meet Rene at?” asked Gena, moving her foot slightly because the smallest of pebbles had gotten between her heel and her flip-flop.
“We didn’t. She said she’ll meet us here on the square,” replied Bonnie.
Gena glanced around, hoping to spot Rene.
“I cannot believe he gave us all the money we needed,” said Bonnie for the tenth time since Helmuth had agreed to foot the extra bills. The woman had spent the car ride alternating from excited about the money to apologizing for leaving Gena alone with Helmuth more than once.
Gena stiffened as she thought about Helmuth. While he may have come through big time for them financially, there was no denying that he gave her the creeps. Yes, he’d done a very good deed, but still.
Wrecked Intel (Immortal Outcasts®): An Immortal Ops® World Novel Page 14