Climatic Climacteric Omnibus

by L. B. Carter

  But Buster, being the only one allowed to know everything, had to check. “Will he follow? Do we need to worry about him?”

  The guy on the other side of the car gave a noncommittal noise.

  Henley redirected her attention to him. “What?”

  “Maybe.”

  “To which question?” Henley growled. If these guys didn’t stop it with the vagaries… Her fist folded though she knew violence was not the answer… assuming they were right to trust Sirena’s passive nature in these guys’ presence.

  “Both. When we don’t check in, he might send back-up to extract us; they’ll be working under the assumption you took us.”

  That was enough motivation for her. Henley didn’t really like being stationary for so long with BSTU on their tails anyway; they were moving at a much slower pace than anything BSTU would send after them. “Then we go.” Henley announced, standing tall and making eye contact with each of them. “Now.”

  Green eyes grinned. “I like her.”

  “Who are you?”

  Henley jumped. Tension had sharpened Buster’s tone. Probably he didn’t like her making decisions for them.

  “I’m Nor,” the shorter one said, turning to smile, blue eyes locking on Ace’s before flicking back to Sirena like she was a magnet. “Norton Fr—”

  “Stanley,” the tall one overrode, giving the guy who was clearly the beta in their partnership a look as he strode over to the other side of the car, leaving them in a stand-off. “I’m Reed Stanley. And you are?” He focused on the Bus, discerning quickly that she wasn’t the threat.

  Henley kept her fist ready. Being unassuming might be an advantage for them if they needed it. Henley recognized the names, though. Non-profit. They wanted Sirena eliminated, Jen had revealed. So why was she trusting them? They had even just outright stated they had tried to kidnap her.

  Buster didn’t reply for a moment, contemplating what the two guys had said. He seemed distrustful. “Brothers?” he demanded, curtly.

  “Us, brothers?” Reed joked, pointing from Buster to himself, intentionally misunderstanding as though to drive his callousness more pointedly in. He waved a hand before anyone could reply. “Yeah, this is the baby.” He gave Nor an unwelcome head rub then crossed his arms again and stepped closer to the car, evading his brother’s smack. “And you two—or three, including Sleeping Beauty?”

  “Not brothers.”

  Reed grinned at Buster’s smart-ass response.

  Henley watched Sirena’s open face, her unfolded shoulders. She looked the least nervous she’d been since Henley had actually met her—after she’d stopped playing ‘robot’ in the back of a truck. “I’m Henley Bi—”

  “I’m Buster,” the Bus cut her off. He didn’t look at her, his brow raising at Reed as though to say touché. To him it seemed names were vital.

  Reed laughed. “Great, now that we know everyone’s names, we can move on to the why-did-you-kidnap-Sirena part. Not that I don’t appreciate having a reason to leave that shithole up north behind.”

  “We didn’t kidnap her,” Henley said. Her level of ignorance was starting to really annoy her. In this case, actually, it was theirs. Pot and kettle.

  “Took her, coerced her, seduced her, whatever,” Reed waved an arm, the other hand dangling over the steering wheel.

  “I am not arguing semantics,” she tutted and couldn’t resist her eyes darting up to Buster with accusation for a split second that he didn’t miss, his attention finally diverting from Reed to her. They were wasting time when Jen needed help. “This time. I am telling you that we did not remove her from your ‘podunk town.’ We’ve never been there.” Henley could not know if that was true for Buster, but she could confirm that he had not been anywhere but BSTU for the last few years. She figured he wouldn’t answer for himself anyway; he liked being obnoxiously enigmatic.

  “Why do you have her then?” Nor turned to look at Henley then Sirena.

  “Jen,” Sirena explained with a jerk of her thumb toward their invalid still laying at Buster’s feet.

  “Jen? As in—?” Nor’s expression was one of complete surprise.

  “Jennifer Tate?” Reed interrupted his brother with a meaningful glance. That seemed to decide something for them. They’d gotten some piece of information that was proof enough for them to pause the interrogation for the time being. “All right, we can take my jeep for now. But we’re not going to take Rena to your… location until we get everything out in the open. Including what Jennifer Tate has to say.” He swept an arm behind him.

  Henley looked back at Jen, then at the strange men in front of her. Sirena headed toward their car, trusting with her entirety. Henley had more reservations. She’d only just met Sirena for one, and trusting someone who spent more of their life in a lab than even Buster seemed dangerous; how was her intuition? Henley recalled Jen talking about the brothers in the car and how against them she’d seemed.

  Well, she was in for a surprise then, Henley thought, taking stock of the rest of their situation. If they wanted to get Jen help, and not be easy sitting targets on a roadside for BSTU, they really only had one choice.

  “You get her feet, I’ll get her head,” Henley informed Buster. She gave him her most rigid look as she moved toward their fallen friend. “You know we have no other options. They don’t seem harmful—they could already have taken us out easily. At least this way, we get to be the ones to deliver Jen ourselves.” It wasn’t much by way of convincing, but she had tried to play to what she thought was most upsetting him.

  He analyzed her for a moment and, eventually, gave a brief nod, uprooting his big boots to stomp over to her.

  “If not, I give you permission to punch them,” he informed her crouching to grab Jen’s bare legs—maybe the first time he’d touched a girl.

  Chapter Six

  They left the wreck behind with remorse. Ace was foremost concerned with their new chauffeurs. However, what nagged him and had clearly upset Henley, based on the set of her mouth, had been his inability to call the fire department in case the gas line combusted and caught the forest. Ace would have done so regardless, but surprisingly, the younger of the men, Nor, had also been vocally adamant about calling the authorities, but without a phone, they pressed on, watching the plume fade into the distance and hoping a good Samaritan noticed it soon. They were lucky to avoid any explosion while they were pinned in close proximity by the two strange people, who now had all of the BSTU escapees within their control.

  Jen was especially vulnerable, laid out in the spacious trunk, cushioned on two duffel bags. Henley sat beside Ace appearing unconcerned about their new status. The bounce of her knee belied some reservation. The experiment, who was evidently the cause of this additional layer of difficulty, was squashed on the other side of Henley. The older of the two, Reed, was driving and ignoring any directions Ace provided. Ace ground his teeth, forced to accept a general westward bearing.

  “This car is gorgeous,” Henley whispered, interrupting Ace’s internal tension, her eyes roving over the interior with awe.

  “Yes, she is,” Reed responded with pride.

  Henley cocked her head, listening. “Is that—?”

  “Hydrogen fuel cell.” He nodded and gave the dashboard a pat above several screens. “One of a kind.”

  Henley was amazed. “How do you—?”

  “Store the fuel?” He shook his head. “Not well.”

  “It’s so—”

  “Flammable? Yeah, that was quite an explosive problem in earlier prototypes even though our scientific team thought they’d taken the right precautions.”

  This guy needed to stop finishing Henley’s sentences. Talking about fire, especially, was not tactful with her. Ace kept his hand on the door handle. He decided it was time to cut in and focus on what needed to be addressed. “How do you know Jen?”

  Nor wrenched around to provide eye contact. “We don’t. We know of Jen. I sort of know her cousin who lives in… that ‘podunk
town.’” They were never going to reveal the exact location. They were too wary to give Ace peace of mind. They may not be BSTU but that didn’t mean they weren’t foe.

  Sirena let out a loud sarcastic laugh. “Sort of? He means he knows her very well.”

  Nor groaned. “I already apologized. I told you, that was to get information.”

  “To help protect a friend.”

  “Which turned out to be you.” He raised a brow at Sirena.

  She looked out the window. “Well, that clearly worked out brilliantly.”

  He nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “I’d like to point out that we’re here now. Better late than never, yeah?” Reed put in.

  “I’m not exactly free, yet,” she returned.

  “Ya know, I think I liked her more when she was silent,” Reed mused.

  Sirena closed her mouth and gave the back of his seat a kick.

  “Or not.”

  “Which brings us to our next question,” Nor cut in. “Why did Jen take Sirena, and how are you two involved?”

  “You make us sound so malicious.” Henley’s offense sounded genuine. “I’m unconvinced you aren’t culpable, if you were already in the midst of kidnapping her when Jen did, by your own admission.”

  “Kidnapping is such a harsh word.” Reed smacked his lips like there was a bad taste singeing his tongue.

  “Yet, you used it as a weapon against us.”

  “Touché, little brainiac.” Reed may have been hesitant of Ace but he was certainly warming up to Henley.

  Ace’s jaw was beginning to ache.

  “Oh!” Nor whipped back around, an expression of suddenly resolving a perplexing problem elongating his face. “Are you from BSTU?” He was aghast.

  Reed’s humor vanished. “Shit.” He swerved into the gravel and stopped to turn in his seat, eyes wide.

  “Hey.” Sirena waved an arm between the two rows of seats as they faced off.

  Reluctantly, Nor’s blue eyes veered to her expectantly while Reed continued to keep his eyes on Ace, the more dangerous and volatile of the seatmates. Wise move. Ace was doing the same thing.

  “They are from BSTU—they broke me out.”

  Reed swore. “Are you our contact?” he pressed. “Did you hire us to take the specimen?”

  “Contract?”

  “I have a name.”

  “Sirena,” he said, eyes intent, zipping between Henley and Ace, craving a particular answer.

  But what?

  Before Ace could ask to what they were referring, Sirena spoke up. “Mark and Jen, I think.” Then she turned to Henley. “From what I can gather maybe Jen first recruited these guys’ company to break me out of BSTU. I ended up in—”

  “Podunk fuckin’ nowhere,” Reed interjected.

  Sirena rolled her eyes and continued. “Where Nor and Reed were sent to find me and fulfill the contract to protect me from BSTU.”

  So, Jen’s hatred for the Stanleys that she’d addressed earlier stemmed from their incompetency to do what she’d hired them to do. That did not reassure Ace about putting all of their lives in Reed’s hands.

  Henley blinked, quickly catching up to speed. “Well, it seems since you failed, you’ve been replaced; contract defunct. Under Jen’s orders, Sirena’s now being entrusted to Valerie.”

  Ace wanted to shut his eyes against Henley recklessly giving up that information, but it was already exposed, so instead he watched for a reaction. Ace could not read people beyond Henley who did not require expertise, broadcasting her emotions in her expressions—not like she could. He could, however, very easily deduce that that was the last comment Reed expected out of their mouths.

  “Val?” The name was whispered like a lament. Reed’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly, and he slowly spun back to face the road.

  Nor kept an eye on his flabbergasted brother and continued the conversation on their behalf. “How did you know Valerie?”

  “How do you?” Ace countered, eyes narrowed. He was aware of no one else in this region although he had been entrapped for several years, and communication might have gotten misdirected or simply withheld to avoid risking it getting into the wrong hands.

  “Maybe you’re talking about different Valeries?” Henley suggested half-heartedly.

  The chance of coincidence was far too minuscule for her hypothesis to hold any validity. No one bothered to reply. She wasn’t expecting one.

  “Confidentiality. I can’t tell you that,” Nor said with a wince, fully aware that the statement wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy Ace.

  “Likewise.”

  Nor glanced at Reed. He was still vacant. Was that what Ace appeared like to Henley when he walked around the university?

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Sirena declared, tossing her arms into the air. “Valerie was Reed’s ex-girlfriend,” she told Buster. “And she’s also Jen and Buster’s final destination—some government contact, who will protect me from Jen’s mom, and… well, I don’t know why Buster wants to get to her.” She shrugged.

  “Only one of the many mysteries he refuses to unveil,” Henley muttered, crossing her arms.

  “And,” Sirena continued, “she’s dead.”

  ◆◆◆

  It was Ace’s turn to wilt. He had wanted to keep the back and forth equal. This, however, was not news that he wanted to hear. It had been several years he’d been in the university; it was entirely possible they were telling the truth. Was his coded letter en route to a silent grave? No. She was too stubborn to die.

  “How do you know?” He was looking at Sirena and Nor. Ace was finding the vehicle’s interior lacked sufficient oxygen. “You may have been misinformed. You also have no reason to be truthful with me.”

  It was Reed whose voice filled the dense air. “I was there. I saw her—” His voice broke.

  “She was in an explosion,” Nor followed-up solemnly. “Wrong place, wrong time.”

  “Where?” Was the destination itself also a dead end, literally?

  “Our organization’s headquarters.”

  Ace’s brows pulled lower. “Where? And don’t say confidential.”

  “Why?” Nor countered.

  “Because it impacts how open I am with you.”

  Nor exchanged silent communication with his brother, who was regaining alertness. “All I can tell you is Canada.”

  Ace’s head cocked. “Coastal or inland? East or west?”

  “East coast.”

  What had she been doing there? Not far from where Ace was based and out of her jurisdiction. Had she been alone? Could she well have been dating Reed? Did that mean they were trustworthy?

  “And I’m not getting more specific than that, so don’t ask. Now you. How did you know Valerie?” Nor repeated.

  “Yes, please enlighten us,” Henley quipped.

  They were gullible. Ace wondered if he was being deceived as well. “We go way back. Knew her as a child. She’s a contact now. Explain the necklace tracker.” Ace rolled over the revelation that yearned to halt the discussion. It was essential he determined what their weakness was. BSTU could be in pursuit as they sat immobile, waiting to be caught. “And why didn’t you say anything before now?” Ace narrowed his eyes on Sirena, who was also keeping secrets.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know who’s who or what’s real or not. I’m a specimen.”

  Ace didn’t buy it. “You knew these guys would catch up to us.”

  Sirena shrugged again, eyes flicking to Henley at her gasp. “Hoped.”

  “The locket.” Reed sat up taller, checking his mirrors then pulling onto the road having picked up on Ace’s intensity. “It’s more of an SOS beacon. We each have one. Lynn’s—which Sirena inherited when Lynn died attempting to rescue her from BSTU.. the first time—that was in a locket.”

  “What?” Sirena asked. “It was empty.”

  Nor picked up the tale. “It’s not inside the halves; it’s in the metal.”

  “I thought you said onl
y things with signals like the phone I brought could be tracked,” Sirena said to Henley.

  “Phone?” Ace growled. “You brought a phone with you? Where is it?” He held out a hand across Henley.

  “I already disposed of it,” Henley said smugly, “in the hotel room when I lamented not having the tech to check our location, and she revealed the device. It’s discarded back at the hotel. So, I will take your high-five.” She awkwardly slapped his waiting palm with her right.

  Ace didn’t cease his stare into the inhuman irises, unwilling to release the experiment of guilt so readily. “You led them to us.” Just as she’d wanted.

  Sirena was unaffected. “Be glad it’s them and not BSTU.”

  Ace was thus far undecided if that was an improvement. Jen said they wanted to destroy Sirena. That didn’t seem to be the case. However, Jen wasn’t going to let them have her, and Ace needed Jen. He also didn’t know what fate they had in store for the rest of the BSTU group.

  Sirena leaned forward toward Nor. “So why didn’t you just track me from the beginning instead of all that mess back home with Shayna?”

  Reed responded. “I told you. It has to be activated. Lynn never activated it—likely died too quickly. It only went off recently; we just headed west since that’s really the only direction, and Nor insisted you’d never be dragged on a boat.”

  “Did you do something to it recently?” Nor asked Sirena intently.

  “No.” Sirena pondered. “I don’t even have it.”

  “It’s gone?” Nor’s confusion pulled his brows down enough to appear beneath his shaggy hair.

  “I gave it back to Jen. She told me it was a gift from Mark, Jen’s step-father or mom’s-boyfriend. Whatever he’s called. When he and she got me out the first time. So, I guess, these are the people who have helped me escape from BSTU twice,” she told Nor.

  “With help from Lynn.” Reed was quick to point out their organization’s role in her rescue, taking the credit as if to combat Ace’s efforts this time.

  Well, they’d lost her hadn’t they? he thought smugly. Clearly he was a better option for the experiment. Although, his scowl wrenched from his pride, under his care, she was back in the Stanleys’ car.