Phoenix Legacy

by Corrina Lawson

  Del stopped at the top of the metal steps that led to the lower level and looked from side to side. “Holy crap.”

  He grunted. “Lansing intended Alec to be the beginning of an army. He built a facility to support one.”

  “And no one in the government noticed this?”

  “They knew about it, at least, most of it. Alec’s F-Team has a contract with the CIA for special missions.”

  “Yes, he told me. But seeing this is another thing altogether. So the government really does sanction these secret military teams.” She smiled, and it was wistful. “I can hear my father saying, ‘I told you so,’ inside my head.”

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets.

  She started down the steps, holding the handrail tight. “So, are you really retired from the CIA, Hawk?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you look so young because…?”

  “I was testing my new conscious control of my healing power. This is the result.” He sighed. “I liked my gray hair better.”

  “Well, the young look has its benefits. You looked damn good when you walked into my bar. So what have you been doing since the retirement?”

  “Rebuilding the Charger. Watching over Beth.” Being aimless. “Discovering old friends.”

  “That last one nearly killed you.”

  “That’s not the part of our reunion I remember.”

  He followed on her heels and steered her to the CIC, pausing to get through security at the door as he had that morning.

  “Did you know I had a crush on you when we were kids?” she asked.

  He froze. “No.”

  “Easy, Hawk, I had no idea what it meant at the time. I just knew you were the most important person in my life.”

  As she’d been for him. “We created our own world. We had to.”

  She nodded as they stepped inside the CIC. Gabe, as he had been earlier that day, was hard at work over a keyboard. Del whistled as she took in the room.

  Gabe raised his head. “Hey, Drake. Look, we’re deciphering that thumb drive. Finally got my friend’s program working.”

  “Excellent.”

  Del walked over to the collection of numbers scrolling on the top view screen. “These are payroll records.”

  Gabe nodded. “It’s a way to track anyone who ever worked for Orion Systems and their holding company. I’ll find the money trail. How’d you know they were payroll?”

  “It’s similar to a program I use for the bar.”

  She turned to Hawk. “What did he mean, deciphering the thumb drive?”

  “Cheshire’s assistant, the man who died in the fire, was clutching it in his hand. I assume it’s research information. What we’ve deciphered thus far indicates that.”

  “You didn’t tell Cheshire about this.”

  “No.”

  She shook her head. “I wonder if he really wanted to use volunteers as mothers. He’d probably have found some. There are a lot of desperate people in the world who would’ve turned over their baby for cash. Such a smart man, and yet he didn’t see through Lansing or Genet. Of course, Genet oozes charm.”

  “So did Lansing, when he wanted to,” Gabe said. “When he recruited me for the Resource, Lansing talked about a chance to save the world and an opportunity to work with the most extraordinary person we’d ever meet. His pitch to me to join F-Team had me stoked to do this. He was right that Alec is fucking unique. Lansing just didn’t mention how Alec had been raised and that this place was essentially Alec’s prison.”

  “Wait, you worked for Lansing?”

  Philip smiled. Trust Del to cut to the core of what Gabe had said.

  “We quit when it became clear what he was doing to Alec,” Gabe said, face reddening.

  Philip cleared his throat to forestall more interrogation from Del. Gabe had tried to help him earlier. This was the least he could do in return.

  “Did you trace the license plate the gas station employee gave us, Gabe?”

  “Yes. And it was registered to the same dummy company that owned Orion.”

  Philip swore. “A dead end?”

  “Not completely. They had to give a different address to the DMV and that may be an excellent lead. But accessing DMV files has gotten a lot harder than it used to be since Homeland Security cracked down. I’ll find the address but it will take an hour or two instead of instantly. But it’s in New Jersey.”

  “Somewhere not far away,” Philip mused. “Genet planned it that way, to stay close to Del.”

  “So you can go and get him when you have the address?” Del said, her voice rising with eagerness.

  “We’ll have to conduct surveillance and plan an assault. That will take time. Plus, we should get government sanction on this,” Gabe said.

  Philip scowled.

  “Legalities must be observed in some form, otherwise we’re no better than the bad guys,” Gabe said.

  “Legalities are the fiction made by those in power to stay in power.”

  “Still don’t trust the government, Hawk?” she asked with a smile.

  “Even more so since I’ve seen how it works from behind the scenes.”

  “I’m still not much for rules, either.” She nodded. “All I want now is to go home. I don’t care how you find Genet. Just find him.”

  “Soon,” Philip promised. “Soon.”

  Hawk settled her in a suite on the first floor of the underground level. It was very utilitarian compared to Alec’s place, but it had a living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom all her own.

  They took time to Google the image on Genet’s tie. There were a ton of lion symbols. Del frowned and finally pointed to one on the monitor.

  “That’s it,” she said.

  “English royal crest from the time of Richard the Lionheart, I think.”

  “Well, Genet sure expected to be worshiped and obeyed like a king.”

  “It’s probably some sort of symbol of his ambitions. Lansing thought he could control the world, or at least part of it. If Genet is connected to him, somehow, then maybe he had the same idea.”

  She sighed. “It won’t help us find him.”

  “You never know. And it’s good to know what we’re dealing with.”

  She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Argh.”

  “Here, you need bed.”

  Like the rest of the suite, the bedroom was barren of decoration. But that was secondary to the beckoning bed. She collapsed facedown on the mattress and closed her eyes. She’d be too huge in the belly to lie down this way much longer. She’d get big fast, if Cheshire was to be believed. Accelerated growth rate, he’d said.

  She shuddered.

  After what Cheshire had said in that conference room, she’d have panicked if Alec hadn’t done his own version of an ultrasound this morning. Her baby was moving and active. She held on to that.

  Hawk was hovering near the doorway to the room. Wondering if he was welcome? Wanting sex? “How long until you go after Genet?” How long was she stuck here?

  “If it were up to me, once we have a location, I’d go in and clear it out.”

  “Meaning you’d kill Genet and everyone who was with him.”

  Hawk nodded curtly. “Yes. Would you want me to do differently?”

  He was stone-faced. He was worried that she’d be appalled at the way he talked about murder. She supposed she should be scared of that, but she was more bothered that he was so familiar with killing. She suspected that had done horrible things to his psyche. Not that he’d ever admit it.

  “I’ve been wanting to take a hammer to their skulls,” she said, choosing her words carefully so as not to hurt him. “So clearing them out sounds okay to me. I just wish you didn’t have to kill.”

  His shoulders sagged and his face relaxed. Was he so desperate for her approval? “Whatever you want,” he’d said to her earlier.

  “Will you be careful when you do this?”

  “Sure.”

  “You won’t run into bullets
to get off or anything? Because if you want more pain, I’ve got some fingernails I didn’t break earlier.”

  He smiled. Oh, good, she could still tease him after all these years.

  “Your offer’s definitely incentive to stay out of the path of bullets.” He sat down on the bed and rubbed the small of her back. Perfect. That might help her sleep. She could use sleep. Then her mind would stop whirling. I want to go home.

  “Ahhhh…” She exhaled. “I wish I could go with you and see Genet myself. What the hell does he really want?”

  “Probably nothing sane.”

  He began kneading her shoulders. She moaned. Okay, maybe she didn’t want to go home right this second.

  “What I wish is that you’d never been pulled into this mess,” he said.

  “Yeah, well, while you’re wishing that, wish for both our parents to have been good people. It’ll do as much good.”

  He halted the massage. “Don’t stop,” she said.

  His hands began working up and down her spine. “That’s great.”

  This was doing a lot for her. As his hands massaged the knots in her back, as his fingers caressed her, her body heated. She’d barely come down from their lovemaking session earlier but apparently her body wasn’t satisfied. She wanted him to flip her over and screw her until she couldn’t see straight again.

  But would that be enough for him without the violence?

  She rolled over and laced their fingers together. He waited for her to speak.

  “Hawk, did you need me to hurt you to get off?”

  She watched his face go blank. Incredible, how he could do that, go from sexy and charming as he had at her bar, to this person who closed up and faded into the background. That’s why she’d made sure to hold onto his hand. She was afraid he’d leave.

  “Yes. That or some sort of adrenaline rush, like during the car chase.” He looked down at the bed. Anywhere but at her.

  “But you got hurt then, too. You were riding the pain.”

  “Yes.”

  “So you’re probably not enjoying this massage the same way I am?”

  That perked him up. He smiled. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

  “That’s not the point.” She sat up, to put them at eye level. “We both need to enjoy it.”

  “I enjoy making you happy.”

  “But it doesn’t get you off.” She rested her forehead against his.

  “No,” he answered in a whisper.

  “I can’t beat on you like that again.”

  “That’s all right.” He started to pull back.

  She pressed her lips against him, nipped his tongue and kissed him until he responded. God, even her nipples were aching for him. They had to find a way to make this work.

  “I don’t think what you want is wrong,” she said. “That’s not it. I just can’t…I mean, it made me sick after my anger was gone. I’d done to you what I’d seen your stepfather do, maybe hundreds of times. You could tell me over and over it’s what you want but I’m not going to be able to get that out of my head.”

  Still holding her hand, he lay back on the bed. She set her head on his shoulder. At least they knew how to comfort each other.

  “I understand,” he said.

  “Are you sure? Because I get it. The pain/pleasure stuff is all swirled together in your head. The problem I have is I don’t know how to do that for you.”

  “There’s no reason for you to try.”

  She raised her head. “Oh, stop the bullshit, Mr. Martyr. You fucked me silly earlier and I loved it. We both loved it. You touched me just now and I was ready to go again. I’d like for it not to be one-sided if we’re—”

  “To have a future? Are you certain that’s what you want?”

  “When Alec told me you were the father, I swore hell would freeze over before you’d have anything to do with this baby. I hated you. But you’ve melted that down.”

  “And now?”

  “I don’t know. But it seems to me, since a simple massage from you can get me going, that we ought to try and figure this out.”

  “I’m not trying to put you off. I’m telling you, honestly: whatever you want, I’ll do it for you. Whatever you want.”

  She sensed the depth of that statement from him this time. He meant that literally. If she told him to stay away, he would. He might watch her from a distance to ensure her safety, but he’d fade from her life.

  No.

  “Oh, God, Hawk, what happened to us?” She rested her head on his chest, so she could look him in the eye.

  He shook his head. “That’s a multipart question.”

  She laughed. “It is, isn’t it? Let’s start from the beginning. Tell me what happened after that night.”

  No need to elaborate on “that night”. The night their first life had ended and the second one had begun.

  Hawk looked up at the ceiling as he began to speak. His voice was without emotion as he described the group foster care home that he’d landed in after being taken into state custody. He’d been just sixteen. She’d been nine. She’d ended up with a family. He’d ended up with guardians.

  Their experiences after that night sure had been different.

  Hawk talked of his foster home as a quiet though barren place and described having to get along with other kids for the first time.

  “I did better with the younger kids,” he said. “There were a couple that had just turned ten, only a little older than you. They were brats. I think the state classified them as incorrigible. But I liked them. They weren’t that way with me.”

  “You had practice because of me.”

  He nodded and started talking again. She closed her eyes, concentrating only on his voice. It’d grown deeper over the years, and she wouldn’t have recognized him by it. It had been his manners and his way of moving that had tipped her off, along with his choice of song for their dance. Her subconscious had known exactly who he was from the second he walked into her bar.

  She was glad to have the truth about her parents. She must have always suspected what had really happened but had turned her rage at them on Hawk instead. Now, maybe, she could let it go completely. With a clear eye, she could see that it’d been Hawk she loved back then, far more than her distant parents.

  And now?

  “High school was a true shock,” he said after talking about the suburban community where he’d landed.

  “Oh, yeah,” she said.

  Hawk in high school? What a mismatch. She remembered her first day of real school. Uniforms. Everyone in uniforms. Her father would’ve been appalled at all the conformity. Her foster parents were not. They’d been completely unworried, telling her that it would be all right. They’d been so nice, so kind, that she’d wanted to please them. But all those new faces, all those new people when her number one lesson in life had been not to trust anyone. It had taken days for her to speak and that had been in answer to a teacher’s question.

  “Crowds are hard. And school kids are worse.”

  He grunted in agreement.

  She’d coped by watching and then imitating the other kids. And then there’d been drama club. Pretending was easy. It was reality that had been hard. Had he had the same problem?

  “So what did you do in high school?” She’d had time to learn to fit in. Her foster parents had been right, it had gotten a lot better. And she’d grown close to her youngest foster sister.

  She didn’t think that had happened to Hawk.

  “I tried to be a ghost and float in the background to stay away from everyone. I liked class. History was especially interesting. My stepfather’s revisionist tales forgot a great deal of the truth. He was always yelling about constitutional rights. But I don’t think he ever read the Constitution.” He put his hands behind his head, more relaxed now. “I went out for baseball.”

  “Remember all the times you made me play catch with you? And chase your fly balls?” The long summer nights, the cool breezes off the lake, the white b
all smacking her hand. They hadn’t had any gloves. He’d been so upset the time that he’d missed his throw and given her a black eye.

  He smiled. “I remember. You were a good sport.”

  “Were you good at baseball?”

  “I was an excellent outfielder but an average hitter. All that playing catch helped but I never really had the chance to face any good pitchers. And, yes, every time I caught a fly ball, I thought of you.” He closed his eyes.

  He’d thought of her and probably how she’d screamed that she hated him. Ouch.

  “Still, I had teammates for the first time ever. It gave me a sort of identity.”

  “And so you fit in.”

  “For a while, yes. What about you?”

  “I played soccer.”

  “How’d that go?”

  “Pretty well. I had a growth spurt and that helped. Between soccer and the drama club, it worked. Some days the past seemed a dream and far behind me.”

  “And others, the past was a nightmare that lurked a hair’s breadth away.”

  Never more than a hair’s breadth away for him, she guessed. “Yes.”

  “I never forgot you. I hoped all the time that you were doing well.”

  “I was. I am.” She’d never forgotten him either, but when she’d thought of him, she’d cursed his name. Better not mention that. “So what did you do after high school?”

  “College. I majored in history and languages. History, because I want to know as many versions of the truth as possible. And language because I seemed to have a gift for picking them up.”

  “And for accents.” She grinned. Hawk had been the best actor among them. Give him a week in a strange place and he’d speak the dialect as well as the locals. “You must have done well at college.”

  He’d always wanted to learn more. He’d hid so many books from his parents. They both had.

  “I did well enough to attract a CIA recruiter. I think he liked the language skills. I often wonder what would’ve happened to me if I’d turned him down. My life might have taken a truly different path.” He rolled to face her. “Add that to the list of my bad choices.”

  “Saving my life that night wasn’t a bad choice. I’m grateful for that, Hawk.”