Guilty by Association (Judah Black Novels)

by E. A. Copen

  Everyone, that is, except for the children of Paint Rock.

  I swallowed a deep breath, turned back to LeDuc and nodded. “We deal.”

  Chapter Thirty

  LeDuc smiled. He had the type of smile that could fool you into believing just about anything he said, all white and straight. But those teeth were curtains that hid the lies his tongue would tell. He had no intention of letting me and Ed live, not once we'd been inside his lair. We knew too much. LeDuc was smart enough to know that we were a threat.

  I looked around the room again, stealing quick glances where I might. In the time that we had been talking, a few of his men had filed into the room. They were your typical para-military henchmen types, dressed in fatigues and armed with both knives and SMGs. I had a snowballs' chance in hell at taking the room by force, even if I'd had help. My only option was to try and get LeDuc by himself.

  “Someone get me Ozzie,” said LeDuc, sipping at his sweating glass of lemonade.

  Zoe's gave me a warning glance. “Ozzie's indisposed.”

  The chair creaked as LeDuc twisted in it to look at Zoe. “Indisposed? Speak plain, woman. Where is he?”

  She looked at me, her expression still blank. “Lying down with a splitting headache.”

  LeDuc sighed and rubbed his temples. “Basque then.” Some of the henchmen shifted, looking at each other. One shrugged. “Who the hell is on watch?”

  “Paul was,” started one of them but he swallowed his words when LeDuc stood.

  “Never mind. I'll see to it myself.” He tucked his hands into his pockets and smirked at me. “I'll send the boy on out. Thomas, make certain our good friend Judah Black here and her boy make it to the front door.”

  “I'll get the boy,” said Zoe stepping forward. LeDuc turned back to Zoe, working up a sneer on his face that said he didn't like being interrupted. “I'll take Thomas with me. We'll walk them out and go check on Ozzie and Basque before-”

  His hand moved so fast I don't think I even saw it but I heard the smack of his knuckles making contact with Zoe's cheek. Her head jerked back and she fell to the floor, tears welling in her eyes. “Never challenge my orders in front of my men.” Zoe lowered her eyes and nodded. Tears fell but she didn't dare let him hear her cry. “Thomas, go with Zoe to the gate. She'll need help. Find Ozzie and Basque. We've got work to do.”

  One of the flunkies from the wall, presumably Thomas, came forward and spun the Uzi down off his shoulder to point it at me. “You got it, boss.”

  “Just one more thing, LeDuc,” I said, standing. “I'm taking Ed, too.”

  “Of course,” he said with a smile. “If you want the lame wolf, he's yours.” I didn't excuse him but he left anyway, exiting through the same door Zoe had just come through. Not sixty seconds passed before the wall spun back around, revealing Hunter.

  “Hunter!” I exclaimed and started forward to check him over.

  Thomas stepped in front of me and waved his gun. “Get your wolf. Let's go.”

  I glared at him, sidestepped him and went forward for Hunter first while Zoe was still picking herself up off the ground. She wiped blood from her lip and spat on the ground before looking up at me. The fury that burned in those eyes could have set the whole state of Texas on fire. “I'll take him,” I told her and grabbed Hunter by the hand, careful not to make any sudden moves. “If one of you will see to Ed?”

  “Thomas?” said Zoe, looking at him expectantly.

  “Don't look at me. I ain't your bitch, bitch. You want him so bad, you bring him.”

  Zoe's face hardened back into the blank, emotionless state she'd shown before. She hiked up her sleeves and went to man the wheelbarrow without any further argument. “Let's just get this over with.”

  I could have spent the whole walk wondering at what point they were going to stop and gun us down. I could have worried, memorized the layout so we could make it back easier. If I hadn't been so worried about my son, that's exactly what I would have done. We didn't even make it out of the big hall before I was checking him over. Other than a few bumps and bruises, he seemed fine but he hadn't said a word. “What's wrong with him?”

  Zoe hesitated on our forward march but got going forward once again when Thomas waved the gun around a little. “Sedated. Andre doesn't take risks with werewolves. He'll come out of it by the time we've reached the front gate.”

  We walked along in silence for a few more minutes, the only sound the echo of our shoes against damp rock as we walked. I tightened my grip on Hunter's hand, wishing he would squeeze back to let me know he was okay. He just walked wherever I led him, eyes glued straight forward. “Why children?”

  This time, Zoe turned her head but didn't stop. “Excuse me?”

  “Why did you take the children?”

  “Andre's research is based on stem cells. Before the laboratory was destroyed in the explosion, he was able to use whatever they had in cold storage there. Since the United States has banned the harvest of embryonic stem cells for research purposes, he's been working with mature cells. Most of those were collected from donated umbilical cords. Andre theorized that any supernatural with advanced healing abilities would be an endless source of mature stem cells. So long as the host body was young and healthy, he could harvest the cells without killing the hosts.”

  I turned to study her carefully. “Was he right?”

  “Don't answer her,” said Thomas. “Keep walking.”

  “I answer to Andre,” Zoe growled. “Not you. I'll answer whatever I please.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “His theory proved correct most of the time. For Andre, even a failed harvest was a win-win situation, though, as he got to eat the results.” I watched the corner of her lip turn up as if it were a joke.

  “And you helped him steal the children why?”

  “I don't see why it matters to you,” Zoe snapped back. “This isn't any of your concern anymore.”

  I sped up my pace and placed myself in front of the wheelbarrow to block Zoe's path. “They're children!”

  Thomas snapped his gun up and aimed it at my head. “Get back in line!”

  “How could you? There are mothers out there, grieving over the loss of their only child. You of all people should understand-”

  “You don't deserve them,” Zoe said through clenched teeth. Her whole body was trembling and her hands wrung the handles of the wheelbarrow. “You women call yourselves mothers but you don't even know the meaning of the word. You leave your children alone at home or unwatched outside so that you can fuck men other than your husbands and nurse a gin and tonic. You eat while they go hungry or send them to school cold and hungry. I am a better mother to those children than any of you would ever be.” And, suddenly, it made sense why Zoe was helping LeDuc. Aside from the opportunity to have a child of her own, no matter what the cost was, she got to care for all of the children he stole from their homes. She had more children in her care than she could have ever hoped for otherwise.

  “I said get back in line!”

  I ignored Thomas and squeezed Hunter's hand again. This time, Hunter squeezed back. “I've always done the best I could to love my son.”

  “It takes more than love to raise a child right.” Her bottom lip quivered as she looked over at Hunter. “This is a cold, cruel world. A terrible place to grow up. We are saving them from ever knowing that world.”

  “That's not your decision to make.”

  “None of this was my decision.” The tears fell freely down her cheeks for a moment before she wiped them away with the back of her hand and took the wheelbarrow up again. “But you have your son back and a chance at freedom. Take it, Black. Enjoy it while you can.”

  “You two finished?” Thomas took a step toward me. “Because I've had about enough of this emotional bullshit. Let's go.”

  He made the mistake of shoving the gun within arm's reach of me. I sprung on the opportunity because I didn't think I was going to get another. Wi
th one hand, I slammed the gun against the cave wall, hard enough that something in his hand cracked. In the same breath, while he was still stunned and off balance, I kicked him in the back of the knee and used my other hand to bash his face into the rock. The first impact bloodied his nose and dazed him but I needed him out so I slammed his head against the rock again...and then again and again, until the bones didn't crunch anymore and my face was covered in wet, warm blood.

  What was left of Thomas' body slid down the cave wall and landed in a pile at my feet. I looked up at Zoe, wiping blood from my face. She was backed up against the opposite wall, breathing fast, eyes glued to me. We stared each other down for a moment, until I was sure I had communicated to her that I wasn't afraid of her or anyone else in that cave. They'd taken my son. Even though I had him back now, messing with my family is an unforgivable sin. I was going to kill Andre LeDuc and anyone that stood in my way.

  Zoe swallowed, made a small squeaking sound, grimaced and clutched her belly before she sank to the cave floor. I went to her side and tried to help her up. She grabbed onto my hands and gripped them so tight that I thought she might break bones, all the while stifling a scream. It lasted about ten seconds before she looked up at me, panting, her eyes desperate. “Oh God, not here. Not now.”

  “Holy Hell,” I breathed. “You did not just go into labor.”

  “Please,” Zoe pleaded without letting me go. “Don't leave me.”

  I pried her fingers away from me and stepped back, ignoring her weeping. Thomas' bloody body lay a few feet away, his hand still clutching the uzi. There was still a labyrinth of tunnels standing between me and freedom. Ed was out and Hunter was barely coherent. It was going to take everything I had just to get the three of us out and call in a rescue for the kids without a phone. I didn't have time to stop and worry about the woman who had taken my son to begin with. This whole mess was her fault.

  I bent over and pried the gun free from Thomas' hands. “Please,” sobbed Zoe behind me. “You were right. I can't have this baby in a cave. I never wanted this. He made me. You have to believe me. Please, Black.”

  “You could have stopped it at any time,” I said turning back to Zoe. “You were closer to LeDuc than anyone. If you'd really wanted to stop this, to save people, you would have done it. Give me one damn good reason not to put a bullet in your head right now.”

  “My baby!” Zoe protested, crawling forward on all fours. “Please, she doesn't deserve to die for my crimes. Give me that at least.” She reached up and grabbed the gun, using it as leverage to try and pull herself up only to collapse back down when another contraction hit her. “Save her.”

  I swung the gun around on my side and squatted down in front of Zoe. “And if your baby is a monster like you and LeDuc?”

  “Monsters,” she gasped, “are taught, not born.”

  I hesitated. Zoe was dangerous. I'd seen her shoot Chanter three times and not bat an eye about it. She was the one responsible for Hunter being there in the first place. Given half the chance, I was sure she'd kill the both of us and still get a good night's sleep if she thought that would be more advantageous than letting us go. But she'd helped me. She shot Ozzie. And the way she looked at LeDuc after he hit her, the anger burning in her eyes... Maybe she was evil but I couldn't fault her for wanting her child to have a chance. Isn't that what every parent wants for their child?

  “You'll have to walk,” I told her. “I can't carry you.” She nodded vigorously. “Do you know how to get out of here?”

  She nodded once. “Follow me.”

  Every step was excruciatingly slow. Zoe staggered against the cave walls and twice we had to duck down secondary passages to avoid patrols. Zoe's face grew paler as we went. She led us into dark passageways where there were no lights but the lighter I'd stolen from Robbie. That didn't seem to matter to Zoe. She remained in the lead, at the edge of the light, somehow able to navigate in complete darkness. Hunter squeezed my hand tight and pulled back. “It's alright,” I said and pulled him forward. “We're going to be okay.”

  Just as I said that, Zoe stumbled and fell. I dropped the wheelbarrow and went forward to help her back up. She screamed. I put my hand over her mouth to muffle it and looked down. The entire lower half of her body was covered in blood. Something was very, very wrong. “How far are we from the exit?”

  “Too far,” Zoe managed panting. Then, she fell over, grabbing at her stomach. “Andre's bedchambers. Thirty yards.”

  I should have left her. I should have taken Ed and Hunter and gone to safety. Maybe a medical team could have reached her in time if I called one in but probably not. Chances were good that, if I left Zoe alone, both she and her baby would die and I would have their blood on my hands, too. It should have at least been something that I considered but my mind gets a little muddled when it comes to saving the lives of children, no matter what kind of blood flows through their veins.

  “Hunter,” I hissed, hoping he was coherent enough to respond. He looked up at me with tired eyes. “Get Ed. Follow me.” To my great relief, Hunter walked slowly over to the wheelbarrow and lifted the handles. I slung Zoe's arm over my shoulder and carried most of her weight. “Which way?”

  Zoe pointed forward.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  We stumbled through the wooden door that marked Andre LeDuc's personal bedchambers. The room was huge with a ceiling at least forty feet high covered in stained glass. I wondered what kind of crazy person puts a big mural of stained glass inside of a cave and then I remembered I was dealing with a wendigo. Anything that eats human flesh and uses babies for medical experiments has to be completely nuts. The bed was one of those California King four poster models of some rich, deep dark wood. Sheets of white silk adorned the mattress itself. Zoe left a big smear of crimson as I helped her scoot into it. At least the bed would be more sterile than some cavern somewhere.

  I peeled Zoe's pants and underwear off and stared at all the blood for a minute before I realized that I wasn't in any way qualified to deliver a baby. Hunter hadn't even been delivered natural. He was a C-section. We needed someone with medical training.

  “Something's wrong,” Zoe moaned.

  “You need a doctor.” I started to rise from the bedside but Zoe grabbed my wrist and jerked me back down. Too tired, sore and maybe too stupid to be afraid for my life, I growled back at her, “If you don't let me go, you're going to die and you might lose your baby, too.”

  She squeezed her hand around mine and held it there for a minute. I didn't have a watch or a clock to time the contractions with but they were irregular and there was nothing but blood coming out of her, lots and lots of blood. “It's not coming,” she said after the contraction had passed. “And you'll never make it back with a doctor in time, especially if you want to save those children.”

  My whole body felt cold. “What?”

  Zoe let me go and nodded weakly. “You've compromised his operation here. He'll back up the data, save what he can. Then, he'll have them fire up the incinerator to destroy all his research materials so that Han and Marcus can't replicate it.”

  “Marcus Kelley...Wants to replicate this?”

  “No,” she said, her voice a tired whisper. “But he'll use Andre's research to further his own ends just the same. Those children, the two that survived, they'll be haunted the rest of their lives by what Andre has done to them but they don't deserve to die. They deserve a chance. You need to give it to them. Just like you'll give my baby a chance.”

  “Zoe...”

  “I've lost a lot of blood. I'm cold, almost too tired to move. I know I can't do this anymore and I don't deserve to survive this, not after everything I've done.” She closed her eyes and drew in a shallow breath, wincing. “There's an emergency surgical kit in the closet.”

  “You're a wendigo,” I protested. “If LeDuc can survive three silver bullets to the head, you can survive a little blood loss.”

  She shook her head. �
��I'll never...” she started and then was quiet so long that I thought she might have lost consciousness. “I'll need to feed to heal,” she said at last. “And I don't want to do that anymore. Once you've done it, use your lighter. There's some rubbing alcohol in the bathroom just over there. The bed should go up nicely. That's how you kill a wendigo. You have to use fire.”

  “She's dying,” said Hunter quietly from behind me. I turned around to see that he had already retrieved the surgical kit she'd spoken of as well as the rubbing alcohol. He held both out to me. “And so is her baby. But you're going to save it, right?”

  I turned back to Zoe. Her face was pale and her eyes sagging. Her pupils were fixed on something far off. “I loved him,” she whispered. “God help me, I loved him.”

  I closed my eyes. Since I watched her shoot Chanter in the shed, I'd been wondering how she could do it. How could a mother hurt a child, living or dead? I thought Zoe had to be a monster of the highest caliber, more frightening than anything I'd ever encountered. In the end, it came down to love. All of the terrible, monstrous things she'd done, she'd done them because she loved someone. Did that make her a monster?

  “Hunter, go and watch the door.” Hunter sighed, backed away a few steps and then walked over to place his nose against the door. I turned back to Zoe. Her breaths were shallow and raspy. It wouldn't be long now.

  Her eyelids fluttered as she fought to keep from losing consciousness. “How did you know? What he was? What...we are.”

  “I didn't,” I said. “Not for sure until I ran into him last night. There aren't many things that eat human flesh, shapeshift and mimic voices perfectly. He's the perfect hunter. The pattern just wasn't consistent with anything else.”

  She tried to laugh but choked on the pain. “So cold and calculating. Can it really ever be so simple? Is the world all just patterns and puzzles to you?” I turned my head away. Zoe's grip loosened on my hand. “You have to do it now,” she whispered. I turned back around in time to see a tear fall from the corner of her eye. “Promise me you won't tell Sal about me, about this. Let him die hating me. It’s easier.”