Strange Case, an Urban Fantasy (Hyde Book III)

by Lauren Stewart

  But she wasn’t replacing anyone with anyone. She just wasn’t convinced that now was the time to deal with her emotional baggage. Eventually she’d unpack, find an empty drawer somewhere in her mind for all of it. But not now. She was strong enough to carry it without even noticing the extra weight.

  “Of course,” she continued, “you still need to get the job, but at least there’s an opening.”

  “We should’ve talked about it first.”

  “So that you could forbid me to go?” she snapped. Totally unproductive.

  He answered her anger with calm. “Because we’re on the same side.”

  This was the danger of two strong, stubborn, independent people trying to work as a team. And when they added Mitch, it got even worse. But with no idea how to change the nature of their personalities, all she could do was sigh in frustration.

  “You’re right. Sorry.”

  “Ditto,” he said. “Can I see the IDs?” He studied them in silence, turning them occasionally to catch the light in different ways, glancing at her regularly. “Nice work.”

  “They’re only useful if you can get the job.”

  “Already taken care of. It’s nice to have friends who trust you enough to not ask a lot of questions. I got the job at the security company but still need to be placed. I’ll request a spot at the lab first thing tomorrow.”

  §§§

  Landon looked just as good on paper as he did in person. He also knew exactly what to say to the woman in charge of placements. One restless night and a phone call later, he hung up with a beautiful smug-ass grin on his face.

  “Nice work,” she said.

  “I need to pick up my uniform and give them copies of my pretty new IDs. And it turns out that a spot just opened up at Malvers Labs. Night shift. Let the fun begin.”

  “I love a man in uniform.”

  “Stop laughing.”

  She didn’t. “I’m sure you’ll look great, Landon. I can’t wait to see it.”

  Chapter XV

  The rest of the day was spent organizing themselves and looking up everything they could find on Malvers Labs. With very little other than the GU-121 to connect this lab with The Clinic, both Eden and Landon still thought they were on the right track.

  A detective’s intuition matching up with an Abnormal’s had to mean something.

  Officially, the entire Malvers network was scraping by. And the employee roster for Dallas was very, very slim in regards to who actually made the decisions. A long list of names with no job titles higher than ‘Executive Assistant’.

  Assistant to whom? A ghost?

  When the sun went down Landon caught her eye and nodded towards Justin. While he dragged a chair into the office area, she called Justin over to help her sort supplies that didn’t need sorting. But a kid shouldn’t have to watch their cage being built, whether it was made from steel bars or from a thick wooden chair and metal cuffs.

  They waited for as long as they could, but when it was time, it was time. Knowing it was Justin’s first transformation in cuffs, Eden talked while Landon put them on him. As gently as he could.

  “It’s okay, E,” Justin said. “I’m not afraid.”

  “Duh. I know that,” she said flippantly, knowing they were both lying. He’d seen what he might become someday so, from now on, every transformation would be frightening. “It’s just nice to have someone new to talk to. Landon’s so serious all the time.” She spoke about only pleasant things until Landon left for work and Justin couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer.

  Let the fun begin. She sighed and settled in for another long, unpleasant evening. Alone.

  §§§

  Landon stood in front of Malvers Labs, taking in as much as he could. In another life, this might’ve been a good career move—they certainly paid well. Evil doesn’t skimp in the monetary reward system. The only obvious downside was the uniform. Aside from being highly uncomfortable, he was still unhappy about Eden saying that his ass looked better in jeans. His body was the only thing he could still be proud of. Not that anyone was looking.

  As soon as he stepped through the door, he checked out the weaponry. The guards wore Tasers, but they were nothing like the ones in Florida. These were off-the-shelf, double-pronged, wired ones.

  Turner will be thrilled.

  His new boss explained how things worked, and Landon answered all of his questions honestly. Because the guy didn’t ask the right questions.

  No, he’d never worked security before, but being a cop gave him the necessary experience. Yes, he’d been let go, but he’d been highly praised by his ex-Chief whose letter of recommendation explained it was because of budgeting issues.

  Then Landon was passed off to another security guard named Rick. Young guy, short, fairly harmless-looking until you looked at the tats on his knuckles. Maybe the company had some kind of prison outreach program. But Rick was full of smiles and info for the newbie, so Landon wasn’t overly concerned. People can change.

  During the tour, he tried not to appear overly observant. He’d have time to really check things out later. He noticed the basics and listened intently to schedules and protocols and typical workplace gripes, reading between the lines, and learning everything he could.

  The security was strong, but there were always weaknesses, flaws, fissures. Their office was just off the lobby, behind the reception desk. Long hallways led to the labs, and all the upper floors were either storage or offices. Supposedly.

  Landon clipped the keycard to his belt loop and followed his tour guide to each door, being told what was inside but not going into any of them.

  “This one you should see,” Rick said, stopping in front of a door marked ‘Lab 4’.

  Landon glanced at his watch. “People stay this late?”

  “She’s always here—works at night so people won’t bother her. Dr. Danielle Sinclair. She’s seems okay most of the time, but don’t ever cross her. Or talk to her. Or look at her too closely.”

  “Okay.”

  “Really, man. Don’t piss her off. She’s not the head of the department, but she should be. Very serious and very hot.” Rick swiped his keycard and opened the door. “So I’d suggest you admire her from afar like the rest of us do.”

  He nodded, even though he had no intention of admiring anyone here. He was a guest in his enemy’s home, and the last thing he planned on doing was—

  “What do you want?” She whipped her head up, a glare narrowing her dark eyes, a tendril of light brown hair falling loose from her ponytail.

  Landon rocked back a step. Okay, fine. Maybe there was a little admiration to be had. But a Black Mamba is beautiful, a Leopard is graceful. And getting too close to either of them isn’t good for your health.

  “Well?” she asked, her fingers tapping the counter.

  “Sorry, doc,” Rick said. She grimaced, probably a reaction to the derivative title he’d just used. “I was just showing the new guy around. Didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

  “And yet, you’re so good at it.” After a quick glance at Landon, she looked back to whatever she’d been working on. “Are you leaving now, or aren’t you done gawking at me yet?”

  “I’m not quite done yet,” Landon said without thinking. Rick elbowed him in the side.

  “Excuse me?” she snapped, looking up again.

  “Never ask a question if you don’t want to hear the answer, Dr. Sinclair.” So much for staying under the radar. But she was obviously a direct person and would probably respect someone who was the same. He’d learn more from her and about her with a straightforward approach rather than tiptoeing and ducking. A woman, especially an attractive one, often has to fight to get where she wants to be. Then she has to fight to stay there.

  Rick had already conveyed how her male co-workers felt—it was fine to ogle her, but not okay to talk to her. Landon’s mother and two sisters would’ve castrated him if they ever saw him do that. Hopefully Sinclair would see his bluntness and the way he
spoke to her as a sign of respect—something that seemed to be lacking in her co-workers.

  She leaned her hip against the counter, spreading her arms out. “Please, help yourself. I needed a break, and there’s nothing I like more than being objectified.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not objectifying, I’m appreciating. A completely natural reaction to beauty.”

  “It’s unfortunate that keeping your opinions to yourself isn’t a natural reaction as well.”

  “And that wasn’t an opinion.”

  She was attractive and, unless she’d never looked in a mirror before, she knew it. She looked away briefly, blood filling her cheeks. But her embarrassment was gone a moment later. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your tour because you’re not going to last very long here.”

  “They hired me to be observant.” He shrugged, smiling. “And I’m good at what I do.” When he heard Rick moan behind him, he realized he’d moved towards her.

  Shit. Back off, dickhead. What was done was done, but he needed to keep an eye on his own behavior as well as hers.

  He didn’t backup, but he did apologize. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude or embarrass you.”

  She looked at Rick, and Landon saw a quick flash of hurt in her eyes. “Anything’s better than being snickered at and talked about behind my back.” She focused on Landon. “What’s your name?”

  “Landon.” He looked for a reaction, any sign that she recognized his name. He saw nothing—no flinch, no grimace, nothing. “Landon Nicolas. Most people call me by my last name.”

  “Well, Landon Nicolas, you’re definitely not suffering from low self-esteem. But I need to get back to work, so…”

  “Just another minute.” He heard Rick curse.

  Her eyes widened, but the corner of her mouth curled up. Daring him, challenging him. “Thirty seconds.”

  He nodded without losing eye contact. “Agreed.”

  “Shit,” Rick muttered.

  They looked at each other, communicating without speaking a word. He held her gently. It wasn’t about proving dominance—it was about proving equality. But he knew she was testing him. She seemed surprised that his gaze never strayed to her body. Like hers did briefly.

  Am I really this stupid? He had to pull back, to blink his way out. Return to reality. Yes, she was beautiful, but she was also poisonous. As a scientist in the company, she knew what they were doing. She might not know about his involvement, but she sure as shit knew her own.

  After about thirty seconds, he released her, dropping his gaze and bowing slightly. “Thank you for your time.”

  She laughed, looking a bit off-balanced. “You’re welcome…I think. There’s something strange about you, Landon.” The way she said his name sounded familiar, as if they’d known each other for longer than two minutes. As if she knew exactly who he was and how to get under his skin.

  And that made his pants all the more uncomfortable. There wasn’t enough give for a cock that had just been woken up after a really, really long time.

  He cleared his throat. “It’s Nicolas.”

  “You said that most people call you by your last name. Science strives for predictability, Landon. People shouldn’t.”

  Why’d she have to be one of the bad guys? Thankfully and unfortunately, he would get to know her. She was exactly who they needed—someone who knew the science as well as the bullshit. With any luck, she was like Fields and, once she really knew what she was a part of, she’d come over to their side of the tracks. So a little finesse was necessary, a casual interrogation style.

  But keep your cock in your pants. As attractive as she was, Landon had too much to lose—in the war and in himself.

  Chapter XVI

  One thing Ryan had learned from the Abnormals was that every good thing comes with a bad thing. And that meant that he was due a lot of good things.

  He didn’t like Alex. In fact, he didn’t like anyone. But he was running out of people he could trust even a little bit, and that was a problem.

  So he tried to keep the condescension out of his tone. “We’ve all made mistakes, Alex.” Such as relying on imbeciles. “But now, more than ever, we need to pull together, take what’s left and make something great out of it.”

  “It would be easier if Newman didn’t keep shooting people though, wouldn’t it?”

  “He is one of the mistakes I was referring to.”

  The first time Ryan hired Newman, it was for a very simple job. Of course, if he’d known that the ‘very simple job’ was dating a detective—an overzealous, curious, and moderately intelligent detective who was now a huge pain in the ass—Ryan might have handled things differently. And some of the shit he was dealing with now might never have started.

  “But, for now, Newman’s necessary. He can find anyone. It’s his gift. Everyone has to be good at something, don’t you think?” But most of the time those things were useless or just plain stupid. “I’ve given him very clear instructions so that, once he tracks them down, he won’t accidentally kill them.”

  He could tell it made Alex nervous to know he employed someone who could find her if she ever ran. Her expression was very possibly the highlight of his whole week. When Alex wasn’t being an idiot, she was smart. And Ryan needed smart, predictable, and malleable people if he was going to get out of this with something of value.

  When his cell phone started vibrating, he checked the time. Hopefully it was Newman calling to say all of Ryan’s problems were now solved.

  It wasn’t. In fact, with one look at the Caller ID, Ryan had a feeling his problems were about to get a lot bigger.

  Ron Dunlap never called this late, nor did he ever call with good news or compliments. So all Ryan could hope for was something less-than-terrible.

  “Mr. Dunlap, how are you?”

  “I've called an emergency meeting of the Board, Whittley. We’re all coming to you.”

  Ryan flinched. “A meeting?” Emergency meetings qualified more as a really fucking terrible thing. “Here?” They met so infrequently, he was surprised they recognized each other. And in Dallas? Never. Ever.

  “Of the Board?” Alex’s voice held all the shock Ryan felt.

  “One second, sir. Someone was just leaving.” He covered the phone with his hand and whispered, “We’ll talk more in the morning.” After Alex closed the door behind her, he let his face contort into the expression he’d been holding back. Fuck. “I don't think a meeting is necessary, sir. I've spoken to each of you and—”

  “That's what makes me uncomfortable. Phillips might get more information because you have a longer telephone conference. Or you might tell D’Apuzzo something and forget to tell me. In fact, I had no idea you hired that man who cleans things until D’Apuzzo told me.”

  How did D’Apuzzo know about Newman? “I wasn't deliberately keeping anything from anyone. None of you normally concern yourself with that end of things.”

  “We’re all going to sit down in a room and discuss exactly what went wrong in Florida and what you've done to make sure it doesn’t happen in Dallas.”

  After everything he’d done for them, the bastards still didn’t trust him. “All of you?”

  “Yes. And I'm bringing my son as well. The others already know.”

  “Great.” Another ass to add to the four he was already kissing. Although Dunlap was about as much of an asshole as Ryan’s father was, so maybe Ryan and the new kid on the Board would bond over shitty dads. He wondered if Gregory hated the rest of his family too.

  “I'll be meeting with the others first and will need access to the project files. We’d also like to see the ones you have at the Shop. Probably just the big ones though—the others are less impressive visually.”

  Completely pointless. They wouldn’t understand anything in the files, and Dunlap only wanted to show the Hydes off to his kid and the other Board members.

  “Sounds great, sir. When is everyone getting here?”

  “Friday, but we’ll meet first
thing Saturday morning.”

  Ryan went through the list of lies he'd told them: Turner was dead. Colfax was being transported to Dallas. Landon was no longer an issue. What happened in Florida was due to the staff’s ineptitude with Hyde01 and had nothing to do with the three banes of Ryan's existence.

  He had a day and a half to make all of that true. The men had to die, Colfax taken, and everyone else's mouths glued shut.

  “I look forward to meeting your son, sir.”

  The line was dead. Just like Ryan would be if he didn't get this shit done.

  Chapter XVII

  Maybe Sinclair was right—Landon might not be around here for long. Four hours in and he was hoping someone would try to kill him.

  Being at the ass-end of the totem pole meant he was stuck with Rick for the entire night. So in addition to this being the most boring place he’d ever been, for an hour he heard how appreciative he should be that Rick wasn’t going to tell their boss what had happened, but that the lovely doctor definitely would. Although when Landon got fired, it was no one’s fault but his own.

  Landon knew Sinclair wouldn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure how he knew it, but he did. Maybe intuition, maybe a nonverbal cue she’d sent out—one he couldn’t identify or name. He might not be a great judge of himself, but he read other people pretty well. Her message had gotten through and, if she wasn’t the enemy, he would’ve been flattered.

  After that, he was forced to hear all about Rick’s pretend sex life. Bragging about things and women he hadn’t done. The guy had to be one of the worst liars Landon had ever met, and that said a shitload.

  So, to stay sane, he let his mind wander back to Sinclair. Maybe it had been a mistake to get noticed like that. He wouldn’t know until the next time he saw her. Or until the moment a few guys wearing black and carrying supped-up Tasers arrived to haul his ass away for interrogation. A distinct possibility and the reason his hand never left his weapon and his eyes never left the door.