by Jordan Dane
“This had to cost you money, Raphael.”
Yeah, money. Kendra had never accused him of stealing. Not outright, but she never faced the truth about him, either. His old man had been the opposite. To him, Rafe had always been something stuck to the bottom of his shoe. A piece of shit no one wanted. Being with Kendra had changed all that, and if he wanted her to have something special, he’d find it and get it for her.
“I didn’t steal it,” he said. “I saw it and thought of you.”
“Well, thank you.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re always so good to me. I’ll catch you later, okay? I gotta get back.”
“Yeah, later.” He jammed his hands into his pockets. “He’s lucky to have you. We all are.”
She left so fast he didn’t know if she heard him. Rafe stood in the shadows with his eyes closed, still feeling the touch of her lips on his cheek and smelling coconut in the air. He stayed in the dark long after she’d left him to go back to Lucas.
* * *
A blaring buzzer jolted O’Dell awake from a dead sleep. It hurt his ears, and a red light spiraled through the dark, washing him in its color as it spun.
“What the hell?”
O’Dell jerked his head up and winced. He’d jump-started a headache and his neck hurt like hell. He couldn’t turn without pain shooting down his shoulders. When he tried to get comfortable, he found his arms were strapped to the armrests of a metal chair, but even more disturbing, he had an IV punched into his left forearm and the whole contraption was plugged into a digital box like he’d seen on TV when a guy got axed on death row. If he had to guess, his future might depend on who controlled the remote.
With the ear-piercing alarm and infuriating red light, O’Dell let the intimidation get the better of him.
“Stop it! I’m up—I’m up already,” he screamed. “You have no idea who you’re dealing w—”
The siren came to an abrupt stop, leaving his ears ringing as O’Dell squirmed in his chair, fighting the ties cutting into his wrists. The red alarm rotated without sound now until a mechanized voice came over a microphone from speakers above his head.
“We know exactly who you are, O’Dell.”
The voice filtered through software that disguised whoever spoke. It could be a man or a woman of any age. Mr. Roboto sounded like the Terminator had a love child with a supercomputer.
“What’s with the IV? What do you have in that thing?” O’Dell couldn’t hide how he felt. Tension oozed from every word.
“That depends on your cooperation.”
What the hell does that mean? O’Dell felt his head pulse with a badgering headache.
“Why the cloak-and-dagger?” he asked. “Show yourself. We can talk. Man-to-man.”
All this macho bullshit had to come from another guy. The high-tech, spy-craft gear and all the 007 tactics smacked of turf pissing, one guy impressing his superiority on another. The jerk had hijacked him and wasn’t about to flip on the lights and play nice. While O’Dell waited for a response, he peered beyond the bloodred taint spiraling through the gloom and used the faint light to catch a glimpse of where he was.
A small room. One chair for him, and the digital box on a table. One door. Without windows, he had no idea what time of day it was or how long he’d been knocked out. A mirrored panel stretched across one wall, positioned above where he sat facing it. He had no doubt whoever had taken him from his life stood behind that observation window—a faceless coward.
That pissed him off, but when the never-ending red beacon assaulted his eyes, his head hurt too much to do anything about it.
“You were assigned Lucas Darby. We expected results, but so far you’ve failed. How do you plan to rectify that?” Short and to the point, the voice demanded an answer.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” O’Dell took a risk. “Who’s Lucas what’s-it?”
Whoever hid behind the two-way mirror had funded his kidnapping with flair. The taxi setup had to cost money. None of this smelled like feds or cops. They didn’t have the brains to pull off something like this. He figured the guy with all the questions had to be a player higher up the food chain in the church.
They were testing him.
“You kidnapped me, but if you let me go now, I won’t report this to the cops.” Yeah, if they were testing him, he’d give them a good show of smarts and a dose of loyalty.
“We both know you’d never go near the police. Quit wasting our time.”
A blinding white light seared his eyes. It pointed at him from above and burned a ghost image on his retinas. He couldn’t see, and when the blaring alarm sounded again, it scared the hell out of him.
“Shut that damned thing off.” He squinted and yelled. When his ears popped, his eyes felt as if they were being stabbed with needles.
“Answer my question. What will you do about the boy?”
Under the blinding light, seconds felt like an eternity to O’Dell and everything hurt. After the intense lights and the racket from the alarm, he couldn’t open his eyes, and his eardrums felt busted. He wanted to hold out to show the bastard he wouldn’t be a pushover, but somewhere amid the noise and his exhaustion, he couldn’t muster his usual attitude.
“What’s the big deal about one kid? You’ve never questioned me like this before,” he yelled above the racket. “I’ve never failed you.”
As suddenly as the chaos had started, it stopped again and left his ears ringing.
“Yes. That’s precisely why you are here, O’Dell.” In the eerie quiet, the disguised voice sounded more macabre.
“What does that mean?” The sound of his own voice was muffled in his ears. “You hijacked me. Busted my eardrums. Is this your idea of a pat on the back for a job well done? You could’ve just given me a bonus. Money works.”
“Not good enough. The Darby boy is vital to our cause.”
“Then maybe you’ll want to hear what I got planned.” O’Dell decided to take a risk.
“We’re listening.”
O’Dell told what he knew about the encounter Boelens had with a mystery girl and her crew. If he could line up the head girl’s ID and run her known associates or other faces his man Boelens had seen, then he’d have some real leads, but he added one more thing.
“But the way you got us working in territories, with me not knowing what others are doing, that could be a problem,” he said. “If you want me to run down the leads I have, I can do that, but I need more...authority.”
O’Dell waited for a reaction. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Ah, I see your point, but with more authority, there will be increased responsibilities and greater expectations from us. But that’s precisely why we’ve brought you here. We want to impress upon you the significance of a new task we’re giving you. Think of this as a...promotion.”
“What new task?”
“As you know, our structure is segmented for a reason. Each target-acquisition team works independently. Secrecy has been the key to our success, but with this boy, we have reconsidered our strategy.”
For once O’Dell kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t sure he liked where this was headed.
“From this point forward, you will be our lead acquisition team. We won’t split up the intel to other teams or limit your search area. You’ll have full control. The Darby boy will be your first test. If hunting down this girl helps with that objective, then so be it. Are you up for the challenge?”
“Hell, yeah. One hundred percent.” Instinct told him to answer straight up. To hesitate would be a sign of weakness.
“Good. You will be given the resources you need to broaden your search and you will answer directly to me through an encrypted phone. Don’t disappoint us.”
Before he could say anything, the box linked to the IV in his arm whirled into action. Red digital numbers flashed. After a long moment, he realized he’d been holding his breath—waiting to see what the box would do.
“We’re placing our faith in you,” the voice said. “If you fail, there will be no place for you to hide. You of all people know what we can do.”
The mechanical voice sent a shiver down his body when meds flooded his system to remind him how vulnerable he was. A remote signal switched on and the IV pumped something into his arm. Strapped down, he couldn’t stop it. He slumped into his chair and struggled to hold his head up.
O’Dell hadn’t given his job much thought except for the money. In truth, it helped not to have a conscience and he felt eminently qualified in that department, but as his body shut down and the lights faded into shadows, he knew things would have to change. Without his say, the organization had moved him up to the big leagues where losing wouldn’t be an option.
It couldn’t be business as usual. Not anymore.
Before he gave in to the dark, the voice jolted him with a question.
“Do you know what we do to these children?”
O’Dell could only answer with a shake of his head.
“Fail us and you’ll find out.”
Not even those chilling words kept him awake.
* * *
Behind the observation window, a man took off his headset and tossed it onto a nearby desk as he sat in a leather chair. Alexander Reese watched his men haul an unconscious O’Dell from the room below. He loosened his silk tie and undid his shirt collar as he considered his options. He could still back out of his plan to include O’Dell, his most ruthless team leader, before he initiated his most ambitious hunt yet. Even though the old reporting structure afforded his organization greater anonymity, he’d grown impatient.
He had personal reasons for bypassing protocol. No one knew that but him.
“Do you trust him?” A woman’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. The scent of her expensive perfume wafted toward him as she came closer.
“I don’t trust anyone,” he said.
“Not even me?”
Alexander didn’t answer. He let his practiced smile say it all.
“I suppose it’s not a matter of any real trust,” she said. “You don’t let many see behind the curtain of Oz. Out of necessity, what we do must be kept secret. Mankind’s destiny depends on it. We must save the masses from a future they aren’t capable of understanding.”
Her arrogance knew no bounds, but Alexander certainly understood the massive ego it took to achieve everything she had in such a short amount of time. Ambition and drive for power had played a part, too. The woman imagined her involvement in his organization as nothing short of essential to their cause. She glorified what she did and had appointed herself savior, salvaging humanity from a future she had plans to shape.
Whatever justification got her through the night, he didn’t care as long as she did what he told her.
“Under your new strategy, we should see more immediate results,” she said. “But surely you have other men working on your behalf. Redundancy wouldn’t be a bad idea. You can’t possibly mean what you told this O’Dell character, that he’d be in charge of the whole recovery operation for the Darby boy? That’s not like you, Alexander.”
“With men like him, stroking their ego is part of the game.” He swiveled his chair to face her. “But no, he will not be my only pawn on the chessboard. There’s too much at stake.”
When he didn’t tell her more, her face tensed, but she didn’t push him for his strategy.
“How do you feel about him chasing after this mystery girl?” she asked.
“If he acquires the Darby boy, I don’t care what it takes. The girl and these other children are of no consequence. If O’Dell has to get more aggressive in his tactics, they’d be collateral damage to our cause.”
“We’ve never killed on a hunt before. That could get messy with a man like O’Dell. He lacks finesse. Are you prepared to clean up after him?”
“That goes without saying. Yes.”
Anyone else would have realized the gravity of what he’d just said, but he saw the soft flicker of a smile on her face.
“I’m pleased that you have such faith in my recommendation on the Darby boy. We make a good team, you and I,” she said.
She wore her blond hair loose, not pulled back the way she wore it on the job. Her stunning blue eyes and exquisite Scandinavian features had drawn him to her, but her devious mind, excellent credentials and her need for control had made them coconspirators.
“Yes, we do, but make no mistake. I’m in control when it comes to target acquisition and resources,” he said. “No need for you to fret over such things, my dear.”
The woman forced a smile. When he saw the tightness in her jaw, he appreciated her self-control when she didn’t push him for more. She didn’t like being cut out of the loop, but that couldn’t be helped.
“See to it that O’Dell gets the encrypted phone,” he told her. “I’ll consolidate and send the information that we have on Lucas Darby from the other teams. The electronic file will include your anonymous medical assessment of his capabilities and recommendations. O’Dell will have everything he needs when he wakes up.”
“Yes, of course.” The beautiful woman grabbed the phone O’Dell would use to report in. Before she left the room, she looked over her shoulder. “Anything special you need from me? I’ve built a rapport with the Darby boy’s sister Mia. She trusts me.”
“That could be quite useful. Manipulate that connection to the sister as you see fit. With your influence and cunning, my dear Fiona, you are my rock.”
“I believe in your cause, Alexander. Our cause.”
This time she smiled for real before she left him alone in the darkened room. Being head of psychiatry at Haven Hills Treatment Facility, Dr. Fiona Haugstad had proved to be a worthy ally and she’d given his organization a perfect cover under the patronage of a church. They could commit and test patients, identify their most promising young targets and operate in complete anonymity, all under the guise of treatment.
Lucas Darby had somehow escaped facility grounds before Fiona had made her final assessment and been justified to transfer him to Ward 8 where she could have complete control over him, in secret and without prying, judgmental eyes. She’d seen enough to know that the drugs he’d been given had masked his full capabilities. The day she had reported her findings, he’d never seen her so excited.
“I did it. I found a Crystal,” she told him.
Fiona acted as if she’d invented the Darby boy. If she proved right about him, though, Lucas Darby had evolved into a Crystal child at the unprecedented age of fifteen. Either the boy had accomplished a remarkable feat or the evolutionary process had escalated and there would be more of his kind to come.
Alexander had to know. The boy had to be tested and studied beyond the usual protocols. The teachings of his church demanded it. This was not the time to doubt or question their long-standing beliefs that mankind should dominate and forestall the rise of this evolutionary mistake. These children were a plague on humanity—a test of man’s faith—nothing more.
He shuddered at the urgency of the situation, but not Fiona. She’d become too blinded by her own achievement and taken full credit for “discovering” him. For whatever reason, because of her efforts, the boy had landed in his lap as if he’d been a gift—one that Alexander wanted back at all cost.
Chapter 9
Griffith Park Zoo
Dusk
“Take a ride with me.” Straddling her bike, Rayne tossed her father’s old helmet to Gabriel and he caught it as he stood in the doorway of the maintenance shed. “I’ve got an idea and I need your help.”
Even though her Harley had announced her arrival, he still took precautions to hide his face under his hoodie. He stayed in the shadows of the shed, not letting the evening light shine on him. In case someone came after him, he could bolt real easy. Seeing his practiced maneuvers made her feel sad for him. She understood him being wary, but it made her all the more curious about why.
It had taken all her pati
ence to wait until dusk to pick him up. She’d done that for him.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
Rayne didn’t miss the fact that Gabriel hadn’t budged from where he stood. He had to be convinced.
“That historical sketch you did. I have an idea where to look for it. You game?” When he shrugged and didn’t say no, she smiled. “Grab your sketch pad, Picasso. We’re gonna need it...and your memory of that vision.”
He tossed back his hoodie and stared at her. Trust definitely didn’t come easy for him, but as he sized her up, Rayne felt heat shoot to her cheeks. She gripped the handlebars as a distraction from his penetrating stare. Rayne had never met anyone like Gabriel. He scared and excited her at the same time. He felt like an adventure—a memory she’d always carry with her—but she had a bad feeling that he lived off the grid for a reason that would always keep her at a distance.
After Gabriel put on his helmet and locked the shed, she watched him walk toward her with his backpack on his shoulders. Every step he took and every move of his muscular arms and legs sent tingles through her stomach. She hadn’t given much thought to what it would mean for him to ride with her. She held her breath as he straddled her bike with his long legs and slipped his big hands onto her hips.
He leaned close to her until she felt the heat of his body on her back. In a low voice, he said, “I’m all yours. Don’t get us killed.”
With a smirk, Rayne gunned the Harley, and when it lurched forward, Gabriel grabbed her waist. On the off-road trail, he held on, but as they hit the winding part of Crystal Springs Drive, Rayne leaned into every curve and waited to see what he would do. When he fought her with an insecure shift of his body, she knew he’d never ridden on the back of a bike before, but as his trust in her mounted, he followed her lead and mirrored her moves. By the time they left Griffith Park and hit a freeway on-ramp, Rayne felt Gabriel relax as he held on to her.
Too bad she couldn’t say the same. The motorcycle engine vibrated every muscle in her body—a fraction of the shudder that he made her feel—for a very different reason.