Derek eyed her incredulously, and then he rose to his feet and went over to his desk. He quickly tapped a number into his phone. “Dr. Bergmann, would you mind coming up to my office for a few minutes?”
Luna’s throat tightened again, and she pulled her inhaler from her purse. Dr. Bergmann was the kind of person she’d so desperately been trying to find before GovCorp caught her going through their files. He used to work for GovCorp’s GV military program, but after he realized the full extent of that program, he risked his life to get out. The scientist went underground and finally joined the Committee in their fight against the corporation just a few weeks ago. As a Committee board member, he was now untouchable for GovCorp. As was Derek.
Fear knotted her stomach. But what if Dr. Bergmann wouldn’t confirm her story? Even the scientists at GovCorp headquarters hadn’t believed her until they examined Lexi. Luna sucked in a breath, and the wheezing sounds prompted Derek to turn around and watch her use her inhaler with a concerned look on his face before he continued speaking to Bergmann. “Do me a favor and bring Aly too.”
Relief spread through her. Aly was another brand-new addition to the Committee team. She was a GV, and she and Luna had already been friends before Derek convinced Aly to come work for the Committee two weeks ago.
Derek ended the call and sat down next to Luna again.
A few moments later, after a short rap on the door, Bergmann peeked inside the room.
Turning in his seat, Derek motioned for the doctor to step closer. “Come in.”
The middle-aged scientist was followed by Aly, who looked fabulous as always in her simple, but elegant cream and white organdy dress that highlighted her tanned complexion and came with knee-high cream boots.
“So, what’s this about?” She stuffed the rest of a slice of pizza into her mouth just to get a small coughing fit when Derek quickly recounted what Luna had done and what she’d already told them.
She squeezed Luna’s shoulder in support before she sat down next to her. “OMG, Luna. They have your sister? I’m so sorry.”
Bergmann took a seat across from Luna and murmured to himself. “A GV hybrid. Impossible.”
Derek’s eyes zoomed in on the scientist. “Did GovCorp ever create a batch of GVs that were able to father children?”
“No, not that I’d know of.” A contemplating look crossed Bergmann’s face. “We did have glitches though.”
Oliver started pacing again. “Glitches, huh?”
Adjusting his maroon jacket, Bergmann leaned forward and asked Luna, “How old is your sister?”
“She just turned eighteen.”
“Eighteen. I see. So, her father must have been one of the early test subjects, then.” He shrugged. “As I said, quite a lot of glitches in the pilot stages.” He shifted in his seat. “Did you ever see your sister’s alleged father? Do you know how old he was?”
Luna pinched the bridge of her nose. “I only saw him twice, but I was a kid. Hard to say, late-twenties probably. Mom never told me anything about him. She usually sneaked out of the house to meet him, but then one day he disappeared, and Mom was heartbroken. I didn’t realize it at that time, but later I thought that he didn’t look too well the last time I saw him. I think he got sick before he disappeared. I guess he managed to escape from GovCorp’s labs.”
Bergmann regarded her closely with knitted eyebrows. “Sounds very unlikely. I never heard that any of the early test subjects made it out of the facilities.” Seemingly lost in thought, he scratched his graying beard. “A GV who could reproduce and get sick. I’ll have to ask around.”
Luna knew Bergmann was in the process of gathering as many scientists and doctors who’d worked for GovCorp and split because they didn’t want to be part of their unethical and mostly unsanctioned research programs anymore. For the thousandth time, Luna wished she’d met Dr. Bergmann earlier. But by the time he joined the Committee, Lexi was already in GovCorp’s clutches.
Adjusting the cuff links of his shirt, Derek rose to his feet. “Okay, Luna. This is what we’ll do. We’ll help you get your sister back, and Dr. Bergmann can take care of her. But I need a full, detailed report about everything you gave away to GovCorp about us and everything they want you to find out.”
Bergmann audibly cleared his throat. “Not so fast. We have no idea what her sister’s medical problem is. I’m grateful for all the new lab equipment downstairs, but I can in no way compete with GovCorp’s facilities and the combined knowledge of their scientists.” He tossed Luna an apologetic look. “I don’t think I’ll be able to help her.”
As she heard the faint voice of her colleagues downstairs counting down the last seconds of the old year, Bergmann’s words wrapped around Luna like a cold, dark cloud of hopelessness that foreboded a miserable New Year. She’d probably lost both Oliver and Lexi today.
From the lobby downstairs, Oliver heard people cheer and wish each other a happy New Year before loud party music drowned out his teammates and colleagues’ excited voices. Oliver’s blood raced faster through his system with every frantic beat of the music. Nobody in this room looked the least bit excited.
Luna sat hunched with her eyes down like a picture of misery, and a tiny part of him wanted to comfort her somehow, but a voice louder than the noise downstairs yelled at him not to falter. She was a traitor, an award-worthy actress who’d never loved him. It was best he faced reality ASAP. If anything she told them was true, he’d help get Lexi out of GovCorp’s clutches. If not, there’d be hell to pay for Luna. His skin started itching, and he picked at his forearm in irritation.
Derek strode up to Oliver and positioned himself in front of him. “You’re starting to shake. Go for a run or something.”
“I know. I’ll hit the fight club later.” His eyes jumped to Luna again. “When we’re finished here.” Oliver had to admit his boss could read his body’s reactions quite well.
Four years ago, Derek was one of the newly formed Committee board members who came to discuss a peaceful solution when Oliver was with the GV resistance. He’d respected Derek instantly, recognizing that he wasn’t a pencil pusher like the rest of the Committee’s representatives. Derek spoke Oliver’s language. He wasn't the kind of man who fucked around. Not the kind who bluffed, either. They kept meeting until the short, but bloody GV rebellion had come to a peaceful end after the government shut down GovCorp’s GV military program. Derek had asked him to work for his Committee team, and Oliver never regretted saying yes.
Leaning forward in his chair, Bergmann redirected Oliver’s messed-up attention to the problem at hand. “I’m not saying I don’t want to help the girl. But I need more information about her medical issues. Her life might depend on it. We don’t want to save her from GovCorp just to watch her die here.”
Luna looked up and readjusted in her seat. “You’re right. I’ve been trying to find a way to get Lexi's medical files. But my access to any of GovCorp’s data is abysmal now at best. I’ve been trying to make friends with a nurse there. Zach works at GovCorp’s private hospital wing where they’re keeping Lexi.”
Zach. The name was like a sucker punch to Oliver’s gut, confirming one of his biggest fears. “Zach, huh? Did you make friends with him the way you did with me? How many others—”
Luna grabbed the edge of the table, and her voice shook as she raised it for the first time since they’d stepped into the office. “No, Oliver. I never pretended feelings for anybody.” Her dark eyes searched his. “Most definitely not for you. GovCorp approached me after they’d found out we’d been seeing each other.”
“When?”
She blinked but didn’t avert her gaze. “About three months ago.”
Oliver could hardly concentrate on her words. His mind was spinning. He couldn’t believe how well she’d played him.
Ironically, Oliver himself had initially infiltrated GovCorp and tried to make friends with employees with access to their IT systems, anybody with access to files. As Luna had worked in human resources at that t
ime, she was one of the first employees he met and kept meeting. It didn’t take long, and he desperately wanted to be friends with her. And more. Way more. But unlike her, he’d come clean about this as soon as they started getting serious.
Derek paced in Luna’s direction. “There’s another thing. Even though you had your reasons to betray us, I’d like to know where you are at all times.”
Unbuttoning her warm coat, Luna met his gaze. “I understand.”
“Good.” Derek marched over to his desk again. He grabbed his phone from the smooth cherry wood surface and made another call, asking if IT could send someone with a tracker scanner to his office.
It didn’t take long, and a young man with shaggy, red hair peeked inside the office after a short rap. He wished everybody a happy New Year, but the corners of his mouth fell fast as he took in the blank faces of the people gathered around the table.
Even Aly returned the phrase with less than her usual sunny attitude while she helped Luna out of her coat and hung it on the rack in the corner of the office.
Derek rose from behind his desk and walked over to Luna. “She’s got a tracker in her shoulder. Can you scan it and let me know what exactly it does? Does it only track movement or is there more to the chip?”
“Sure.” The young man hovered the scanner over Luna’s shoulder, and after a short beep, he nodded. “Got it.”
Derek walked up to him and looked at the display. “All right. Is there a safe way to hack the tracker, so we can access its info?”
The IT guy furrowed his brow. “We’d have to try. It certainly wouldn’t be a problem to just remove it altogether. Would probably be easier.”
Derek shook his head. “No, it needs to stay in place. We can’t alert GovCorp.”
The IT guy regarded Luna with updrawn eyebrows. “I understand. Do you want me to start working on it right away?” He didn’t exactly look too keen on the new task.
Derek placed a hand on his shoulder and walked him to the door. “No, go back to the party. Start in the morning.”
A relieved grin lit up the man’s face. “No prob.”
After he left the office, Aly sat down next to Luna again, compassion lingering in her big blue eyes. Smoothing her long, deliberately lopsided braid with her hand, she asked Luna, “What about your mom? You once told me she died five years ago. Was that true?”
Oliver rubbed the back of his neck. A valid question. He wondered if anything Luna had told him about herself was true.
Readjusting her blouse, Luna shifted in her seat. “Yes. Lexi was thirteen at the time. Mom told me if ever anything happened to Lexi, I could not take her to the hospital but only to a trusted doctor of my mom’s. At first, I thought it was the alcohol talking.” Luna swallowed audibly and added in a lower voice, “She started to drink a lot after Lexi’s father was gone.”
Aly’s brow drew down, as she placed a hand on Luna’s forearm. “How did your mom die?”
“I know what you’re aiming at.” Luna’s dark curls swung lightly as she shook her head. “But I’m pretty sure GovCorp was not involved in her death. She fell down the stairs at home, with a bottle of Jack clutched to her chest.”
Aly nodded. “I’m sorry. And what about your father?”
She shook her head. “He was never in the picture. I have no contact with him.”
Oliver blinked. That was what she’d told him too. Didn’t mean it was the truth though.
Bergmann pulled his phone from his pants’ back pocket and started swiping. “What about that trusted doctor you mentioned? Do you have a name?”
“Yes, Dr. Peters, but that wasn’t his real name. He left GovCorp when the GV program was still in beta testing. He had health problems for a while and died two years ago of a heart attack.”
Bergmann released a long breath and let the phone disappear in his pocket again. “Too bad.”
Luna’s gaze swung to Bergmann. “I’m not sure if he would have been of much help. He’s never seen Lexi. But I know he treated her father.”
Heat engulfed Oliver’s body, and he knew he couldn’t hold it together much longer. He needed to get rid of the excess adrenaline burning through his veins. But first, he wanted more answers from Luna. “What about my altered memories?”
Bergmann’s gaze jumped from Oliver to Luna. “Selective Memory Removal?”
Luna nodded. “Yes, that’s how they referred to it.”
Oliver stepped closer to Bergmann’s chair. “Can it be fixed? Can I get my real memories back?”
Bergmann pressed his lips together for a moment. “It depends. If they were erased, I’d say no. If they were just repressed, there’d be a chance, I guess. But optogenetics and neuroscience are not my fields of expertise.”
Oliver scrubbed at his brow. “Great. Just fucking great.” He threw a pissed look at Luna, and seeing her flinch only spiked his adrenaline further. “I can’t believe I’ve been sleeping with the enemy all this time.”
Hurt filtered through her voice as she implored him with her black-brown eyes. “I’m on your side, Oliver. I didn't fake my feelings for you. I love—”
Her words were a slap to all his senses. “Don't! Don't you dare! What you did had nothing to do with love.”
“They found out early on you worked for the Committee, they had drones on you. I didn’t rat you or anybody else from the Committee out.” Her pleading eyes drilled into his, but he was too furious to listen to her any longer.
On his way to the door, he threw a quick glance at Derek. “I can’t be around her now.” The last thing he saw before the door closed behind him was Derek nodding in grim agreement, while Aly put an arm around Luna’s shaking shoulders.
Nudging an empty moving box with her feet, Luna watched photos of her and Oliver on the electronic picture frame on top of the living room sideboard. It had been four long weeks since she saw him last. Derek had decided to send him to Mexico to help their teammates Cruz and Sela with getting the Committee’s new Mexico City station on its feet.
Derek found Oliver needed physical distance to calm down. Distance from her, most of all.
She paused the sequence as her favorite photo of them, a selfie he took back in August, filled the screen. It was one of the rare real pictures of them. Most of the other ones were supposedly taken on Barbados, but they were fake. They’d never been on the island. The happy private wedding and honeymoon in the Caribbean were nothing but beautiful illusions. And her own mind was forever vitriolized with the ugly truth. Those memories had been painfully force-fed to Oliver while he lay stretched out on a steel gurney in GovCorp’s lab.
The scientist responsible for turning Oliver, Jake, and countless other GV’s into bloodthirsty rogues ate a bullet for that, but his successor, Dr. Fry soon turned out not to be any better. He’d cured Oliver of the rogue addiction, but he erased some of his memories of the night he was captured and turned. They would have revealed her involvement with GovCorp. Instead, Oliver received weeks of fake memories including his proposal and their decision to get hitched without telling any of their friends and teammates.
The sound of a car pulling up to the curb wrenched her back to reality. Shading her eyes against the early afternoon sun, she checked the window. A black Committee SUV pulled into the driveway.
Oliver. Her heart jumped. Was he ready to talk?
She left him alone the first week he was gone, but then she couldn’t take it anymore and wrote him a message, explaining everything that had really happened since GovCorp had screwed with his memories. But she didn’t get any response, and she honestly hadn’t really expected one. She doubted he’d read her message if he was still as pissed as he’d been when she’d last seen him on New Year’s. His disgusted look before he left had felt like a million pinpricks on her skin. But the pain in his eyes had hurt the most. Aly’s words rang in her head. “Give him time to cool off. He'll come around, and then you can talk.”
Luna hastily stepped outside on the front porch, where she’d al
ready put one moving box and a small bamboo planter to take to the studio apartment at the Committee compound that had been assigned to her.
Rounding the SUV’s hood, Oliver headed straight toward her. His olive long-sleeve shirt and charcoal cargoes only highlighted his muscular physique.
Her stupid heart pounded against her rib cage just like he used to pound up the three steps to the front porch before he’d pull her in his arms for a bear hug. But that was last year, and his grim expression combined with the way he came to a halt a few feet away from her confirmed that he had not the slightest intention of even touching her in greeting.
“Oliver. I don’t know if you got my message, but I wanted to tell you again—”
“Yeah, you're sorry. I don’t care.” His tone was just as icy as the sudden gust of wind that tore at her hair.
“No, of course, you don't.” She couldn't look him in the eye. Nothing had changed, he was still mad at her. And rightfully so. Her gaze drifted down his body, lingering for a second at his V-scars.
He followed her gaze and looked at his scars. “Don't you dare make this a GV thing now.”
She shook her head and steadied her voice. “I’d never. You should know better. I meant you have no reason to care anymore.”
“I obviously don’t know shit about you.” He held out the envelope he’d been carrying. “Whatever. I only came by to drop this.” His eyes flicked to the weak winter sun that stood halfway on the horizon. “Derek said you’d be here to clear the house.”
“I got a day off today.” Reluctantly, she reached for the ominous envelope and opened the flap. She pulled out the packet of paper inside and gasped. She held three sets of divorce papers.
He scanned the neighborhood, not bothering to meet her eyes. “Divorce papers are simple; you keep yours, I keep mine. Just sign them and send them to my lawyer. The address is in the envelope.”
She’d hoped that with time, they’d have a chance to at least talk everything over. She hadn’t expected him to go for a divorce right away. And what if GovCorp found out?
Adrenaline Heat (The Deadly DNA Series Book 2) Page 3