From the distance, she watched the other driver squeeze through the window of her car. From the smashed roof, it looked like the car had rolled before landing on its side. The other driver began to climb down the side of the car and lost her footing, fished unsuccessfully for something to break her fall, and landed hard. Once on the ground, the woman looked around, as if dazed.
Arleta ran back down the hill. Before she reached the bottom she yelled, “Are you all right? I’ll call for help.”
“I’m fine.”
Arleta was surprised to see one of the Benandanti she had met at Isabella’s.
“What just happened?”
“I think we’ve been played,” Arleta said. “Isabella had me watching the Sunderlands, and I assume she had you keeping an eye on the soldiers. Somehow they made us.”
“They must be after Sunderland’s research and the lycanthrope DNA.”
Arleta placed her hands on her hips. “This threat is very real. We must eliminate it.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Sunderland Home, East Milmore, Virginia
Bree parked in front of Liam’s apartment building, so glad she hadn’t missed him. He was out front loading luggage into his dad’s rental car.
Liam turned to her as she got out of her car and smiled. When she reached his side he gave her a kiss on the cheek, not fast, not slow, but just right.
“Sorry I’m late. There was a lot of traffic and it took forever.”
He nodded. “So what couldn’t you tell me over the phone?”
“I can’t keep what’s going on in the lab a secret anymore. My dad’s lying to me, and it has something to do with the research. I have to find out why. Two mean army guys showed up at the lab and—”
“Hello, Bree. I didn’t expect to see you here,” Conor said as he trotted down the steps outside the apartment building. He wedged his computer bag between two suitcases and slammed the trunk shut. “Let’s go, Liam. I don’t want to miss our flight. Next one out to North Carolina’s not until tomorrow.”
“Sure thing. Just a minute.” As his dad got into the car, Liam tracked him. Then Liam turned back to Bree. “I’ll help you. Any way I can. Promise me you won’t do anything until I get back. It’s just a few days.”
She shoved her hands into her pocket. “Call me the minute you get home. I have so much to tell you.”
“I’d call you from there if I could, but my da’s pretty sure there isn’t any cell service up in the mountains where the builder found the human remains. I wish there was a way to determine if they were ancient or not without having to go there, that way I wouldn’t have to leave if they weren’t.”
“That’s okay.”
Liam reached into Bree’s pocket and took her hand in his. “If we get a few hours before we head back, my da said we’re stopping at Blowing Rock. It’s this giant cliff that hangs over the Johns River Gorge. It’s like three thousand feet to the bottom, and you can see all the mountains from up there. If my cell works, I’ll give you a call.”
“It’s fine. Really.”
Liam’s dad cranked the engine and leaned out the car window. “Come on.”
“You better get moving.”
“Alright. I’ll see you soon.” Liam gave her a quick hug and slid into the car, and Bree watched them drive off.
She had an awful twisted feeling that something bad would happen to Liam and he’d never come back, but she shook it off. She couldn’t think like that. He wasn’t Troy, and he wasn’t headed off to war. She just had to wait a few days for him to return, that was all.
Days that would seem like forever.
She fished out her cell. “Hey Dad, it’s me.”
“Hi, Bree. Can you hold on a minute?”
“Sure.” In the background she could hear his fingers tapping the computer keyboard. The noise stopped twice, and she figured he paused to check his notes in the black book he kept next to the computer when he worked. He typed more and then sighed. A few seconds later, she heard the faint hum of the printer spitting out page after page. She shifted from foot to foot.
“Everything okay, Dr. Sunderland?” A voice said from a distance on the other end of the phone.
The voice sounded familiar, but Bree couldn’t put a name or a face to it.
“Yeah,” her dad said. “Just fine.”
“Alright then,” the voice said. “I guess I’ll be on my way. Looks like you’ve been real busy. I came by on my rounds before, but you didn’t notice and I didn’t want to bother you none. You must be working on somethin’ real important.”
“I am, Charlie. And thanks for checking. I appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Bree smiled. She liked Charlie, the day security guard. He always made it a point to stop in and say hi.
“Sorry about that, Bree,” her dad said. “Can you hang on another sec? The safe’s open and I was just about to put away my papers when you called.”
“I guess,” she said. Wait—that was weird. He never put his work away until the end of the day—if he didn’t bring it home to work on—so why was the safe open?
“What were you saying, Bree?”
“I’m going to be late getting to the lab. The doctor’s running behind for my physical.” She cringed as the words left her mouth. She hated lying to him.
“That’s fine. I have plenty of work I could finish up without you.”
Like what? What aren’t you telling me, Dad?
“I gotta go,” she said. “They’re calling me. I’ll see you later.” She ended the call without waiting for a response. Her dad wasn’t giving her the answers she wanted, so she’d have to get them on her own.
Chapter Forty
Hilwater, Virginia
Hewitt glanced in the rearview mirror to ensure no one was tailing him. He’d had an odd feeling about it all day, but he saw no one. He made a hard right onto the gravel road leading to an old warehouse converted into a state-of-the-art laboratory and training facility. The car bounced over the marble-like rocks, and Hewitt slowed to maintain control.
At the end of the twisted road, Hewitt pulled behind the warehouse and cut the engine. He checked the mirrors again before climbing out and taking the steps to the door. The buzzer was rusted, and the door hung off one hinge; it squealed loudly when he moved it.
Just inside the decrepit door, Hewitt met one of solid steel, another buzzer beside it. Five quick buzzes, one medium and three long, signaled Parker that it was safe to answer the door. The dark circles under Parker’s eyes and his bird’s nest hair made it look like the scientist hadn’t slept in days, but Hewitt didn’t care. Whatever it took to get the job done.
Parker threw the deadbolt behind them. Then they made their way through a maze of hallways to the lab, deep inside the building. Cameras mounted near the ceiling tracked their approach.
“I think I’m being followed,” Hewitt said.
“By who?”
“I don’t know. It’s sloppy, not military. I’m letting them think they’re getting away with it to reel them in.”
Parker nodded.
“Are we making progress?” Hewitt asked.
“It won’t be long now. I’ve been using Sunderland’s preliminary research to create the serum.”
“Good. Once we convince him to test it on humans—or if Maberry convinces him first—and we know it works, we’ll move on to Phase Two. No more of this going where Uncle Sam tells us, barely ever seeing our families and risking our lives for a few bucks. We’ll be able to take the jobs we want and name our price. We’ll be elite. Effective. And unstoppable.” He drew in a deep breath and then smiled wide. “Hell, the Army can’t crack Datta Khel, but we’ll be able to put boots on the ground in Afghanistan and take it in one day with only a few men.” The pride he felt was unmistakable.
“Sounds like lives will be lost. How are we going to defend that?” Parker asked with a slight hitch in his voice.
&nb
sp; “It’s called collateral damage.”
Chapter Forty-One
Erin fiddled with her Benandanti ring while she waited for Isabella to answer her call.
“Yes,” Isabella said after the fourth ring.
“I’ve been following Hewitt like you asked,” Erin said into her cell. “But other than a stop at a warehouse there’s nothing unusual.”
“Tell me about the warehouse,” Isabella said.
“It’s non-descript. The sign says Yang’s. It could be a Chinese food or a clothing factory for all we know. Why am I watching this guy visit warehouses when we should be watching Sunderland?”
“We each have a role to play in a picture much larger than any of us can conceive. Your role is to stay on Hewitt.”
“But he isn’t doing anything,” Erin said.
“Yet you called me. This must be an unexpected change in his pattern. Correct?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Every new piece of information should be considered suspect.”
Chapter Forty-Two
The Delcore Institute, Rivershire, Virginia
Bree hunched over the table in the lab and jotted down the weight of the control mouse. Only 0.6 grams difference from the day before, and no significant difference from when they had begun the gene therapy on the experimental mice. The experimental mice, on the other hand, had grown in size and gained a lot—up to two grams per day. The mice were big and strong and aggressive. If she hadn’t seen the changes for herself, she never would have believed it. Tucking the pen behind her ear, she removed the last mouse from the cage, weighed it, and put it back on the nest where it had been sleeping before she disturbed it.
A fierce mix of high-pitched screeching broke Bree’s concentration. Across the room, she saw a cage shake and rattle so hard it looked like it would bounce right off the table and onto the floor. “Dad! Come here! Quick.” She ran to the cage.
“What is it?” Her dad rushed into the lab from his office with a pen in hand.
“Louie’s attacking Zach, but it’s not like the other times. They’re screaming and biting—and they’re not stopping.”
Louie dug his claws into Zach’s side, and Zach let out a horrible screech. Then Louie clamped his teeth around Zach’s neck like a gator going for the quick kill and shook and shook and shook. Zach kicked, thrashed, kicked again and again, but Louie refused to release his hold.
“Do something!” Bree pleaded.
Her dad held up a hand to silence her. Then he leaned in closer to observe the mice. “It’s fascinating.”
“It’s awful. He’s gonna kill him.” Bree grabbed a work glove, shoved her hand into it, and opened the cage. Sensing danger, Louie released his bite for an instant. Then he clamped into Zach’s neck even harder.
Bree’s dad grabbed her wrist. “Give me the glove,” he said. “I’ll do it.”
The instant he touched Louie, the mouse turned on him, digging his teeth into the glove but keeping his claws in Zach. He didn’t care that he bit leather, just shook and shook his head like his life depended on it. “Grab one of those transport cages,” her dad said to Bree. “There’s also another glove under the other table. Hurry.”
She held the glove while her dad wiggled his free hand into it. He pried Louie’s claws away from Zach and lifted Louie out of the cage.
Still Louie refused to let go of the glove.
Bree didn’t know what to do first—help her dad, or see to Zach.
“Hold the cage for me,” her dad said, making the decision for her.
With one hand on top of Louie and the other caught in Louie’s grip, her dad moved his hands to the transport cage. Now Louie had both claws and teeth clamped onto the glove. Each time her dad jammed his gloved finger against the corner of Louie’s jaw to force him to release his grip, Louie reestablished a hold before her dad could react.
“He’s not letting go anytime soon,” her dad said. “I think I’m going to have to drop him and the glove into the cage…that is if I can get the glove off with him still holding onto it. If for any reason he gets away, keep track of him but don’t get too close. In fact, why don’t you set up one of those empty cages with some peanut butter just in case he makes a run for it. I don’t want to lose him. He’s too valuable to my research.”
She did as her dad suggested. “All set.” Bree stepped backward but kept her eye on her dad and the mouse.
Her dad whipped Louie and his gloved hand into the empty cage. He took off the glove, turning it nearly inside out with Louie inside. Louie released his hold on the glove and fell into the cage, ran head first at the wall, and smashed into it with his forehead. He repeated it over and over again, only stopping when Bree flung a glob of peanut butter into the cage.
Bree looked back at Zach. He lay motionless on the floor of his cage among blood-stained litter.
“He didn’t suffer,” her dad said. “There are a lot of holes, but it looks like a bite to the jugular did him in.”
Bree couldn’t help feeling sorry for Zach. If it weren’t for their experiment, Zach wouldn’t have died.
“Those sad eyes of yours, they’re so like your mother’s. If I cared for every mouse or rabbit I’ve ever worked with, I’d never be able to conduct my research.”
Bree hung her head. “We were responsible for him.”
“True. And for that I’m sorry.”
Bree took in the carnage in the cage—the scattered nesting material and Zach’s blood-soaked body. “Why did this happen?”
But her dad was already lost in his calculations. “I was right,” he said with raised eyebrows.
“Dad.” She waited until he turned to her. “Why did Louie murder Zach?”
“I was afraid this might happen when I did this. Knew it was a real possibility, but—”
“You knew this could happen and you did it anyway?” Bree’s voice was harsh, unforgiving.
“I hoped I was wrong.” Her dad let out a heavy sigh and rested his hand on top of Zach’s cage. “When I injected the virus with the lycanthrope gene into the muscle tissue, a bit of the virus with the gene must have been carried into the bloodstream and then into the brain where it was expressed. So instead of just creating a super strong mouse, I created a super strong and uncontrollable savage.”
“That’s awful.” Bree studied the female mice, which had also been injected with the gene. “Are they going to become savage too?”
“It’s possible, but I don’t know.”
“You’ve got to stop it.” Bree raised her head and looked at him like he had all the answers in the world.
“I don’t know if I can.”
“But what if you could?” Bree pulled up a stool, remembering all the holes in the bog body. Holes just like Zach’s, only larger. The final blow to the jugular. “Walk me through it, systematically.”
Her dad stared at the caged mice. “If I can find the DNA sequences that only allow the lycanthrope gene to be expressed in muscle tissue—not in brain tissue—then I can add those sequences to the virus and eliminate this problem.”
“But what about the other mice? The ones you already injected with the virus?”
“I’m sorry Bree, but there’s nothing I can do. It could take hours or days, but my best guess is these mice will turn ferocious too.”
Chapter Forty-Three
It was still hovering near eighty when Bree stepped outside with her dad to head home for the day. The sudden heat was a welcome relief from the chill in the lab, although it clung to her skin like it had never left her. As they navigated the parking lot, Bree wondered about Liam: What was he doing right now? Had it been a hard hike to reach the remains? What did he find when he got there? She took out her cell and checked the date. Had it really only been a day since Liam had left? It seemed so much longer.
They stepped around a blue Ford Fiesta and reached her dad’s car. He opened the door for her. “I’ll swing by the house and drop yo
u off and then I’m headed to the supermarket,” he said.
“Sounds good to me. What’s for dinner?”
A woman shot out from between two parked cars before he could answer. “You have to stop the research you’re doing,” she said in an Irish accent. “It’s extremely dangerous.”
Bree’s dad stepped back. “Who are you?”
“Just stop what you’re doing before it’s too late.”
“Too late for what? And how do you know what I’m working on?”
The woman gripped the car door, and Bree couldn’t take her eyes off the woman’s hand.
“I’m warning you. Those who interfere with the line of the wolf will perish.”
Before Bree could ask her mounting questions, the woman had bolted down the street.
Bree pried the car keys from her dad’s white knuckles. “Are you okay?” she asked.
He wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. “She just surprised me, that’s all.”
“One thing’s starting to add up,” Bree said.
“What’s that?”
“Did you see that woman’s ring? It looked just like Kelsi’s.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Sunderland Home, Rivershire, Virginia
Bree had just taken the last swig of her soda when the doorbell rang. The bell rang a second time and then a third. She wondered why people did that—what made them think that annoying someone caused them to move any faster. She placed the soda can on the coffee table, swung her feet to the floor, and tossed the remote onto the sofa.
It took Bree only a minute to pad down the hall and into the foyer, but the bell rang four more times in the interim. Bree peeked past the curtains in the living room on the way to the front door but couldn’t see who was there. An evergreen leaning against the house blocked her view; it must have fallen over the other night in the storm. She’d have to tell her dad about it when he got home, since he probably didn’t notice it either. They always came in through the garage.
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