by Maddie Wade
Lucy answered the phone, “Hello!”
“Lucy!” Lucy’s heart beat faster.
“Roz.”
“Are you at Fortis?”
“Yes, why?”
“I need you and Zack to meet me in thirty minutes at the entrance to Belmont Abbey. Only you two, nobody else.”
“No I want Jace there,” Lucy said determinedly. She wanted Jace with her for this. Not that she thought Roz would really hurt her, but she hadn’t stayed alive this long by being stupid,”
“Still pushing your luck, I see Luce,” Roz said, and Lucy heard her blow out a breath. Fine bring your boyfriend, but nobody else.”
Lucy would have replied, but she Roz had already hung up. She looked at the expectant faces around her. “She wants to meet at Belmont Abbey in thirty minutes. Just me, Zack, and you Jace.”
“Did she say what she wants,” Zack asked.
Lucy shook her head, “No.”
“Fine, I guess I can wait in the car,” Dane said.
Lucy shook her head again, “No, she won’t like that, and I have a feeling she knows something about Lizzie. We can’t risk pissing her off. You need to stay here and be ready in case she has news.”
Lucy could see Dane’s jaw clench and knew he was about to argue but he stopped and seemed to reign himself in. “Fine, call me as soon as you know anything, okay.”
“I will,” Lucy answered and smiled at him.
“Be careful Bratfink and you two,” he pointed at Jace and Zack, “you two better watch her back.”
Jace who was typically laid back and relaxed, stepped up to Dane and got in his face. He went toe to toe with her brother, and as she went to step in Zack grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“This is getting old, bro. When are you going to get it? You’re not the only one who loves Lucy. You’re not the only one who has been through shit. I don’t need you telling me to watch her back.” He pointed at Lucy, “That woman right there owns me, she owns every bit of me that counts. Do you honestly think I wouldn’t die for her? I can hardly breathe when we’re apart. So, don’t fucking tell me to watch her back because I never fucking stop.” Jace enunciated every word with a poke to Dane’s chest.
Dane had gone purple with rage as Jace poked him. “She was my sister before she was yours,” Dane said, “I have always protected her.”
Jace shook his head, “Yeah fucking great job you did too,” he muttered and at Dane lost it. Lucy saw the hit coming before anyone else. Fucking boneheaded men.
Dane swung at Jace and landed a right hook to his cheek. Lucy winced but didn’t try to stop them. If they wanted to be assholes, she wasn’t going to interfere. Frankly, she was sick of it. Sick of everyone thinking she needed taking care of. Bracing her hands on her hips, she watched the two men she loved most in the world go at it.
Jace and Dane were rolling around and swinging at each other, and both were grunting as they landed punch after punch to the other. They were so well matched that neither was getting the upper hand.
Zin walked in, stopped, and looked away from the brawling children on the floor to her and Zack, who nodded. He and Zin pulled the two men apart, but Lucy didn’t want to hear their excuses. If they wanted to fight over pissing rights, then fuck them both. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it. If that meant on her own then so be it.
She slipped out of the room quietly as the men behind her carried on, hurling insults.
She would do this alone as she always had.
~~~
“You don’t fucking deserve her,” Dane said.
“I know that dickhead,” Jace replied. “But at least she sleeps peacefully now,” he blurted, and he pushed Zin off him. “I’m good, you can let go,” Jace paced away, shoving his fingers through his hair and casting a pained look towards where Lucy had been.
“What do you mean she sleeps peacefully now?” Dane asked as he slumped to the floor.
“You need to ask Lucy that. Speaking of Lucy, where is she?” he said and twisted his whole body to look round the room. Then he noticed her bag was gone.
Jace saw Zack signal Zin and he went to move too. Zack pointed the finger at him, and his eyes were clouded with anger, “Stay the fuck there. Zin will go with Lucy and I to meet Roz; you can stay here and fix this mess you both made,” Zack almost snarled.
No way was Jace staying put when Lucy needed him, and he told Zack so. “No way, she needs me.”
Zack walked up to him, but turned to include Dane in what he was about to say. “Do you honestly think that after witnessing the two men she cares about most trying to tear chunks out of each other, instead of having her back, that she wants to see either of you right now? You blew it. Now was the time to step up and show Lucy you could both stand by her side. Instead, you fought over her like she was a piece of meat. I’ve a good mind to bench you both from this investigation and if Jack weren't on his way to the states right now with his team, I would,” Zack turned away, and the agitation on his face was real.
Jace said nothing; he looked at Dane who looked defeated. He knew Zack was right. What had they been thinking? They both loved her and this wasn’t a competition.
“I’m leaving to watch the back of one of the best operatives I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. If you two haven’t worked out by the time we get back, then believe me when I say, You. Will. Be. Gone,” with that he shoved through the door and was gone.
~~~
Jace walked to Dane a slumped down next to him. He rubbed his jaw where Dane had hit him and knew he would have a black eye by the next morning.
“Why can’t Luce sleep?” Dane asked softly and looked at Jace.
Jace looked at his friend and shook his head, “I told you has dreams.”
“What about?”
“Her past, your past, your mum, Megan. She is messed up over it brother.”
Dane nodded and looked down. “I suspected, but I never wanted to open old wounds,” he said and looked into space.
“They aren’t old, they’re still open and festering,” Jace replied. “I tried to get her to open up, but she just puts up barriers. I won’t stop trying to help her, but I need your help. We can’t do this to her,” he said and waved his hand out in front of him.
Dane was silent for a minute, and both men just sat deep in their own heads. Dane stood and turned to look at Jace. He held out a hand, and Jace grasped it. Pulling him up, Dane looked into Jace’s face. “I’ve got your back. I won’t behave like this again,” he said. “And anyway, you punch like a pussy, my sister, however, does not, and I have a feeling we have both earned ourselves an ass kicking from her.”
Jace laughed, and the two men did the one shoulder man hug. They walked to the door and were met by Will, who came barrelling through as if his ass was on fire.
“We’ve just had two confirmed cases of sudden onset abilities followed by a sudden development of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.
“Fuck,” Jace said and shook his head.
“That’s not all, the Eidolon lab called and the men found dumped in Surrey had large amounts of drugs in their system, the main of which was Ketamine.”
“Shit wasn’t that one of the drugs taken out of production a few years ago, by that large Pharmaceuticals Company because people started having really bad side effects?” Dane asked.
“Yes, and guess who owned it” Will asked his floppy hair falling into his eyes has he practically bounced on the spot.
“Elliot fucking Henderson,” Jace replied and frowned.
Will put up his hand for a high –five, “Exactamundo,” he replied, and his face fell when both men left him hanging. “Seriously what does Lucy see in you?” he asked Jace, who rolled his eyes.
“Fuck off emo boy,” Jace replied and punched his cousin in the arm.
“Back to business. We need to follow this up and see if we can find if there were any of the scientists who worked on it still working for Henderson,” Dane said.
Will
looked at Dane in disdain, “Please, I already did, and yes a woman called Margo worked on it and still works for him.”
“Margo, Margo, I know that name,” Dane said excitedly and walked towards the tech room as Jace and Will followed.
They watched as he keyed up the file from Terry Griffiths.
“What?” said Jace feeling the room build with the feeling that that this was going to break wide open.
Dane put up a hand to silence him. “Hang on,” he clipped. Jace reigned in his impatience and waited. “Yes, here. Margo is the scientist who tried to get Claire on the drugs trial. She is a Divine Watcher according to Drew.”
Dane swivelled his chair and spoke to Will, “Find everything you can on her now and I want a picture. Jace, we need to go over the units Will flagged in Surrey but see if any belong to any of the names related to this case, not just Elliot Henderson.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lucy was livid, fucking men fighting when her sisters were out there scared and in danger. Just went to show if you wanted something doing do it yourself or ask a woman. Honestly, it was a wonder they could get up in the morning they were so stupid.
Zack and Zin hadn’t said a thing as they joined her in the car. Both knew her well enough to know when to keep schtum. She cast the two idiots from her mind and concentrated on the road as Zack drove.
It was dark now at only 5 pm. The entrance to the Abbey was steeped in fog and surrounded by giant oak trees. Honestly, it couldn’t get any creepier if Alfred Hitchcock walked down the road in a black cloak.
Roz had been clever to pick this place, and it was clear she had done her homework before she called Lucy. This was the perfect place for cover or an ambush depending what she wanted. Lucy silently prayed it was cover.
Lucy would have used this place herself, and it was that that made her feel it wasn’t a take-down. She wasn’t sure how Roz would handle Zin being there though, she didn’t like surprises, and he hadn’t seemed pleased about it either.
Parking in the now empty car park Zack put the car in neutral and left the engine on. “Did she say what she wanted?”
“No just to meet here,” Luce replied to Zack’s question.
“Okay make sure you all have your weapons on you. This woman is not to be trusted,” Zack answered, and Luce was sure she heard Zin growl. She swivelled her head to look at him, but his face was an impassive wall of nothing.
She knew him though, and he had that eye tick thing he got when he was seriously pissed. What the hell had crawled up his ass.
“You do remember I worked for this woman for nearly five years Zack,” she said turning her eyes on him.
“You do remember she threatened to kill you don’t you Lucy,” he mimicked.
“She won’t kill me; I don’t think,” Lucy aid sounding completely uncaring of the threat.
“Look,” Zin said and pointed to an exit sign by the side door of the ancient Abbey. It was a beautiful building and dated back to the 1850s when the English and Welsh Benedictine founded it in exile.
Lucy followed his tipped chin and saw the woman who had been her mentor and friend and efficiently made her the woman she was today. Without her, Lucy would have been stuck in a boring job and never worked for Fortis or done all the things she had for National Security. It filled her with pain to think of the way they had ended that friendship. But she had known that Roz would take it hard and be completely unforgiving. It was her way. She was the single most deadly and cold person Lucy had ever known, but once you became her girl, you had her loyalty and protection until the day you died, or in her case, the day you walked away and she saw it as a betrayal.
Lucy slowly opened her door as did Zack and Zin. She put her hands up and out in front of her. Roz was stood with her hands in her jean pockets, her leather jacket open despite the cold. Roz had never felt the cold, and it made Lucy wonder if maybe she really did have ice running through her veins.
She stopped about six feet away, “Roz,” she watched as Roz looked her over and then her eyes swung to Zack briefly before resting on Zin. Her eyes went hard and frosty.
“Why is he here? That wasn’t the deal.”
“I know, but something came up with Jace and we had to bring Zin,” Lucy replied.
Roz looked at Zin and then spoke in Russian. “Вы смотрите хорошо мышонок,” (You look well little mouse) she said and tilted her head as she looked at him. Zin snorted, and Lucy watched him as he regarded Roz. God, she wished she spoke Russian.
“Это было долгое время, поскольку кто позвонил мне, что,” (It has been a long time since anyone called me that) he replied a minuscule smile is playing at his lips.
“Вы не должны быть здесь,” (You should not be here.)
“У меня не было выбора,” (I had no choice)
“Всегда есть выбор,” (There is always a choice) Roz answered in an angry voice.
“Он мертв,” (He is dead) Zin replied, and Lucy was fascinated by the exchange, she turned to Zack and found him watching too.
“Угроза его никогда не будет мертв,” (The threat of him will never be dead) Roz said and turned to Lucy.
“I’ve had word that they are keeping both of your sisters at a facility in Camberley which is far west of Surrey,” Lucy felt her pulse spike and the need to run to her car and drive to Surrey was almost overpowering.
“You will need to do your own surveillance but I can tell you it is heavily fortified, and there are innocents inside other than your sisters,”
“How do you know this?” Lucy asked her old mentor.
Roz stepped closer to her then her head came up, and she looked around her, listening. “Come on Raven you know I won’t tell you that. You gave up your privileges when you walked away.” Roz stroked her cheek. “But I had a fondness for you so that I will help,” she finished on a rush and pulled away. The softness was gone from her face, and focus now filled her eyes. “I have an asset on the inside, and they have told me that activity has increased and widespread testing on innocents will start soon. Some of the test subjects have had some bad reactions and died, but that won’t stop them. They are highly focused on the end-result. Other than that, I have no idea of a timeline, but I’m guessing you won’t want them there any longer than necessary.”
“Who is the asset?” Lucy asked.
“Nobody you know,” Roz replied.
“Are my sisters okay?” Lucy asked.
“They are fine; my source tells me they are being treated very well, and no drugs have been tested on them,” Lucy felt relief flood her and she let out a shaky breath.
Roz slowly reached into her jacket pocket, “This is the address. I suggest you check it out.” Lucy took it and put it in her pocket.
“Thank you, Roz; I won’t forget this.”
“I know you won’t because I won’t let you,” the woman replied, and Lucy felt Zack stiffen at her back.
“Hang on a minute, that wasn’t the deal,” Zack spoke, his voice angry. Roz switched her attention to Zack. Oh, shit this wasn’t good.
“Lucy, you and Zin go. I need to speak to Zack a moment in private,” Lucy automatically stepped back to protect Zack and Roz laughed. “I promise not to kill him, well not today,” she laughed.
Zack touched a hand to her shoulder, “Go, Luce, I can handle Roz,” he said snidely, and Roz laughed out loud. Lucy looked between then and then followed Zin to the car.
~~~
Zack faced Roz and watched as she watched Lucy leave. The look on her face was poignant; almost sad.
“She looks well,” she said, and Zack nodded,
“She is, and she will be better when her sister is home,”
Roz turned to face him. “My team will offer assistance. Once Zenobi always Zenobi. We look after our own.”
“You threatened to kill her and what was that with Zin?” he asked calmly.
Zack tried to figure out what was going on with them but his Russian wasn’t good, and all he managed to picked up was ‘fish’ and ‘dead’.
“You know I would never hurt her, and the thing with Zin was me trying out my Russian,” Zack cocked a brow in disbelief. Roz never did anything without a reason, and he didn’t believe that line about practising her Russian.
“You should tell her what you did. She thinks she killed that innocent man.”
“No, she must never know I helped her leave Zenobi. Lucy was never cut out to be one of us,” Roz looked towards the car, “and yet she was the best of us. Her heart is too whole and big to do what we do. Being technically brilliant is not enough, you have to have nothing left to live for, and Lucy has so much to live for.”
Zack wondered what had happened to this woman to make her feel like she had nothing to live for. He didn’t know, but he would be forever grateful that Zenobi and Lucy had saved him. He guessed that was why he had a soft spot for her plus Roz was right, Lucy was a brilliant operative.
“You’re probably right,” he nodded, “You can tell your girl to take me out of her sights now,” he said as he walked away towards the car. He heard Roz chuckle behind him and saw her lift her hand.
“We’ll be in touch,” Roz shouted, and when Zack turned around, she was gone. Like fucking ghosts. The Divine Watchers wouldn’t know what hit them.
Chapter Twenty-Six
She sat on the white hospital bed in the bland room that was her prison. The walls were bare and painted white. There was a small table in the corner with a chair. Both were screwed to the floor. Lizzie was relieved they had left her with a clock, the thought of not knowing the time freaked her out for some reason.
They nurse that brought her food and had been doing her checks was meek and quiet and wouldn’t meet her eyes. The woman checked her blood pressure and temperature daily, and she had had two lots of bloods taken. The food was bland but seemed healthy and edible.