by R. D. Brady
“I can’t believe you made it out of the plane. When we saw it explode, I—” Her words cut off as the fear and grief she felt replayed in her mind.
“I’m all right, Laney. Just a little banged up. I’ll be good as new in a few days.”
“Thank you for everything. I don’t know how we would have gotten back without you.”
“You would have found a way. From what I can tell, you always do.”
Drake appeared on David’s other side. “Look who’s returned from the dead.”
David sighed with a smile. “Perfect timing.” He pitched forward in a dead faint.
Laney gripped him, keeping him from hitting the ground before Drake swept him up in his arms. “I’ll put him on the couch.”
Drake carried David up the porch stairs as Laney held the door open. Laney smiled, thinking loopy David was going to be annoyed that he had missed out on being carried over the threshold.
Drake laid him on the couch, and Jordan was already there with a blanket to pull over him. He nodded at Laney. “I’ve got this. Jen went for the first aid kit. We’ll keep an eye on him. You go speak with your guests. I’m going to take a trip around the perimeter and make sure they didn’t bring any additional friends with them.”
My guests. Right. Laney turned for the kitchen and stepped in as Cain was pouring coffee for the deputy director of the CIA.
And his mother.
Bruce took a sip of coffee, his gaze meeting Laney’s over the rim of the cup. “I suppose you would like an explanation.”
Laney looked from Bruce to Maldonado to Susan. “Yes, I think that is well overdue.”
CHAPTER 79
Washington, D.C.
This time, Shremp had been ready when the President had tried to call him on the carpet.
The President glared at him over the Resolute desk. “And I hear you ordered a strike on a military plane?”
Shremp straightened his shoulders. “I did. I believe Delaney McPhearson was being smuggled back into the country, and I took decisive action.”
“You shot down a plane over the United States. Who gave you the authority—”
“You did. When you made me the head if the CEI. You should have paid a little more attention to the fine print.”
“I will have you removed—”
“You can’t. Not without a full hearing by Congress, and they do tend to drag their heels on these things. Besides, it won’t exactly make you look like you have a firm grasp on the reins if you admit you knew nothing of it.”
The President narrowed her eyes. “Who exactly do you think you are talking to?”
“A soon to be former President.” Then he turned on his heel and headed out of her office and the White House. Even as he kept his shoulders straight, his gaze straight ahead, he smoldered.
The air had cooled since Shremp had entered the White House. As he stomped back outside, it felt like a slap in the face. Another slap in the face. He waved for his driver to open his door. Without a word to the man, he slid into his seat.
How dare she? He could feel the heat still in his cheeks. He had not been scolded like that since he was a student at St. Mary’s. His ears still felt blistered from the tongue-lashing he’d just received. The President had been furious after Mary Jane McAdams’s press conference. She’d actually been furious before it, but the press event had sent it to all-new heights.
The driver got behind the wheel and turned to him. “Sir?”
“The facility.”
“Yes, sir.” The driver started the car, not needing any more instructions than that.
Shremp stewed in the back seat as they pulled through the exit, leaving the grounds of the White House. The first time he’d ever set foot in the White House, he had felt the power the building contained. And he’d felt like a part of it.
Now, though, he did not feel the same. Oh, he had power, but not enough. The President, she had power. And with an army of Fallen, she would have even more. The United States would be unstoppable. She would be unstoppable.
He settled back in his seat, calm settling over him. Which was why he planned on making sure she never attained the Omni. He had known his methods would cause some difficulties. Of course, he’d thought he would be able to complete the testing with the subject before he was found out. The first round had only been the healing aspect of the Fallen’s skills. It was the later rounds that would have really yielded benefits.
If my people hadn’t let her be taken. He curled his fist. The rescue of the girl had delayed his plans. He could not even blame her rescue on that arrogant McPhearson. She’d been in Italy at the time. But blowing her out of the sky, well, that had been rewarding. At least he’d nipped that little problem in the bud.
And the testing had not been a total loss. It was possible that the blood taken from the subject could offer some insight into their abilities, and more importantly, how to reproduce them.
He picked up the phone and dialed. His aide Adam picked up quickly. “Yes, sir?”
“How did the press conference play?”
Adam hesitated. “Our initial polling indicates a great deal of sympathy for the McAdams family and by extension the Fallen. The images of Molly—”
Shremp cut in with a growl. “You mean the Fallen.”
“Yes, of course. The images of the Fallen have stirred a great deal of public conversation. The majority of the conversations seem to fall on the side of the Fallen, at least young Fallen. And the treatment. People are struggling, it seems, to accept the idea that it is justified.”
“There must be some who support it.”
“Of course, of course. Unfortunately, those individuals tend to be rather extreme in their views: white nationalists, anti-immigration groups, anti-feminist men’s rights groups. Generally, not groups that appeal to the larger demographic.”
Shremp closed his eyes. Damn it. Groups that did not appeal to the larger demographic was a nice way of putting it. Those groups were soundly rejected by the larger population. Anything they supported tended to be automatically and actively rejected by the larger community of people. This was not good.
“We need to find a way to change the narrative. We need to remind people of the horror of the Fallen, remind them how much damage they can do to them and their families. How is the news segment on Samyaza coming?”
“Good. It will actually run tonight. It will highlight the damage she did during her reign and the deaths that are believed to be attributable to her. There is also a segment on the history of Samyaza and the fallen angels that will run on one of the history channels.”
Shremp grunted. It was better than nothing but not by much. “Contact the Pegasus Group. Have them create a campaign that will remind people why we need to control the Fallen.”
“That’s going to cost.”
The Pegasus Group was a public relations firm. They had a way of turning water into wine. Or if necessary, wine back into water. And Adam was right, they did not come cheap. “I know. But we need to change the conversation.”
“How do you want me to pay for it?”
“Take it out of my personal account. But set up an LLC in Delaware. I don’t want anyone tracing it back to me.”
Delaware’s LLC rules were notoriously lax. They did not require the names of the LLC to be publicly available. In fact, individuals could place a lawyer or agent as the face of the company to further lengthen the distance between owner and public acknowledgment.
“Yes, sir.”
“Let me know when you have it set up.” Shremp disconnected the call.
He settled back in his seat, watching the scenery fly by. He was taking risks both politically and financially, but it would all pay off in the end. After all, it was the big risks that resulted in the big rewards.
CHAPTER 80
Inez, Kentucky
Susan Jacobs sat across from Laney, calmly sipping her coffee. Laney looked between her and Bruce. To be honest, she could not see any resemblanc
e. Bruce had brown eyes, Susan bright blue. Bruce’s hair was a light brown bordering on blonde while Susan’s was a rich brown, although that could as easily be the result of a good colorist as much as Mother Nature.
But he was on the short side while she was tall and statuesque. And if she was his mother, she had to be at least seventy, which meant the woman looked incredible for her age. Even their skin tones were different, with Bruce’s being a little darker and more olive than his mother’s.
Bruce took a last bite of pancakes before he pushed away his plate. “Thank you. That was delicious.” He turned to Cain, who stood leaning against the counter. “You are one great chef.”
Laney did not like the speculative look in Bruce’s eyes. But Cain merely raised his own coffee mug, accepting the compliment without words.
“All right, now perhaps you two can start explaining,” Laney said, wanting Bruce’s attention to be anywhere but on Cain.
“All right. Where would you like us to start?” Bruce asked.
“How about how you found us?” Henry said. “And have you told anyone else?”
“No. No one else knows. Only the four of us who were in the car,” Bruce said.
“And how you found us?” Jake asked.
“I’m afraid that was David. He put a small radioactive tracer on you in Italy. He wanted to make sure he could find you if you got separated. Once we found him, we simply followed the tracer here.”
Laney wanted to be mad at him, but he had risked his life to get them here, so she supposed she would give him a pass. At least this time. “How did you find him? Did he contact you?”
Bruce shook his head. “No. In fact, I had no clue as to his whereabouts since he left the Vatican with your uncle. He was not instructed to do that. I have, however, been keeping track of Shremp’s activities. When I heard he had ordered a Blackbird to be blown from the skies, I knew it was David bringing you back into the country.”
“Wait, that was Shremp? He tried to kill us?” Laney asked.
“So it appears. To be honest, I’m surprised. He’s ambitious, immoral, and greedy, but that was a bold move. He must think he’s got something that will protect him politically.”
“Any idea what that is?”
“No.”
“But even with that, how’d you know it was David, Laney, and Drake on the plane?” Jake asked.
Bruce shrugged. “There are only a few people who have access to that plane. A quick check showed there were no scheduled flights for it. And that it took off from Ramstein. It wasn’t hard to deduce that David had led you over the border.”
“Why didn’t you stop Shremp from shooting it down?” Henry asked.
“Because then he would know I was watching him. And besides, that is not as simple to do as one would expect, even for me. So we tracked the plane. When it was shot down, we were quite a distance away. My mother and Maldonado immediately ran for the site after we calculated where any survivors would land.” He nodded to his mother. “My mother was able to grab David before he hit, managing to spare him most of the damage that he would have sustained without her aid.”
Laney raised her eyebrows at that. Susan smiled in response. “I’m spry for my age.”
“So it seems.” Laney looked between her and Bruce. “So how exactly does the son of the leader of the Followers end up being one of the heads of the CIA?”
Bruce started to answer, but Susan put a hand on his, and he automatically went quiet.
Interesting.
“I came into my powers when I was seventeen. At the time, I thought I was the Devil incarnate. You see, I was raised by Followers. We revered the Great Mother and her good deeds. We emulated them where we could. I dedicated myself early on to furthering her mission, and I was being groomed to take over the Followers one day. And then I learned I was a Fallen.”
Susan gripped her mug. “I was devastated. I was terrified. All I knew of Fallen were that they were constantly trying to destroy the good work the Great Mother had tried to build up.”
“They’re not all bad,” Laney said.
Susan smiled. “I know that now. But at the time, we no longer had access to the book. All we had were the stories that came down to us. And in them there was one common theme—the Fallen were the bad guys.”
“So what did you do?” Henry asked.
“I did what anyone in my position would do—I joined the Church. I began the process to become a nun.”
Laney didn’t think she could be more shocked.
Susan shrugged. “I figured if there was any organization that could help me restrain my dark side, it would be the Church, plus I would be able to work for the Followers through the Church.”
“But you didn’t become a nun,” Jake said.
She smiled. “No. A fateful trip to Rome helped me understand more about my nature. I met a group of nuns over there. Incredibly kind, smart women who opened my eyes to the true nature of the Fallen.”
Laney met her gaze.
Susan nodded in response. “Yes. I learned about the European branch of the Followers.”
Bruce’s head snapped up. Apparently, this information was new to him.
“They taught me that being a Fallen did not destine me to be evil. That Fallen, like everyone else, were given the chance to choose every step of their lives, whether to use their gifts for good or evil. With Fallen, though, the temptation to do evil is greater because the rewards can be so much richer, quite literally.
“After my time in Rome, I realized the life of a nun was not for me, but my commitment to the Followers had only deepened. I dedicated my life to spreading her message and working behind the scenes to put people in positions so that one day, if needed, we could aid you.”
Laney looked to Bruce. “Are you a Follower as well?”
He nodded. “Since I was a child. When I came to live with my mother, she began teaching me about the Great Mother.”
“‘Came to live with’?” Henry asked.
Bruce nodded. “I bounced around foster care for the first six years of my life before my mom found me.”
Susan gave his hand a little squeeze. He held on to it as she spoke. “I worried about having my own children, about passing my abilities on. What if I could not keep them from giving in to the temptation? What if they unleashed evil on this world? I couldn’t take the chance, so I never had any biological children.” She smiled. “I have never regretted that choice. As it turns out, my children were already out in the world, just waiting for me to find them.”
Bruce Heller of the CIA had come from a loving family. Laney didn’t know why, but that truly shocked her. She had to admit to having a bias against people who chose that kind of work.
Jordan appeared in the doorway. “More guests are arriving.”
Laney stood up. “Who?”
“Yoni. And—”
Laney.
Laney’s heart leapt, and she blurred from the room and out the front door. Yoni was just stepping out of a black Yukon. Cleo nearly knocked him over in her haste to get out behind him.
“Hey, hey!” Yoni yelled as he grabbed on to the door to keep from falling.
But Cleo bolted past him. She sprinted for Laney. Laney blurred toward Cleo, tackling her and rolling with her on the ground. Cleo nuzzled the side of Laney’s neck as she laughed. “Oh, I missed you so much.”
Moxy and Princess barked, jumping around Laney and Cleo before running excitedly for the porch. Tiger approached, nuzzling Laney from the other side. Laney wrapped her arms around both of them as she sat up. A picture of Nyssa appeared in Laney’s mind. She nodded at Tiger. “She’s all right. She’s upstairs. Go on.”
Tiger sprinted for the house, stopping at the door to rub against Cain, who held the door open for him. Susan and Bruce watched the scene.
Susan’s mouth was slightly open. “I had heard about this ability, but to see it . . .”
“Hey, Lanes.” Yoni walked up.
Laney got to her feet an
d hugged him tightly. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Arizona.”
“I was, but when I heard about the estate I thought I’d come back and check on Dom. I ran into these guys when I was about to climb over the gate. They showed me a back way in.”
“Thank you for finding them. How’s Dom?”
Yoni’s gaze snapped to her, his smile dropping from his face. “You don’t know?”
“Know? Know what?”
“Dom wasn’t there.”
“Wasn’t there? But he never—”
Yoni shook his head. “I—I went over his security tapes. They . . . the government. They took him, Laney. I thought you guys knew. I thought you already had a plan to get him back.”
Oh my God. Laney’s hand flew to her mouth. She’d never imagined they would do that. Dom never left the estate. They thought he’d be safe.
“Where? Where did they take him?”
“I don’t know, Laney. But, Laney, how they treated him . . .” His words drifted off.
Laney felt light-headed. This was her fault. Dom had made the Omni, the Mortus. What if they knew? What if that was why they took him? Her stomach rolled, and she knew she was going to be sick. “We have to find him.”
Bruce stepped forward. “I may be able to help with that.”
CHAPTER 81
Bluefield, Virginia
The man towered over Dom as he lay curled up on the cold floor. “The Omni, Doctor. We know you made it for McPhearson.”
Dom blocked the man’s voice out. He closed his eyes, the events on the estate playing out like a movie in his mind.
Dom paced the large room of the bomb shelter. His hands shook. He could not seem to stop shaking. He had made sure that Henry’s security feeds stayed up all over the estate, making sure they recorded every single thing the agents did when they were on Chandler property. But that meant he saw everything they did to the McAdamses.
He took a shaky breath, wiping at a tear. He still couldn’t believe they had shot Molly. Besides Danny, Molly was the other child that he thought he understood. She was like him. Quiet, shy, but always watching. She was just a sweet, sweet kid. And those agents had shot her down like she was a rabid dog.