Strange Case, an Urban Fantasy (Hyde Book III)

by Stewart, Lauren

  “Good talking to ya, little mouse,” Hyde said. “Remember what I told you.”

  “Shut up!” She yanked the truck door closed so that Justin wouldn’t hear the laughter and called to Landon for help.

  After they cleaned Justin up and gave him something to eat, he sat huddled on the ground of the reception area dressed in Landon’s extra clothes and wrapped in a blanket, his eyes still huge—whites wide from fright, edges red from crying. Eden and Landon sat so close, all of their knees touched.

  They watched him, saying nothing for a long time.

  Eden spoke first, trying to keep her voice calm and quiet. “Why did you come?”

  “Is that what I’ll turn into?” he asked, as if he hadn’t heard her question. “If we can’t find more serum?”

  “We’ll find more.” Fields had a decent supply, but eventually it would run out. So, yes, there was a chance it would happen, but she would make sure it didn’t.

  “What if you can’t? What if there is no more?”

  “There’s more. That’s why we came here—because there’s another facility here.”

  Landon climbed to his feet. “I’ll call Fields and see about a plane ticket for him.”

  “Let me stay!” Justin grabbed his pant leg. “Please.”

  “We can handle it, kid. You’ll be safer with Fields.”

  “Please.”

  “Why did you stowaway?” Eden asked, hearing the desperation in his voice, understanding and recognizing it.

  Tears filled his eyes, his jaw shook, and he shivered despite the hot air and the blanket. Eden glanced up at Landon, silently asking him for more time, enough to hear Justin out.

  “Look, if you don’t have a reason to be here,” Landon said, “then I have no reason to let you stay. As you may have noticed, this isn’t a good place or time for rebellious shit. I already have enough of that to deal with as it is.”

  “I didn’t do it to rebel.”

  “Then why’d you do it?”

  “I heard what they did to Alicia,” Justin said quietly, dropping his head down as if he couldn’t confess something and look at them at the same time. As if he was ashamed. “Fields didn’t know I was there, but I heard every word he said. They were in the living room, and both of them were crying. Fields kept apologizing for not believing her. For believing Alex when she told him it was just a sick fantasy from her Jekyll.” Then he glanced up at Eden. “But it wasn’t. They had her raped. To get her pregnant.”

  “I know. They did a lot of terrible things.” She tried not to think of what they’d done to Alicia too much because it made her nauseous, made her own abuse seem almost paltry in comparison. To be raped by a monster at the goading of those you trusted, all so that they could have a baby. To hold in their arms, to sing lullabies to. And then to strap down and test as if the child were nothing but another lab animal.

  “They’ll be punished for what they did to Alicia, Justin. I promise.”

  He looked at her without more tears, but with a grief that she could barely look upon. “What if it was me?”

  She didn’t get it. Until she did. Until she felt his pain as if it was her own.

  Oh God. She shook her head. “It—” They didn’t know which Hyde had been used to rape and impregnate Alicia. It could have been Justin’s.

  Eden wouldn’t lie. Not because of what she used to believe—you can’t expect others to be honest with you if you’re not honest with them. Because that was bullshit.

  What she believed now was much simpler and more…honest. People lied because they didn’t give a shit about your feelings and because lies got them what they wanted.

  She didn’t lie to Justin because he was strong enough to take it. Even if he wasn’t right now, sugarcoating it wouldn’t help or toughen him up. Being what they were, to live in their world, required a skin so thick that nothing could get through.

  Not to mention that Eden was in a shitty mood about eighteen hours of the day and lying took work, thought, and planning. She needed that energy for other things.

  “We don’t know who it was,” she said, putting her hand on his leg. “But even if it was your Hyde, it wasn’t you. It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Tell that to Alicia.”

  It didn’t matter how many times they said it, he would never truly believe them. So eventually they stopped talking and stepped outside.

  “We need to send him back.” Landon started pacing. “Now. We’ll get him on a plane and make sure Fields keeps him locked up until all of this is over.”

  Sending Justin back would mean forcing him away from his greatest fear. She’d done that. For years. And it didn’t work. Pretending things weren’t what they were and that nothing affected her.

  Eden shook her head. “He should stay. We’ll call Fields so he doesn’t worry, but Justin stays here.” He was so brave for someone so young. Sending him away now would negate that courage. If he didn’t overcome this guilt now, he’d never be able to face who he was.

  “We can’t babysit him, Eden. He’s just another complication.”

  “He’s also another set of hands and eyes. How many trustworthy ones do we have? I count four of each. That’s not enough.” She grabbed Landon’s arm. “I’m not saying we send him out to fight. But he could keep an eye on this place, make sure no one comes inside, and be here if, by some miracle, Mitch comes back without the drug.”

  “You want him to babysit the creature that put that look on his face? Whose greatest pleasure is to terrify a kid?”

  “If Justin doesn’t deal with it, he’ll always be afraid. Not just of Hyde—of himself, of life, of everything. If we push him away now, emotionally, he’ll never come back.”

  “We can worry about that later. Once all of this is over.”

  She was beginning to doubt it would ever be over. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, so we prep him for every scenario. Give him a safe spot, make sure he understands what to do and what not to do. Please, Landon. He thinks he raped someone. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t his fault—he thinks it is. Give him a chance to redeem himself in his own eyes.”

  All of us need that chance.

  After staring at her for a minute that held an eternity, Landon yanked his arm away and stormed back inside. Justin scrambled to his feet, his eyes wary, his hands in front of him.

  “How long until you transform?” Landon yelled.

  Justin looked at Eden uncertainly. But she knew Landon wasn’t going to hurt him. Of course, if she was wrong, she’d take care of it.

  “Don’t look at her. Look at me. How long?”

  The response was so quiet, they had to read his lips. “Tomorrow night.”

  “Shit!” He started pacing again. “I knew it. What would have happened if we made another few stops? You could have been in the damn truck with Hyde when you transformed! What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I want to know.” Justin’s voice picked up speed and volume as he spoke. “I need to know. I was so stupid to trust those people. I know I screwed up, but I had to come. I had to.”

  Landon fumed for another minute. “You’ll be cuffed tomorrow, got it? No soft straps. Cuffs. Because we’re not wasting time trying to find something softer. Then you have three days. Three days. At the end of those three days, you get on a plane and wave goodbye with a big-ass grin on your face. And then, I swear on all that’s holy, if I hear you’ve made as much as an argumentative peep to Fields, you’ll think back on the time you spent in that truck with fondness.”

  “But—”

  “Three days,” Landon said tightly. “Then you’re gone.”

  Justin nodded. “Yeah, fine, whatever.” His shoulders slumped as he said it, turning right back into a teenager.

  “Okay, I’m glad we got that settled.” She turned to Landon. “You want to do the supply run or should I?” As much as she’d like a chance to scope out the area around The Clinic’s Dallas facility, it might be bett
er if Landon had a chance to cool down. On second thought… “You know what? I think I should go while you get things set up here.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You sure?”

  “If I don’t move a little, get some space from him”—she nodded towards the truck—“I’m going to start freaking out. And my freak-outs aren’t fun for any of us.”

  Landon didn’t have to say anything to let her know he agreed. She saw it every time he looked at her. He wasn’t here for her benefit, even though it was one. Someday she’d make it up to him. Make him trust her, like her again.

  But right now she had more important shit to worry about than friendships. She had an organization to take down, a boy to help heal, and a man to bring home from hell.

  She hoped her smile was reassuring. “And I’m going to need all your IDs.”

  Chapter XIV

  Eden’s first stop was the Copy Lobby. Social security cards were easy to doctor, but just in case they ran into someone with experience spotting forgeries, she stuck to making only a few minor improvements. In their brief and purposefully-vague discussion before she left the warehouse, they agreed to change his name as little as possible. Worst case, if flags were raised, it would look like a computer mix-up, not anything more sinister.

  His new identity wouldn’t hold up for long or under close scrutiny. But it was the best they could do with limited supplies, very little time, and absolutely no friends who were criminals. Cop friends are great until you need something illegal done. Hopefully, once Landon was inside, it would only take a day or two for him to find some useful information.

  Switching his names around was the simplest, especially with the design of his Florida driver’s license. All she had to do was add a comma after ‘Landon’ and anyone outside of Florida would assume the Department of Transportation put the last name first.

  He should keep the goatee. The picture she used was current. With more facial hair and a little less weight than he used to have, he looked like a different man. A pretty good-looking one.

  Already feeling quite productive, she tucked the cards of ‘Landon Nicolas into her pocket, whipped up a gushing letter of recommendation from Chief Fuller, had it printed out on fancy paper, and moved on to the next order of business. The one she hadn’t mentioned to Landon because she knew how angry he would be. And it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Although, she wasn’t going to ask for forgiveness either.

  Their plan hinged on Landon getting a job as a security guard for Malvers Labs’ building. Things were already in the works. A friend of a friend of his ex-partner from Atlanta had a friend who worked at the rent-a-cop company that supplied the building’s guards.

  Eden needed more friends…or a friend. A normal one.

  But it was a big jump to assume there would even be an open position. And that had led to Eden realizing what she could do to help. She might not be able to get too close, but she had to do something. It was going to be hard enough to stay on the sidelines once Landon was inside.

  The square was empty when she arrived, everyone having gone home for the day, but she kept her baseball cap pulled down low just in case.

  So this is it. It was nearly as impressive as the Florida facility had been—meaning, not very. The Dallas location was set up in a square, three-story building with square, three-story buildings on either side of it, a fountain and grassy quad in front of them.

  How completely underwhelming. There were no pitchforks or flames anywhere. The lab wasn’t even called ‘The Clinic’ or ‘We Cage and Torture People Inc.’ So there was a chance that it was nothing other than a legitimate business working on legitimate shit.

  But Eden didn’t think so. This was the center of the hive. Finally. She felt it in her bones.

  She walked around the Malvers building and the ones to each side of it, counting exits and ducts big enough to squeeze through, and memorizing the names of every business in the square that was actually a triangle. It was all information they needed to keep in their ‘just in case’ pocket.

  While standing at the southeast corner of the building, she heard a door open and a man’s voice. She held in a cry of pain when her back hit the stucco wall, and then she peeked around the corner.

  Through the slats of the locked fence surrounding a garbage area, she saw a uniformed security guard talking on his cell phone. After tossing a bag into the dumpster, he stopped to have a nasty fight with his girlfriend or wife. Whichever she was, theirs was not a healthy relationship. And Eden was about to make his evening even worse. She waited until he yelled an insulting goodbye and went back into the building.

  Then she moved. With a running start, she vaulted over the fence, landing on top of the dumpster with a bigger noise than she would’ve liked. The thing slid forward slightly as she jumped down. She stopped the door just before it smashed her fingers.

  The door opened into a concrete and metal stairway. The guard’s footsteps and grumbling echoed from a floor or two above her. But it sounded like he was coming down, probably because of the thump she made when she landed on the dumpster.

  Damn it. She should’ve come up with an actual plan. Something. Anything that wouldn’t expose her but that would involve being productive. Because in the last week, the number of her accomplishments was in the negative numbers.

  She slipped outside as the guard came down the last flight of stairs. The space between the dumpster and the fence wasn’t big, but then, neither was she. With her hands on the metal, her whole body tense, she waited.

  This is a terrible idea. What the hell are you doing? Even if there were an answer, there was no time to think of it.

  The door whined as it opened, and the guard whined as he walked out. “That bitch’s voice is never going to leave my head.” He moved from near the door to directly in front of the dumpster. “Making me hear things.”

  Eden shoved the dumpster forward as hard as she could, hearing a crack and a yelp of confusion as it hit him. And then nothing. No sound, no movement, no cries for help.

  Shit. What if she killed him?

  He was half-sitting, half-lying on the ground, completely unconscious. She hoped. After a quick assessment, she felt better. A lot better than he would when he woke up. One of his legs looked broken, maybe a wrist, but he was still alive.

  She wasn’t sure what bothered her more—the lack of adrenaline coursing through her veins or the lack of guilt filling her mind. Her breathing and heart rate had barely sped up. A normal person would be feeling different. Did it mean she was more determined or more callous now? She backed up for a second and then went to check the guard’s pulse again. His uniform didn’t say ‘I work for your enemy’ anywhere on it, but it was still true. She knew it. And she knew the kind of people The Clinic employed.

  Do what you have to. That’s what she promised herself. She had no reason to feel bad—they never did. The guard was still alive, the security company would need to find a replacement, and she hadn’t been seen. Finally, a gain at no cost to Landon, Mitch, or her.

  So, all in all, she’d done something good. She just wasn’t sure that it was right.

  By the time she got back to the warehouse, she’d convinced herself that what happened to the guard was no more than he deserved. He wasn’t going to be put in a cage or tested on, and he’d probably want the drugs he’d get.

  He’ll be fine. And so would she.

  “What the hell took you so long?” Landon asked.

  “I made an extra stop.” Heading directly to the reception area, she raised her arms to show him the multitude of plastic shopping bags she was carrying.

  “Where?” There was trust and then there was trust. And obviously, Landon didn’t have both for her. She didn’t make eye contact until he was standing in front of her and she couldn’t avoid it. Like always, he looked at her through narrowed eyes, suspicious of every word that came out of her mouth.

  “Exactly where you think I went, Landon. Why your voice is a few notche
s lower and your hands are fisted. But I’m fine and no one saw me.”

  He slammed his teeth together, cutting off what he really wanted to say. After a deep breath, he asked, “Why?”

  “To scope out the place.” She pushed her hair out of her face and started unpacking the supplies. “Two rear exits, one leads into a garbage area, fenced but jumpable. Parking garage that probably has an internal entrance.”

  “And what would’ve happened if they saw you? We already have enough problems.”

  “I needed to see it. I know I can’t go inside, but I had to at least see it. Besides, once you’re in, he”—she motioned towards the truck—“and a sixteen-year-old boy are going to be my only company, so it was nice to get out.”

  Actually, she hated every step that brought her back here. She didn’t want to see Hyde, hear him, or sense the hold he had over her. The rage and hate that rolled off him and landed right on her. Seeing him was a constant reminder of who he was holding hostage—the person she wanted more than air. And Justin, as much as she loved him, wasn’t that much easier to be around. He was still shaken by his time in the truck, and she was responsible for that almost as much as he was.

  “You can’t go back, Eden.”

  She nodded, knowing she would. Knowing what she had to tell him next was not going to go over well.

  “On the productive side, I think I just gave you a big boost in your job search. You’re welcome.”

  “Thanks,” he said tentatively. “How’d you manage that?”

  “Since you’re the one who’s going to have all the fun, I wanted to help at least. And you can’t get a job if there are no openings, so…” There was no way to say it without making him furious. “I know for a fact that a position opened up about an hour ago.”

  He stopped moving. “What did you do?”

  “No permanent damage. He’s just going to need a little time to recover.”

  “Jesus, Eden. Are you kidding me?”

  “He worked for them, Landon. Tell me one person who works for them who doesn’t deserve a concussion…or worse. Even Fields got smacked around, and he had an excuse.” She knew Landon considered her relationship with Fields just another unhealthy milestone. He thought that after she’d found out about her own father, she substituted Fields for him without breaking stride. So that she didn’t have to deal with her daddy issues.