“She’s right,” Dad said. “The CIA agents who are working with Edmund might want to build their own super army. But think about when other parts of the human government find out about us. They won’t hunt us down to use us for whatever plan they might have. They’ll hunt us down and kill us. And think of the radicals that will be afraid of us. We don’t exactly have a great starting point given all the folklore that humans have read about vampires.”
One by one, she eyed each of us. “I don’t know where Edmund is.”
See if she’s telling the truth, Dad said telepathically.
I placed my hand on her warm wrist and continued my quest to get answers. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, then dove into her mind. I twitched as I quickly passed memories of her childhood. She played dolls with her sister and watched her father beat her mom. I shivered at how brutal her father had been. Out of nowhere, I was falling into a tunnel. These memories were full of sunlight and images of Nicki seducing Matthew and the human we rescued who was now dead. She even seduced the Secretary of the Navy before she killed him.
My eyes flew open.
Webb was on his knees in front of me, wiping away the sweat sliding down my temples with the pads of his warm fingers. “You’ve had enough.”
I understood why my dad was exhausted from reading minds all night.
Nicki slouched in her seat as though she had just read someone’s mind. “So now you know.”
“That I do.”
Hollings hunched over slightly as though he was ready to pounce. “Well, are you going to tell us?”
I puffed out my cheeks. I should have been blurting out that my father was innocent, which I had highly suspected, but I was trying hard to calm my mind from the wild ride Nicki had taken me on. For some odd reason, seeing her father slap, punch, and kick her mom brought back memories of when I was in foster care. I’d seen one too many men beat their wives, and it always triggered an uneasy feeling, even more so when I became a victim.
I touched my left cheek. The scar was barely visible, but the memory was crystal clear. Suddenly, I was propelled back to that night I’d been alone in my room, waiting on Sam to return home, when my foster dad had snuck in. His stench smelled of booze and cigarettes. His breath reeked of alcohol. His jagged teeth had crud lodged between them. His hands were the size of bear paws as he had touched my legs, inch by inch, until his calloused hands had been replaced by a cold steel blade.
Webb’s warm fingers wrapped around my wrist. “Angel.”
That horrible and painful night faded until I was staring at the most handsome creature I’d ever laid eyes on.
“You’re thinking of that night you got that scar.” Webb gently tried to pull my fingers from my cheek, where Cliff had stabbed me.
I slowly lowered my arm. My dad’s eyes were in full vampire mode, almost glowing with anger. After I’d told Dad what had happened to me, we’d never spoken about the incident again. Regardless, as I sat next to Nicki, I wanted to reach over and squeeze her hand. I’d only seen one memory of her abusive father. But I would bet she’d been a victim of his abuse.
I gave myself a quick mental pep talk. I was there to get answers, not to delve into my past that had no place in my new world.
I sucked in air, planting on a smile as I touched Webb’s rough jaw. “I’m good.”
He searched my face as his eyes flickered between blue and black. “No more reading minds today or maybe ever.”
I nodded. “No more today.” I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t read another mind again. Sometimes when I touched people, I had no control over probing their thoughts. Some memories just flashed brightly the instant I touched a person.
Hollings clucked his tongue. “Are we ready to get back to the task at hand?”
Dad retracted his fangs, his anger no longer evident. “Jo, what did Nicki show you?”
“I showed her how I killed the Secretary of the Navy.” Nicki’s words rushed out as though she didn’t want me to divulge any memories that weren’t pertinent to why she was there.
My father groaned out a sigh.
Hollings lifted his eyebrows. “You?”
Nicki sneered at Hollings. “It’s called seduction. A man will do anything with a woman on his lap.”
Webb straightened to his full height as he folded his arms over his chest. “Why did Edmund want him dead?”
Her expression softened. “It wasn’t Edmund. Agent Thomas with the CIA wanted the secretary out of the picture because he believed in building the military with strong men and women but not something that wasn’t human.”
“And his son?” Dad asked.
“A guy who overheard too much and wanted to try his hand at becoming a vampire,” Nicki said.
“So how did the CIA get involved with Edmund?” Hollings’s deep tone reminded me of when he was presiding over my murder trial.
Nicki shifted in her seat. “It was never Edmund. Patrick knows Agent Thomas. Patrick’s goal has always been to sell his research to the government, but he didn’t have much research when Edmund recruited him. Since then, Patrick has convinced Edmund to bring in the CIA so the human government could fund the labs, equipment, and all the material needed to test. And as far as I’m aware, the agents Thomas and Wyman are the only two who are involved from the CIA.”
“And you don’t know where Edmund or my uncle Patrick is now?” I asked.
She swung her gaze around the room before settling on Webb, who stood near me. “Before I answer any more questions, I want to make a deal.”
Hollings pushed off the table as though he wanted to strangle Nicki.
My dad caught him. “Greg, she’s our only resource in getting closer to Edmund. Why don’t you take a break? I’ll fill you in later.”
Hollings growled as he crossed the room and left. Immediately, the air thinned out as though someone had stuck a pin in a balloon.
Dad settled on Nicki’s left. “Talk.”
“I want my sister taken care of, which means you pay for her boarding school tuition. I also don’t want my memories of my sister wiped.” She turned to me with pleading gray eyes. “Not even the bad ones with my asshole father. They keep me grounded.”
Webb and Dad exchanged a puzzled look.
“Done,” Dad said. “Now tell us everything about Edmund’s operation.”
Nicki slumped her shoulders. “I suspect Edmund is in Alaska. When he ran from the funeral home, I lost track of him. With Kate out of the picture, I suspect Edmund didn’t want me anymore. He and I had been arguing a lot lately, and I didn’t agree with some of the bonehead tactics he’d used, like the lab on the Indian reservation and keeping Sam and Jo alive.”
Webb grumbled at her last statement. Dad didn’t flinch, and neither did I.
“You know he kept us alive because he wanted to bargain with my father,” I said. It didn’t bother me that she’d wanted me dead. The feeling was mutual, although death was easy, and Nicki didn’t deserve easy. She should be punished for all the wrong she’d done.
“And that’s when Edmund changed. When he learned he had a daughter, he got furious with Kate. He accused her of keeping that big news a secret. He believed she knew. I knew she didn’t. If Kate had known about his daughter, then she would’ve done everything in her power to get the little girl for him.”
My dad pinched his chin. “Who sent the dagger with my DNA to the council’s headquarters?”
“Edmund,” Nicki said. “He had some leftover blood of yours and came up with a plan to get you out of the picture. So he could get his daughter.”
“He doesn’t know where she is,” Dad said.
“But he does know her mother,” Nicki said. “And with you out of the picture, Rachel would be more vulnerable.”
I’d been wrong to think Edmund wanted my father out of the picture to gain power.
“Son of a bitch,” Dad barked. “So Rachel does know where Edmund is. He lured her to him.”
“Where’s Abbey?” I
asked.
“With Olivia,” Webb said. “Nicki, where is Edmund’s operation in Alaska?”
“With the help of the government, Edmund and Patrick built a large-scale lab in an abandoned warehouse not far from the airport in Anchorage.”
The door creaked opened. Tripp ambled in, dressed in his black cargo uniform that oozed badass power. A dagger was strapped to each leg, muscles bulged beneath a tight-fitting T-shirt, and a ponytail was tied at his nape. “Mr. Jackson is awake.”
“Tripp, take Nicki back to her cell,” Dad said.
After unlocking her from the chair, Tripp tied her arms behind her back with a set of cobalt cuffs. Then he gripped her arm. Her eyelids grew heavy. I knew that feeling of weightlessness that occurred every time Tripp touched me with his valium-induced touch.
“Wait.” I hopped up. “Nicki, why would you kill someone you love?” I’d read her mind and saw that if she couldn’t have Webb, then no one could, but that didn’t make sense to me.
Webb wrapped an arm around me.
She set gray eyes on Webb. “Honestly, I loved your sister more. I would have done anything she wanted me to. And she wanted you dead.”
As soon as Tripp ushered Nicki out, the three of us sighed. I needed blood. I needed to take a quick catnap, and I needed to hug on Webb for a while.
“Why don’t you both see how Mr. Jackson is doing,” Dad said. “I have to find Hollings. Considering Nicki’s confession, I want to make sure I’m not headed back to Boston. We have much work to do.”
“Let’s get Crysta to Alaska to do some recon,” Webb said. “She’s a private detective, and Edmund would never suspect a wolf sniffing around.”
“Make it happen.” Dad crossed the room. “Oh, and until we settle our score with Edmund, I don’t want Nicki’s memories of him wiped. We might still need her help.” Then Dad was out the door.
“So I guess we can’t make out for a week and not get out of bed,” I teased.
Webb tunneled his fingers through my hair. “Given what Nicki told us, we will be married sooner than we expected.” He delivered his words with surety.
I wanted to suck up all his confidence, but a part of me couldn’t. Edmund had slipped through our fingers one too many times.
I peered up at him. “You realize I have to kill Edmund.”
He mashed his lips together. “You believe the old man in your dream?”
“Yes. He said I would be the one to kill Edmund.”
In my mind, that meant I had to.
12
Webb
I sat in my office, surfing the multiple web pages on agents Thomas and Wyman. Sawyer had done some digging in the last three days since we had interrogated Nicki. With our security clearances, we had access to top-secret information that we handled within our small SEAL community. However, CIA records weren’t ones we could tap into, but Sawyer had mad computer skills. He’d found a back door into the CIA system.
Two pictures showing Thomas and Wyman were lined side by side on my screen. Thomas was a man in his fifties with graying hair and yellow teeth. Wyman, on the other hand, I guessed to be about ten years younger than Thomas with pitch-black hair and even darker eyes. Upon first glance, Wyman could pass for a vampire, but I doubted that any vampires worked for the CIA. The vampire SEAL teams were the only known supernatural beings among the military, at least according to the council of elders. That had been one of my main questions when I’d enlisted in the military. I hadn’t broached the subject of supernatural beings until I’d met Steven. And if Steven could convince the top echelon of the human government that a small team of super strong men and women could handle any type of mission, then Edmund could as well.
Our problem wasn’t so much the CIA and their knowledge of vampires as it was of our existence leaking out to more humans within the government. We couldn’t become lab rats or hunted animals.
Tripp knocked on the doorjamb. “You got a minute?”
I slid my laptop over to the side. “Come in.”
Tripp seated himself in one of the two metal chairs that were in front of my desk. “When are you going to clean your office? You’ve got dust on your shelves ten miles high.”
“When my priorities are not trying to keep everyone alive.” I didn’t care that the bookcases beneath the corner window were covered in dust and who knew what else, or that the pictures of the aircraft carriers and fighter jets hanging on the wall had a film coating the glass frames, or even that the furniture in the small sitting area in the far right corner needed a good cleaning. “Besides, once I retire, this will be your office.”
“Pfft. Retire. The elders shot you down once.”
I sat back. “The commander is back at the helm. So they have no reason to. But I won’t push my retirement until our mission with Edmund is completed. Then I’ll submit my recommendation that you fill my spot.”
Tripp crossed one leg over the other. “I want to lead, but I thought I would under you. The commander had wanted to get away for a while with Sam and Jo. He has mentioned calling it quits.”
Steven hadn’t known anything but the military for over thirty or more years. I didn’t see how he would be happy. And if he wanted to spend time with his kids, that would have to wait, because Jo and I were not pushing our marriage out any further than we had to, particularly not for her to jet off with her father and brother.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Look, man. I had envisioned getting promoted, but frankly, the political bullshit isn’t what I want. And it’s time for me to hand over the reins to someone like you. You’re ready.”
A strand of Tripp’s sandy-blond hair fell out of his leather strap as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Onto the immediate issues. Crysta texted me earlier. She should have information for us in about an hour. She asked that you, me, and the commander be in one room when she calls.”
I nodded. “I’m hoping she has some detailed description of what we’re up against.” We’d sent her to Alaska three days ago, based on the information Nicki had given us.
I pressed the escape button on my laptop, waking up my screen. “I’ve been reading up on the CIA agents. Thomas is ready to retire. Wyman has been with the CIA for twelve years. But the interesting piece of info I found is that Thomas studied genetics in college alongside Patrick. They were fraternity brothers.”
“Well, Kraft and Kodiak are tailing Thomas and Wyman as we speak. They’re on their way to Boston. Do you want us to bring them in?”
I tapped my fingers on the desk. “No. I have a better plan. Give Thomas a call and set up a meeting here. That way, we’re not raising any red flags if we force them to come in.”
Tripp dipped into the side pocket of his cargo pants and pulled out a business card. “What time do you want to meet with them?”
I checked my watch. “See if they can be here at five p.m. That will give us enough time to chat with Crysta.”
Tripp straightened. “We could always get both agents into a room and have Sam compel them both. Then they’ll tell us what we need to know and even do as we say.”
“True, but let’s start with a conversation and see what we’re dealing with. We also need to determine if Edmund has compelled them already. If that’s the case, then we can’t.” A victim who was under a compelling spell couldn’t be compelled by another vampire until the spell had been lifted.
“Where’s Jo, by the way?” Tripp asked.
I glanced at my watch. “I’m meeting her in ten minutes in Mr. Jackson’s room. She’s been helping Dr. Vieira now that Case is behind bars. But she wanted me to talk with Mr. Jackson to gauge whether we can bring him into our circle.”
“What are we going to do with Case?”
“Short of killing him, erase his memory. He’s a loose cannon. Even when we shut down Edmund and his operation, we can’t chance that Case won’t side with someone else to expose our existence.”
I opened my top side drawer, removed two small vials, a
nd tossed one to Tripp. “Take this. You need to get your system used to the mind-blocking potion before we head into battle.” During the last three days, Alia had made up a batch of the potion and given me my own stash. “The effects won’t kick in for twenty-four hours, and I want to be ready in the event that we board a plane to Alaska.” I’d been handing out vials to our SEAL team only.
“How long will this last?” Tripp asked.
“A good month.”
Tripp and I each knocked back the three ounces as though we were doing shots like we had several nights ago.
Twenty minutes later, I was strutting through the infirmary and into Mr. Jackson’s room. Ben popped to his feet from the chair on the other side of his father’s bed. Jo, who was lounging in the chair near the door, smiled.
My heart opened up so wide when her eyes flashed to violet. Spending an eternity with the vampire beauty was going to be a fantastic ride. “Sorry, I’m late. I can’t stay long, either. I have another meeting to get to.” The only reason I was even visiting Mr. Jackson was because Jo had wanted me to feel him out to see if we could trust him enough to tell him about Ben and what he had become. But in doing so, we would also expose ourselves, which was not something I was prepared to do, especially given that Mr. Jackson had been a loose cannon as of late with his friends in the Fall River police department.
Regardless, it wasn’t out of the question to share our existence with Mr. Jackson. After all, Ben had known about us since he’d walked on base as a human, although I’d put the fear of God into him to keep his mouth shut.
Mr. Jackson appeared rested, clean-shaven, and alert.
“I see you’re wide awake,” I said.
He squared his shoulders. “And ready to go home with my son.” His tone was a little too short for my liking. “Why am I even on the military base? How come I’m not in a hospital in the city?”
Since he’d been compelled by Nicki, I suspected he didn’t remember much, although Sam had said Mr. Jackson had been mumbling about Nicki and fangs—another reason to be cautious with him.
On the Edge of Infinity (A Vampire SEAL Novel Book 5) Page 10