He gave Selena a comforting squeeze but didn’t set her down. She was still trembling. He’d fucked up bringing her along. If the Corps guards had shot on sight, she might be dead already, a victim of his arrogance.
“What’s the plan?” Cornelius asked. “Even if they don’t have any cameras on that area, they’ll know what happened the minute they find those bodies. We’ve lost any chance of surprise. The entire damned island probably knows we’re here now.”
He cast a grim, accusatory look at Selena.
Maximus set her down gently before marching over to Cornelius and squaring his shoulders. There were few men who could make Cornelius look small, but Maximus was one of them, and he wasn’t in the mood to be challenged.
“What did you expect me to do?” Maximus growled and locked eyes with the other man. “Let them shoot us? Let them shoot her?”
Cornelius managed to keep eye contact for a few seconds before looking away. “I’m just saying we had a plan, and now that plan’s shot, so we need a new plan. Otherwise, we’ll end up with the Corps up our ass when we least expect it.”
Maximus stepped away, his fists clenched. He wasn’t sure why he was so angry at Cornelius other than feeling frustrated at how close Selena had come to dying. The Phoenix Corps was supposed to be all but destroyed, but somehow they still managed to threaten innocent people.
“Those guards weren’t kitted out for the forest,” Maximus said, inclining his head in their direction. “And I heard a rumble. I’m guessing something subterranean.”
“They might run,” Cornelius said.
“They might.” Maximus gestured to Tiberius. “Use your sat phone to contact the men. We don’t have enough guys here to take any place out, and Cornelius is right. We can’t have the Corps running out until we’re ready. We’ll get the drones near where I had the fight and keep an eye on things.”
“And then what?” Tiberius asked, pulling out his phone.
“If they’re running, we’ll follow them, if not, we’ll assume they’re holing up and prepping for a full assault.”
“Is there going to be one?”
Maximus nodded. “This is what we came for. No reason to give them an advantage. Even if we had all the guys come right away, the Corps would be ready for us. We need to play to our advantages, not theirs.” He pointed to his eyes with a smile.
CJ mirrored his smile. “There’s something nice about a night raid.”
“You sure?” Cornelius asked.
“Yes,” Maximus said. “I want the equipment ready, but for now, the men should focus on drone recon. I don’t want a wild boar to shit near that location without us knowing about it.”
Selena stood and cleared her throat. She was pale but had stopped shaking. “Um, may I offer a suggestion?”
Maximus inclined his head forward. “First, let’s get going again. No reason to let them catch up if they decide to follow us. Everyone keep alert.”
The hybrids fell into a rough diamond formation around Selena., even Cornelius who kept frowning at her from behind. Maximus didn’t need to voice his opinion on that. The other man was nothing if not consistent, which was good for someone taking orders, but not always great for a leader. That was why Cornelius had ended up Maximus’s number three rather than his number two.
Once a couple of minutes passed, Maximus shot Cornelius a warning look before nodding to Selena. “What did you want to suggest?”
“I noticed you’re talking like you have to handle all of this by yourself.” Selena stood and placed her hand on her chest. “I haven’t heard as much about these Phoenix Corps guys as I have the Horatius Group, but I do know that two of their guys were about to kill us. You can call the police, and they can show up with a SWAT team, right? I’ll testify that you killed those guys in self-defense if that’s what you’re worried about. I know you said you can’t rely on other people, but they tried to kill a human, too. That means human authorities will care.”
Cornelius snorted but kept his mouth mercifully shut. Maximus was grateful. He didn’t want to have another showdown with the man in front of Selena.
Maximus offered Selena a tight smile. “The police?”
“Yes.” Selena rolled her eyes. “I know you’re genetically engineered badasses and all that, but they have guns and grenades and stuff like that.”
“We have no idea what might be in there,” Cornelius snapped. “You were lucky it was only a couple of guards with guns. The Corps could have other hybrids working for them, or worse like Glycons. You already saw what one hybrid did to two armed men. If we send humans in there, a lot of them will die, if not all of them.”
“T-then the military.” Selena stuck her hands on her hips, her face locked in defiance. “They can send in paratroopers or something or blow the place up with a missile. Monsters aren’t explosion-proof.”
Maximus walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not impossible for humans to beat hybrids, but that’s not what this is about.”
“Is it about you wanting to take them down with your own hands?” Selena asked, pulling away from him.
“That’s part of it.” Maximus’s gaze slid to the others before returning to her. “The Corps made us their tools and treated us like we were property. Not all of us survived their experiments and tests, so yes, if you’re asking if some of this is about revenge, then I won’t deny that, but there’s a more fundamental concern.”
“And what’s that?”
“Ask yourself one question, Selena.” Maximus chuckled. “Ask yourself why you’re here in the first place.”
Selena face contorted in irritation and confusion. Maximus couldn’t help but find it cute. He waited as she worked through the process.
“I was here to investigate the site to get the permit crap settled,” Selena said softly. She gasped. “It was handled before, but they suddenly pulled our permits with a new bullshit excuse.”
Maximus nodded slowly. “We have info there’s been money flowing around recently. Bribes, probably.”
“And if they can bribe one part of the government, they might be able to bribe others, including someone connected with the police.” Selena groaned. “But it’s got to be harder to bribe a cop than some random clerk, right?”
“It doesn’t have to be a cop or a soldier.” Maximus raised an eyebrow. “It just has to be anyone who works with them. Are you willing to bet your life on that not being true? I’m not nor am I willing bet the lives of my men. We came to Hawaii to track down the Corps, and it looks like we found them. We’ll handle it, and we’ll be gone before anyone else even knows what happened.”
* * *
After Tiberius contacted the rest of the hybrids, a tense silence settled over the forest group, Selena too frightened to talk and the hybrids wanting to keep an ear and eye out for any ambushes. The quiet minutes gave way to a quick pace, but not so quick Selena had trouble keeping up as the forest thinned and the rough outline of their vehicles grew in the distance.
Faint buzzing sounded from above. Maximus gritted his teeth and lifted his head. Drones. He narrowed his eyes. The design was familiar, and the small machines were descending into the forest, not emerging from it. He glanced over at Tiberius, who nodded back. They were hybrid drones.
Cornelius cleared his throat and jogged forward until he was beside Maximus. He nodded toward Selena. “Do you have some sort of plan to deal with her?”
“Deal with me?” Selena shouted before Maximus could respond. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? I’m not with the Phoenix Corps. Look, if they’re the ones who messed with the permits then they screwed me, too. Not to mention two of their guys tried to kill me not all that long ago. I’m not going to lose any sleep over you delivering a little payback.”
Cornelius sneered. “We have no reason to trust you. Just because you’re not with the Corps or the Horatius Group doesn’t mean you won’t sell us out. Maybe you decide you can make some money running to the media to sell y
our harrowing story of what it was like to be around the hybrids. Maybe you try to ask around until someone from the Corps shows up, and you sell us out then.”
CJ scratched his eyelid. “If it were that easy to find the Corps, it wouldn’t have taken us this long to finish them off.”
He offered a merry smile in response to Cornelius’s cold, angry stare.
“This is crap.” Selena rolled her eyes. “All I’ve been trying to do from the beginning is my job.” She threw her hands in the air. “I scouted a location and helped get the permits only to get them yanked out from under me. Maximus is the one who talked to me, not the other way around. I never planned for him to come along, so it’s not like this is all part of some secret plot. I’m not psychic. I can’t see the future.”
Maximus sighed. “If I hadn’t come along, you’d be dead now.”
“I… I know. Thank you.” Selena grimaced. Her shoulders slumped. “But I don’t like Captain Smiley over there talking like he’s going to stuff me in a cell somewhere until this is all over.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Cornelius muttered.
“Try it asshole,” she huffed.
“Captain Smiley?” CJ snickered.
“Enough,” Maximus growled, making Cornelius stiffen and Selena smirk. “No one’s doing anything to her. I trust her.”
“It’s not exactly like sunset is in an hour,” Cornelius said. “Even if she’s the world’s most loyal human, she might say the wrong thing to someone, and the next thing we know, the Corps decide to take out our little hideout with a missile.”
Selena closed her eyes and moaned. “What if I promise to go to my hotel room and hide in bed until tomorrow?”
“There are a lot of lives on the line.”
CJ offered her an apologetic look. “No offense, but I’m with Cornelius. You seem nice, Selena, but we’re not here on vacation. All it’d take is one wrong word in the hall, and the next thing you know the news is blathering about it, and the Corps is on the move in town.”
Maximus’s hand clenched into a fist. Selena was a victim here and his brother hybrids were treating her like a worse threat than the two Phoenix Corps guards he’d just killed. She didn’t deserve it. He was the one who made the mistake of not forcing her away from the start.
“I’ll handle her,” he announced.
Everyone stared at him. Selena folded her arms and glared at him defiantly, her trembling and paleness from earlier a distant memory.
“And how?” she began, her head cocked, “are you going to handle me?”
“Easy.” Maximus shrugged. “We’re not launching the raid until later tonight. All I need to do is keep an eye on you until then.”
“And if I say no?”
“I don’t know if I’m giving you a choice here. And I’d think you’d want a guy around to protect you in case somehow the Corps comes sniffing around. You already know they’re ready to kill people without too much restraint.”
Selena’s eyes widened, and she looked away. “I have to go hang out at the secret hybrid hideout?”
“Hell no,” Cornelius said. “No wa—”
Maximus stern look shut the other hybrid’s mouth. “My men need to concentrate until the raid. I’ll stay with you in your hotel room until it’s time.”
Selena sighed. “What a day.”
Cornelius looked satisfied. CJ and Tiberius both did a poor job of hiding their smirks. Maximus didn’t care.
“We’ve got a raid to plan,” he said. “And I’ll need you three to get the men ready.”
Chapter Sixteen
Selena flopped onto the bed and spread her arms out. She stared at the ceiling thinking about how much her life had changed in the last few weeks. The new job was exciting as it was frustrating, and now she found herself caught up with a group of hybrids and their mysterious enemies. While she’d always pitied the hybrids based on what she’d heard on TV and was curious about meeting one, she could have gone without two thugs trying to kill her.
Maximus tucked his sunglasses into a pocket and settled into a chair. The poor piece of furniture groaned under the massive man’s weight. She wasn’t sure if it’d survive, but if it broke, that’d be one of the least annoying and surprising things that happened that day.
“Is it always like this with you?” Selena asked.
“Tracking down guys in hidden labs with guns?” Maximus replied with a smile.
“Basically.”
Maximus shook his head. “If we were always able to find them easily, they would have been finished a long time ago, but it’s not like being a hybrid means you have a life free from risk. That’s why the Luna hybrids left America. They should have been safe, but no matter what they did, they were targeted.”
Selena sat up. “But the Horatius Group is finished.”
“It doesn’t mean everybody in it is dead or in jail,” Maximus said. “We’re hoping to finish off the Corps here, but there’s always going to be some guy out there with money and a plan. It’s not that I think there will never be a time where hybrids can live without keeping an eye open at night, but it’s probably going to be at least a few years after the destruction of the Group and the Corps.”
Selena gave him a sympathetic smile. “It makes all my whining about my job seem petty.”
Maximus shook his head. “It’s important to you, and I wouldn’t suggest otherwise. I don’t want other people’s lives to be harder because mine has been. That’s petty bullshit.”
“Are you really going to run into some secret base at night by yourselves?” Selena wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them up against her chest. “I know you’re special, but you said it yourself. They know you’re coming.”
“They might run.” Maximus shrugged. “If they do, we can hit them when they try to board a boat or a plane. That would be best.”
“But you don’t think they will, do you?”
“No.” Maximus stared down at his hands, the same hands he’d used to save her life in the forest. “Especially if it’s Doctor Quinen. That’s who we’re looking for. He was a big deal involved in the research concerning us, and the guy’s an arrogant bastard in addition to being a complete sociopath. He might think now that he knows that he has the upper hand. I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Selena let out a strangled laugh. “Doesn’t he? I mean just because you know you might be walking into a trap doesn’t mean you can avoid it.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Her eyes widened when she saw the multiple missed messages and calls. “Oh crap.” She tapped through the messages, her stomach churning more with each one she read from Bill.
Where are you? We have an emergency meeting to discuss shooting plans.
Why haven’t you responded?
If you don’t respond in the next five minutes, you’re fired. I’m already having to alter my vision because of your incompetence.
Don’t bother coming back. You’re fired. You’ll need to find your own way back to the mainland.
“What’s wrong?” Maximus shot to his feet, ready for action.
Selena tossed the phone on the nightstand and flopped back down onto the bed. “Oh, well, that’s that. I just got fired. I forgot I turned my ringer off before we headed into the forest, and then we didn’t have any signal. Oh well.”
“I’m sorry.” Maximus settled back into his seat with a frown. “I wish there was something I could do.”
Selena waved a hand. “It’s not your fault. If anything it’s that Quinen bastard’s fault. When you see him, kick him in the balls for me.”
Maximus chuckled. “I’ll try and remember.”
“It’s not like I even liked the job, but it was supposed to be a steppingstone.” Selena raised her hand and spread her fingers out. “To a better future.”
“That’s something I can relate to.”
“It’s silly.” She dropped her hand and rolled onto her side to look at Maximus. “Yesterday, getting this location crap taken care of s
eemed like the most important thing in the world, like a matter of life and death, and that’s before we even get to the pretzels.”
Maximus furrowed his brow and let out an annoyed grunt. “I can’t believe that asshole was making you waste time getting him snacks.”
“That’s what it means to be a star.” Selena sighed. “You can leave, you know. You don’t have to waste your time hanging out with me. I’m not going anywhere.”
Maximus shook his head. “I don’t think leaving’s a good idea.”
She gave him a soft smile. “I know Cornelius thinks I’m one step from being a spy, but I know you don’t.”
Maximus frowned. “And how can you be so sure?”
“I can just tell.”
Selena half-closed her eyes. She’d been so afraid of losing her job, but now that it had happened, it was a huge relief. Finding a new job would be annoying, but she could always go back to her old production company. Her recent experiences had fueled her respect for animal documentary filmmakers and their typically lower drama.
“You can tell?” Maximus asked, his voice quiet. “You couldn’t tell I was lying to you the other day.”
“Yes, I could.” Selena took a deep, cleansing breath and slowly let it out. “Or at least I kind of could. I sensed you were something more than you claimed. So it turns out you’re a hot hybrid instead of a hot mobster. Close enough.”
Maximus chuckled. “Hybrids are close to criminals to you?”
“No, nothing like that. I knew you were more unpredictable and exciting than you let on.” Selena sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “And you owe me nothing. I promise not to do anything but watch crappy reality TV until tomorrow and order room service. I won’t leak anything. To be honest, I know it’s still the afternoon, but we just got done hiking miles and miles. I could go for a nap that might last until your raid starts.”
“I can’t leave you. They might come for you.” Maximus looked concerned.
Maximus: #1 (Luna Lodge: Alpha Squad) Page 12