Elle catches me looking at her and smiles as if reading my mind. “Seriously, Reagan? Every week I help Dougall mastermind different things you two could do to get the presidency.”
I shrug with a smile. “Well I thought you voted for us, but I never really knew for sure.” Then I realize I sound a little jealous, or immature to say the least. “Not that you can’t vote for them. Vote for whoever you want.”
Elle rolls her eyes. “Please. I think all six of us want to vote for you guys, but we can’t because that would make it too obvious.”
“What?!” I ask confused and surprised. “Even Mr. Alexander?”
Dougall looks at her as if telling her to shut up. “While Hadenfelt is still not in custody, we are sure to throw a few votes Marisol’s way every Board vote so that you two win the Board vote, but not win by so much that it puts fuel on the fire, so to speak. We have pretty much just adjusted it to be a replica of the people’s votes.”
“Oh,” I say surprised. Maybe it’s time for me to stop considering Lyncoln and me as the underdogs. Being in the lead after this last vote, maybe, just maybe, we established ourselves as Marisol and Henry’s equals.
“So what do we need to do?” Lyncoln asks Elle and kicks us all back into work mode.
She shrugs. “Nothing really. The polls from last week look really good. You got a ton of support from Vegas and Denver after your presentation. A ton. Like an outstanding amount, really.” Lyncoln squeezes my shoulder, where his arm is wrapped around me as she continues, “If we look at Attie and Knox’s votes, they were mostly voted on for the sweetheart appeal. The only question will be if those same voters will now vote for you guys or for Henry, the President’s son. Your guess is as good as mine. But I do think more votes should come your way after Hadenfelt stays missing or is found. So that should help.”
I sigh and Lyncoln clenches his jaw. Neither of us is happy about this.
“Look, you both have done everything you can at this point. Work hard. Nail your speeches. Be in love and not afraid to show it. Those are the only things you need to do,” Dougall offers.
Greaaaaat. There is no master plan or strategy. That doesn’t help at all, especially when Dougall pointed out how tight this next vote will be.
As we leave there, we head to Taggert’s office for a meeting on the Hadenfelt front. I am surprised to find Henry and the President there as well. No Marisol, thank goodness. She may not be like her father, but it would be weird strategizing how to find him with her in the room.
“So nothing new. We tracked him in the same direction as a drifter camp. We just don’t know if he went willingly or if they somehow got him,” Taggert begins frustrated, “but my gut tells me Hadenfelt went willingly. He got wind of his impending arrest and bailed. And he must have been pretty desperate because they know he was responsible for killing and torturing some of their own. So what power does he hold with them, that they don’t just get rid of him for us?”
The President sighs. “There has to have been a deal. Whatever deal was made is what’s keeping him alive.”
Taggert nods. “Exactly my thinking, Mr. President. Jaden has been working relentlessly trying to dig and find a clue or anything that might give us a hint as to what this ominous deal is about. So far we have nothing.”
Henry shakes his head. “It has to do with the Culling. It has to. We have to have it figured out by this next vote, or I’m afraid we will find out because it will have already happened.” He gives me a worried wince of a smile as he finishes.
That gets a table full of silence in response.
Finally, Lyncoln speaks, “So send a team to the new drifter compound we know about. My team will see what we can figure out.”
Taggert scolds him, “As a final two couple, you aren’t going anywhere, son. Plus, if we do that, whatever progress Samson is making may be jeopardized. He is up to having a small group of 6-7 people. If we can get a few more and get them organized with us, we can create a plan to take them down once and for all. Put an end to the drifters as we know them, from the inside out.”
“Oh, so we will just be sitting ducks while we wait?” Lyncoln asks snappy like.
Henry nods. “I’m with Lyncoln on this one; we can’t do nothing, especially when it isn’t a question of if something will happen, but when.”
“I have Becker, West, and Jaden, hell everyone, I have everyone, working on this ‘round the clock. We won’t just sit here. We’ll do something, I just haven’t figured out what the best option is yet,” Taggert says defensively, chest heaving in frustration.
Lyncoln stands, saying, “I need some air.” He storms out of the room and down the hallway. I know as a man of action, not doing anything or having a plan, any sort of plan, is killing him.
Him and me both. Didn’t we learn anything from not arresting Hadenfelt right away? Waiting it out isn’t the answer here.
I turn to leave and go after him, but Taggert stops me. “Please sit, Ms. Scott.”
“Okay?” I ask unsure.
Taggert and the President exchange a look and the President nods.
“What is it?” Now I’m concerned. I slump down in my chair and feel a weird sense of foreboding. What are they about to tell me that has them both looking grim? It’s safe to say I’m not going to like it.
“We feel the need to let you in on something we have suspected for quite a while. We should have told you a while ago, in fact,” Taggert begins, rubbing his brow.
“Is it about Hadenfelt?” I ask worriedly.
“Yes, my dear, unfortunately,” the President sighs. “This isn’t the first time we have suspected him making a deal with the drifters. About eight years ago, I feared something wasn’t quite right with Hadenfelt. This was only about ten years into his political career. He desperately wanted the Head of Defense position and made no secrets about it. I knew in my gut there was something off about this man. He was cunning and ruthless, charismatic… but… cutthroat. About everything. I knew I needed to keep him under my thumb.”
Okay??
“Then mysteriously the Head of Defense at the time was murdered by some drifters. They had attacked Denver before, but this was a personal attack. The Head of Defense was clearly targeted.” The President shakes his head as if it pains him to admit it.
“What?” Henry asks confused.
Holy crap. It clicks. Lyncoln’s dad. Lyncoln’s dad was the Head of Defense, he had Taggert’s job.
Holy freak. Holy balls. Holy freak balls.
Hadenfelt had Lyncoln’s dad killed?!
Chapter 27
What?!
I slump back into my chair, unaware that I stood up in the first place. This is even worse than I thought.
Taggert continues, “I was in James’s unit at the time. I knew something was off about the whole thing. Why would the drifters target the Head of Defense specifically? I went directly to the President with my concerns. We quietly investigated it, but nothing could ever be proven. It was a clean job. Other than gut instincts, there wasn’t a single piece of evidence. Of the men involved, one of the drifters managed to get away and the other was killed at the scene.”
By Lyncoln. A thirteen-year-old Lyncoln.
The President joins in, “I will always regret not arresting that man at that point in time. He never would have been charged without proof and would have been released, but something more should have been done. More investigating.” He pauses and lets out a frustrated breath. “Regardless, Hadenfelt already had his claws in some pretty important people. I couldn’t get rid of him, but I could make sure he would never get the one job he really wanted, Head of Defense.”
I look to Henry. I think my own face is probably a mirror of his dumbfounded and shocked look.
“Lyncoln?” I ask. “Does he know?”
I already know the answer to my own question though. He can’t know or Hadenfelt would be dead. Lyncoln would’ve never been okay with a man that may or may not have had his dad murdered wor
king right down the hall, in a position of power to boot.
Taggert shakes his head no just like I expected, belly heaving with a deep breath. “I watched that boy excel in the military like I have never seen before. He is so talented, both physically for combat and intellectually for defense. Reminds me of his father. Spitting image of him too.” He stops and smiles as if remembering Lyncoln’s dad. “I couldn’t tell him when he was younger because I knew he would go after Hadenfelt on his own… Then later, I cared too much about him to tell him the truth because I knew he would feel betrayed… and I knew he would still singlehandedly go after Hadenfelt in revenge, proof or not.”
Still. He deserved to know. He deserves to know.
“So why are you telling me now? And why aren’t you telling him now? I think he deserves that much.” I don’t bother to tone down my hostility.
The President sighs. “Because now that man may very well be the next President. Hadenfelt’s days are numbered. We will get him one way or the other. If Lyncoln found out now, he would go after him with all he’s got.”
I know it’s true. He would definitely try to avenge his father’s death if he knew who was responsible. Future President or not, he would still do it. And I might even let him. Lyncoln may be the only person capable of finally putting an end to that man’s evil and live to tell about it.
“But why are you telling me?” I ask. “Why burden me with this truth?”
The President sighs defeatedly, rubbing his temple. “Well, it gets worse.”
Worse? Are you kidding me?!
Taggert and the President exchange a long look before Taggert admits, “Hadenfelt hates all things Reed. We are telling you this because we want you to understand that both you and Lyncoln are potential targets here.”
Holy crap. I hadn’t thought of that. It isn’t just that the man had Lyncoln’s dad killed for his position, he for some reason hates Lyncoln too. I mean, obviously there is no love lost there, but Lyncoln is actually in danger. It’s weird to even think of him in danger since he is the scariest person I know with a gun. He is danger.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Henry slams his hands down on the table loudly, clearly pissed.
“What?” I ask feeling as if I missed something. Shouldn’t I be the one doing that?
“So let me get this right? This means Hadenfelt wants Lyncoln out of the picture just as bad if not more than he wants Reagan,” he says looking straight at me with worried emerald eyes. “You guys really are just sitting ducks. My association with Marisol makes me safe. This deal, whatever it is, has to do with the two of you.”
I don’t know what’s more terrifying… hearing that out loud or having to live it out.
“Why now?” I ask Taggert and the President. “Why tell me this now?”
Taggert shakes his head sadly. “Given the current circumstances, with Hadenfelt gone, I figured the more informed you are the better. And you love that man like the rest of us do and we know you will help us protect him. I’m going to make sure he doesn’t go on a mission, you make sure he stays at Mile High with you until we can figure something out.” I don’t say anything in his pause, so he continues, “I have a few recon missions going on and am in discussion with Samson on Hadenfelt as you already knew, but I don’t want Lyncoln involved in any of it anymore now that he’s in the final two. I will be upping both of your security details, and after today I want you bunkered down at Mile High. Do not leave unless you talk directly to me first. Your guards and his guards know exactly what is going on. Don’t go anywhere. Stay put.” He pauses again and smirks. “And yes, I know how hard that’ll be for the both of you.”
He doesn’t exactly tell me not to tell Lyncoln this information, but I think it’s understood he doesn’t want me to. “Is there anything else I can do?” I ask feeling helpless, already feeling the burden of this information.
Henry nods in agreement. “There has to be something else we can do.”
Taggert shakes his head. “No. There isn’t.” He looks to me, “Just try to keep him busy, dear. It won’t be easy. A man like Lyncoln doesn’t do ‘lockdown’. I just wanted you to know that it isn’t just you that Hadenfelt may be after with this deal he made.”
“So watch my six. And Lyncoln’s six. Got it,” I say frustrated. I can’t help but throw in a dig while I’m at it. “So why again didn’t we arrest this guy after Red Hawk? Or after Isabella?”
I’m answered with silence and then Taggert sighs. “I don’t just want to arrest him, I want him to rot in jail. We need better proof of his crimes. We did eight years ago, and we still do today. Even the little things. He’s too sneaky and clean with what he does. There’s never a trail back to him.”
At this point, I’m doing everything in me to not lose my temper and storm out angry. “Yeah, but there also wouldn’t be a trail back to him if he were already dead.”
Screw the evidence. They should have killed him when they had the chance.
Henry stands and turns to leave, matching me in level of angriness.
“Son?” the President asks. “Where are you going?”
“To talk to Marisol and get her to tell me every damn thing she knows or else I am going to publicly dump her,” he says determined but stops and gives my shoulder a squeeze of support before he storms down the hallway.
I move to follow Henry out but turn back to Taggert and the President feeling the sting of tears in my eyes despite being so angry I could punch someone. “Find that man. Please,” I beg, not angry, just disgusted. Almost sick to my stomach disgusted. “You messed up and now my fiancé is in danger because of it. I thought you messed up before, but now I see what a huge mistake that really was. You should have killed Hadenfelt when you had the chance. Who cares about the proof when there’s justice?”
The President moves forward to give me a hug but I back away and he stops, smiling in understanding. “We will find him, my dear. We will find him.”
He killed Lyncoln’s dad. It’s at that point I decide some people just don’t deserve second chances.
****
I give myself a solid five minutes to get my emotions together. I find Lyncoln in his office with his guards and being annoyed with them for something. They seem a little relieved I’m there.
“Hey.” I try to smile like I’m not bursting at the seams with this new information. “Ready to head back? Ashton is probably waiting for you like a lovesick puppy,” I joke, knowing how much my brother adores Lyncoln.
Of course, what I really want to do is immediately tell him what I just heard. But I know if I do, he could go off the deep end and go after Hadenfelt. Will he really stay locked down with me and be safe if he knows? I want him to know the truth, but I want him safe too. Now it’s my turn to have a secret to decide what to do with. Do I protect him and our shot in the Culling? Our chance to take down the same man that killed his father? Or do I risk it all and tell him the truth?
Funny that we just got rid of one secret that was tearing us apart and not three days later I learn this. It’s always something, isn’t it? Will there ever be no secrets? Or a time when we can keep secrets together instead of from one another? It always seems like we are hurting one another because of how much we love one another. That’s the thing about relationships that I find the hardest, none of us are perfect and it sucks hurting the person in the world you love most. Even if you are hurting them for their own good. For their own ultimate goal.
“Actually, Taggert just called for me,” he gives me kiss on the forehead and looks at me worried. “Sorry I bailed. I just can’t take it when they sit there and do nothing. Hadenfelt could be after you, you specifically. I just got you. We just brought your family here. We are this close to our happy ending, and now I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
I know the feeling. And I want to interrupt and tell him that it isn’t just me Hadenfelt is after, but I don’t. Instead, I just hold on to him for dear life. He wraps his arms around me, tuckin
g my head under his chin. I take a huge, deep breath. I don’t want to let him go.
He speaks softly into my hair, “Let me go see what Taggert wants, then we’ll go. Okay, gorgeous? We have some time together to catch up on since I was MIA all last week. I owe you that much, Regs.”
“Sounds great,” I answer, trying to swallow down emotion.
As he strides confidently out of his office and down the hall in that way that only Lyncoln can, I feel Sarge’s hand on my shoulder. He, of course, knows and heard everything from the meeting with Taggert.
“I want to tell him so bad,” I confess quietly and feel tears sting my eyeballs. “Why don’t I just tell him?”
“Because you want him safe,” Sarge says, reading my mind.
I turn to him, my beacon of wisdom throughout the Culling and a fatherly figure I have a deep respect for. “Tell me by not telling him it won’t do more harm than good. Tell me he won’t hate me.”
He grabs both of my arms, giving them a quick squeeze, and smiles at me. “Give it a week and think on it, honey. Give them time to try to find Hadenfelt. Try it Taggert’s way.” He looks out the open door and down the hallway where Lyncoln just left. “And that man loves you. There’s not a thing you could do to change that.”
I sure hope he’s right because as much as I want to tell him the truth, I know I selfishly can’t yet. I can’t lose Lyncoln. I can’t, and I won’t.
****
Back at Mile High, the afternoon before the interviews seems to go much better compared to how the morning went. I get a chance and go for a walk in the gardens with Ashton and Shepp. I’m not really sure I should be outside at all given what Taggert told me, but I just need to be normal with Ashton for five minutes. Plus, we have plenty of guards with us. It’s still technically Mile High since we never leave the outer building, so whatever.
The Fracturing: Book 2 (The Culling Series) Page 39