by Maira Dawn
“And if we don’t find anything?”
“It’s a place to start. Look for anything odd. If Ian is in there, he has to be hidden. Look for doors or hallways that seem to go nowhere or shouldn’t be there.”
They circled the building first to understand its layout. Sonora pointed to an area on the left side of the building then to the map she’d brought up on her phone. “I don’t know, Grandpa, but this seems off. It seems wider here than it should be. Like a lot.”
“Okay, we’ll check that out.”
Sonora played with the buttons on her phone. “Are we going to ask Uncle Devon and Aunt Claire to help us?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. No, I don’t think so.” Blake parked the car and turned to his granddaughter. “I’m not saying they’re involved, but, honey, sometimes people do things that make sense to them but are—they are wrong.”
“Not this wrong, Grandpa!”
Blake winced. “Even this wrong.”
Sonora shook her head, unable to reconcile someone she loved being this evil. But she couldn’t stop the tiny thread of doubt worming its way through her.
As they entered the large Marine Center lobby, Sonora drew in a large breath of salty, pungent scent. It was a habit, and always associated with happy days of learning and exploring with her family. Her insides shriveled when she thought of it being anything other than that. Tension rising, even the tinkling sound of the small waterfall failed to soothe her.
Sonora scanned the room with fresh eyes. There were doors everywhere, and each one brought a question. Did the area behind the ticket booth contain more than offices? Did the door beside the alligator exhibit lead to a secret lab? Her stomach churned with dread.
Sonora had spent some time in the penguin exhibit and felt she knew exactly what was behind it, but the same couldn’t be said of the massive dolphin enclosure. As the largest one in the building, it could easily hide some secret space. And it was on the correct side of the building.
Anna, one of the dolphin caretakers, passed Blake and Sonora, then backpedaled when she recognized them. “Hi!”
“Oh, hi!” Sonora said. “I’m glad we bumped into you. We were wondering if we could get behind the scenes today. Grandpa hasn’t ever been back there.” Sonora shot an anxious glance at Blake.
“I don’t see why not,” Anne said. “It’s a slow day, and the pod is active. They could use a little playtime.”
Anna took them in the back and immediately put them to work with the dolphins. As they threw rings and other toys for the dolphins to retrieve, they scanned the area. Painted bright yellow and orange, the large, echoing chamber was littered with doors.
She whispered to Blake, “I’ve been in all these except that one.”
Blake nodded. When Anna waved and told them she would be right back, he went to the door and looked through its small window. His eyes widened. “It’s a hallway! I’m going to check it out.”
Sonora hopped up from beside the pool. “Grandpa, you can’t! She’ll be back in a minute. Wait until we can both go.”
He waved her off. “I’m an old man. If someone catches me, I’ll just pretend to have a lot less sense than I do. It’s one of the few perks of this age, no one questions why I’m doing something crazy.” He chuckled. “It works pretty well.”
She gave him a wry look. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed it’s your go-to move.”
Blake through the door open and walked through it, sending her a huge grin. Sonora stood there, gripping one of the dolphin rings like it would somehow save them all.
One of the dolphins chirped.
“Oh, sorry!” She tossed the ring and waited, tapping her foot. Her grandfather came back through the door, and she blew out a breath and wiped her forehead. “Anything?”
“Nothing really, just storage.” Blake said. “And nobody.”
“Where else then? We’ve been pretty much everywhere. Maybe Jorah’s wrong, and this isn’t where Ian is. I can’t say I sense him any better here than at home. In fact, I can hardly feel him at all.”
“That is what I’m hoping. Could be the hospital. Or even the History Museum. There seems to be a connection to this place.”
Blake took a toy from one of the dolphins and threw it. Sonora caught sight of a thin silvery scar running down his arm. An injury Blake told his family he’d gotten in a horrible bicycle accident, an accident she now knew probably never happened. How often did her grandfather’s mind drift back to those dark days? How had he survived it all? How would Ian?
Twenty-Four
Threats
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ian and Vince quickly separated. Ian went to the back of his cage, Vince busied himself at the extended countertop. Devon strode into the room and scowled at the instruments Vince had organized in perfect order for him. "Put those away," he barked. "We're doing something else today." Vincent rushed to undo what he had just finished.
Ian tracked Devon as he smacked a small cooler onto the countertop. His tentative joy over Vincent's offer of help dashed. The relief that burst through him when the scientist ordered the instruments put away disappeared. He may have gotten out of the experiments the evil man gleefully scheduled, but that didn't mean he was off the hook. Devon was angry, and an angry Devon was a dangerous one.
With pinched lips, Devon walked closer and leaned over Ian. "I had such plans today, such plans. But my desires were pushed aside. The higher-ups decided they have something more important to try. Didn't even consult with me, of course, after all my decades of assistance. Service." He spat the word. "But don't worry, if you live through today, we'll begin my plans tomorrow—with a vengeance."
Ian groaned and shoved himself further back into his shadowy prison.
Devon ground his teeth as if snapping an ice cube in two. "Just a little pinprick today. That is all you get. The History Museum group has been working on a new kind of biological weapon to use against your kind."
His captor glared at Ian, eyes burning with hatred. "I'm of two minds on this. First, I want it to work because I want you all to disappear. But second, I've been informed you are to be my last subject, and I want you to last."
A chill ran through Ian. Devon's face grew redder by the second, his hands clenching into whitened fists. His jaw tightened to the point it would not have surprised Ian if it cracked.
"You! My last subject! They think we've gotten all the information they need. Well, I haven't! We have gained so much from your kind, it has helped millions of ours. Millions! What more could we learn? And they say it ends?"
Devon walked to the counter, and swept everything off in one furious swipe of his arm. The loud tumble of metal and glass was deafening. Devon turned and pointed to Ian. "How long can you live? Because if you are the end, I'm going to make you last!"
He kicked one of the metal pans. It skidded and clanged across the floor, stopping at Vincent's feet. Hand trembling, the assistant reached to pick the dish up and held it awkwardly to his chest.
Devon continued, "Who are they to say that this ends? Who are they? It was my uncle who started this company after my father was murdered." He punched a finger at Ian. "By your friend! The Atlantis Company he called it. He always did have a strange sense of humor. Guess who his first visitor was? Oh yes, Argos. Or should we call him Blake? That was the fifties. Oh, the things he learned from that man!"
The cold spread through Ian as if he’d entered the chill waters of the North Sea. It was clear now. It was more than one man or even a couple. How large was this company? He listened carefully to every word spilling from Devon's mouth.
"He buried the bodies at first, but by the time I took over, I mean, why bother? No one stopped us. No one cared."
From beneath hooded lids, Ian studied Devon. We cared.
"At least if this works, you will all be dead, which is what my uncle and I wanted all along. All of you eradicated!"
Ian had nothing to lose. He was dead one way or another. He swa
llowed, then regretted it when his mouth became even drier. "This disease. It may not kill us. It may kill you."
Devon threw his head back and cackled. "Not some pandemic apocalypse! I've heard it from your kind before. I don't believe it. Now be silent, or I will use the taser."
Ian looked away. The man wouldn't listen. He'd done all he could, more than he would have if Sunny hadn't been involved. Let them destroy themselves. He prayed Sunny's DNA, whether human or Atlantian would protect her.
Devon grabbed the cooler and marched into the back room. His disembodied voice shouted, "Vincent! Why is the system off?"
Ian and Vince glanced at one another as the assistant scurried toward the entry with a flushed face. "I'm sorry, Mr. Shade! The power must've blinked or something. I didn't get around to getting it set back up." He shuffled into the room. "I can get that for you."
Devon snarled his irritation, "Get out of here."
Vincent almost tripped over himself as he rushed to exit the room. The two watched the scientist through the open doorway.
Devon flicked a button, and the monitor's glow lit his face. He smirked. "Well, well, well, Atlantian. You're never going to guess who is here."
Ian's insides seized. He knew from Devon's laugh alone. It had been hours since he'd reached out to her. So gentle Sunny wouldn't feel it, he did so now. Heart dropping, Ian closed his eyes. She was close, too close.
Devon laughed again. "Looks like she's not missing you too much if she's out sightseeing."
Sunny wasn't sightseeing. She was on edge, excited, nervous to the point of frightened. She was up to something.
When Devon's phone rang, he answered, "Yes? Okay. Tell them I'll be right down."
Devon walked back into the central lab as he slid his phone into his pant pocket. "Our little Sunny wants to see me, her dear uncle. Have I told you how close we are? How I have comforted her over your absence?"
Ian tried not to listen. Devon seemed to get a special kind of joy when he taunted Ian over Sunny.
"She's been so concerned. She thinks you may have abandoned her." Devon lowered his voice to a whisper as he leaned toward Ian. "I think she's giving up on you."
Ian locked his jaw, determined not to rise to the bait.
Devon's eyes glittered as he took in Ian's fingers tightly gripping the metal bars. "I'll make sure to give our Sunny a hug from you. Then I'll come back here and tell you how good she smells."
The words were out before Ian could stop them. "Keep your hands off her."
"Now, now that isn't very nice of you. She is my niece, you know. Though remember, not a blood relation."
Ian's eyes narrowed at Devon's veiled threats. He shot the evil man a venomous look as he pulled himself to the front of the cage.
Devon stiffened. "Don't get arrogant with me, Abomination! I can smooth her hair and whisper sweet sympathies over you in her ear, or I can throw her in the tank and see how long she can hold her breath."
Furious, the two men glared at one another.
Devon unclenched his teeth enough to say, "It's what they want anyway. Those in the History group. I've been protecting them, my two little nieces. But the higher-ups say Sierra and Sunny are my next subjects." His voice fell to a whisper, and his face paled.
Ian froze, his imagination wild over what Devon may be ordered to do.
Devon's face sagged. "I see we agree on one thing, Atlantian. Neither one of us wants to see our girl on that table."
He straightened and threw off whatever conscious he had. "I think that is what I will do, throw her in the dolphin tank, and hold her under until she drowns. It will be the ultimate experiment, don't you think? Something those ignorant hacks at History will even respect. At least, then it will be quick for her."
Devon whipped around the corner of the back room. After a couple of crashes, he stood in the doorway with the monitor and set it on the counter where Ian could see the screen.
"I'll let you see her last moments. Just remember," Devon said, "as you watch her last air bubble, it was your attitude that gave me this idea. You can't say I haven't warned you. I have. Again and again."
"No!" Ian said through frozen lips.
"But hey, if she lives, I'll take this chimp out and put her right here beside you.” He patted the cage beside Ian.
The taste of bitter panic rose within Ian. He squeezed a bar in each hand. "No! Leave her! I will do anything. Start your plans now. I will cooperate in every way."
"Of course you will, one way or another. But I think I will see my darling niece first. I don't want to disappoint her."
When Devon moved close to the cage, Ian rose and tried to grab him, but his hands met only air. "I will kill you!" Ian bellowed.
"More like the other way around. And if you continue like this, I will glue that taser to you—on high."
Ian's anguished howls filled the room and echoed against his own ears. He pulled at the bars in desperation as Devon spouted orders to a sad-faced Vince he dragged along as they left the room. "You're going to keep Grandpa and that stupid little dolphin trainer busy."
Twenty-Five
All Edges
Chapter Twenty-Five
The lab door slammed shut just as the metal bar he worked on creaked. Ian renewed his efforts. Another creak. A ray of sun entered that dark place inside him for a moment until the metal refused to go further. One insignificant bend, then nothing.
He bruised his body against the bars until his small reserve of power ran out. Drug-addled and weak from lack of food and exercise, Ian lay panting at the bottom of his cage. Hands, arms, and shoulders burned from use. He was pathetic—hardly a man at all now.
The monitor flickered, but Ian refused to lift his eyes to it.
Sonora watched Anne bang her way back through the door carrying two large pails of fish. “Well, you can help me if you’d like, but I didn’t know if you wanted to see your family. I asked, but I guess Claire already left today or is on an errand. Anyway, she isn’t here, but Mr. Shade is. I can call him if you want.”
“That would be great,” Blake said with a smile to Sonora’s dismay.
“Okay.” Anne put down the buckets. “I’ll leave these with you and get in touch with him. If you’re not careful, you’re going to do all my work today!” She laughed.
Sonora moved closer to Blake and hissed, “Grandpa, I don’t want to see Uncle Devon. Not while we suspect him of—of this!”
“It’ll be okay, we can’t refuse to see him. Just act normal.”
Sonora turned and rolled her eyes. Act normal? When she’d just found out the man she cared for might be responsible for taking Ian, for hurting people and worse?
She angrily threw a couple fish to a dolphin who stared at her a moment before his hunger outweighed his curiosity, and he raced for his dinner.
There was only one thing left Ian could do, and he hoped Sunny’s short supply of Atlantian DNA would be able to handle it. This was no time for delicate initiation. He pushed out to her again. Not with the sensitive, soft touch of a loved one he normally used but with the determination of an aggressor. He needed to warn her, show her the panic he felt.
"I am sorry," he murmured.
Ian jerked when Sunny startled, and regardless of her alarm, moved closer. He winced, his heart aching, over her shock and confusion. The fierce power he used was almost more than she could bear. Tears welled in his eyes. But this was necessary. He had to warn her. Devon was on his way. Her agitation slowly calmed, and Sunny allowed him as best as she could. With her slow acceptance, he repeated one word.
Run.
Sonora bent to grab a couple more fish for the begging dolphin. A wave of dizziness hit her. She shook it off, but only for a moment. It came back. This time slamming through her hard enough she almost dropped to her knees.
Trembling, she held one hand to her head and the other toward Blake’s back. “Grandpa?”
He swung around at her panicked squeak.
“Something—” So
nora grabbed hold of him, letting the older man help hold her up. “Something is happening. Ian. I don’t understand—I don’t know what to do.”
Blake shook his head. “Why is he doing this?” He paled and tightened his grip on Sunny. “It must be important. Just relax. Let it happen.”
The feeling was hard, blunt, and so much stronger than anything she had felt before. Sunny gasped, her heart slamming against her sternum. Ian’s usual all-encompassing comforting warmth was gone. Instead, this exploded into her, all edges. It poked and hurt. But it made one thing clear—he was close. Ian was here.
“Grandpa, it’s him. But he’s scared or something. It’s different. Oh, I wish I understood!” Her breath hitched. “It feels like panic. But not for himself, because I would’ve felt that before now. No. I think he is scared—he is scared for me.”
Twenty-Six
Murder
Chapter 26
As soon as Devon pulled Vincent around the corner, he shook his arm and let him go. The man was whining at him again, and Devon could take no more. "Shut up!"
"But Mr. Shade, I—I can't do this. This is murder!"
Devon scoffed as he continued to march on. "You have already murdered, many times over."
Vincent reared back. "Excuse me, sir, but I have not."
"Really?" Devon raised an eyebrow. "What do you call the ones you helped load into the back of my truck when we are done with them?"
Vincent flushed and swallowed, eyes shifting to the ground. "Subjects," he mumbled. "They were subjects."
Devon halted and pulled Vincent to a stop. “Be man enough to be truthful about who you are, at least to yourself. You torture men and you kill them."