Hybrid Zone Recognition (14 page)

“Like the lights going out in the lab and the lack of emergency lights?”

“Yes, except you were no longer the target.”

I wondered why I was a target at all and had my escape precipitated Director Garrison’s death?

“You think he replaced me as the target?” I asked.

“Replaced, no. He inserted himself between them and their goal, making himself an obstacle to their success.”

“By bringing me in and giving me full access?”

He was silent a long moment before answering. “I don’t want you to think that you are responsible for his death.”

Well, duh. I didn’t blow him up. “Was he the only one killed?”

“As far as casualties, everyone in our Organization is accounted for. No one that you would recognize is still missing or dead.”

If everyone was accounted for, then how could some be missing or dead? Unless he was talking about two different entities—Organization as in separate from the Agency?

“You’re part of a different Agency?”

“Not an Agency, an Organization,” he said, nudging me to continue climbing. I hadn’t realized I’d stopped.

“Does this organization have a name?” I asked, pulling myself to the next step.

“The official name is a mouthful,” he warned. “The Organization for Free and Unhindered Pursuit of Genetic Advancement and Development, which is why we call it simply, the Organization.”

That was a mouthful. Even the acronym OFUPGAD was too much. “Did Director Garrison belong to the Organization?”

“He had no knowledge of our existence. That was not my decision, but it was a miscalculation on our part. Within the Agency, only the ones on your team, who are themselves members of the Organization, are aware of its existence.”

“You mean Olivia, and Agents Juarez and Pike?” I asked as I struggled to find the next step. I kept lifting my leg higher, but it wasn’t there.

“Yes. Are we taking a rest break?” he asked casually.

It suddenly struck me that this wasn’t hard for him at all. “No. We are not taking a break!” I spat, breathing heavily again. “I can’t find the step.”

He grasped the underside of my leg above the knee and lifted my entire body to the next step.

Well, if he could do that, why wasn’t he just carrying me, I thought grumpily. Mr. Super, Hybrid, Strong Man.

“You through?” he asked without emotion.

I was about to ask with what, when I recalled his mental abilities. Dang it, again.

When I made no move to resume climbing, he leaned in and softly urged, “Get moving, Greer.”

I had a feeling I’d be hearing that in my dreams at some point in the future.

“Okay,” I said, heaving myself to the next step. Either they were becoming further apart, or I was getting weaker. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep this up.

“So, who is trying to kill me and why?” I said breathily.

“A consortium of people dedicated to the worldwide proliferation of hybridization. At least, that’s what their mission statement says. We just call it the Consortium.”

I gasped involuntarily as my right foot slipped off the step. Catman quickly placed his hand on my waist to steady me against the wall. Maybe I should focus more on the climbing and not so much the talking.

That reminded me. I needed to talk to him about the situation at the Agency, both my suspicions and the answer.

“How much further?” I asked.

“Not much. You okay?” he asked worriedly.

Was I okay? No. I was feeling weaker with every step. It was all I could do to make it to the next one. But, again, I was still alive. “I don’t even know how to answer that,” I finally said. “Let’s just make it out of here, and then I’ll grill you some more. Deal?”

“Deal,” he agreed, and then he wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me with him to the next step. That made it considerably easier to climb.

Aside from my grunting and occasional outburst when I hit my knees or a particularly sore spot on my hands, we climbed the rest of the way in silence. He remained fixed at my back, assisting me when I needed help, and carrying me when I couldn’t do it at all.

When we reached the end of the ladder, it widened out, allowing us to stand shoulder to shoulder, sort of. I also discovered that if he hadn’t been here, then I wouldn’t be getting out this way. As it was, he had to lean over me, incidentally squishing me painfully into the tunnel wall, in order to undo the hatch. Agents Juarez and Pike were waiting by the exit and finished lifting the hatch for us.

“Hey, why couldn’t they open the hatch?” I grumbled, rubbing my forehead.

“It only opens from the inside,” he answered.

“The next time you decide to rope me into your secret agent stuff, could you please include an informational brochure, or fact list, or maybe even a needed supplies list.”

He pulled back and stared at me with a blank look on his face.

“What?” I asked testily.

It seemed a number of responses danced in his eyes, but then he very evenly said, “Let’s get you out.”

“Please do,” I said angrily. With Catman lifting from behind and Juarez and Pike pulling from above, I made it out of the tunnel.

After being in the dark for so long, I was momentarily blinded by the appearance of light. I held onto Agent Pike’s arm as I rapidly blinked tears away. My vision wasn’t the only thing affected by my exit from the tunnel. I wasn’t very steady on my feet either.

When I could see again, I looked down at my knees and sighed. This looked familiar. As one might expect when crawling over glass, the pants were shredded from the knees down. That made it sharp objects two, pants zero.

Shredding aside, there was a startling amount of blood. It appeared that even I had underestimated the extent of my injuries.

Pike kept ahold of my elbow while Juarez gave Agent Michaels a hand up. Since he’d saved me in the lab and probably again in the tunnel shaft, I’d promoted him to Agent Michaels. He’d always be my Catman, but he certainly pulled off the agent thing. Besides, I couldn’t call him Catman to his face, and it looked like there would be a lot more face time now.

After Michaels cleared the shaft, he trained his eyes on me. I held my breath, knowing he wasn’t going to be happy with what he saw. I watched his eyes narrow as they traveled upwards. When they met mine, I offered him a weak smile. The tightness that had been there softened a little, and he deliberately turned his attention back to Agent Juarez.

I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know if I passed inspection, but at least it was over.

“Transport waiting?” I heard Michaels ask Juarez.

Pike’s grip tightened on my arm, and I opened my eyes in response.

“It will be when we get there,” Juarez answered. When Michaels continued to stare at him, Juarez rapidly gave an explanation. “This is not exactly the scenario we planned for, but we are making the necessary adjustments to make it work.”

After a moment, Michaels nodded his acknowledgement, and Juarez looked away first. Pike who’d been watching the exchange seemed to relax, and his grip loosened. Obviously, I was missing something, but I just added it to the growing list of things I didn’t know. I wasn’t happy with how long the list was becoming.

Looking around, I was startled to see the empty space where the mansion had stood. Actually, it wasn’t entirely empty. The remains were freely burning and looked like they had sunk into the ground, which I supposed they had.

I also noted the conspicuous absence of emergency vehicles. When you were a top secret facility devoted to illegal activities, apparently, you were on your own.

“I didn’t realize the explosion was that big,” I commented, and all of their heads swiveled to view the burning remains.

“It was quite devastating to the facility,” Juarez said in a subdued voice.

“It wasn’t devastating to the personnel?” I asked hopefully. Michaels had said that no one I knew was dead, but a lot of other people I didn’t know were in there, too.

“No. Except for a select few, Hollins made sure most everyone was out,” Juarez said with contempt.

How could Hollins get everyone out before the explosion that he didn’t know was going to take place? Unless, of course, he knew about the explosion which would make him responsible for Director Garrison’s death. I knew Hollins was angry when he left Garrison’s office, but mad enough to kill him? Over me? And did that make him part of this Consortium that Michaels had mentioned?

I didn’t know what to think as I stood there. There were way too many gaps in the information I had to figure out the one thing I needed to know the most. Who were the good guys?

I was also acutely aware of the fact that I was injured and surrounded by three potentially dangerous men, two of which I hardly knew and didn’t trust at all. Likewise, I had yet to determine if they were allies or enemies. Keeping me alive, although a plus in their favor, didn’t label them as one or the other. There could be lots of reasons for keeping me alive.

Michaels’ gaze fell on Pike and then travelled to where he gripped my arm. In response, Pike’s hand dropped, and he moved away from me. He seemed to shrink somehow, not visibly, but something in his demeanor shifted. He didn’t return Michaels’ stare either, but looked down and away.

As I watched the encounter, I felt like I was party to some sort of alpha male thing with me as the prize. I would have taken offense, but it seemed real, not some macho BS. I was guessing it had something to do with the hybrid DNA. But whatever the case, I wasn’t going to make any sudden movements.

Michaels rolled his shoulders and then decidedly marched over to me. He scooped me up, and I hooked my right arm around his shoulders and wondered why the heck I was being carried. Seemed a bit possessive to me. I opened my mouth to say so when I got a good look at the blood trail behind his left ear.

Instead of voicing my protest, I asked, “Why do you have blood behind your ear?”

“Close encounter with a Furry,” he answered, heading straight for the woods.

I noted that Pike had passed us and taken point while Juarez remained at the rear, covering our flank. Look at me, I could talk military, too.

“What’s a Furry?” I asked.

“One of the Consortium’s assassins,” he said in the clipped tones he seemed so fond of.

We were just about to enter the woods. Pike had already disappeared. I didn’t see a path, but I did see the large stump directly in front of us. I ground my teeth together as Michaels none too gently hoisted me higher as he jumped over the stump. The landing wasn’t much fun either.

When I was sure I could speak without my voice conveying any pain, I asked, “Is that what was in the lab with me?”

“One and the same,” he gritted out.

The look on his face was so intense. I couldn’t decide whether to bust out laughing or be afraid. But, since he’d stepped in and saved me from death or mangling, I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I listed him as a good guy. A good guy who was really tense at the moment. His grip was a tad painful.

I squirmed a little, forcing him to adjust his hold. It wasn’t any less tight, but it didn’t put as much pressure on my knees which afforded me some relief. Hopefully he’d let up soon, or I’d have to say something that was sure to be construed as whiney.

I knew he didn’t want to talk, but I just had one more question. “I don’t understand why the Consortium would take out a whole government facility for just one man. Couldn’t they just have killed him and left the facility alone?”

He continued his determined trek but tossed me a disapproving look.

“I know you said that Director Garrison put himself at odds with them, but are you sure this wasn’t part of a bigger plan?”

“The Consortium always has plans,” he said angrily.

Before I could respond, he suddenly swung me to the left, and I couldn’t contain the gasp that escaped when he banged my leg into a tree trunk. As a consequence, I was now on the receiving end of his glare.

I removed the hand I had instinctively brought up to cover my mouth and said, “Sorry.” Almost immediately, I regretted my reaction. Why the heck was I apologizing?

He sighed heavily and loosened his hold on me to a more comfortable level. “You have nothing to apologize for. I am the one who should apologize. I did not mean to hurt you physically or otherwise.”

I knew the words were not easy for him. He was honestly contrite over his behavior. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did.

“I know,” I told him. I wasn’t excusing his behavior, but I could understand why he was so tense. All his plans seemed to have gone up in smoke, no pun intended.

Additionally, maybe he was tired of having to rescue me. I knew I was tired of needing to be rescued. Why he was bothering to rescue me at all was another mystery.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, I changed the subject. “So, I’m officially on the Consortium’s hit list. Good to know. Since you’ve brought me here, I’m just winning all kinds of awards.”

His grip eased a little more, and a smile played on his lips, probably recalling my first award. Whatever the reason, I was glad to see his smile return.

Though the words seemed to stick in my throat, it was only right to offer my thanks for the help he’d provided me. Manners were optional at the dinner table, but when someone did you a solid, I was taught to say thank you.

“Thank you for rescuing me. Again. The second time, I mean. Well, and the first time in the lab, too.” Oh, that was smooth.

His smile widened at my mangled offer of thanks. “You’re welcome. It was the least I could do, considering I put you in danger to begin with.”

You got that right, I thought. But when I recalled my recent brushes with danger, I concluded that may not be a totally accurate portrayal of events. The shooter in the woods could have also been one of the Consortium’s people. And if that were true, it meant that the Consortium had me under surveillance prior to my involvement with the Organization.

He tucked my head in and shielded me as we made our way through a patch of low lying branches.

As we cleared them, I said, “I think I was in danger before I became involved with you. A few weeks ago, I was shot at while gathering some data. The shooter was more than a crazy protestor. This guy knew what he was doing.”

His smile retreated as he considered what I’d just told him. “This would be the time you spent three consecutive nights in the woods?”