by Val Tobin
A man from the lead vehicle jumped out, unlocked it, and pushed it to the side. Instead of returning to his car, he continued into the fenced area on foot. The vehicles followed him in. She didn’t see what happened after the last Jeep drove in through the entrance, but she assumed someone else took care of shutting and locking the gate behind them.
The vehicles halted, and a guard helped Rachel get out.
As she scanned their surroundings, she barely recognized the property that had once been her favourite place on Earth. For as far as she could see, the land, for at least four metres on either side of the fencing, was barren of trees. Barbed wire across the fence tops ensured that even if grendels made it to the fence on a cloudy day they would have a difficult time getting over it. Electrified, it resembled the ones surrounding her father’s company’s buildings. Even his home had electrified fencing.
The neighbour’s cottage, formerly a simple wood cabin painted white she used to glimpse through the trees from the top of the driveway, was gone. In its place a much larger building, new, and gleaming with floor-to-ceiling glass, interrupted the landscape.
The view from inside must be phenomenal.
The sight of what had been their quaint chalet made her gasp and freeze in her tracks. A larger two-story building replaced the former cottage. The roof of this building, and the one on the neighbour’s property, was metal. Nothing would get in that way again.
A prod in her back from her guard got her moving, but Rachel kept her pace slow. She hoped they wouldn’t notice and Hound Dog would catch up to her. Even if the two couldn’t speak to each other, his presence at her side would be a comfort.
The guard gripped her upper arm and quickened the pace, forcing her to lengthen her strides to keep up.
“This way,” he said, voice grim.
“Where are we going?” She risked a glance back in Hound Dog’s direction and panicked when she couldn’t see him. “Where’s Dog?”
“Don’t worry about him. Your father wants a word with you.” He directed her toward the front deck, a large, new structure made of composite boards. “This way.”
She allowed him to lead her up the steps and in through the double doors of the entryway. Perhaps now, she’d get answers even if she wouldn’t like what her father had to tell her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rachel never saw where they took Hound Dog. Her guard led her into an office off the living area on the main floor of the new house. Her father sat behind a desk in a lushly padded leather chair. When she entered the room, escorted by the guard, Stefan had the man remove the zip tie from around her wrists and ordered him out.
“Close the door behind you,” Stefan prompted as the guard stepped from the room.
As the door snicked shut, her father told Rachel to lock the door.
She did as he bid, wondering how she could take advantage of the situation. Everyone would leave them alone so long as her father refrained from calling them here. With the door locked, they couldn’t enter at will. Unless a guard had a spare key, they’d have to break the door down to get in.
Without waiting for an invitation, she dropped into one of the two chairs across from her father.
“What have you done to Mom’s cottage?” She kept her tone even, eliminating the distress from her voice with effort.
“Our cottage—your mother’s and mine—even before she died. Now, it’s mine.”
“How could you build this monstrosity with grendels everywhere?”
“With enough money, you can accomplish anything. We set up the security first, tore down the old buildings, and put up the new ones.”
“Buildings.” She stressed the plural. “You bought the neighbour’s property.” What had happened was obvious, considering the security fencing included the other property.
“Of course. The Wilsons’ relatives appreciated the money and wanted nothing more to do with the property where grendels wiped out an entire family.”
Kelly Wilson, the little girl next door, had disappeared the day Jeff and Rachel had arrived at the lake with their mother. “Kelly’s parents?”
“Dead—so we assume. Found a lot of blood in their cabin. The roof had been torn off. I did their relatives a favour by buying the place. I paid them a fair price.”
“What’s your interest in the properties here?”
“It’s my private research facility.”
Rachel rose and started pacing. She’d walked back and forth across the room three times before she realized she’d done it.
“What have you done with Jack? With Peter and my other two team members? Why were we brought here at gunpoint?”
“Don’t play stupid, Rachel.” He studied her for a moment, then said, “You hungry? Thirsty?”
“What?” she said, confused. “No. What’s going on, Dad.” Hopefully, the reminder of the familial relationship would bring him to his senses. Of course, if he was behind Jeff’s murder, nothing she said would matter.
“I intercepted your message to the lawyer.”
She sucked in a breath. “How?” No point in denying it.
“Oddly enough,” he said, sarcasm dripping from every word, “broke variety store clerks are easy to bribe. You left the variety store, my guy went into the postal station there and paid the clerk to give him your letter.”
He glared at her. “You think I didn’t learn everything Jeff did? Everything he planned to do? I knew he had a contingency plan and he’d contact you. All I had to do was wait for it to show up at your door.” He glared at her. “And to see what you’d do with it.”
He shook his head. “You should’ve brought it to me, Rachel. We could’ve worked through this together. Instead, you took it to that boy. That virtual stranger.” Stefan rose from his chair, glaring at her with a hatred in his eyes she’d never seen. “He’s a reporter. A reporter!” He smashed a fist on his desk, rattling a ceramic mug filled with pencils and pens. Jeff had made the holder for him in art class one year. Seeing it on her father’s desk, a sentimental token, seemed incongruous.
“What you’re doing is illegal. Unethical. Immoral,” she snapped.
“In your opinion. You obviously haven’t thought this through and haven’t bothered to learn my side of it.”
“Your side. If everything Jeff had on the memory stick is correct, you’re responsible for the grendels’ existence. You brought this horror on us. You as good as murdered our mother yourself. I’m positive you murdered your son—my brother.” Her voice rose too. For good measure, she kicked the chair she’d sat in, upending it.
“I’ve always wanted the best for our family. Your mother and I worked hard to get where we are.”
“She’s dead. That’s where she got.”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “She supported my work. We were a team. I dreamed about getting you on board. Do you have any idea where you’d be if you’d listened to me?”
“I dunno. Dead?” she sneered. “Jesus Christ, you sent us up here that May weekend knowing these monsters would be here? You’re more monster than those creatures.”
He stalked over and grabbed her by the upper arms. “Don’t you mock me. Don’t you ever mock me.” He shook her until her teeth rattled.
When he released her, she staggered back a step.
“You’re tough. I knew you’d survive. Shame your mother didn’t make it, but you’re more like me: a survivor, a realist.”
His words burrowed into her. Once, she’d have felt proud of the comparison. Now? She loathed him. Any mention of similarities between them repulsed her.
“You and your brother betrayed me,” he continued. “Now, you lose.”
She swallowed, her throat clicking. “What now? Dad.”
“You and your friends have arrived in time to participate in a little experiment. It hasn’t been going well, and we needed new test subjects. Thank you for volunteering.”
“What are you talking about?” She tried to quash the terror rising through her and faile
d. Her extremities grew cold and she shivered.
“Isabelle Marie didn’t survive the injection, but we gave her a dose from an earlier batch. It worked to repel the grendels but killed the patient. The vaccine Jeff got didn’t kill him, but rather than repel the creatures, it poisoned them when they ate him. What we want is a version that repels the beasts without killing the subject. We’re sure we’ve nailed it this time.”
She blanched and in a hoarse whisper said, “You bastard.”
He grabbed her and, holding her at arm’s length, looked her up and down. “You look great—fit, healthy. You’ll do very well. Might even survive more than one outing.”
“What do you mean?” Her voice had gone shrill, and she hated herself for the display of weakness. He’d love that, the psycho.
“You’ll see.” He grinned, and it was nasty and cruel.
He released her and unlocked the door. Rachel slumped, her shoulders drooping forward, dejection and failure making her want to drop to her knees. She’d failed. The opportunity to take advantage of the locked room had passed, and she’d never get another one. Whatever happened next, she was sure neither she nor her team would leave this place alive.
Chapter Twenty-Three
As Rachel passed through the communal area that looked more like a family room than a corporate lounge, she glimpsed the stunning vista from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Tempered glass made up the entire lake-facing side of the building and afforded a panoramic view of the water.
If she wasn’t certain this would be the last beautiful thing she’d ever see before she died, she’d have appreciated it more. Even in the pouring rain, the island across from the cottage sent waves of calm through her body. She paused and inhaled deeply, imagining the clean air from the lake filling her lungs.
The guard escorting her prodded her in the back, and she started walking. Rachel memorized the layout as they passed through the lounge, down a hallway, and into a large lab filled with tall cages. Each contained a small cot, camping toilet, a shelf with hand wipes, and, in some, a person. All four of her teammates were here.
Her eyes met each of theirs, and she gave a slight shake of her head, signalling them to remain silent. A man in a lab coat, obviously a scientist, opened a cage door and motioned for the guard to walk her over. Before she could enter the cage, two lab assistants appeared and restrained her, each grabbing one of her arms.
As she struggled, they removed her jacket and tossed it aside.
“Sleeve.” The scientist nodded to the guard, who yanked up the sleeve of her turtleneck.
She felt rather than saw the needle go into her upper left arm and renewed her struggles. “What the hell? What have you done to me?”
“Relax. It’s done.”
He had them shove her into the cage and lock the door, and together they all disappeared.
The guard and the assistants left through the door she’d entered; the scientist went into an adjoining room. He shuffled around for a moment, and then everything fell silent.
Her hands shook, and Rachel wondered if it was from whatever they’d injected her with. In the cage to her left, Hound Dog stood as close to her side as he could get. A space of about a metre separated them. Peter was on the other side of Hound Dog. Foot-Long was on Rachel’s right, and on his other side stood Code Master.
“What are these sick bastards doing?” Hound Dog asked. “Did your father tell you anything?”
That they all knew who was behind this didn’t bode well. It meant her father wouldn’t let any of them leave here alive.
“Did they inject all of you?”
“Yeah, before sticking us in these cages,” Hound Dog said.
“They won’t tell us anything.” Foot-Long rattled the bars of his cage as soon as he’d spoken. His expression was more enraged than grief-stricken or defeated, which gave her hope. As long as they held it together, they might find a way out.
“Cameras?” Rachel asked.
Code Master replied, muttering to Foot-Long, who passed the information to Rachel.
“Two. One facing the cages, another above the cages, covering the other side of the room.”
She frowned. “Motion-activated?”
Foot-Long consulted with Code Master and then replied, “Yes, but we’re in here, so the one across the room will film us continuously.”
“Will it pick up conversation?”
“Coder says no, but we keep our voices low in case there’re bugs we can’t see. Thoughts, boss?”
“You figure they’re monitoring the cameras?”
“We have to assume so,” Hound Dog interjected.
She agreed. Her belt still held the tools she’d need to pick the locks on these cages, but that wouldn’t do them any good if the cameras were monitored.
The lab door opened, and four guards entered the room, interrupting the conversation. The new arrivals strode purposefully to Foot-Long’s and Code Master’s cages. The scientist reappeared and crossed the room to join them.
One guard, the group leader, said, “These two, Doctor Janes?”
“Yes, please.”
Both men in question backed away from the door of their cages as far from the guards as they could get. A guard opened Foot-Long’s cage and indicated to him he should exit.
“Fuck you, asshole.” Foot-Long lay down on his cot as if about to take a nap.
Rachel smiled, happy her men wouldn’t make it easy for these thugs. She inched toward the door of her cage, quietly feeling for the credit-card-sized lock pick case inside her belt. With everyone’s attention diverted to Foot-Long, including, hopefully, anyone monitoring the camera, she could unlock her door.
As the four guards descended on Foot-Long, Rachel slipped the case from her belt and removed the tool she needed. She edged to the door and leaned against the side with the lock. The tool palmed, she worked the lock as carefully and unobtrusively as she could while giving the guards and Janes surreptitious glances. When the tumbler clicked, she accomplished her task. As long as they didn’t check her door, she could open it anytime.
She’d wait until they had Foot-Long and Coder free of their cages. Then it would be three against five though she had no idea how long it would take whoever monitored them to raise the alarm.
Two guards had Foot-Long on his feet and escorted him from his cage. The other two opened Code Master’s door and waved him out. His jaw set, Code Master stepped from the cage, his arms windmilling into the guards on either side of him. When Coder made his move, Foot-Long flung a leg out, knocking down a guard.
Rachel tossed her lock picking case into Hound Dog’s cage. “Peter, too,” she said, pointing at her friend. Without waiting to see what Hound Dog did, she attacked Janes first, grabbing his clipboard from his hands and cold-cocking him with it. He dropped like a lead weight and lay motionless.
The fracas between her team and the guards intensified, and she joined the fray. One guard was already down, leaving three, but as she reached the struggling group, the lab door burst open and two more guards rushed in.
One fired her gun into the ceiling, and everything stopped at once.
“You”—she waved a gun at Rachel—“back in your cage.”
Rachel shuffled back inside, fury and helplessness overwhelming her. This had been their one chance. She’d watch for another opportunity, but the guards would be better prepared next time. As they slammed shut her cage door, she risked a glance at Hound Dog, hoping he’d concealed the lock picking kit.
He’d tried but failed. His gaze met hers as one guard found the kit while the other covered him with a gun. A team of four guards escorted Foot-Long and Code Master from the room.
“Where are you taking them?” Rachel demanded.
The guards didn’t reply, but Janes, who stood rubbing his head near the cages, grinned at her. “The experiments will begin. They’re the first. One’s the control.”
“Who’s the control? What does that mean?” Terror filled her heart. Oh, G
od, what will they do to my guys? When no one answered her, she howled in rage and then shouted at Janes. “What are they doing to my men?”
“If you’re good,” Janes said, “I’ll let you watch.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Janes was as good as his word. He pressed a button, and a monitor descended from the ceiling. The screen faced the prisoners, as if it had been purposely set up for viewing from the cages. At first, Rachel had a vague idea that they kept prisoners entertained by watching television. Then, in dawning horror, she realized they wanted prisoners to watch what happened to those going before them.
The monitor activated, showing a forest scene. Trees grew close together, and a large shelter made of leaves and twigs nestled in the branches of a large maple. It resembled a giant squirrel nest, but Rachel recognized it for what it was: a grendel habitat.
None of the creatures were in it, but she spotted one in the nearby branches. Since the creatures typically hung out in pairs, she assumed the other one hid in the nest. If this was a group of three, then a third one would be close. If it was a group of four, another pair would be around somewhere.
Soon, Foot-Long and Code Master would appear on the screen. How much area did they have to work with? She recalled Isabelle Marie. Jeff. The grendels who’d behaved strangely.
What had Stefan said? A vaccine that repelled grendels without killing the subject. But to test it with live subjects? She shuddered.
“Rachel,” Peter called out.
She met his gaze across Hound Dog’s cage.
“Yes?”
“We’re in trouble.” He gave her a rueful grin. “We have to leave. If no one else has reported this, we have to do it.”
She returned the smile, remembering the first time he’d said those words to her. Then, as children, they didn’t understand what they faced. Now, they were adults and trained to fight these creatures—at least, Rachel and Hound Dog were. If the three of them were tossed in the ring together, she and Hound Dog would have to protect Peter.
