Given: Project Xol

by Amabel Daniels

  “One of my agents took it. He hasn’t reported in yet.”

  Tami set her hands on the edge of the counter, her shoulder blades rising up under her coat. Each deep breath she claimed, tension rose. Michael frowned, watching her back. “I have a man on it. It won’t take long for him to report in.”

  “See that he does,” Tami snapped at him.

  I smiled now, ignoring the blood dribbling on my shirt. “You do know it won’t last.”

  Tami whirled to glower at me.

  “Don’t you?” I said, taking pleasure in egging her on. Anything to piss her off.

  “It’s been frozen,” Michael said.

  “Was,” I argued. “Until someone broke in. The case it’s in right now will protect it for up to forty-eight hours, minus the time since you left.”

  Tami turned her scornful stare to him.

  He held his hands up, like placating a predator. “We’ve been over this, Tam.”

  Tam? Just who the hell was he to her? Michael was the first Xol patient. And now…he was something of her equal?

  My breath hitched as I stared at him. The last time I’d seen him, he’d been pinned under Luke, taking punch after punch in the face. There was no mark of any physical injury on his square jaw and clear flesh. So, if he was here, what happened to Luke?

  He can’t be dead. He can’t be. We’d only just met in the most unexpected chances. Our connection germinated in bizarre extremes of reality. We’d had mutual grounding with lust, but our chemistry had grown into something infallible. Our love could not have been snuffed by this man’s hands.

  He would have brought Luke here, anyway. If Michael had Luke, he’d likely want to use him as leverage for my cooperation.

  Please, please let him be safe somewhere far away.

  “We don’t need that vial.” He pointed at me. “She’s got Scott’s data. We can identify the beta subspecies and get new DNA to use.”

  “That will take too long!” Tami lashed out at him, fists clenched and face turning pink. “I’ve already waited too long for this.”

  “It’s our next best option. We have the code, and we’ll be able to find the natives we need—wherever they are in that lake.”

  I shook my head. “Not without knowing the lake’s setup.” I smiled at him. “And you killed the woman who could show you.”

  Tami barked a laugh. “The refuge woman? Casal? Ramon Casal’s daughter?”

  “Yeah. Elena was stabbed by one of your freaks. Seems you shot yourself in the foot there.” I gloated on this small victory. I wasn’t sure if they could figure out Elena’s setup of which natives were in which net in the lakes. But the longer I could keep any Xol members away from Xochimilco, the better. At least until the vial was destroyed.

  “You might be misguided on the concept of death,” Tami taunted. She held up a hand, silencing Michael from saying whatever he’d opened his mouth for. “However, it’s past time I have Scott’s data.” She zeroed her dark gaze on me and said, “Give it to me.”

  I flipped her off.

  Michael shook his head and growled as he reached to his pocket. Another syringe. Great. Time for la-la land again. Michael was the first Xol patient, but it seemed he played the role of an obsessively drug-happy security guy now.

  “No.” Tami put her hand to his chest and he stopped advancing toward me. “She won’t be able to give it to me when she’s unconscious.”

  “I won’t give anything to you, ever.”

  “It sickens me that my offspring can be so naïve.”

  She could insult me left and right and it wouldn’t sway me in her favor. Besides— “And what good would my father’s data do? His is only half of it.”

  “For as much of a pain in the ass you are, I assume you’re capable of simple math,” Tami retorted. “One plus one does equal two.” She slow clapped. “We already have the other half.”

  I frowned, fearing what she’d say next. Because if she had Rosa’s half of the data—and Hendrick had died with his in his head—that meant Michael probably hadn’t been bluffing.

  No. Is Rosa…here? My heart raced faster.

  “Maybe you’ll reconsider your cooperation with an incentive. I’ll dumb it down as much as I can. You give me the data until that vial shows up.” She strode toward the curtain and gripped it. “Or you can watch Rosa die.”

  Chapter Four

  Luke

  I had no way to be sure, but I was surrounded.

  It has to be them.

  People were everywhere. Going from the mountainside to Elena’s refuge, and now to a bustling metropolis, I was overwhelmed at the crowds. Or maybe it was the effect of being on the run for so long with Cassidy. Staying off the grid and keeping a low-key existence primed me to be agoraphobic.

  But I wasn’t about to ignore my gut instincts. They’d served me well on the streets, in prison, and in every moment since I’d found Cassidy. And they were telling me that Xol mutants were covering the airport. There wasn’t a uniform or identifying tag to mark them. I could only base my observations on what I’d experienced.

  Muscles beyond even the most tripped-up steroid user. Stern, unflinchingly hostile expressions. The way a few of them—people who should have been strangers—tracked me with their stares.

  I’d parked the van and entered the terminal an hour ago. Zero hadn’t answered my call, and so I waited. I knew he knew what I needed to do. Or what he needed to get me. A location on Cassidy. A ticket purchased…somehow. Zero was the hold-up, and so I stalled. Back and forth, I strolled the terminal, careful not to pull attention to my nervous walking.

  So far, I hid it well. Travelers came and went, no one paying me mind as I waited far longer than I wanted to. Except those freakish people who more than once glanced my way.

  If any Xol mutants were poised up ahead, waiting for me to fully enter the airport after checking in at an airline, I needed to be able to move fast and evade them.

  Tramer’s cell buzzed in my pocket and I whooshed out a deep breath. “Zero,” I answered so he’d know it was me again. “Where is she?”

  “Just texted you the site. It’s outside LA.”

  “What’s there?”

  Zero’s end went choppy but he repeated the garbled bit. “I think a lab.”

  “Okay.”

  “I need to figure out a flight for you.” Again, more static.

  “I can’t hear you,” I said.

  “I need to figure out a flight for you. I’ve been checking surveillance at where I believe the plane landed, but it’s kicking me out. They got their shit covered.”

  Zero admitting he’d met his match? I refused to believe this hacker could fail.

  “And I think Tramer’s trying to reach me. Dammit.” He growled. “I can’t— I gotta— I gotta answer this. Sit tight, and I’ll get back with a flight for you.”

  He hung up and I frowned, absentmindedly watching the pedestrian traffic go by. Tramer? Relief hit me at the knowledge Tramer had to be alive to attempt contacting Zero. Unless it was a ploy, the Xol using Tramer for intel.

  No. I couldn’t be that pessimistic. Nor could I be this patient.

  Cassidy had been taken… I looked at the clock near a billboard kiosk. She’d been taken two hours ago. I didn’t want to think of what could have happened to her.

  I’m… I tapped the cell phone to my thigh, torn at being stuck here and unable to get her back. I’m coming for you, baby. I am.

  Zero was busy, though, and it wasn’t for something trivial. If he could get a hold of Tramer, we might know more of what happened to that coveted vial of DNA. If Tramer had retrieved it, then we could use that as leverage to get Cassidy back. And even if the vial was lost or destroyed, we could still bluff that we had it, if Tramer had taken care of the Xol mutant who’d snatched it.

  Tramer was retired from the very business of dangerous hostage situations and more. He’d know how to phrase this plan. Which meant I needed Zero to find him, suggesting that I was on my own
for the time being, waiting for a flight to be arranged.

  Dammit. Stalling wasn’t my thing. Waiting was my pet peeve. But what else could I do? I was out of people.

  Or not… I’d never been solo in life, not really. Even thinking about the one person whose number I knew by heart had me cringing.

  Jonah? My baby brother?

  I rubbed at my face and checked another glance at the pair of beefy, men with stony glares. They’d been standing there by the vending machines, not moving from their post, and I caught them watching me red-handed. They had way too much interest in me for it to be a coincidence.

  Jonah? I didn’t want to bring him into danger. I’d killed to keep him safe. I’d spent years in prison to ensure his wellbeing.

  But…I had to. We weren’t teens or even young adults anymore. Jonah wasn’t the idiot kid who’d drank too much and thought with his dick instead of his brain. He’d been sober and healthy—probably the strongest he’d ever been since he’d opened his gym business.

  My only relative wasn’t a weak guy to consider for help. Calling him for assistance depended only on my hesitation to bring him into this. For so long, I’d stuck to my decision to spare him any involvement in this Xol mess.

  I have to. Because if I didn’t call Jonah and something happened to Cassidy while I took too long to reach her, I’d never be able to live with myself.

  I sucked in a deep breath and dialed his number.

  “Hello,” Jonah answered curtly. Suspiciously, even. Wind sounded in the background.

  “It’s me.”

  “Luke!” He sighed. “It’s Luke.”

  Who’s he talking to?

  “Yeah. It’s him.” Then to me, “Dale’s with me. He’s been hiding out with me since he got shot. Doesn’t want his company to know where he is since he had that mole in his office.”

  I scowled. Jolene. Yeah, I hadn’t forgotten about her. From my peripheral vision, I glanced at the men I suspected were Xol mutants. They hadn’t taken their sights from me yet.

  “And he’s been telling me about it. All this bullshit. The regenerative lizards. And the prison guys. And experimenting on all kinds of people.”

  I let him rush out the ramble. Learning about this top-secret mad scientist crap hit you like that. A whirl of too much bad news.

  “They’re salamanders, actual—”

  “Whatever the hell they are! Where are you?” he asked.

  “Mexico City.”

  “Mex—”

  “I need your help.”

  Jonah didn’t hesitate. “Anything.”

  I closed my eyes for a second, hating his eagerness to help. If anything happens to him… I opened my eyes and frowned. Well, then what? I had two options, consider Cassidy being hurt, or Jonah. Both of them mattered to me. And Jonah coming along had to be an asset, not a hindrance. I had to stop thinking of him as the younger version of him. Most importantly, I had to let go of this control. The need to always take charge and handle it all.

  Just…lean on him. For once.

  “I need you to help me get Cassidy back.”

  “Your girl? She was taken?”

  I sighed, hating the reality of my words. “Yeah. To LA. I need a flight.”

  “We’ll handle it.” Then he spoke fainter, likely talking to Dale. “We need to fly him to LA.” Back to me, he said, “He’s gotta have a plane or something somewhere. We’ll get you there.”

  “Without attracting trouble…”

  “Of course. And don’t think for a second you’re going alone, you stubborn asshole.”

  I ran my hand through my hair. “Thank you.”

  “Can I call you back at this number? Dale’s already making calls.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ten minutes, tops.” And he hung up.

  The next time the cell rang, though, wasn’t in ten minutes. Just after I hung up with Jonah, it buzzed.

  Zero?

  The screen showed his Star Trek alias. A text.

  T-man’s alive. Working on location.

  I would let him have at it. The faster he connected us, the better. I replied that I’d secured a flight myself and he gave a thumbs up to that.

  When Jonah called back, he provided instructions to check-in for Dale’s private jet that would be flown to the airport immediately. I couldn’t expect everything to fall in place as quickly as I’d like, but each minute until it was time to go passed by slowly.

  I’m coming, baby. I’ll never give up on you.

  Before I could simmer into more of a nervous wreck waiting, it was time to move. Check-in went smoothly, and to my fortune, I didn’t need to pass through the bulk of the foot traffic. Instead of heading toward the commercial terminals, where I suspected Xol mutants waited for me, an employee escorted me all the way to Dale’s private aircraft.

  In any other circumstances, I would have taken the time to notice and appreciate the luxury I was lucky to experience. Nerves and dread twisted into a steady weight as we prepared to take off, and I sat there edgy and bouncing my knee during the entire flight.

  Jonah had said he and Dale would meet me at the airport within an hour of my arrival, and true to his word, I was soon reunited with my sibling.

  “God damn, is it good to see you,” Jonah said as he crushed me into a hug. I was taller and larger, but I struggled for a decent breath as he bear-hugged me.

  I returned the gesture. “Thanks for com—”

  He patted me hard on my back as he released me.

  I flinched, feeling the soreness of all the fights I’d been in since…God, forever, it seemed. He frowned at me and said. “You helped me go after my girl before. Now it’s my turn to help you. No more of this mushy gratitude crap.”

  No more emotional stuff? Fine by me. Just the same, I admired the hell out of the honorable man my brother had become. I suspected he’d always suffered guilt—for me covering his ass when trouble came with his girlfriend. He’d never come out and said it, but it wasn’t hard to guess Jonah could be carrying the burden of thinking he was to blame for my time in prison. Indirectly, maybe he was. But I’d made my choices, and I’d act to defend him in a heartbeat again.

  “Dale,” I said, offering my hand to the older CEO to shake.

  He shook it and nodded once. “Let’s get out of here to discuss what needs to be done.”

  What needed to be done? Simple. Get Cassidy and stop Project Xol, however we could.

  Ending the research—which felt like too kind of a word for grotesque human manipulation—was exactly what we spoke about. Once we’d left the airport, Jonah drove a rental to a hotel. In a suite, we decided what we could do.

  It was an immense help that Dale had slowly but thoroughly explained everything to Jonah. The men had been moving around from hotel to hotel, after Dale realized his offices weren’t safe places to carry on with delicate calls.

  “I’ve already been reaching out,” he said as I practically inhaled the takeout we’d had delivered. I hadn’t thought I’d be able to stomach anything, but Jonah roughly scolded me to just eat something, for strength. At the first whiff of greasy noodles and spiced meat, my body told me what was needed.

  “To who?” I asked around the food in my mouth. This was too urgent of a matter to bother with manners.

  Jonah opened his mouth to speak but closed it before he lost his food.

  “A couple of congressmen. New faces to the political arena. But they’re openminded enough to hear me out,” Dale said. “Without the expectation of campaign donations.”

  Done scarfing his bite down, Jonah wiped at his chin and added, “And the foreigners.”

  Dale nodded. “A select few servicemen in Interpol.”

  I swallowed my food down too early and coughed. “Not the FBI? CIA?”

  The owner of Daysun shook his head. “I’ve already been aware of Xol presence and manipulation in our Armed Forces. My contacts overseas aren’t as…”

  “Bought?” Jonah suggested. “Pushed ov
er and corrupted?”

  “Some of them are,” Dale argued, “but I’m careful who I align with.”

  I trusted his judgment even if I wasn’t quite following his strategy. “How are a few foreign agents going to have jurisdiction here? And how could a couple low-ranking congressmen stop anything?”

  Jonah held up a finger as he gulped some water down. Dale beat him to speaking. “It will be a doubled-up approach. I have the means to buy out labs. Maybe not every facility the entire Project has in use right now. I can purchase the majority of what is on our land, and vetted business associates can probably be encouraged to take care of buying out the international branches of Xol.”

  I laughed once. “Buy out? I don’t think Tami’s going to be putting anything up for sale.” And if he could have done that, why hadn’t he already?

  Jonah said, “She won’t have a choice when we expose the truth.”

  “We’ll leak it all to the press.” Dale smirked. “I have more than enough members of the press to contact.”

  “We’ll be whistleblowers to the entire Project?” I asked. I ignored my food long enough to watch Dale. He didn’t avoid my attention and met my stare head-on. At first, when I’d learned that Daysun was the original funder for Project Xol, way back when Cassidy’s father and Rosa were at the helm of the research, I’d suspected this billionaire of being an accomplice to it all. Yet as he’d explained his role of ending his funding while keeping an eye on the project from a distance, I’d learned he truly cared about this nightmare. He’d more than proven he’d valued Jonah’s and my lives, since he’d intervened and saved my life twice. It was almost ironic that the man who’d been critical to spearheading the research was now the guy who was scheming to bring it all down.

  A full circle, indeed.

  Jonah nodded as Dale said, “As soon as I can gather a cohesive trail of documents as proof, the media’s going to bite.”

  “They’ll bite and shit will hit the fan,” Jonah said. “Mutated humans discovering and hiding a cure to cancer? People manipulating the government? Testing on people?” He huffed. “It’ll spread like this.” He ended with a snap of his fingers.

  “It’ll require…” Dale leaned back into his chair and rubbed at his closed eyes. He blinked them open and sighed. “For something of this magnitude, it’ll take me some time to gather the proof. I can’t trust anyone in my office to handle seeking out the documents. That’s why it’s been so hard to ever think about ending the Project. They hide everything behind governments they can bribe for secrecy. Tami is elusive.”