His hand was a bit shaky as he trimmed, sighed, and trimmed some more. Then sighed. Then—
“I’m going to be bald if you take off much more. Just make it straight.”
After a few more snips, he was done. She’d never even know how it looked from the back anyway, so that was something.
“Why’d you do it?” he asked.
“So that no one could recognize me as that crazy brunette who screwed things up for them in Florida.”
His smile faded. “I’m glad you did. I never would’ve figured out what they were doing. Shit, I sat in that room for two years, thinking I was so lucky.” He laughed bitterly.
She understood. If nothing else, Carter had taught her the limits of trust and dependency. Justin had Alex just like Eden had Carter. Except Alex was still alive, free, and unpunished…for now.
So yeah, Eden understood. “You’re older and wiser already. And in a few years you’ll look back on this time and laugh. Probably about my hair. But you’ll be fine.”
She wished she could help him heal, take away his pain, but it didn’t work like that. The only way to get through it was alone. As much as she loved Mitch, as much as she needed him and as much as he’d helped her, she’d done it alone. She was still doing it alone. She’d be there to support Justin, but he had to find his own way—she was only a completely-biased bystander in his life.
He bit into a granola bar. “You’re so different from her.”
“Alex? Jesus, I’d better be. That woman sold her soul for a buck fifty. I’d hold out for at least ten.”
His laugh was beautiful—so much like a child’s. He was still able to separate himself, forget, live in this moment, and enjoy life, as awful as it might be ten minutes from now. It gave her hope that regardless of what happened to everybody else, Justin would be okay.
“I meant my mom,” he said, swallowing. “You’re nothing like her.”
“Is that a good or a bad thing?”
“It’s a great thing. I think my transformations changed her too.” He grimaced. “Anyway, you’re a lot nicer than she was. I wish you were… Whatever.” He bolted before he’d even finished speaking.
God help him if he was looking to her to be maternal. Maybe sometime far, far in the future, but right now she was filled with too much spite, anger, and worry to feel anything else.
Maybe with time. “I’m only eight years older than you are, Justin. So think of me as your seriously hot older sister.” She waited until he turned towards her. “One that will kick your ass if you do anything stupid.”
“I could take you in a fair fight,” he said with a smile.
She couldn’t smile back. “Fights are never fair, Justin.” Never. She started gathering some supplies and shoving them into her bag. There had to be a Girl Scout badge for this—A ‘Catastrophe Preparedness’ badge. “If Landon calls, tell him I’m at the store.”
“Where will you really be?”
“Somewhere else.”
“What if something happens?” He glanced at the truck. “If—”
“Hyde’s locked up. Tightly.” She put her hand on his arm. “But I’ll check again before I go. I won’t be gone very long, an hour or so.” She pointed to the syringe on the table. “Worst case—which won’t happen, but should always be planned for—is that you have to shove that into his arm. It may take a few minutes, but it will bring Mitch back. Until it does, just keep the bastard talking. He likes to talk, probably because no one wants to hear it. So put in some earbuds and try to ignore him. Okay?”
He nodded.
“You can’t live your life in fear, Justin. You have to beat it. Believe me, I spent twenty-four years in it. Definitely not fun. I took my first real breath about a month ago. And you’re a lot stronger than I was. Hell, you sneaked into that truck when you could’ve run. I wouldn’t have had the guts to do that.”
“Where are you going for real?” Hopefully he wouldn’t ignore her directions as well as he did the compliment.
“I want to look around a little bit more.” Because she had to do something. She wasn’t the type to stay home and darn socks. She needed out, and she needed to move, and she needed to stop obsessively staring at that stupid truck.
She trusted Landon and his expertise, but this was her future too. And Mitch’s. So she would be involved and be prepared to act as backup for Landon or go in after him, if necessary. But until then, she’d stay out of the facility and not talk to anyone.
How much trouble can I get into from fifty feet away? Her spy-skills probably hadn’t improved much, but the area around the building would be filled with people at this time of day. With her head down and her new hair, she would look like everyone else. Staying here and controlling nothing was slowly making her go insane. Maybe it was an increased pull from Chastity or the overall imbalance Eden felt, but she couldn’t shake the pent-up violence within her.
Like an animal born in the wild but forced to live in captivity.
Thankfully, even in haste, she’d packed well. A pencil skirt and a button-down blouse, only moderately wrinkled. Her flats were perfectly suited for the working world as well as fighting and running like hell. So yeah, totally appropriate for her day, however it ended up.
Before she left, she checked every lock—the ones around Hyde’s wrists and ankles, the one on the truck, and the one to the warehouse. After jogging for about a mile, she spotted a cab. It dropped her off five blocks away from the facility.
The whole complex was busy—just like she thought it would be. People milling around the large fountain that had iron horses running through it.
Luckily, she was hidden by two men when a woman walked through Malvers Labs’ glass door. A woman Eden recognized. A woman Eden would’ve strangled right here if it wouldn’t ruin everything, including the appetites of everyone around her.
Alex, Alex, Alex. She looked way too healthy and vertical for Eden’s liking. But timing is everything, and Alex would be out of it soon enough.
Alex is here. So this had to be the right place. An extra twinge of excitement went through Eden when she realized that this wasn’t just one of The Clinic’s facilities—this was where Alex came to be debriefed…and hopefully tortured a little bit.
Of course, in addition to this being the right place, it was also the most dangerous place for Eden to be. She ducked her head, turned in the opposite direction, and went through the first door she saw, right into a busy café. She could stay here until Alex was gone...maybe get a muffin.
A man near the front of the line caught her eye, nodding slightly. She looked away—the last thing she needed was some guy trying to get into her pants. That area was locked down—one key only, thank you very much.
When she looked out the window again, Alex was gone. One more minute just to be sure.
“Hon, I’m up here!”
Everyone, including Eden, looked in the direction of the voice.
The man was now smiling and beckoning to her. “Come up here.” Then he turned to the person behind him in line and asked, “You don’t mind if my girlfriend joins me, do you? It’ll be on the same bill and she doesn’t eat much.” After the woman shrugged, he called to Eden again. “It’s fine. Come on.”
Eden looked around, hoping he was talking to someone else. No one moved. Except to look at her. This isn’t good. One or more of these people must work for The Clinic and might recognize her, even with her new hair and sunglasses. If the guy would just shut up…
“Come on, honey.”
She shook her head. “Really, it’s okay. I’m good.”
The woman in front of her turned around, smiling. “If you don’t want him, can I take him?”
When a few people started laughing, Eden gave up and went to the front, keeping her head down and tilted away from the line.
“Hi…honey.” In another situation, some woman who wasn’t her would probably think that what he’d done was charming. He was tall, very attractive, early thirties probably, fit
, and expensive-looking. Perfect haircut, tailored suit, and shoes that didn’t look like they came from Payless.
She felt a tinge of the old Chastity hit her right in the crotch. Oh, shit. She thought she was done with that, hoped she was done with that. But the more she looked at him, the stronger the pulse. So she stopped looking at him.
“This is cheating, you know,” she mumbled.
“Yep, I know.” The volume of his voice lowered to match hers. “But you looked hungry.”
“Do you always pick up strays?”
“My intention wasn’t to be charitable,” he said. “What do you want?”
She looked at him blankly.
“To eat. What do you want to eat?” Smiling, he motioned to the clerk who was waiting impatiently.
“Oh…um…this.” She grabbed a salad and water out of the display case, plopped them down on the counter, and reached into her bag for her wallet. When he touched her arm, she only flinched. He looked confused, but not as confused as he’d be if she’d reacted by grabbing him by the neck and kneeing him in the balls.
So all in all, she felt pretty good about it.
“My treat.” Before she could protest, he added, “I promised my neighbor here that it would all be on the same bill.”
“That’s really nice of you. Thanks.” She grabbed the food and left, but he matched her speed.
“Don’t run away. Please. It’s not a come-on—it’s just a conversation.”
Yeah, right. “Can’t. I have a meeting.”
“With who, Eden?” he asked from a few feet behind her.
His words stopped her, stunned her. Seriously? She had no spy skills at all.
It would be useless to deny it. “How do you know my name?”
“Because I work for the people you’re hunting.”
Chapter XX
“I don’t know what you mean,” Eden said tightly.
“You have a lot of talents. Playing stupid isn’t one of them.”
Eden’s back was to him—not a very favorable position. But he seemed to know not to get too close, his voice coming from at least four feet away.
“Wow, the things men say nowadays just to get a girl to talk to them.” She stayed absolutely still, unsure what to do. She could A) whip around, grab him by the neck, and demand he tell her everything he knows. But that would bring an incredible amount of undesirable attention. Or B) turn around slowly and talk to him calmly. In public. Where she could see his hands at all times. Not nearly as satisfying, but far more intelligent.
She motioned towards a small space between people on the cement bench that surrounded the fountain. It would be a tight squeeze, but it was very public and she didn’t think either of them wanted to speak too loudly.
“Why don’t we go—?”
“If you think I’m going anywhere”—she used air-quotes—“‘quiet’ with you, you’re an idiot. And dealing with idiots isn’t one of my talents.”
As he took a seat on the bench, he smiled—not the normal reaction to someone calling you a derogatory name. He was definitely smooth, but not in a sleazy way. More of a controlled power that—unfortunately—was incredibly attractive.
When she sat down, their thighs brushed, an unwelcomed pulse running through her. Chastity had just found someone she wanted to get to know better. Someone who wasn’t Mitch. But regardless of how uncomfortable it was to be here, Eden needed to get to know him better as well.
“Name and rank, please,” she said.
He smiled again.
“I’m glad you find me so amusing. But how about you put your smile away and use your mouth to answer?”
He straightened but didn’t lose the grin. “Ryan Whittley. Minion to the man.”
“Minion?” She doubted it. The man radiated power. “You dress awfully well for a minion, Ryan.”
He bowed his head. “Thank you. I try. ‘Dress for success,’ as they say. My inheritance helps with that.”
Great. A rich kid. Who worked for the enemy. “What do you want?”
“What makes you think I want anything?”
“Because you’re human and you’re breathing—the two things that pretty much guarantee you want more than you already have. Plus, since you know who I am, then you also know how much trouble I cause for the people around me. So it must be worth the risk.”
“Guilty on all counts.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I want it all. The company and all of its divisions. I dress for success because I will succeed. And you’ll help me do it.”
She chuckled. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I intend to run things differently, more along the lines of what you want. You showing up here is kismet, serendipity, a sign from up above”—after a quick glance to the sky, his gaze landed on her—“that we would be good for each other.”
She caught the innuendo, felt it reverberate through her, and accepted it for what it was—a way in. Her help wasn’t all he wanted from her. When she leaned in closer, he inhaled deeply.
“Tell me what I want to know, everything I want to know, and we might be able to work something out.”
“Your place or mine?”
“Here works just fine.”
He shook his head and then nodded towards the Malvers building. “Too close to home.”
As she stood, he studied her. She wanted to fidget, hide from his eyes, but that would show weakness. “Two cars, I lead. We stop where I want to. Get your car and meet me at that corner.” She walked away, stopping only to toss her untouched salad in the trash.
Thankfully she didn’t have to wait too long for a cab. Ryan was waiting in his car—a very expensive, very fast import.
I guess he drives for success as well. She told the cabbie to keep driving until she said stop. She asked to be dropped off at a run-down fast food restaurant—the kind of place that made people like Ryan uncomfortable. She went inside without checking to see if he followed and then chose a seat facing and near the exit.
He walked in a minute later. “Nice place. Next time, I pick.” His lips were tight, but other than that, he didn’t give anything away.
“I have yet to determine if there will be a next time.”
“Yours?” He pointed to the trash the previous diners had left, then gathered it up and walked over to toss it. After he sat back down, he unbuttoned his jacket and looked at her. Studied her really. “Now that we have the room, shall I lay it all on the table then?”
Without further ado, he started talking. He didn’t beat around the bush or give any lame excuses. Eden kept her mouth shut for as long as she could, but eventually it fell open in disbelief. He knew everything. Somehow he knew everything. About her, Florida, Mitch, the serums, all of it.
“How am I doing?” he asked. “Have we built any trust yet?”
Yes, damn it. More than she was comfortable with. But trust and The Clinic were antonyms, and that went for their employees as well. “You haven’t told me anything I don’t already know.”
“Tough crowd.” He leaned back, pausing to stare at her again. “You’re the reason he started all of this, you know. He partnered with Malvers Labs to get funding for his research and spent every waking hour to finding a cure. Not for himself or anyone else—for you. Did you ever meet him?”
“Who?” she asked stiffly, knowing exactly who he was talking about.
“Ian. Did you ever meet him before he”—sadness clouded his face for just a moment—“got tied up in his work?”
Chained up, actually. “You knew him.”
“I worked with him for a little while,” Ryan said, nodding. “He talked about you a lot. His raison d’être. Or his raison d’experiment.” He smiled. “He was so focused on you, I think he forgot who everyone else was, including himself. So did he? Contact you?”
Eden didn’t want to talk about this—not now, not ever. She didn’t want to know that her father was human and had feelings and talked about her with his co-workers. Someone like that shouldn’
t have been able to live in the same city and never contact her. Never try to help Eden’s mom who was coping the only way she knew how. Never let Eden go into foster care after her mom ODed. No, Eden didn’t care how Ian was betrayed, not after he betrayed her and her mom.
“The only time we met,” she snapped, “was when he was in the cage two doors down from mine. So can we get on with it?”
“I didn’t know it was a sensitive topic. I apologize.”
“I don’t need an apology, I need information.”
“Okay. Ian’s research became a side project for Malvers Labs. The facility in Florida was completely devoted to it. All the others stayed legitimate, above-board laboratories, and have never had anything to do with his kind. With your kind.”
He sighed. “However, due to the nature of humanity, somebody at the top thought he wasn’t doing it right. That there were more important things than finding a cure for a very small segment of the population.”
“Such as?”
“What if there were no criminals? No murderers, pedophiles, rapists. What if there was a way to stop people from accessing their baser natures? To control their all-too-human evil sides? The Abnormals are exactly what Stevenson wrote about in his book but unlike Dr. Jekyll, Abnormals don’t need chemical modification. Instead of needing a drug to separate the evil from the good, nature did it for you.”
Well, yay for us. Was she supposed to feel lucky? “So your bosses want to rid the world of murderers by murdering people? Torturing them? How incredibly altruistic of them.”
“From their perspective, it’s the price of changing the world. Sacrifice is an unavoidable component of change. You’re breathing proof of it—your integration made you sacrifice certain parts of the old you. Or am I wrong?”
“Completely,” she lied. “So you want to do things differently. How?”
“Well, for one, I’d like to work with you, not against you. If I were in charge—which I’m not but will be soon—you’d have access to everything. Same ultimate goal, totally different tactics. If cosmetic companies don’t have to do animal testing, neither do we.” He grimaced. “No disrespect meant with the analogy, of course. There should be a good working relationship between your kind and the researchers—no testing without your full-consent and approval.”
Strange Case, an Urban Fantasy (Hyde Book III) Page 16
