Gareth snorted when he turned back. Her dry sense of humor never failed to surprise him. “No… seriously… how did you know what they were?”
Brandi shrugged as she continued to eat. “They smell like the zoo, earthy and exotic. Lane’s guys, on the other hand, smell like cheap aftershave and greasy food.”
“Okay. Do you know what kind of cat?” Gareth demanded, resuming his meal.
Brandi barked out a laugh. “No… but it doesn’t matter. They’ll smell like the dead kind if they don’t keep their distance.”
Across the room, she heard Fallon and Lars fighting not to choke on their coffee as they laughed at her drama. She kept her gaze on her plate and pretended not to notice Gareth’s concern over her statement. He always took her seriously. Sometimes she liked it. Sometimes she used it to her advantage.
“Do you kill everyone that makes you unhappy?” Gareth demanded.
“Pretty much,” Brandi said. Then she pretended to think about it, not lifting her gaze. “A dead bastard doesn’t cause a woman half as much trouble as a live one.”
“Brandi, I’m being serious. I really don’t want to end up dead. I promised a certain couple of Alphas that I’d take care of you. Try to find a way to forgive me until I can make you understand my side of this situation.”
“Okay. I can see I’m going to have to repeat this like a hundred times until something gets through that thick skull of yours. Let’s recap the facts to expand your understanding, shall we?”
Brandi put down her fork and tented her fingers.
“You’ve lied to me about who you were for two months. Yesterday you let a known enemy tag me with a knock-out cocktail. You were also going to let them study me without my consent. I’m tired of waking up strapped down to gurneys, Gareth. So no—I have no plans to forgive you. I will let you live so long as you don’t keep stabbing me in the back every five seconds. Cross me again—and I will take you out.”
Gareth shook his head. All in all his revelations were going as well as he could have expected. Brandi didn’t trust him any longer and was determined to work around him. He could only imagine how much trouble she was having with the fact her former handler had lied to her too.
Now he deeply regretted his promise to help bring Brandi into his department for study. He knew it was just going to further break down things between them when she heard about the deal he’d made on her behalf. He might never be able to convince her, but he really hadn’t had any other choice. Making Brandi part of them was the only way the organization was willing to let her and the others stay alive.
Chapter 6
Gareth made a phone call and a car came to pick them up from the restaurant. Fallon and Lars took over for the drivers and snickered as they left two unhappy, frowning, and obviously green agents standing on the street. Brandi didn’t bat an eyelash at any of the driver drama, which shouldn’t have surprised him so much because she was a seasoned agent, but did given her current frustration level with anything involving him.
Once inside the vehicle, a grinning Lars had passed Brandi’s jacket and sunglasses over the seat to her. She didn’t seem shocked or upset by their magical reappearance, or by Lars’s conspiratorial wink which had made her smile briefly.
Were they trying to intimidate her? Or trying to make friends? After yesterday, they should know what a hard-ass piece of work she was.
When Brandi turned to stare out the car window, Lars turned and looked between him and Brandi with eyebrows raised in question. Gareth shook his head. Their sense of smell wasn’t as good as his… or Brandi’s. Still, there was no hiding he and Brandi had been intimate. Fallon and Lars were both probably wondering why he was forcing Brandi to go in and face an uncertain fate since she was someone he obviously cared enough about to have sex with.
He couldn’t blame them for thinking poorly of his actions. He was now wondering the same damn thing himself. He just hadn’t seen how to avoid the upcoming confrontation without Brandi becoming the next hunted hybrid. It had made more sense for the two of them to go in together, confess what had happened to her, and work within the system he’d supported for over forty years.
As Fallon drove swiftly through the back streets of Alexandria, he could feel Brandi pulling further into herself… no doubt preparing for what she would face. She acted like she didn’t care. Maybe she didn’t. For once, he wished he could read her mind. He also wished he’d told her the truth so she’d still be listening to him.
“Okay, Gareth. So how’s this deal going to work?”
Gareth looked sideways as Brandi turned her face to his. All he could do was shrug. “We’ll talk to the head of the program and tell him the truth about what happened to you. I don’t know how it will be received.”
“When you say head of the program, you’re not talking about Santiago, are you?”
“Luckily for you—no. Be grateful I stopped you before you did more than just scare the piss out of him. His death might have meant yours. Rogue hybrids are dealt with swiftly.”
“Nag, nag, nag. The junior mad scientist is still alive, isn’t he? The point was to make sure Dr. Santiago didn’t want to dissect me any more. I just wanted to make it clear to him that he’d die in the process.”
Brandi fought her mouth twitching when she heard snorting from the front seat. Lars turned his face away to hide his grin. She couldn’t see Fallon, but she imagined he was equally entertained by her conversation with Gareth.
“All efforts to turn me into a science experiment again will be met with the same reaction, Gareth. My agent portfolio doesn’t stipulate any agreement to be the government’s guinea pig. I felt the need to clarify my stance when Santiago calmly informed me he was going to change me back into a human again.”
Gareth’s sigh echoed through the car. “Dr. Santiago was just speaking rhetorically.”
“Today’s he’s lucky to be speaking at all. I was also trained to deal swiftly with people intending to harm me.”
“You might want to work on that defensive attitude before we see Santiago’s boss. The man has been around a while. He’s not as easily intimidated by agent bravado.”
Brandi laughed at Gareth’s advice and pulled her glasses down to peer over the top at him.
“You mean the other Dr. Crane? Why are you looking so stunned that I know, Gareth? Finding out the truth is what I’m best at, which is why my old handler is in for a shit load of grief over sending me to spy on your rogue leader’s damn brother. I’m tired of walking into situations blind to the dangers, and I’m tired of people I care about setting me up.”
Gareth let loose another sigh, but nodded. “Fair enough. Looks like you found out an awful lot yesterday.”
Brandi snorted and pushed her glasses back up. “Not really. I found out nothing that counts. I’m hoping today is better. This Crane doesn’t scare me any more than the last one.”
“The last one made you a hybrid,” Gareth reminded her.
Brandi frowned. Reed’s words echoed inside her. “No. He made me into a werewolf, which my gut tells me is not the same thing as what you’re calling a hybrid. But he might not have done anything at all to me if Lane had sent in backup when I went missing. Lane left me there on purpose. I think my old handler and yours knew exactly what Crazy Crane was going to do to me. They let it happen. I want to know why.”
Gareth looked away. He’d thought the same, but was a bit startled Brandi had gotten there so quickly.
“When I met you, I’d been out of touch for years. I didn’t know about Feldspar’s real work until you told me. The pack was looking into the missing gray wolves. Most of the ones Crane captured were fortunately not shifters, but it still wasn’t right. We heard the National Wildlife Foundation was sending someone to look into Crane’s activities so we backed off the pack’s investigation. Then you showed up. The rest was me figuring it out after I met you.”
“Which sort of puts a whole new spin on why you were so adamant I didn’t sleep with J
unior Calder, doesn’t it? It’s pretty easy to investigate someone you’re banging. Sometimes people get really talky in bed. Trust me—I know.”
Temper flared at her accusation… and at a past that hadn’t included him. Gareth reached out and clamped a hand on her knee, bringing a burning glare and her full attention to him. “That’s not what happened between us.” When Brandi grabbed his hand firmly and shoved it off her knee, it was all he could do not to growl at her over it.
“My presence here in this car is proof of your motives. Trying to convince me differently is a waste of breath unless you’re willing to let me go and forget I exist.”
His anger rose and his heartbeat sounded in his ears. Conflicting urges to shake her and jump her warred in him. The sudden intense need to prove he was stronger than she was got interrupted by the car stopping in front of their destination. In the end, he could only glare and promise himself to one day set her straight.
“By the way, you might want to drop that combative attitude, Gareth. You wouldn’t want your handler to think the reason you turned me in to him was because you hated me. He might decide you’re as rogue as I am.”
The car door opened just as he made a grab. Brandi scrambled out of reach before he made contact. His angry growling at her provoked laughter from both their keepers. Slamming the car door in a temper only made it worse. Fallon and Lars weren’t even trying to hide their amusement at them.
“What the hell is so damn funny?” Gareth demanded.
“Brandi is quite the fierce female. If she were a man, I might leave Lars for her. Do you ever win a fight with your woman?” Fallon asked.
Gareth snorted. “No. They all go pretty much like you just heard. Brandi will either see me to my grave or put me in it. I can’t tell which yet.”
Fallon’s deep belly laugh and slap on his back didn’t help his mood. Ahead of them Lars led Brandi through the security door. Gareth shook his head and walked alongside Fallon as they followed.
Chapter 7
Brandi looked around a lab twice as big as the one Crazy Crane had used for his wolf experiments. His brother Shitty Sheldon obviously had way better funding, as well as better connected friends in high places.
Apparently, he also had the same God-complex too. Some missive was sent to Gareth’s phone telling them they would have to wait until he was free. You’d think her apprehension would have had a higher priority after she almost escaped the facility yesterday.
Brandi folded her sunglasses and slid one earpiece into the collar of her shirt. It was an old military trick from serving more years than she’d wanted to in desert after desert. She walked slowly around looking at partially filled beakers and mysterious vials of liquid.
Santiago’s scent was everywhere in the room. No doubt her altercations with the man had already been reported to his superior. She wrinkled her nose and ignored the smell of her enemy. Her wolf brooded over her lack of reaction and kept guard.
She glanced over and noticed Fallon and Lars had positioned themselves by the door. Today they had on matching jeans, white t-shirts, and sleek navy jackets. The stiff blond spikes on their heads stood out against the blue. She wondered if they knew their military cropped haircuts made them look like twins.
With arms crossed and heads held high, they reminded her of two giant sphinxes guarding the pyramids. They both winked and made smooching lips at her when Gareth looked away. She covered her mouth with her hand, refusing to let their kidding around make her smile. She couldn’t afford to take this too lightly, but she couldn’t help liking them either.
“I’m sorry you’re having to wait,” Gareth said.
Brandi snorted. “Yeah, waiting to meet my extortionist is a real bitch.”
“Stop dramatizing this. It’s not extortion,” Gareth said tersely.
“What is this then?” Brandi demanded. She stared into Gareth’s eyes, trying to understand what kind of stories he was telling himself about what was going on.
“I don’t know. Think of being here as a job discussion,” Gareth suggested.
“Job discussion? Don’t kid yourself that I’m volunteering to work for these people. I’ll tell you what I told Santiago. Being drugged, apprehended, and strapped to a gurney does not qualify as a work transfer. I’m here only because you took away my other choices.”
Gareth’s sigh echoed in the lab. “Can you take that damn chip off your shoulder for two seconds and try to give me at least a tiny benefit of the doubt?”
“No. I don’t think I can. People around here tranquilize me in the ass every time I lower my guard.”
“No one is going to tranquilize you again, Agent Jenkins. We’re either going to make a deal with you or we’re going to kill you. I’ve found that’s the only way this ever works.”
Brandi’s gaze swung to the new man speaking. She’d been so caught up in her emotionally charged debate with Gareth that she’d missed seeing him come into the room. She spared one last glance at the most distracting man she’d ever met before turning her attention to the distracting man’s handler.
He was dressed in a pristine white lab coat, and underneath it she could see Shitty Sheldon wore business casual clothes. Chinos. Pale blue polo. Not exceptionally high quality, but not rack either. The only oddity was he wore sandals and socks instead of the expensive leather shoes his brother had favored. Of course, his brother had been located in Alaska.
If you set the sandals aside, Sheldon Crane looked a lot like his brother Randall, only a lot less crazy and a lot more mean. But she’d seen mean before and had no doubt she’d see it again after today, regardless of any deals.
“I’ve been an agent for over a decade, Dr. Crane. If I had a nickel for every time someone tried to kill me and failed, I’d be pretty rich right now.”
“I’ve probably killed a few more people than your typical blood-thirsty target, except maybe the drug dealer who caught and tortured you last year. Ramirez wanted to become synonymous with the word evil. I believe he was well on his way to doing so before your team finally blew him up.”
Brandi shrugged. She wasn’t going to be intimidated by someone with access to her records.
“All they blew up was what was left of Ramirez when I got done. If you read the report I filed, you’ll know I got free… and that I stopped him.”
She saw a flash in Crane’s eyes. Pride? In her? She snorted at her imagination, but couldn’t set her instinct about it aside.
“I know everything about you, Agent Jenkins. I even know what my misguided brother did in his experiments. In fact, I knew nearly everything there was to know long before Gareth called to say he’d found another hybrid and would bring you in.”
“Apparently raising cattle for a living is a boring life for a retired agent. We all know I got dropped into Gareth’s lying lap like a Christmas present. This is old news and not even interesting. What did you promise Travis Black Wolf in return for the information he provided?”
To her amazement, Shitty Sheldon laughed. And when he did, he sounded just like his maniacal brother. Her wolf snarled inside her, wanting to break free. Brandi agreed with her wolf’s assessment of the potential danger. But she needed a lot more information. Silencing the man was the last thing she wanted to do.
She watched as Dr. Sheldon Crane paced around the lab looking holier than the Pope in his pristine white scientist garb. She would have thoroughly enjoyed letting her wolf lunge at him just to see his face lose its smug expression. She had no doubt Ariel’s wolf would have already been at the man’s throat—a thought that cheered her immensely.
She suspected Gareth would now try and stop her if she let her wolf loose on the man. His loyalty to anyone named Crane was just one more reason to distrust his words. Fighting didn’t suit her present interests in fact-gathering, but she certainly wouldn’t mind another chance to kick Gareth’s ass in the name of retribution.
“I can honestly say Travis Black Wolf told me nothing interesting about you, Agent Jenkins.
He didn’t even know you were an operative until I informed him. The only reason he’s here is because he has the same genes as his grandfather. Dr. Santiago confirmed the DNA match is very close.”
Brandi glared at the explanation. “So you are planning to make more of me. When Santiago starting talking about changing me back, I suspected it wasn’t his real agenda.”
“I haven’t told you about our real agenda yet, Agent Jenkins. You see, Randall was sending me regular updates on his experiments, including bios and photos of his subjects. It was my brother’s favorite way to brag about his achievements. But if I understood his notes correctly, the not-so-late Dr. Jones is the one who actually found the magic werewolf-making bullet. Too bad I haven’t been able to recruit her into our little family. I’m still hopeful though, especially now that I know exactly where she’s hiding.”
Brandi Page 6
