Hangman's Army: Lake Of Sins, #3

by L. S. O'Dea

  “There were many rooms,” whispered Matilda.

  “How many?” This was news to him. He needed to talk to Laddie and from what Trinity had said, that meant he’d better hurry.

  She glanced at Barney who took her hand in both of his and nodded.

  “I used to work at Conguise’s house but I requested a transfer to the lab.”

  “Why would you do that?” asked Jackson. “From what I’ve heard that was not somewhere any Servant or Guard wanted to go.”

  “I...I had to. The professor took my daughter, Ferssia. I thought she might be there.”

  “Did you find her?” He was afraid of her answer. The daughter could’ve been changed and that would’ve been worse than finding her dead.

  “No. I was only allowed in certain rooms. I think the professor enjoyed torturing me. I’m sure he knew why I’d asked to be transferred. He always had someone with me, someone who he trusted—either another Servant who whispered in his ear or an Almighty.” She tightened her grip on Barney’s hand. “He made sure that I could never search for Ferssia but I learned the different rooms. There was one room for the poor creatures in the first stage of the process and another room where they were taken after they changed past a certain point.”

  “That had to have been where I found Scar.”

  “No. I think that was another room, the place where the failed experiments went.” Matilda’s face was pale.

  “Scar wasn’t dead when I found her.”

  “But she was dying. The second room...Those experiments were all healthy and strong...and hungry. They were always hungry.”

  Barney wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.

  “I’m sorry about your daughter,” he said. At least Viola was dead and not some monster in a cage.

  She nodded, tears in her big, blue eyes.

  “None of these creatures were found when the professor’s lab was searched. Some he could’ve hidden. Some he could’ve dumped into the sewers but some had to have been moved. There were rumors of a secondary location. Do you have any idea where it could be?”

  Matilda shook her head.

  “I’d heard the same thing but didn’t figure that there was any truth to it. As far as I know, no Guards or House Servants ever went to another location.” Barney drummed his claws on the table. “Laddie might know. He worked on level five for years.”

  “I’m going to see him next.”

  “Laddie’s sick.” Jackson glanced at him. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know. Curtis and Trinity told me. We need to get to camp as soon as possible but...” He didn’t want to bring this up. He liked Barney, but Tim deserved to know the truth.

  “Hugh, you’ve never been one to shy away from a difficult task.” Barney put his tea cup down. “What else do you need from me?” He smiled sadly at Matilda. “I’ll help any way that I can. I owe you so much. Tim. Trinity.” His eyes teared up. “You gave me more than I ever dreamed I could have.”

  “You don’t owe me anything.” He was glad Tim wasn’t here. This was harder than he’d imagined. He might be taking this old man’s son and granddaughter from him.

  “You risked your life for my son and—”

  “Stop, please.” He glanced at Jackson who was looking anywhere but at Barney. “I don’t know how to tell you this.” His eyes met Barney’s worried green ones. “Tim is...Tim isn’t my mom’s son. He may not be your son. I need your DNA to test against his and I need an explanation of what happened before he was born.”

  “You’re mistaken. Tim is my and Sarah’s son.” Barney’s face paled and his eyes dulled.

  “I’m not mistaken. I tested Tim’s DNA against mine and we’re not related. I ran the test several times.”

  Matilda clasped Barney’s hand and leaned closer to him, comforting him with her presence.

  “Tim is my son.”

  “Yes, that’s possible. I’ll need your DNA—”

  “It’s not a possibility; it’s a fact. He is my son.” Barney glanced at Matilda who nodded slightly.

  “I understand.” He reached across the table and patted the elderly Servant’s hand. “You were desperate to save him from Conguise. You were worried that I might not help, so you lied and said Tim was my brother. I would’ve done the same thing.”

  “I didn’t lie.” Barney’s face wrinkled in confusion. “I mean, I guess I did but—”

  “Really. I understand.” He leaned back in his seat. “You had a relationship with some Almighty who didn’t want the baby.” He held up his hand when Barney started to interrupt. “I’m not judging her. Perhaps, she wanted the baby but there would’ve been too many questions. Either way, you talked to Mom and she took Tim in, like she did so many others. It’s fine. I really do understand.”

  “Sarah was the only Almighty I have ever been involved with intimately.” Barney’s face was pale and his mouth pinched.

  “Then Tim isn’t your son.” He leaned forward. “Let me run tests on your blood—”

  “Hugh, I was at the birth. Tim is my and Sarah’s son.”

  Jackson inhaled sharply.

  He glanced at the Guard who was watching him closely and then back at Barney. “That’s not possible. I ran the tests. Tim and I are not related.”

  Barney’s eyes were sad and Matilda stared at him with pity in her gaze. Jackson focused on his food, picking at a sandwich. Doubt started to tap at his skull. He was missing something. Something that the others saw, but DNA didn’t lie.

  “I’m sorry, Hugh, but it does make sense. You know your father. Do you honestly think that he’d...journey where a House Servant had previously been?”

  “My father wouldn’t have touched...” The pieces clicked into place. “Sarah’s not my mother.” He stared at the pity in Barney’s eyes but felt nothing. He’d been lied to his entire life. He should feel something, anger, betrayal...something, but he was numb.

  “I hadn’t been in contact with Sarah but I’d heard that she’d left the area for several months,” said Barney. “When she came back, she had you. I didn’t think much of it at the time. She traveled a lot. Her marriage was never a good one, but it would’ve only taken one time...”

  He had to run more tests, but if Sarah wasn’t his mother and had brought him home one day, then... “I’m adopted.” He smiled, but it was sad. “I’m one of the many stray and injured creatures that Sarah Truent brought home and cared for, not Tim.”

  “I never imagined that you weren’t Sarah’s son.” The old Servant’s green eyes bore into him. “She treated you like her child. She loved you like her child.”

  “I know.” But it hurt. She’d been his everything growing up and she’d lied to him.

  “Sarah loved you,” Barney repeated. “Don’t doubt that, not for a moment.”

  “Tim will be happy.” The words were rough and raspy. “I’d like to run tests to be sure. Do you happen to have anything of hers? Hair perhaps or something she may have kissed. It needs to have her DNA on it.” He glanced at Barney’s mate but she didn’t seem upset about this talk of his former lover.

  “I’m sorry, but no. I wasn’t allowed to keep any personal items when I was sent to Conguise’s.” Barney looked down at his hands; they trembled slightly. “I was told to forget her. Never to think of her again, but”—he looked up, smiling—“those memories even death won’t take from me.”

  “Such a romantic.” Matilda kissed his cheek.

  “Not at all.” Barney flushed slightly. “Your sister might have something of your...her mother’s.”

  “I’m sure she does but I can’t risk going to see her. Even if I thought I could sneak in and out without getting caught I don’t want her associated with any of this. She and her family have suffered enough for being related to me.” He laughed. It was a harsh, coarse sound. “Especially, since we aren’t.” He paused, his eyes meeting Barney’s. “You lived there when Little Sarah was born, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it possib
le that she’s adopted too?” He needed to compare his and Little Sarah’s DNA to their mother’s. Maybe neither of them were the General’s kids. It’d be great if his mo...Sarah had passed off orphan kids on the bastard. The man deserved no better after what he’d done to that girl.

  “She is Sarah’s daughter and I have no reason to believe that she isn’t the General’s offspring too. They had just gotten married and Sarah tried to be a good wife. She was a good wife.”

  “But you can’t know for sure. You didn’t know that I wasn’t his son.”

  Barney shrugged. “No. I didn’t know for sure about you, but I did have suspicions. They barely spoke after Tim was born. Your fath...General Truent was very angry with Sarah. I often wondered, after I left if he...” Barney’s eyes met his and it was clear that the Servant knew of the General’s predilections.

  They came to an unspoken agreement that the sins of Sarah’s husband wouldn’t see the light, at least not today. “My fath...the General could be persuasive.”

  “Yes, he could,” said Barney a slight sneer on his lips.

  He struggled with the urge to speak the truth, but keeping the family secret was habit.

  “We’re missing something,” said Jackson. “From everything that I’ve heard, your father—”

  “Don’t call him that.” The words flew out of his mouth. He hadn’t meant to say them but there they were. He’d wanted to disassociate himself from the man he’d known as his father almost his entire life, now he could. It was freeing, but why hadn’t his moth...Sarah told him? She’d known her husband had hated him, which was understandable given all the facts. If only she’d told him that he wasn’t the General’s son, he would’ve stopped trying so hard to please...that man. He would’ve understood that he hadn’t failed the General. He’d never had the chance to succeed. His very DNA had been against him.

  “It’s clear that Sarah’s mate was not a nice man,” said Jackson. “Why would he put up with raising two bastards? No offense, Hugh.”

  “None taken and you have a point.”

  “One maybe, but two?” Jackson shook his head. “That’s hard to believe.”

  “Perhaps, he didn’t want the stigma of divorce.” It sounded weak even to him. The General’s career would’ve withstood the censure under those circumstances. Sarah would’ve been punished but that couldn’t have been why the General hadn’t filed for divorce. No, Hugh Truent Senior had only looked out for himself. Something wasn’t adding up. “Maybe, he didn’t know about me. Mom could’ve coaxed him into her bed to let him think he’d gotten her pregnant.”

  “You’re saying that she knew at least seven months in advance that she was going to be bringing you home,” said Jackson, disbelief in his voice. “That’s a long time.”

  The Guard was right. There was a missing piece to this puzzle and he had to find it.

  “I can talk to Little Sarah,” said Barney. “I’ll see if she has something of her parents that she’ll give me. Then, you can prove what I already know. Tim is Sarah’s son.”

  “Is it safe for you to meet with her?” He wanted that DNA but Barney was a runaway Servant. If captured, he’d be delivered to his master. He’d be taken to Conguise.

  “Yes. No one is looking for me any longer. They probably think I’m dead.”

  “But with my escape they’ll be watching her.” He shook his head. It wasn’t worth the risk. “Hold off on talking to her. Depending on what type of lab equipment I get access to, I may not need any DNA from my sister. Little Sarah and my...her father are both in the NHARS.”

  “What’s that?” asked Jackson.

  “The National Health Assurance Registry System.” He’d forgotten how little the other classes knew about the world. At their blank stares, he added, “It’s a database that stores information. Kind of like a business’ books but on a bigger scale. It was designed to track DNA from all the classes in order to eliminate illnesses and deformities. They also wanted to use it to create stronger and healthier offspring by choosing the breeding pairs for all the classes, except the Almightys of course.”

  “Like they do for the Producers.” Jackson’s face paled slightly.

  “Yes and no. This would’ve been on a national level, not local, and that was a big part of the problem. The Almightys who run the Producer encampments didn’t want to store DNA. They take great pride in creating the strongest and best Producers and if it were left up to science... anyone could do it. The bottom line is they feared for their jobs.”

  “Why haven’t I heard of this?” asked Barney. “I keep up on the news.”

  “It never made it that far. The Almightys also balked at donating their DNA. The Council considered forcing the matter but they couldn’t get the support. I think it’s because the council members didn’t want their DNA stored either. Anyway, it became a volunteer database except for those in certain professions.” He smirked. “Like the military. So, my...the General’s DNA is in the system.”

  “Why is your sister’s?” asked Jackson.

  He almost corrected him. Little Sarah was not related to him, but he wasn’t ready to lose her along with his mother. “It was encouraged for the family members of the military to register in case a soldier needed medical help such as transplants, bone marrow, et cetera but it wasn’t mandatory. Mo...Sarah—”

  “Hugh, Sarah may not have been your biological mother but she was your mom,” said Matilda. “She raised you, loved you. She was your mother.”

  He ran his hand through his hair. “I was going to tell Tim that very thing, but it’s different when it happens to you.” He took a deep breath. “But you’re right.” His eyes met Matilda’s. “Mom refused to allow my or Little Sarah’s DNA to be submitted. At the time I thought it was just another battle between her and...” He looked at Matilda again. “I hated him. I’m glad he isn’t my father and I won’t call him by that title anymore.”

  “I don’t blame you.” Barney smiled.

  He nodded. Good. That was clear. “Anyway, now I understand why Mom didn’t let the General submit our DNA, or at least mine.”

  “Then how did your sister’s DNA get registered?” repeated Jackson.

  “Sorry.” He glanced at the Guard. “Got sidetracked. She donated hers as soon as she turned eighteen to spite Mom. They fought a lot during her pre-teen and teenage years. So, I only need something of Mom’s and I can prove Tim’s parentage and Little Sarah’s.”

  “Where and how are you going to get access to any lab or lab equipment?” asked Barney.

  “That’s a very good question,” said Jackson.

  “A friend is working on it for me.”

  “What friend?” asked Barney. “You can’t go to someone you knew before. The authorities will be watching them, all of them.”

  “It isn’t someone from my past.”

  “Please tell me you aren’t talking about Meesus.” Jackson leaned back in his chair, studying Hugh closely. “Holy Araldo! What did you promise her?”

  “Ray’s mate?” asked Matilda, shocked.

  “She’s Ray’s mate?” A chill ran down his spine. He’d slept with Ray’s mate. That was not going to go over well.

  “Ancient history,” said Jackson. “She and Ray used to be together. It was a long time ago.”

  “He still loves her,” said Matilda.

  “He sells her to other males. That’s not love.” Barney gave her a disbelieving look.

  “Ray does not sell her.” Matilda’s eyes hardened. “She does that to get back at him.”

  Barney shook his head.

  “I don’t care if you believe me,” she said. “I know what I know and you weren’t around them years ago. Ray loved her more than anything and that doesn’t just go away.”

  If that were true, it wasn’t good for him. Ray wasn’t someone he wanted as an enemy.

  “Still, she can’t be trusted,” said Barney.

  “Told you,” said Jackson.

  “It wasn’t like I had a lot of
choices. She offered me access to a lab. I wasn’t turning it down.”

  “What did you promise her?” asked Jackson.

  “She needs my help.”

  “Doing what?” asked Barney.

  “Freeing her daughter.” He might as well tell them. Matilda knew a lot about Meesus and might have information on the daughter. “What do you know about the girl?”

  All eyes fell on Matilda and her mouth pinched a bit. “She was sold.”

  “To who?” It wasn’t uncommon for Almightys to sell the offspring of their Servants and Guards.

  “To an Almighty, but I don’t know which one,” she said.

  “I don’t agree with selling the young, but it happens to most of us,” said Jackson. “I’m sure the girl is fine.”

  “No, she’s not. She’ll be auctioned to the highest bidder and used for sex,” he said.

  “Oh, shit. Hugh, what have you gotten yourself into?” Jackson took a deep breath as if he were trying to control his temper. “We’re at war. You don’t need to get wrapped up in the black-market sex trade too, especially with Meesus.” His eyes locked on Hugh. “If you don’t save her daughter, she’ll make you pay.”

  “I know. Trust me. I realize that Meesus isn’t just a pretty face. She’s hard and dangerous, but I need the lab and I can’t leave a young female in a situation like that. Not if there’s something I can do to stop it.”

  “Stop trying to save everyone,” snapped Jackson.

  “You didn’t sing that song when you wanted me to save you and your nine Guards.”

  “No, I was counting on your soft heart then.” Jackson grinned.

  Matilda walked over to Hugh and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re a good male, Hugh Truent.”

  He flushed. He wasn’t, not really.

  “How does she expect you to help?” asked Barney. “It’s not like you’re connected anymore.”

  “I don’t know. I told her the same thing and she said that she’d explain later.”

  “That’s not good,” said Jackson. “Meesus may expect something you can’t deliver.”

  “I understand that.”

  “Then refuse. We’ll find lab equipment for you somehow,” said Jackson.