Absolved (Altered series)

by Marnee Blake

  She turned to him. Her eyes were broken. “Except I am helping others, and he’s causing mass murder.” Hitching her chin higher then, she stared him down. His strong, smart girl.

  How could she be certain? And how did she know that her research wouldn’t accidentally cause another catastrophe like Solvimine?

  In his pocket, his phone buzzed.

  It was Jack.

  To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

  Out of many, one.

  What the hell did that mean?

  “Out of many, one,” Beth whispered. “E pluribus unum.”

  “E pluribus unum?”

  “Yeah. Of course.” Rubbing her forehead, her other hand flexing, she stared forward as if she were seeing everything at once.

  Maybe this was all obvious to her, but it wasn’t to him. “Of course?”

  “The Capitol building. There’s a statue, the Statue of Freedom.” Her voice was hollow. “On its base is our national motto. E pluribus Unum. ‘Out of many, one.’”

  Her eyes widened, and the fear there…it shook him to the core. “He’s going to use this in the Capitol building. The House, the Senate… They’re both in session. The bulk of our elected officials. The government.” Her gaze dug into him.

  “The rest is the end of the Boy Scout motto, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” This was the end game.

  The door burst open, admitting Sergeant Walker. “Sir,” he said to Martins. “We need you. Reports that there were threats at the Capitol building. It’s become a hostage situation.”

  It had already started, then. Luke yanked his phone back out of his pocket, texting the rest of their team.

  “Damn.” Martins rubbed his eyes. “How many hostages?”

  “At least half of the Senate.”

  The blood rushed in Luke’s ears. This was it. This was the start of Parker’s revolution.

  Martins’s jaw firmed. “Be ready to go in ten minutes.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Luke burst into her laboratory five minutes later. His thoughts preceded him, full of frustration and hurt.

  Beth had torn out of that interrogation room and headed right here after she’d gotten word of what was happening at the Capitol. Her friends would be going in to that situation with little to no information. But she’d seen the device Parker would use to pump the drug into the air. She’d watched Steve put it together in his mind. Now that she’d been changed, she read faster, thought faster. She’d never had this kind of scientific clarity. She could do this. She could figure out a way to neutralize Parker’s threat, stop the machine that would poison everyone in the Capitol.

  “Why aren’t you coming with us?” Luke asked. Having him here when she was so raw, so worried… She braced herself the best she could.

  “This is more important.” In front of her on one computer, she had the digital compound models pulled up for the drug, and on another, she’d devised a makeshift mechanism for how Parker administered the drug. Her head spun with calculations. “Steve ran me through how Parker is making the drug airborne. I figured it out, the way to stop it. I only need a little more time. I’m sure I can do this. I’ll follow you in the next helicopter. I already cleared it with Martins.”

  “You need to come, to listen for Parker and his men.” He paused. “We need you.”

  “You have Kitty. She’s going to listen for Parker’s men.” Beth motioned to the computer. “I can actually stop them from hurting people in the first place. I figured out how to neutralize the part of the drug that opens electrical pathways. This is the only way to ensure that no one else is changed by Solvimine.”

  “There’s no time for that.” His frustration overwhelmed his hurt. “If we have both you and Kitty, we have the advantage. And since you and Parker are the same, you’re the best hope we have to offset him.” He paused. “We could win this thing.”

  “We are not the same.” She tried to quell her anger. “And we’re still going to win. But, this?” She opened her arms, stretching them to take in the entire laboratory. “This is what I do. I’m not the fighter that the rest of you are. I had no idea what I was doing at the factory. I do know what I’m doing here. I’ve almost got it. I’ve isolated the response, and now I need the mechanism to stop it. I just need a little time.” She glanced up at him, pleading. “Please. Buy me a little more time.”

  Turning back to her work, she dismissed him. She had figured out the reaction that turned Solvimine from a liquid into a gas, and now she only had to figure out how to mix in the component that would neutralize that in equal doses…

  “Beth.” He propped his hands on his hips. “I understand that you think the answers come from the chemistry. But it’s not only the chemical; it’s also the man who is using it.”

  “I know that,” she gritted out. “Don’t you think I know that? What you need to understand is that I can’t control lone wolves. None of us can, not unless we can change what motivates them, and changing motivations would require changing their entire histories. Impossible. While I can’t control some guy who wants to do a lot of people harm, I can control how to fight him. I can take away this weapon. If I can do that, maybe I can keep you and my other friends from having to go and take on another guy who has lost his grip in the future.” She notched her chin up. “Maybe I can save your lives, too.”

  What if she’s right? What if she can stop this all?

  He’d always feared that he might not survive this fight.

  Blinking, she stared at him, taken off guard. His guilt and his need to right whatever wrong he believed he’d caused had never been far from his mind. But nothing had led her to believe that he didn’t expect to live through it.

  “No. You will live.” She shook her head. Nope. He wasn’t going to die for this. Not on her watch.

  None of them were.

  His brow furrowed. “What?”

  “I refuse to accept that you’re destined to die fighting this.”

  He glanced away, and his thoughts pedaled back, as if he were ashamed to think he’d accepted the possibility as fact.

  Or maybe he was ashamed because he believed he deserved it.

  How had she not recognized that? His pain was with him constantly, like a suit he put on in the morning. But to have it run that deep? She’d been telepathic long enough that she should have known.

  She’d fallen in love with him. How could she love him and not be able to see something like that, right in front of her face?

  “That’s not happening.” Shaking her head, she gripped the armrests on her chair. “I’m going to figure this out. You’ll see. I’m going to stop Parker, and I’m going to take away his ability to hurt anyone ever again.”

  “Come,” he pleaded. “Come with us.” What if I don’t see you again?

  The question struck her low in her stomach, sucking the air out of her. No way was this the end. “You’re going to see me, Luke. I get that you don’t believe in me, but I’m not going to let you down.”

  “I’m trying,” he whispered, and the guttural tone paired with the sorrow in his mind made her close her eyes. His honesty tore at her, ripping her from the inside. Trusting in her, in what she could do, was the risk he was taking. Believing what she said, believing that he deserved to live… It required more faith than he had.

  “I’m not coming.” This time her voice was firm. “I’m staying here until I find a cure.” She wasn’t getting up from this chair until she could fix this problem.

  Lifting his chin, his mind full of resignation, he left.

  All that remained was to stare after him. She’d asked for his trust, and he was too scared to give it.

  So many had died, thanks to this drug. So many were changed forever. She refused to give up now and let their sacrifices be for nothing. The answers were inside her.

  It hurt that he wouldn’t look close enough to see them—or her.

  While she’d always felt rejection so strong
ly, this was so much worse because she cared so much more. Add her new ability to see both sides, and she almost wished she’d never started down this road with him.

  Turning back to her work, she studied the vaporizing mechanism Steve’s memories had helped her recreate. He’d agreed to stay here, under lock and key, until she could complete her work. Part of him hoped that his willingness to assist would buy him some leniency and part of him felt guilty. She had no problem using both parts to accomplish her goal.

  There might be an empty ache in her heart, but too many needed her to get this right, including Luke, whether he liked it or not.

  She wasn’t going to give up now.

  …

  “Except for the hostages, the building has been evacuated.” Martins stood outside the Capitol, watching the chaos in front of him. News vans swamped the street, held at bay by police and security. “We’re trying to keep a gag on the press for now. They think it’s an active shooter, not a superpower-enhanced psycho, but who knows how long we can keep this all under wraps?”

  Around them, elected officials—the ones who’d escaped—were fleeing the scene in unmarked cars. Luke watched it all, surprised at his detachment. When they’d fought with Goldstone in the fall, it had been in a secret facility in the mountains. Here, with all these civilians in the middle of DC…it was like a scene from an action movie. The police barricade, the lights from cameras, the spectators who’d come to see the Capitol and were now watching an “active shooter” situation play out in real time? It was all surreal.

  Martins addressed Kitty. “Have you found any of them?”

  “I’ll know more when I’m closer. This is a huge place made of thick stone and concrete. It’s hard to hear.” Kitty pointed to the wing on the west. “That’s the Senate Chamber. That’s where they’re holding the senators.” She motioned to the remainder of the building. “I sense men all through the Capitol.”

  “We go in, then.” Martins turned to those of them who were changed. They were only sending in altered fighters because they had no way to know if Parker would still release the drug into the air once he knew they were coming. “We’ll pair up. Luke and Kenny, Seth and Blue, Nick and Kitty…” He continued, rattling off the other seven fighters. “Luke and Kenny, I want you to get to the mechanical room, see if you can intercept whoever is messing with the ventilation. Beth will be here soon, she says she can fix this. I want the rest of you to head toward the Senate Chamber, buy us some time. We’ve got to cause some chaos there and get those people out.” He motioned to the rest. “Each of you, take the different entrances. I’d imagine that there are pockets of Sinclair’s resistance everywhere. We’ll need to disperse and come at them from all the angles. You have experience on your side, and that’s how we will win this.”

  He checked his watch. “I’ve requested special forces. They should be here soon. They’ll assist us with the outer perimeter until you know the chemicals have been destabilized.” Squaring his shoulders, he met each of their gazes separately. “Let’s be honest: they aren’t equipped for this guy or his minions.”

  Luke agreed. The only ones who could bring Parker and Jack and anyone fighting with them to justice were the small group in front of him.

  Around them, the lights flickered and went dark. Luke reached for his phone. It was dead. “EMP. No more technology.”

  They’d assumed this would happen. It had been Sinclair’s modus operandi since the beginning.

  The sudden loss of power caused a ripple of fear to stretch through the surrounding crowd. Where there had been shouts and conversation before, it became noticeably quieter. Even if the press didn’t know exactly what was going on, they understood this was something different, not only a shooter.

  The crowd started to disperse, hurrying away. There were cries in the darkness. They mingled with curt demands from Martins and his team, ordering a generator so they could see if Parker set off another EMP.

  Finally, a spotlight illuminated the space. In the new light, the crowd was much smaller, and the reporters had quieted, watching. When the special forces arrived, they’d know things were even worse than they expected. He had no idea what Martins would say to cover this all up.

  Martins leaned over to chat with the NCO next to him, and the guy hurried off. “Lloyd’s going to get the radios.”

  “Radios?”

  “Ham radios. Not as reliable as our current tech, but we need something. I don’t want you all in there with no means of communication. That’d be suicide.”

  The NCO returned with a few others, all carrying backpacks. “These won’t work too far underground, but they’re the best I have.” He ran down how to use them quickly, including the frequency. “Be careful what you say, though. I’d imagine the line is being monitored.” Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a set of bulky goggles. “And you’ll need these.”

  Luke picked up a pair. “Are these night vision?”

  “Yes. They’re going to make everything look a little strange, and they’ll mess with your depth perception, but they’re better than going in dark.” His lips tilted up on one side. “In the dark.”

  Luke flung the backpack on, adjusting the straps. “So we’re going in analog with weird goggles.”

  The NCO passed out the headgear. “Not quite.” He handed them all new phones next. “These are already programmed, I had them pulled and put them in a Faraday cage. They’ll work unless they throw another pulse.”

  “That’s something.”

  “But when they do that, which we have to assume they will, you’ll be at the mercy of the ham.”

  “Great.” Luke adjusted the straps on his pack, securing it better on his back. Then he adjusted the straps on the goggles, firming them on his head. The whole getup was awkward, and it would slow them down.

  “We have Kitty.” Martins glanced at the dark sky above them. “Beth is working as fast as she can. Until then, we need to stall.”

  Martins had a lot of faith in Beth’s concoction. Luke wanted to believe, too. But by the time she got here, this could all be over. His experience said that Parker had already planned for every possible scenario. It wasn’t going to be as easy as Beth fixing this for them.

  People were going to get hurt.

  None of this would be over until Parker and Jack were behind bars. Or dead.

  “Should we still split up?” Seth asked.

  “Yes. We’ll do what we can to hold everyone back. Beware, though. You have ears.” His eyes traveled to the news vans. “And we need to assume that Sinclair is listening, too.”

  Strapping on their weapons, they all nodded. Luke took a deep breath, mentally preparing for whatever they faced inside. Growing up, he never would have believed he would be the kind of guy who would go into fights, who would go to get the bad guy. Yet, here he was. Fear and adrenalin danced inside him and settled in his chest. He had been waiting months—dreading and hoping—for the moment when he could help bring down Parker and Jack, and it was finally here.

  He planned to make it count.

  In the end, he could only hope that he’d done enough good to counteract everything he’d done wrong. The soldier in La Junta, leaving his friends behind to run to Mexico, and ultimately being the one who hadn’t stopped Jack and Parker from getting away with the Solvimine research. So many failures that had caused so many deaths.

  This was his chance to make it right.

  Errant thoughts of Beth filled his mind. Visions of her, the sadness and hurt on her face, haunted him. She’d accused him of not having faith in her. Didn’t she know that until this was over, he wasn’t going to be able to breathe fully?

  That he couldn’t forgive himself?

  No matter how lonely he’d been, he shouldn’t have believed he would be able to open up to someone, not until this was over.

  Not until he’d worked off his debts.

  He could have done it differently, though. Back at the base, she believed he didn’t trust her, and that was e
ating at him.

  He didn’t trust himself to bring down this threat. It wasn’t her fault that he expected to fail.

  Inside the Capitol, Parker’s men outnumbered them. None of them had said as much, but that truth hovered over them like smoke. The odds weren’t in their favor. If something happened to him, Beth would blame herself.

  Because that was what he would do. He should tell her. He needed to tell her…

  “Luke.” Kenny’s tone said he’d called him more than once. “We have to go.”

  “Right.” Averting his gaze to hide his regrets, Luke checked his gun and repositioned his radio on his back, and they set off for the east entrance.

  What was one more sin to shoulder?

  “Hey,” Martins called to them. The entire group stopped as they made their way across the lawn. “Be careful, all of you.”

  “No worries,” Seth offered, tipping his gun to his temple. “We’re practically superheroes.”

  Their motley group chuckled. Luke took a moment to glance around him. These weren’t people he would have chosen as friends, but now, after everything they’d been through, he guessed that’s what they’d become. As the rest of them headed off in different directions, he wondered if he’d see them again. He should have told them he was sorry for being such an ass the past few months, but it wasn’t the time.

  Kitty glanced up, turning toward him. Her smile was solemn, but she waved. Lifting a hand in response, he hurried to catch up with Kenny. If they got out of this, he’d do better.

  They trotted around to the back of the western wing, where the Senate Chamber was located. He paused, stared out at the darkened lawn, and then followed his friend inside.

  The second they went in, they were plunged into darkness. He dropped his night vision goggles in front of his eyes and clicked them on. Kenny did the same. The view was discolored, and the scope of vision was small.

  His power required him to see things. These contraptions complicated that.

  “Let’s find the way downstairs. That’s where the mechanical rooms are.” They’d all studied the layout of the building. There were different boiler rooms throughout, but one of their engineers had been certain the one they needed would be down these stairs.