Cheating Time

by T. R. Graves

  "I don't give a shit what you say. I want you all to put your hands on the back of your head. If you don't do that, you'll have a bullet hole in you within the next few seconds. There's only one of you I can't kill—Carlie. Still, I could shoot you," Isaiah said with a smirk so sickening I wanted to wipe it off his face almost as bad as I wanted to hurt Barone earlier in the night.

  I cleared my throat and admitted the last thing I wanted to admit to the one person as cruel as Barone. "I've got the cub in my hand, Isaiah. I can only put one hand behind my head too."

  "I'll take him," Isaiah said smoothly. "Barone said I'd get a special gift if I brought the two of you back alive."

  So he can kill Indigo in front of me also. I'd leave him in the forest to fend for himself and pray an animal with strong motherly instincts took care of him before I'd let this asshole have him.

  While I stood contemplating what I needed to do, another loud pop rang through the forest. With it, Isaiah fell to the ground and grabbed his leg.

  "What the hell?" he groaned while rolling around and beating the forest floor with his fists.

  From the side, I heard Sean. "Keep going. I'll follow behind. I'm going to make sure anyone who gets lucky enough to find this trail is taken care of. Go!"

  Without hesitating, Jayden grabbed Indigo from me and took off up the hill. Dad followed behind. There was no way to pretend he wasn't traveling at a slower rate than earlier. Without giving it away, Jayden accommodated for Dad's injuries and their impact on our escape.

  It seemed like it took hours, but it could have only been minutes before we reached a clearing. To my amazement and in the middle of the field was an autopilot drone big enough to hold a dozen people.

  Without a word between us, Jayden put Indigo in my palm and ushered Dad and me to the side door before lifting us into the aircraft. With more anxiety than I'd ever seen rolling off the Surrogate, he stood next to the drone, waiting for Sean. Mimicking Jayden and the way he studied the forest, I stood holding the bar next to the door with one hand and Indigo with the other, waiting.

  When Sean burst from the covering of the trees, at the same time, Jayden and I breathed a sigh of relief. His breakneck speed alerted us to the fact that he was being chased, that he was running for his life. Unlike Dad and his ability to remain standing, Sean went facedown with his arms spread wide when a loud pop sounded over the quiet roar of the drone, signaling to us the fact that he'd been shot in the back.

  When Jayden ran toward his brother, I tried to jump from the MediChopper, wanting nothing more than to follow him, but several sets of hands grabbed onto me.

  "LET GO OF ME!" I yelled, glaring around and looking to see who dared hold me back.

  Dad had one arm and Thorne had the other.

  "LET GO OF ME!" I yelled, again.

  Neither man complied, and had it not been two people I admired and respected, I'd have at least tried kicking them.

  I knew they'd never let go, so I turned back to where Sean had fallen and watched as Jayden grabbed his brother and dragged him toward the drone, twisting and turning as additional shots were fired their way. Based on the the yelps following the pops as they grew closer, I thought at least two shots hit their marks, one for Jayden and another for Sean.

  When they were close, Thorne jumped from the aircraft and helped Jayden throw Sean in the aircraft like he was a sack of potatoes. He looked as if he might do the same for Jayden… until Jayden waved off his help and hoisted himself in. Thorne did the same, only by then the drone had taken flight and he was left hanging in midair and trying to fight the gravity pulling him back down toward the clearing.

  Rorie began screaming, "THORNE! THORNE! PLEASE HELP HIM!"

  Little did she know we were all grappling around, trying our best to grab a hand, a foot, a piece of clothing. I turned toward her, held out Indigo, and said, "Hold him!"

  She immediately complied.

  I lay on my belly next to Jayden. He held on tight to one forearm and pulled while I grabbed onto Thorne's hand. Suddenly, I had a surge of energy unlike anything I'd ever experienced in my life. At the same time it shot through me, I grabbed Thorne tighter and almost singlehandedly pulled him into the cabin of the aircraft with us.

  As soon as he was in, Jayden hit a button that shut the door, instantly silencing the rush of wind that had just been threatening to burst my eardrums. In the abrupt quietness of the compartment, we all looked around and took inventory of who'd made it and what condition they were in.

  The unexpected and unprecedented burst of strength and energy had shorted me out. My hands shook as I squatted and then sat. I had to do something before I dropped to my knees. Ignoring my weakness, I stared around the cabin.

  Against the wall and cuddling Indigo was Rorie. Next to her, licking Indigo, was Vixen. Guarding the mother and her baby was Jabdalja, Bagheera, and Sasha. On the floor and sprawled out in a way that instantly made me wonder if he was going to live was Sean. He was still recovering from histoplasmosis, and now he had two gunshot wounds to survive. Simon was lying across his brother's chest, crying and begging him to be okay.

  I felt sorry for him but knew there would be nothing I could do to console him. Not until we were somewhere Sean could get the treatment he needed.

  Next to Sean's feet sat a dazed and confused Thorne. He'd been born a scientist. Unlike me, he'd not been trained to fight. The fact that he'd quite nearly plunged to his death was weighing heavily on him and his nerves, and he was staring at me like I'd just done something miraculous. Determined to keep my deed secret, I looked away from Thorne and saw that on each side of me sat Dad and Jayden. Both had been shot, but the best I could tell, neither wound was fatal.

  So far, we've all made it.

  The question really became, How much longer?

  Barone had countless resources at his disposal. If he couldn't get us, he'd go after Gran and Tawney.

  My head jerked toward Dad, who seemed to be thinking what I was thinking.

  "Where are they? Can we get to them?" I asked frantically.

  His voice was monotone when he said, "Your mom is safe with Mac and Elle."

  "Gran says we can't trust them… that they work for Barone!" I cried.

  Dad nodded. "They did until he killed their baby because she was a genetic mutant. Ever since then, they've been double spies, making Barone think they were working for him while helping as many people as possible escape Barone's genocide."

  "What about Gran and Tawney?"

  Again, Dad nodded. Then with a lot of difficulty, he climbed to his feet and stumbled over to the drone's computer. He made sure there were no images for us to see as he typed nonstop, much like Jayden had when he was trying to reach Gran.

  Finally, he clicked a button and we saw Gran and Tawney with their hands behind their head as if they'd just been captured.

  Chapter 34

  Bunkers

  Carlie

  Petrified for them, Jayden, Thorne, and I all stood and gathered around the holographic image, studying everything for future reference and listening to every word uttered.

  "She's dying and I'm an old man. What would Barone want with us?" Gran complained.

  "Sir, you just need to come with us," the Surrogate with the gun to Gran's back said.

  I had no idea who he was or if I'd ever seen him because his back was to us. What I did know was there was something familiar about his build, his voice, and his mannerisms. Everything about him tugged at my memories.

  "That's just not possible," Gran responded.

  Just do what you have to do, Gran! I willed, knowing alive would be better than dead for both of them.

  The Surrogate Soldier who'd instantly become my mortal enemy when I saw him holding a gun on my grandfather jabbed the barrel into Gran's back and said, "We'll see about that, old man."

  Before they could walk out of the room, Gran reached over and touched a button that until that moment had been invisible to us. When he did, the room was fil
led with smoke and all we heard were bodies dropping to the ground.

  "What just happened? Did he commit suicide?" I asked frantically.

  Scowling, Dad stared at the image before us with the same questions bouncing through his mind. When the smoke finally cleared, we were able to see Gran was the only one still standing.

  At the same time, Dad and I breathed, "Thank God!"

  "Sam, I assume you have someone coming for us," Gran grumped in a way that told me he'd known all along we were spying.

  Dad laughed. "Yes, Peter, I have a team of people on the way. They'll pick you up by drone and bring you to the safe house were Selma is. I'm heading there now with Carlie and Jayden."

  Gran smiled. "Well, thank the heavens we'll all be back together. We're stronger that way. How long will I have to wait?"

  "Be patient, Peter. I have the best of the best heading up the team. They know how important a quick extraction is. We're going to stay with you until they arrive. While we're waiting, tell us what you did," Dad said.

  Gran smiled, and I knew he'd done something he was especially proud of. "I used the air-conditioning vents to blow in a poison that will knock anyone and everyone out for at least a day."

  "Everyone but you, Gran," Jayden said proudly.

  "There you are, Surrogate. It didn't faze me because I vaccinated myself against it. I wanted to do the same for Tawney, but I was worried about how the vaccination would react in her system now that she's sick. It was a no-win situation. Now that she's out, I'll wait to reverse the drug until we make it to the safe house. The stress of waking her now while we're not totally safe would put too much on her," Gran said as if convincing himself that decision was the best one.

  "I agree, Gran. That's what's best for her," I assured him.

  He nodded.

  * * *

  Two hours later, we landed on a helipad that seemed bigger than the Coxes' house. There was no way it would be hidden from the people searching for us. They'd instantly suspect it was where we'd landed and de-droned.

  "Where are we, Dad?" I asked.

  Dad smiled and said, "Your mom and I have been building her dream laboratory and my dream SNP headquarters for years and years. This is it. I'll take you on a tour, but first we need to tend to our wounded. Your mother will need you and Thorne," Dad said.

  My head bobbed up and down. I was more than willing to help treat all of the people who'd been injured during our escape.

  As soon as the drone door opened, we were met with three stretchers and a large cage big enough to fit all of the panthers comfortably.

  Those of us who could walk got out of the way of the people there to lift Sean onto one of the awaiting stretchers. Dad and Jayden waved away their own stretchers until they heard, "Both of you get on those now, and don't give these nice people a hard time." Mom yelled from a door that looked like it opened up from nowhere within the forest's edge.

  Dad grinned wide when he saw her running toward him, sporting her own grin. When they came together, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her from the ground, kissing her long enough and hard enough to make us all look away.

  "Put me down, Sam. You're embarrassing our daughter, and I think your shirt is bloody," Mom said, slapping Dad's chest.

  As soon as he dropped her, she stepped around him and grabbed me into her arms, kissing my forehead, my cheeks, and the tip of my nose like she was afraid we'd never see each other again. After everything I'd been through, I didn't care that I was too old to be kissed like a toddler. I only cared that I was back together with my family… that my family was as safe as they could be.

  When she'd finished showering me with affection, she turned toward Jayden and offered him a glance that held within it every ounce of appreciation and admiration she had for him. Then she reached out her hand and pulled him toward the two of us.

  "Jayden… I can't thank you enough for keeping them safe. For the rest of my life, you'll be my hero," she swore, giving him his own kiss on the cheek.

  Jayden's face burned bright. He wasn't used to getting this type of praise.

  "I didn't do anything special," Jayden claimed.

  With my own kiss to his cheek, I said, "That's not true and you know it. Now let's go. I'll take care of you, Thorne'll take care of Dad, and Mom'll take care of Sean."

  Jayden winked at me. "Deal."

  Following Mom, the stretchers, and the big cats, Thorne, Rorie, Simon, and I went through the magical door. It ended up being the entrance into an elevator that took us deep within the earth to a bunker that would keep us safe even if World War III took out the rest of the planet.

  While we waited for the elevator to be filled, I saw the helipad flicker out and turn back into the forest floor it should be. When the doors of the elevator closed, we were blanketed in darkness as it plunged downward. When they reopened, we were met by a state of the art facility that had people bustling everywhere, typing away on computers, and monitoring images that made little sense to me.

  They all looked up and saluted Dad, who was lying back on his stretcher. They did the same thing when Jayden, who was sitting on the side of his stretcher, passed by them. Then a girl a little older than me stood and began clapping. A heartbeat later, the entire team of people who'd been working at computers, talking on phones, and rushing from here to there just seconds before was standing and clapping.

  Jayden grinned sheepishly and waved at them to stop. Instead, the clapping got louder and went on until we made it into our very own elevator (Mom, Sean, and Simon got the first one and Dad, Thorne, and Rorie disappeared onto the second, the panthers on the third) and the doors closed behind us.

  "It seems like you're a well-known figure around here," I suggested.

  Jayden shrugged. "I'll tell you everything after I get this gunshot wound taken care of and I've rested."

  "You bet your bottom dollar you will. We have some talking to do, and don't think you're going to get out of it either. I'll take care of you, and I'll let you rest. Then it's you and me. Understand?"

  Jayden smiled and said, "You got it, babe."

  I leaned over and kissed him on his lips. I'd only planned on a quick peck, but Jayden had other plans. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto the stretcher with him, kissing me as thoroughly as Dad had kissed Mom.

  "I love you," he croaked around our kiss.

  "I love you, too," I said raggedly.

  Carles "Carlie" Enoche's world is one that can barely be imagined. In it, babies have micropharmeceutical devices inserted in their hearts within hours of birth. The MicroPharm implant holds code that secretly counts down until the date of that baby's death (as determined by its genetic analysis) and contains drugs that are released in such a way that chemicals and hormones are in perfect balance at all times, making illness almost unheard of.

  Theoretically, the known but unexposed date of the babies' deaths and the maintenance drugs geared toward giving the baby a long life have benign consequences. It is the unknown and unbelievable and unexpected way President John Barone gathers data about every child and the way he releases contraceptives from the device in order to control the population and terminate pregnancies when embryos are identified as weak or mutated that makes the device and its technology as dangerous as any malignancy.

  For President Barone, seventeen-year-old Carlie isn't just a MicroPharm first generation; she is the great-granddaughter of the man who discovered the ability to determine life expectancy down to the day and the daughter of the woman who invented the MicroPharm chip. Carlie and her family are important to President Barone's political career and the plans he has of creating a nation of strong, healthy, and superior people, who give more to their country than they take.

  Jayden St. Romaine, one of the Facet's most loyal Surrogate Soldiers, is ordered by President Barone himself to find the Enoche family and kidnap Carlie. Through blackmail, he plans to leverage control over the Enoche's scientific research and the ability to develop e
ven more tools that can be used to genetically engineer a superior race.

  When President Barone sends Jayden on his mission, he never expected his perfect soldier to develop a conscience… betray his trust… fall in love with Carlie, but he's dispatched a backup Surrogate Soldier just in case. With the ticking of the clock and the second Surrogate chasing them, Jayden's chances at redemption and Carlie's chances of living a life where she is free to make choices about her life and her body are in jeopardy.

  Left (Still Standing #1)

  A naïve Baylee loves Colt, her boyfriend of four years, more than she ever thought possible. After a little snooping, she's convinced she's well on her way toward hearing an once-in-a-lifetime proposal and starring in the wedding-of-the-year event. Instead, she's blindsided by a very public breakup and the crushing news that Colt is marrying someone else… someone more befitting him and the role his father expects him to take in his law firm.

  Baylee may have spent years resenting Ariana, her mother, and her suicide, an intolerable show of weakness in Baylee's opinion, but after Colt leaves her just short of the altar, Baylee sees the world through her mother's eyes. She sympathizes with Ariana's actions and realizes that some things—soul-deep aches—can irreparably damage you and make moving on nearly impossible.

  At least that's how she feels until she meets Ryker. With his help, Baylee discovers there is life after Colt, and she prepares to move on by pulling herself up by the bootstraps, holding her head high, and standing on her own two feet. Unfortunately, a new jealous and hateful Colt has his own plans for her, and they are plans no one—especially Baylee—ever saw coming.

  Warriors of the Cross (Warrior #1)

  Allison La Crosse, beginning a challenging family medicine residency, leaves the protection of her family. With the transfer, her worst nightmares come true. Her closely guarded mystical talents—those which seldom appeared before the move—unleash themselves from her confinement and reveal their presence with very little provocation.