by Cara Carnes
“Stay here,” Bree ordered.
“Okay.” Zoey dragged the word out. “We’ve got maybe five minutes before HERA rats us out.”
Good to know. Bree wouldn’t need that long, though. She entered Bob’s cell and waited until the man sat up. Weariness harshened the wrinkles on his face. A year ago she would’ve felt bad for the predicament the man had found himself in, but he’d brought it on himself.
“You and I are gonna have a chat, Bob. It’ll be one-sided.” She approached. Pulling the small injector from her lab coat’s pocket, she stuck it in his arm and pushed the contents in before he realized what was happening.
“W-what was in that?”
“The human body is a marvelous creation,” Bree said. “There are still so many things we scientists don’t understand.”
“What was in that?”
“One-sided conversation here, Bob.” Bree leaned down until she was in his face. “You fucked with my friends. They’re family. You will not ever put them in harm’s way for your own personal gain ever again. Nor will you let their asses hang out there for someone else’s objectives. The Arsenal is mine to protect, and I will do everything in my power to keep them safe—even if it means taking out those who threaten them myself.”
Fear shone on the man’s face, in his widened gaze. “What did you do?”
“Nothing yet. What I do in the future will depend on you.” She stood. “They trusted you. You betrayed them repeatedly. First you signed off on Mandrake. Then you fed those assholes information about us. You pitted us up against mercenaries you hired to distract us.” Anger bubbled within her, an uncontrolled fire stoked by his actions. “Then you kept fucking with us, keeping us in the dark about the threats against us.”
“I had no choice!”
“Bullshit! There’s always a choice, Bob.” She lowered her voice. “You just keep making the wrong ones. So, today, I’m giving you a tool to ensure you don’t ever make the wrong mistake when it comes to The Arsenal ever again.”
“What did you do?”
“Your biggest mistake was not telling us about Facility Six, who they kept there. You knew we would go in and clean that shit up if we’d known who was there. But stayed silent for your own personal gain.”
Yeah, that was the latest strike against Bob. Jud and Gage had questioned him yesterday, and he’d admitted to knowing about Facility Six and the Delta team held there. He’d been okay with detaining them to cover his own ass. They’d seen too much.
All that confirmed what the Deltas had said.
“I got nothing out of it.”
“You did. Don’t lie, Bob. That’s a slippery slope that’ll just piss me off. You stayed quiet because it was advantageous to you. It got you in the good with some powerful people. You just didn’t realize they aren’t anywhere near as strong as we are. Now you know.”
“I do. I won’t fuck up again.”
She patted his face. “I hope that’s true. I really do. This place is my heart. If you fuck with it, the undetectable weapon I inserted into you will fry your heart. It’ll just stop.” Bree leaned closer. “See, I’ve learned a few things the past couple of months. I used to think I was the weak link, that I wouldn’t ever get stronger until I learned to toe the line and think like everyone else here.
“But now I know I was wrong. See, we all have a superpower and mine is the crazy. So I’m embracing my crazy today, Bob, to make sure you don’t ever threaten me or mine again.”
“You can’t do that,” he whispered. Tears shone in his eyes.
“I’d feel sorry, but you nearly got us all killed. You won’t get any sympathy from me.” Bree harshened her voice. “You haven’t even asked about your kids. Remember them? Yeah, we do. They’re safe by the way, no thanks to you.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Good. I was worried.”
“No, you weren’t. You were too busy worrying about the only thing that matters to you. Yourself. And don’t think you can go crying to Vi or Mary or any of the others about what I just did. Even if they believed you, they can’t undo it. No one can but me. And I will never, ever put anyone’s life above theirs—not even my own.”
As far as Bob would know, the injection she’d just used was her idea. She’d gone rogue.
“The rules are simple. Stay quiet about everything you know. Be a good little citizen and stay away from everyone in our playground. We’ll be watching. I’ll be watching.”
Bree moved toward the exit but halted. She turned to face Bob. “Think of this as an upgraded pacemaker. It’s a moral compass. Do the right thing and toe that line, and you won’t ever have a problem. Cross us again and you won’t like what happens.”
Her heart thudded hard in her chest as she made her way to Zoey, whose eyes were wide. She’d heard. Bree couldn’t regret dragging her friend into this. It was done.
“Holy shit, girlfriend. That was…” Zoey swallowed. “The best freaking thing I’ve ever witnessed.”
“They can’t ever know. No one can.”
“Secrets don’t work out well for us. You should tell them.” Zoey shoved her laptop into her backpack and wrapped an arm around Bree. “For the record, this was a smart play. I know they’d back it.”
“They don’t have to. This is on me.” And it was. She had the ability to shut Bob down—literally—if he became a problem in the future. The president may have asked for this, but it was her choice. One she was not only okay with, but relieved to have done. She’d take him out without hesitation. She doubted it’d ever come to that. There were plenty of other actions The Arsenal could take before she’d have to consider activating the weapon she’d injected into him.
But it was there. The backup plan only she could activate. And she would if needed.
They’d survived the war and come out of it stronger than ever. There’d be other battles, more assholes to take down. There always were.
But Bree was ready for whatever happened because she wasn’t alone. She hadn’t ever been alone, not since that fateful day when she met Rhea, Mary, and Vi in the MIT dormitory.
And now she had Ram in her corner. In her bed.
In her heart.
Sure, what she’d just done was highly illegal. Completely unprovable, though. Plus, it wasn’t like Bob could narc on her to anyone outside of The Arsenal. They’d covered up all the bullshit he’d pulled. He had way more to lose.
Did this make her a bad person? Had she gone too far into the “operational gray?” Maybe. She was okay with embracing her inner bitch, though. Mia would be proud. So would Addy.
No. Addy would be irritated because she’d worked hard to keep Bree from leading a gray life. She’d think she’d somehow failed Bree, but she hadn’t. She’d given her the armor to be whatever or whomever she needed.
“Thank you,” Zoey whispered.
“I did this for everyone, but most especially because of Ram and Gage. Doug and Pierce. They almost died because Bob didn’t share critical intel he should have. That won’t ever happen again.”
“You should at least tell them.”
“We will, but after I’m done.”
Zoey froze. She blinked a few times. “You aren’t done?”
“Nope. You need to set up a hidden area for that chip in HERA, something only you and I can access. Oh, and Marshall.”
“He knows?” Zoey’s eyes widened. “Why him?”
“The request came from him and an outside source.”
“Damn. You think you know someone, then they activate their mysterious commando mode and boom. I always figured that Mason was the really scary one. Good to know I was right.” Zoey nodded. “I’ll get it set up. What’s next?”
“You won’t like it, but I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s never good,” Zoey muttered.
“Funny.” Bree continued walking down the corridor. “Bob wasn’t only a threat to us. He was a problem for Probus, too. We need to make sure they know he’s been handled.”
“Or they’ll take care of him,” Zoey whispered. “That would be bad. Real bad.”
“It would. So, I need to get in contact with this King Maker.”
“Oh boy. Listen, you know I love your crazy. I do. But this might be too far out there.” Zoey grasped her arm. “We need to talk to Mary.”
“This is all a game to him, another chessboard in play. I won’t let him think of Ram and the potential fallout as nothing more than a pawn. They need to know we will win every single time.”
“Okay. Okay. Look, there might be something we can use to help with this.” Zoey bit her bottom lip. “Seriously, though. We have to talk to Mary about all of this. We can’t use what I think will help without her permission.”
“Fine.” Bree knew she’d have to tell her and Vi eventually. Marshall was nuts to think they wouldn’t find out. They knew every inch of HERA. It wouldn’t take them long to find whatever area Zoey set up for Bob’s chip. “Are you sure you’re okay with being part of this?”
“I’m in. You know I’ve always got your back. Two peas in the same crazy pod.” Zoey shook her head. “And this pod has moved into crazy town. It’s a good thing I brought snacks.”
They found Mary and Vi with Jesse and Marshall in Operations a few minutes later. Bree looked around and nodded. “Good, you’re all here. Marshall, they need to know about what I just did. I’ve told Zoey, but she thinks that we’ll need Mary’s help with the next part of the plan.”
The man crossed his arms. His eyebrows rose as amusement glimmered in his eyes. “I wasn’t aware there was a second part. But, I agree. They deserve to know what you’ve done at the behest of the president.”
“What?” Vi asked.
Bree looked around? “Here?”
“It’s just as secure as anywhere else,” Mary said. She sat on the counter behind her. “I’m taking it this is something Marshall thought we wouldn’t like.”
“I was trying to protect you both. You were closer to Bob than any of us,” Marshall said. “He’s a threat to national security and us. We couldn’t release him without having a way to contain him. The president requested our assistance in devising a way to keep a tight leash on him.”
“And I take it Bree supplied the leash,” Jesse said with a grin. “That doesn’t surprise me. What did you do?”
“I chipped him. I injected him with a power supply from a micro drone that’s housed in one of our undetectable tracker shells. If he steps out of line or becomes a problem, he’ll be controllable.” Bree took a deep breath. “We can either shock him to scare some smarts into him or eliminate him altogether.”
“Holy shit.” Vi sat back in a chair. “That’s crazy and perfect. Mary and I have been worried about how to contain him. I was surprised the president hadn’t addressed the issue.”
“We should have known he was a few steps ahead,” Mary said. “He’s extremely intelligent and thinks like an operative.”
“He does,” Marshall agreed. “He’s also been warned this is an anomaly, not the norm. We didn’t create The Arsenal to police political and military problems. He agreed and has assured us this type of scenario where we delve this deep into the shadows won’t happen often.”
“Good. He also has a very personal interest in this since his nephew was in Facility Six because of Bob.” Jesse crossed his arms. “If he’s neutralized, what’s the next step?”
“Making sure Probus knows that so they don’t take him out,” Bree said. “We can’t risk them taking action.”
“Because they could potentially expose more than we’d want anyone to know since we helped cover so much of it up,” Marshall said. “We may have done so because we were told to, but that won’t be a good reason if the tide turns.”
“There’s no evidence we did anything, but Bree’s right. Probus needs to know,” Mary said. She looked at Zoey. “You’re thinking we use what we found out recently to encourage them to back off?”
Zoey nodded. “I didn’t tell Bree anything. You said it was classified.”
“It is, but she should know given what she just did. She’s part of this,” Vi said. “We investigated the intelligence officer we rescued from Facility Six. HERA found communications between him and an unknown party in a code. He had a Probus handler.”
Damn.
“So we let them know we are aware of that but didn’t inform anyone,” Bree said. “Then warn them off Bob because we have him contained.”
Mary nodded. “They’ve made it clear they aren’t interested in a war with us. We make it clear we don’t want that either, but that we are not afraid of one.”
“How do we go about this?” Marshall asked.
“We could use the chat thread Bob was using, right?” Bree asked. “We know whomever he last spoke with is high up on Probus.”
“It’s a start,” Mary replied.
She sat at the console and used HERA to activate the chat thread from Bob’s laptop remotely. She stood and motioned for Bree.
“Me?” Bree asked.
“You can explain what you did better than anyone, though I suspect we’ll have to schedule a face-to-face,” Vi said. “We can’t take the risk of speaking with anyone but the King Maker.”
“Agreed,” Jesse said. “Go ahead, Bree. We’re all here to help.”
Right. Bree took a deep breath. The cursor blinked as she thought through what she could say.
Bree: The chessboard has been cleared. The queen requests a meet with the king.
Vet: Who is this?
Bree: The queen, or one of them. It’d be smart for your king to accept our request.
Vet: And if I am the king?
Bree: Right. Prove it.
Vet: And how would I do that?
Bree: The king and I have a mutual acquaintance. Tell me something only he would know.
Damn. Ram was going to be so mad. She had no right to mention him or delve into his past. Guilt crept through her.
“I’ll get Ram,” Jesse said as he pulled out his cell.
Vet: I’m sure we have many mutual acquaintances.
Bree: Then you aren’t who I seek. Wasting my time isn’t wise. Get the king and we’ll talk. I’ll be waiting.
No reply came. Bree hoped that was a good sign. The door to Operations opened and Ram entered. She surged forward and into his arms.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve talked to you about this first,” she whispered.
“About what?” He kissed her forehead and looked around. “What’s going on?”
“Bree injected Bob,” Marshall said. He glanced at the others. “Ram was there when the president stopped for a visit the other night. We’re attempting to reach out to the King Maker to warn Probus off Bob.”
“Fuck. That’s not smart,” Ram said.
“It’s necessary. If they move on him, it could end badly for everyone,” Mary said. She motioned to the screen. “She referenced you to verify the King Maker’s identity. It was a very smart play, one I wouldn’t have even thought of. I’m sorry, but we need your help with this.”
“I’m sorry,” Bree whispered.
“Don’t be sorry. All I am is yours, including my past.” He kissed her lips. “I’ll always help. I’m here.”
Fuck. Ram wiped his hands on his pants as he sat in front of the console. The King Maker. He hadn’t ever expected to talk to the man ever again. Would he respond?
Dread and worry filled him as everyone waited. He’d do whatever it took to keep Bree safe. It’d taken a few minutes to wrap his mind around the situation, but now that he had, he understood its importance.
Probus couldn’t act on Bob.
A message ping sounded on the speakers.
Vet: All due respect to the queens, but I do not appreciate being summoned by anyone.
“Go ahead,” Bree said. “If he’s the King Maker, you know him better than anyone here. Get him talking. If it’s him, let us know.”
Ram nodded.
Ram: You’ll learn soon enough the boar
d plays by the queens’ rules. Always. You were always an impatient one. What’d I tell you about patience?
Dots danced in the chat window. Then stopped. They started again.
Vet: My sources told me you were safe in their game, Cracker. I am pleased to see it is so. Patience is a hard pill to swallow with the sweetest reward.
Ram leaned back in the chair. Fuck. “Cracker. He always called me that because of my initials. R.I.T.Z.”
Bree and Zoey both laughed.
“Seriously?” Zoey asked.
Marshall’s lips upturned into a half-grin. “Funny.”
“That had better not get around the compound,” Ram warned. “It’s him.”
“Verify again, just in case,” Jesse said.
Ram: I’m safe because of a friend who took a risk. It’s because I owe him that I am here. My queens wish to impart some information you should listen to. Perhaps one day we can meet again and have chocolate ice cream. We’re getting our own cones this time.
Vet: I look forward to that day. Very well. I will listen to what they have to say.
Ram stood from the seat. Bree sat, which surprised him. He’d expected Mary or Vi to take the lead.
Bree: We’ve taken care of the rogue pawn. He will never play on either of our boards again.
Vet: I see. I rarely allow others to handle my problems. Why should I trust what you say is true?
Bree: Because I’m in love with an amazing cracker and will do anything to keep him safe. But to prove what we say is true and that we don’t want a problem with you, we queens offer you this: we recovered your lost pawn from the trash. We’ll kept his play with your board hidden as long as he’s not a threat to our board.
She glanced back at Mary before hitting enter. The woman nodded.
Vet: That is a surprise. We considered him lost.
Bree: You board has moved precariously close to ours. Too many of your pieces wish to take over our play area.
Vet: I’ve been made aware of this issue and am working on cleaning up the play areas. I appreciate your candor. Too many fear speaking their minds.
Bree: I trust you will leave control of our troubled pawn to us.
Vet: I will. I will also clear up an issue I’ve heard about with some particular knights. They gathered more about the queens than you might have realized. What they know will be returned with my thanks for playing so well and with such honor. I look forward to meeting you for ice cream.
