The Tracker

by Leslie Georgeson

  This man was evil through and through.

  And I was his prisoner.

  I swallowed hard and lifted my chin. “What are you going to do with me?”

  He chuckled. “Well, that all depends on Tracker. For now, you’re the bait.”

  Fear slithered in. “Bait for what?”

  “For Tracker, of course. If you’re truly his woman like Jacob said, then Tracker will come for you. He won’t be able to resist.”

  Dread took hold, stealing my breath. Why did they want Tracker so badly?

  “Why? What is your plan? What are you going to do?”

  He motioned to the soldiers, who shoved me toward a waiting SUV.

  “For now, we wait for Tracker to come. And then…it all depends on him. He will determine your fate.”

  I had no doubt Tracker would come for me. He would feel duty bound to save me.

  But at what cost to him?

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Tracker

  Jessica’s captor—Jacob—had taken her through the forest.

  I’d had a sharp, detailed vision of Jacob carrying Jessica through the woods as soon as I’d stepped out into the corridor to speak to Eliza. Shock had slammed into me, Jacob’s betrayal slicing deep. How could he do something like this? I was going to kill that bastard, make him suffer long and slow. I’d trusted him. Implicitly. Hell, he’d been there beside me, taking Gordon’s place as my partner, helping me to free those women from the Mexican gang. His betrayal stung.

  Jacob didn’t bother to hide his tracks, which led me to believe he’d been in a hurry to leave and not concerned about leaving a trail. Or he’d intentionally left a trail. Had he wanted me to find her quickly?

  Fortunately, this was the type of tracking I excelled at. I felt at home in the forest, in my element here in the woods. I would find Jess. Guaranteed. I followed the path to an opening at the other side of the forest. I knelt, checking the dirt road. Tire tracks. Vehicles had been parked here recently. They’d taken Jessica away by car.

  All the other dregs had joined in the search as soon as it became apparent she was missing. She would never leave her sister behind, so I’d known she’d been stolen even before the vision had struck me. Eliza waited for us back at the mansion now. I couldn’t disappoint the poor girl. I would bring Jessica back to her. Alive.

  Why would Jacob kidnap Jess? He was one of us. If I expected any of the dregs to turn on me, I would have expected Tony. He hated women. But he and Jess had reached an understanding, and he grudgingly respected her now.

  But Jacob? It didn’t make sense to me. Jacob had been alone since his partner had been murdered during our escape last year. He’d withdrawn into himself after that, rarely joining the other dregs for anything. We’d all respected his need for privacy, his desire to be alone.

  Maybe we shouldn’t have. Maybe we should have forced him to endure our company, to spar with us, to just hang out and be a part of our group. Had letting him go off alone pushed him into doing this, whatever “this” was?

  Why would Jacob take Jess? Unless someone had forced him into it?

  And then it hit me with a clarity that was startling.

  The Company.

  They had Jessica. I felt it in my gut. They’d taken her to get to me. But why?

  And then I saw her. It was just a flash. A vision of Jessica in a jail cell much like the one I’d been held in for so many years.

  Then it was gone.

  Son-of-a-bitch! The General had her.

  I opened my eyes and stared down the empty dirt road where the vehicles had gone. He’d taken her to get to me. He needed me for something.

  Nate came up beside me, following my gaze. The other dregs moved forward, glancing around.

  “It’s The Company.” I voiced my thoughts aloud, causing everyone to turn to me. “They’ve got her.”

  Nate sighed loudly and shook his head. “Goddammit.”

  Tony let out a string of Spanish swear words.

  “They must have promised Jacob his freedom,” Ryan murmured. “Or something.”

  “He’s an idiot,” Luke replied. “Doesn’t he know we will hunt him until he’s dead? That traitor!”

  I snorted. So true. Once I got Jess back, I’d go after Jacob. He would die for this.

  “Why would he have them meet here?” Logan asked. “It’s only a few miles from our hideout. Why didn’t he just show The Company where we were hiding and give us all up?”

  There was a moment of silence as everyone considered that. “Because he didn’t want to betray all of us,” Noah said quietly. He glanced back at me. “Just you. And I honestly don’t think he did it to betray you. Maybe he felt threatened by Jessica’s presence because she’s not one of us. Or maybe The General offered him something he couldn’t refuse if he handed her over.”

  “Ryan’s right,” Tony muttered. “They must have offered him his freedom.”

  Everyone exchanged glances. We all wanted our freedom. Desperately. That’s why we’d escaped. But as long as there were bounties on our heads, we would never be free.

  “It’s me they want.” I glanced at each of them. “Not you guys. I have to go after her. See what they want.”

  “You sure you want to do that?” Luke asked. “Whatever they want you for, you know you won’t walk away from.”

  “They’ve got Jess.” I swallowed hard. And she was worth dying for. I couldn’t let them hurt her.

  “Then we’re going with you.” Nate held my gaze.

  Ryan nodded. “We can’t let you go alone.”

  “We leave no man behind,” Luke added.

  Noah and Logan exchanged glances, then they nodded, too.

  They all had my back.

  To the bitter end.

  They would risk their lives for Jess. For me.

  “So what’s the plan?” Logan asked.

  I drew in a deep breath, puffed it back out. “I give myself up in exchange for Jessica’s release. Then you guys do your best to get me out of there before they kill me.”

  “What if they don’t want to kill you? What if they want you for something else?” Noah eyed me with genuine concern. I understood his concern. I felt it myself. Dying wasn’t as scary as whatever they might truly want me for. But I would do this. For Jess.

  I sighed. “Then I guess you try to get me out of there before they do whatever it is they plan to do to me.”

  Nate clapped me on the back. “It won’t be easy, man. But it’s what we were trained for, right?”

  The others nodded their agreement.

  “Let’s do this.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Jessica

  They locked me in a jail cell. Then left me alone. The cell was small, with nothing more than a bunkbed, a toilet, and a sink. I had no idea what they were going to do to me, but I feared whatever they had planned, it would be something that would hurt Tracker. I needed answers. I needed to understand why these people wanted Tracker back.

  When we first arrived at this place, I used my photographic memory, remembering every turn—left or right—how many doors I passed down each hallway, how many steps before and after each turn, where the restrooms were located, how many personnel were about, how many were men and how many were women. I stored all of this information in my brain. When it came time to escape, I would find my way out. I would make my way to freedom.

  The General came to visit me at noon, bringing me a paper plate with a tuna sandwich. The guards opened my cell and let him in. A guard placed a folding chair near the bars for The General to sit, then locked the cell behind him.

  The General came forward, holding the plate out to me. I didn’t want to take it, but the cold gleam in his eye told me if I refused, I might not like the consequences, so I took the food from him and waited.

  He smiled and sat in the folding chair, eyeing me closely. He waved his arm at me. “Eat. Then I will answer any questions you have.”

  I didn’t want to eat. But I wa
nted answers, so I took a hesitant bite of the sandwich. Chewed. Swallowed.

  The General watched me, making me uncomfortable with that cold gaze. I forced myself to finish the sandwich, then set the empty plate in the sink.

  I lifted my gaze to his.

  He grinned. “Go ahead. Ask away.”

  I glared at him. “Why do you want Tracker now if you tried to kill him before?”

  He leaned back on the folding chair and crossed one leg over the other. “For several reasons. One, because Tracker’s special. He shares the best of my DNA. Two, because of a new drug that could heal him. And three, because of you. You’re the key to the future.”

  Because Tracker’s special. He shares the best of my DNA.

  For some reason, that stuck out more than anything else. What the hell did that mean?

  Then it hit me like a slap to the face.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered. “You’re Tracker’s father.” That’s why he seemed familiar.

  He nodded. “Smart girl.”

  “Does Tracker know that?”

  The General shook his head. “Not yet. But he’s about to learn the truth about everything.”

  What was going on here? What truth? “I don’t understand. The truth about what? And how do I change anything?”

  The General linked his hands together over his crossed legs. “Every one of my soldiers is an experiment. Each one goes through different tests, different studies, different trials to determine their strong points and their weaknesses. Each is recruited at a different age to see how they adjust to the rigorous training involved in becoming a soldier. The younger a boy is at recruitment, the easier it is to mold him into what I want. Tracker was my youngest recruit at the time. Since then, I’ve recruited younger boys. I decided to let him stay with his mother until he turned twelve, and then I took him away. With years of brainwashing and memory-suppressing drugs, I made him forget his life before joining The Company. I turned him into the best soldier I possibly could. He is so much like me, and I must say I’m very proud of him.” He smiled, but it wasn’t a genuine smile. It was a smile filled with pure evil. “Unfortunately, a bullet shattered his thigh bone and he had to be discharged. Even with my superior DNA in his blood, and all the experimental drugs we pumped into his body to try to make him stronger, his bone wouldn’t heal back together. Unfortunately, he’s still human, and the human body is weak. I had planned to dispose of him along with the other discharges a year ago.

  “But they defied me. All but three of them escaped that day. The brainwashing must not have worked as well as I’d thought, for I’d trained those soldiers to never go against an order, to never defy me. But that day, they did. When I ordered them to stand down, to let themselves be shot, they refused. They fought back. And they escaped.”

  I silently applauded Tracker and the other dregs. I was happy they’d gotten away that day. If they hadn’t, I would never have met Tracker.

  “I’ll bet that pissed you off.”

  The General’s gaze narrowed on me. “You have to understand that I can’t have my wounded soldiers roaming freely in society. They’re too dangerous. I can’t risk the repercussions from the government if one of the dregs goes on a rampage and starts killing innocent people. I can’t afford to have my contract revoked. I provide the government with the best killers to get the jobs gone. And once a soldier is discharged, he is exterminated.”

  “Not this time,” I whispered proudly. “They got away.”

  The General’s eyes hardened. “I had bounties issued for each of their heads. I knew eventually someone would spot them and kill them. But the sneaky bastards disappeared. I must have trained them too well. There were no sightings of them for nearly a year. Then, a few weeks ago, Tracker was spotted. I wouldn’t have done anything except order him to be exterminated on sight, except that a few months before that, an experimental new drug became available for testing. A drug that purportedly could heal and regrow shattered bone. If I could inject Tracker with this drug, his leg could heal, and I could put him—my best soldier—back out into the field. And I could use the drug to heal other wounded soldiers.”

  No. This man couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t force Tracker to go back to work for him. I wouldn’t allow it. I wouldn’t let him torture Tracker or use him like a lab rat ever again.

  “Tracker will never agree to that,” I argued. “You tortured him. You abused him. Why would he come back to that?”

  The General chuckled softly. “Because of you.”

  My breath caught. He was right. Tracker would come for me. He would give himself up to see me safe.

  My intense hatred for this man grew. “So you torture innocent boys, brainwash them and turn them into monsters, and then when they get hurt and aren’t of any use to you anymore, you kill them.” I looked him in the eye. “You’re a monster!”

  He shrugged. “Tracker’s mother said the same thing right before I killed her.” He shook his head. “It was such a pity, too. Killing such a beautiful woman. But she had to go. She would have come after me and tried to find her son. And I couldn’t have that now, could I?”

  I glanced away, focusing on the cracks in the concrete floor beneath my feet. “So what do I have to do with any of this? How do I change things?”

  He uncrossed his legs, unfolded his hands and set them on his knees. “I’m getting to that. My soldiers are taught not to feel, not to experience emotions. It makes them the perfect killers. A man without a conscious won’t hesitate to kill.” He paused, his gaze holding mine. “When Jacob visited his daughter a few months ago, I was waiting. I knew he would show up eventually. I had a little chat with him and convinced him to cooperate. He was reluctant at first, but finally agreed. When he told me Tracker had a woman staying with him recently, I had to find out why, because that was so unlike Tracker. He was one of my toughest soldiers, never showing any emotion. He’d been taught not to feel anything, yet somehow, you made him fall for you. One of my soldiers discovered he had feelings. Could it be true? So I researched you. You’re a smart woman, Jessica. So certainly you can see that Tracker is worth more to me now alive, not only because of the new drug that could heal him, but because of you.”

  “I don’t understand.” What was he trying to say?

  “Tracker cares for you. You are his weakness. He never cared too much about visiting the prostitutes that were provided to any soldier who requested one. He never took an interest in my program. But now that he’s fallen for you, you are the key to the future.”

  I still didn’t know what he was talking about. How was I the key to anything?

  “So I changed the bounty on his head, offered a hundred grand for anyone who brought him to me alive.”

  My stomach roiled. Would Jacob collect on that bounty now?

  Jacob was a traitor.

  “So Jacob has been spying on Tracker for a few months?”

  The General contemplated me for a moment. “Yes. Just since the new drug became available.”

  “So in your ‘little chat’ with Jacob, did you also kidnap his daughter? Is that how you made him turn on Tracker?”

  The General’s lips twisted into that fake, ugly smile. “Yes. I had to use the child as leverage. Jacob impregnated a prostitute. But luckily for the child, it was a girl, so she wasn’t recruited into the program. We only accept males.”

  “You recruit any babies that are born to the prostitutes?” I asked in disbelief.

  The General nodded. “Of course, my dear. We recruit children from wherever we can find them. And a child that is the offspring of one of the soldiers already contains the right DNA for the program, so naturally we keep them.”

  My stomach roiled. “So you used Jacob’s child to convince him to betray Tracker. You’re heartless.”

  The General shrugged. “Everyone has a weakness. And now that I’ve discovered Tracker’s weakness, I have him right where I want him.”

  I forgave Jacob. He’d done what he’d had to do to s
ave his daughter. I would betray anyone if it kept my sister safe. Would the other dregs do the same? Betray one of their own in exchange for their child’s protection? Would Tracker forgive Jacob for what he’d done?

  “Could you be pregnant, my dear?” The General’s words jerked me out of my thoughts like a bucket of cold water splashing in my face.

  “What?” I blanched, my hand automatically flying protectively to my stomach. “No, of course not.” But I could very well be pregnant. Tracker hadn’t used a condom last night.

  Oh my God. The right DNA.

  I understood what he was talking about now.

  “Now are you beginning to understand?” The General asked. “Tracker’s child is the future. I wanted all along to use Tracker’s DNA, my DNA, to create stronger soldiers, but he was never interested in the program. I encouraged him to visit the prostitutes, to share his superior DNA, to create outstanding baby soldiers to train. But he refused. Yet you made him care for you, and Tracker has never cared for anyone before, because I taught him not to. That means you’re special to him. His biggest weakness. And that’s why you are so important to me. He will do whatever I ask in order to keep you safe. He has a genuine weakness. And I can use that weakness to make him behave.”

  “You’re sick!” I backed away from him, repulsed by what he was saying. “If you think I would ever hand over my baby to you, you’re delusional! And why would you need Tracker’s child, anyway? Why can’t you just create test tube babies or whatever?”

  He sighed. “Because it doesn’t work. We tried that. None of the test tube babies survived beyond the first trimester, no matter how much care was taken to ensure their survival. Sometimes when you play God, you don’t get the results you want. We need naturally created children with strong DNA. Tracker was my best soldier, and he carries my superior DNA. And with this new experimental drug, he can become my best soldier once again. He can help me train others. And because he desires you, he can help produce future soldiers created from the best DNA out there.”