Rising Storm (Westin Force #2) - Julie Trettel Page 0,57
with me.”
“Stuck with the grunt work?” Baine complained.
“Aren’t you always?” Ben asked. “Sir, do we need eyes on this place?”
“Probably not. It’s remote and secure. We don’t expect any surprises. Just in case, do a full sweep of the perimeter when we arrive.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tarron got excited. “I’ve got some new toys. Just in case their cameras have been tampered with, I’ll feel better if we have our own. They are simple set ups. Taylor and I will go over the building specs and have a list for setup. If you don’t mind, just place them at the coordinates we give you while you’re doing your sweep.”
Ben looked to Silas who nodded.
“Good plan. I do not want to be blind like we were on the last job. As always, get in, get the job done, and get the hell out.”
“How long do we expect this to take?” Grant asked.
“As long as necessary,” Patrick replied. “This helps us know what we’re watching for. See, at first the Verndari sat back to see what these guys would do. Many even fully funded their endeavors until things started getting out of hand. That support has almost entirely been rescinded now. Unless they find other financial backing, the Raglan are broke. They are using old abandoned properties owned by the Verndari. Tarron, I want to make sure you have a full list of those locations before this job ends. We can take that back to Archie and start a more proactive monitoring.”
“They aren’t just broke,” Jacob added. “They’re getting desperate.”
Martin rose in his seat and turned to face us. “They are close to creating a cure, or they think they are at least.”
“A cure for what?” Baine asked what we were all thinking.
“Shifters. A serum that will stop you from shifting, making shifters and humans equal again in their eyes. I know it sounds crazy, and that is only one antidote they are working on. They truly believe that you hold the key to curing cancer, disease, and potential new viruses even. Their testing has produced some valid results. Jacob and I have even worked on a few ourselves, but they come from comparing and contrasting the differences of our kinds, not what they are doing.”
“You mean the experiments on shifters?” I asked. Emma had told us a bit about what was happening on the inside. It sounded an awful lot like the World War II testing the Nazis did on people, especially twins. Same theory, different victims.
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Martin said. “The research Jacob and I were doing required a blood sample, not this. We tried to play from the inside, but in good conscience we both had to pull out. I could no longer sit back and say nothing. We aren’t the only ones either, but the two of us combined took a big hit on their biological expertise. Many of the guys left have zero medical experience. They aren’t playing by a rule book and they’re angry and taking it out on the shifters they have because it’s becoming harder to acquire new ones, thanks in part to your team.”
We knew what he meant. We’d done several outreach programs to spread the word to other shifters. It was just warnings that these guys exist, and that we needed to be more alert and cautious, especially in small numbers. That had helped to slow the disappearances because we weren’t being blindsided any longer.
“They have resorted to some extreme measures for funding though,” Silas said bringing us back on course for the mission. “We know that firsthand now.” He looked at me and I nodded. He was talking about Emma and the cage fighting. “We’ve tolerated them long enough. Today we take some proactive measures by aligning with the Verndari and finding out everything we can about these assholes.”
Emma
Chapter 18
When Painter left, the apartment felt empty. I sat down and ate my lunch. I was just as much a creature of habit as he was and so the thought of him being home in a couple days or more didn’t bode well with me. I wanted to know what his itinerary was and exactly when he would return. Not having those pieces was harder than I thought, and he’d only just walked out.
My gorilla felt like she was in mourning knowing our mate was gone. I spent the entire rest of the afternoon moping around the apartment, watching sitcoms that didn’t make me laugh, and eating popcorn.