Rising Storm (Westin Force #2) - Julie Trettel Page 0,61
behind that murder that justify or condemn. We are no different than any human in that regard.”
I could see I had struck a nerve with each of them. They seemed to forget what line of work I was in. I’d read their files from front to back many times. I knew what each of them was capable of.
“Duly noted. Perhaps we should move onto other things.”
Patrick entered the room. It had not gone unnoticed that they had specifically waited for O’Connell to leave the room before addressing Emma or mentioning the diary.
“Okay, we’re making progress out there. The perimeter is set and being monitored. Tarron and T are going through the surveillance video and already picked up a common anomaly in the feed. They are investigating that now. The rest of the team are working steadfast on their lists to verify the items you requested.” Patrick seemed oblivious to the tension in the room as he ticked off his update.
“Perhaps I should join them to speed things along?”
“Actually, I have a separate task for you, Painter. If you’ll come with me.” Martin said.
I sensed his unease, but didn’t mention it. He took me back to a sealed vault. Opened the door and then sealed it back behind us.
I let out a low growl, but he turned and put his hands slowly in the air and averted his eyes. It was easy to tell he was used to dealing with the wolves.
“I mean you no harm, Painter. This vault is impenetrable. It’s safe to talk in here. I can’t guarantee that anywhere outside this room though.”
I nodded. “You don’t trust Winthrop, do you?”
“I have no choice but to trust him. Not trusting him leads down a slippery slope I don’t want to go.”
“Does Patrick know?”
He nodded. “Patrick was the first shifter friend I ever made. Before him, you were all just creatures that I studied from afar. Jacob, well he’s deep in. In some ways it was him who founded the Raglan. It’s a sore spot for him of course. He doesn’t want to fully accept responsibility for it. See, it was Jacob’s team that breeched the long tradition of watch only, do not intercede. He saw some things that hardened him towards shifters for a while. Bad things. I don’t think I need to go into detail for you. He tried to turn a blind eye and couldn’t. He’s a good man with a good heart, but the vigilante part of him had to step in. At that point, he had a shifter and didn’t know what to do with it.”
“So he locked it away like some animal,” I said filling in the gaps of what he wasn’t saying.
Martin nodded. “He’s a scientist, but that shouldn’t have justified what he did. Many of us are scientists perfectly content to sit on the sidelines and document our observations.”
“Until you can’t because something spurs you to intercede.”
“Exactly.”
“Like a young boy being raised by a band of gorillas.”
“Yeah, something like that. I’ve read your file Painter, I know they took you from them.”
“Scientists, people like you, took me from my family and they were all slaughtered because of it. See what you don’t realize is that your type rarely just observes. I don’t mean that in a negative way. What my files don’t tell you about that incident is that my family was purposefully there because of the scientists. See, while you do-gooders think you’re just watching and not disturbing, you actually change the dynamics of the area. The birds and other beasts of the jungle alerted us to your presence. We were fully aware of exactly where each of your kind were. What they didn’t realize was that we were using them to keep the predators away. That area my family lived in was swarming with poachers. Money from the zoos, as well as local and international food markets, were paying a premium. Poachers were also very aware of the scientists and wouldn’t touch our band.”
“But they stepped in to rescue you and left your family unprotected.”
“Poachers moved in the second they were out of sight.”
“I am so sorry, Painter. That’s awful what happened to you. And you’re right. I’ve read the files on you and Silas dozens of times, and never once did I make that connection.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“Something like that doesn’t just disappear over time.”