they’d used on the harvested eggs of the women who were their surrogates, to replanting the viable embryos, trying to create a race of geniuses.
All of her story was in that file...including her mother, who’d carried her and raised her until the age of five, her own kidnapping and her mother’s murder meant to keep her from fighting UT for custody.
The file detailed her life in UT, and how she became an experiment they studied, using her abilities, testing her mental acuity daily, and pushing her constantly to see what she could do. Then she delineated, in detail, why they threw her away when she got cancer, then why they wanted her back when she survived, and why they now felt threatened by what she knew when she refused them.
It was all there...why they wanted her dead, and what they’d done in an effort to make that happen. Jade Wyrick was giving up all the secrets of her life to stay alive.
And when the last file was sent, she was too sad and exhausted to cry. This was the last day she would ever call her own again.
She was about to get up when she remembered Benny. Her shoulder was throbbing, but she couldn’t rest until she made things right. She always paid him monthly by direct deposit, so she logged in to one of her local bank accounts and sent half a million dollars into his checking account, then sent him an email.
Benny, I just found out what happened to you. There are no words for how sorry I am that you were hurt because of me. I just want you to know that all of your medical bills will be taken care of, and I have deposited a sum of money into your account to offset any financial hardships as you are recovering. If anyone asks, I’m just someone you work for, and you know nothing about my life. It’s safer for you that way.
She signed off, then hit Send.
The room was silent. The showerhead was still dripping. But she could hear the wind rising, and it felt like the temperature was dropping.
She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a cell phone. It was a duplicate of the one she’d lost in the crash. The texts from her old one wouldn’t be on it, but she still had all of her contact info, so she put it in her pocket, slipped her arm back into the sling and turned up the thermostat as she hobbled her way back to bed. She made it to the bathroom, and when she came out, she got in between the covers, pulled them up to her chin and closed her eyes.
* * *
Benny’s wife discovered the email, which led her to check their bank account. When she saw the deposit, she screamed out in disbelief and began to cry. Her children came running, thinking she’d received bad news about their father. By the time she explained, they were all celebrating. Benny would be coming home tomorrow, but she couldn’t wait to tell him the news.
* * *
Unaware of the magnitude of demons Wyrick had unleashed, Charlie returned to the mansion. He entered her apartment carrying a suitcase, and with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He dumped it all on the living room floor and then went to check on her.
“You’re awake,” he said.
“I know.”
He sighed. “Let me rephrase that... I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No. I heard you drive in. What’s the weather doing?”
“Nothing yet. Can I get you anything?” Charlie asked.
“Chocolate?”
He made a U-turn and bolted back down the hall.
Wyrick thought she’d scared him off until he came back carrying the candy he’d brought from his apartment, along with a bottle of Pepsi he’d gotten from her refrigerator.
He dropped the candy onto the bed beside her, opened the bottle of Pepsi and set it on the table by the gun, then turned on her TV and handed her the remote.
“You don’t have an extra bedroom,” he said.
“I have eight of them,” she said, and pointed at the ceiling.
“Sorry. Too far away. You own this monster. I’ll bunk on your sofa tonight, but tomorrow, you’re moving up a floor.”
“I was going to remodel,” she said.
“Instead, you got shot out of the air. You are a phoenix, Wyrick, but don’t push your luck. Heal first. Remodel second.”
“I pulled the trigger on Cyrus Parks. Be prepared.”
He looked at her closer, then sat down on the side of the bed, dug out