Darkness
Page 68
“There are no bank records to show any connection between Mason and the payments we made to the false account Boris set up. Mason seems clean.”
“There wouldn’t be. Mason is a smart male who catches the mistakes of others for a living. He sent agents after True’s mate and then he sent in Kat.”
“We still aren’t sure why.”
“I know.” Darkness closed his mouth.
“You assume he wanted information on Jerry Boris. I agree. They are linked by marriage.”
“He has to know we’re digging into his background by now. I don’t want him to go after Kat in an attempt to silence her. Boris set up Jeanie. Mason could do the same with Kat. These seem to be males who don’t mind hiding behind females and allowing them to take the fall for their crimes.”
“You want to toss her into interrogation?”
That wasn’t the plan but Darkness just lifted an eyebrow. “She might have answers we need.”
“I understand. We’ll wait for her file to make certain she’s the right female. The last thing we need is to bring in the wrong one.”
“Let’s order the teams to prepare.”
“Two should do it.”
“I want four.”
Justice frowned. “You think this female is that dangerous?”
“I believe Mason is. He has agents at his disposal. He could order her arrested or sent on assignment somewhere. He could also hire someone to take her out.”
“It’s possible if he really is working with Jerry Boris. I really dislike that male. You weren’t able to confirm their association beyond the family tie while you were in Medical?”
“He showed signs of high stress. I didn’t want to kill him. You asked me to try to keep him alive.”
“I read the updated medical report. You broke two of his fingers and inflicted cuts.”
“Just a few.”
Justice leaned back and sighed deeply. “You should have had the doctor present if you wanted to question him further.”
“It’s done.” Darkness wasn’t about to apologize.
Justice regarded him with an unblinking stare. Darkness didn’t blink either.
“Fury feels guilt. You’re aware of that, aren’t you?”
“The male has no reason to. Why are you bringing this up?”
“He took you to Boris. I have a feeling you used that guilt to get him to agree. I have a problem with that.”
Darkness stood. “I don’t use emotions to force males to do anything. I laid out why I wanted to speak to Boris and he agreed.”
Justice stood. “Fury has a blind spot where you are concerned. We’re both aware of it, even if he isn’t. Family is very important, especially when shared blood is involved. It’s rare. Don’t use him again.”
Darkness clenched his teeth.
“Answer the questions he has, Darkness. You owe him that much.”
“I plan to.”
Justice sat. “Good. Go do that now while we wait for this file to arrive. I’ll contact you as soon as it comes and have Tim put together four teams.”
“I don’t want Tim there.”
“Trey can take lead then.”
“I’ll lead them.”
Justice seemed unable to hide his surprise. “You don’t like to leave the NSO.”
“I’ll make an exception. I demand to be put in charge of retrieving Kat.”
A calculated look entered the other male’s expression. “I see. Fine. I have calls to make.”
Darkness strode out of Justice’s office but didn’t leave the building. He sought out Fury. The male was on the phone when he opened the door but he waved Darkness to a seat. He hung up a minute later.
“What did Justice say?”
“I’m surprised he didn’t call you as soon as I left him.”
“We’ve already spoken. Did you find out the female’s real name?”
“I believe so. Justice is having the Senator pull her file to make certain. He agreed I could have four teams to go pick her up. We’re just waiting for confirmation of the name and face matchup.”
“I’m glad. She’ll be safer here at Homeland.”
Darkness hesitated. Memories flashed through his mind—bad ones. “Her name was Galina. She was an attractive female in her early thirties.”
Fury frowned. “That is Kat’s real name?”
“No.” Darkness blew out a breath. “She was the female hired to come into the camp where my brothers…” He paused. “Our brothers were taken after they transported us away from Mercile Industries.”
Fury swallowed, the muscles in his throat working. “Go on.”
“She was a tall, blonde female with pretty light-green eyes. I don’t know if that was her real name but she was so frightened I could smell her fear. They brought her to where I was being held in handcuffs. The guards removed them and one of them pulled his sidearm, pointing it at her head. He said for her to do her job or he’d shoot her. They left her there with me. I didn’t know what to think.”
“She was a prisoner?”
“I believed so. She fell to her knees and began to beg me not to kill her. I wasn’t in chains. We all had explosive collars around our necks. They threw one outside the camp when we first arrived to show us what would happen if we breached the perimeter. It exploded as it sailed past the marked line. They used a second collar around the neck of a dog to show us that they could be detonated at will when the man in charge pushed a button. The dog was small and there wasn’t much left of it. No chains were required. We knew escape would be impossible. They were coded every six hours and without a password they auto-detonated so taking out our captors wasn’t a possibility. The male in charge of the code wasn’t in our camp but video monitored the entire site.”
“There wouldn’t be. Mason is a smart male who catches the mistakes of others for a living. He sent agents after True’s mate and then he sent in Kat.”
“We still aren’t sure why.”
“I know.” Darkness closed his mouth.
“You assume he wanted information on Jerry Boris. I agree. They are linked by marriage.”
“He has to know we’re digging into his background by now. I don’t want him to go after Kat in an attempt to silence her. Boris set up Jeanie. Mason could do the same with Kat. These seem to be males who don’t mind hiding behind females and allowing them to take the fall for their crimes.”
“You want to toss her into interrogation?”
That wasn’t the plan but Darkness just lifted an eyebrow. “She might have answers we need.”
“I understand. We’ll wait for her file to make certain she’s the right female. The last thing we need is to bring in the wrong one.”
“Let’s order the teams to prepare.”
“Two should do it.”
“I want four.”
Justice frowned. “You think this female is that dangerous?”
“I believe Mason is. He has agents at his disposal. He could order her arrested or sent on assignment somewhere. He could also hire someone to take her out.”
“It’s possible if he really is working with Jerry Boris. I really dislike that male. You weren’t able to confirm their association beyond the family tie while you were in Medical?”
“He showed signs of high stress. I didn’t want to kill him. You asked me to try to keep him alive.”
“I read the updated medical report. You broke two of his fingers and inflicted cuts.”
“Just a few.”
Justice leaned back and sighed deeply. “You should have had the doctor present if you wanted to question him further.”
“It’s done.” Darkness wasn’t about to apologize.
Justice regarded him with an unblinking stare. Darkness didn’t blink either.
“Fury feels guilt. You’re aware of that, aren’t you?”
“The male has no reason to. Why are you bringing this up?”
“He took you to Boris. I have a feeling you used that guilt to get him to agree. I have a problem with that.”
Darkness stood. “I don’t use emotions to force males to do anything. I laid out why I wanted to speak to Boris and he agreed.”
Justice stood. “Fury has a blind spot where you are concerned. We’re both aware of it, even if he isn’t. Family is very important, especially when shared blood is involved. It’s rare. Don’t use him again.”
Darkness clenched his teeth.
“Answer the questions he has, Darkness. You owe him that much.”
“I plan to.”
Justice sat. “Good. Go do that now while we wait for this file to arrive. I’ll contact you as soon as it comes and have Tim put together four teams.”
“I don’t want Tim there.”
“Trey can take lead then.”
“I’ll lead them.”
Justice seemed unable to hide his surprise. “You don’t like to leave the NSO.”
“I’ll make an exception. I demand to be put in charge of retrieving Kat.”
A calculated look entered the other male’s expression. “I see. Fine. I have calls to make.”
Darkness strode out of Justice’s office but didn’t leave the building. He sought out Fury. The male was on the phone when he opened the door but he waved Darkness to a seat. He hung up a minute later.
“What did Justice say?”
“I’m surprised he didn’t call you as soon as I left him.”
“We’ve already spoken. Did you find out the female’s real name?”
“I believe so. Justice is having the Senator pull her file to make certain. He agreed I could have four teams to go pick her up. We’re just waiting for confirmation of the name and face matchup.”
“I’m glad. She’ll be safer here at Homeland.”
Darkness hesitated. Memories flashed through his mind—bad ones. “Her name was Galina. She was an attractive female in her early thirties.”
Fury frowned. “That is Kat’s real name?”
“No.” Darkness blew out a breath. “She was the female hired to come into the camp where my brothers…” He paused. “Our brothers were taken after they transported us away from Mercile Industries.”
Fury swallowed, the muscles in his throat working. “Go on.”
“She was a tall, blonde female with pretty light-green eyes. I don’t know if that was her real name but she was so frightened I could smell her fear. They brought her to where I was being held in handcuffs. The guards removed them and one of them pulled his sidearm, pointing it at her head. He said for her to do her job or he’d shoot her. They left her there with me. I didn’t know what to think.”
“She was a prisoner?”
“I believed so. She fell to her knees and began to beg me not to kill her. I wasn’t in chains. We all had explosive collars around our necks. They threw one outside the camp when we first arrived to show us what would happen if we breached the perimeter. It exploded as it sailed past the marked line. They used a second collar around the neck of a dog to show us that they could be detonated at will when the man in charge pushed a button. The dog was small and there wasn’t much left of it. No chains were required. We knew escape would be impossible. They were coded every six hours and without a password they auto-detonated so taking out our captors wasn’t a possibility. The male in charge of the code wasn’t in our camp but video monitored the entire site.”
