“How’s the family reunion going?” Harte leaned against the far wall of the hallway, out of range but near enough by for his presence to be a sort of brotherly comfort to Gabe. Hard to explain, but there it was.
Gabe had retreated to the hallway to give the sisters space. Left alone, Gabe had to admit he’d probably be slamming his fists into the wall until something broke. Didn’t matter if it was the wall or his knuckles.
Truth be told, the walls had survived a lot of Centurions so it’d probably be his knuckles.
“Fine. More than fine.” Seeing the damage in An-mei’s eyes, knowing from experience what that meant and how much therapy the girl would probably need before she could sleep through a night or take a bite of food without wondering if it was drugged, had been the final straw to ignite his temper in a slow-burning rage. It’d already been prepped and ready when he’d gotten a good look at the lump on Maylin’s head after her encounter with Jewel.
“Those two have each other back. It’s just going to take a metric shit-ton of time for them to recover. No thanks to Jewel and Edict and fucking Phoenix Biotech.” Gabe finished on a growl and clamped his mouth shut, grinding his teeth.
“From what Maylin told us and what she will undoubtedly repeat to you, Jewel could have done a lot worse. I’m thinking there’s more going on there.”
Gabe spit out a low curse, careful to keep his voice down. Just in case Maylin woke up. Or her sister, who was in the hospital bed next to her. “I’ve got no fucks to give about Jewel’s reasons for stabbing us in the back.”
“Or shooting you in the back, as the case may be.”
Gabe waved a hand, dismissing the interjection. “She made her choice and joined Edict. Not a whole lot in the world to excuse it.”
Harte stepped away from the wall. “See. She knows that. I’m thinking she might’ve even been okay with never telling us her reasons, either. But things are changing pretty rapidly and what we saw at that location was a lot more than one little biotech company could’ve funded on its own.”
Now might not be the best time to be thinking of a bigger picture. But it was Harte’s job and Gabe might be damned for slowing down, but part of what he did best was finding the puzzle pieces for Harte to put together. So he let himself pace, but his mind tracked back to the things he’d seen. Things the cameras might not’ve caught.
“Their training was standard, not the higher level we’re used to seeing from Edict or similar teams. The contingent guarding that facility was complacent and used to being there.”
Harte nodded. “They had an evacuation plan, but they moved a lot of equipment before they decommissioned the facility.”
“If you want to call blowing the place up decommissioning.” Gabe snorted. “It might’ve been Jewel’s work, though. The explosions were controlled, kept perimeter damage to a minimum.”
“Based on satellite surveillance, it looked like they got all of the personnel out along with the equipment.” Harte began his own pacing, on a path perpendicular to Gabe’s. “But we were more concerned with keeping eyes on your escape route to be sure you didn’t have any unwelcome pursuit, so we lost them when their paths split up and scattered. Even if they’re still in the state currently, they won’t be for too long.”
Course not. If it’d been Gabe, he’d have scattered his resources and sent them out by various modes of transportation too. Whoever had governance over that site had plans in place and those people were following them.
“So there’s a sponsor behind this Phoenix Biotech.” Gabe didn’t like it, and the words tasted bitter in his mouth. “Somebody into projects like the genetics they were trying to make An-mei research.”
“And with the means to pay several mercenary organizations, not just Edict,” Harte added to the list with even less pleasure in his voice. If it were possible.
“Whoever it is won’t be happy to have lost a valuable asset.” Gabe would be damned if they’d send Maylin and An-mei back to their lives only to see them snapped up again.
“No.” Harte settled again, a shit-eating grin on his face. “About that. I reached out to a few contacts.”
“Yeah?” Gabe halted and leaned back against the opposite wall. He’d wait to find out what Harte had in mind. If he didn’t like it, then he’d get up in his CO’s face.
“There’s a few government sponsors concerned about the potential for biological warfare and the best way to develop countermeasures.” Harte lifted his chin to indicate the women in the room behind Gabe. “If An-mei is amenable—and I’m thinking developing countermeasures is better than developing the weapons themselves—they’ll provide a new identity and protection for her. Sort of like witness protection but specialized.”
“And what about Maylin?” It’d be awful to separate the sisters after how hard Maylin had worked to get An-mei back.”
“Option to disappear with her sister.” Harte’s gaze settled on Gabe.