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True growled. “What did you do?”
She noticed his angry expression and hoped it wasn’t caused by her actions. She had no regrets over what she’d done that day, or any day. She was always trying to stay one step ahead of the staff and figure out ways to trick or manipulate them into doing what was needed to help the New Species. “I opened the door to check on her and saw him standing next to her bed, going on about what he planned to do to her as he was removing his belt. I used a bedpan and nailed him in the back of the head. He never saw me coming. He’d turned off the cameras in the room to make sure Security didn’t spot him but it also meant there was no proof that I’d been there. I made it look as if he’d slipped and struck his head on the edge of the table.”
Luna chuckled. “She hit the asshole so hard he needed fifteen stitches. She was pissed that he was going to hurt me. I learned new swear words from Shiver. She also finished opening his pants to make it clear to the staff what he’d planned to do to me. The doctors were furious when they came in and found him on the floor because he could have ruined what they had planned for me. I never saw him again.”
“You may touch her,” True decided, letting go of her hand.
Luna was a good eight inches taller than Jeanie as the other woman gave her a tight bear hug. A dull pain shot through her side from her healing injury and she groaned. Luna eased her hold instantly, jerked away, and frowned.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you? I forget how frail humans are.”
“No. It’s my side. It’s still a little tender.” She touched her shirt over the bandage. True had applied a fresh one after her shower.
Luna’s head snapped in True’s direction and she snarled. “You hurt her?”
“No,” Jeanie denied instantly and reached for the angry woman’s hand to draw her attention from him. “I was shot when your task force guys hit Cornas Research. That’s the place I went to after Drackwood.”
“The task force teams shot you?” Jinx gasped.
“No.” Jeanie shook her head. “It was one of the Cornas guards.”
Luna squeezed her hand in encouragement. “Have a seat and tell us everything. We need to know all the details of what your situation is so we can figure out how to help. You need to start at the beginning.”
Jeanie settled into a comfortable seat with True on one side of her and Luna on the other. The double doors to the library opened and Flirt stepped inside. True rose to his feet, his hands clawed.
“Easy.” Flirt sighed. “I know I shouldn’t be here because Darkness ordered me to stay away from her but be reasonable. We all want to help Shiver out of this mess. I apologize for crossing a line. I’ve come to be of assistance and the important part is we clear her so she won’t be charged with any crimes.”
“Thank you.” Jeanie held her breath, waiting to see what True would do. She didn’t want them to get into another fight.
His harsh expression softened and he took a seat. “Fine. Be of assistance but sit far away.”
Flirt took an empty seat at the end of the table. “What have I missed?”
“Jeanie is about to tell us about Agent Brice and how she believed she was working with the NSO to free our people.” True nodded at her. “Begin.”
Query quietly asked everyone to take a seat. Everyone did and the room grew silent. Jeanie glanced around at them and blew out a pent-up breath. It wasn’t going to be easy to go over all the details of working for the people who’d hurt them but it needed to be done. She just hoped they didn’t hate her by the time she finished giving them all the information.
She started by telling them how she’d gotten the job at Drackwood and then was assigned to the lower floors. “That’s when I first saw New Species there and realized what was really going on. Dean Polanitis gave me the tour himself and as soon as I saw one of you…” She relived the awful memory. “I think I gasped or he saw how horrified I was. He instantly pulled me out of the room to tell me what would happen to me and everyone else I cared about if I ever told anyone what they were doing or that you guys were down there. He made it clear they had no qualms about killing anyone who betrayed the company and the dire consequences of getting them busted. Some of the staff even came up to me that day to assure me that other employees had disappeared. I think he purposely asked them to talk to me to really make sure I understood the threat was real and that employees who’d lost his trust had been killed.”
“Yet she still took the risk of trying to get us help,” True stated. “Tell them what you did.”
She licked her lips, glancing at the familiar faces. It was a miracle to see how tanned and healthy some of them looked and it felt wonderful to know they thrived. “I bought a disposable phone with cash and—”
“That’s a cell phone you can buy at any store with minutes on it that can’t be traced to the owner by financial records or any other means,” Query stated.
A few of them nodded.
“Yeah. I bought one of those and used the Wi-Fi from a coffee shop to look up the New Species website.” She paused, glancing at Query to see if he wanted to explain anything else.
He smiled. “Wi-Fi is an internet signal that anyone can use if it isn’t password protected. A lot of human businesses offer it for free to their customers. It would have protected her identity if they traced the internet signal address.” He nodded. “Go on.”
“There was a phone number on the site but I didn’t know how long they’d keep me on hold and I hadn’t had enough cash to buy a lot of minutes for the phone. I chose to leave a message and even sent an email to give all the details about Drackwood. I left the number for the phone so they could contact me back. I told them I’d have to hide it so to just text me so we could set up a time to talk.” Jeanie liked it that True pressed his leg against hers under the table in a comforting gesture. “I was too afraid to take the phone home that first night so I hid it at a local park. That’s where I kept it. The next day I had a text and a direct phone number for Agent Terry Brice. I called and he set up a meeting. He flew to visit me right away and said I’d need to collect enough evidence to get a judge to grant a search warrant.”
“We don’t need those,” Jinx stated.
“I didn’t know that at the time.” She held his gaze. “Our law states that you have to show cause that something illegal is going on to obtain a search warrant. The judge issues the warrant—a paper that gives them the legal right to enter and search a property.”
“That’s true,” Luna agreed. “I study their laws in my spare time since I want to become the liaison who deals with handling the legal issues that arise between our world and hers.” She gave Jeanie a sympathetic smile. “Your laws don’t protect or help the victims but seem more focused on aiding the criminals.”
She shrugged. “There are some flaws. I won’t deny that.” She continued with the story, explaining what Agent Brice wanted her to get and how she managed to smuggle out evidence. “He texted me before Drackwood was raided to make sure I didn’t go to work the next morning. I called him back and we argued because I wanted to be there to help.”
Her gaze darted to Luna and Flirt. “You both were in severe danger because the drug cabinet was where you were being treated in the clinic. I was terrified the doctors might kill you before they tried to escape.”
“The doctors weren’t there yet when the NSO rescued us,” Luna informed her. “They were in a meeting.”
Jeanie’s hands trembled so she laced them together on top of the table. “Agent Brice said they were going to hit Drackwood hard and fast and the SWAT team might mistake me for a bad guy when the shit hit the fan. I didn’t care.” She stared into Luna’s eyes. “I was willing to risk it but he threatened to have me arrested if I left my apartment. He said he wasn’t going to allow me to blow the operation and they had agents watching the location so I’d never reach Drackwood without being stopped. It was a horrible situation. I wanted to be in the clinic when they came to make sure nobody got near
either of you but he convinced me you’d die for sure if I did anything to tip off Drackwood of what was about to go down.”
Luna gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I understand and believe you. I know you’d risk your life for mine. That guard might not have been knocked unconscious. He was a big male and he might have done to you what he planned to do to me to gain revenge for striking him. They really were vicious when we fought back. You’re small enough for him to have killed with one blow from his baton but they never just hit once. You would have died if he’d gotten up.”
“You risked a lot.” True didn’t appear happy as he spoke. “You were lucky.”
She decided to change the subject quickly because she didn’t like the look in his eyes as he stared at her. She had a sinking feeling he planned to give her a little hell later for the danger she’d put herself in. “Agent Brice came to visit me right after Drackwood was taken down to tell me he had an informant in another location but she was too afraid to smuggle out evidence. He had a way to get me employed there so I agreed to go. There were New Species who needed help.”
“You were sent to the facility rigged with bombs?” Luna frowned.
“No,” Query answered for her. “She’s talking about Cornas Research.”
Jeanie went into more details about working at Cornas and finally paused. “I told Agent Brice I’d stay home the day of a raid. I even borrowed a neighbor’s car that morning to take to work in case the police were looking for me. I made it to Cornas and made sure they couldn’t gas the New Species.” She shared all the details right up until she woke at Homeland. “That’s when I found out Agent Brice really doesn’t work for the NSO and that he’d been using me all that time.”
“You left out an important detail.” True shot her a pointed stare.
She stared back him, clueless as to what he referred to. “I think I covered it all.”
“Tell them what happened to you at Drackwood and what you endured.”
She felt the blood drain from her face. “That’s irrelevant.”
“They should know all you’ve suffered trying to get us freed, Jeanie.” His stern expression brooked no argument. “Tell them what Polanitis did to you.”
She lowered her voice. “It’s not necessary.”
“It is.” True stood so fast his chair fell over, crashing to the floor with a bang. “Polanitis threatened to have me killed if Jeanie didn’t submit to taking breeding drugs.” He bent forward, flattening his hands on the surface of the table. “She agreed and I’m alive.” He slowly examined the male faces around the table. “I want to know if any of you mounted her while she was drugged since she wouldn’t remember. I’ll even allow you to live long enough to try to explain to me how any of you could hurt her that way.”
“Shit.” Query rose to his feet a lot slower, his gaze locked on True. “Are you serious?”
“Did you mount her? She was drugged and helpless. She retains no memory of it.”
“Fuck no!” He shook his head in denial. “I never touched her and you must be mistaken. They wouldn’t give that shit to a human.”
True snarled. “Don’t look at her that way. They did, and I want to know if any of you touched her.”
“Me too,” Luna spat, her tone harsh. “A male would have to have agreed to mount her without drugs in his system since she’s still with us. She wouldn’t have survived otherwise. I could barely withstand an out-of-control male in that state and that’s only because I was clear-headed enough not to struggle. The pain she would have endured from the breeding drug alone would have her thrashing around and that would have incited more rage aggression from him.” She looked around the table. “Which one of you agreed to mount her?”
No one spoke.
“Perhaps if you hadn’t stated that you were going to kill them,” Flirt quietly announced, “they might be more willing to confess.”
True’s upper lip lifted, showing his sharp canines. “I will allow them to apologize to her and explain why they’d hurt Jeanie before I use my bare hands to deal out justice. She was helpless. You know what that drug does and there is no given will. She didn’t agree to be mounted.”
“True, please,” Jeanie pleaded. “It doesn’t matter.”
He whipped his head down, his eyes wide. “It does. How can you say that?”
Tears filled her eyes as she rose to her feet. She rapidly blinked to clear her vision. Her legs wobbled but her knees didn’t buckle. She couldn’t look at anyone but him, feeling embarrassed and horrified at the same time.
“I told you that I’m pretty sure I would have known if anyone had done something to me, okay?”
“You can’t know for sure if your body was used but they do. They’d only give you the drug to use in a breeding experiment. They would need a male—these males—and I want to know who mounted you.”
More tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She reached up and wiped them away, still staring at him. “If there is one thing we all know in this room, it’s that Drackwood was a nightmare for us all.” Her voice broke and she had to swallow before continuing. “I don’t want to know, True. I care about everyone in this room and it would be easier to think it was similar to the situation I experienced when Polanitis came after me—everyone had to agree to do what he wanted. I made a deal with that devil to save you, True. I never regretted it and I can live with it because you’re standing right in front of me. The bottom line is that I’m alive too. Maybe things went down that I don’t remember but it doesn’t matter. We survived and that’s what counts.”
“It matters.” True’s eyes seemed suspiciously wet as he rapidly blinked and reached out to grip her shoulder with gentle fingers.
“Maybe they did it to save me. If it even happened.” She forced herself to look at the faces around the table as she struggled to pull herself together. She rested her hand over True’s. Just touching him helped her find strength. “It doesn’t matter. I’d forgive someone if they were given an unfathomable choice and we all agree that I’d have been killed if they’d drugged up someone else while I was injected with that shit. We’re here to talk about Agent Brice and try to figure out how to find the son of a bitch.” It got easier to breathe as she calmed, instead focusing on the anger she felt over being used to extort money from the NSO. “Let’s deal with that.”
“I never touched you,” one of the males stated.
She looked at him, seeing sincerity in his dark-green gaze. “Let’s drop it.”
“I didn’t either.” Another male cleared his throat, giving True a wary look. “But I would have agreed to take her to my mat if given a choice between killing her and making sure she’d survive.”
Jeanie winced, glancing up at True to see his reaction. He appeared unusually pale and still angry. His chest expanded as he sucked in a deep breath and slowly blew it out.
“Anyone, just speak now if Polanitis offered you Jeanie. I won’t seek retribution.”
Silence reigned and Jeanie closed her eyes, relief so overwhelming she nearly choked up again. She was pretty sure no one had sexually molested her but she was certain someone would confess if there was anything to tell.
True squeezed her shoulder before pulling his hand away. She let him go but he quickly wrapped his fingers around hers instead, keeping hold of her hand as he righted his chair with the other one and sat. She opened her eyes as he motioned with his head for her to take her seat too. She gratefully collapsed into the chair.
“Tell us about this agent,” Query urged. “Give us a detailed description. We have access to the out world’s databases. We can try to find him through DMV records. Did he drive a car? Did he have an accent that might indicate what state he lived in? We can pull all the photos that match his description for you to look at, until we find the right face.”
The tension in the room seemed to dissipate. “He is a Caucasian male in his mid-to-late fifties. Approximately five foot eight with a heavy build. He wore glasses, had light-brown e
yes, I think, since the lenses were tinted, and he had a mole on his face.” She pointed to her cheek to show them where it was located. “He was balding on the top of his head. His hair was brown with a lot of gray. He drove a rental car to our meetings. They had stickers on them so it was easy to figure that out but he used different companies.”
“Heavy as in muscular?”
She glanced at Flirt. He’d pulled out his phone to text the information she gave or take notes. “No, he was out of shape and kind of huffed if he moved too fast.”
“Huffed?” Luna leaned in closer. “Was it an animalistic sound? Perhaps he’s a Species. A few of us could pass for full human.”
“He’s not New Species.” Jeanie smiled, amused. “He was a marshmallow. I should have said he panted because he got out of breath easily when he walked fast and broke out in a sweat. It didn’t help that he wore dress shirts. He had the whole business-suit look going on, regardless of the weather.” She glanced at the men in the room. “You guys couldn’t get that out of shape even if you really tried. He is also much older. He was born way before Mercile started their experiments. Agent Brice is definitely human.”
“He’d have to be fully human from the description you gave. Mercile killed flawed children with no Species traits.”
“A few of us could pass though,” Luna protested. “I’ve met two who appeared human but they weren’t that old. They were rescued from the place Darkness came from.”
“Two.” Flirt shook his head. “I’ve met both males you speak of but they have physical traits of Species regardless of the lack of facial markers. Even those can be seen if you are looking for hints.” He reached up and ran a finger over his cheek and jawline. “The bones always tell.”
Jeanie studied his face, looked at True, then Query. They did all have very masculine bone structure. “Agent Brice is not New Species. He has kind of girly features.”
Query chuckled. “Girly?”
“Feminine.” She smiled at him. “Softer and you can’t even see his cheekbones. He’s got a round face.”