45. Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Five
Tainted
Matt
I ’ve counted six people surrounding the laboratory building. This is more organized than I’d given The Realists credit for. My heart sinks, admitting to myself the cleanup within the FBI wasn’t as effective as we’d been led to believe.
The grounds, the buildings, the tunnels…Harrison had all the maps. There is nowhere to go he wouldn’t know about.
Steven Harrison, one of the few people from the failed raid at Camp Carroll I’d trusted. He fooled me completely. It hurts to know I gave him all he needed to take us down. Hell, he set me up for Dr. Wallen’s murder.
While we walked to the laboratory, Keir, Blaine, and I did a rundown, and it was enlightening. He’s been working on destroying our family from several angles.
He preyed on all our weaknesses.
He made me feel paranoid about whom I could trust within the FBI. I stopped the flow of information, keeping things between Keir, Harrison, and myself, edging Bristow out of the loop in the process. Using examples from Camp Carroll …keeping my failure fresh in my mind.
He made Keir question my motives and played on our perceived power imbalance, bringing up his past in XIX to torment him.
He dropped a baggy of pills outside Blaine’s office after taking Wes from us, which Blaine discovered when the school asked him about a man seen hanging around the hallway outside his office. He knew the likelihood an addict would reach a breaking point was high.
One of his accomplices infiltrated Caleb’s life through church, making him question his relationship with Eden and distracting him from watching over Wes so she could grab him.
Another accomplice moved in next door to stress us out with his hateful antics, drawing our attention.
He played games with Hutton’s head over the security cameras and copycat code. Knowing he’d evoke the brainwashing Hutton endured by poking at him, he suggested night vision goggles be mentioned by Bristow to him, walking in the woods at night, finding a security device planted…
Then there’s our wife. By killing people connected to the Bradford and Lassiter families, leaving threatening notes, making her aware she was being followed, and taking Weston from us, he reopened a chapter from her past and made her relive the trauma she’d endured. Knowing he’d break her down, cause her to make unwise decisions…
He’d get her alone…
“We need to move quickly,” I tell Keir and Blaine.
Having Blaine with us is unexpected, but he’s taken the self-defense classes and built his body up strong. He may not have the training Keir and I do, but he’s ready to fight back. I wasn’t for it, but with each revealed betrayal, all I want is to take Harrison and anyone working with him down.
But first we need our family made whole again.
A figure in all black carrying a plastic bag circles one of the parking ramp pillars to walk up the stairs. With a slight head nod to Keir, we run in the shadows pulling the person off the second step with a hand over their mouth. Once we have the cover of the trees and the person pinned up against a towering oak, I yank down the hood. A female.
Blaine snorts. “Oh look, it’s Bible-thumper Becky.”
Her lips thin. Glaring at us she says, “You won’t kill me. I know where your kids are.”
Keir presses his arm against her chest harder causing her to whimper. I give him a warning look; she could start screaming or calling for help. “I wouldn’t brag about kidnapping our kids…that’s a risky little move,” I say, moving in closer. “You’re going to tell us where they are, because I’ve been waiting for the chance to meet the person responsible.” Using the most menacing voice I can, while clamping a hand over her mouth, I add, “I’ve been dying to meet you…to take you apart and see what makes you tick.”
Blaine steps up to her. “We have Weston back. I guess you didn’t know how persistent we are about the people we love. Oh, but you don’t understand what it’s like to be loved, do you backshed Becky?” he taunts while handing Keir zip ties. “It’s funny you thought Caleb would ever leave his family for your ugly ass. They should’ve found a better-looking flunky to trick him. Not that it would’ve worked, anyway.” I move back slightly, dropping my hand to help Keir zip tie her wrists and ankles together.
She says angrily to Blaine, “There’s a special place in Hell for you, you deviant asshole.”
“A special place in Hell? For me? That’s actually really thoughtful,” he replies mockingly.
I tell Blaine to quiet down as we secure her with the zip ties. “One last chance. Where are they?” Keir bites off a section of duct tape to put over her mouth.
“Or what?” she challenges.
“If you think any of us will spare your life after you took our kids from us, you’re delusional. You’ll tell us or take a bullet to the head,” I tell her, removing my handgun from its holster on my leg.
“Okay, okay…They’re on the third floor of the lab, but you’ll never get to them. Not without me.”
It’s ballsy to think we’re going to bargain with her.
“Pass,” Blaine says.
“Where on the third floor? And is it just the kids or are Eden and Hutton there, too?” Keir asks her.
She sneers at Blaine before turning to Keir. “They’re all up there. But Agent Harrison doesn’t plan to keep them there long.” She shrugs. “You won’t make it inside though. We have it protected.”
She’s bluffing. We were able to grab her when she was entering. I’m not going to take her word for anything.
In the distance, I see a fire toward the lake. Just what we need, for hell on earth to burst into flames. “Christ, let’s go.”
“What are we doing with her?” Keir asks me.
We don’t have to decide. As we’re standing there a bullet tears through the night and hits dead center on her forehead, one of her fellow agents taking her out the way we had threatened.
Blaine’s eyes widen as he says, “That’s a bad way to go.”
“Fuck…Run!”