Chapter 25 Emery #2
Cameron’s hair is mussed with sleep and he actually looks more tired than he did last night.
I wish he could get more rest, but it’s probably his heavy mind that’s giving him a lack of reprieve.
He still glances at the scar on my temple with burdensome eyes.
I wish I’d known that it wasn’t disdain he had for me, but for himself for the last several weeks.
I settle back into the seat beside him. He glances up at me hesitantly before stretching out his hand for mine. His touch is soft and gentle, even his calluses. Cam’s eyes drink me in.
It’s time to lay everything out.
“The first time my heart stopped was when Nolan dragged you into my cell. The second was when I let that rock hit your skull.” Cam’s voice is painful and sullen. I have to restrain myself from reaching out and pulling him into a tight embrace.
He takes a deep breath and goes on.
“I first saw Reed on a mission in Montana two years ago. He was observing us from the second-story window of a barn across the cow field. He was hardly visible in the shadows, but I saw him watching us, studying our squad. I was more concerned with the fact that he’d just witnessed me killing my partner, so I pursued him with the intent of leaving his corpse in that fucking barn to rot.
But when I entered the structure, I couldn’t find him anywhere. ”
My mouth presses into a fine line. I know that barn, there’s an entire bunker below the hay.
I keep that information to myself. He doesn’t need to know that the Mavestelli mansion was only ten miles down the road.
Why was Reed out there? How did he know?
I bite my lip as the thoughts race through my head.
“As I moved to regroup with the squad, a phone left on the ground began to ring. I answered it and Reed introduced himself to me. He said that he had been studying the Dark Forces for quite some time and wanted to propose a deal.” Cameron stops and runs a hand down his face.
“A deal?” I echo.
He nods. “Reed wanted whatever it was that made me so impervious to pain. He wanted the pills. I knew he worked for Mavestelli. He told me himself, but there was definitely more that he knew than he let on. He knew too much…of everything.”
This entire mess all for the fucking drugs. It makes my blood boil. I can’t believe Cameron has known Reed for two years. Even if they weren’t working directly together, it still makes the air sour. Worse, I can’t believe Reed has been up to no good all this time.
Cameron’s eyes soften as he assesses my troubled expression.
“I chose to dismiss him. But before I could drop the phone and leave him in the past, he promised that I would need his services one day, and that he was embedded in the Dark Forces in ways that made it inevitable for me to need to call on him. I didn’t reply…
but I kept the phone. I don’t know why I kept it, something in my gut told me to.
From time to time he’d call, inquiring if I was ready to work with him.
I always declined. It wasn’t even a forethought. But then you happened.”
I stiffen in my seat and Cameron offers me a guilty grin.
“You happened, and I knew that Reed was right. That I would need him in some way or another because I wouldn’t be able to protect you. Not with the way that I am… So the evening I found you in the alley—”
“That’s how you got rid of the bodies,” I murmur in disbelief.
Cameron nods. “I called him and he took care of it. I’ve never known a man to have so much power the way he does.
He’s sly and malicious. He was close by, because it didn’t take him but an hour to have all of it handled.
I still don’t know what part he plays in the Dark Forces, but it can’t be good. ”
My hands curl into fists on my lap. I know all too well how cunning Reed is.
But what was it all for? Is Reed a soldier?
Or maybe he’s in the Intelligence sector like Mikah?
Chills run down my arms. I really hadn’t even thought about it, but it’s possible.
After turning eighteen he left for a few years with minimal contact with my father or me.
Then he came back off and on. I figured he had gone to university to learn more trades to benefit the business, but now I doubt it.
Reed’s eyes have always been on the highest seat in the house. As power hungry as he is apathetic.
“I’m glad you didn’t go to the lieutenant,” I say quietly. I know he’s not aware of what I heard last night yet, but he nods anyway.
“I am too, honestly, I’ve been starting to have my fair share of doubts about them.
” His voice is lowered into a whisper. “I think that they only wanted you to play your part in the Under Trials to lure your father in. He wanted his executioner back, even had his spy change course to get you. I think that they were done with your usefulness once Greg had changed his spy’s task to getting you out.
They were ready to toss you to the wolves like a finished meal.
Why else would they have you placed on the squad they already knew were going to Mavestelli’s hideout?
I think that this has been their endgame all along.
And whether or not you survived after the trials was just gravy and more ways to get Greg to make stupid decisions. ”
I swallow, sweat clinging to my spine. How convoluted could men after power be? To care so little of the people thrown in between. Even my own father only wanted me for my ability to do his dirty work, but I doubt his reasons were ever as sinister as this.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. “Cameron, I heard something last night that you need to hear.” I pick at my nail nervously, worried if I can truly trust him. But everything he’s telling me lines up with my theory. It all fucking aligns into one awful truth.
His brows pinch together.
Tell him. You can trust Cameron, I reassure myself.
“Do you think anyone will ever actually earn their cards out of the Dark Forces?” I frame the question, my tone is implying.
I can see the wheels turning in his head. “You’ve asked me this before,” he says slowly, jaw working.
“I’ve asked Mikah too, and her response wasn’t good,” I confide.
“No one has gotten out yet. I don’t know if they would actually let anyone be free,” he says, and the words make time slow. His eyes grow distant with the thought working in his mind. It makes his scar look more pronounced. A knot works its way into my throat.
“I overheard Nolan and Erik speaking last night. Their voices carried through the vents in the kitchen… Nolan told him to inform us that we are earning our cards out. He didn’t outright say that they were going to terminate us…
but they’re sending the Ri?t Squad out here just in case.
” My heart beats so erratically in my chest that I can’t tell if I’m whispering loud enough for him to hear me.
He sits back as if he’s been struck, eyes searching my face for anything to deny this claim, but he mustn’t find it, because he stands swiftly and grabs my hand as he pulls me up.
“Cam, what are you doing?” I whisper shout.
He stops with his hand on the door, looking back at me and speaking quickly. “We can’t stay, we need to figure out a way out of here. Our trackers were removed so they won’t be able to find us.”
I’ve never seen Cameron this distressed and disorderly. His panic is palpable, which doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation.
I give him a concerned look. “We need to act normal. Wraith was in the kitchen last night and he heard everything too. I’m meeting him in the shed past the landing zone after breakfast. Damian is coming too.
We can talk this out with them and go from there, okay?
” I take his hands in mine and he stares down at the connection.
His gaze empty, like he can’t process anything I just told him.
Cameron considers me for a moment before taking a steadying breath and nodding. “Okay.”
Wraith reacts the way I expected him to when he sees Cameron step in behind me.
“Why don’t you ever fucking listen?” Wraith throws his hands in the air.
Damian looks mortified, so I’m assuming Wraith already filled him in about what we overheard last night.
“Calm down, asshole, he’s been wary of them for a while now too.
We need someone like Mori if there’s any hope of actually formulating a plan,” I retort, standing in the center of the old shed with my arms wrapped tightly around my chest. I don’t want to touch anything in here, the wood is rotting and the roof looks like it could cave at any moment. This is a hantavirus haven.
Cameron grunts, glaring daggers into Wraith.
It’s not unknown to anyone that we all have reservations with him.
I mean, he tried to kill me a few times.
My eyes narrow at the memories. I wonder what became of Arnold.
Was he placed on a squad? My hands clench at my sides.
I hope that motherfucker can’t sleep at night after what he did to Bree.
Damian chews nervously on his thumbnail. “Are you guys sure they didn’t mean for us to literally get our cards? We might be getting out of all of this.” The hope in his voice is painful. Does he really think they’d let us out after just passing the trials?
I give him a sympathetic look. “Why would they station the Ri?t Squad out here then? Fury is a highly capable team. It doesn’t make sense to send the one squad that hunts down fellow soldiers to aid us.
And he didn’t say that they’ll help us in any way.
He said they will be on watch until the mission is completed. ”
Wraith adds, “As in, ready to terminate.” A beat of uncomfortable silence fills the small shed as the four of us take in those words.
“But that wasn’t specified, was it?” Damian asks. It’s painful to see him struggle with the truth of all this. I forget sometimes how reluctant others can be to see what’s really right in front of them. If it’s this hard for Damian, I don’t know how easy it will be to convince Thomas and Gage.
Cameron snorts. “Does it have to be? The evidence is clear. I’ve been around in the Dark Forces long enough to know that you don’t see a Ri?t soldier unless you’re the one who’s going to be thrown out.
” He sounds distant and emotionless. I glance at him and find his eyes dull with all of this.
He’s hurting and burying the pain like he does best. He saw the lieutenant as a father figure so this must hurt worse for him.
I resist the urge to comfort him in front of the others.
“Okay, okay. So even if this is true, what’s the fucking plan? What do we do?” Damian looks at all three of us. When no one readily replies he covers his face with both hands and lets out a groan.
“The way I see it, we have two options. We can either attempt an escape, which will likely end with one or both of your trackers exploding, or we can be prepared for the worst,” Cam says sternly.
Both of our trackers were removed, but I’m not leaving the rest of them to be slaughtered, I’m sure Cameron knows that.
His reassuring glance at me says as much.
Wraith shoves his hands into his pants pockets and lets his shoulders relax. “Define the worst.”
The three of us look at Cameron. He mulls that over for a few seconds before muttering, “The worst would be us completing the mission and either being terminated right there and then, or being told we’re getting our cards and then likely poisoned before we can get on a plane back to the main base.”
“Jesus Christ.” Damian covers his mouth like he’s going to vomit.
“And you guys thought I was the evil one?” Wraith snarls at me in particular.
I glare back at him. “You are.”
He huffs. “I was just trying to survive in the Under. Exactly like I am now, and guess what, runt, if it wasn’t for me none of us would even be here right now. So you’re fucking welcome.” He throws it back in my face.
As much as I hate him, he has a point. I cross my arms and let a sharp breath out.
“Okay, so how do we prepare for that, Mori?” Damian ignores the two of us and moves on with the plan.
Cameron paces the room a few times before stopping and lifting his head with an idea.
“First, we need to get the trackers out without blowing up. I have someone I can reach out to, and I think he knows how to safely extract them.” His eyes flick to me, and as much as I hate the idea of getting help from Reed when he’s clearly up to something maniacal, I reluctantly nod. We’re out of options.
“That’s not fucking shady or anything,” Wraith comments flatly.
Damian smacks the back of Wraith’s head. “Do you want to escape or not? Shut up and listen.” I grin at their exchange. It looks like Damian has already buried the hatchet with him. Though I doubt the same grace would extend to Arnold.
“I’ll try contacting him tonight. I think I have something he’ll want so the chances of him helping us are high. After the trackers are out, we’ll need to think of how to protect Gage and Thomas if we can’t get them on board. My contact may have a solution for us on that front as well.”
Damian frowns. “You really think they won’t believe us?”
Cameron looks at my friend like he’s a spring chicken. “They’ve both been in the underground forces for over two years. It’s hard to believe things other than what you’re fed. And I know they’re both desperate to be free.”
Gage. We have to save him at least. I think he’ll listen eventually, even if we have to tie him up and hide him somewhere when shit hits the fan. But Thomas, I can’t see him going along with it. He’s pretty ingrained with the Dark Forces and trusts them. It’s evident in his demeanor.
“What else can we do?” Wraith says with impatience.
“We’re going to lie low. The best chance of survival is to act normal, get as recovered as we can for the mission, and make them believe that you have no idea what’s going on.
If Nolan, Bridger…or the lieutenant are alone with you at any point on the mission, I suggest killing them before they do you.
I doubt Ri?t will come out before the mission is completed, but if you see any soldiers in black tactical gear that you don’t recognize, kill them. ”