Chapter Seven #2
Giles took it, turning it over in his palm. “This was an unexpected bonus.”
“I’m worried about the woman who gave it to me.”
“She must have been desperate for help to take the risk of trusting you.”
“She worked out ‘Bryan’ was faking it. Her intent was to run. I told her she should.” Bryn exhaled, rubbing his temples. His headache had settled into something dull and persistent. “Mira, that was her name, is scared and she’s right to be.”
Gunnar cut a sharp left, taking a less direct route back to their hotel. “We’ve picked up a tail,” he said.
Bryn twisted to look through the rear windshield. “Where?”
“Black sedan, two cars back.”
“The security guy was suspicious of me. It must be him.”
“Lose them,” Giles said. “We won’t be that difficult to trace to the hotel but let’s make them work for it. We’ll go back there anyway. Everything should seem legitimate.”
Gunnar smirked and stepped on the gas. Traffic blurred past as he weaved through afternoon congestion. Bryn gripped the door handle as they narrowly missed clipping the side mirror of a delivery truck. The black sedan kept up.
Bryn swore under his breath. “Persistent.”
“Not for long,” Gunnar muttered. He took a hard right down a side street, then another, slipping into an abandoned lot sprouting random greenery from its cracked asphalt. The sedan didn’t appear and he waited a full minute before reversing out and returning to the main road. “Not my first rodeo.”
“What now?” Bryn asked.
“Back to the hotel as planned,” Giles said. “We left the clinic because I had another engagement to get to and that’s what’s going to happen. In our suite. As soon as we let Warden know we’re back, he’ll come over and we can review everything together.”
Bryn closed his eyes and attempted to relax in his seat while Gunnar drove back to the hotel, taking a circuitous route.
Bryn’s headache was painful and he needed to scavenge the room service menu as soon as possible.
He opened his eyes again only when Gunnar pulled into the underground parking lot of their hotel, coasting into a spot near the elevator.
He shut off the engine and turned in his seat, looking at Bryn.
“You’re wiped. How bad are you feeling?”
Bryn swallowed, forcing himself to straighten. “I’ll manage. I just need food and water.”
Gunnar gave him a look that said he wasn’t buying it. “Let’s get to the room. If what’s on that drive is as bad as I think it could be, we’re about to have a lot more problems.”
Bryn sighed, slumping against the headrest. “Fantastic.”
Gunnar opened the car door and stepped out first, scanning the garage before giving the all-clear. Giles went after him, slipping back into his businessman persona. Bryn took a beat longer before following. The lingering images from his reads filled his head and made him nauseous.
They rode the elevator to their floor in silence and when they reached their suite, Gunnar went in first to check it was secure. Once in the room, Bryn sank onto the couch, pressing his palms to his eyes. Giles got onto his cell, presumably giving a head’s up to Warden.
Bryn groaned, rubbing his eyes. “Before I pass out, are you ordering food, or are we embracing a slow descent into starvation?”
Gunnar grinned. “You’re trusting me with the room service menu?”
“Yes, because starving to death is not my preferred option and I don’t think I can focus on the print.”
“What do you want?”
“Food. I don’t know. Anything that’s bad for me.”
“Just order something before I regret all my recent life choices,” Giles said. “I take my steak very rare. I’m going to freshen up while we wait for Warden.” He sauntered across to the master bedroom.
Bryn waited until Giles was safely out of earshot before slumping back against the couch with a dramatic sigh. “I don’t like him.”
Gunnar snorted. “Really? I’d never have known.”
“No, no. I extra dislike him. He’s got that”—Bryn gestured vaguely—“thing. The smug, ‘I’m better than you’ thing. It’s not just our past.”
“I get it. I do. But we need him.”
“I’d rather chew glass than admit that.”
“Then chew fast, because room service is on its way.”
When the knock finally came, Bryn was on his feet before Gunnar could react, yanking the door open to grab the laden tray from the bewildered hotel employee. He thumped the tray onto the low table then explored before digging in like he hadn’t had a decent meal in a week.
Gunnar watched as Bryn inhaled a burger in record time. “You realize chewing is a thing, right?”
Bryn pointed a fry at him. “Leave me alone.”
“The food isn’t going anywhere.”
Bryn grunted, already halfway through a second burger. “You’d better start eating yours before I get to it. Nice choices, by the way.”
Gunnar sighed, shaking his head. “Burgers, fries and cheesecake is not revolutionary.” He grabbed a plate. “But always hits the spot.”
Food made Bryn’s headache recede to a manageable throb, which was good because Giles returned to eat. Bryn eyed his steak, barely seared, sitting in a puddle of blood. “Is that still mooing?”
Giles gave him a toothy grin. “I’ve tasted better.”
“I hate you.”
“I know. Delicious, isn’t it?”
Warden’s arrival, with Emmett in tow, was the only thing that stopped the conversation descending into all-out war. Gunnar gathered up plates then shoved the tray out into the corridor. They all sat around the lounge area and Bryn raided the mini-fridge for drinks as they were on Warden’s dime.
“You’re pale,” Warden commented.
“Yeah, getting my freak on does that.” Bryn scowled.
“Do you want to spank him, or should I?” Giles addressed his comment to Gunnar. “Or perhaps we should take it in turns?”
“He fucking needs it. I’ve told you before about calling yourself a freak,” Gunnar said, his tone low and growly.
“As have I,” Giles contributed.
“Something we agree on.”
“God help me,” Bryn grumbled. “Emmett, how about some support?”
“They’re right, Bryn. You aren’t a freak.” Emmett’s eyes glistened. “I don’t like it when you put yourself down.”
“Sorry.” Bryn couldn’t stand upsetting Emmett.
Emmett gave him a shy smile.
“Still like my plan better,” Gunnar said.
“Shall we get on?” Warden suggested, except it wasn’t a suggestion. Bryn got his thoughts in order while Giles went through his observations of the investor meeting and set the scene with some of the key personnel. Then he handed the floor to Bryn.
“So,” Gunnar said, dropping into a chair opposite him. “What exactly did you see?”
Bryn blinked. “Doctor Howard is intending to change some access codes, not sure what to, and she’s planning to alter data. Fear and greed were all over her. She’s scared of getting caught, but she wants whatever she’s being promised.”
“And Fuller?”
Bryn shook his head. “He’s going to personally destroy some documents. But that’s not what stuck with me. He’s meeting with Salvatore Russo and from the way he was admiring his Rolex, I’m guessing he’s already on the payroll.”
Gunnar stiffened. “That’s the evidence we need that Russo’s definitely behind all this. Not a surprise, I know, but confirmation.”
“Yeah,” Bryn agreed. “There was no sense of fear from Fuller either.”
Giles tapped his fingers on his knee. “What about the security guy?”
Bryn hesitated. “Ty Brunt. He’s not just head of security, he’s part of whatever’s happening.
When I brushed against him, I saw…” He swallowed, the image still sharp in his mind.
“I saw blood. Too much blood. Unconscious men on gurneys, probably test subjects. Bodies soaked in blood. And a furnace. I’ll leave you to work out his intent. ”
The room fell into silence. It was Giles who spoke. “And the young woman who gave you the USB, Mira?”
“She intends to run because she knows what happens to people who ask the wrong questions. If she’s right, they’re experimenting on gene-affected subjects without consent, covering up serious neurological damage, and falsifying data.
” Bryn leaned back against the couch. “This is more than unethical. It’s a goddamn slaughterhouse. ”
“So to summarize,” Warden said, “the clinics are dirty with several staff involved up to their necks. The USB is evidence and I’ll get our IT people to check it out in a secure environment in case of viruses. What else?”
“We were followed from the clinic,” Gunnar said. “I lost them, but it’s only a matter of time before they track us down. They’ll have security video of the event too. Russo will recognize Bryn if he gets to see it.”
Warden nodded. “The three of you can stay put for the night. Bryn needs to recover, and I need time to assess our next move. Emmett and I will head back to base. Keep your doors locked. If they’re onto us, they might test the waters.”
Gunnar nodded. “The security team is watching all entrances.”
“A direct order to do nothing,” Bryn said. “I might actually enjoy this.”
Gunnar snorted. “Get some sleep while you can. This shit show is only going to get worse.”
“Thanks for that. Just what I needed to sweeten my dreams. You want to check under my bed for monsters?”
“Sleep, menace.”
Bryn made sure he wiggled his butt a little extra as he sloped off to his room.