Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-two
Caleb
In the past couple of days, I’ve realized Hutton is hiding more than I thought.
When he left the hotel and I followed him, I had no idea what I was in for. I’m lucky he didn’t bash my skull in outside Camp Carroll.
The abandoned medical facility where we headed to didn’t have what he was looking for. In a fit of rage, he destroys a wall of expensive equipment.
I back up and nervously watch.
Would he notice if I shove one of the standing microscopes into my backpack… All this equipment was going to waste.
If the FBI or any other law enforcement agency is keeping guard over Camp Carroll, we don’t encounter anyone.
Hutton leads us through the back of the camp into a parking ramp beneath the labs.
He wasn’t in any mood to talk, no matter how much I tried to stave off my nerves by asking him what he was doing.
“Lift your feet up when you’re walking,” Hutton snaps at me. I march with my knees high to get him to laugh, and he glares at me.
“Sorry.” I make sure to keep my face serious. “I forgot you don’t have a sense of humor.”
He mumbled under his breath, and we trekked on. We could be heading towards death. The thought crossed my mind several times on the trip into the mountains of upstate New York. I felt compelled to follow. I trusted God, even if I didn’t understand why.
We spent a lot of time looking for Achilles. He didn’t bother to tell me what Achilles was.
For all I knew it was a futuristic weapon, which would have made more sense to me than what it turned out to be.
A cat?
Hutton grabbed the cat by the scruff of the neck then snuggled it close, whispering to it. I almost dropped in shock.
Its fur clumps into greasy spikes, something dark crusted along its jaw.
He’s touching it though?!?
“Wait… are… what?” I can’t seem to ask a question. “You’re holding a cat.”
“That’s the most intelligent observation you’ve made today,” Hutton says in a flat tone. “Grab that.” He points to a canvas tote bag partially under a tarp.
I do as he asks because I’m still shocked that he’s touching an animal.
We don’t spend a lot of time at Camp Carroll, skirting around cinderblock housing, a large garden, and a white house behind an electric fence.
“Where are we going now?” I asked Hutton following behind him through the brush surrounding the trees.
“Back.” Well, that’s informative.
I ask God to protect us, since we’ll need it.
The cat starts to meow and make strange noises. We stop to have a look at it. The cat managed to scratch up my arms when I tried looking at the wound on his neck.
It’s not deep and I reassured Hutton he should be okay if we get him clean, put some antibiotic cream on it and cover it. In distress, he made me repeat myself twice more about the cat living.
It’s clear… he cares about the cat and Eden.
Yeah. That’s about it.
Hutton’s hotel room is silent as we watch Eden swab the inside of her cheeks. The news that she could have started her life in the same lab as Hutton leaves us all speechless.
But Hutton doesn’t seem affected. Not much gets a reaction from him. I think he knows a lot more about Eden’s life than he’ll say.
“How long will it take to get the results?” Hutton asks Dean. “It took too long to get drug test results from the FBI. Can you speed this along?”
Matt rolls his eyes at Hutton. “Why the urgency, what are you keeping secret?”
Hutton ignores Matt and says to the other agent, “Test me, too.”
Dean prepares the second testing kit, while Matt leans in to whisper something to Eden. She is at ease with Matt and Blaine. I want that with her.
She sees me as a friend, but I want more.
The cat scratches the bathroom door where he was corralled, and I duck inside to check on him. He hisses at me as I chuckle to myself. He’s a bit like his owner in that respect. “Hi, mighty Achilles, let’s have a look at that neck.”
Kneeling next to him, I move back the gauze to take another look, while pressing his body against my thighs.
This time in the light of the bathroom, I can see what looks like a piece of plastic under the cat’s skin. Since I doubt anyone was microchipping a stray cat in the middle of the woods, panic hits.
Whoever is hunting Hutton and Eden may have done this.
I make my way back into the hotel room. “Umm… Matt? Hutton?” I wave my hand. “Could you come look at something?”
Showing them the edge of a microchip, Hutton says, “Rip it out. Now.” Me? Why do I have to take it out? I look around for the box of rubber gloves while Hutton gets agitated. Again.
“That’s a stretch. Why would they put a tracking device in a cat that was abandoned months ago? It’s a damn miracle you even found it,” Matt asks, standing back up crossing his arms.
“They cover all their bases,” Hutton says in a sullen voice. “It’s all a game to them and they always win.”
I have to ask him to move back, while I pull the plastic free as quickly as I can.
Matt takes the fourth of an inch square microchip to wipe it with the bathroom towel. He calls Dean in and asks him to have it looked at to see exactly what it is. Hutton wants it destroyed immediately.
“We need to know what it is,” Matt says sternly to him. “If they tracked us to this hotel in Pennsylvania, it’s already done.” Hutton picks his cat up, resting him against his chest while he gently runs his hand down his back.
Eden appears in the bathroom door. “What were you doing to the cat?” She looks ready to light into us for torturing it. Her eyes fix on Hutton and the look on her face softens. “Is he okay?”
I speak up, “He’s just as ornery as his owner, but he’ll be okay.”
Blaine wraps his arms around her waist, settling his chin on top of her head. He smirks at all of us gathered in the bathroom. “Housing a stray cat in a pet free hotel? I think that’s frowned upon.”
“Shhh.” Eden reaches behind her to smack his backend. “Like you’re a rule follower?”
She’s enchanting. Standing in the doorway with a light flush to her cheeks, her wavy blonde hair tied up in a knot on her head. She looks adorable. I jerk my head away when I realize I’ve been openly gawking at her since she appeared.
Matt herds everyone other than Hutton from the bathroom.
I listen as Dean talks to everyone more openly since Hutton is out of the room.
“The testing they were doing… it was expanded genetic testing that looked at two hundred and eighty genetic conditions. They did blood draws and tests, physicals, and sperm evaluation. Poking and prodding these ‘test subjects.’ Then it transitioned to brainwashing and erasing memories.” Dean rubs his eyes.
“The brainwashing techniques started in some cases when the subjects were months old.”
The human mind is an anomaly in some respects. There is so much unknown about what it’s capable of.
I shiver at the idea of torturing babies or children with the end goal being methods for warfare. I’m understanding more and more why Hutton’s behavior is contradictory.
Eden sits quietly, wiping tears from her eyes. “I have memories of a normal childhood before my mom started acting crazy. I really don’t think I… I think you’re wrong about me.”
Matt massages her shoulders while Blaine holds her hand. I shouldn’t feel jealous. But I am.
Dear Lord, please help me to trust your purpose for me. Let my life be a beacon guiding the lost to you. Almighty Lord, I submit myself to you. Amen.
“Be careful. We have no idea how far up or how deep this goes. Don’t talk to anyone else at your bureau office about it, stay alert.” Dean leaves after issuing that advice to Matt and gathering some of the evidence Hutton had for him.
“We have no idea who we should be watching out for,” Blaine says angrily. “Hey… it could be the front desk clerk, the wait staff, the rideshare driver…” He sneers. “How in the hell do you fight a faceless enemy?” He could have been kinder in his delivery, but he’s not wrong.
“It’s someone at Horizon Wellness Center, isn’t it? It would have to be,” I add. They would have to be there to carry out most of what has happened since the study began. I’m scared for Keir. He’s back there and without any of us keeping a look out for him.
Matt’s face twists as he sighs, “It wasn’t just one person. This was coordinated, planned out… it had to be multiple people.”
“Is Keir going to be safe? He’s there by himself right now.” I ask. Matt groans and Blaine’s whole body stiffens.
Eden turns to me open mouthed, eyes wide. “He’s awake? When?” Dropping Blaine’s hand, she jumps up. “We need to get back, right away. Did you just find out tonight?”
“I…” I look at Blaine. I didn’t mean to botch this up, but she never should have been in the dark about this. “I thought you were going to tell her?” Eden spins looking at him, with a fiery look on her face.
“Not again. Damnit, B. Not again. When did he wake up and why did you keep this from me?” She backs away from Blaine and Matt moving towards the hotel room door. “Tell me the damn truth, don’t keep anything out.”
He does just that.
She doubles over while breaking down sobbing. “If you would have let me see him in the hospital… it could have been different.” It’s hard to understand her through the tears. Hutton joins me with a look of concern on his face as we watch it all unfold.
“No, it wouldn’t have been,” Blaine says softly while squatting down in front of her. “I was… I was just doing what I could to protect you.”
She springs back up in anger. “You’re full of shit. Protecting me from the truth? Didn’t we just have the same fight? B, did you want me to find this out when I saw him for the first time at the Center? I’m so fed up with you treating me like I’m some fragile and broken person.”
I want to rush to her and enfold her in my arms.
Hutton turns to Matt and Blaine. “Get out of my room.” I didn’t expect it, but he sounds like he’ll physically remove them if he must.
“Eden,” Matt pleads with her. “Too much has happened for us to fall apart over this. Please just let us explain.”
He tries to hug her, but she shoves him away from her.
“Okay, explain it to me. Tell me how I was going to lose my mind over it,” she snaps at him. “Meanwhile, someone I care deeply about is struggling and I’m not there to support him. Tell me allll about it.” She backs up until she’s against the hotel door.
“That’s not fair. We were going to tell you yesterday, but a lot of shit happened.
We weren’t going to let you stumble into the information.
” He cuts an irritated look my way. “No one in this room thinks you’re fragile or broken.
Not in the least. We know how much you care about Keir and no one was excited to tell you he won’t remember you.
” The last bit of information comes out choked.
“For what it’s worth… we all knew but thought telling you here was a better option.
You could process it all before seeing him.
If we told you in Illinois…” Blaine’s voice fades off.
“Well, you’d run off to see him immediately.
” Blaine moves towards her like she’s a wild animal.
“Ed, you damn well know I love you. These other…” He looks around at us.
“Less worthy guys…” He gives her a cocky smile. “Care about you, too.”
Blaine’s been around me most of the week, leaning on sarcasm whenever things get tense, never letting the moment turn serious.
Eden shifts away from him. “I’m tired. I’ll stay by myself tonight.” She turns to me. “Can I have your keycard? You can room with one of the guys, right?”
I agree by merely nodding. My mouth has gotten me into enough trouble tonight. Matt looks like he wants to argue with her, but Blaine shakes his head at him.
“Thanks.” She pockets the keycard and looks at everyone. “I’ll sleep on it. I have things to say, but I’d regret them later.”
Hanging her head she says in a barely audible voice, “The most important thing right now is helping Keir. He needs us.”