Chapter 21
“Let’s talk this through,” Hank said, gripping the steering wheel of his car as he tried to remain calm. He was driving slowly, heading in the general direction of the hospital, but he could just as easily hit the freeway and take her straight to the Griz home base where he could protect her.
“Okay,” she said. “I want to talk to Dr. Oltheten. I’m sure he has data that we need.”
He saw the hard jut of her chin and knew she was going to be stubborn. But even as he looked at her sitting in his car completely safe, his mind kept replaying the sight of her being dragged away.
It amped up his adrenaline and made it hard to focus. But Cecilia was a woman of logic. She wasn’t going to stay hidden away without a good reason, so he fought down his terror for her safety and worked with his brain instead of his brawn.
“The wolves wanted to take you to some supersecret lab of theirs.”
“Yes.”
“And you just learned of a shifter lab in Detroit. That has to be the same place.”
She shook her head. “Dr. Oltheten has been trying to get the word out about shifters. Why would the wolves take me to him? They already know.”
He didn’t have an answer. Just a lot of worry. “Let me take you to the hospital. I’ll get Simon to check it out and then get you and this Dr. Oltheten together in a safe—”
“Aren’t you tired of this?” she interrupted. “Don’t you want this to end now? He’s got information, I’m sure of it.” Her voice was tight and anger radiated out in waves from her body. It hadn’t been an hour since they were attacked and here she was pushing for something he knew wasn’t safe.
It didn’t take him long to figure out what was going on. She was feeling trapped and vulnerable, and for a woman like her, science data was the way out. Right now, she would take any risk to get it.
But that didn’t mean it was smart. Or that part of him wasn’t cut deeply by her words.
Because she didn’t just want out of the Detroit Flu problem.
She wanted out of the shifter world entirely.
She hadn’t said it, but he knew that’s what she was feeling.
And if he had any doubts, then the way she curled away from him was answer enough.
She even drew away when he reached out to touch her.
And rather than talk, her nose was buried in her cell phone as she studied whatever data had come in this morning.
“Cecilia, we need to think about this.”
She looked up and shot him a hard glare. “Either take me to this lab or I’ll jump out and call a cab. But either way I’m going.”
He believed her. And yes, he could tie her up in some hotel room to keep her safe, but that was the surest way to end any hope of a relationship between them.
“Okay,” he said softly. “I’ll drive us there, but I’m going to take some precautions, too.”
She shrugged. “Do whatever you need to, but get me there.”
Fair enough. He turned the car toward the freeway and the Griz home base. Sure, he’d take Cecilia to the very suspicious Gunnolf Lab, but he wasn’t doing it alone. And he sure as hell wasn’t going there without backup.
“Hello, Dr. Oltheten? I’m Dr. Cecilia Lu with the CDC.
” Cecilia gripped the edges of her phone and tried not to see the gun that Hank tucked into his jacket.
They were at the Griz home base and everyone was suiting up as if they were going to storm Fort Knox.
And while they’d been doing that, she and Alyssa had found a phone number for the Gunnolf Lab.
It had taken forever, but they’d managed it.
The place had to be doing secret government research.
No one else was that paranoid about keeping off the Internet.
Cecilia had called, talked to a receptionist who connected her with receptionist who then handed her over to a lab assistant, and then finally, hallelujah, they had called over Dr. Oltheten himself. Or so she hoped.
“Yes, hello? This is Dr. Oltheten.”
Cecilia looked straight into Hank’s dark eyes and grinned. She’d finally gotten through! She didn’t waste time and got straight to the point. “I know about shifters. I know you tried to tell the world about it and no one believed you. I believe you, Dr. Oltheten. And I want to talk.”
There was a long silence on the other end, and for a moment she wondered if they’d been cut off.
Then she heard a gasp that might have been a choked off sob.
It was hard to tell. But a moment later, he spoke, his voice quavering with his enthusiasm.
“The CDC, you say? You know about shifters? Werewolves and cats. Bears, too. Do you know about the bears?”
She released a low chuckle. “Yes, I know about bears. I’m working on the Detroit Flu. I think it’s a poison—”
“Yes, yes. In the water.”
He already knew. She was getting more hopeful by the second. “I’m working for the cure. Can you help me?”
“I can! Oh, I have been praying for someone such as you. You must come here. I can show you what I’ve figured out. It’s been hard, you know, after I tried to speak in New York. Everyone has been laughing at me. I have been trying and trying to make them see that shifters are real.”
The pain in his voice was authentic, and she sympathized. To know something so significant and yet be publicly humiliated for it. It was horrible! “I know they’re real, Dr. Oltheten. I’m so sorry that we laughed at you.”
“So you will come here? We will solve this problem together, yes?”
She nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “Can you email me the data—”
“No, no.” The words came out more like a moan. “You don’t understand. After New York, no one would hire me. I had to come here. They were the only ones who offered me a job, and the work requires security. Do you have a security clearance?”
She grimaced. “No, I don’t.”
“Doesn’t matter. They monitor all my email, I wouldn’t be allowed to send it. But you can come here. You’re from the CDC. They know about the crisis. So many people sick with the Flu. That’s why you can come now because so many are home sick. Otherwise, I couldn’t get you inside.”
“Can you just tell me what you’ve found out?”
“I have to show you the samples. You have to see it for yourself.”
At another time, she would have laughed at that suggestion.
Data was data. She would see when the science showed it to her.
But she wouldn’t have believed in shifters if she hadn’t seen Hank turn into a bear with her own eyes.
She absolutely believed there were shifter issues that had to be seen to be understood.
“What are your samples?” she pressed.
“Shifter blood and tissue. Exact slides of how the water affects the neurons. I think I know how to stop it, but I’m not sure. I need someone else to check my work.”
She nodded, her hands actually itching to see what he had. “I need that data, Dr. Oltheten. Can I talk to your boss? What are you researching there?”
“You know I can’t say. And my boss is not here right now.
It’s the only reason I think I can get you inside.
He doesn’t know I do shifter research. I hide it from him.
So long as I do their work, he lets me be.
” Then there was a muffled sound on the other end of the line.
Another person speaking? The noise of a fume hood kicking on?
She could only guess. Then he was back, his words rushed. “Can you come soon? It must be soon.”
“Dr. Oltheten—”
“I’ll tell them at reception. I’ll tell them you’re bringing me data I need. Show them your credentials. They can’t turn away the CDC, right?”
“But Dr. Oltheten—”
“Come soon!” Then he hung up.
She stared at her phone and then looked up at the room at large.
Every eye was on her, but she focused on Hank.
With short, clear sentences, she repeated her entire conversation.
She could see Hank’s mouth tighten with every word, but to his credit he didn’t interrupt.
He waited until she was finished and then shook his head.
“Sounds fishy.”
She shrugged, acknowledging his point without agreeing. “Lots of government labs are like that, and we know he’s been doing shifter research on the side. It’s his passion.” When no one argued that, she pressed her point. “The risk is worth it. I need to see his data, and this is the only way.”
Everyone looked at Simon who didn’t look any happier than Hank did, but in the end he nodded. “We go,” he said. “But we do it smart.”
No argument from her. She didn’t care what precautions they took so long as they left soon. Thankfully, it didn’t take them long. Less than ten minutes before Hank turned to her.
“Ready?”
“You have no idea how much,” she answered.
She looked around him at a circle of normal-looking guys, if “normal” meant ripped abs, loose clothing, and an animal stillness that was almost creepy.
Simon and Alyssa were the leaders. Both looked calm, focused, and in Alyssa’s case, heavily armed.
Then there was Vic, Simon’s beta, and Detective Kennedy.
And damn that guy sure looked exhausted, but he appeared grimly official with his detective’s badge on a chain around his neck.
There were others, too, but they were assigned to stay behind.
It was just the six of them with Cecilia being the only one who refused to acknowledge the danger of the situation.
They were all walking to their cars when Cecilia’s phone dinged.
A quick glance told her it was more information from Dr. Sherilyn, the only shifter scientist on the case.
Unlike Dr. Oltheten, she refused a face-to-face and wouldn’t talk on the phone unless it was an emergency.
It was all emailed info and texts, but this last one was a doozy.
She read it the moment she got into Hank’s car.
There was lots of data, but thankfully Dr. Sherilyn was efficient. She’d put in a summary at the top.
The poison worked to activate latent shifter DNA.
It was water soluble and would never be picked up by any water filtration system.