Prologue #2
“You’ll be referred to X59 as this is the fifty-ninth suit we’ve produced,” Victor continued.
“Holy shit,” Nate said. “You have that many of these?”
Victor grimaced.
“Unfortunately, no,” he told Nate. “Many of the first models were complete failures and led to many…accidents. The suit you’ll be wearing is completely fine.”
“That sounds comforting,” Nate said wryly.
“You can’t have rewards without some risk.”
“True.”
“The reward will be great, Nathan,” Victor said solemnly.
It was the first time Victor had used Nate’s first name, and it gave him pause.
He knew this suit was a big deal. This was a huge promotion, but if he did this, it would be the final death knell for any return to civilian life.
It wasn’t like he wanted to return. He didn’t have anything to go back to, but he had kept an eye on his brother throughout the years.
Victor had allowed him to keep tabs on Logan.
Nate wasn’t sure if this Commander guy would be as flexible.
Oh, fucking well.
It was time to move on.
? ? ?
2 Months Ago
Nate wondered how much longer he could evade the Conglomerate forces.
Well, he should be more specific: it was Victor who was hunting him.
Nate had abandoned his post and stolen an X-suit.
The Conglomerate wanted it back, and they wanted to punish Nate.
Because Nate was Victor’s responsibility, Nate now had to deal with one of the most vindictive bastards he had ever met hunting him down.
Nate wished he had known how bad the Conglomerate was. It had taken a run-in with his brother to realize how bad Nate’s organization really was.
It had started when Nate’s unit had taken a mission to a small, private island in the Bahamas called Faraway Cay.
It was owned by a man named Orson Carr. The guy was a spoiled tech mogul, who The Commander claimed had been selling products to terrorist organizations.
The Commander also claimed that only Carr and his staff were on the island at the time that Nate’s team had arrived.
That was a lie.
There had been civilians on the island, plus an agent from the mercenary group Gray Tower.
None of them had done anything to warrant execution, but that was the Conglomerate’s true mission.
If Nate hadn’t been cautious, he would have ended up killing innocent people.
Instead, he had talked to the Gray Tower agent, Jack Hunter, and his girlfriend, Kat.
Nate had learned the truth. Sadly, he trusted Hunter more than his team since his brother was also a Gray Tower agent.
Nate knew Logan would never work for a shady organization.
Of course, Nate had a habit of being a fuck up. And apparently, working for the Conglomerate was the biggest fuck up ever.
That wasn’t going to happen any longer. He would right his wrongs, even if it cost him everything.
His brother had offered him a chance to go back with Gray Tower.
That would have been a mistake. Logan didn’t understand that, and Nate knew his brother was pissed at him.
They had reunited on that island after over a decade apart.
It was amazing to see him again, but he couldn’t stay.
If Nate left with Gray Tower, the Conglomerate would have figured out who killed the soldiers and destroyed the suits.
But if Nate left on his own, the Conglomerate would focus on him, thinking Nate had gone rogue and had sabotaged the mission. Everyone at Gray Tower would be safe.
Then there was the suit. If Gray Tower had that suit, everyone involved would be a target. Nate couldn’t allow that. It would fall back on Logan and his beautiful wife, and Nate would not put his family in danger for his mistakes.
So, he left the island with a multimillion-dollar suit that was tough to manufacture.
It would be easier to go on a witch hunt for Nate’s suit rather than try to create a replacement.
Nate was just lucky that Jack’s woman, Kat, was an IT guru and had, by some miracle, been familiar with the code to the suit’s software.
She had disabled the tracker on Nate’s suit, so he was free and clear.
He could go anywhere without worrying about the suit leading the Conglomerate to him.
That didn’t mean that he was safe.
They would keep hunting him until they found the suit.
Then, they would make him pay for leaving their organization.
Nate knew it wouldn’t be a swift death either.
They would torture him. He didn’t know for how long, but it would be bad.
Sometimes he wondered if going to Gray Tower would have been a better option, but putting Logan and his woman in Victor’s sights would be worse.
Plus, there were others at Gray Tower to consider.
Kat and Jack were one example, but Nate knew there were many other innocent employees there just doing their jobs.
Victor was vindictive. He would burn the place to the ground to get to the guy who had betrayed him.