The Operator
Page 34
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She’d lost Allen, but more than anger gnawed at her. She had wanted what Bill offered, wanted the power that remembering her drafts would give her. She wanted it even as Silas’s warning that it was a poison echoed in her thoughts. But not like this, beholden to whoever held the keys to the lab.
As soon as WEFT knew she was hooked on it, they’d all start making their demands.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
The ceiling of the off-site airport warehouse was lost in shadow, and the air was still and stale as Bill made his way past the organized shipments to the janitor room he had appropriated as a temporary holding cell. Michael was beside him, his steps meeting Bill’s strike for strike despite the hint of a limp from where Peri had stabbed his knee. But Bill felt anything but unity with the tall, swarthy man still in his combat gear, the stink of his excitement at killing an entire team lifting off him like bad cologne. Bill had taken the hour of downtime while everyone had pulled out to shower and change into a suit. That Michael hadn’t—wanting to prolong the memory by continuing to wallow in another man’s blood—seemed to Bill to be the capstone in what made Michael so unsuitable.
“I got what you wanted,” Michael said, breaking the long silence, and Bill glanced sidelong at him as they wove past a cling-wrapped pallet of water purifiers.
“I told you to stay in the room.”
“You said stay until I got the data. I got the data,” Michael insisted, his calm, precise tone grating on Bill.
“And you still managed to make a travesty of it.” Bill gave up trying to keep his polished veneer in place around Michael. “If I can’t fix this, I’m going to have two major corporations thinking I’m playing them off on each other when what I’m trying to do is salvage something from your clusterfuck.”
Michael frowned as they approached the man standing guard at a locked door, running his middle finger under the cut Peri had given him. “They were in my way.”
Bill stopped, not wanting the guard waiting at the door to hear their argument. “I don’t give a fly’s dick about the CIA agents. I said no live ammunition, and you leave holes, casings, and brain tissue in the carpet.”
“As I recall, it was your soldier girl who opened fire in the lunchroom,” Michael said.
Bill leaned in, not liking that Michael was taller than him in his combat boots. “Everblue is going to know someone stole their information. They’d be fools not to go into production immediately. It’s going to hit the market three years ahead of schedule. Their CEO will be Time’s Man of the Year. You pissed my new building and support staff away, Michael, and for what? Tormenting a woman for information she wasn’t going to give? Information we were going to acquire anyway?”
“You wanted to know just as much as I did,” Michael said, picking the blood out from under his nails. “This is not my problem, it’s yours. Reed is still at large.”
“She’ll come in. She’s halfway here already.” There was blood on his ring, and Bill polished it off as he paced forward, eager for the endgame. Meeting the guard’s eyes, he gestured for him to open the door.
Shoulders hunched in anger, Michael followed him into the barren room lit by a bare bulb in a protective cage. The janitorial cart, buckets, mops, and racks of cleaning supplies and poisons had been pushed into the shadows to leave a good-size ten-by-ten space. Bill’s lip curled as he saw Jack hunched over Allen in the middle of it. The beaten and bloodied anchor was restrained in a folding chair, but both men looked as if they’d seen better days. As Michael and Bill stared at him in question, Jack slowly stood upright, his mood unclear.
The door shut behind them with a heavy click. Away from the guard’s eyes, Bill turned, shoving Michael into a rack, pinning the lanky, taller man with his anger.
“I told you to stay in that office because I knew you’d try to kill her,” Bill said, voice low and inches from his face. “Don’t think I don’t know your every thought. Leave her alone. She will slit your throat and walk away before you hit the ground if she decides you’re a danger to those she cares about.” And a little threat to the ego never hurt.
Michael’s clenched fists slowly opened as Bill gave him a disparaging up-and-down look before returning to Allen and Jack. “She’s not going to kill me,” Michael promised in a dangerously soft voice.
Not as long as I can keep you away from her, anyway. “Jack,” Bill said, his voice mockingly light. “How’s our girl?”
A flicker of fear crossed Jack’s face. “He said the dart was true. She’s on the Evocane.”
The rush of satisfaction was like white light through Bill. “Are you sure?” he said, unable to read the truth of it in Allen’s hanging head.
Jack nodded, and Bill clapped Jack companionably across the shoulder and drew him from Allen. “Then we did well,” he said. “Soon as she runs out, she’ll come back.” He looked at Michael. “And we have our final test subject,” he added, knowing the man didn’t believe it.
“She won’t,” Allen croaked, peering at them through a swollen, misshapen eye. “She won’t.” He almost breathed the words. “Denier will reverse-engineer it. She’ll be gone in less than a week, and neither of you bloodsuckers will be using her again.”
Expression ugly, Michael stepped forward, his arm raised to smack him. Tired of his ham-handed methods, Bill jerked him to an unexpected halt. Michael needed to feel in control, but with too much freedom, he’d remember he could kill Bill, too. It was a balancing act, but Bill had a net and Michael didn’t.
For a long moment they stared at each other, Michael off balance and unable to pull away until Bill shoved him stumbling back. Across the room, Jack waited, poised for anything. “Enough,” Bill said. “You are not getting accelerated until I know it works. So you’d better hope we find her.”
Anger made the scratch under Michael’s eye stand out. “You have no intention of accelerating me. Admit it.”
“I own you,” Bill said, feeling his face warm. “I found you in that putrid, stinking mental hospital. I stopped the electroshock treatments. I dried you out from the drugs. I made your priors go away. I gave you everything you wanted.”
As soon as WEFT knew she was hooked on it, they’d all start making their demands.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
The ceiling of the off-site airport warehouse was lost in shadow, and the air was still and stale as Bill made his way past the organized shipments to the janitor room he had appropriated as a temporary holding cell. Michael was beside him, his steps meeting Bill’s strike for strike despite the hint of a limp from where Peri had stabbed his knee. But Bill felt anything but unity with the tall, swarthy man still in his combat gear, the stink of his excitement at killing an entire team lifting off him like bad cologne. Bill had taken the hour of downtime while everyone had pulled out to shower and change into a suit. That Michael hadn’t—wanting to prolong the memory by continuing to wallow in another man’s blood—seemed to Bill to be the capstone in what made Michael so unsuitable.
“I got what you wanted,” Michael said, breaking the long silence, and Bill glanced sidelong at him as they wove past a cling-wrapped pallet of water purifiers.
“I told you to stay in the room.”
“You said stay until I got the data. I got the data,” Michael insisted, his calm, precise tone grating on Bill.
“And you still managed to make a travesty of it.” Bill gave up trying to keep his polished veneer in place around Michael. “If I can’t fix this, I’m going to have two major corporations thinking I’m playing them off on each other when what I’m trying to do is salvage something from your clusterfuck.”
Michael frowned as they approached the man standing guard at a locked door, running his middle finger under the cut Peri had given him. “They were in my way.”
Bill stopped, not wanting the guard waiting at the door to hear their argument. “I don’t give a fly’s dick about the CIA agents. I said no live ammunition, and you leave holes, casings, and brain tissue in the carpet.”
“As I recall, it was your soldier girl who opened fire in the lunchroom,” Michael said.
Bill leaned in, not liking that Michael was taller than him in his combat boots. “Everblue is going to know someone stole their information. They’d be fools not to go into production immediately. It’s going to hit the market three years ahead of schedule. Their CEO will be Time’s Man of the Year. You pissed my new building and support staff away, Michael, and for what? Tormenting a woman for information she wasn’t going to give? Information we were going to acquire anyway?”
“You wanted to know just as much as I did,” Michael said, picking the blood out from under his nails. “This is not my problem, it’s yours. Reed is still at large.”
“She’ll come in. She’s halfway here already.” There was blood on his ring, and Bill polished it off as he paced forward, eager for the endgame. Meeting the guard’s eyes, he gestured for him to open the door.
Shoulders hunched in anger, Michael followed him into the barren room lit by a bare bulb in a protective cage. The janitorial cart, buckets, mops, and racks of cleaning supplies and poisons had been pushed into the shadows to leave a good-size ten-by-ten space. Bill’s lip curled as he saw Jack hunched over Allen in the middle of it. The beaten and bloodied anchor was restrained in a folding chair, but both men looked as if they’d seen better days. As Michael and Bill stared at him in question, Jack slowly stood upright, his mood unclear.
The door shut behind them with a heavy click. Away from the guard’s eyes, Bill turned, shoving Michael into a rack, pinning the lanky, taller man with his anger.
“I told you to stay in that office because I knew you’d try to kill her,” Bill said, voice low and inches from his face. “Don’t think I don’t know your every thought. Leave her alone. She will slit your throat and walk away before you hit the ground if she decides you’re a danger to those she cares about.” And a little threat to the ego never hurt.
Michael’s clenched fists slowly opened as Bill gave him a disparaging up-and-down look before returning to Allen and Jack. “She’s not going to kill me,” Michael promised in a dangerously soft voice.
Not as long as I can keep you away from her, anyway. “Jack,” Bill said, his voice mockingly light. “How’s our girl?”
A flicker of fear crossed Jack’s face. “He said the dart was true. She’s on the Evocane.”
The rush of satisfaction was like white light through Bill. “Are you sure?” he said, unable to read the truth of it in Allen’s hanging head.
Jack nodded, and Bill clapped Jack companionably across the shoulder and drew him from Allen. “Then we did well,” he said. “Soon as she runs out, she’ll come back.” He looked at Michael. “And we have our final test subject,” he added, knowing the man didn’t believe it.
“She won’t,” Allen croaked, peering at them through a swollen, misshapen eye. “She won’t.” He almost breathed the words. “Denier will reverse-engineer it. She’ll be gone in less than a week, and neither of you bloodsuckers will be using her again.”
Expression ugly, Michael stepped forward, his arm raised to smack him. Tired of his ham-handed methods, Bill jerked him to an unexpected halt. Michael needed to feel in control, but with too much freedom, he’d remember he could kill Bill, too. It was a balancing act, but Bill had a net and Michael didn’t.
For a long moment they stared at each other, Michael off balance and unable to pull away until Bill shoved him stumbling back. Across the room, Jack waited, poised for anything. “Enough,” Bill said. “You are not getting accelerated until I know it works. So you’d better hope we find her.”
Anger made the scratch under Michael’s eye stand out. “You have no intention of accelerating me. Admit it.”
“I own you,” Bill said, feeling his face warm. “I found you in that putrid, stinking mental hospital. I stopped the electroshock treatments. I dried you out from the drugs. I made your priors go away. I gave you everything you wanted.”
