Page 48 of He is… Creed: Part Three

Okay, that does sound rather ominous, but I’m a general’s daughter, and I understand the rules of war. A soldier’s job is often an unpleasant one. Creed had to push limits inside Zodius. He had no choice.

“Did he hurt any of you?” I repeat.

Silence and a skittering of eye contact follows, before more confirmation murmurs of “no” follow. “Just the other soldiers,” one of the women says. “And I’m Jessica, Addie.”

“Hi, Jessica,” I say.

“But we were sure he would,” one girl assures me. “He scared the other soldiers, so we knew it would be horrible to anger him.”

“Of course he punished Zodius soldiers. He probably wanted to kill them. Creed is, and always has been, a Renegade. Those soldiers were not only your enemies but also his. Ladies, this is war. If anyone doubts that, think again.” Pride swells. “The information that Creed discovered inside Zodius Nation was invaluable to our efforts to protect humanity.”

Emma delicately clears her throat and sets her napkin on the table. “I was never afraid of Creed.” An awkward discomfort follows. Several women cut their gazes away from Addie, unwilling to say the same.

“Every soldier close to Julian used us like sex slaves,” Emma continues. “We were expected to please them any way they saw fit. Then we had to submit to one medical test after another. Afterwards, we did it again with one soldier after another. Creed came to me. Only to me. How he managed that, I don’t know, but then, as we said, Creed was feared. He did what he wanted, when he wanted to do it.”

Bile gathers in my throat. She was his woman inside Zodius. No wonder Creed was withdrawn before the lunch meeting. No wonder he’d said goodbye outside the restaurant.

Emma covers my hand with her own. “But he never once touched me,” Emma confesses. “He told me to lie and say he did.”

The entire table gasps, and a breath heaves from my lungs, tears gathering in my eyes. “Please say that one more time.”

“He didn’t touch me or anyone else.” Emma scans the table. “Did he ever touch any of you?”

Everyone quickly chimes in with their promises that he had not.

Emma offers me a comforting smile. “He said if I told anyone the truth, it would put all of us in danger. He didn’t want anyone acting suspicious when we plotted an escape. He said everyone had to hate him. Julian expected it.” She glances at her friends. “So, I lied to all of you, and I’m sorry, ladies. I was protecting you.” She shifts her attention back to me. “And that is why I wasn’t afraid of him.”

“Thank you, Emma,” I say, the seeds of a friendship blossoming inside our shared look. Emma has given me a gift. She’s allowed me to see just how true Creed was to me during our time apart. Now it’s time to focus on these women, not me or Creed. “Tell me what it was like. What you went through.”

To my surprise, the stories flow one after another, and I can feel their need to talk and to heal. For two hours, I listen to the horrors these women have endured, starting with how they were lured into capture.

“Where are the other women?” I ask. “Why didn’t they join us?”

“A lot of them are struggling with being forced into hiding,” Brenda informs me. “Many are afraid for their families but torn about bringing them here and forcing them to give up their lives.”

“They need to fight back,” I say. “We all need to fight back.”

“How?” Brenda asks.

“By doing everything in our power to stop the abductions,” I say. “The Renegades are busy trying to shut Julian down completely, but in the meantime, the abductions continue. Why don’t we play a role in stopping them? We all have skills. We can put them to use. I know trends, charts and graphs, and behavioral analysis.”

Several of the others chime in with skills they possess, and I can feel the excitement building. “We’re fifty-plus strong,” I say. “We can make a difference. We’ll track the trend of how and when the abductions are taking place. We’ll talk to Caleb about setting up a team to respond to threats we identify. Find out what ability we have to educate the public and law enforcement without exposing an alien threat and causing more panic. Even if we can’t stop the abductions, we can slow them down.”

Ideas begin to flow around the table. We’re going to fight.

I think we’ve all found our purpose. I, for one, am not only accepting my circumstances here; I’m embracing them. And if Creed can’t, or won’t, do the same, I’ll fight him, too.

Chapter Forty-Three

Creed

I’m sitting in a rectangular-shaped room with Maddox, Jensen, and Caleb. Satellite monitors are on the wall to my left, based on where I sit. Maddox and Jensen are side-by-side, MacBooks open and in use, while they work to breach the Taylor Industries servers.

It’s a steep hill to climb, and they’re determined to make it happen. They’re both skilled enough to test the tightest of security walls. Maddox’s family owns a tech empire, and he grew up writing code, while Jensen’s hacking is legendary. The two are polar opposites—Maddox is Mr. By the Book. Jensen, on the other hand, tried to hack the government and was given the ultimatum of either going to jail or enlisting to hack for the Army.

He enlisted.

At this point, we can see the Green Hornet shipments live on radar, and we wait on Mommy Dearest to move them, which she will. She’s not going to give me the chance to come and get her stock when she’s making bank on them.

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