Page 114 of Sweet Little Spies

“Yes. It’s precisely why I sent my men in when I did. I’llbe honest, I didn’t know if it would work. I thought I could get the whole teamhere, but I wasn’t sure who they would send in with the idiot residents,”Huisman admitted. “Though you should know some of Dr. O’Donnell’s ideas areinteresting. I’ll probably steal them and pass them off as my own.”

“I don’t understand why you want Tasha.” Carys was confused.

“I don’t understand how he knows,” Kala added quietly. “Idon’t exist. There’s nothing to tie me to Tasha.”

“Nothing if one only started looking a few years ago,”Huisman conceded. “I will admit the CIA does an excellent job. They scrubbedyour existence clean. No social media. No government records. No birthcertificate tying you to Ian Taggart. I often wonder how much it hurt yourparents. Did they feel the ache when they realized playing spy was moreimportant to you and your twin than being their child?”

“You should ask them,” Kala replied. “Bring them in. Seewhat they say.”

“I think I’ll avoid being in the same room with yourparents, though it will be interesting to see what they do.” Huisman soundedamused at the idea. “To answer your question about how I knew when allprecautions were taken, well, it’s because my grandfather kept careful records.After Mr. Taggart set in motion the events that would lead to my father’sdeath, my grandfather made a careful study of everyone involved. I have all thereal records, including what I feel is a well done but faked birth certificatefor one Natasha Federova. I suppose they did that because if her Russian birthwas known, the adoption wouldn’t have gone through. And Kenzie and KalaTaggart. You might no longer exist in the official records, but you are in mybooks.”

“You know my father wasn’t even there, asshole,” Kalamanaged.

“No, but he’s the reason everything happened. He gave thosecriminals the resources they needed to escape Interpol,” he explained, his tonegoing dark and stubborn. “If your father hadn’t helped those men he called TheLost Boys, they would have been in jail or dead, and then the man who shot myfather wouldn’t have been in Canada. My father would be here today. I wouldn’thave been left with…” He seemed to shake something off. “The point is, yourfather interfered with the natural order of things, and now you will pay theprice. The sins of your father will be visited upon you, the daughter he can’tclaim on paper.”

“I assure you a piece of paper won’t mean anything to myuncle,” Carys promised. “And it won’t merely be him after you. My whole familywill go to war for this. You have no idea what my father and uncles will do toyou.”

“Don’t be a misogynist,” Kala quipped. “You know it’ll be mymom and Aunt Erin who take this dude’s balls.”

Huisman ignored them. “I wonder what your sister will doafter you cease to be. Will she take over the role and Ms. Magenta will go on?A sad existence when you think about it. They won’t be able to bring you back.You consigned all those years to the void, and for what? So you could try toprop up a dying society.”

“Why would you trick us into coming here?” Carys asked. Thelast thing she wanted to do was lie here and listen to the rantings of a madman. “I don’t understand why you would come after me and Aidan.”

She needed to figure out what the man knew, though it seemedlike he knew everything.

“Because it’s time.” Huisman sat down on the tall, wheeledstool in between the exam beds. “Because Benjamin is closing in on me. He’llhave what he needs soon enough, so it’s time to play offense. I’m not about toallow him to smear my good name. I’d rather do it myself.”

“Why Tasha?” Kala said, the words sounding croaky.

“Oh, I like to keep a few things to myself. I wondered ifyou knew, but it seems there are secrets even in the team. But I can tell youshe serves a different purpose than you will,” Huisman replied.

Kala still didn’t move. Carys’s brain was starting to workagain. It wasn’t natural how still her cousin was. “What did you give her?”

“It’s an experimental paralytic. She’s got an IV, so don’tthink it will wear off. I’m not foolish. I know my enemies well, and she wouldkill me in a heartbeat. It probably won’t stop her lungs from functioning. Mostof the rats I’ve tried it on survived,” he said as though they were talkingabout the weather and not her cousin being experimented on. “She came out ofthe sedative very quickly. Likely she’s built up a resistance to all kinds ofthings. Interesting girl. I can see why she’s attractive to Benjamin. I wonderif he knows there are two of her? I think not. Don’t worry. I won’t tell him.Although after I’m done, there will be only one of you, so I’m saving you adifficult conversation.”

Carys felt her stomach turn. How were they here? She’d beenhappy and safe with her men and she’d left because she hadn’t been willing totell them she was still worried. She hadn’t wanted to fight. “You can’t killher.”

She hadn’t fought at all. She’d gotten her feelings hurt andlocked herself in a corner rather than doing what she should have done andgoing after her man. Tris had been worried she would put herself in danger totry to “save” him. How had he felt when she’d stopped talking to him?

Huisman’s face was back to looming over Carys’s. “I assureyou I can. It’s easy. Do you see this room? It’s my old room. This is the houseI grew up in.”

“We’re in Toronto?” Kala asked, avoiding the wholeI’m-going-to-kill-you portion of Huisman’s villain act.

“Yes, this is where it all began, so I think it’s a goodplace to start the next portion of my life. After today I’ll have what I needto make my statement.” Huisman crossed one leg over the other, looking casual.“I knew this time was coming when I realized who knows where the bombmaker is.Or at least how to find the bombmaker. I need that brilliance if I’m going tostart to set the world right.”

“Right?” Kala asked, sounding a bit stronger. “Come on, man.If you’re going to murder me, you have to monologue better. It’s easy to seeyou’re going to have some great ‘burn the world down for the sake of humanity’kind of bullshit to share.”

A look of disdain crossed Huisman’s face. “I don’t careabout humanity. The world would be better without so much so-called humanity.”

“Oooo, cool. We’re going the Thanos route.” Even without useof her limbs, Kala’s whole being managed to convey sarcasm. “You going to snapthose fingers and get rid of a percentage of the population?”

“Nothing so simple. I don’t merely want people to die. Iwant them to suffer. I want them to learn. When I’ve caused a sufficient amountof chaos to force society to fail, I’ll come in and offer a different way. Myway.” Huisman stood. “Society is a bloated whale. You know what happens when awhale dies? They rot and explode and ruin everything around it. However, theyalso feed the smaller creatures. I’m going to make sure the whale explodes, andI’ll be the one to control what happens after. Starting with your family andBenjamin Parker. I’ve watched him. He’s obsessed with the woman he knows as Ms.Magenta. I’ve only seen him this way about one woman before. I killed her,too.”

Carys was starting to get the feeling back in her limbs justin time for a chill to cross her skin. “Won’t it be better to keep her alive?To torture her? It would kill her father knowing she’s alive and he can’t getto her.”

“Thanks, cousin,” Kala said. “It won’t work.”

“It won’t, because I have so many choices.” Huisman clappedhis hands with apparent glee. “He has so many children. I’ll have fun goingthrough them one by one. And a grandchild already. I’ll finish with his wife,and then I’ll leave him alive with only hate in his heart. As I’ve lived foryears.”

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