Page 28 of Final Sins

“Gabe? What happened?” Alex’s voice was tight with concern.

“I was attacked,” Gabe said, his words slightly slurred. “But I’m okay.”

No. He wasn’t. Jason bit back his natural response. No need to argue about what was a minor detail at this point.

“Attacked?” Alex’s pitch rose. “Where?”

“At the alternate lab site. I was working late and?—”

“An all-nighter? Again? Gabe, we’ve talked about this ...” Alex’s exasperated tone barely masked her fear.

“I know, I know,” Gabe sighed. “But I’m so close to a breakthrough with the NeuroVerse?—”

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose, a gesture Jason was becoming all too familiar with. “And you took off without Mac or Liv. How did they get to you?”

“Well, I got hungry and ordered some food online ...”

She bit her lip. Hard. “Gabe, for a genius, that was spectacularly stupid.”

Jason could practically feel the tension radiating off Alex. Her knuckles were white where she gripped the phone, and he found himself wishing he could ease some of that stress from her shoulders.

“I know, I know,” Gabe’s voice crackled through the speaker. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Surveillance tapes,” Alex said, her voice taking on a sharp, professional edge. “Have you checked them?”

“Mac and Liv are handling that,” Gabe replied. His face wobbled in and out of the frame as he tried to shift position in the bed, clearly with great effort. And pain.

Jason leaned in closer as Mac and Liv appeared on the screen, flanking Alex’s cousin. The tension in the room ratcheted up another notch, making the air feel thick and heavy.

“Nothing obvious on the surveillance tapes,” Mac reported, his face grim. “Just two guys in black ball caps, faces carefully hidden from the cameras.”

“So pros,” Jason cut in, his military instincts kicking into high gear.

Liv nodded. “That’s my guess.”

As Mac detailed the intruders’ movements, Jason watched Alex. She vibrated with fury and nervous energy, her fingers drumming an incessant rhythm on her knee.

“And?” Alex blurted out, her voice strained.

“And nothing,” Liv responded. “They didn’t take anything, didn’t disable the interior cameras. Just looked around and left.”

“Because Gravy and I weren’t there,” Jason guessed, a cold feeling settling in his gut.

“Looks like,” Mac agreed.

The debate that followed was heated but hushed on Jason and Alex’s side, as they were both all too aware of Gravy’s presence in the next room. The fact that they had the tech to intercept Gabe’s late night food order, and they took nothing from the high-tech lab made the implications clear. The attackers knew where to find Gabe’s alternate lab. And they had the resources to pull together a quick attack. Resources few organizations outside of his teams, or Seven-Five’s, would have.

The coincidence was too great to ignore.

The sudden silence as the shower shut off cut through their side of the discussion like a knife. Jason tensed, acutely aware of their dwindling privacy.

“We should wrap this up,” he murmured to Alex. “Gravy will only stress out. Besides, the fewer people who know what’s going on, the better.”

Alex nodded reluctantly, ending the call just as Gravy emerged from the bathroom, hair still dripping.

“What’s up?” Gravy asked, his eyes darting between them. “You guys look stressed.”

Jason forced a neutral expression. “Nothing major. Alex, can I talk to you outside for a sec?”

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