Page 19 of Maverick

“Now, Luke, don’t look at me like that. You look like your daddy.” He grinned, raising his brow at his grandmother. “Semu.”

“Oh, shit. But she’s a gorilla,” said Eric. “Are you telling me she came from this experiment?”

“Y’all gotta start payin’ attention,” said Irene, shaking her head. “Semu and the chimps we have all came from the same place. If you’d been payin’ attention, you’d notice how dang smart they are. They all know sign language. They can decipher problems. They place their food on plates. Heck, they even helped to make their habitats better, helping Grant and the team.”

“Grandma, why wouldn’t you tell us this?” asked Luke.

“It wasn’t time, child.” Semu came into the cafeteria, looking around. She knew that she wasn’t normally allowed inside the human food place, but Irene had told her to come when she could make her way across the bayou.

“Did that gorilla swim here?” asked Eric.

“She knows how to do all sorts of things. Y’all just never learn,” she said, shaking her head. “Semu, baby, tell them about the place.”

Semu began to sign to the group, and with each word, they would gasp at the things the poor old thing had to tolerate in her life. She spoke of the chimps that had been killed, intentionally put to death for not meeting experiment guidelines, and others as well. Dogs. Bonobos. Even an alligator was involved in the experiments.

“Was it Alvin?” asked Luke.

“It wasn’t Alvin,” said Irene, shaking her head. “He’s from right here in our backyard. That poor creature she’s talking about died. Semu and the chimps were sent to zoos and safari parks. That’s where I found them, but they told me how they didn’t trust humans. It’s why I was able to keep Semu a secret for so long.”

“Grandma, that was a terrible risk. She could have been angry with humans and harmed someone,” said Luke.

“I would have never placed any of you in harm’s way. How dare you think so! I know what I’m doin’, Luke Robicheaux, and don’t you forget it. That sweet angel has added to our family. She helps with the new animals and is smarter than some of you were as young men and women.”

Katelyn giggled, shaking her head.

“Don’t laugh. She might be right,” said Mav.

“Oh, I have no doubt she’s right. I’m laughing because Semu just signed that she likes when the white-haired lady gets angry. She smells good.” They all looked at Semu, who shyly looked down at her hands. Eric reached for her hand, and like his mother would do, she laced her fingers with his.

“We’re not angry with you, Semu,” he signed. “You are family, and we love having you here.”

“Semu, do you know where you were held? What city or state?” asked Luke. The gorilla began to sign, saying there were lots of trees, and it was very cold in the winter and warm in the summer.

“Sounds like Maine,” said Katelyn. “If they injected the animals with something, if they put something in their brains, what if they did something to ours?”

“I’m going to do some scans on you, Victoria, Thomas, and the others who came with Victoria. We’re going to see if anything was implanted or if brain activity is heightened in a particular area.”

“I’m more than willing to find out what all the fuss is about,” said Katelyn. “As I said, I don’t remember my parents at all. I was told I was left there. That’s it.”

“Maybe that’s not it,” said Victoria. “Maybe, for me anyway, what I’m thinking of as a memory of my parents isn’t my parents at all.” Mav stared at the young girl and shook his head.

“Well, this isn’t terrifying at all.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

“Hey, babe, come to bed,” said JT, hugging Kennedy from behind.

“In a minute,” she said. “I just want to finish reading this last thing.” She was staring at the computer screen just like she’d been for the last seven hours.

“Honey, it will be there tomorrow. You’ll figure this out. We all will.”

“She’s important to him, JT. He loves her, and I want to help her. This whole thing gives me a sick feeling. I don’t want her to have to live in hiding for the rest of her life. And what about Hayes? He’s out there serving with Special Forces.”

“Babe, I know. Come to bed. We’ll find Hayes and give him a warning, and we’ll help Katelyn and Victoria, and all the others. We’ll figure this out.” She turned in his arms, her big eyes filled with tears. “Hey, what’s with the waterworks?”

“It’s like with me, JT. When that doctor was doing all her crazy shit with me. Why do people think they’re God? Why do they think they can screw with people’s lives? I’m amazed every day of the number of people we encounter with a God complex.”

“I’d say that’s why we’re in business,” frowned JT. He lifted his wife from the chair and carried her to the kitchen island, setting her on the cold marble so they could be eye to eye. “Listen to me, we will figure this out, and Mav and Katelyn will live a full, happy life. Then, one day, you and I will be spoiling the shit out of our grandchildren.”

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