Page 6 of Avenger of Sins

“Dr. Theodore Foster was the lead chemist. From what I can tell, it was his job to come up with pharmaceuticals that would help control the NHEs and blunt the possession-induced psychosis in us.” John’s voice rasped slightly, and Caleb’s fingers tightened on the wheel until the plastic creaked in protest.

A growl seemed to thrum along his nerves.“What if we allow Ryan to act first, then capture him?”Gray suggested.

I’d love to. But John and Zahira would feel bad about it.And deep down, Caleb didn’t think he could just stand by while Ryan casually murdered this dude, no matter how evil he was.

But at the same time, it was probably a good idea to head off temptation.

John cleared his throat and went on. “Foster was an older man even at the time, and he retired almost immediately after the Center was shut down. His extended family was still in Thomasville, so he moved back here to be closer to them.” He swiped through files on his phone. “Carrie Lydell was the lead exorcist.”

The one in charge of stuffing demons into children, then yanking them back out. Caleb ground his teeth together.

“Her husband is high up the ladder in a Fortune 500 corporation, and a couple of years ago she quit her job at SPECTR to become a lobbyist. So it sounds like she’s doing pretty well for herself.”

“Of course she is.” Caleb hated these assholes more with every passing minute. “What about the last guy—Kaniyar said he works for a private military contractor, right?”

“Reid Harlow.” John swallowed audibly. “He was the man at the top, the one in charge of Operation Mephisto. Going by what isn’t blacked out, it looks like he was fairly hands-off, just gave the orders and left it to his subordinates to carry them out.”

“Typical,” Caleb muttered.

John ignored the remark. “He’s a telekinetic, though not a strong one. Harlow now works for Armaros Corporate Solutions, a private military contractor located in western Virginia. Close enough to Washington to pop in for a quick chat with the top brass, far enough away for plausible deniability.” He let out a sigh and lowered the phone. “And that’s it. Anything else is redacted or withheld.”

“I’m sorry, John,” Zahira said gently. “I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you.”

John managed to give her a small smile, turning halfway toward the back seats. “Thanks, Zahira. It’s…a lot.”

It was, so Caleb kept his next thought to himself. The one about all the others who had been involved, who were still in SPECTR. Kaniyar was protecting them, sending them to safehouses under her orders, where they’d stay in comfort until all this was over.

Then they’d return to their jobs, sit at their desks, go to their homes after work. Live their lives, like nothing had ever happened. As though they hadn’t committed atrocities.

Justice would never find them. Kaniyar hated wasting “assets.” That attitude had worked in their favor, and it felt a little hypocritical to criticize it when it applied to someone else.

“Mortals often hold contradictory beliefs,”Gray informed him.“But I do not like this either. It feels…wrong.”

It sure does.But there was nothing he could do about it, so he focused on the road in front of them and drove into the night.

THREE

John staredout the window as they crossed the city limits into Thomasville. It was a tiny southern town, split down the middle by a four-lane highway. So late at night, there was almost no one else on the road, though Caleb was keeping to the speed limit in case of bored cops. A scattering of strip malls lined either side of the highway, none of them open this late.

Foster lived in a residential neighborhood to the east of the highway. Peachtree Road, one of a thousand streets in the south with that name. Soon, John would be face to face with yet another of the people who’d turned his life into a living hell.

Would he recognize the man? If Foster had been a chemist, he might not have been giving the injections himself. John couldn’t remember him off the top of his head, but what did that matter? His mind was full of holes.

Trepidation formed a cold lump behind his heart. He didn’t want to see Foster, didn’t want to talk to him, didn’t even want to think about him. Certainly he didn’t want to be in the position of saving him.

It wasn’t fair. It shouldn’t be up to him to save someone who’d helped torture him. He shouldn’t have to stop Ryan, someone he loved but who had betrayed him.

He didn’t want any of this. If he could just turn back the clock…

To what? Ignorance?

They turned onto Peachtree, and a few minutes later, Caleb pulled off to the side of the road and put on the four-ways. “According to the GPS, the house is about a mile away,” he said. “Gray, Night, and I will go on foot from here.”

John shook his head. “We should?—”

“Stay as far away from Ryan as possible,” Caleb interrupted. “Assuming he’s here, that is. If he isn’t, we’ll throw Foster over our shoulder and get him away from the house, then meet up with the rest of you.”

“And if he doesn’t want to come?” Zahira asked.

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