Page 5 of Avenger of Sins

“An old man who shot us up with chemicals with his own hands,” John cut in sharply. “One who had no remorse for what he’d done.”

Her nostrils flared. “You sound sympathetic, Starkweather.”

“Don’t,” Caleb said, and Gray’s rumble underlay the word. “SPECTR created this mess, not John. Your lapdog is in danger, and so are other people, so why don’t you tell us whatyou’regoing to do about it?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn’t push back. That alone told John how worried she was.

“Agent Pittman was privy to some of the information I uncovered about Operation Mephisto in the last few days,” she said instead. “Some of the names associated with it are still employed by the agency. All of them are currently en route to various safehouses across the country, their assigned locations randomized to make them harder to find.”

So some of the people who’d been okay with illegally and unethically experimenting on children were still within SPECTR. Were technically his co-workers.

But why shouldn’t they be? There had been no repercussions. A few had probably been disciplined or passed over for promotion when the project failed, but on the whole they’d performed the duties they’d been assigned.

Goddess.

“And the others?” he asked.

“There are three names Agent Pittman knows, who might be vulnerable targets: Carrie Lydell, Reid Harlow, and Dr. Ted Foster. Lydell lives in Atlanta now; I’m heading there next. Harlow works for a private military contractor and says he can handle his own security. Foster retired to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Alabama, Thomasville. That’s where you’re going.”

“Why us?” Caleb asked.

Kaniyar folded her arms over her chest. “Foster is the closest, reachable by a relatively short drive. It seems logical that Ryan would go there first. And you, Mr. Gris, have the best chance of ending this without further loss of life. The telepath passed up the chance to control you and Night, which hopefully means that he can’t do so, for whatever reason.”

“He still altered our perceptions. I didn’t see John gunning for you until Ryan got distracted and his concentration slipped.” Caleb paused for a moment, no doubt in conversation with Gray. “But you’re right—we’re probably the best shot at stopping him. Unless he traps us somehow and opens up a vein or two.” He paused again. “But as Gray points out, we weren’t expecting that.”

“Then I hope you’ll be on your guards this time, because as of right now, you and Night are the only offensive players we have on the field.” Kaniyar paced a few feet, then back to where she began. “The rest of us just have to try and guard the targets as best we can.”

No doubt that didn’t sit well with her—Kaniyar was a woman of action. Caleb shot John a questioning look, and he nodded slightly.

“All right,” John said aloud. “We’ll need a car and some new phones. And I need information.” He met Kaniyar’s gaze. “These people we’re trying to save—I want to know what they did to us. To me.”

She wavered for an instant, then shrugged. “I’ll send you the files. You can read them on the way to Alabama. Now, if that’s all, I have a plane to catch.”

The sunset turned the winter sky bloody as Caleb drove them out of town. He sat at the wheel of a black SUV, breathing in its new car smell. His motorcycle rode on a trailer towed behind them; that had been the one demand he’d put on Kaniyar. John rode in the passenger seat, and Zahira and Night in the back. Night looked like a typical agent now, with a white blouse and black pantsuit. The exception was the sunglasses she wore despite the growing dark; no need to terrify some poor truck driver glancing inside the car.

The drive would only take a little over four hours, in a car that he knew for damn sure was being tracked by SPECTR. With brand new phones that looked straight out of the box, but without question already had spyware loaded and ready to go. No doubt his motorcycle had a brand new tracker as well, better hidden than the last one.

Fuck SPECTR, and fuck Kaniyar, and double-fuck this Foster asshole they were supposed to keep alive. His blood boiled at the thought; how dare Kaniyar send John to save the life of one of the people who’d tortured him?

“Because she wishes us to capture Ryan,”Gray rumbled within the shared space of their brain. “And we could not leave John alone with her.”

Caleb shook his head, but not in disagreement.You’re right.

The movement must have caught John’s attention, because he asked, “Caleb?”

“Nothing, sorry. Just that drakul aren’t exactly the world’s greatest thinkers, but sometimes Gray surprises me.”

“Humans overcomplicate things with their nonsense. We simply prefer to get to the point.”

Unable to argue with that, Caleb asked John, “Found anything yet?”

“Some.” Christ, John sounded tired; Caleb wished he’d just put his seat back and nap until they reached their destination.“Everything is redacted to hell and back, and none of the files are full reports, just selected pages.”

“Oh, of course they are,” Caleb muttered. “You have the right to know who these assholes are. No redactions, no holding back.”

“This is still classified information,” Zahira said from the back seat. Night, as usual, had no opinion. Caleb almost envied her.

Caleb bit back what he really wanted to say, which was that John had the right to know every last detail about what had been done to him and the other kids. None of this was Zahira’s fault, after all. “Yeah, I get it. Anything on this Foster guy, sweetheart?”

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