Page 64 of Final Exit

Austin punched up another video, then another, and another—fake Abby again, saying wedding vows in front of a judge, walking into a movie theater, sitting in a restaurant eating spaghetti, laughing when she spilled it onto her dress. There were even videos of insurance forms, 401K forms, and others, showing a single name on the beneficiary line—Abby Quinn.

And then Austin punched the last video up on the screen. This one was an interview with a psychologist, explaining his techniques and how a combination of drugs—including Vicodin—could induce a fugue state. Showing the semiconscious patient a specific type of video over and over again, if done correctly, could trick the brain into thinking the videos were actual memories. It was the latest advance in the area of mind-control, more commonly known as brainwashing.

The screen went blank. The room went deathly silent. As one, everyone turned to look at Kade.

He was still staring at the blank screen, his posture rigid, and somewhere along the way he’d let go of Bailey’s hand.

“Fake,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Everything I thought was real is fake. She doesn’t exist. She never did.”

“Well,” Austin said. “Technically the woman in those videos does exist. I imagine she’s an actress that was hired to—ouch.” He rubbed the top of his head and glared at Jace who’d just smacked him.

“Shut up, Austin,” Jace said. “For once. Just shut up.”

Austin’s face reddened but he didn’t say anything else.

Kade’s face, which had been so pale before, was now a mottled purple. His blue eyes had turned nearly black and his entire body seemed to shake with rage. He suddenly turned around, grabbed the nearest chair, and slammed it against the wall.

Bailey jumped and pressed her hand against her throat, not sure what to do.

“Give him space,” Mason said beside her, his voice low. “Let him work through it.”

Kade ignored all of them, cursing beneath his breath as he stalked across the room, pacing like a caged tiger. His limp was less pronounced than usual, as if the adrenaline pumping through his system dulled the pain. He looked every bit the dangerous predator Bailey had thought him to be the night they’d first met. The softer side, the quiet side, the polite side he’d shown her since then had disappeared. In its place was a man on the edge, brimming with fury, his fists curled at his sides.

He finally stopped pacing in front of Jace, who stood beside his chair, watching Kade with a wary stillness.

“All right, Atwell,” Kade said. “You win. You were right. Everything I believed in was a lie. Which means I’m probably wrong about the Enforcers and have been a tool in their deaths without even knowing it. I’m in this with you and your team now, all the way whether you want my help or not. You really want to look through the computer banks? You think your little computer geek found everything?” He laughed without humor. “Not even close.”

He waved his hand toward the rows of computer monitors. “Consider yourself in. I’ll show you everything I’ve got. And I’ll give you names—the names of everyone I’ve ever met or even read on a report since this whole thing started. Alan Faegan is my boss’s full name. His boss is John Majors. I can give you an org chart all the way to the freaking President of the United States. We’re going to stop this so-called mission right now, right here.”

Jace stepped forward, standing toe-to-toe with Kade. Bailey reached for her gun, not about to idly stand by while Jace acted like a jerk to him yet again, especially after these earth-shattering blows that probably still had Kade’s mind reeling.

“Don’t.” A hand clamped around her wrist.

She looked up to see Mason staring down at her. For the first time since meeting him, she actually saw him smile.

“Give him a minute,” Mason said, keeping his voice low. “This is Jace’s first turn as sole leader on one of our missions and he’s been a bit over the top with it. He just needs to settle into the role.”

“I’m not standing by again while he treats Kade like crap.”

“Just wait. Give Jace a chance to do the right thing here.”

She tugged her hand and he let her go. But he remained by her side, watching her.

She turned back to Jace and Kade, and raised her brows in surprise. Jace had his hand on Kade’s shoulder and was shaking his other hand. It looked like he might actually be... apologizing.

Cursing sounded from the door. Bailey realized she’d completely forgotten about Terrance. He’d been posted as lookout, watching through the glass.

“We’ve got company,” he said. “There’s a whole team of men in FBI flak jackets marching down the hall.” He peeked out the corner of the window, then flattened himself against the wall. “Damn it. I count at least twenty, heavily armed.”

“How did they know we were here?” Jace demanded.

Kade shook his head. “Since my boss has been playing me all along, I’m guessing he has more eyes on this place than I knew about. I reviewed the security for this facility and even beefed it up when I started my mission. Obviously that was all fake. He’s probably been monitoring every move I make. As soon as I swiped a badge or logged into a computer, he knew about it.”

“Fifteen feet away,” Terrance announced. He yanked his gun out and backed up, aiming at the door.

Kade ran to where Austin was perched in front of the computer and grabbed the keyboard.

“Hey,” Austin complained.

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