Page 33 of Black Bay Protector
Jacekeptawatchfuleye on the guard tower to make sure no one disturbed Paige as she worked through all the shit she’d recently been hit with. Was she okay? Christ, he wished she’d let him help her…
Give her time, he reminded himself. She’d told him exactly what she needed. He needed to push down his urge to go to her and heed her wishes.
When the message came through on his phone that the General had called an all-hands-on-deck meeting, he hesitated. He didn’t want to leave her, but he also knew that if this meeting was about freeing her brother, she wouldn’t want him to miss it.
With a last, longing look upward at the tower, he took off at a jog. Entering the building, he spotted Lark. “How’d the interrogation go? Did you get what we needed?”
Lark grimaced but nodded.
Her face was strained, Jace noticed, her eyes haunted and he understood. Doctor Dietrich had been a nightmare for all of them. It took a great deal of control to be in the same room with her and not kill her for the torture she’d inflicted.
Laying a hand on Lark’s shoulder, he gave her a supportive squeeze. “Where is she?”
“Still in interrogation. She’ll be moved to the brig after the meeting.”
Jace’s eyes swung toward the hallway that would lead him to the interrogation rooms and a moment later, his body turned, his feet moving of their own accord.
Lark grabbed his arm. “We still need her.”
He gritted his teeth together but nodded. “I just want to see her.”
“It’s not easy,” Lark warned. “Seeing her.”
Another nod and he was moving. He’d keep his cool. If the information in Doctor Dietrich’s head helped them free Paige’s brother, he’d be a goddamn ice cube.
Stepping into the observation room, he looked at the woman sitting on the other side of the two-way glass, cuffed to the metal table. Her hair was no longer as dark as it had once been, steel gray now threaded through the black in abundance, and the usual tidy bun she preferred was looking a bit frizzy and worse for wear. Her clothes were also uncharacteristically rumpled, but other than that, she looked fine. She hadn’t been beaten for information or tortured. It didn’t look like they’d laid a finger on her. Not surprising considering Lark’s ability to mesmerize her prey.
Looking closer, Jace realized the Doc looked… old, and tired. Her face was lined – frown lines, not laugh lines – and there was a distinct droop to her shoulders. He knew from the file they’d built on her over the preceding years that she’d never married, never had any friends as far as they’d been able to find, and had kept any work relationships strictly business. She’d purposely isolated herself. No one would come looking for her because no one cared about her. This was a woman who had been so obsessed with what she saw as her life’s work, that she shut down any and all relationships.
For so long, he’d wanted to kill her. It had been his single-minded focus. He’d been obsessed too, just like her, and the thought of having anything in common with that woman disgusted him. She’d been the villain that haunted his dreams. Now, he just found her sad, pathetic and he suddenly realized with crystal clarity that this obsession wasn’t worth his time. Doctor Dietrich would die here, alone, unloved, forgotten, while the Beasts she’d created were free to find happiness. Just as he’d found happiness with his Paige. That was the best revenge.
Paige… He hoped she was all right. Hoped she was finding the peace she needed to come to terms with what she’d learned. And he hoped when she was ready, she’d come to him.
Without giving Doctor Dietrich another glance, he left the room to go to the meeting.
Paige didn’t know how long she stayed in the guard tower watching the ships slice through the water and the sea birds screech and dive for their dinner as her thoughts whirled, but it was full-dark by the time she left. She’d had a lot to come to terms with but one thought had prevailed: Grady was alive and these people, including Jace, were willing to help him. It was enough.
Black Bay was lit up by a multitude of lights making her trip across the grounds easy to navigate. She wasn’t sure where Jace was at the moment. Honestly, she half expected to come outside and find him waiting by one of the trees, or maybe find him sitting on a bench keeping an eye on things. When a twinge of disgruntlement struck that he wasn’t hovering, she chastened herself. Jace was probably even now working on a plan to free Grady and the others like him. Of course, he wouldn’t be just standing around like some love-sick puppy waiting for her to appear.
Heading for one of the administrative buildings that seemed to be a hub of activity, she went inside intending to find someone who might know where Jace was right now. A cacophony of voices assailed her as soon as she came through the doors. She clearly heard the General’s voice in another room as he barked, “Okay, okay, let’s knock it off.”
No one stopped her as she drifted over to that room and slipped inside. Despite the crowd of packed in bodies, she spotted Jace immediately. He was towards the front, flanked by Lark and Kong, and while she longed to go to him and press herself against his warmth, feel his protective arms around her, she didn’t want to draw attention to herself.
“I made some calls,” the General informed the room. Planting his fists on his hips, he shook his head and frowned. “It’s a no-go. We’ve been ordered to stand down.”
Was he talking about retrieving Grady? As Paige’s stomach dropped with disappointment, a roar of voices echoed her feelings about the announcement and the General let out a shrill whistle. “Listen up!” He pointed a finger at the group. “I know you, assholes. Stubborn, the whole lot of you. And I know that if I deny you this, short of locking you up, you’re just going to go off and do it anyway. So I’m giving you the green light. We’re going dark on this one. We’re going to find those boys and bring them home.”
Paige blinked in surprised confusion. Was the General saying what she thought he was saying?
“I’m looking at a court-martial for this, but it makes me sick to think of what’s being done to those boys. I won’t stand by and do nothing. Lark!”
Hope and gratitude filled Paige to overflowing and tears welled in her eyes. She covered her mouth to stifle a sob as Lark stepped forward to address the room.
“Doctor Dietrich sang like a canary,” the woman told them. “Not only is she able to restore the soldier’s memories once we get them to Black Bay, but she gave us everything we need to get them out. We’ve got the location of what they call The Hub – where they house their soldiers – detailed schematics of the layout, and how to access everything. Security and guard rotations, she even told us how to shut down the AI that controls it all.”
“How do we know she’s not setting us up?” one of the guys asked gruffly, his arms crossed over a big barrel chest. “She might be sending us into a trap.”
Lark pointed to her eyes. “Doctor Dietrich might be a genius, but no one’s strong enough to lie to me.”
