Page 6 of Black Bay Protector
“You work for them?”
Paige nodded absently, her mind still mulling over what he’d told her.
“Research and development?”
“What? No.” So this had something to do with R and D?
“What do you know about what goes on up there?”
Paige thought about it for a moment. She really didn’t know much more than what she’d been told, primarily by the other nurses. They thought the R and D department were a bunch of snobs too good to socialize with the plebs, as one nurse had put it.
“No one really sees them. They stick to the upper floors, have their own elevator, break room.” She shrugged up a shoulder. “When they do make a rare appearance, they don’t talk to anyone from what I understand.”
“From what you understand?”
“I haven’t worked there long. Still learning the ropes. I was an ER nurse before this. County General.”
Jace nodded and when he didn’t say more, Paige bit her lip. There was only one reason she could think the military would involve themselves with a private medical facility. “Are they working on something dangerous?” Her mind immediately went to some sort of biological weapon.
“I haven’t seen the files yet,” he told her. “But considering the number of bullets involved, I’d say yes.”
Which reminded her… “How did you heal like that? You should be dead.”
“I’m a tough bastard.”
He shot her a grin and she caught sight of those fangs. The upper ones were longer than the lower ones, and, unless he’d had some sort of cosmetic procedure, they were nothing human. “Are you a vampire?” she blurted.
While she thought her question was pretty reasonable considering what she’d seen so far, her question made the man beside her throw back his head and laugh.
Once his humor had died down, he shook his head. “Oh, Paige. I’m nothing so common.”
Common? Really? Like there were thousands of vampires just walking the streets every day doing everyday things. Was he joking? If so, Paige was not amused. “Then what are you?”
Another grin as he suggested, “Gifted? Skilled?”
She let out a little harrumph at his continued misplaced humor. “Try again.”
He raised a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Paige. Here I thought I’d done an excellent job of displaying both those qualities tonight.”
He’d also gotten her into this mess and gotten her shot at. Paige crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m still waiting.”
Jace shrugged up a shoulder. “Let’s just say I’m an experimental prototype.”
“So you volunteered to be…” she trailed off, her hand waving up and down in his general vicinity. “What? Enhanced?”
He chuckled again, but this time, there was no humor involved. “Volunteered isn’t the word I’d use.”
Paige’s mouth fell open. “Experimentation on humans without clear and express consent is illegal.”
“Exactly.”
Indignant on his behalf, she demanded, “The military did this?” Honestly, it shouldn’t have surprised her. There were so many secrets. Her brother, Grady, hadn’t been able to tell them half of what he was up to at any given time. Not even where he was. The best they could do was watch the news and wonder. It had been frustrating, and she wouldn’t put it past the government to be working on some super soldier program.
Jace shook his head. “One of the doctors that currently works in your facility.”
Okay. That was surprising. But it didn’t take a huge mental leap for her to put the pieces together. “Are you saying that the R and D department is running illegal experiments onpeople?”
“I haven’t seen the files yet, but judging by the known players involved and the armed response, I’d say yes. Doctor Dietrich is a top geneticist with a God complex and a vision for the future that doesn’t line up with the current laws.”
