Page 103 of Vital Signs
War stood first, throwing his napkin onto his plate. "Motherfuckers."
"Language," Annie murmured automatically, but her eyes had hardened to flint. She set her glass down. "We need to decide how we're handling this. Now."
"They knew everything," Eli whispered, leaning into Shepherd's side. "About all of us."
Hunter picked up his chair and sat back down, his movements stiff. His eyes had darkened to the same muddy brown they'd been during withdrawal. Haunted. Desperate.
I reached for Hunter, not caring who watched. My palm cupped his face, forcing him to look at me. "They don't get to have you," I whispered. "You're mine."
His eyes cleared a fraction, focusing on my face.
"This goes beyond Wright," River said, pushing away his uneaten nuggets, earning a disapproving look from Theo. "He's just one researcher in their pocket. If we take him out..."
"They replace him," Shepherd finished, arm sliding around Eli's shoulders. "And nothing changes."
"This changes everything," Nikita said, studying the legal documents. "Wright isn't acting alone. Whitmore’s involvement means he's backed by serious money."
The admission settled over the table like smoke. I'd been planning to kill one man for Tyler. Now we were facing an entire network.
"If we just kill him," Annie said quietly, "they replace him in a week."
"But if we expose the whole system..." Tatiana's eyes glittered.
"Then Tyler's death brings down everyone who enabled it," I finished.
Nikita folded his hands on the table. "We need something they can't bury or replace. Something that even their federal connections can't make disappear."
Yuri nodded slowly. "A confession."
"Wright confessing to deliberately increasing doses on patients showing adverse reactions," War mused, catching on. "With specific mentions of his pharmaceutical sponsors."
Tatiana leaned forward. "We need names. Dates. Every executive who signed off on his protocols. Every board member who looked the other way." Her smile was cold and elegant.
Hunter leaned forward. "They'd do anything to keep that from going public."
"We'd need it recorded.”
"We'd need Wright first," Shepherd added, fingers stroking Eli's hair absently. "And he won't exactly volunteer a confession."
The air in the room grew heavy, something darker replacing the shock of the lawyers' visit. This wasn't just about justice for Tyler anymore. This was war against an entire system. The vengeance that had burned in my veins since finding Tyler's body twisted into something colder.
"So we take him," I said, sliding closer to Hunter until our thighs pressed together. "Capture him, knock him out, then wake him up somewhere he can't escape."
"And then what?" Hunter asked, voice tight. "Torture him until he talks?"
No one answered immediately.
"Yes," I finally said, breaking the silence. "That's exactly what we do."
"Torture is unreliable," Hunter pointed out. "People will say anything to make pain stop."
"Not if it's done right," Shepherd countered. "And this wouldn’t be the first time we’ve used this method. We can use the factory. I’ll happily supervise."
I placed my hand over Hunter's, our fingers interlacing. His pulse throbbed against my wrist, strong and steady. "Wright deserves to suffer for what he did. But if we can use him to stop the entire operation..."
"Then his pain serves a purpose beyond vengeance," Yuri concluded.
Annie stood, gathering plates with jerky movements. "If we're doing this, we'll need to prepare The Factory."
