Page 22 of Guarding the Doctor
After confirming that the patient did, in fact, have the handle of a screwdriver lodged up his rectum past the point where we could pull it out manually, I input an order for him to be transferred to the surgical department for removal.
“They should be down to get you in about twenty minutes, Mr. Johanson,” I told the patient. “In the future, please try to stick to items intended for anal use, and those with a flared base tokeep from getting drawn up too high in the rectum, okay? You’re lucky you didn’t perforate something.”
“Yeah, okay, thanks Doctor.”
As we walked out, Darla bumped me with her shoulder, sending me an apologetic look.
“Sorry about that. I know it was unprofessional of me. We didn’t get a lot of naked people falling onto screwdriver handles in the military.”
“Wait until Christmas,” I told her. “You’d be surprised how many people fall on tree toppers and phallic-shaped Christmas tree ornaments while walking around their house naked.”
She burst out laughing then, and it was the first time I’d seen Darla just let go. I couldn’t help but stare as her entire face lit up with a smile. God, I really liked her.
“What?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing, you just have a beautiful smile.”
We stood there in the hallway staring at each other like a couple of lovestruck teenagers until Martha walked up. We both immediately got serious.
“Boss wants us to meet at HQ after your shift,” she said quietly. “She has updates.”
“Roger that.”
Later that day Yuri, Darla, and I drove to the Sapphic Security offices. Martha was already there when we arrived, sitting in the conference room with Lois, Wanda and Cassie.
“Wolf Boss,” Yuri greeted Lois with an inclination of his head.
“Bear.” Her voice had a touch of softness. “Thanks for stepping in to help the team.”
“Brothers and I are always happy to help friends,” he replied.
Lois’s assessing gaze turned to me and Darla.
“She knows she’s my mate and we’re not doing anything about it right now,” Darla said quickly, even though she hadn’t been asked a question.
Lois nodded. “Get your asses in seats, we have news for you.”
Once we were all settled around the table, Lois nodded at Wanda. “Tell them what you found.”
“I finally broke into Xi’s email, although I’m still working on her document files,” Wanda said. “There are multiple emails back and forth written in Chinese. I traced the ISP to a network in Beijing. After running the emails through translation software, it appears the doctor is working for the Chinese government.”
“Doing what?” I asked.
“They’re hoping to create a small army of enhanced shifter agents embedded in U.S. cities, Americans who won’t raise suspicions but can be triggered to shift into their animal forms to carry out missions for the High Command.”
“Why not just recruit natural born shifters?” I asked.
“Shifters share their body and mind with their human sides. They exist together, but the human side always has the ultimate control. China wants shifters who suppress their human sides and act as the perfect soldiers for them – no thinking or free will. Just animal instincts. And since they’re already in the U.S., they can be activated at any time without arousing suspicion at the borders.”
“Jesus.”
“They call it Project Metamorphosis,” Wanda continued. “Xi promised them she could make fifty new shifters by the end of the month. She’s injected twenty-three with the shifter serum so far, but it appears that she’s lost at least some of them along the way, including your friend. She recently asked for an extension on the project delivery deadline. She was kind of vague about what was going wrong, and it’s unclear how many, if any, humans survived the transformation. That’s why we need to get into her files.”
“Tell us again everything you remember about your visit to the lab,” Lois ordered.
Then she seemed to remember that I was the client and her face creased into what I was pretty sure was supposed to be a smile. It looked painful.
“If you don’t mind,” she amended.
