Sean had to have been injured. He had been closest to her and should have gotten to her position before the enemy. She sent up a silent prayer that he was still alive. He was a good soldier and the closest thing to a male friend she had. “I can’t answer that.”
“I seem to be giving you a lot of information, but you aren’t giving me anything in return.”
She was giving more than she should have, and both of them knew it. “If it was just my life I was risking, I might tell you what you want to know. I don’t have any loyalty to Whitney, or I wouldn’t have gone AWOL and tried to get to the senator.”
“You’re protecting the others, the women, aren’t you?” Now there was an edge to his voice, the ice cracking just a bit, enough to let out a wave of heat. “He’s going to hurt them if you don’t return.”
She said nothing, her heart pounding. Was she that transparent? Whitney would kill one of them. He’d started with seven, all raised together in that miserable compound, a life of duty and discipline where few things from the outside world were permitted and everything was recorded. They’d learned to move in the shadows and time the cameras to avoid detection. They’d learned to talk late at night, congregating in the bathroom with water running and signing their conversations, until Marigold had discovered she could build a telepathic bridge and they could all communicate that way. Those women were her family. She’d accepted her life and had pride in her abilities, until Whitney had changed everything.
Cami had protested and tried to escape. She’d been caught and Whitney had ordered a name drawn. One of the other women, Ivy, had been taken away, and a few minutes later they heard shots. There was blood on the walls, but no one had seen the body. They tried to tell themselves he hadn’t really killed her, but no one tried to escape after that.
“That’s why you tried to kill yourself. If you were dead, he wouldn’t have a reason to punish the others. And your unit knew he might kill one of the other women, a woman they might be paired with.” He swore softly under his breath. “Someone has to kill that son of a bitch and fast. Why would you think the senator would help you? He’s friends with Whitney. He’s been helping him.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know anything about the senator.”
Ken studied her face. He’d given her a lot of shocks very fast. She was doped up, her eyes unfocused, and the news of her sister had thrown her completely off guard. The revelations about Whitney garnered him a little trust. He knew his guesses about the threats to the other women had been right on. Whitney didn’t care about his human subjects—they were all expendable. He frowned. Maybe not the women. He could make more supersoldiers, but it would be difficult to find women he had data on almost from birth. “Tell me about Senator Freeman.”
“He isn’t friends with Whitney. They don’t like each other. I think Whitney went to school with his father, but the senator’s father and Jacob Abrams are best friends. The two of them have tried to keep Whitney from doing so many experiments. They’ve talked to him countless times. I’ve heard them. They told him he had to stop, that he was jeopardizing everything.
“Senator Freeman violently objects to the things Whitney has done,” she continued. “In front of Whitney, he chastised his father for making them a part of the experiments. There’s no way the senator would betray our men and our country for Whitney. If his plane went down in the Congo, and there’s any kind of a tie between Ekabela and Whitney, then it was probably because Whitney wanted the senator dead. Jacob Abrams probably gave the order for you to go in and rescue the senator, not Whitney.”
You heard of Jacob Abrams? Ken reached out to his brother.
Big banker. Loaded. Maybe more than Whitney. Definitely a billionaire and has a lot to do with the world money market. Considered a genius. Don’t know much else about him, but I’ll run him by Lily. She’d know. Why?
Mari dropped his name, said he’s a friend of the senator’s and both aren’t too happy with Whitney, that he’s going to jeopardize everything. Have Lily check to see if the senator’s father, Whitney, and Abrams all attended a school at the same time.
“You’re talking to someone,” Mari said, pressing a hand to her temple. There was accusation in her voice and a reprimand in her eyes.
“My brother. Didn’t you always talk to your sister when you were together?”
Mari frowned, thinking about it. It had been so long ago. Telepathy had been strong between them. Of course they’d talked, hardly thinking about it, sharing every thought. Was she jealous of his brother and that strong bond? Or was she leery because he was the enemy? She should know, but if she were honest with herself, she had no idea what the answer was. She suspected jealousy.
Frustrated and embarrassed at her lack of discipline, she attempted to shift her leg. Gut-wrenching agony slid through her. She choked back a sound by shoving her fist in her mouth and biting down hard on her hand. She turned her face away from Ken, unable to stop the tears burning in her eyes.
His hand was there instantly to steady her. “Take a breath. You’re probably due for your meds again. You’ve been shot. We had a surgeon work on you after Nico, and being genetically altered, you’re bound to heal at an exceptionally fast rate, but you’re going to have to give yourself time.” Jack, we need meds in here now. She’s so pale she looks like she’s going to faint.
I’m coming. Hold your pants on.
“I don’t have time. Didn’t you hear me?” She couldn’t remember what she’d told him about the other women. If she didn’t get back, Whitney might harm them. She couldn’t take any chances; she had to go back. The pain was growing, moving through her system, making her unable to focus properly. There was something about the genetically enhanced system that allowed them to clear drugs much more quickly, and this time, it wasn’t a benefit.
“By now Whitney knows you were shot. He’ll try to go through the chain of command to find you. Whoever runs our teams is going to get slammed with questions and demands. Whitney won’t touch the other women because he can’t replace them. The men are expendable—not the women.”
“Whitney had my friend killed when Cami tried to escape.”
He was silent a moment. “Did you witness it; anyone see him?”
She shook her head. “Only the blood after.”