“How is that different from any other rich kid?”
“These kids were told that if they could just quell their murderous impulses into adulthood, they would be let off their leashes, given a license to torture, maim, and kill without consequence. Tell me what you think would happen if the government suddenly disavowed them?”
Park blinked at Boone. “Are you telling me you believe that, if this program fails, the government will merc the children of some of the wealthiest and most influential people on the planet? Because theymightkill someone?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. And we’re not safe, either. Anyone who knows anything about this program could easily meet with an accident.”
“Taking out this many targets without hinting at a much larger conspiracy is impossible.”
Boone snorted. “You think it’s a coincidence they’ve set this school out in the middle of the fucking desert? You think it’s a coincidence that the public thinks this is some kind of elite graduate program for children of some of the world’s biggest global thinkers?”
“Are you saying…”
“I’m saying that creating a school like this, filling it with high-value targets, gives them plausible deniabilityifand orwhenthis school gets blown off the fucking map.”
Park barked out a laugh. “That’s absurd. There’s no way they’d dare take out a whole school. Nobody would ever believe it was a terrorist attack, no matter how many famous kids are inside.”
“No?” Boone asked, then waited.
“No… Their families would never agree to this? How would they keep them from going to the press, from spilling everything?” Park asked.
“You know the answer. The same reason these people agreed to house a monster in their home and call it their child. Money. Power. Fame. Maybe some of them might have formed a minor attachment to the children, but not enough to blow up their whole lives. There’s a reason the children aren’t left with their actual parents. They’d never agree to the failsafe if the program proves…unsuccessful.”
“But the handlers…they’re not like the assets. Are they really willing to murder them, too?” Park asked, knowing the answer before he asked the question.
It wouldn’t be the first time the government staged an international incident to further their own agenda. While the project, on its face, seemed insane, deep down, the logic was sound. People without consciences were just better killers. He should know. But it also made them more likely to betray their country for monetary gain.
“We both know the answer to that,” Boone said. “They’ve been groomed for this as well. But, unlike the assets, most of them have no idea their parents aren’t their real parents. And it needs to stay that way.”
Park nodded absently. He’d long since made peace with the fact that he didn’t find any sanctity in human life. In all his years of killing, he’d never felt even a little bad, regardless of the target’s age or gender. Not that they’d ever asked him to take out a child. At least, not yet, it seemed.
The idea of the school being the target of an attack would have filled most people with sorrow or anger, but Park felt nothing until he thought of Gift. Park didn’t understand his connection with this boy. He just…stirred something in him, this sort of fierce need to protect him. And it went far beyond his debt to Anchali.
Most of his life, Park had felt nothing. Maybe he was born that way, but he didn’t think so. Life had made him this way, had burned him again and again until the scarring had just left him impervious to feelings of any kind. He didn’t care about anyone else in the world, couldn’t even. But he somehow cared about Gift, this boy he barely knew.
Park frowned as something occurred to him. “Wait, all the assets are adopted?”
“Yeah,” Boone said, frowning.
“Kendrick knows this?” Park asked.
“I would assume so, yes,” Boone said. “What’s your point?”
Park shook his head. “It’s just something he said to me when he told me to bring Gift with me. He said Gift was a prime candidate for the project, and he was surprised he hadn’t been flagged beforehand. But he wouldn’t have been. Because all the assets were adopted and placed with their families. Right?”
Boone shrugged. “Maybe he just misspoke. You know Anchali had a baby. We all saw her pregnant. We all saw the way Kendrick punished her and had her benched.”
Park nodded. “Yeah. I guess.”
“Great. Now, get out of my office and go do what we pay you to do.”
Park nodded. “Yeah, yeah.”
“And Park?”
Park turned back, his hand on the doorknob. “Yeah?”
Boone looked almost embarrassed as he said, “I’ll…have a talk with Payton about Gift.” Park smirked. Boone pointed a finger at his chest. “But I can’t promise he’ll listen. And it’s really none of our business.”
