“What if I told you I knew where to find another sample of Ignis Cerebri?”
“I’d say I’m listening,” RL said, walking over to her.
Internally, she smiled. She had him right where she wanted him.
* * *
IRIS WAS MOREthan pleased when she realized that Cal had an SUV rather than a UTV to ride in. She had climbed in the back and prayed that Bec would be at the cabin when they arrived. Logically, she knew that wasn’t likely, but a little piece of her heart wanted to hold on to it, so she allowed it. Maybe Walter had turned his phone back on to call the guys who took Bec and they were having a rendezvous. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but she desperately wanted to find Bec.
Cal slowed as his navigation system told him they were approaching the road where the cabin was located. He’d pushed the speedometer over eighty miles per hour to cut their trip time, but now it was time to proceed with caution and not show their hand to anyone who had Bec. Iris was hanging on to the idea that they’d taken Bec because she had the knowledge and experience to recreate Ignis Cerebri and give them the weapon of mass destruction that they’d paid for. She would never do it, but they didn’t know that. Iris suspected Bec would let them think she would for as long as she had to so they could find her. Why hadn’t she activated that SOS button yet?
Iris’s phone started to ring, which surprised her, considering how spotty the coverage was. She saw Mina’s number and answered immediately. “Secure Watch, India.”
“Secure Watch, Whiskey,” Mina said. “Bec hasn’t activated the panic button yet, and her phone hasn’t pinged again. Where are you?”
“Nearing the turnoff to the cabin,” she answered, her heart sinking to know Bec was still off the grid. But then she reminded herself that those guys needed her alive if they wanted a working virus. “Would you do me a favor while we’re checking out the cabin?” she asked, and Mina agreed. “See if there’s a lab facility within a reasonable driving distance of where we are. Maybe a private lab or hospital?”
“To what end?”
Iris hesitated momentarily until she remembered the fear in Bec’s eyes when the gun went off. “The guys said their employer had paid for Ignis Cerebri, and they’d come to collect it. We know they took her to recreate thevirus, so to do that, she’d need a place to work. It would have to be somewhere with access to virus samples because she would need that to make the new one.”
“I’m not sure it’s possible to waltz into a lab and demand access to deadly viruses, Iris,” Mina gently said. “That’s not legal.”
“That didn’t seem to bother these guys when they broke into Bec’s lab and kidnapped her at gunpoint!” Haven nudged her with his nose, reminding her that he was there and she was safe. Lucas sat beside her and squeezed her shoulder as Cal glanced in the rearview mirror. “Sorry, Mina,” Iris said. “Please don’t fire me.”
“I’m not going to fire you,” Mina assured her. “You do make an excellent point. If they want her to recreate that virus, and that’s the only reason to take her, they’re going to need a lab and samples to do it. Assuming they don’t have their own set up somewhere.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she agreed, chewing on her lower lip. “Why hasn’t she activated the panic button?”
“Could be a lot of reasons,” Mina said to calm her. “Give her time. Maybe she forgot about it or hasn’t been able to do it discreetly yet. It can’t hurt to look for labs within driving distance of the research center. I’ll do that while I await your assessment of the cabin.”
“Thanks, Mina,” she whispered before she hung up. When she glanced up, she noticed the car was silent. “I’m sorry for yelling. I’m so worried about Bec.”
“Completely understandable,” Selina promised from the front seat. “It’s not easy when someone you care about is in danger.”
“I know it feels like we won’t find her, but we will. I believe she will activate that button as soon as she can.Once that happens, we’ll call the police and get her rescued,” Cal assured her.
“But you said the police will just muck everything up and put people’s lives in danger. We can’t risk that,” Iris said, grabbing the front seat.
“I did say that,” Cal agreed calmly. “But when I said it, we were in a different situation. When you’re talking about a hostage situation, we’ll have to involve the police. There aren’t enough of us here to get her out safely. We’ll need SWAT, at the very least, depending on where they take her. One thing at a time,” he said, turning left onto a dirt road. “Let’s see if Walter is at the cabin.”
“What’s the plan, boss?” Mack asked from the back seat. He’d insisted on coming along for extra backup. Iris appreciated that.
It was beyond pitch-black now that they were off the highway. With clouds obscuring the moon, even the headlights barely made a dent in the darkness that surrounded them. All too soon, Cal switched those off, too. They would have to approach on foot on the off chance Walter and Zafar were at the cabin.
“From what I can see, we’re about as far as we dare go with the car,” he answered, pulling to the side of the road. “We all go in on foot, but Selina and Iris hang back with Haven once the cabin is in view.”
“We could wait in the car,” Selina suggested, but Iris objected.
“No. I want to be there if Bec is inside.”
Cal shook his head. “Selina, I know your shooting skills are superior, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you here with Iris unprotected. If it was just you, I’d say you can hold your own, but not if you’re worriedabout her. We all go. I expect this to be a wild-goose chase, but regardless, I want you to cover the road approach while we check the cabin. If something moves, shoot it. Clear?”
“Ten-four,” Selina said, opening her door.
They left the SUV, and Haven jumped down to follow Lucas out before she and Mack followed. She took deep breaths, concentrating on the image of Bec’s face in her mind after she’d made love to her. Happy. Sated. Maybe there was a touch of disbelief that they could feel that way about each other when they had just met. The truth was that Iris knew everything she needed to know. Bec was her due north, and if—no, when—they found her, she vowed to find a way to be with her. She didn’t know if she could leave Secure Inc. and follow Bec somewhere else, but for the first time, she wanted to try. The thought of being without her was harder than risking everything to be with her. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to hold her again. Kiss her. Touch her. Spend her life with her. Her anxiety felt manageable when she was in Bec’s arms. It would never be gone, but it was as though Bec agreed to carry a little bit of it for her so she could rest for the first time in twenty-six years.
As she picked her way down the road behind Mack, with Lucas and Selina bringing up the rear, she realized the changes she’d seen in herself in the last few days were astounding. She would always be neurodivergent and have multiple disabilities because of her brain injury—love couldn’t cure that, but honestly, she didn’t want it to. Those disabilities made her who she was and taking them away would have put her on a different path where she may not have met Bec. Would her life have been easier?The short answer was yes, but she couldn’t say that definitively. There are no guarantees in life, and anything could have happened at any time to make her life just as difficult. She thought about Bec, and the strength and fortitude required to leave her home at such a young age and trust people she had never met to keep her safe. The idea slowed her heart rate, and she inhaled deeply for the first time since leaving the car. Bec was going to be okay. She was smart and savvy, and she could think on her feet. All Iris had to do was trust her, just like she’d asked her to do before she opened that lab door.
