Poor Jonquille learned the hard way that Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected isn’t any of those things and her brother-in-law with the badass rep is.
Rubin gave a snort of derision, but the floor ceased the mild movement and amusement immediately filled Diego’s mind.Don’t let him fool you, Leila. He’s furious with Pillar. I think he’d take out a gun and shoot him if he thought he’d get away with it. The reason I have such a foul temper is because my brother feeds me his anger and I have to get rid of it for the two of us.
Leila stifled a giggle against Diego’s arm.
That’s the first time he’s ever told that whopper, Diego told her.It’s a good thing he can direct lightning, otherwise it would strike him in the head for that lie.
Can you really direct a lightning strike?Leila sounded awed.
Diego squeezed her hand and pressed it harder into his thigh. He loved that she was seeing a small part of his brother—how truly powerful he was. He wanted Leila to see Rubin the way he did.
He turned his attention to Pillar, trying to understand the man and how he believed.
“The soldiers in this room”—Pillar paused and looked around the room, including Diego, Rubin and Ezekiel in his slow, thorough perusal—“all volunteered for a program they believed in. That program had been in the works for years. Whitney believes in saving lives just as I do. We met many times to discuss how best to protect our soldiers and the young men of the nation.”
“And women,” Logan interrupted.
“What did you say?” Pillar demanded.
“And women.” Logan raised his voice. “There are women in our military, and one would presume when you were speaking with Whitney about protecting the male soldiers, you would include the female soldiers as well.”
Logan used just the right note of sarcasm to provoke Pillar. Before Pillar could speak, General Ranier did. “Logan, please stop interrupting.”
Logan raised an eyebrow, turning toward the general. “Really, sir? You didn’t think the women should be included? I feel it’s a very pertinent point that they weren’t included, considering that Whitney was already experimenting on female children. We know he acquired these girls as infants and toddlers.”
“They wereunwanted,” Pillar burst out. “Throwaways. Their own families got rid of them. Whitney gave them a purpose. Hefed and clothed them. He provided an education for them. These girls had more training and education than most females in this country have ever gotten,” he defended. “Let’s circle back to the real problem. The needless death of soldiers. We knew, thanks to Luther Gunthrie, that one soldier of his caliber could be worth a battalion. He, alone, saved many lives and continued to do so throughout the years.”
Diego knew that was very true. He knew Luther, and the man was nearly unstoppable.
“Once it was established that a genetically altered soldier could be sent out with specific orders to take out the enemy without being seen, we knew we had to create more. We were excited.”
“We?” Ranier prompted. “You and Whitney?”
“There were others. The idea was taken to the vice president and two senators. We kept the circle small. I had asked permission to share with Whitney. He was our top go-to man and got things done. There is no doubt of his patriotism. Once he knew about Luther, he immediately went to work figuring out how to improve on our odds of creating a supersoldier. Too many hadn’t measured up, and we couldn’t figure out why. Whitney spent several years developing a protocol for the two laboratories to follow. While there have been things that have gone wrong, and I’ll admit that, having Luther and all of the GhostWalkers proving we save soldier’s lives every time they are sent out on a mission balances the negative.”
“When did you realize Whitney was experimenting on young girls?” Logan asked.
Pillar threw his arms into the air and then slammed his fist on the table again. “You refuse to hear a word I say.”
“I hear you,” Logan said. “Are you aware Whitney gave some of these girls cancer repeatedly? That he operated without anesthesia several times on the same little girl, causing her heart to stopnumerous times? Were you aware that he removed filters from their brains so they are unable to function properly because they can’t drown out the noises around them? Did you condone his practices when you gave a little girl to him? Bridget Fenton, a child who should have gone to the very soldier you claim has saved multiple lives. Instead of Luther getting custody of his nieces, you made certain he knew nothing about them, and you experimented on them. Had he known, Luther would have come after you. You know that, or you would have consulted with him.”
Again, Pillar waved Logan’s accusations away. “Luther Gunthrie had no contact with his family whatsoever. He knew nothing of the girls. They would have been a burden to him.”
“You mean he might not have gone at the drop of a hat to do your bidding if he had two little girls—girls grieving for their parents—to look after.”
Pillar’s features hardened. “Kids get over death much faster than you think. In any case, I am telling you that Leila Fenton was trained as a soldier. She will face charges if she doesn’t return.”
“You can charge her with anything you want to make up, sir,” Logan said, “but the bottom line is Leila isn’t in the military. You need to give the order to bring her daughter here so we can take the child with us when we leave.”
“Leila Fenton abandoned her daughter. She’s been gone several weeks. The child is in protective custody. The last thing we’re going to do is hand her over to a mother who leaves her to spend time with a man and then shows up when she feels like it to reclaim her.”
Diego pressed Leila’s clenched fist to his chest, right over his heart.Joe, now would be a good time to give the order to get the baby. We’ll want to know the moment she’s clear and safe.He included all the GhostWalkers in the telepathic communication.
I did the moment the windbag proclaimed that Leila was going to be charged. The team has begun Operation Night-Night. They’ll inform methe moment all guards are asleep and they can move on the house safely without bloodshed.
Marcy, Chariot’s wife, has been my friend, Leila hastily told the others.She might try to protect Grace. Please don’t hurt her.
Diego felt her anxiety. It wasn’t for herself. She’d heard the threats Pillar made, the accusations and the remarks designed to make everyone think Leila was a negligent mother. With all of that, her thought was for the commander’s wife.
