“And no one noticed? Surely Kenna, or any of them, would have realized you weren’t answering your phones. I didn’t hear anything about you being in trouble.” Kenna would be here herself, mounting a rescue. Maybe. If she wasn’t pregnant, anyway. “Zeyla doesn’t know you’re in trouble?”
Amara said, “It’s better if they don’t come. They’d be interfering and tying up everyone here in dealing with them, when there’s important work to be done.”
“Go back to the beginning and explain.” Ramon shoved a full fork into his mouth.
“We were tracking down a package being moved throughDominatustransport routes,” Amara said. “They use their own system for shipping. Smuggling, really. We had no idea what it was, but we knew it was big based on the personnel they had guarding the routes and the vehicle they were using. Important and sizeable, at least. When we caught up to the truck and started to pursue it, we were able to stick a tracker on the vehicle.
“Of course, they quickly found that. But we got a general direction and worked out that it was coming this way.”
Ramon said, “I barely have a clue where here is.”
“Middle of nowhere, Wyoming,” Bruce interjected.
Amara continued, “When we got close, the roads were single-lane. The truck slowed, and it became harder to follow them without being spotted. We hung back, scoured the area, and realized it was all a top secret US government facility. But the guys in Humvees following the truck were people we knew.”
“MSI team members.”
Amara nodded. “We realized they must have come on board withDominatus, but we figured it was against their will. Our mission switched to attempting to liberate them from the people forcing them to do what they were told.”
“But it turned out, they weren’t being coerced. They were here voluntarily.” Ramon shook his head. “That’s what I can’t wrap my head around.”
“You don’t need to,” Bruce said. “All you need to know is that they have a plan, and it’s a decent one.”
Ramon turned to him. “You can’t be serious. You bought in?”
“Not much we can do about it from in here. They’re going to do what they’re going to do.” Bruce shrugged, sitting forward on the chair and planting his elbows on his knees. “This is bigger than what we want.”
“We need to get word out.”
Amara said, “For what purpose? There’s nothing we can do to stop it, and Kenna should be kept safe from having to deal with it.”
“You think she’s doing nothing, resting in the RV? She sent me to find out what they’re doingbecauseshe’s been worried that they’re out of contact. Now I find out that MSI is working forDominatus? This is unbelievable.”
“Is it?”
“We’re supposed to fight all of them.” He tossed his fork on the plate, and it clattered against the stoneware. “They’ve made the wrong choice signing up tohelp. You can’t possibly think this isn’t a huge problem.”
“We’re in a fight, but not against MSI,” Amara said. “This is a fight for the soul ofDominatus.”
Bruce picked up the thread of the conversation. “One that Kenna doesn’t need to be involved in.”
Ramon glanced between them. He pushed his chair back and got up to pace. “You have to know I respect the two of you. The way you’ve been fighting this for years, trying to do the right thing. I understand the need to atone for what you’ve done in the past and make things right. YouknowI get that. Probably more than anyone. But you made the wrong choice. This isn’t how we stop them, and that’s the only way this is going to end.” He shook his head. “Please tell me this is a plan to tear them apart from the inside.Something.”
Amara said, “They need a new leader. We’re going to make sure it’s someone we can at least control, even if it isn’t someonewe trust. A person that is going to take the whole organization in a new direction.”
“If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em? That’s your whole plan?”
“I don’t need to join them,” Amara said. “I’ve been part ofDominatusthis whole time.”
“Fighting against them from the inside!”
She didn’t speak right away. “You weren’t far off the mark in talking about redemption. We do all have things we wish we could wash away or at least make up for.”
“So you sit around here as punishment. Letting someone else take care of the problem?”
“There’s only so much we can do if they won’t let us out. Clearly, we can’t put up much of a fight as captives.”
If he’d been in here for weeks, Ramon might actually feel the same way. But right now, he wanted to start a fight with someone that would end in him escaping.
