“But the commander of the security force went nuts and took over the operation,” Kendra finished. “God, that sounds absolutely crazy.”
The muscle in Tate’s jaw flexed. “So, what the hell do we do now?”
“First, we search every inch of this compound,” Landon said. “I want to see if there’s anything here that might tell us who from the DCO funded this program. Next, we collect information for Zarina. She’s going to want to have details on these hybrids—pictures, blood and tissue samples, copies of any important-looking research. Maybe it will tell her who stole it from the archives. Last, we collect up everything that’s left—every scrap of paper, every piece of equipment, and all the bodies—then we burn this place to the ground. I don’t want anyone being able to use this particular hybrid process again. These hybrids weren’t perfect, but they were better than the first group we ran up against. If these were second-generation hybrids, I don’t ever want to face a third generation.”
Kendra had to agree with that. “What do we do when we get home? There’s going to be a debriefing.”
“We tell the truth, or as close to it as we can get, anyway. That the camp and everything in it went up in flames during the fight with the hybrids,” Landon said. “Until we know for sure that we can trust John, he gets nothing.”
She hated lying to John. But if Landon was right about her boss, telling him what they really learned could get a lot of people killed. “And after that?”
“We figure out who really pulls the strings at the DCO,” Landon said. “This hybrid program might have started with John or Dick—or hell, maybe both of them—but my gut tells me that someone on the Committee is involved, and we need to find out who.”
Kendra’s stomach churned. Going after the Committee made sense, but it was also the nearest thing to suicide she’d ever heard.
Kendra continued to pore over everything in the lab alongside Ivy and Landon while Tate rounded up the other guys so they could search the rest of the buildings. Landon was just calling John for a pickup when Kendra heard Clayne’s voice outside. She hoped that meant Declan was back, too.
Tossing Ivy the flash drive with everything she’d found in her section of the lab, Kendra ran for the door. She sagged with relief when she saw Declan standing with Clayne…and Tanner? She hadn’t expected to see him as part of this op. At the moment, though, she was too focused on Declan to wonder what the DCO hybrid was doing there.
Pulse racing, she closed the distance between them in record time and threw her arms around him in front of everyone. She was so happy that he was back safe, she didn’t realize he hadn’t put his arms around her. She immediately stepped back to search his face.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Maybe you should let Derek take a look at you.”
“I’m fine.”
“But he’s a medic,” she insisted. “He can—”
“I said I’m fine!” Declan growled.
Kendra jumped. From the corner of her eye, she saw Clayne give her and Declan a curious look. She bit her lip. “Okay. I just thought…”
Declan’s expression softened. “I know. And I’m sorry. But I’m fine, Kendra. Really.”
Washe?Because he sure as hell didn’t seem fine to her. She nodded, blinking back tears.
“Okay, troops!” Landon called as he and Ivy came out of the lab. “We’ve got a pickup in two hours. Let’s torch this place and get to the landing zone.”
Kendra turned back to Declan, but he’d already walked over to join Tate and the rest of his team. She tried not to be hurt. He and Tate were like brothers. It made sense they’d want to catch up. She and Declan would talk on the flight home. As she watched them disappear into the building where he and Marcus had fought to the death a few hours ago, though, she couldn’t help feeling that what she and Declan had shared had somehow been broken.
***
Kendra sat staring off into the dark interior of the C-17 cargo aircraft that was taking them home, slowly going over the last several hours and trying to figure out what had happened between her and Declan.
She’d hoped to talk with him on the way back to the States, but it hadn’t worked out that way. Declan had been withdrawn and quiet since they’d left the jungle-shrouded labs yesterday morning. In fact, he didn’t say more than two words to her the entire time.
Landon had pushed them hard to get to the extraction point on the Panama border that he’d set up with John. With all the injured people they were moving, not to mention the rucksacks full of hybrid DNA samples and lab reports, it had been damn hard getting to the clearing by the deadline. But no one had complained about the pace. They’d all been more than ready to get out of that damn place. She’d tried to stick near Declan during the hike out, but he’d disappeared into the forest, saying he wanted to make sure no one was following them. The excuse had seemed logical at the time, but with the way he’d been acting since, she now knew it had probably been a made-up excuse.
Two helicopters from the Panamanian Air Service had been waiting for them in a small clearing when they got to the extraction point. Her heart had crumbled a little more when Declan had gone out of his way to make sure he was on the other helicopter after she’d been buckled into the first one.
It hadn’t gotten any better after they were quietly dropped off at some private facilities near the edge of the Panama Pacific International Airport. The place had food, showers, and doctors to take a look at their wounded. Everyone had laughed and joked as they cleaned up and got some warm food, but Kendra hadn’t felt like doing either. The only thing she’d wanted to do was spend some quiet time with Declan. Unfortunately, he’d disappeared the moment they’d landed, saying something about needing to rest and heal up. She didn’t have the guts to go after him, not if he was going to snap at her again.
She hadn’t seen him again for six hours, not until they all boarded the C-17 Globemaster John had rerouted to their location. Even then, Declan had immediately headed to the back of the plane. The aircraft had been almost empty, and yet the place he’d chosen to crash was about as far away from her as he could get.
A short time after leaving the Panamanian airfield, she’d walked back to check on him, but he’d been in a deep sleep. It was obvious that Declan was still avoiding her for some reason, even if that meant sleeping all the way back to the States.
Kendra continued to replay the last few hours of their time in Costa Rica, looking for that one thing she’d done that had pushed him away, when Ivy slipped into the seat beside her.
“Hey, girlfriend,” Ivy said softly. “I thought you’d be sleeping like everyone else, especially after the week you’ve had.”
