Tanner frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve been snooping around Dick’s home and office for weeks with nothing to show for it. Hell, considering the fact he wasn’t invited to this meeting, it’s possible he may not even know what Thorn is doing.”
Trevor found that hard to believe. Dick and Thorn had been working hand-in-hand since the inception of the DCO. The idea that he wouldn’t know about something this big seemed impossible. Then again, if there was one person on the planet better at manipulation than Dick, it was Thorn.
“Dick knows something,” Trevor insisted. “Root through his office looking for reference to a farm. If Evan can come up with the names of those doctors we listened to or a facial recognition ID on those hybrids, look for them, too. Based on what we just heard, Thorn’s plan is going down in less than a week. If we’re going to stop him, we need to have intel now.”
Tanner let out a breath. “I’ll try, but I’m not promising anything. I suck when it comes to searching through computer files.”
“Then figure out another way to get the information we need,” Trevor said. “Before it’s too late to do anything with it.”
Chapter 11
Jaxson had gotten Alina and Sage back on the complex without being noticed, then Zarina distracted the guards while Alina slipped the girl back into her room. After that, all three of them had moved heaven and earth to get in contact with Derek’s Special Forces team down at Fort Campbell. Luckily, the sergeant and his team had just come back from a field exercise, so he’d been able to talk to Sage on the phone.
Sitting on the edge of the bed while Sage lay on her side, her pillow tucked under her head, a wistful smile on her face, Alina had to admit the effect Derek had on her was nothing short of amazing. Sage was as relaxed as if she’d taken a Xanax. Alina had never seen anything like it.
“How did you and Derek meet?” Alina asked softly.
“He saved my life in Tajikistan,” Sage said. “I didn’t know that’s where I was, of course. Actually, I was barely aware of anything. I only knew I was filled with terrible pain and rage every minute of the day. I’d been like that for so long, I wanted it all to be over with. When the building where I was kept prisoner caught on fire, I thought my prayers were going to be answered and that I would finally get some peace. Then Derek was there, risking his life to save mine, even though I didn’t want him to. I even tried to kill him, but he wouldn’t give up. He got me out and brought me here.”
Alina wanted to ask what had happened to her over there but didn’t think that’d be a good idea. Sage had been experimented on and turned into a monster. That wasn’t exactly something a person would want to talk about.
“How many times has he come to visit you since then?” she asked instead, figuring that was a safer subject.
“Twice.” Sage rolled halfway onto her back, her smile disappearing as she gazed up at Alina. “I know it’s hard for him, because he’s always working and rarely home, but he calls as much as he can. That’s almost as nice as him being here.”
Alina’s lips curved. “You like Derek a lot, don’t you?”
Sage nodded, a smile lighting up her face again. “He has the most amazing, gentle voice, and when he looks at me, I can almost believe he doesn’t see a monster. Sometimes, it seems like Derek is the only person who can save me. I ran off because I wanted to be with him.”
Alina was no expert on relationships, but investing so much of yourself in a man you’ve only met a couple of times didn’t seem healthy to her. Then again, Alina wasn’t a hybrid, so she had no idea what the girl was going through. Who the hell was she to judge?
“Do you know where Fort Campbell is?” she asked.
Sage shook her head with a laugh. “No, not really. I just knew I had to find him.”
She rolled onto her side again, and they both fell silent. A little while later, Sage fell asleep, a smile still curving her lips.
Alina couldn’t help but hate the people who had hurt the fragile, vulnerable girl. Knowing Thorn was behind the hybrids, and that Dick would exterminate Sage if it proved convenient, pissed her off so badly, she wanted to hunt both men down and shoot them the same way she’d wanted to hunt Wade down and shoot him after he’d murdered her teammates.
Sage reminded her a lot of Jodi. She had the same tough outer persona wrapped around a gentle inner soul, and Alina promised herself she’d never let anyone hurt her the way Jodi had been hurt. That would almost certainly mean going up against two of the most powerful and dangerous men she’d ever met and aligning herself completely with Trevor and his friends.
Unfortunately, Trevor still didn’t seem ready to trust her. She couldn’t blame him for keeping her at arm’s length. He was playing a game of intrigue and espionage at the very highest level, personally taking on Thorn and Dick in their own backyard. One screwup on his part and not only would he be dead, but so would a lot of other people.
As far as Trevor was concerned, Alina was an outsider. He’d been wary of her from the start, and her actions since then had only confirmed his worst fears. He’d thought she was a spy, and she’d behaved like one.
Even so, it’d still hurt like hell when he’d told her he’d rather do whatever he was off doing with Tanner instead of her. She’d known he was full of crap when he’d tried to convince her it was nothing. She’d seen the look on his face when he’d gotten that phone call. Something serious was going down, but he’d decided he’d rather face the threat with Tanner than his own partner.
Damn, that stung like a bitch.
Alina sighed. She didn’t know how, but she was going to figure out a way to make Trevor trust her. Not only because he was her partner, but because he was quickly becoming something more to her.
* * *
Trevor pulled into the parking lot of the motel in Falls Church, Virginia, two hours later, then sat in his SUV for another thirty minutes to make sure he hadn’t been followed. Getting out of the vehicle, he walked across the parking lot and knocked on the door of room 105. It swung open by itself. That was when he noticed the piece of tape over the lock.
Trevor pushed it open the rest of the way, then pulled the tape off and locked it behind him. Adam was sitting at the small, round table, waiting for him. Trevor walked over and set the thumb drive on the table without a word. Adam picked it up and slipped it into the pocket of his signature duster.
