Kat stopped a few seconds to let what she’d shared sink in. When Zade looked back over at her, Matt couldn’t tell if the expression on his face meant he was impressed, or he thought she was nuts.
“You’re talking super-soldier shit.” He sounded in awe.
He’s impressed.
With the same half-smile he used to love seeing, Kat said, “Not exactly the term we use in the lab, but yes. That’s pretty much it.”
“Holy shit.” Kole fell back into his chair. Looking at each of them, he sounded even more impressed than Zade. “Can you imagine what something like that could mean for our troops? For any of us? Guy takes a hit that would normally bring them down, but is able to keep going?”
“Remember,” Kat intervened quickly“It’s temporary. The test subjects we’ve used it on so far have only seen positive changes for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. We’ve been tweaking the formula so its effects will last longer, but we were unable to test the new serum before the explosion.”
Kole shook his head. “Still. I could name half a dozen soldiers who died when they were mere minutes away from getting the help they needed. Something like this…” He glanced around the room. “This is a game changer.”
Jake didn’t seem as excited. Wheels turning, he nodded but muttered, “In more ways than one.”
“Boss is right,” Gabe agreed before turning his focus back onto Kat. “If this stuff truly does what you’re saying, I know a hell of a lot of people who’d love to get their hands on it. A lot of very bad, very dangerous people.”
“That would explain the text.” Zade nodded thoughtfully. “Someonedidfind out about it and was working with a person on the inside. That same person was probably paid a lot of money to access and share the formula.”
“When they mistakenly sent you the next instructions in the plan, you became a target,” Kole joined in.
Jake nodded, apparently agreeing with their theory. “Even if you didn’t suspect anything from the text, you survived the explosion. Whoever’s in charge knew there was a possibility you’d put two and two together, so they went looking for you at your place.”
“They didn’t find you,” Kole spoke up again. “But they took what they thought would lead them to the formula.”
Gabe’s face became dead serious when he stared over at her and said, “Problem is, they’re going to figure out pretty damn quick the formula isn’t anywhere in what they took.”
Now it was Kat’s turn to be in awe. Matt watched as she stared wide-eyed at each of the men.That’s right, sweetheart. Not a bunch of dumb grunts, after all.
“You said you went back to the lab yesterday to see if there was anything salvageable. You find anything?” Jake asked.
“Not really. A few miscellaneous notes, but mostly everything had burned.”
“Where do you keep your records from all the testing you do? Research files, that sort of thing?”
“We have one main computer system in the lab that everyone has access to. Or, had. It got destroyed in the explosion.”
“Is that the only place?”
“Yes and no. We store the data in a file in that computer, but I also have an external hard drive I would use to download the findings and notes from each day. That’s where the recipe for the formula is kept.”
“Did that survive?”
Kat shook her head. “It didn’t take a direct hit, but it was burned pretty badly. Our head tech guy has been trying to pull what he can from it, but last I heard, he wasn’t having any luck.”
“Damn. That sucks,” Zade commented. “All that time and money wasted. All that research and data just…poof. Gone.”
“Except it’s not.” Matt couldn’t keep quiet. “Not really.”
All eyes shifted to his.
“What do you mean?” Gabe’s brow furrowed.
“Go ahead, Doc.” He lifted his chin to Kat. “Tell ’em.”
Matt could tell she hated the mocking nickname, making him want to use it that much more.
Immature much?Fuck yeah, he was. Wore the badge with pride.
