Chapter 21
Let’s talk this through,” Hank said, gripping the steering wheel of his car as he tried to remain calm. He was driving slowly, heading in the general direction of the hospital, but he could just as easily hit the freeway and take her straight to the Griz home base where he could protect her.
“Okay,” she said. “I want to talk to Dr. Oltheten. I’m sure he has data that we need.”
He saw the hard jut of her chin and knew she was going to be stubborn. But even as he looked at her sitting in his car completely safe, his mind kept replaying the sight of her being dragged away.
It amped up his adrenaline and made it hard to focus. But Cecilia was a woman of logic. She wasn’t going to stay hidden away without a good reason, so he fought down his terror for her safety and worked with his brain instead of his brawn.
“The wolves wanted to take you to some supersecret lab of theirs.”
“Yes.”
“And you just learned of a shifter lab in Detroit. That has to be the same place.”
She shook her head. “Dr. Oltheten has been trying to get the word out about shifters. Why would the wolves take me to him? They already know.”
He didn’t have an answer. Just a lot of worry. “Let me take you to the hospital. I’ll get Simon to check it out and then get you and this Dr. Oltheten together in a safe—”
“Aren’t you tired of this?” she interrupted. “Don’t you want this to end now? He’s got information, I’m sure of it.” Her voice was tight and anger radiated out in waves from her body. It hadn’t been an hour since they were attacked and here she was pushing for something he knew wasn’t safe.
It didn’t take him long to figure out what was going on. She was feeling trapped and vulnerable, and for a woman like her, science data was the way out. Right now, she would take any risk to get it.
But that didn’t mean it was smart. Or that part of him wasn’t cut deeply by her words. Because she didn’t just want out of the Detroit Flu problem. She wanted out of the shifter world entirely. She hadn’t said it, but he knew that’s what she was feeling. And if he had any doubts, then the way she curled away from him was answer enough. She even drew away when he reached out to touch her. And rather than talk, her nose was buried in her cell phone as she studied whatever data had come in this morning.
“Cecilia, we need to think about this.”
She looked up and shot him a hard glare. “Either take me to this lab or I’ll jump out and call a cab. But either way I’m going.”
He believed her. And yes, he could tie her up in some hotel room to keep her safe, but that was the surest way to end any hope of a relationship between them.
“Okay,” he said softly. “I’ll drive us there, but I’m going to take some precautions, too.”
She shrugged. “Do whatever you need to, but get me there.”
Fair enough. He turned the car toward the freeway and the Griz home base. Sure, he’d take Cecilia to the very suspicious Gunnolf Lab, but he wasn’t doing it alone. And he sure as hell wasn’t going there without backup.
***
“Hello, Dr. Oltheten? I’m Dr. Cecilia Lu with the CDC.” Cecilia gripped the edges of her phone and tried not to see the gun that Hank tucked into his jacket. They were at the Griz home base and everyone was suiting up as if they were going to storm Fort Knox. And while they’d been doing that, she and Alyssa had found a phone number for the Gunnolf Lab. It had taken forever, but they’d managed it. The place had to be doing secret government research. No one else was that paranoid about keeping off the Internet.
Cecilia had called, talked to a receptionist who connected her with receptionist who then handed her over to a lab assistant, and then finally, hallelujah, they had called over Dr. Oltheten himself. Or so she hoped.
“Yes, hello? This is Dr. Oltheten.”
Cecilia looked straight into Hank’s dark eyes and grinned. She’d finally gotten through! She didn’t waste time and got straight to the point. “I know about shifters. I know you tried to tell the world about it and no one believed you. I believe you, Dr. Oltheten. And I want to talk.”
There was a long silence on the other end, and for a moment she wondered if they’d been cut off. Then she heard a gasp that might have been a choked off sob. It was hard to tell. But a moment later, he spoke, his voice quavering with his enthusiasm. “The CDC, you say? You know about shifters? Werewolves and cats. Bears, too. Do you know about the bears?”
She released a low chuckle. “Yes, I know about bears. I’m working on the Detroit Flu. I think it’s a poison—”
“Yes, yes. In the water.”
He already knew. She was getting more hopeful by the second. “I’m working for the cure. Can you help me?”
“I can! Oh, I have been praying for someone such as you. You must come here. I can show you what I’ve figured out. It’s been hard, you know, after I tried to speak in New York. Everyone has been laughing at me. I have been trying and trying to make them see that shifters are real.”
The pain in his voice was authentic, and she sympathized. To know something so significant and yet be publicly humiliated for it. It was horrible! “I know they’re real, Dr. Oltheten. I’m so sorry that we laughed at you.”
