Page 17 of Black Bay Protector
She didn’t bother correcting his use of the word people, focusing instead on the other part of his statement. “They’re in prison? They can’t be. I just told you I saw one of them.”
“It’s a front, Anne. To keep people from looking too closely. Black Bay is run by the government. Special operations.”
They’d been utilizing her soldiers…
“Where? I need an address.”
“Google it,” the senator snarled, done being helpful. “I swear to God, Anne, I am through with you. If I ever hear from you again, if you ever try to blackmail me again, I will make sure you are buried so deep you’ll never see the light of day.”
With that, he hung up, but Anne didn’t concern herself with his threat. She’d burned a bridge, but if this panned out, it would be worth it. Turning her attention to the computer, she did as he suggested and Googled Black Bay Penitentiary. There was no website, just some general information. A supermax prison near Virginia Beach, Black Bay housed inmates deemed to require the highest level of supervision. As such, it didn’t allow visitors. Clever of the government, but she’d still get in. If she had to threaten every politician she had dirt on, she’d do it to get to her specimens. Ten minutes later, she booked a one-way flight to Norfolk International Airport.
She was done with this place.
Sticking to back roads and their greatly diminished speed limit was adding a lot of time to the trip, but Jace didn’t want to take any chances. The tracker had been successfully removed but he didn’t want to risk that other means were being utilized to locate them. Back roads were the safest bet.
He used the satellite phone to check in with Lark and let her know he was okay and was on his way back. He also wanted to know if she’d broken through the encryption on those files. She got all squirrely on him though, after her first statement of relief that he was all right, giving him a whole bunch of ‘Ahh,’ and ‘umm’ which was so out of character for the female, he’d immediately asked, “What’s going on?”
Her voice was sheepish when she admitted, “When you didn’t check in on time, I got worried.”
Jace waited, knowing his silence would be her undoing. Finally, she blurted, “I kind of told the general what we did.”
Ah, shit. The man who’d once rescued Jace from his cell was now a general and was also the man in charge at Black Bay. The mission Jace had volunteered for hadn’t exactly been run by the Old Man for approval first. “How pissed is he?”
“You know that vein in his forehead?”
Jace chuckled, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Any time the general got pissed, that vein popped out right before he went ripshit on someone. “Yeah.”
“Well, he was so mad I thought it was going to burst, Jace!”
Great. He’d be lucky if he made it through the gates before the general started ripping him a new one. “Let him know I’m on my way back.”
“ETA?”
He could make the remainder of the distance in about six hours if he pushed, and be at Black Bay tonight, but Paige had already had a rough day and he was in no mood to listen to a tirade from the Old Man. They could both use a hot shower, a hot meal, and a relatively comfortable bed. Tomorrow would be soon enough to face the wrath of General Davies.
“Provided I don’t run into any issues, I’ll be there before noon tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
Hanging up, he was about to suggest to Paige that they look for a motel when he heard a quiet, raggedly indrawn breath. Glancing over, he saw her elbow braced on the door in front of the window, her forehead resting on her splayed fingers, and a glint of moisture clinging to her lashes.
Shit. She was crying.
“Your leg? Is it hurting you?”
She shook her head, her lower lip quivering ever so slightly. In a whisper, she uttered, “He looked right through me. Pointed a gun at me.”
Her brother. A different pain than what he’d been expecting, but painful nonetheless.
“But he didn’t shoot,” he reminded her, hoping it would help a little. “It looked like hecouldn’t.” He was just guessing, but he went with his gut when he added, “I think some part of him recognized you.”
“They told us he was dead.”
She sniffled and shook her head again before she swiped impatiently at her eyes with trembling fingers. “I’m sorry.”
“No. Don’t you apologize.” Maneuvering the van to the side of the road, he unclipped her seatbelt as soon as he had the vehicle in park and pulled her into his arms. “You never need to apologize. You have been so fucking strong, Paige, but I’ve got you now. You can let it out.”
Gripping handfuls of his t-shirt, her body shook as sobs racked her frame. Jace held her tightly, rubbing her back with soothing strokes while guilt gnawed at him. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened. She would have stayed safely sleeping in her bed, none the wiser to him, the experiments that had been taking place in the very facility where she worked, or the brother who had been turned into some sort of killing machine… She’d been shot at, battered and bruised, tagged with a tracker, and cut into. Her life had been turned upside down and he had no idea how to make it up to her. But there was something he could do.
