Page 24 of Black Bay Protector
“Then, can I ask a question?” Her voice sounded hesitant so Jace braced himself.
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
“Did you have a mother?”
He knew she wasn’t referring to Doctor Dietrich’s sadistic brand of nurturing. He cleared his throat of the growl that had risen. “According to our files, we had surrogates that were implanted with the altered genetic material and carried us to term. They were paid well for their services.”
He heard the bitterness creep into his voice and knew that Paige heard it as well.
She shook her head, her lips pinched with disapproval. “I can’t imagine anyone agreeing to do that, no matter how big the payday.”
“To be fair, the women didn’t know that it was an experiment. The lab had them meet with a ‘happy hopeful couple’,” he told her, having raised his hands off the wheel to make air quotes. “And Doctor Dietrich and the other white coats closely monitored all the pregnancies so they could explain away any anomalies that might pop up.”
Paige’s hand dropped to his leg and she squeezed his thigh in a show of support. “So, where is this Black Bay?” she asked, neatly changing the subject. “I haven’t seen it on any of the signs we’ve passed.”
“You won’t,” he told her. “And we’re about an hour away now.”
Chapter Twelve
BlackBayfacilitywaslocated on a man-made island just off the coast of Virginia near Virginia Beach. Masquerading as a supermax prison, the one-hundred-acre government site was heavily fortified and easily defensible. To reach it by car, you had to travel through an underwater tunnel that could be collapsed, flooding it with ocean water in the event of an incursion. Jagged rocks surrounded the island just under the surface of the water and made approaching by sea hazardous, and any attempt to attack the site by air would be met with surface-to-air guided weapons.
“Are we seriously going underwater?” Paige asked as he drove them into the tunnel.
“We are.”
“Um, that looks like a wall up ahead.”
“That’s the first checkpoint.”
Stopping, the gates quickly closed behind them, locking them in and Jace rolled his window down. A blue light swept over the van, scanning them.
“Wow,” Paige said, her eyes wide with surprise. “I feel like I’m in some sort of science fiction movie.”
The last word was barely out of her mouth before there came the sound of laughter over the monitor just outside Jace’s window. A moment later Matthew Davies’ amused face appeared. The general’s son monitored the security feeds for Black Bay, and at the moment, he was laughing his ass off. He let out another hoot of laughter before saying, “Oh, my God. This is too perfect. I’m going to go pop some popcorn for this show because the Old Man is going to flip. First, you go rogue, and now you’re bringing a civilian woman on base?” The man threw his head back, practically howling with laughter.
Jace scowled. “Just open the doors, asshole.”
There were a few more chuckles before the man offered, “Fine, fine. But drive slow so I can get snacks for this.”
The screen went blank, and the next moment, the wall in front of them opened up to reveal the tunnel that would lead them to the island.
“Are you going to get in trouble?” Paige asked, biting her lip adorably. He loved that she was worried for him, but there was no need.
“Oh, the General will bluster and stride about and make all sorts of threats, but the intel I’m bringing him will get his mind off it quick enough.” Jace glanced over at her as he hit the gas and propelled them through the tunnel. “You don’t have to worry about him coming down on you. The Old Man won’t admit it, but he’s a softy when it comes to women. I wouldn’t be surprised if he offered you his quarters to make sure you were comfortable.”
Jace looked over at her. “Though I hope you’ll want to stay with me.”
Technically, she could have her own place. Black Bay certainly had plenty of housing, but he wasn’t going to mention it if it meant he could hold her in his arms again while they slept. He hadn’t gotten the chance last night, instead spending several hours of the darkness standing guard while she slept, but when the sun had finally begun to rise, he’d crawled into bed and snuggled up with her for a nap. That time, though brief, had been some of the best sleep he’d ever had. He wanted to do it again, and now that they were safe, he could hold her all night long.
It took roughly ten minutes before the tunnel began to steadily angle upward and they were met with the final door and one last checkpoint. They were greeted by Matt’s grinning face on the monitor as he showed them the big bowl of popcorn he’d popped before the doors parted to allow them inside. With an exasperated shake of his head, Jace drove them out of the tunnel and into the sunlight.
In keeping with its public face, Black Bay was surrounded by high concrete walls topped with razor wire and had guard towers high up manned by personnel armed with automatic rifles. Inside those walls, however, the facility resembled a small town. In the town center, there were brick buildings that were the administrative buildings and armory, the commissary, a fully equipped athletic building with a pool, and the large mess hall. They even had a park with green grass, small trees, and benches to enjoy the sunshine. If they drove past that, they’d hit the housing section of Black Bay where the houses resembled condos in a gated community. It was a nice setup. And should they ever require something that wasn’t on-site, Virginia Beach was only a short ride away.
“Wow.”
Jace glanced over at Paige’s exclamation of surprise and saw that she was looking at the large transport helicopter hidden from any eyes in the sky under some rather high-tech camouflage.
Before he could say anything, though, his door was wrenched open. General Davies stood there in his usual fatigues and the man wasn’t just pissed, he was PISSED. That vein he and Lark had joked about was standing out prominently and his jaw was ticking from grinding his teeth together so hard. Between those clenched teeth, he gritted out, “My office. Now.”
