Page 4 of Black Bay Defender
While the General hadn’t dismissed the plan out of hand, he hadn’t exactly given his approval either. “He said he’d keep it in mind. That he has a few contacts he’s waiting to hear back from before he makes a final decision.”
Lark breathed a sigh of relief as the tension drained from her body. “Good. We’ll find another way. Something that doesn’t put you right back where you started.”
She cared, he realized, and the feeling was nice. Sure, she might care about all of the soldiers –anyof the soldiers – but for now, he could pretend that her concern was just for him, and bask in the warmth.
They walked on. To the outside world, this man-made island off the coast of Virginia Beach was a supermax prison that held the worst criminal offenders. In keeping with that front, Black Bay was surrounded by high concrete walls topped with razor wire and had guard towers set at intervals with armed guards keeping watch. Inside, however, looked like a small town. There were green spaces with benches to sit on and small trees dotted around where the majority of the people who lived here chose to exercise rather than utilize the fully equipped gym. There were paved roads that looped around the center green before heading out to the residential section, and throughout, were brick and stucco buildings. Some, like the ones they’d just left, were administrative offices. Others were the mess hall, the aforementioned gym, and the commissary. There was also the brig which currently held one Doctor Anne Dietrich, a woman Grady still fully intended to kill for what she’d done to him. Like he’d killed Doctor Craig Jerome, the bio-robotics engineer that had spearheaded the project Grady would have never volunteered for.
As soon as he felt that now familiar red haze of rage begin to descend, he quickly pushed away all thoughts of the scientists and their treachery and focused on Lark instead. She had a stabilizing influence on him and he’d use it. “So why did the General have to order you to sleep? What’s been keeping you up?”
She let out a little self-deprecating laugh. “The General says I’m like a dog with a bone. I’ve got all this data I need to go through and I just can’t sleep until I know every little detail.”
“Of the Resurrection project?” The project that had been forced upon him. Again that anger rose, but he focused on Lark’s mouth as she formed her words. As a distraction, it was a good one.
She had fangs – all of the Beasts did – but hers were different proving that once again, she was unique. Her fangs were hinged so they folded back against the roof of her mouth when not in use. If you weren’t looking for them, you wouldn’t know they were there. Grady was looking for them as a means to keep his rising aggression at bay. Not that he’d see them. She’d have to tip her head back and have her mouth open… his groin tightened with a surge of lust as a highly inappropriate and extremely arousing image came to mind.
“But the reason I came to see you,” she continued, thankfully oblivious to what he was thinking. “Was because Paige told me you got your memories back.”
Stopping, she turned to face him and placed a hand on his arm – the arm that was still flesh. The contact was nothing more than one of friendly concern, perfectly innocent, or at least, that was the way it was intended, but the feel of her skin against his sent another shot of lust ricocheting through his system.
Grady stepped back and turned away slightly while he tried to mentally talk down the erection that had sprung instantly to life in his pants, pulsing with need. Christ, her effect on him was potent.
Clearing his throat, he looked back at his shadows. They’d kept several paces behind, allowing him and Lark the privacy to talk, but the sight of them was just the splash of cold water he needed to extinguish the flame of desire. Even if this attraction he felt was reciprocated, the chance of him getting any true privacy with Lark was a long shot. While he was perfectly capable of disarming his guards and rendering them unconscious, that sort of aggressive action would lose him any trust he’d thus far gained.
“I’ve got most of them now,” he told Lark as he resumed walking. Shooting her a smile, he added, “Your advice of giving me a nut shot to the hippocampus worked.”
Lark chuckled. “Good.”
“I’m still missing the time leading up to the incident though. I accessed the files and know where I was attacked and how I was brought down, but I don’t remember being there, or why I was there.”
That mission, whatever it was, was still lost. A brief flash of memory struck. A man gripping Grady’s shoulder as he said, “Commander Carter, good to have you aboard.” It wasn’t the first time he’d seen that memory, but the man in it was an unknown. Yet instinct told him that whoever that man was, he was the key to unlocking that final piece.
Lark nodded thoughtfully. “Those soldiers, when we free them aren’t going to have a sister handy to help them. I need to get my hands on that memory tech they used. I’m sure they have it in whatever lab they’re currently housing the soldiers. If I can figure out how it works…”
She trailed off, deep in thought, her brilliant mind working on a plan, Grady was sure. A dog with a bone she’d told him. He liked that about her though. She’d set herself up with this mission and he knew she wouldn’t rest until she’d successfully rescued every one of the Resurrection soldiers and restored their memories.
“Maybe it’s time I had another chat with Doctor Dietrich,” she quietly uttered, talking to herself rather than to him.
A place he couldn’t go. Grady ground his molars together as the anger flared once more to life. Could he get to the geneticist? Yes. But again, that would mean the end of his stay at Black Bay – if the guards didn’t execute him outright – and he wasn’t ready to leave. Not when it meant he’d never be able to see Lark again. Not even for his vengeance.
Lark seemed to visibly shake off her thoughts before shooting him a smile. “If you don’t mind my asking, what memory did your sister hit you with?”
“My best friend.”
“Yeah?” She was grinning, her eyes sparkling with happiness until he added, “He died.”
Her face fell. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.”
Stepping closer, she surprised the hell out of him when she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. It was nice, for the two seconds he was able to enjoy it. His neural processor mistook the embrace as an attack, his automatic response system kicked in, and the weapons capability hidden within his robotic arm suddenly came online.
Chapter Three
Threethingshappenedinquick succession. Grady jerked away from her as if he’d been burned, his guards raised their weapons and rushed closer, and Lark realized she was bathed in the green light of Grady’s ocular laser sight.
What the hell?
She sidestepped, but Grady moved with her, keeping her in his sights. He was panting, and by the look on his face panicking. His left arm was raised and a section at the top of his forearm had opened to reveal what looked like a miniature missile launcher. His right hand held his left wrist, the bones in that hand showing white as he struggled to control the limb that was aiming at her. His jaw was tightly clenched and beads of sweat formed on his brow. The tendons in his throat stood out in sharp relief as he strained against whatever programming had been inadvertently triggered.
“Shut it down!” one of the guards barked, the muzzles of their automatic rifles practically touching Grady’s head.
