Authors: Shannon K. Butcher
Razor's Edge (10 page)
“Which is why you can't keep it. For all we know, that man wasn't alone. They could send someone else after the journal. Or after you.”
Razor nodded and stood, purpose straightening her spine. “You're right. I need to hide it, or turn it in to the authorities.”
“What authorities? The police? The military? The feds? We have no idea what we're dealing with.” More important, they had no idea if the information she'd read would ruin her life if whoever was behind this found out exactly what she knew.
“He sent it to me for a reason.”
“He also told you to burn it for a reason, but you can't destroy evidence.”
“Maybe they got to him. Maybe he was scared for me.”
“He should be. Until we know more, we have to assume you're in a hell of a lot of danger.”
“I need to talk to Bella. She has connections. She can help me figure this out. And until then, I'll use the high-security storage vault at the Edge to keep Jake's journal safe.”
That wasn't a bad idea. There were fewer places on Earth where she'd be safer than inside that building, surrounded by people who knew their way around a fight.
Tanner nodded and grabbed his shirt. “I'll drive.”
Â
Â
“Where's Evans?” asked Jake Staite, keeping his head turned away from the cameras. He didn't know if anyone was watching them right now, but he wasn't willing to take the risk.
Over the past several weeks, it had become clear that he and the other three men recruited with him into this supposed special forces group were no longer here voluntarily. They were prisoners, and it was their duty to find a way to escape. So far, the security here seemed unbreachable, but he'd find a way out.
The weight room was one of the few places he and the others could talk. The sound of the weights banging against one another and the grunts of exertion drowned out their conversation. At least he hoped so.
The three men congregated in one corner of the room, away from the others who wore the SABER emblem on their shirtsâthe emblem Jake was told he'd have to earn before being sent on any missions. Those men had been here longer and were part of the establishment. Jake was also convinced they were serving as guard dogs, keeping him and the other new recruits from getting out of line.
Alan MacKenzie, Mac, kept his head down, not visibly acknowledging Jake's question. “Gone. Two days now.”
Jake grabbed a fifty-pound weight and loaded it onto the bar. Trevor Moss, his bunk mate, lay on the bench, waiting for Jake to load the other side.
“Did they say where he went?” asked Moss.
“Infirmary.”
“Was he sick?” asked Jake.
Mac wiped sweat from his forehead. “No more than normal.”
They were all sick, and Jake was convinced it was the so-called vitamin shots that had been forced on them since they arrived. All the men took them, and it wasn't optional. He didn't know what was in that syringe, but he did know it was making him and his buddies sick.
A couple of weeks ago, he'd refused the meds. The tech hadn't fought him. He'd simply gone away. Jake thought he'd won the battle until he woke up the next morning with a new bruise on his arm.
They'd injected him in his sleep, and the only way he wouldn't have woken up when someone came into his room was if they'd drugged him. He'd never slept as hard or deeply in his life as he did hereâas if someone had pulled his plug each night. And when he woke up, the grogginess that came with it was not normal.
This morning he thought he'd discovered how they were doing it, but he didn't dare say anything here for fear of one of the SABERs overhearing. He'd test his theory first.
“Have you been allowed to visit him?” asked Jake.
“They said he shouldn't be bothered.”
“We're not leaving without him.” Jake spotted Moss as he hefted the loaded bar. Despite having lost weight, every one of them was stronger now than when they arrived. A lot stronger.
One of the SABERs moved into their space and picked up a set of free weights. He was huge, bulging with muscle in an unnatural way.
Maybe those injections they got every day were some kind of steroids. Jake had never been hungrier in his life. He'd also never thrown up quite so much. Bulgy didn't look as though he had any trouble keeping his food down. Maybe it took a while to get used to the drugs.
Jake glanced at the other man's arm and saw needle tracks, though his weren't nearly as angry and red as Jake's were.
Bulgy went back to his SABER buddies with the weights. Moss got up and gave Jake a turn on the bench.
“Mac, see if you can wrangle a visit with Evans so we know where they're keeping him. I have a theory I'm going to test tonight.”
Jake shoved the bar up, easily handling fifty more pounds than his previous record. In fact, he was holding back, pretending he was weaker than he was. So were the rest of his buddies. They didn't want the powers that be knowing how strong they'd become, hoping it would give them an edge when the time for escape finally arrived.
And they would escape. He had to believe that. Whatever this place was, whoever these people were, they were not patriots. They didn't give a shit about him or any of the other men here. With the exception of one woman he'd managed to befriend and convince to help him get word to Roxanne, everyone here had the compassion of a rattlesnake.
He feared that if he didn't get out soon, he and his friends would become just like them.
Chapter Seven
B
y the time they reached the Edge's main office on the outskirts of Dallas, the sun was beginning to lighten the sky.
y the time they reached the Edge's main office on the outskirts of Dallas, the sun was beginning to lighten the sky.
Jake's journal and all his letters were tucked into a shopping bag, clutched on Roxanne's lap. Her mind kept going to dark, bleak places. What if Jake needed her? What if he was hurt right now? What if he was trapped, praying she'd come save him?
What if it was already too late?
Tanner's hand slid beneath her hair, cupping the back of her neck as he drove. “Hang in there. I'm sure he's fine.”
The comfort of his touch and kindness of his words sank into her, helping to drive away some of the more horrible thoughts plaguing her mind. “I hope you're right. I don't know what I'd do without him.”
Sure, he wasn't around much, but he was the only family she had left. Hell, he and his mom were the only family she had ever really had, if you counted the people who truly cared about her.
She knew exactly how far her parents' love had extendedâto exactly three percent of their net worth. That was the sum total of her value to them.
Roxanne shoved away the memory, refusing to let it add to her anxiety. Jake was what mattered now, not some old wound that had long ago scabbed over.
Tanner kept an eye on his mirrors, checking their backs.
“Any tails?”
“I didn't see any, but I didn't see any on the way to the storage facility, either.”
“Were you looking for company?”
“Not as hard as I am nowâthat's for sure.”
Tanner parked in the private, underground lot and they took the elevator up to the main floor. The doors opened in the reception area, but most of the lights were still off.
“I don't have access to the vault, so we'll have to wait for Bella to show up. We can wait in her office.”
Payton Bainbridge came around the corner from the break room, bearing a cup of steaming coffee. He wore his usual perfectly tailored suit, and despite the early hour, his tie was neatly knotted and exactly straight. While he had to be in his fifties, he still had the kind of dashing good looks that made women much younger than him take notice.
Or perhaps that had something to do with his sizable fortune.
Payton ran in the same social circles that Roxanne's parents had, but he hadn't seemed to have that same hollow spot where his soul should have been that so many of their friends did. Despite his wealth and status, Payton actually worked for a living, and that was something Roxanne couldn't help but respect.
“Razor, Tanner, what are you two doing here so early?” he asked, smiling in greeting.
“I could ask you the same thing,” said Roxanne.
Payton shrugged. “Bella's away, so it falls to me to keep things going in her absence.”
“Where is she?”
“Overseas on a mission. Something hush-hush, apparently.” He waved a hand as if dismissing the details.
“I need to speak to her. When will she be back?”
“In a few days. Is there something I can help you with in the meantime?”
Roxanne hesitated. She didn't know Payton all that well, but this couldn't wait. And Bella trusted him, which was going to have to be good enough. “I need to put something in the vault.”
“Something belonging to one of our clients?”
“Not exactly.” And then she realized a new optionâone that might save Jake's life. “Actually, yes. He is a client, and I'll be paying his bill.”
Payton frowned and held out his hand, indicating they should precede him. “This sounds like something we should discuss in my office. Shall we?”
Roxanne turned to Tanner and lowered her voice. “I don't know how Bella's going to feel about this. I think now would be a good time for you to disengage yourself from this whole mess. I don't want to risk your job.”
He stepped in front of her and bent his knees, bowing his head until their eyes were only inches apart. “If you think I'm going to walk away after you were attacked, after finding out that your friend is in trouble, then you're crazier than the guy who thought you were a flower. We're in this together, and if that means I lose my job, then I'll find another one.”
“Do you two need a moment alone?” asked Payton.
“No,” said Roxanne, seeing certainty in Tanner's eyes. “I think we're ready.”
The truth was, she was relieved to have him at her side. She only hoped he didn't regret his decision to stay there.
They filed into Payton's office, and he shut the door behind them. Roxanne waited until he sat behind his desk before she began.
“I have this friend, Jake Staite.”
Payton nodded. “I remember him from your background check. He's in the army, right?”
Roxanne nodded and clutched the bag of letters tighter to her chest. “You have a good memory.”
Payton sipped his coffee, ignoring her compliment.
“Anyway, he sent me this journal. I didn't realize that was what it was. I was in the middle of moving, so it got packed up with the rest of his things.”
“You two live together?”
“Yes.”
Beside her, she saw Tanner stiffen. “You didn't tell me that.”
“It's nothing romantic. Just pure practicality,” Roxanne hurried to add. “We're friends. He's hardly ever home. It seemed silly for him to rent an apartment when I had that huge house all to myself. Besides, he grew up there, too.”
“Ah, right,” said Payton. “His mother worked for your family. I remember that now.”
“She did.”
“Whatever happened to her?”
“She passed away from a massive heart attack the year Jake went into the service.” Grief made Roxanne's voice tight. It had been her senior year in high school. Jake was gone, and then so was the woman who had been more like a mother to her than the woman who'd given birth to her.
“I can tell you cared deeply for her. My condolences.”
She swallowed down the sense of loss and forced herself to focus. She refused to let Jake leave her, too. “Thank you.”
“So, can I assume that the item you're clutching in that sack is the young man's journal?”
“Yes.”
“And you want to house it in our vault? You know we don't let just anything get stored there. Storage that secure demands a high premium.”
“I know. There's moreâjust hear me out.”
Payton nodded for her to continue.
“I've had the journal for weeks. I'd been moving, and it came when I was working eighty-hour weeks. I wasn't even sure Jake had meant for me to open the box.”
“So why did you?”
“Yesterday, I went to my parents' estate because vandals had broken in and torn the place apart. While I was there, I got an e-mail. It was written in a code Jake and I used as kids, telling me to burn everything.”
Payton set his coffee down and leaned forward, his full attention focused on her. “So, rather than doing as he asked, you read the journal.”
“Yes. And I'm glad I did. I think Jake's in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“He was recruited into some secret military group. After being there awhile, he started to suspect they may not even be part of the US military at all. And if they are, what they're doing has to be illegal.”
“What kinds of things are they doing?”
“They're giving him drugs. He says some of the men are changing, becoming violent. One of his friends killed himself.”
Even the thought of someone doing that to Jake made her want to scream. He was a good manâthe best. He'd committed his life to serving his country, and now someone had tortured him. Perhaps they still were.
Tanner's hand settled on her knee as he spoke. “Razor was attacked last night at the storage facility where she kept the journal. The man was well trained. He was also out of his mind and covered in needle tracks.”
Payton paled and his voice shook as he asked, “Where is that man now?”
“The police took him in. I imagine he's in a padded room by now, undergoing a psych evaluation. But he said âthey' wanted the secrets back. He may not have been alone.”
Other books
Sense of Evil by Kay Hooper
Firestorm by Lisa T. Bergren
Blue Lavender Girl by Judy May
Heartbeat Away by Laura Summers
Hell Ride: An MC Biker Romance (Free Guns MC) by Wilson, Joanna
S&M III, Vol. II by Vera Roberts
3013: SALVATION (3013: The Series Book 5) by Laurie Roma
Can't Anyone Help Me? by Maguire, Toni
The Right Thing by Judy Astley
Bear Claw Conspiracy by Andersen, Jessica