Gage (Contract Killers Book 1) (4 page)

“It isn’t just your blood that will unlock all of my life’s work, but also the very makeup of your DNA will help in unleashing exactly what this world needs.” His expression was hard, concentrated.

She had her hands twisted in her lap, felt her throat tighten, and knew her chances of getting out were zero. Her father wouldn’t know where she was, and he sure as hell would never think Rye could have done this to her. No, she was alone, and if she didn’t think of some way to escape, she’d die here.

That wasn’t going to happen.

“Have you ever wondered why you never became ill?” He continued speaking about this, but Neeka just wanted out of his presence. He disgusted her.

“You’ve never wondered why you never broke a bone?” He pulled out a plain manila envelope from his desk and spilled its contents on the desk.

She glanced at the paperwork, hating she had to be in the same room with him, but she needed more answers.

“The Dark Haven project is my life’s work. It’s because of you that I was able to create Adaym.” He slid papers toward her, and she slowly leaned forward.

Create Adaym?

She looked down at the photos of a hardened, fierce, and severe looking man. She noticed a chain and manacle were attached to his ankle, and there was a pallet of blankets in the corner.

“Oh my God, what in the hell are you doing?” The words rushed out of her, and she covered her mouth. He was keeping other people prisoner here? Chaining them up?

She looked at the image again. The man’s face was slightly away from the camera, and the lighting was dark, but she could still see the muscles and strength in his body. He didn’t look much older than in his early thirties, but whatever he was going through had to age someone to the point their life faded away.

She looked at Rye again. “Why tell me this?”

He smirked, and dread filled her stomach. “Because I want you to know what you’re contributing to, what you’re helping to unlock.”

No, he’s telling me because he has no plans of letting me go.

“You can’t do this, Rye. You have to release me, have to let anyone you’re holding prisoner go.” She slid the photo back to him. “You want my blood, fine, I can donate whatever you need, but using people as specimens, doing whatever crazy and barbaric experiments on them, is wrong.”

“Have you not listened to anything I’ve said?” Rye’s voice was rising, his anger becoming clear.

“You’re insane.” Her voice was rising as well.

“I know you want to go home, to be with Edward, but you and I both know if I were to let you go, you wouldn’t cooperate.” He shook his head. “No, I need you accessible to me at any costs. It’s the only way this will work. My research and plan are more important, Neeka.”

“I just don’t understand any of this,” she said more to herself than to him. “Why not just ask me for blood samples? You’re my doctor, and I wouldn’t have questioned you. You’ve taken my blood many other times…” That realization had her stomach roiling.
God, he’s been taking my blood for his insane experiments.

“Yes, it’s true, I have been taking samples while you were growing up, but it’s not enough, Neeka. I need bone marrow samples, tissue samples, and anything else from you that will further unlock my research. Already I’ve made so much progress.”

His betrayal was painful, like a harsh slap in her face, but it hurt most in her heart. Neeka knew her face must have had a look of hatred on it. She could not believe what she was hearing. Not only had her father trusted this man, but
she
had trusted him. He had betrayed them both. She looked down again at her bruised and battered arms. The marks would heal by tomorrow, but the wounds Rye had caused on the inside would never fade.

“I am sorry for that. Although I cannot let you leave, not yet, and not on your own. I can make your stay here more comfortable, lavish even, if you don’t fight me, Neeka. A few bruises here and there are a small sacrifice on your part.”

She clenched her teeth but didn’t respond.

“You’re very important to me, and I want you comfortable.”

“I’m far from comfortable,” she gritted out. “You truly are insane, and I’ll be no help to you. I will fight you kicking and screaming the whole way.” She was about to stand, but the dark look that crossed his face had her staying in her seat. Never had she seen such a foreboding and evil look on him.

“You will stay here and give me what I need, because you have no choice. I would much prefer if you were willing, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not, Neeka.” His voice had dropped to a deadly whisper that sent chills down her spine. He pushed the other papers toward her. “I want you to read what work I am accomplishing. You are what is making all this possible, and I won’t let anything ruin that, not even you.” His jaw was hard as he stared at her, the muscles under his skin flexing.

She didn’t even look at the papers, and Rye’s face got red from his anger.

“Read them,” he said harder, more adamantly.

She took the papers, her hands shaking as she looked down at the documents. Shock resonated through her at what she read. If she was reading correctly, Dr. Rye Vincent believed that her blood was the key in making indestructible warriors. He’d created a serum with her blood as the main component because he believed it made a person invincible. Once he injected the blood-serum mixture into the human body, the recipient would become immune to both biochemical warfare and injury, heal instantly, and have superior strength and senses.

She shook her head as she read through the material again. “This is fiction. My blood can’t make people indestructible. That’s not possible, not realistic.”

He really was insane.

“No, your blood alone can’t make anyone superior, but coupled with a formula I’ve been working on my entire professional life, it can.” He was grinning now, and it was a ghastly sight. “You have a blood type that isn’t even categorized, Neeka. Once I watched you heal quicker than what was humanly possible, I took that initial sample, ran tests, and realized it was the missing ingredient in my serum. I have been trying for years to get the mixture right, but everything I tried wasn’t compatible with the human recipient.”

This is insanity.

“I’ve been watching over you for your whole life, keeping you under my care at all costs, because I couldn’t risk anyone finding out about your blood type. I couldn’t risk them taking you away from me or my work.”

She shook her head, not sure what to say.

“We needed the most powerful men, physically and mentally, as the recipients in order for the serum to truly work.”

She shook her head, the pain in her eyes becoming unbearable now.

“As with all experiments, we had our trials and tribulations, but once I found the missing ingredient—your rare blood type—corrected the levels and properties of the serum, and found a compatible human match, it was then that I created Adaym.” He pointed to the picture of the chained young man.

“You’re a monster,” she whispered. “So what, you plan on injecting people with this experimental drug, using them as guinea pigs as you harvest my blood? You truly are a sick man.” Disgust dripped from her voice as she stood.

“Sit down.” He all but shouted the command, and she sat, fear spiking within her at the rage reflected in his features. His face was red, and the muscles in his forearms clenched and unclenched as he made fists and relaxed them on top of the desk. “You will not undermine my breakthrough. I have worked decades on this, and there you sit, calling me a monster when everything I am doing is to better this world.”

“Better this world?" Stupefaction laced her voice as she stared at him with disbelief. “You’re testing your drugs on innocent people, using their lives like they were nothing. I will not condone any of this. You can keep me here, but you can never make me a willing participant in your sick fantasy world.”

He suddenly became calm as he leaned back in his chair again. “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, Neeka. You will help me and give me what I need, or I’ll dispose of everyone and everything you hold dear.”

She covered her mouth, tears threatening to spill free.

“You don’t get it, do you? I am creating super humans. Men who can fight in war with super strength, and can be injured, but heal instantaneously. Warriors who can’t be affected by biochemical warfareweapons.” He smiled triumphantly. “I will be the most powerful man in the world. I’ve already succeeded in creating the first indestructible killing machine.”

She clenched her hands in her lap, not knowing what to do. She felt defeated as she glanced back down at the photo of the man. His dark hair was unkempt and shaggy, his eyes fierce, but not broken. His chest was bare and riddled with scars.

God, I’m so sorry they did this to you.

Who was he really? Was his name even Adaym? Did he have a family somewhere, a wife, kids? She put her head in her hands and breathed out. How would her father ever find her? She would never see him again. She couldn’t help but feel the need to cry, her anger mounting more and more. Sorrow also filled her at the thought of the lives that would soon be used and discarded with no thought or consideration.

She didn’t doubt Dr. Rye Vincent was a genius. The very idea of men being able to heal on the battlefield would benefit many people, but the way he was going on about it was wrong. He was hurting people, keeping them as prisoners, and experimenting on them as if they were lab rats. She knew that even though this looked like a dead end for her, she wouldn’t let herself break. She would keep fighting until she drew her last breath.

Chapter Four

Gage had ended up finding out the name of the man that owned the van when Neeka was abducted—Kevin Kraybold. Now he had an address to go off of, and some questions that needed answers.

He parked his SUV on the side of the street, right across the street from a rundown bar. On the corners were a few prostitutes, and lo and behold, the man in question was outside soliciting one of the prostitutes. Gage cut the engine and sat in the car, watching the exchange. The woman said something to Kraybold, and then the little asshole backhanded the woman. Gage got out of the SUV before the woman’s pimp came out and kicked Kraybold’s ass. Gage needed answers first. After that he didn’t give a fuck what happened to the piece of shit.

“Hey, motherfucker,” Gage said right before he clocked Kraybold in the face. The man stumbled back, holding his nose, and blood dripping down his chin.

“What the hell,” Kraybold said without looking at Gage. When he finally locked gazes with him Kraybold’s eyes widened, maybe from the size of Gage, or because he knew this wasn’t going to end well for him.

Gage wrapped his hand around the asshole’s neck, and walked him backward and into the adjoining alley. Once hidden by the shadows he pressed Kraybold against the brick wall.

“What the fuck you want, man?” Kraybold wheezed out.

Gage could have given him the benefit of the doubt, assumed maybe his van was stolen, but the air about this asshole, the fact he’d slapped a woman out in the middle of the street, told Gage this piece of shit wasn’t innocent.

“I’m only going to ask you once, so you better make sure you tell me the honest answer.” Gage leaned in so he was nose to nose with Kraybold, staring him deep in the eyes, and slightly tightening his hold on the other man’s neck. Kraybold’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out, only a sickening gurgling sound. Gage loosened his hold but didn’t lower him from the wall. Gage didn’t fuck around when it came to getting answers.

Kraybold sucked in air, his eyes starting to water.

“You have anything to do with the kidnapping of a young woman a few weeks back?”

Gage tightened his hold again when the man didn’t answer. Kraybold’s eyes went wide as he started shaking his head. Gage loosened his hold once more.

“Okay, okay. Yeah, I was hired. I was instructed to drop her off at a rundown motel off of Interstate 61. The money was already there when I got there. I took it, and left her in the room.”

“What was the motel’s name? Who hired you?”

“I didn’t know his name. Some guy contacted me and offered a thousand dollars to bring the girl to the Dew Oaks Motel. I don’t know any names. I swear that’s all I know.”

Gage stared at the fucker, really looked at him. The man was panicking, and by the way he pleaded Gage could tell he wasn’t lying. But that didn’t stop the darkness already rising inside of him, or the feel of this anger over this entire thing take root. Gage tightened his grip on the other man’s neck, his eyes going wide as he tried to pry Gage’s fingers from around his throat. Gage knew Kraybold thought he was about to die, but in all actuality, Gage had no intention of killing him. Collateral damage was always a possibility in these situations, but he’d let the little fucker live.

Gage released the man, and Kraybold slid to the ground, taking desperate breaths of air. Instead of killing the asshole, Gage pulled his cell out, knowing Kraybold had one hell of a rap sheet on his ass. Gage’s phone was a burner, and therefore untraceable, so he placed an anonymous call to the police.

Leaving the little prick gasping for air on the ground, Gage got back in his SUV and switched on the dashboard computer that was directly linked to the compound. The female robotic voice welcomed him, and he entered in his code, typed in The Dew Oaks Motel, and immediately got the coordinates and the history of the piece of shit place. It was eight hours from Shyloh, which was where he currently was located, and from where Neeka had been taken. He had a lead, and things were about to get fucking messy. He could feel it.

****

Neeka was placed, by force, in another room, this one much more spacious and well furnished than her holding cell. Rye had gone out of his way to make this look like a bedroom, like she wasn’t being held prisoner. There was a window, barred, but it did let sunshine in.

Several days had passed since she’d met with Rye, and during that time no one had taken her blood. Her wounds had since healed, but she still felt like shit, couldn’t stop thinking about her father and if he was okay, and wondering how she could possibly get out of this.

A knock sounded on her door, and she turned from her seat in front of the window, her heart racing because she didn’t know what she was about to experience. Was the testing going to start again? Was Rye finally done with her? He’d said she was special, that he needed her, but he was a fucking psycho.

The young man that entered was the same she’d seen that first day she’d gone to Rye’s office. He couldn’t be much older than she was, and he refused to look at her. He held a silver tray in his hands and set it on the small table by her bed.

“Today is grilled chicken with a light butter sauce, steamed green beans, and garlic mashed potatoes.” He didn’t look at her as he spoke, but he never did. He lifted the silver lid, showing her that he spoke the truth. He covered it again and turned to leave.

She didn’t give a shit about the food or anything else that concerned Rye. What she cared about was escaping and helping out the men that the psychotic doctor was performing experiments on.

“Wait,” she said to the young man. He looked nervous whenever he came in here, and she thought maybe he’d be a weaker opponent, someone that she could actually fight to get her freedom. The other guards were big, mean, and always had this scowl on their faces.

She stood and took a couple of steps toward him, noticing how he did glance at her then, and how his body had tensed. She’d been watching him every time he came to her room, noticing a guard right outside before the door closed and automatically locked.

“I need to get out of here,” she said in a soft voice so the guard she knew was on the other side couldn’t hear them.

The young man didn’t speak.

“Do you realize he’s keeping me here against my will?”

Again no answer.

“Do you understand the atrocious things he’s doing to people, and that you’re an accessory to it all?”

He’d looked at the ground again, refusing to keep eye contact with her.

“Look at me, you weak asshole.”

He did lift his head again, but there was only nervousness on his face. “I work for the doctor in whatever he way needs.”

Asshole.

Okay, so the prick wasn’t going to help her. She’d have to go to the next plan she’d been thinking about since she was put in this new room. It might not work—no, it probably wouldn’t work—but she had to try something. Sitting here and waiting to be used was not an option. Her father would want her to fight, to kick ass if she could.

“Can I get a pitcher of water?”

He gave a brisk nod, and then turned around knocked on the door, signaling the guard he was ready to get out. He left without a backward glance. There was no handle on the inside, and she’d been watching his routine when he left, knowing he had no keys on him, and if she wanted out she’d have to make a plan.

Even though her room was more furnished than her last dwelling, it still held the bare minimum when it came to furniture, especially things she’d want to use as a weapon. Aside from the bed, a dresser that was far too heavy for her to move on her own, and a chair, which had been bolted down to the ground by the window, there was nothing else. Even the bathroom attached to the room didn’t have anything she could use. The mirror was reflective plastic, and the back of the toilet didn’t even have the lid on it, which was one of the first things she’d checked since it was heavy enough to do some damage to someone.

Looking down at the tray, she saw the plastic utensils and the plastic cup. Yeah, those would be unless. Ten minutes later, the guy came back in her room with a plastic pitcher filled with water.

He handed her the pitcher, and she felt the heaviness in her hand. Her heart was beating so fast, and she knew that even though this might not work, she had to at least try to get away. He nodded, and turned away. She gripped the handle of the pitcher, her muscles tensing, her breathing becoming faster.

“Excuse me?”

He turned around, and that was when she reared her arm back and slammed the pitcher against the side of his head. The plastic cracked and water splashed everywhere. He stared at her, stunned for a moment, his eyes wide, his mouth parting open. She balled her hand into a tight fist and swung out. She’d never hit anyone before, and when her hand connected with his jaw she gasped in pain.

His head cocked back, and blood started tracking down his temple from where she’d knocked him in the head with the pitcher. His gaze turned distant before he fell to the ground.

Can it be that easy?

But she wasn’t a fool, because even if this asshole was out she still had to worry about the guy on the other side of the door, and possibly more down the hall.

Her heart was working overtime as she stared at the closed door, praying the guard hadn’t heard the commotion. Several seconds went by, and she breathed out in temporary relief. She grabbed his ankles and pulled him toward the other side of the bed and placed him there so he wouldn’t be seen if someone came in.

Knocking on the door, she kept her mouth shut and her body on alert. Looking over her shoulder, she could just barely see the feet of the man she’d knocked out peeking out, and hoped that would give the guard that came in pause.

A second later her door opened, and she pressed herself against the wall behind the door. The door blocked her from the guard’s view as he walked in, but when he came into view and saw the feet he rushed toward the bed. She didn’t wait to see what would happen when he found out it was the man working for Rye that was unconscious.

Neeka slipped out the door and shut it as quickly as possible just as she heard the guard’s curse ring out. Either she was the best escape artist alive or Rye had some lousy guards. Most definitely the latter, but still, she was lucky enough to have gotten to where she was now. The sound of the guard pounding on the door came through loud, echoing off the high walls. He’d contact his buddies through the walkie-talkies they all had, so she had to be quick and smart.

She had no idea where to go, taking several different turns down the long hallways, feeling like she was going lower and deeper into this compound. She kept looking over her shoulder, expecting to see someone right behind her. Panic filled her further when she heard male shouts ring out behind her, but still at a distance.

She pushed open one of the doors, this one not having a palm scanner on the wall. The elegant decorations soon became the sterile white. She knew this was the completely wrong place for her to be going, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to turn around, not when she could still hear the guards coming closer.

Neeka continued to run, her bare feet smacking the tile as she rounded more corners. She skidded to a stop when she saw three men in black fatigues down the hall in front of her. They immediately started shouting and charging toward her. She turned to go back the way she came. She gasped when two more men started coming from that way, as well.

She looked around, having only a short window of time before they reached her. She sprinted down a hallway that was empty, about to cry when she realized it was a dead end, but then she saw a large metal door to her right. That one was locked, and she was about to scream in frustration when she saw another one further down the hall. She pulled on that one, expecting it to also be locked, but when it opened, she couldn’t help the relief that coursed through her. She slammed the door shut and leaned against it, the room so dark she couldn’t even see an inch in front of her. She turned around and stepped back, hearing deep shouts on the other side and trying frantically to find some place to hide.

Neeka backed up.

It must have automatically locked when I shut it. But why was it open to begin with?

She continued to back up, but then her back met something hard and wide. She felt her eyes widen, and not wanting to turn around for fear of what she was pressed up against, which she could tell wasn’t a wall, she did just that. Even though the room was completely dark, she could easily see the dim glow of two light blue eyes staring right at her. They seemed neon in the dark, with an almost iridescent hue to them. She slapped a hand over her mouth and backed away, but the owner of those eerie eyes moved closer, following her until finally light spilled into the room as the door behind her swung open. She could finally see who was in the room with her, and she gasped in fear and shock.

Adaym.

“How the fuck did she get in here?” one man shouted from behind her.

“Who the hell left the door open?” another said.

“The doctor is going to have someone’s head.”

Pain slammed into her arm, and she looked down to see a syringe sticking out of her flesh. She looked back at Adaym, hearing his animalistic roar and seeing him charge forward. The chain around his ankle stopped him from reaching them, but she could see the rage on his face. She didn’t know if it was directed at her or the guards, but it didn’t matter because darkness claimed her seconds later.