H.A.L.F.: The Makers (45 page)

A man sat at the table with his back to the door.
You should never place yourself with your back to the door. You should know better
. It was the man who had informed Croft that the greys had arrived. The man that had given Croft all of Sturgis’ work on the H.A.L.F. program.
John Sewell
. She was tempted to wrap the chain between her cuffs around his neck and choke his last breath out of him.

He rose when she entered and held out his hand. “Ah, Lillian Sturgis. I’m Jacob Adler. So very nice to meet you.”

She glared at him and walked past his outstretched hand. His hand was likely clammy, as it always was. His face was red as usual, looking like he’d just run a mile in the heat.
Some things never change.

Sturgis took the seat opposite him. She had the commanding view of the door. She wondered if his choice of seat had been purposeful, calculated to put her at ease. She put her cuffed wrists on the table.

Sewell called out to the guards. “Please, uncuff my client while we speak.”

“Sorry, Mr. Adler, is it? Orders are that she must be cuffed at all times when not being supervised by a guard.”

“I’m her attorney. I hardly think she poses a danger to me.”

Yes, I do.

“She poses a danger to everyone. You’ve got thirty minutes. We’ll be just outside the door here if you need anything, Mr. Adler.” The guards exited and closed the door.

Sturgis stared icily at Sewell. She watched him squirm uncomfortably in his chair.

Sewell pulled at his collar, trying to give his thick neck some breathing room. “I’m sure you can appreciate the danger that I’m putting myself and my family in by coming here,” he whispered.

“You’ve been in danger since you first set foot in A.H.D.N.A.” She did not whisper.

Sewell let out a nervous cough. “Yes, well, I think you know what I mean. This is different.”

Sturgis sat back in her chair, letting her cuffed hands rest on her lap. “Unlikely. But I’ll admit my curiosity is piqued, so tell me what brings you to speak to the evil Lilly Sturgis? Does Croft need me to decipher one of my formulas? Need help understanding the proper nutritional components required to keep a hybrid in top condition? Or did you come just to get the satisfaction of seeing me humbled?”

“None of those things.” Sewell glanced back at the door. Seeing no one there, he pulled a briefcase from the floor, opened it and handed Sturgis a manila-colored file folder.

The folder held only two pieces of paper. One was a blank sheet of white paper. The other was a photo. It was black and white and grainy, but it clearly showed Alecto getting into a van and her niece Anna standing beside the van. And standing with Anna was that Wilson kid that she was pretty sure she’d ordered back into a cell.

Sturgis’ heart fluttered away in her chest, but her facial muscles were well practiced at remaining stoic no matter the situation. She studied the photo, taking in every detail. Though it was of poor quality, she couldn’t help but notice that Anna’s face had taken a beating.
Whoever did this to her will pay
.

Sturgis closed the folder and sat back again. She looked up at Sewell and said nothing, giving the impression that she had looked at a photo of a shoe or patch of bare dirt rather than of her beloved niece with a beaten-up face getting into a van with her human-hybrid creation.

“She’s okay. They all are.”

“All?”

“Thomas was with them.”

A quiet, involuntary gasp escaped Sturgis’ lips.
Thomas?
He rarely left his apartment. He was brilliant but like a small child when he ventured out into the world. At least that was how she remembered him. Sturgis had rarely left A.H.D.N.A. recently and had not seen Thomas for over five years. It was hard to imagine him going toe-to-toe with the likes of William or Lizzy Croft.

“And what can you tell me of this Wilson kid? Hard to imagine Croft would let someone go who’d seen so much,” Sturgis said.

“He … escaped. And found his way to Anna. He – aided and abetted the infiltration of the Croft penthouse and the, um, theft of H.A.L.F. 10.”

Sweat beaded on Sewell’s upper lip. He pulled a white handkerchief from his suit coat pocket and wiped his brow. He was more nervous than usual. Sewell put the soggy handkerchief back in his pocket.

Is he feeling guilty about helping Croft take me away from my work?

“Why are you really here, John?”

Sewell cleared his throat. “These – fugitives – stole a valuable item of property. Mr. Croft’s property.” Sewell took a pen out of his shirt pocket and flung it across the table to Sturgis. It slid on the smooth, faux-wood tabletop and landed next to her cuffed hands. “Any information you may have leading to a successful recovery of this property could lead to your release. You may have inside information.” He emphasized the word
inside
.

Sturgis regarded Sewell’s face and studied his eyes. There was a time that he’d looked up to her. Idolized her even. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Before their work had gotten so intense. Before they’d had their first success. They were both younger then. More carefree. She was softer then too, less hardened by the hard choices she’d had to make. And his crush, though he’d never acted on it, had been obvious.

He looked at her now with the same admiration in his eyes that he’d had all those years ago. Before he’d found out she was a part of a conspiracy to terminate the lives of all those women who’d been used to give birth to the H.AL.F. children. Before she’d thrown Dr. Randall into house arrest. And before she’d gone so far as to order three teenagers killed rather than risk them telling her secrets. He was trying to help her though why he’d risk his life now to do so she couldn’t know.

What changed for him in the last six weeks that I’ve been here?

Sewell checked his watch. “We don’t have much time. The guards will retrieve you soon and take you back to your cell. This is my only opportunity to – to get the information needed to … That could lead to your release.”

Sturgis picked up the pen and wrote. Her writing was tiny and neat. She filled every inch of the page front and back with the details she’d taken note of during her time at Miramar. She had a lot to say and not much space, so she focused on the details she thought were most important.

“We have less than two minutes,” Sewell said.

She scribbled madly until she was out of blank paper. She pushed the paper back into the file and shoved it back across the table to Sewell. She grabbed the pen and though she wore handcuffs, was able to tuck it inside the neck of her shirt and work it into the band of her bra.

Sewell opened the file and pulled a small plastic spray bottle from his case. The bottle was eyeglass cleaner. At least that was what it said on the label. But as Sewell sprayed the page she’d written, the tiny print disappeared. The page was again blank both front and back.

“You have chosen not to cooperate, then?” Sewell’s voice was flat. He looked directly into her eyes.

“I have nothing to say.”

Sewell put the file with what appeared to be a blank page back into his briefcase. “That’s too bad. If you had given me anything, it would have been a help to secure your release. Instead I have a blank page and you have the rest of your life to spend in prison.” Sewell closed the briefcase and stood. “If you have sudden recall of information, let the guards know and I’ll be back.” He walked to the door.

“Sewell,” Sturgis called out.

He had his hand on the doorknob but stopped. “Yes?”

She wanted to say thank you, but it was difficult for her to show gratitude. She nodded once, her eyes soft. Then she forced a sneer to her face. “I hope that Croft gets what he deserves.”

Sewell opened the door and nodded once to her. “He will. And so shall you.”

Erika had hoped that she’d be able to get Tex off the school grounds without further bloodshed. “Stay close to me,” she said. Tex had been acting more like her prisoner than her friend. Given how unpredictable his actions had been, she took his hand.
I’ll drag him out of here if I have to.

She had scoped out the security situation after she’d left Tex and Dr. Randall. Makeshift barricades like the ones used on the highway during construction had been placed around the school perimeter. It was only waist high and wouldn’t keep people out, but it gave a clear signal that people weren’t supposed to come in either. The perimeter was further reinforced with armed guards. Some of the patrols had dogs.

Erika had intended to leave, get the four-by-four and return to get Tex. But they’d erected a makeshift guardhouse on the road into the school. Guards stationed there checked the credentials of everyone going in and out. She and Tex would have to get off the school grounds and make it to Ian’s house to pick up the truck before they could even attempt to get out of town.

Tex’s thin hand was cold in hers. “We’ll have to walk to the truck,” she whispered. “It’s about a half a mile from here. Can you make it that far?”

He didn’t respond.

It was the middle of the night, but with a three-quarter moon in a cloudless sky, it was like someone had plugged in a giant night-light. She could see clearly, but that also meant the guards could as well. Erika wondered if she’d ever have a normal heartbeat again instead of the galloping horses that seemed to have taken up residence in her chest.

She stayed close to the brick walls of the building where Tex had been kept and walked as quickly as she could to the northwestern perimeter of the grounds. A dog’s bark pierced the otherwise quiet night. Soon there was a chorus of woofing and yipping.

Erika stepped up her pace to a jog and tucked behind the next pod building. Tex was quiet but able to keep up with her.

As she turned the corner of the building, they nearly ran into two guards that were running in the direction from which Erika and Tex had come. They were clad entirely in black from head to toe and had the strange, gold embroidered emblem of two snakes eating each other’s tails against a pyramid background. The symbol was familiar, but though Erika had tried, she couldn’t recall where she’d seen it before.

“Stop,” one of the guards said. “Hands in the air.” His gun was raised and only a few feet from Erika’s face.

She had no choice but to stop. She didn’t want to let go of Tex, but she complied anyway. Her relationship with him felt like a thin thread of a tether that was weak and would break at any minute, Tex flying off like a helium-filled balloon.

As soon as their hands were in the air, the second guard took the guns Erika had pinched from the two guards they’d put down in Tex’s makeshift hospital room. Erika felt naked and vulnerable without the gun.

“Don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you’re not leaving.”

“This is a hospital, not a prison. You can’t keep us here.” Erika knew she couldn’t argue her way out of the situation, but she wanted to get them talking and buy time until she could think of what to do. She hadn’t seen General Bardsley after he’d left Tex’s room, but she had the feeling that if these guards got her and Tex back into the pod, they’d lose their only chance to be free.
Tex, what should we do?
She hoped he could read her thoughts despite the fact that he’d denied that he still could.

The guard scoffed. “Rumor has it you’re a terrorist. We can hold you as long as we want. And this one isn’t even human.” He pointed the rifle at Tex. “It’s property of the Makers and due to be delivered to Mr. Croft tomorrow.”

The second guard tapped his Bluetooth earpiece and spoke. “We’ve secured the package. Yes, sir, both of them. Alive? Yes, sir.” The guard tapped his Bluetooth again. “Boss says we’re to bring them in alive.”

“Even the girl?” the first guard asked. He sounded disappointed.

“Yeah. Apparently her blood’s got the antibodies Croft needs to synthesize an antidote.” The guard’s eyes bored into Erika’s. “Looks like you’re going to live after all. At least until they suck what they need out of you.”

The first guard moved closer to Erika, his six-foot-tall frame looming over her. He was so close Erika could smell his garlicky breath and see the hairs up his nose. “Too bad. I was itching to put a hole in her chest.”

The way the man pushed himself against her, she was reminded of how Joe had treated her all those months ago in the desert. She expected the guard to make a lewd comment. But instead he confessed wanting to kill her. It was strange, but she had been less disturbed by Joe’s gross come-on than the idea that this guy, who didn’t even know her, wanted to kill her.
I haven’t even had a chance to piss him off yet.
She knew very little about the Makers, but the more she knew, the more she thought they were a bunch of lunatics with far more money than morals.

Erika had focused on getting Tex away from the Makers while trying not to think about her mom and Jack. It hadn’t occurred to her that she was in danger as well. An image came to her mind. She was strapped to a bed, an IV line coming out of her arm, draining her of blood. It was such a vivid vision that it felt more like a memory than her imagination.
But that hasn’t happened to me. Yet.

She’d hoped that Tex was being disingenuous about no longer having the abilities he’d had before. But he remained silent and passive, showing no evidence that he still had the power to use telekinesis as a weapon.

The guard spoke in a low, surly voice. “Turn around and go.” As soon as she turned, he shoved the nose of the gun into her back.

Erika walked but was in no hurry.

“Move it,” the guard said. He nudged her in the back again for good measure.

Tex reached for her hand and she took his. It was still cold and dry. Her hand was a sweaty mess.

They’d gone less than twenty yards and had not yet reached the central courtyard. Tex tugged hard on Erika’s hand. He pulled at her, causing her to trip and fall to the ground with him. She fell onto the hard-packed earth and scuffed up her palms on the loose rocks. She was splayed out on the ground, her legs twisted up in Tex’s arms. Tex stared at her intently. He had tripped them on purpose. He was trying to tell her something, but his eyes were, as always, impassive reflections, unable to communicate in the unspoken language humans used all the time.