Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (29 page)

“
Hear her out, son,” my
father insisted yet again.

Suddenly, I wanted to
read
his
thoughts. What was he even doing here? Dad wasn’t an agent.
He wasn’t affiliated with UNITED in any way. Everything being said
in Victoria’s office was confidential intel. My father, being a
civilian, didn’t have the clearance to hear such sensitive
information. Even more puzzling, it seemed he already knew what
Victoria was going to tell me.

How close were my father and the formidable
British woman? Once I found Talia, I was going to have a talk with
him about it.

Victoria cleared her throat to regain my
attention, and then pressed on.

“
Last week, our Cryptos
intercepted a communication sent to a mercenary organization called
Nightshade. For the right price, this group will perform any number
of unsavory tasks— from assassinations to kidnappings, from framing
individuals for murder to political uprisings. You name it, and
Nightshade has done it and will happily do it again.

“
Throughout the last two
centuries, they have been responsible for the deaths of ten
presidents, five sitting monarchs, and over two dozen celebrities.
And those are just the incidents that we are aware of. Nightshade
has successfully ransomed children, wives, and husbands of captains
of industry, billionaires, royal families, and high-ranking
politicians, though very rarely for money. Most often, the
kidnappings are a way of compelling the power player to take some
action. Unsurprisingly, this has proven a highly successful method
that has been used in nearly every arena, from business to
politics—hand over your newest techno toy, and your child can come
home unharmed; vote against a particular mandate, and your husband
can keep his hands. That sort of thing.

“
UNITED also has many
documented cases of Nightshade being employed to create smear
campaigns. They disseminate unfavorable information to the media,
flooding the press with negative propaganda to sway public opinion
on any number of matters. They were behind the fiasco with Fargotou
Motors—the one that caused nearly 200,000 hovers to be returned, in
turn bankrupting the manufacturer. By the way, in case you were
curious, the hovers did
not
explode at excessive speeds. The rumor was
fabricated and propagated by Nightshade at the bequest of a rival
company.”

I stared at Victoria, confused as to why she
was telling me any of this. While they certainly sounded like
assholes, Nightshade didn’t have any apparent bearing on finding my
girlfriend, which was all I cared about. Victoria seemed to sense
my impatience, because she quickly continued.

“
While we are not
absolutely certain, intel suggests that Nightshade is behind some
of the attacks the media has attributed to the Created,” she
explained. “Not all of them, of course. The Created have definitely
caused their share of mischief. However, the most wanton and deadly
incidents have been linked back to Nightshade. The mess in Toronto,
for instance, where footage of the attack was sent directly to
media outlets? At the very least, Nightshade was responsible for
disseminating the recording, resulting in great public backlash
against our kind.”

“
Sounds like you should’ve
hired Nightshade to get the treaty renewed,” I said dryly. “Not
sure my pretty face has really achieved the success you were hoping
for.”

Victoria hesitated, and then met my gaze
with a steady stare.

“
The council considered
it,” she admitted. “As much as I would like to say that UNITED has
not stooped to the level of hiring mercenaries, I will not lie to
you. Had Ian Crane not refused them as a solution to our problems
with Danbury McDonough, we might have eventually hired Nightshade
to take him out.

“
Of course, Ian’s decision
was the right one. Had we simply assassinated McDonough, you
wouldn’t have had reason to seek asylum with Ian, and we would’ve
remained blind to TOXIC’s experiments. The more we learn about
TOXIC’s clandestine programs, the better we understand just how
many McDonough managed to infect with his ideals and how far his
virus has spread. Publicly exposing his deeds was the better option
in that situation. And, thanks to you and Agent Crane, Danbury
McDonough is no longer a problem. His followers, however, remain a
very large thorn in UNITED’s side.”

“
What exactly does this
all have to do with Talia?” The question came from Miles who,
unlike me, seemed undaunted by the news of this mercenary group and
the fact that UNITED had few qualms about working with
them.

“
Someone—we are uncertain
whether it is a group or an individual—has sent Nightshade a list
of ten targets,” Victoria explained. “We were able to intercept the
transmission, though the source remains untraceable. Regardless,
all ten individuals are wanted alive, without exception. Talia is
the highest priority target, followed by Alexander McDonough. You
and Penelope are also on that list.”

“
But you don’t know who
wants them or why?” Miles asked.

Victoria shook her head. “Not yet. We are
doing everything in our power to find out.”

“
Are you sure it isn’t
just the Poachers?” I asked. “According to Kenly, they really
wanted Alex. And after we screwed up their auction, I’m sure Talia,
Penny, and I are high on their shit list. I’m sure they’d love
nothing more than to sell us off as slaves.”

“
I am quite certain it is
not them,” Victoria replied. “The Poachers have their own
resources, and theirs is a vain organization. They do not believe
another group is capable of doing what they cannot. While they
might admit that capturing you, Penelope, and Talia requires
specialized forces, it simply does not make sense for the other
seven targets on the list. Even excluding Alex, the Poachers would
not bring in mercenaries for these others.

“
No,” Victoria continued
thoughtfully. “My gut is telling me that the Poachers are not
behind this. Although, they did have a buyer lined up for
Alexander; perhaps that is the same person or group looking to
acquire all of you.”

“
Have you talked to the
Monroe girl?” I asked. “She might know who that was.”

Victoria pursed her lips. “Yes. Elizabeth
Monroe has not been particularly forthcoming with information. I’d
contemplated having Talia interrogate her.” She sighed and
shrugged. “Though it appears that is no longer an option.”

“
I’ll do it,” I offered.
“I mean, I know I’m not as skilled as Talia, but I can
try.”

The councilwoman’s smile was almost sad.
“Your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated, if
you are sure you are prepared. We have other leads that might prove
to be a better use of our time, but I think that is an excellent
backup plan.”

Victoria’s choice of words threw me off.
Before I had the chance to question them, Miles took the
conversation in another direction.

“
Who are the other names?
Did the Brains find a common thread between all ten?”

“
Winter Rossi, Vester
Ozolos, Beth Larson, Kumiko Tao, Miguel Sanchez, and Ida Sawakski.”
Victoria rattled off the names from memory. “Five of the six are
complete unknowns. The Cryptos have spiders searching all
electronic records for mention of each. So far, nothing has come of
it.

“
The only one we found
anything on so far is Beth Larson. Unfortunately, even that is
scant. We do know that Beth is only ten years old. She was of
interest to TOXIC, though it is unclear whether she ever attended
the McDonough School. From the school’s records, it does not appear
she was ever actually enrolled. But, since so much was destroyed,
we simply cannot be positive.”

“
She wasn’t a student,” I
said.

Miles and Victoria sent identical stares of
astonishment my way.

“
Do you know her, son?” my
father asked.

“
Sort of. I only met her
briefly,” I replied, my
heart heavy with
the memory of the day I met Beth Larson. “Beth is a Visionary. Her
mother never submitted her for testing, so she wasn’t sent to the
school as a child like she was supposed to be. TOXIC offered
rewards for reporting people who ignored the testing summons. Beth
and her mom lived in a small rural town in Pennsylvania, and it
didn’t take long for the townspeople to realize the girl was
different. Given the sizable reward, one of the neighbors reported
her to TOXIC.”

I paused, the guilt I still harbored over
taking that little girl from her mother gnawing at my gut. I hadn’t
thought about Beth in a long time, but talking about her brought
the memories of that day front and center. It also brought the ugly
memories of my own extraction rushing back. I glanced over at my
father, wondering how he must’ve felt about me becoming one of the
guys who’d ripped our family apart. Quickly, I averted my eyes.
There was no way I could talk about this with him. Would he
understand?

My tongue felt too big for my mouth, my
voice thick with regret when I continued.

“
Director McDonough had an
extraction team that was responsible for retrieving kids like
Beth—the ones with talents who were never tested. Tensions were so
high at the time, with people wanting the mandatory testing laws
repealed, and Mac didn’t want more bad press. So he sent Talia and
me with the extraction team, to convince Beth’s mother that it was
in the kid’s best interests to go to the school.”

My father didn’t seem at all surprised by
the admission, which brought even greater shame. It was an
extraction team that not only pulled me from my family, but also
killed my mother in the process.

Nonetheless, when I finally found the
courage to meet his eyes, I found not a single trace of anger. Even
though my father knew I had no choice in the tasks assigned to me
by TOXIC, and that my every action was aimed to ensure the safety
of him and my brothers, I still expected him to be upset by my
disclosure. And yet, somehow, he wasn’t. Instead, my father reached
over and squeezed my hand reassuringly.

The outpouring of sympathetic emotions from
both Miles and Victoria was also unexpected. Even more shocking,
the sympathy was for me, not for Beth or the other children who’d
been extracted from their homes. Then again, they both knew the
story of how I came to be a student at the McDonough School.

“
I killed for TOXIC, yet I
think taking that girl from her mother is the most horrible thing
I’ve ever done,” I said. “Stupid, right?”

“
Ah, kid, that’s—” Miles
began.

I cut him off, not really wanting an answer
or reassurances. “You don’t know where Beth is now, I’m
guessing?”

“
We do not,” Victoria
confirmed. She also looked like she wanted to say something to ease
my guilt or soothe my pain, but pressed on instead. “You said Beth
is a Visionary? Is she powerful?”

“
Um, yeah. Really
powerful, from what I recall. Not like Alex or Talia, but still
incredibly strong. And Visionaries are rare, you know? So I can see
why someone would want her.”

Victoria’s expression turned grim.

“
As can I,” she agreed.
“Knowing Beth Larson is a Visionary does play into the theory I
have been developing. Talia, Beth, and Alex all have exceptionally
rare and powerful gifts. You and Penelope are Mimics, which also
makes you both unique; UNITED is only aware of five Mimics in the
entire world right now. Then, of course, there is the fact that you
both have been injected with so many talent signatures, giving you
more abilities than any other Talents in recorded history. I am
sure once we locate the remaining five individuals on the list, we
will discover that they also possess rare talents and an abundance
of power.”

A heavy silence descended over the room.
Without reading their minds, I knew both Victoria’s and Miles’s
thoughts mirrored my own. It was only my father who didn’t
understand what Victoria seemed reluctant to say aloud.

“
But why would anyone want
ten specific Talents?” Dad asked finally, when none of us offered
up the ominous conclusion we’d all reached. “And why two Mimics? Or
do you think whoever hired Nightshade wants Penny and my son
because of their Created abilities?”

“
If I am correct, it is
the fact that they are Mimics that makes Penelope and Erik so
valuable,” Victoria replied, shifting uneasily.

“
You think someone is
trying to make more Talented,” I said softly. Turning to Dad, I
added, “For that, you need as many Mimics as you can get your hands
on.”

“
I’m confused,” my father
said. “Danbury McDonough is dead. Who would be making more
Talents?”

Victoria’s expression was troubled when she
met his gaze.

“
That is the paramount
question,” she replied. “And for Talia’s sake, we need to uncover
the answer.”