The Recruit (Book Three) (8 page)

“What
information is that?” Douglas asked softly.

Jordan studied
him carefully. “Douglas, is it? You teach the history of the
supernaturals to the recruits?”

“Yes.”

“On the same
night that this facility was attacked by Samuel and his followers,
the Atlanta facility was attacked as well.”

“What the
fuck?” Mannie asked in surprise. “Alison uploaded the virus to our
system so how the fuck did they know where the Atlanta facility
was, and why the fuck are we just hearing about it now?”

Jordan raised
his eyebrows at him. “We’re uncertain as to how exactly they found
out the location of the facility but we have people working on
that. The actual attack was not nearly as devastating as the one
here. All things considered, our people in Atlanta controlled and
eliminated the vampires with relative ease.”

He studied each
of them. “Because of the simultaneous attacks, we’re running under
the assumption that what this Samuel said was true. There are pods
of vampires banding together across the country in an attempt to
destroy each individual facility. Each facility has been put on
high alert with, again, the assumption that their locations have
been compromised.”

“Have other
facilities been attacked?” Constance asked.

“No. Whether
that’s because the vampires do not know the location or because
they’re waiting for us to lower our defenses, we don’t know.”

He cleared this
throat briskly. “Regardless, the issue we face now is getting this
facility back into shape and training our future recruits. The
Board of Directors has asked that we increase the amount of
recruits we train and I personally believe that’s an excellent
idea. They’ve been making great effort to recruit new people which,
as the vampires have become bolder in their attacks in the last few
years, has become much easier than in the past. There will be two
new groups of recruits arriving early next week. And, as I
mentioned earlier, there will be some changes to how we train.
We’re hoping to cut the training time in half, enabling us to get
the recruits out and hunting in record time.”

“Are you
fucking kidding me?” Mannie snapped. “We can barely keep up with
the current load of recruits, not to mention that half of them are
traumatized by what happened. If we want them to graduate, we’re
going to have to spend more time with them and that’s not going to
happen if you’re dumping new people on us.”

“I understand
your concerns, Mannie, but you do need to look at the bigger
picture. Vampire attacks have increased substantially in the last
year. If we’re to control their population, we need more
people.”

“Sending out
half-trained recruits to be slaughtered by vampires isn’t going to
increase our chances of winning the war.” Will said grimly.

Jordan gave him
a cool look. “The Board of Directors has faith in yours and the
other instructors’ abilities to adapt to the new training schedule,
and ensure the recruits are properly prepared for hunting.”

“And you? Do
you believe we are?” Will asked.

Jordan smiled
thinly. “I believe some of you, more than others, are capable of
it. Time will tell if I’m correct.”

“Why not just
hire more instructors?” Constance asked.

“We’d like to
keep costs as low as possible. Although – “

Will rolled his
eyes. “Yes, because allowing innocent recruits to die is cost
effective.”

Jordan ignored
him. “Although, we will be looking at hiring another weapons
instructor as we feel that you would be much better suited to
training the babies full time, rather than splitting your time
between that and weapons training.”

“Why is that?”
Constance asked softly.

“The Board of
Directors didn’t share that information with me.”

“The Board of
Directors doesn’t believe that a Lycan can properly train a human
on stake or gun use.” Douglas said. “Isn’t that right, Mr.
Hart?”

Jordan gave him
a considering look as Douglas snorted loudly. “We’re nothing but
mindless beasts who use our claws and our teeth. We couldn’t
possibly teach the humans how to protect themselves against the
leeches with guns and knives.”

Jordan shook
his head before smiling at Constance. “As I was saying, the Board
of Directors has not shared with me their reasons. But I can assure
you that we have the utmost faith in your abilities to train.”

Douglas snorted
again and Will elbowed him gently in the side as Jordan gave him a
frosty look. “If you have issues with how Lycans are being treated
within the program, I would suggest we talk about it in private at
a later date.”

He glanced at
his watch. “I think that’s enough for now. I’ll be calling a
meeting tomorrow in the gym to introduce myself to the recruits and
I expect all of you to be there. We’ll continue with our patrols
until the new security system is up and running, and I’ll be
speaking with Will, Mannie and Constance in the next few days about
the new batch of recruits arriving. In the meantime, if you have
any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to come see me. I
maintain an open door policy and I welcome your thoughts and
suggestions. Alright?”

The others
nodded and Jordan glanced at Will. “Would you mind staying for a
moment, Will?”

Will returned
to his seat and waited patiently as the others filed out. When the
door had shut behind them, Jordan rested his hands on his desk and
stared gravely at him.

“I wanted to
speak with you about the incident involving our recruit, Hannah
Torrington. The fact that she is now a Lycan is – “

“I turned her
to save her life.” Will interrupted harshly. “Not because I was
worried what others would think about a Lycan and a human being in
love, despite what you may think.”

Jordan laughed.
“Someone’s been telling stories about me.”

“Stories or the
truth?” Will raised his eyebrow at him. “Everything I’ve heard
about you indicates you have trust issues with Lycans. In fact,
it’s my understanding that my job here is on the chopping block and
you’re the one holding the axe.”

“It is my job
to ensure that the facility runs smoothly and I will be keeping a
close eye on each of the instructors, Will. Richard was the head of
this facility for a very long time and we are well aware of how
close you two were. He considered you a very good friend and while
that is admirable, I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to run
the facility. If that means making difficult decisions regarding
the employment of some of the long-term instructors, then so be
it.”

“Let me guess –
the first instructors to be accused of not doing their job will
just happen to be Lycan.”

“I don’t have
the hatred for Lycans that you believe me to have, Will.” Jordan
said quietly.

“Do you not?”
Will asked skeptically. “Then perhaps you need to do a better job
at controlling the rumours about your dislike for my kind.”

Jordan sighed
loudly. “About ten years after Richard created the program, he and
the Board of Directors decided to bring other Lycans into the
program. He’d had nothing but good things to say about you and
while the Board was initially hesitant, they knew how effective you
were at killing the leeches.”

Will stared at
him in disbelief. “Richard never said anything to me about
this.”

“No. He
wouldn’t have. The decision was made to keep it quiet, in case it
didn’t work out as well as it had been working with you. Lycans are
volatile by nature and while there is a certain amount of peace
between us and them, at that time they were still mostly regarded
to be as dangerous, if not more, as the leeches themselves.”

He cleared his
throat. “Richard’s success with you, however, and his unwavering
belief that Lycans could be taught to destroy the leeches for us,
prompted the Board to – “

“Taught?” Will
interrupted. “We are not dogs for you to train. If this is how you
approached them, I can only imagine the response.”

Jordan sighed
irritably. “You’re deliberately twisting my words, Will. Just
listen, would you?”

Will grunted
softly as Jordan continued. “They approached a pack of Lycans
living in California and although initially they were resistant to
the idea of working with humans, after a few weeks two of the
younger Lycans agreed to it. They were brought to the LA training
facility. I was a recent graduate and I worked quite closely with
them, Lafen and Marco were their names, in training the newest
batch of babies. It went well for the first few months. Both Lafen
and Marco proved to be excellent leech killers and although their
training methods were crude, they were effective.”

Richard and the
Board began to discuss the possibility of bringing in more Lycans
to the other facilities. They even arranged a meeting with another
pack of Lycans. Two nights before the meeting, Marco and Lafen
shifted and systematically hunted down and murdered the entire
batch of babies they had been training.”

“Jesus.” Will
muttered. “Was it a full moon?”

Jordan shook
his head. “No. Marco had fallen in love with one of the recruits.
Our understanding was that she returned his affection for a while
before deciding to move on. In retaliation, the Lycans murdered
her, her new lover, and seven other innocent people.”

“You can’t base
all Lycans on their behaviour.” Will said. “Just because they
lacked the control doesn’t mean that others do not.”

“Perhaps.
Richard did speak highly of your ability to control your wolf side.
However, even he could not deny that only a few months ago you put
your entire team in danger on a regular basis by refusing to
exercise proper protocol during the hunts.”

“I thought the
woman I loved was dead. I was grieving for her. It’s hardly the
same as being spurned.” Will said angrily.

“Yes, that’s
true. The Board did take that into consideration and that, along
with Richard’s absolute refusal to fire you, is the reason you
still have a job.”

Guilt flooded
through Will. He had treated Richard horribly near the end, and to
hear that even then Richard had defended him filled him with regret
and sorrow.

“Which leads me
to my next point. I’ve done my research on Lycans, Will. I know
very well the dangers that a human who has been turned can present.
We are anxious to keep Hannah in the program, she has proved
repeatedly that she’s an effective hunter, but the Board will not
allow another incident like the one with Lafen and Marco to happen
again. Obviously with the hiring of Douglas and Constance, we’re
giving it another try. But I’ll be honest – I have my doubts about
them as well. Alan was found mutilated beyond recognition. Douglas
has admitted that he killed the man.”

“Alan was
responsible for the deaths of dozens of recruits!” Will snapped.
“He deserved what was coming to him.”

“I’m not saying
he didn’t.” Jordan said patiently. “But the manner in which Douglas
killed him was disturbing to say the least. Plus, we cannot forget
that Lycans are also working with the leeches.”

Will sighed
heavily. “What do you want me to say? You obviously will never
trust my kind.”

“That isn’t
true.” Jordan said carefully. “Despite what I have witnessed in the
past, I am more than willing to give the Lycans here a chance. But,
that being said, I am concerned about Ms. Torrington. Her ability
to keep her control is obviously not going to be on par with yours
and the others.”

“She can
learn.” Will said immediately. “She’s tough and she’s strong, and
it won’t take long for us to teach her how to control the
shift.”

Jordan stared
silently at him for a long moment. “I hope you’re right, Will. I
really do.”

There was a
soft knock at the door and Jordan checked his watch before calling
for the person to come in. Hannah entered the room and she and Will
stared at each other in surprise as Jordan smiled.

“Ms.
Torrington. Thanks for coming by and seeing me. Will – we’re done
for now. Thanks.”

“I’d like to
stay.” Will said immediately.

“Oh, that won’t
be necessary.” Jordan replied. “I just need to have a brief meeting
with Hannah.”

“I don’t care.
I’m – “

“It’s fine,
Will.” Hannah was still standing by the door and she gave him a
quick smile. “I’ll talk to you later, alright?”

He headed
toward the door and paused before kissing her lightly on the mouth.
“I’ll see you soon.”

“You bet.” She
gave him another confident smile but he could see the anxiety in
her eyes and he squeezed her hand reassuringly before leaving the
room.

Jordan stood up
and she crossed the room to shake his hand. “Welcome, Hannah. I’m
Jordan Hart and it’s great to finally meet you. Why don’t you have
a seat and we’ll get started.”

Chapter 7

Douglas opened
his door and smiled at Hannah. “Hello, Hannah.”

“Hello,
Douglas.” She gave him a nervous smile. “I – I came to apologize
for what happened earlier. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long.”

“That’s
alright.” He said immediately.

“It isn’t. I
nearly killed you and I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I feel
terrible for what I did.”

He shook his
head. “I understand, Hannah. Besides, it turned out fine.”

“Only because
of Selena. If she hadn’t come in when she did, I – “

“Do not worry
about it.” Douglas interrupted. “Now, why don’t you come in and
have a nice cup of tea.”

“Are you sure
you want me to come in?” Hannah asked hesitantly. “I’ll understand
if you prefer I didn’t.”

“Don’t be
silly.” He stepped back and motioned for her to enter his
apartment. “Besides, Will and Mannie are here and I know Will wants
to talk to you.”

She crossed the
room to Will. He hugged her tightly and kissed her briefly on the
mouth. “How did it go?”