Chapter Eleven
Elizabeth slipped into the training room. Her gaze slid to the left, and she saw a line of guards stationed near the entrance. The guards were standing near the wall—all armed. Their attention was in front of them, on the test subjects.
The subjects were separated into pairs, grappling in hand-to-hand combat. Six subjects, three pairs. They moved so quickly. They attacked viciously. The air filled with the thud of flesh hitting flesh. The men moved so fast that their bodies seemed to blur.
“Damn impressive, aren’t they?”
Elizabeth glanced to her right. A man stood at attention there, his hands behind his back, his chest up, his chin out. She recognized the strict pose and would be willing to bet he was a life-time soldier. Spots of gray were visible in his hair, and lines slid away from his eyes and mouth. He wasn’t dressed like a guard. Instead, he wore blue jogging pants and a white t-shirt. Casual clothes, but there was nothing casual about him.
“You’re Dr. Elizabeth Parker.” He kept his eyes on the men, but she had the feeling his real attention was on her. “I’m General Andrew Jamison.”
The name was familiar to her. General Jamison was close to Wright—he’d even come to their old facility a few times, but Elizabeth’s path had never crossed with his. She’d just heard the whispers about him from other staff members.
“General,” she spoke quietly, “I didn’t realize you were training the Lazarus men.”
“They’re the best of the best, so it only stands to reason the best should train them.” There was no boast in his voice, just flat fact. She knew the guy had a trunk load of medals at home. Everyone knew Jamison’s reputation. “These men—they are the future for us.”
She glanced at the subjects. Unerringly, her gaze went to Sawyer. He was fighting with Five, she instantly recognized the blond. For every hit that was thrown by one man, it was blocked perfectly by the other.
“It’s like they know what’s coming. They can anticipate every attack.” Pride came through from Jamison now. “There is nothing like these men in the world. Our enemies won’t be able to compete.”
“General—”
His gaze swung to her. A dark gaze, intense. Measuring. “You did this.”
She wouldn’t flinch.
“I wasn’t sure how I felt about Project Lazarus, not at first, but I’ve seen the men in the field. I go with them on the missions. I’m their main handler, and I watch everything they do.” He nodded. “They are perfect. No hesitations. No mistakes. They will change the world.”
No mistakes. She wasn’t so sure about that part. “You haven’t noticed any issues with the men?” Because surely, as their handler, Jamison would be the one to witness any cracks.
“None.”
She wasn’t about to let this drop. “No increased aggression? No—”
His short bark of laughter cut her off. “They’re hunters. Weapons. If they weren’t aggressive, then I’d consider that a problem.” His gaze narrowed on her. “We have another mission at 0600 tomorrow. A domestic terrorist cell has been located in New Mexico. These men will go in, they’ll eliminate the problem, and no civilians will ever even realize how close they were to danger.” Before she could speak, he pulled out a whistle and blew it, hard. “Time for firing practice.”
The men on the mats stilled.
Sweat coated their bodies, but they barely seemed to be breathing hard. Sawyer’s head swung toward her, and she could have sworn that his gaze heated. He even took a step toward her.
Elizabeth tensed.
Five said something to him, something that was low, too low for her to hear, but Sawyer swung back to him. Sawyer moved with that fast, blurring motion, and suddenly, Five was on the mat, he was pinned beneath Sawyer, and Sawyer’s fist had slammed into the side of the other man’s face.
“Hot damn.” Jamison blew his whistle again.
He was going to berate Sawyer for his attack. Increased aggression. Jamison would—
“Fantastic job, One! See, men, that’s what I’m talking about. You’re good—too good—but there is always room for improvement. One saw the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack, and he went in for the kill. Excellent. That’s why he’s the leader!”
Sawyer’s back was stiff. His hand was in a fist, and it had frozen mere inches from Five’s face, as if he’d love to pound the guy again. Elizabeth’s own hands had clenched into fists, too, but not due to anger. Fear filled her. Jamison might like what he was seeing, but she didn’t. In fact, it scared the hell out of her.
Sawyer leaned toward Five. He didn’t say a word, Elizabeth was staring at Sawyer and she never saw his mouth move, but…Five nodded. “All right, man,” Five said gruffly. “I get it. My bad. Hands the fuck off.”
Sawyer rose and spared Elizabeth one hard, glittering glance.
The subjects filed into the connecting room. She hurried after them and saw that targets were already set up. The subjects grabbed for their guns.
“You give them real bullets?” Elizabeth blurted to Jamison. He was right at her side. “I thought all of the guns in the facility were loaded with tranqs.”
“The facility guards carry tranqs because our subjects are so valuable. We would never want a guard to mistakenly kill a man on the Lazarus team.” Jamison gave a faint laugh. “And relax. The guns that my team uses here are loaded with rubber bullets, Dr. Parker. The Lazarus team only gets the real deal when we’re on our missions.”
Rubber bullets would still knock the guards on their asses. “You aren’t worried that they’ll turn on you? When you have them out on a mission, you never become afraid one of the subjects might attack you?”
She was watching Sawyer. He’d picked up a handgun. He pointed at the target. He squeezed the trigger. Again, again, again.
The bullets hit straight into the dead center of the target. All perfect shots.
“I’m not at all worried about that possibility.”
Her head jerked toward Jamison. He was watching her.
“These men know there was a price for their new abilities. They realize that a certain testing period is required. Once we are sure that the men have adjusted well, we’ll begin to integrate them back into society.”
She didn’t speak. The guns kept firing.
“They’ll be monitored, of course, but they’ll have a more normal lifestyle. They’ll be activated when missions call for their services. The men understand all of this. And they are willing to wait and follow orders until they are cleared.”
“Cleared.” Her body was so tense that her muscles ached. “And you don’t think these men might be a-a threat to the public? You don’t think that one day releasing them—releasing men with superhuman strength and speed—might be dangerous?”
Jamison’s face could have been carved from stone. “This is about the situation with One and the guards, isn’t it? I heard about what happened yesterday.” His voice was low, barely above a whisper. Just for her. “And I hold you responsible for that situation, Dr. Parker. Subject One would never have responded that way if you hadn’t been present.”
He was not saying that shit to her.
“If you weren’t the creator of Lazarus, I would never have given my approval for you to come into this facility. Your history with One is too intimate.”
She felt her cheeks burn. Jamison knows I was Sawyer’s lover. How does he know?
“And while Subject One may no longer be the same man he once was, I think there is a part of him, a part deep inside, that has a primitive memory of you. It was that primitive memory that led to his actions with the guards. Though it should be noted that they attacked first. He was just responding to their aggression.”
Her mouth had dried up completely.
“Those particular guards have been removed from our facility, and the men who have replaced them will not make a similar mistake.”
She had the feeling Jamison viewed her as the mistake.
The men aren’t firing.
It took a moment for that knowledge to sink in for Elizabeth. Her stare flew toward the Lazarus subjects. They were all still holding their weapons, all still aiming at the targets, but they’d stilled. As if…as if…
Oh, my God…can they hear us? Jamison had barely been whispering to her, but the goosebumps on Elizabeth’s body had her fearing that these men—with their enhanced senses—could hear their conversation. Maybe…maybe their enhancements were far more profound than she’d realized.
Maybe the test subjects had been keeping secrets of their own.
They volunteered. Cecelia’s words echoed in Elizabeth’s mind.
The men all began shooting at once. Aiming with absolutely perfect accuracy.
“Amazing,” Jamison praised, his voice loud again. “They never miss.”
Her heart was racing too fast in her chest.
He put his hand on her shoulder and leaned toward her. “I can’t afford any distractions for my Lazarus team. They have to be in top form. We want them to keep progressing. As I said, our goal is to integrate them back into society and to call them up when their services are needed. I think we are close to that point now.” He moved even closer to her. Once more, his voice lowered and he said, “Provided no one disturbs their progress.”
Her spine stiffened. “You think I’m a disturbance?”
The men were firing.
“I think you’re the creator of Lazarus. I think you’re the reason we’ve had the best breakthrough of the century, but I think if Subject One loses his focus, then it will be because of you. You need to stay away from him. Do your research on the others, but don’t get close to One again.”
There was something about his voice, about the way he looked at her. “Are you threatening me, General Jamison?”
He laughed and his hand slid away from her shoulder. “Of course not. You’re needed, Dr. Parker. Your mind would be a terrible thing to lose.”
The sonofabitch was threatening her. And—
“Looks like we have company.” His gaze was fixed over her shoulder. “And someone sure looks pissed.”
Her head whipped around. Landon marched toward her, and, oh, yes, he definitely looked pissed. His face was twisted in anger.
“Elizabeth,” Landon bit off her name. “We need to talk. Now.”
***
It would be so easy to shoot the asshole. Sawyer’s fingers tightened around his weapon. Landon was rushing away with Elizabeth, and she was afraid. He could feel her fear. He didn’t like it. His hold tightened on the gun. Sure, it was loaded with rubber bullets, but those bullets would hurt like a bitch—
Don’t do it. Sawyer recognized the push in his mind as coming from Two. Two was distinct. His thoughts sounded like his voice—that was the way it was for them all. Sawyer heard the voices in his mind, muted, but recognizable, when the team used telepathic communication.
His emotions must have been rawer than he realized, especially if Two had just picked up on his urge to attack.
Nah, I say go for it. Five’s mocking laughter seemed to echo in Sawyer’s ears. But Five didn’t look his way. He just kept firing at his target. Head shots. Over and over. Landon is a prick, Five told him. At least shoot him in the ass and give him a scare. Not like we have real bullets anyway.
Sawyer locked his jaw and put down his weapon. He’d never listen to advice from Five. That bastard had already driven him to the edge—and over it—that day. All because the jerk had said the wrong fucking thing about Elizabeth.
But…Elizabeth…
They’d all just heard what the general had said to her. Elizabeth was Lazarus. They’d all been wanting a key to unlock their pasts. Elizabeth was that key.
She was the tool they needed to truly be free.
Fuck. He hated what was going to come next for her, but there wasn’t an option. He’d have to use her, he’d have to scare her, and he might even have to kidnap her. He didn’t have a choice. The plans for escape had been put in motion for too long.
***
“You broke confidentiality!” Landon blasted as he threw open the door to his office. “You went to Cecelia and told her information about Project Lazarus that she did not have the clearance to hear and you—”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Elizabeth lied. “Who told you this?”
“Um, I did.” Cecelia stepped from the corner of Landon’s office. She gave a little wince. “I told him.”
Elizabeth glared at her. Sell-out. So much for getting an ally in that place. “Right. Makes sense. Landon thinks you’re having a breakdown, so to get some of the pressure off yourself, you toss me under the bus. Nice play, Dr. Gregory.”
“I—you lied to me,” Cecelia threw back as her hands went to her hips. “These men volunteered!” Her attention flew to Landon. “Prove it to her, Dr. Meyer. Show her the videos.”
Elizabeth’s heart thudded hard in her chest. “Yes,” she immediately agreed. “Show me the videos. Right now.”
A muscle jerked in Landon’s jaw. She’d just called his bluff. There were no videos. Sawyer hadn’t volunteered, none of those men had.
Landon marched around his desk. He opened his laptop. He paused just a moment, to put his index finger down on the sensor pad, and she knew he was unlocking the system. Worried someone will steal your files, Landon? He stabbed his fingers over a few of the keys, then he flipped the laptop around to face Elizabeth. “See for yourself.”
She took a step forward. A video was already playing on the screen, and she recognized Subject Five.
He flashed a broad smile.
“State your name.” Landon’s voice came from off-camera.
“Bryce King.” He lifted a blond brow. “What? You want my rank and serial number, too?”
“No, I want you to state that you are willingly offering yourself as a participant in Project Lazarus.”
“Hell, yes, I’m in. I’ve seen the results, and I want that power boost myself.” His eyes gleamed. “I willingly volunteer.”
Chill bumps rose on her arms. “It’s not that easy,” Elizabeth murmured as she stared at the screen. “He has to die first. He can’t be injected while he’s living. The formula doesn’t work that way.”
Landon snapped shut the laptop, closing it in an instant. “Bryce King was aware that the formula could only be administered to the dead. But considering his very high risk job, Bryce also knew that he might meet his end at any time. He wanted to go on record as being a volunteer for the program.”
Why had Landon stopped the video? She’d been able to see that at least two more minutes remained of that filming, she’d noted the little line at the bottom that showed the video had barely begun to play.
“See, Dr. Parker?” Cecelia approached her quickly. “These men volunteered for the project. I don’t know about the death that you keep mentioning—”
Elizabeth turned and locked gazes with the shrink. “Lazarus only works on the dead. Every man in this program died before being given the Lazarus formula. They were brought back from the dead. That is the truth.”
Cecelia swallowed. Her attention immediately shifted to Landon.
“Tell her,” Elizabeth barked as the silence stretched too long in that room. “If you want her to treat the patients, to truly monitor them, then you should have told her everything from the beginning.”
“It wasn’t my call,” he snapped back. “Her clearance isn’t—”
“Screw her clearance.”
But Landon shook his head. “Wright dictates what we share, you know that. I told you the rules—”
“Then tell Wright it’s on me.” Her shoulders squared. “Say I’m the one who told her. Blame me, and keep your hands clean.”
“Is it true?” Cecelia pushed.
“She needs to know what she’s dealing with! You realize that, Landon, I know you do, and—”
He gave a jerky nod. “It’s, fuck, yes, it’s true.”
Silence.
Then Cecelia staggered back. “Oh. My. God.” Her eyes had doubled in size. “They’re dead?”
“Actually, they were dead,” Landon explained quickly as he rolled back his shoulders. “Now they’re part of Lazarus.”
The shrink was having a moment. That was obvious. Her breath was coming faster and her body swayed as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that she’d been treating dead men for weeks. Elizabeth let the woman have her moment, and she focused on Landon. “I want to see the other videos.”
He sighed. “Why? They’re all the same. The men volunteering, agreeing to participate in Lazarus—”
“Sawyer never volunteered.” She slapped her hands down on his desk. “He didn’t know about Lazarus. He didn’t know what I was doing. He was leaving, getting out, planning for a civilian life. Not planning for this.”
Landon’s lips twisted. “You never once considered that you weren’t the only one keeping secrets, did you?” He turned the laptop back around to face him. He opened it once more and activated the system. She could barely hear the taps of his fingertips over the frantic beating of her heart. “Here you go.” He presented the screen to her once more. “Just click the arrow to make it play.”
“I know how to make it fucking play.” She clicked the arrow.
Sawyer’s face filled the screen. “Why the hell do you need to record this?”
“For the record,” came Landon’s fast response.
Sawyer rolled his eyes. “This is such bullshit. Fine. Okay. I, Sawyer Cage, volunteer to be part of Project Lazarus.”
That was it. All of thirteen seconds. Her stare rose to Landon’s face. “That’s bullshit. He didn’t know that you were talking about bringing the dead back to life! He just thought you were talking about the work we were already doing. He didn’t know.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Landon muttered.
“If he’d volunteered, you would have told me when I tried to stop you from administering the formula to him!”
He rocked back on his heels. “There wasn’t time then. You knew we were working against the clock with the injections. The preservation process only lasted so long before deterioration began! Was I really supposed to stop and show you a damn video? Sawyer Cage volunteered. He wanted to keep working for Wright. He had no intention of leaving. If Sawyer told you anything different, then he was lying to you.”
She almost punched him in the face. Almost.
“You want all the cards on the table? Is that what this is all about?” Landon’s hands flew into the air. “Fine. You were fucking Sawyer Cage.”
She couldn’t move. Cecelia was dead silent.
“I knew about it. Wyman Wright knew about it. You thought you were keeping the affair secret? You weren’t.”
She should say something. Do something.
“Sawyer knew you two were breaking the rules by getting involved,” Landon continued doggedly. “So he told you that lie to make you feel better. The guy was a ladies’ man, you had to see that. And you aren’t the first woman he misled.”
No, no.
“They all volunteered,” Landon said. “Every single test subject. No one is a prisoner—each man is here willingly. They wanted the power we could give to them. And now they have it. They are the best fighting machines in the world, and each day, I swear, they just get better and better.”
Her cheeks were burning hot, but her body felt ice cold. Was it possible that Sawyer had lied to her all that time? She didn’t want to believe it. But she’d been keeping secrets from him. Maybe he had kept secrets from her, too.
“You’re not at Lazarus to hook up with your ex.” Landon’s words battered her. “You’re here to do more research, but if you can’t do the job, even you can be replaced, Dr. Parker.”
She gave him a hard smile as she tried to keep her shit together. “If I could be replaced, Wright would never have come crawling back to me.” She pushed away from his desk. “Wright needs me. You need me. But if you piss me off again, I’ll walk the hell out without any hesitation.”
He laughed. Laughed. “Now who is lying? We both know that you won’t leave Sawyer.” He leaned toward her. “Wright knew you’d be tied to the program through Sawyer, and he was right.”
Her heart just—stopped. Was it possible…no, surely they hadn’t used Sawyer as the first subject because of her. Had they? The horror must have shown on her face.
Landon blinked. His expression immediately closed down. He shoved his laptop into his desk drawer. “I hope this has reassured you—”
Not even close.
“We have a lot of work to do, and it’s time we get busy.” He nodded briskly. “The men have a mission at 0600 tomorrow. We have to make certain they are in top form before they leave.” His gaze slid back to Elizabeth. “Can you handle this?”
I can handle anything you throw at me.
But before she could respond, she saw that his stare had dropped to her chest. He wasn’t staring at her in some kind of ogling way. Actually, pity flashed in his eyes.
And she realized that her hand had risen. She’d been pressing her fingers over the scar hidden just beneath her shirt. The scar from the gunshot wound she’d gotten in D.C. when she stepped between a guard and Sawyer.
Her hand fell. “I can handle this.”