Chapter Twenty-Four
“I can’t find any trace of Wyman Wright.” Jay sat behind his desk, his fingers poised over his keyboard. “I looked, Elizabeth, and I looked hard. If I can’t find him…” He glanced up, his jaw set. “Then no one can.”
They were back in D.C., well, technically, they were just outside of the city. In yet another of Jay’s houses. He’d been released from the hospital and so had West—though West was on strict orders to take things easy. Her orders.
Currently, West was stationed near the door, and a glower was on his face.
There were a few more occupants in the sprawling office. Flynn Haddox stood next to West—his body in the same, falsely relaxed pose. Cecelia Gregory sat perched on the edge of the couch. While the last member of their little group—Sawyer—
He stood right beside Elizabeth.
“From what I can tell, Wright never made it out of the Lazarus facility alive.” Jay rolled back his shoulders. “Landon wanted to cover all of his tracks there. I think he set the explosions to destroy the place. I think he blew the place to hell and back because he wanted the formula for himself.” He nodded once. “I found plans on his laptop. Logistics that showed the facility’s entire layout. Places that would be perfect for explosive devices. He mapped out the facility, and then he just waited for the perfect moment to strike.”
“What about Bryce?” The question came from Cecelia. Quiet. Hesitant. “Is he…?”
Elizabeth glanced at her. She could feel Cecelia’s fear.
“No sign of him, either,” Jay confessed. “But unlike Wright, we know that Bryce is enhanced. And all indicators say that he slipped away from my house in Arizona, then the guy went completely off the grid. I’m pretty sure Bryce cut his tracker out long ago. Hell, that’s probably how he was able to slip into Cecelia’s quarters so often. He must have left the tracker in his room while he went to see her—”
A low, menacing growl came from Flynn. “He should be dead.”
“Dammit! I didn’t know he could get back up after I shot him in the chest!” Sawyer said, voice flat. “If I’d known it took a bullet to the brain to stop him, trust me, I would have made sure the bastard didn’t rise again.”
Because, unfortunately, Bryce had risen. By the time they’d realized that Lazarus subjects could come back from the dead—apparently, multiple times—he’d already been long gone. Only a pool of blood had been left to mark where he’d been at Jay’s Arizona safe house. Both Sawyer and Flynn had tried to track the guy, but he’d just vanished.
“He’s going to come after me.” Cecelia squared her shoulders. “I know he will.”
Flynn stalked toward her. “Then he’ll find me waiting for him. I’ll finish him.”
Elizabeth bit her lower lip. She was afraid of Bryce, too. Afraid that he was hunting both her and Cecelia.
Sawyer caught her hand in his. “Doc, you don’t need to be afraid. Not ever again.”
If only that were true. She had Sawyer back, and when he looked at her, she could see the love in his eyes. He was going to stand by her, she knew it, just as she would stay by him. Always. But there was plenty to fear.
Landon had created ten Lazarus test subjects. Ten subjects that they knew about. What if there were more?
They had to find them. Maybe those men were good, maybe they were like Flynn and Sawyer—warriors who wanted to protect. That was the best-case scenario. The worst-case?
They were like Bryce and Landon. Monsters who wanted to kill.
She’d poured through all of the notes and files that Jay had been able to retrieve from Landon’s computer. He’d been brutally honest in those notations, ever the cold, unbiased scientist. And he’d realized some truths about himself. “The Lazarus formula amplifies your personality traits. The good ones and the bad.” She swallowed. “Bryce was a sadistic predator even before he got the dosage.” An Army Ranger who’d been dishonorably discharged—he never should have been a candidate for Lazarus. But then, Landon had been so curious about what would happen to a subject like him. “The formula made Bryce into even more of a threat.” Her gaze slid to Cecelia.
“He won’t get to either of you,” Flynn swore.
Some promises were easy to give. But what happened when the monster you hunted could slip so easily into your mind? Into the minds of his victims?
“We have to find them all,” West said, stirring from his position. “If they’re threats, we eliminate them. If they’re not, if they’re like Sawyer and Flynn…”
“We aren’t exactly the perfect image of good guys,” Sawyer drawled, voice rough.
She thought he was. To her, he was better than perfect.
“Landon was a killer before he took the formula,” she said. “He was killing test subjects.” Wright had said Sawyer was deliberately killed so that her lover could be brought into Project Lazarus. Now, Elizabeth couldn’t help but wonder just how involved Landon had been in Sawyer’s death. Because Sawyer was close to me. That pain would always be there. “The formula just made him worse. He lost his grip totally and was consumed with the idea of getting more power, of being able to control others.” To her, he’d become the real monster.
No, he’d always been a monster. He’d just hid his evil beneath the skin.
“I think the authorities and the media bought our story.” Jay flashed a broad smile. “My story. It was, after all, pure genius the way I got access to those security videos from the Lazarus facility. The videos that clearly showed Landon setting the explosives. We were able to prove to the world that he was batshit crazy, while explaining that Elizabeth and Cecelia were never kidnapped—they just managed to escape the mad doctor’s clutches.”
Pure genius? Not so much. Turned out…when she’d installed his little virus into the computer system at Lazarus, she’d opened a back door for him. Jay hadn’t told her about that part, not until later. Once she’d uploaded the virus, he’d snuck into the system and sent the video feeds to himself. He had caught images of Landon planting the explosives. And, he’d also gotten a video of Landon killing Hugh Cleston.
That wasn’t Bryce. The guard’s blood had all been on Landon’s hands.
Jay reached into his desk and pulled out a manila file. “Sawyer and Flynn, I’ve got new social security numbers for you.” He put the file on top of his desk. “Since the world thinks you’re dead, no one is looking for you. I mean, there are graves out there for you two. When you went into Lazarus, Landon and Wright took care of burying you both—literally.”
Elizabeth had once visited Sawyer’s empty grave. And she’d been gutted.
“You can do anything you want,” Jay continued earnestly. “Go anywhere you want—”
“I’m staying with Elizabeth,” Sawyer said flatly.
“Right.” Jay coughed. “Like we all didn’t see that shit coming.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Jay, thank you. I’ll never be able to repay what you’ve done for me.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a way, one day.” He just shrugged. “We’ve got plenty of time to work everything out later.”
They did have time. Time to hunt the bad guys, time to find the good guys. Time to fix the mistakes of the past. Time to dream about the future.
A future that she’d have with Sawyer. Finally.
They left Jay and the others. Headed out into the D.C. night. Flynn escorted Cecelia home—he seemed to always be with her these days. A light flurry of snow had started to fall. By the time Sawyer and Elizabeth reached her apartment, a soft coating of white littered the ground. She slipped from the car and Sawyer took her hand. A snowflake slid across her nose.
He stopped her on the sidewalk, and her head tilted back as she stared up at him.
“Are you sure about me?” Sawyer asked her.
She knew he still worried about the darkness he carried inside. He might never get his memories back completely, they both knew that. But she also knew that they could make new memories. “I’ve never been more certain of anyone.”
He pulled her close. His lips pressed to hers. His lips were cold, but he still warmed her. He heated her, from the inside out. Banished her fears and made her feel alive. He made her hope.
“I love you, Elizabeth,” Sawyer whispered against her mouth. “Always.”
Just as she would always love him. They headed into her building, shutting out the night. They’d fought death and won, they’d fought killers and won. They could face anything else that would come their way, as long as they were together.
And they would be together.
Because she would never give up on him, just as he wouldn’t give up on her. They’d stay together.
They’d never let go.