RecruitZ (Afterworld Series) (32 page)

Without thinking, I crawled on his lap, straddling him as my lips crashed to his. The kisses began soft, as we explored one another, but the intention quickly changed as all the emotions we’d been afraid to let show collided with each other. The kisses deepened with every passing second as if we were hungry for more than just each other. My hands ran up his neck, grabbing his hair as I felt the heat of his mouth slowly trace along my jawline. But he slowly broke his mouth away, and I understood why.

I laid my head against the crook of his neck, catching my breath, feeling his heartbeat steady. The rawness that we both had bottled up for so long was unleashed with each kiss that we’d shared. And he knew I wasn’t ready for it.

“I think the only way I’ll get closure is to stop this, to stop them,” I whispered, my eyes closed as I felt the comfort of his embrace. Our bodies as close to one another as they’d ever been, feeling the warmth rolling off his bare skin made the shirt I was wearing feel almost invisible.

He nodded and traced his finger along my collarbone, sending a shiver through me.

“I pray for the same closure,” he said softly. “But I’m not sure it will ever come.”

I took a deep breath in as I realized I was one step closer to becoming me again. I no longer believed that I was broken, that I wasn’t whole without Gavin. The idea brought peace along with it as I felt myself drift to sleep in Preston’s arms.

I fantasized about how I would do it. How I would end Marcus’s life. What it would it would feel like, smell like, taste like—that kind of revenge. I wanted to watch his soul depart for his forever home in Hell. That was the dream I woke up with this morning. Some might call it a nightmare, but I wasn’t one of them.

We parked the truck and walked into the coffee shop. I looked around to see ordinary life—the hustle and bustle of the commonplace—surround me. But it didn’t call for me. Instead, I was left feeling anxious and worried. I didn’t want that type of existence to swallow me whole, make me forget what’s really going on in the afterworld.

We weren’t too far from the fighting grounds we were going to check out later. Jeffrey Barrell was on his way over. The moment Preston mentioned Dr. Falino to Jeffrey, he was eager to hear what we had to tell him. Apparently, Jeffrey and Dr. Falino went way back, and he still believed in the woman even though he was quite aware of some of her mistakes. He lived in Vermont and somehow managed to secure a red-eye out here last night.

A black van pulled into the parking lot, and I felt uneasy as my mind flashed back to the TRAC attack last time.

“Think that’s him?” I asked Preston.

He nodded. “He said he was going to swing by and gather some of his people in case we weren’t to be trusted. He promised they’d wait in the van.”

I laughed. “He’s the one that needs to be worried?”

The driver’s side door opened and a tall, well-built man stepped out. He had dark hair and looked to be well over six feet tall. He was dressed in light jeans and a green button down shirt. He ducked his head inside the van and then nodded before shutting the door.

He walked with a quickened pace and glanced around the parking lot, taking everything in.

I stood up once he came inside and motioned for him to join us. His eyes fell from mine to Preston’s and he gave a quick nod.

He extended his hand to me. “Jeffrey Barrell.”

“Rebekah Taylor.”

“And you’re Preston,” he said, shaking Preston’s hand before sitting down. “You’ve done a fairly good job of filling me in, and I had about six hours on the plane that I was able to read over some of the files you sent. In all honesty, some of the things I don’t understand, but the images often spoke louder than the words.”

“Yeah. They’re pretty brutal,” I agreed.

“So your brother-in-law was turned into a fighter?” he asked, gauging my reaction.

“A clone of my brother-in-law,” I corrected.

“And there’s one of these fights going on tonight near here?” he asked.

“Yeah. Less than thirty minutes away,” Preston said.

“Well, I don’t advise you going there tonight,” Jeffrey said, looking at Preston. “They’ll spot you within seconds, guaranteed. Now you mentioned payouts from Marcus’s organization to your husband and your sister. What were these for, exactly?”

“They were some of the researchers that helped to develop the technology to get the undead to where they needed to be,” Preston replied.

“I’ll tell you what concerns me. I’m in security just as Marcus is. Granted, I’m doing it the legitimate way, but the money to be made still wouldn’t allow for those kinds of distributions. I know Joyce doesn’t think the government’s involved and maybe they’re not, but I do agree we can’t get them involved—not yet anyway. We need to prolong the discovery stage for as long as possible.”

“I agree. I feel like whatever’s going on here isn’t just so Marcus can arm the criminals of the world, although that’s a start,” I replied.

“Call off your friends too,” Jeffrey said.

My skin prickled at Jeffrey’s level of imperiousness.

“I already did,” I said, glancing at Preston. Preston had already suggested the same this morning.

“Frankly, I think we need to lure Marcus away tonight, capture him, and find out if this thing he’s got going can be stopped,” Jeffrey said, looking at me. “And I think you’ll be the perfect bait.”

“Absolutely not,” Preston said, his voice sharp.

I glanced at Preston and smiled. “Jeffrey’s right.”

“That’s far too dangerous,” Preston objected.

“I’ll have my team following her. She’ll be fine. We’ll swoop in before anything can go wrong,” Jeffrey said.

Considering everything we had been through recently I couldn’t help but laugh. Why not throw myself into the lion’s den for the grand finale?

“We’ve got a lot of planning to do and not much time to do it so let’s get going,” Jeffrey said, standing up promptly.

I looked over at Preston. He was staring directly in front of us, his jaw clenched from being outvoted.

***

There he was—Marcus driving his Escalade. He pulled out of the parking lot heading east. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a quick flash of headlights from Jeffrey’s van. I drove out of the parking lot, trailing Marcus. I needed to be noticed, but it had to look like it was because of my incompetence, not like I wanted to be noticed.

Unfortunately, allowing the distance to grow between our vehicles did nothing to calm the anxiety that was building. The old farm road that he turned onto seemed to lead to nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

Glancing in my rearview, I didn’t notice another vehicle on the road yet, which had me slightly concerned. How would they swoop in if they weren’t around? That was odd.

As I continued to focus on the rearview mirror, I let my guard down. Marcus’s black Escalade swerved in front of me without warning, leaving nothing but a swirl of dust in the air, as he blocked the road in front of me.

Shit!

I slammed on my brakes, and before I realized what was really going down, he was out of his car, raising a machete high above his head with both arms stretched, taunting me. He sauntered towards me like there was some song playing in his head that I couldn’t hear. He bounced his head over and over again to a beat that was only his own. Marcus was dressed in a sleeveless t-shirt, exposing all of his tattoos. He should have been intimidating, but he wasn’t.

I’d seen more horror recently than he could produce with the swing of a machete.

The Escalade’s passenger door swung open, allowing another productive member of society to exit the SUV. I didn’t recognize him, but he was fully uniformed in TRAC gear. I let out a sigh and briefly scanned my mirror.

Nothing. Great!

“I should have known,” Marcus hollered, his eyes tiny slits as he stared at me. “You just never leave well enough alone.”

He was only a foot away from my vehicle and quickly swung the machete in the air, laughing. He looked completely maniacal. He probably was. He took another step closer and smiled wickedly once our gazes met.

“This will be so vindicating. You have been a thorn in my side from the beginning,” he said, flashing a grin.

I watched the other man slowly walk behind his boss and stand and wait. He was holding a pistol, but it was pointed at the ground.

Marcus banged the machete on the hood of my car, attempting to unnerve me. It didn’t.

“Your time is almost up, Marcus,” I hollered through the glass.

“I don’t think so,” he laughed. “But I think your friends Abby and Caleb might be on their way out.”

My heart stopped at their mention. He was always one step ahead.

“Listen, I’ll leave what few friends you have…alone, if you’ll just let me end this once and for all. Lead me to your boyfriend, and I’ll finish you both off quickly and painlessly.”

I smiled and shook my head.

“I really don’t want pieces of me used for your experiments, but thanks,” I replied through the door.

“Your husband wasn’t nearly as bullheaded as you are,” Marcus shouted, now next to the driver’s door.

I peered up at him, surprised at my non-reaction as he mentioned my husband. Had Gavin’s truth set me free from his demons?

“He wasn’t as smart as he thought he was,” I replied.

“And you are?” Marcus laughed.

I placed my hand on the door handle. Marcus’s gaze dipped to watch me open it.

“That’s what I thought,” he said, taking a step back.

As I stepped out of the car, I felt the metal of my pistol’s barrel rub against my back, and an ache surfaced in my palm at the thought of getting to use it on Marcus.

“You’re willing to destroy what’s left of the afterworld for profit,” I said.

“That’s a naïve statement,” Marcus replied.

“Why don’t you enlighten me then?” I asked, placing my hands on my waist, closer to my weapon.

“I’m simply trying to save the world from itself. It’s only a matter of time before humans completely desecrate the planet. Mother Earth even tried to stop us by throwing a plague at us. That was her last cry for help. But once again we stepped in and found a cure,” he said, his hand gripping the machete handle tight. His chest was puffed out and he looked absolutely sure of himself. I had to take him down a notch.

I tilted my head. “A vaccine, not a cure.”

“Aah… So you’ve even been to see Joyce,” he said, laughing. “You really do get around.”

“I just have to tell you this. It’s killing me inside,” I replied, narrowing my eyes.

“What’s that, doll?” he asked, taking a step forward.

“You look absolutely ridiculous waving that weed whacker around, especially in your sleeveless tee.” His eyes flashed, and he sliced the machete through the air as it carved a piece of my calf.

My leg throbbed, and I dropped to my knees. The sound of an engine behind me brought little comfort as Marcus rammed me against my car, the blade etching a mark against my throat. Every movement, every swallow was painful as the blade worked its way into my flesh.

“You brought company,” he whispered, his mouth was wretchedly close to mine as he leaned over me. “I hoped Preston wouldn’t be too far behind. Looks like I was right.”

My blood was pounding in my ears as I heard the sound of footsteps surrounding us, and saw guns drawn.

“Marcus, let her go. You’re surrounded. Kill her and it’s a certain death for you,” Preston hollered.

“You bitch,” he snarled, tossing the machete on the street before taking a step back.

I felt a warm trickle run down my throat. My fingers slid up my neck meeting a sticky substance when I realized I’d been cut a little worse than I thought. Marcus slowly began walking toward Jeffrey and Preston. I watched as Preston glanced toward me, giving Marcus the opening he needed.

Marcus dropped to his knees, grabbing a pistol out of his back holster. Without thinking, I reached for my pistol and took aim. The sound of the gunshot was a ringing celebration as I watched Marcus fall to the ground.