ANOMALY.MIL (The Conspiracy Series Book One): A Romantic Suspence Novel (26 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

"Did you get it?"

Inez held up Seneca Reed's computer. "Yes, General, as ordered. We also retrieved the laptop, and all the recordings of your conversations made by the computer programmer. There are no other copies."

"Did you have any problems with Mr. Hollister?"

Inez shrugged. "Not after we water boarded him."

The general got up and took the computer from his sergeant's hands, setting it on top of his desk. "Have a seat, Sergeant Munoz."

Inez looked confused as the general sat on the edge of his desk, staring down at her as he said, "Why did you water board Mr. Hollister?"

He needed to know, because he was becoming increasingly concerned by her volatile behavior.

"To get the files," she shrugged, clearly not understanding why he had asked. "The copies of your phone conversation. Isn't that what you wanted me to do?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I wanted you to do." General Hawkins put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "But you could have gotten those files in many different ways, so I was wondering why you chose waterboarding."

She smiled. "Water boarding is
very
effective, and it leaves no evidence behind for the local police to find. No prints, no ballistics."

That was a logical enough answer, but the general could not shake his suspicion. "Tell me again about Sergeant Stockton. Why did you have to kill him?"

"Because Caffrey attacked me, and I had no choice."

"You had no choice but to shoot Sergeant Stockton in the back of the head?" he raised a brow, admonishing her, but she said nothing in her defense. "And what happened to Sergeant Caffrey?"

There it was, confirmation in the form of a slight grin. She enjoyed it. All of it. Shooting Babineaux, killing Stockton in front of Sergeant Caffrey. But most of all, he could see that she enjoyed the hand to hand combat that ended with Caffrey's dislocated elbow.

"Sergeant Caffrey attacked me. He's very strong, but I'm stronger," she said, her eyes lit with excitement.

It disturbed him for several reasons. First, because she was increasingly unreliable in carrying out his orders in the manner in which he expected them to be done. And secondly, because he wondered if the introduction of foreign DNA into her system had compromised her ability to mentally process her thoughts and emotions.

It was a problem for the program, and he needed to get more information.

"Have Doctor Rumsey start phase two of Ansel Babineaux's therapy." The man should be relatively docile, now that they had two more people he cared about as further means for gaining his compliance. "I want his intelligence boosted, and tell the doctor not to go lightly on the dosage."

"Yes, General." His sergeant's smile was cruel, so he looked at her, asking, "It’s been almost a year since your own enhancement, hasn't it Sergeant Munoz?"

"Yes, sir," she nodded, her confusion knitting her dark brows together.

"I'd like to have you undergo a full battery of testing." The general pushed off his desk, standing up. "To see if your strength and intelligence have maintained their superior levels." He touched her cheek, smiling as he said, "You’re the jewel in the crown of this program, Sergeant Munoz. And I plan on showing you off to the Pentagon."

Inez grinned from ear to ear. "I know how important this program is to the country, sir, and I’m proud to represent the work we do here."

"Thank you, Sergeant Munoz." He walked back around his desk, sitting down. "You are dismissed, Sergeant," he said, grabbing Ms. Reed's laptop, and prayed that the test results came back normal.

Or all of this would have been for nothing.

CHAPTER FIFTY

"How does it work?" Gunner asked, while Win looked on. "The…whatever they call it. ’Modification'? ’Enhancement'?"

Ansel stared at his friends and tried to explain. "The best I can figure out is that they inject me with the desired portion of someone else's DNA, which is then absorbed by my own, essentially changing it."

"The rest is still you?" Gunner nodded.

"Until they increase your dosage—" Win shook his head, understanding the implications. "—And you end up more Einstein than Ansel."

Gunner stopped pacing. “And they can do that with DNA for…"

"Everything," Ansel confirmed his friend’s fears. "Strength, intelligence, eye color. Anything they can isolate. The only thing they can't modify is stuff like height, hair color—"

"Why not hair color?" Win interrupted him, pointing out. "If they inject you with enough of Gunner's DNA your hair would just start getting lighter."

Ansel sat down on the bed, putting his head in his hands. Win was right. He had not really thought about it, because his hair was a part of him. Dark brown, almost black in color. He couldn't imagine looking into the mirror and seeing blond hair on top of his head. Or, he supposed, icy blue eyes staring back.

"A baby would be so much easier to grow into whatever you wanted." Win was sitting against the wall with his knees up, his broken arm resting on his left knee. "Have they gotten a sperm sample from you yet?"

"No." Ansel knew it was only a matter of time.

"If I were running this place," Win said, "I'd combine your sperm with the evil bitch that broke my arm to ensure that your children would have the anomaly."

Ansel could feel the blood drain from his face, leaving him cold.

"Jesus Christ, Win!" Gunner growled. "Don't you think the guy has enough on his plate?"

"And talking about it is gonna change that?" Win scoffed. "He needs to know."

"What good does it do to point that out?"

"So he can contaminate the samples."

Ansel looked over at Win. "What do you mean?"

Win stood up, looking down at him as he explained, "They will have you go into the bathroom, probably, for some privacy, while you give them the sperm sample." Win held his eyes. "So, don't leave without making sure that bleach, soap or whatever ends up in the container with the sample."

"They’ll know it’s contaminated," Gunner pointed out.

"Sure, but who knows how long your sperm will be on ice before they try to use it. And by then you'll be out of here," Win grinned, "because I will have killed the evil bitch."

Ansel gave Win a half-hearted smile. It was good idea, but the plan only highlighted the fact that Ansel was here for the long haul. Years probably.

He looked at his friends, wondering how much time he had with them. It was his fault that Drew was dead. And his fault that Win and Gunner would spend the rest of their lives in prison.

No, it was enough. He would ask to speak with the general, offering to cooperate fully if he pardoned his friends. Not that he had anything to bargain with. Because the truth of the matter was that with or without his cooperation, the general could force him to comply.

The cell door opened. "Sergeant Babineaux?"

Ansel looked at Win and then at Gunner, saying, "It’s been an honor," before being led out of the room at gunpoint.

He could barely feel his legs as he made his way down the hospital corridor like a condemned man, because he was. His shoulders collapsed under the weight of his crushing despair, and he didn't offer any resistance as they strapped him down to the gurney.

Ansel glanced at the woman inserting his IV, and she saw something in his eyes that made her rub his arm, whispering, "It won't hurt, I promise you."

He wanted to laugh, because it already did. But he only had enough energy to turn his head, stare at the ceiling, and await the inevitable.

"Good morning, Mr. Babineaux." The somber mood in the procedure room seemed not to effect the doctor's chipper mood. "We have a very exciting day today. We will be increasing your intelligence levels this morning, and the general has given me full authority to proceed at my discretion."

The guy could barely contain himself, and Ansel's lip curled with revulsion.

"How are his vitals?" the doctor asked the nurse.

"Normal," she nodded.

"Excellent, but I think you better strap his forehead down, because I will be injecting him with quite a large dose."

"Yes, Doctor."

The nurse pulled out another strap and almost lovingly brushed his hair off his forehead, replacing it with a cold, thick strap. It took a moment for her to tighten it, but then she was looking down at him.

"It that too tight?" she asked.

He didn't answer, just picked a point on the ceiling to stare at while they destroyed him. His life didn't exactly flash before his eyes, but he lay there thinking about what was important. His sister, Dave, the men he had just said goodbye to, and…Seneca.

He didn't know how or when it happened. But somehow in the midst of all of this, she ended up being the most important person of all.

Ansel blinked, swallowing hard.

He was glad he had seen Seneca with Ben Hollister. He was a good guy and would take great care of her, because Ansel knew that once they did this to him, he would never be the same.

Never have the same thoughts, feelings. The feeling of peace that she gave him when he held her, the feeling of happiness he felt when she did something that made him laugh. The ache in his chest when he looked at her.

He was in love with her, he realized.
Too late
.

"Are you ready, Mr. Babineaux?" the doctor asked, holding up a full blue syringe.

But Ansel didn't really hear him. He was staring at the dot on the ceiling, detaching his mind from his body. The doctor lifted the syringe to the IV bag, and Ansel closed his eyes so that the last image he saw in
his
mind would be of Seneca.

"Criminal Investigations Division! Back away from the patient."

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

"General Hawkins." Inez burst into his office. "The Army CID are raiding the hospital."

Shit!

"Secure Dr. Rumsey, and take the patients to the black site in New Mexico," the general ordered, before grabbing a stack of files out of his desk.

"I'm afraid Dr. Rumsey is already in the custody of the CID. He's being held in the hospital along with the rest of the staff."

"How long ago did CID get here?"

"Five minutes."

He began shredding documents.

"They haven’t had time to completed a preliminary search of the base,” he explained. “So the hospital staff will be lightly guarded. Get Dr. Rumsey and then take as many of the detainees as you can get." He picked up the phone, barking into the receiver. "I need a chopper to the extraction site."

"Should we wait for you, General?"

"No." He glanced up at his protégé. "Someone needs to shred these documents."

"But you will be taken into custody by the CID?" She looked appalled, and it warmed his heart.

"I'll be alright, Inez," he nodded. "The mission is the priority. You do whatever it takes to protect the mission."

"Yes, General," she said, but she didn't leave.

"Go!" he shouted.

Sergeant Munoz looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm afraid you know the location of the black site, General Hawkins." She pulled out a gun. "And if you tell the CID it will threaten the mission."

"Inez!"

He stared at her. And in that moment, he realized that the DNA replacement therapy had driven her completely insane.

And then she killed him, to protect the mission.

***

Inez looked down a General Hawkins’ body, but she did not have time to be sad. She stuffed the remaining files into the shredder, and set them all on fire.

Rumsey
. She had to secure Dr. Rumsey.

She ran to the hospital, and when she entered she was immediately stopped by armed CID agents.

"Ma'am," a guy said, grabbing her by the upper arm. "The hospital is on lockdown, so I will need you to come with me."

"Oh my God," she said, letting herself be taken. "What happened?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, ma'am."

The guy shoved her in a room with the rest of the hospital staff, and she immediately made her way to Dr. Rumsey, saying, "We have to leave."

Dr. Rumsey laughed, whispering, "I guess you missed the two armed CID agents standing at the door."

"I saw them," Inez nodded. "A chopper is waiting to take us to New Mexico. We have to go."

Sergeant Munoz walked up to the larger of the two men. Her heart began racing with excitement.

"Excuse me, Officer."

"Ma'am, I'm going to need you to go back to the other side of the room." He pointed with the first two fingers on his right hand.

"I was just—"

"Ma'am," the guy raised his firearm, making it so much easier to get to.

But that would have been too easy. So she attacked the smaller one as he pulled his weapon from his holster by punching him in the throat. He gasped, unable to breathe, but she was already behind him, using him as a shield from the other one.

People screamed and backed away, but Dr. Rumsey walked forward. His eyes were wide with delight as he watched his creation perform. Inez smiled at the doctor. And whether he realized it or not, the man licked his lips with anticipation of what she would do next.

She snapped the smaller one’s neck.

Everyone in the room gasped. Except Dr. Rumsey, who stared, mesmerized, as she spun toward the big one, catching his wrist before he could fire his weapon.

Inez forced the man to turn the gun on himself, and then looked him in the eye as she helped him pull the trigger, his own body acting as a silencer. And before the man hit the floor, she was taking his gun and looking at the doctor.

"Let's go."

Dr. Rumsey followed her, and when they left the hospital, he whispered, "You're incredible."

Inez smiled as they stopped outside of the detainees’ barracks. She leaned against the side of the building, peering inside to determine if the barracks was being guarded.

"I thought I was just 'a dog, retrieving your rats'?"

"I've never seen you…" He was at a loss for words. "In action."

She stood in front of him, staring as she said, "It’s imperative for this country that you make more of me."

"Yes," he nodded, and they were of one mind. "It is."

Inez tossed her head toward the detainees’ barracks, indicating that he should follow. The barracks had the two army guards still on duty, so she knew the CID had not made it to this portion of the base.

"Wait outside," she ordered the soldiers and they obeyed, fully aware of who she was. When they had gone, she turned to the doctor. "We can't take all of them. Who do you want?"

"The children." He was unequivocal and she nodded, but then he threw in, "And the pregnant woman."

Inez walked into the room where she saw the little boy watching cartoons. She picked him up by the arm and the man, Kevin Kilgore, tried to intervene.

"Where are you taking him?"

"With me."

The kid started crying and the guy got all heroic. He tried to grab her gun and she shot him, saying, "Where’s the girl?" to the other man on the sofa.

He pointed at a room down the hall, and she shoved the boy at the doctor then yanked open the door to the pregnant woman's room. The woman was holding the little girl to her chest as if that would protect her in some way.

"Both of you, come with me."

The woman was smart enough to see that Inez was serious, so she took the little girl's hand. "It’s okay, Heidi. I'll be right here with you."

The girl was smart enough to cry, knowing they were in danger despite what the woman told her.

"Head out the back door," she told Doctor Rumsey.

The general was an excellent tactician, and had chosen to place the detainees’ barracks in an isolated part of the base with an area suitable for easy helicopter extraction.

Wind and dirt from the helicopter blade hit them in the face the moment they opened the back door of the obsolete barracks. The woman picked the little girl up, burying her face between her breasts to protect her from the debris, while the doctor grabbed the boy's hand, dragging him toward the black hawk helicopter.

Sergeant Munoz shoved Catherine Miller forward with her pistol and she reluctantly started walking. But halfway to the helicopter, Inez glanced back and saw Gunner Holstad, Win Caffrey, and Ansel Babineaux standing next to two CID agents by the back door of the barracks. Captain Holstad pointed at the helicopter, coordinating with the CID agent who was nodding vigorously.

But they were too far away to do anything to stop her, and they would never shoot at them for fear of hitting the woman and the two children.

Inez smiled as she waved goodbye, then turned around to run the last hundred feet to the waiting helicopter.

"Go," she yelled at the pregnant woman, sticking the gun in her back.

The woman started moving again as Inez glanced back over her shoulder. Her heart jumped with joy when she saw Sergeant Babineaux sprinting toward her with Caffrey at his heels. She would have been disappointed had they not at least
tried
to save the children, but they would never make it to the helicopter in time.

And then the woman did something she was not expecting. She slid to the ground, clutching the little girl to her chest.

"Get up," Inez yelled, furious. The doctor stopped to look back at them as Inez stuck the pistol in the woman's ribs. "Get up."

She refused. So Inez yanked the little girl out of the woman's arms and handed her to the doctor. He ran with both children to the helicopter, getting on. And if the pregnant woman refused to come with her, then she was of no more use.

Traitor.

Inez lifted her pistol toward the woman's head, and pulled the trigger.
But just as she did, she was hit full force from the side. Her shot went wide, and her gun flew out of her hand. Ansel Babineaux punched her in the side and she felt her ribs break.

She reached back, grabbed a handful of dirt, and threw it in his face. He was disoriented just long enough for her to jump up and knee him in the face. He fell backward, blood pouring out of his broken nose.

It was long enough for her to get away.

Inez jumped in the helicopter, yelling, "Go," to their loyal pilot.

She wasn't strapped in, but she soon would be. They lifted off and Inez looked down. The woman was walking to the barracks with Captain Holstad, and Sergeant Babineaux was still flat on his back, bleeding.

Sergeant Munoz smiled, knowing she had done her duty. They were out of reach, fifty feet in the air. She smiled, because she knew that they would be at the black site in New Mexico in less than two hours.

And then she saw him. Sergeant Caffrey. He was holding her pistol.

People were running toward him to prevent him from shooting at the helicopter and possibly bringing it down. But she knew by the look in Sergeant Caffrey's eyes that he would pull the trigger.

He sneered, his right arm steady. She didn't hear the gunshot, just felt it. She looked down at her stomach. The motion pulled her of balance, and she fell out of the helicopter. She was fully aware that she was falling, just before hitting the ground. Her enhancement told her that she had a broken pelvis, lacerated liver and a fractured skull. 

Pain overwhelmed her. She lay there on the ground looking up at the Black Hawk helicopter, now surrounded by CID choppers. Inez could see the currents of the wind swirling around the helicopter, see the colors of the spectrum invisible to her before her modification.

So beautiful.

She started to cry. Not from pain, but from the knowledge that she had failed, and that the country she loved so much would never be great again.

The helicopters disappeared, and it took her a moment to focus on the tan face of Win Caffrey, staring down at her from no more than a foot away.

He held his gun to her forehead, his finger shaking to pull the trigger. "I told you I would kill you," he spat. “But I guess I’ll settle for life in prison.”

She glanced at Sergeant Babineaux as he rubbed blood from his eyes. At the CID officers standing next to Captain Holstad some hundred feet away.

Inez smiled at Sergeant Caffrey. And with the last of her strength, reached up with her left hand so no one would see, whispering, “Sounds good to me,” before pulling the trigger to make sure he was convicted of murder.