Born to Darkness (72 page)

The Police Chief wasn’t happy—he was, no doubt, getting calls from corporate “constituents” with ties to the Organization. But his dwindling troops couldn’t handle the drug problem without OI’s help, so he’d negotiated Dr. O down to thirty minutes.

And the clock was ticking.

“He’s finally awake, ma’am,” Bach heard Charlie say into his headset. “Hang on, I’ll check.” He turned to Bach and asked, first, “Sir, can I get you anything?”

Bach shook his head, even though he wanted desperately to reassure himself that both Anna and Nika were safe. But he knew they were. Even while he was not fully conscious, he’d heard Charlie report that they were being taken, under heavy guard, back to OI.

“No, I’m fine,” he said. “I’m … What’s my integration level?” It had dropped, considerably. He could feel the abrupt loss of power.

Charlie leaned over to check the other computer, and confirmed it. “You’re down to around seventy-three, sir. You know, you actually hit eighty-five for a while there.”

“I did?” That didn’t make sense. Bach’s legs were feeling sturdy enough to stand, so he came over and checked the computer himself. And yes. He’d spiked a second time—all the way to eighty-five.

He checked the other information on the computer, and—funny—that second, even bigger spike happened at exactly the same time that all of the windows had been blown out of the Brite Group’s floors.

He vaguely remembered working with Nika to disable all firearms in the entire building, and to deliver a giant smack-down to any of the guards on the premises. He remembered being able to identify all of the men who were employed as the Organization’s guards by their mental footprints—something he’d never been able to do before. And he’d made the choice, and it hadn’t been a hard
one, to act as both judge and executioner to all who knew and understood exactly what their duties there had entailed.

“Was anyone injured on the street below the building?” Bach asked Charlie now. “From the window glass?”

“No, sir. We don’t know where that glass went, but it didn’t hit the street or the sidewalk.” Charlie cleared his throat. “Sir, if you wouldn’t mind, Jackie Schultz has a question that’s … well, it’s a little odd, sir. She’s found a room, on the security floor, that appears to be some kind of lounge, with a service elevator that goes directly to the basement.” He paused. “Sir, the room contains three dead men—two guards and a man in a lab coat—who were killed considerably differently from the others.”

“How differently?” Bach asked.

“Jackie’s wearing a camera,” Charlie told him, “so you can see, but I have to warn you, sir, the pictures are pretty graphic. All three of the men were beheaded.”

And indeed they were. “Thank you, I’ve seen enough,” Bach said, and the picture on the screen switched to that of Jackie, looking grim and pale.

“Sir, we’ve got a psych specialist—Dr. Rita Labrenze—in the car with Nika and her sister—they’re nearly back at OI, so they have been talking for a while. I’ve requested that Dr. Labrenze ask Nika specifically about this room—without going into too many details—and she honestly has no memory of this particular event. I’m wondering if you—”

“No,” Bach interrupted. “This is not something we did.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Jackie said, “Dr. Labrenze believes it’s possible that neither Nika
nor
you would know if Nika had lashed out, unconsciously, perhaps—”

“I was deep inside Nika’s mind at all times, Ms. Schultz,” Bach said. “I appreciate your concern, but she didn’t do this.”

“My concern,” Jackie said, “is based in part on the fact that you were battling the effects of a powerful sedative, while dealing with a huge increase in your personal integration. With all due respect, sir,” she said again, “it’s just something to keep an eye on.”

“I will,” Bach said. “And as long as I’ve got you—have you encountered any girls—prisoners—who are pregnant?”

“No, sir,” Jackie said, then exhaled hard. “Oh, Jesus, Dr. Bach,
really
?”

“I’m afraid so. Nika encountered at least one. We’re estimating her age to be about seventeen. I’m also virtually certain she’s an untrained Greater-Than.”

“I’ll check again,” Jackie said, “but … A Greater-Than being used in genetic experiments? And I know I’m making an assumption here, but … Chances are, sir, that she was spirited away at the first sign of trouble.”

Or she’d ripped the heads off of her guards and doctor, and made her escape.

“If she
is
still there,” Bach warned, “she could be very dangerous. She was working with the Organization, possibly under duress—but we don’t know that for sure.”

“Understood,” Jackie said.

“It sounds like you’ve got the situation under control,” Bach said. “If that’s correct, I’ll head out to OI.”

“Absolutely. I’ll see you back there, sir,” Jackie said, and Charlie cut the connection.

Bach sighed and glanced at Charlie, who was watching him expectantly. And a little warily.

“I’m guessing,” Bach said, “that you’d prefer to drive.”

Mac insisted on going, first thing, to talk to Elliot.

Shane had a shower on his to-do list, along with a nice meal, a glass of beer, and about four hours in bed with his woman, definitely not sleeping.

Then, and only then, would he be even remotely ready to hit the hospital for his impending heart failure.

But Mac needed facts. And she had a boatload of questions, most of which, Shane was willing to bet big money, weren’t going to be answered. Like, how long would it be before Shane went into withdrawal and needed more Destiny. Okay, that one Elliot probably
knew. But Mac also wanted to know if it would be more or less difficult to subject Shane to the procedure that would stop his heart if he were simultaneously jonesing for more of the drug? And, wasn’t it possible—if the procedure
wasn’t
doable due to Shane’s experiencing withdrawal symptoms—that injecting him with an additional dose of Destiny would increase his risk of jokering?

Which was when Mac shared some information that Shane wasn’t previously aware of. While most addicts tended to joker upon injection of the drug, in rare circumstances, some addicts had been known to joker spontaneously.

Of course, that was an eye-opener for Shane—spontaneous jokering? And although it was clearly rare, it would undeniably suck if it happened to him and he killed Mac instead of made love to her.

So he followed Mac into the hospital and down to the room where Elliot was no doubt still sitting at Stephen Diaz’s bedside.

Except when they got there?

It was Diaz who was sitting beside
Elliot’s
bed.

“What happened?” Mac asked. She was stunned.

Shane was, too. Until he did the math. “Elliot took a hit of Destiny, too.” Holy shit.

Diaz nodded grimly, opening his robe to show the nearly completely healed scars on his chest. “With a higher integration level himself, he was able to boost my healing powers,” he told them. He looked at Shane. “Apparently, he got the idea from you. As soon as I was healthy enough, he had me stop his heart and …” He looked down at Elliot, who was lying motionless in the hospital bed. “It all worked, exactly as he thought. The relatively mild damage done to his heart was repaired as his system detoxed and burned off all traces of oxyclepta di-estraphen.”

“But that’s great,” Mac said. “If it actually works—”

“To a point,” Diaz said. “Because here he is, in a coma. Just like Edward O’Keefe.” He dropped a bomb. “Who died two hours ago.”

“Oh, shit.” Mac grabbed for Shane’s hand, and he took it.

“Yeah.” Diaz nodded grimly.

“O’Keefe was in his eighties,” Shane pointed out.

“Not when he died,” Diaz said. “Elliot told me he had the health of a fifty-year-old.”

“Has anyone run an autopsy?” Mac asked.

“No, not yet.”

“Let’s do that,” Mac said.

“Does it really matter?” Diaz asked. “We won’t have the results back before we need to stop Shane’s heart.” He looked at Shane again. “Elliot’s going to die, and you are, too.”

Mac grabbed Shane with one hand and the Greater-Than with the other, and pulled them outside of the room, slamming the door behind her. “You don’t fucking tell a man in a coma that he’s going to fucking die!”

“But he is,” Diaz said just as hotly. “I tried to change the future, but I failed.” He started to cry. “I would have died for him.

Why didn’t he let me?”

“Because maybe he believes that you both can live,” she said, hugging him tightly. “
That’s
the future he’s trying for.”

Diaz couldn’t speak.

“Did you actually see him die?” Mac asked. “In your vision?”

He shook his head, no. “But I saw him dying.”

“Well, dying people can be saved,” Mac told her friend. “You also saw Anna carrying me away, but you didn’t see the part where we both came back. Right?”

Diaz nodded.

“So come on, asshole,” Mac said. “Let’s go back in there and make sure Elliot knows that he’s going to survive this. And then let’s prep a room …” Her voice shook and she had to start again as she looked over at Shane and met his eyes. “Let’s prep a room for Shane.”

Bach didn’t wait for the elevator. He took the stairs up to the Medical Center, where Nika was being checked by the doctors, where Anna was being given a medical scan, too.

She was already done and wearing an OI jumpsuit, just sitting out in the hall outside of Nika’s room. She saw Bach immediately as he turned the corner, and she got to her feet and …

He was grinning like an idiot as he moved even faster, and now she was running toward him, too, and he held out his arms and she all but flew into them.

And they were both laughing, only Anna was crying, too, as she said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing Nika back to me,” as she threw her arms around his neck, as he actually picked her up and swung her around, as he told her, “She’s amazing, she’s really incredible—and you are, too. We couldn’t have done any of it without you—without your help.”

Anna laughed at that. “Yeah, I was
some
help, huh? You’ve been so patient and kind and …” She smiled happily up at him. “… amazing. You’re amazing, Joe. All of you are. But especially … you.”

Bach knew that he should kiss her. He wanted to kiss her, and he knew she wanted it, too. But decades of
not
kissing the pretty girl made him feel awkward, and the moment was gone.

But that was okay, because she and Nika were going to live here now, and there’d be plenty of moments in their future.

“She’s been asking about you,” Anna told him as she pulled out of his embrace and took his hand to gently tug him toward the examination room. She peeked in the door, adding, “Good, she’s dressed.” She pushed the door open and pulled him inside, saying, “Look who’s come to see you, Neek.”

“Joseph!” Nika broke into a huge smile as she jumped down from the exam table and threw herself at him.

Bach had to let go of Anna’s hand to catch her. She was almost as tall as Anna, but she hugged him around the waist as he hugged her back, smiling at her older sister over the top of her head.

“Subject’s integration level has just spiked!” the doctor, a woman named Elizabeth Munroe exclaimed. “Excuse me, Dr. Bach.” She pulled Nika away from him. “Nika, dear, I need you back on the table, sitting very still.”

“What’s going on?” Anna asked, her smile fading, as Nika did just that.

“I … don’t know.” Bach moved closer to the computer where he saw that—good God—Nika’s integration level had jumped to nearly forty-five.

“Just like that,” Dr. Munroe murmured to Bach, “she went from thirty to forty-five and … Dr. Bach, you’re being jot scanned, too. You’ve had quite a significant increase as well. You’re up to …” She turned and looked at him, her eyes wide. “Seventy-eight?”

“I’m pretty sure I spiked before I came into the room,” Bach said. With his integration levels in flux, he’d ordered the computer to perform a continuous jot scan on him as soon as he entered the building. He backed up his record and …

Dr. Munroe looked over his shoulder, tapping one short but neatly trimmed fingernail against the computer screen. “No, sir, you’re wrong. Here’s where you spiked, and it’s exactly when
Nika
spiked.”