KnightForce Deuces (14 page)

Two different jobs - one worked outside, the
other in. What was the connection? “
Contact the doctor, have him
and Hawke meet me there.”

“Already on it, Sir.”

Silas opened the door leading to the living
quarters for staff and heard the weeping before he reached the
corridor. Five people, still dressed in uniforms stood around two
doors on opposite sides of the hall. The randomness of the deaths
mystified Silas.

“Get forensics down here,”
he told
Hank.

“Yes, Sir.”

As he reached the first door, it stood open and
two security guards were inside. They moved aside when he entered
but remained. “Who found him?” Silas looked at the young security
worker and then at the others.

“I came to wake him up, we planned to chat
before he went on shift but he didn’t wake,” the man said. Silas
read his name tag.

“Kropt, was there anyone near his room?” Silas
asked knowing Hank already pulled the security cam disk and would
have mentioned anything unusual.

“No… no Sir. Not that I saw.” He looked at the
other two and they shook their heads.

“Did he act strange today, or do anything
different?”

“No, Sir. He got off his shift 10 hours past,
grabbed a bite to eat then came below as he always did.”

At the mention of food and drink, Silas looked
around the room. “What did he eat and drink?”

Kropt’s eyes widened. “I don’t know, Sir. Maybe
those who changed shifts at the same time or the kitchen could
say…”

Silas nodded. “
Hawke, is Damian
awake?”

“No. Do you need him
?”

Silas thought about it for a few seconds.
“
No.”

“Almost there
,” Hawke said.

Silas looked at the three men in front of them,
read the fear in their eyes and understood their need to do
something. “I need the three of you to track his movements for me.
From the time he left his post, went to eat and came here to rest.
I need a re-enactment. This is critical, I’m trusting the three of
you to get this right. Can you do that?”

Kropt straightened, his gaze sharpened and fear
morphed to purpose. “Yes, Sir. We will turn our reports into
Officer Hank when we are done.”

Silas nodded and watched them leave. Turning
back he placed his hand on Lopren’s chest, it was cold. Regret and
determination swirled through him, they needed to lock this down
now. Hawke and Passen entered the room at the same time.

“There’s another down the hall, I
hadn’t made it there yet but I smell the same scent on Lopren as
Froggy. These are connected.”

“I agree
,” Hawke said after inhaling.
“
Isolated, no one around, similar circumstances but how does
that factor into anything? Coincidence? Maybe because they were in
a resting state?”

Silas hadn’t thought about it but it could be a
qualifier. He left to check on the lab assistant and found a
similar situation.

After cordoning off the area and watching Dr.
Passen leave with the two bodies, Silas and Hawke moved down the
hall. Silas stopped Hawke as they reached the elevators. “Let’s
search for that scent down here. I didn’t smell it upstairs, maybe
we missed something.”

“Why not examine the rest of the staff for the
scent?” Hawke said.

Silas agreed. “We’ll do this floor first and go
up each level until we have examined each person.” He wondered why
they hadn’t thought to do this before. They turned and headed to
the living quarters. Silas required each person on that floor to
line up. It took a few minutes, some were asleep and he woke them.
When the entire floor lined up in front of him, Hawke started at
one end and Silas on the other they crossed each other in the
middle, both of them examining each person. Silas placed his hand
on the head of a female near the end.

Hawke nodded.

“How many of you have eaten or drank something
recently?” Silas asked.

A few hands went up.

“Great. I want all of you to follow Hank to the
gym and run a few laps. Afterward you can return to your room.” The
incredulous expressions gave way to consent as each person left the
line, dressed and returned. By the time the line reformed, Hank had
arrived and received instructions.

Hawke took the young lab tech upstairs and drew
her blood while asking questions. “What did you eat?” he asked
Kira.

“Hamburger, fries and tea.”

“Did you make your tea or was it supplied by
the kitchen?”

“I made the first glass but I used my last
sugar packet and drank the other tea.”

“How do you feel?”

“Nervous now. Scared. Why did you pull me from
the line?”

“Just a few minutes, La Patron is on his way to
speak with you.”

Her eyes bugged. “Whaaat? Did I do something
wrong?”

Hawke regretted his frank speaking. “No. I’m
just –” The door opened behind him.

“Kira? What are you doing here?”

“Damian,” she said with too much feeling in
Hawke’s opinion. She tried to move but he held her in
place.

“Why are you talking to my dad? He can’t make
me change my mind. I’m not ready for a steady relationship. I told
you that,” Damian said.

Hawke’s brow rose.

Kira’s cheeks reddened. “That’s not why I’m
here,” she snapped and looked away.

Frowning, Hawke looked at Damian. “
We’ll
discuss this later. Next time knock when I have someone in a room
with the door closed.
”

Hawke cleared his throat. “Leave now, Damian.
You’ve interrupted my work and made Kira uncomfortable.”

She glanced at Damian and then looked away
again.

“I apologize on both fronts.” Damian left the
room.

Kira released a long sigh. “He’s a handful but
he’ll come around eventually.”

Fear no longer oozed from her pores, Hawke had
no intention of discussing his son’s sexcapades with
anyone.

“La Patron I’m done examining her.
Does she remain here?” He prayed the answer was no.

“Yes, give her several bottles of
water to flush her system. If the scent doesn’t dissipate, we’ll
feed her an IV as a cleanse. Any idea how she came in
contact?”

“My guess is the water. Somehow it’s been
contaminated
,” Hawke said handing her a bottle of water.
“Drink,” he told her.

“We checked the water.”

“Which makes this worse, it’s either the
water or food. My gut says it’s the water. The cooks have been
preparing food the same way for years, nothing’s changed
,”
Hawke said watching as she guzzled the bottled water.

“Three pack members are
dead.”

“True.”
Hawke couldn’t argue those
facts. “
Are you ready to scan staff on the next
level?”

“Yes, as soon as I finish in the living
quarters. Now that everyone is in their rooms, I’m conducting
another scan to verify the air is clean.
”

Good idea. “
Let me know when you need me,
I’m running preliminary tests on Kira’s blood.
”

“Kira?”

“The lab tech.”

“Right. I’ll let you know when it’s time to
continue scanning staff
,” Silas said.

Two hours later, Hawke and Silas had examined
all the staff and found three cases of potential poisoning. The
only thing these three had in common was eating or drinking. Kira
didn’t develop any further symptoms and the odor of the poison
disappeared. Silas had bottled water brought in from underground
storage and had everyone drink three bottles of water to flush
their systems.

Those with traces of poison were quarantined
for observation. Exhaustion kicked Hawke’s ass; he’d been at this
for 24 hours straight and needed a break.

“I’m in the lab if you need me,” he told
Silas.

“Okay. Things seem to be stabilizing,” Silas
said.

“Yes, let’s hope we caught it in time.” Hawke
checked on the four employees, they seemed to be resting. Yawning,
he stretched and lay on the leather sofa. After turning on his side
he got comfortable.

A few minutes later, he coughed. His throat
tightened. He grabbed his throat trying to force more air inside.
Gasping, he half-sat up and then fell to the floor.

“Hawke
?” Asia screamed through their
link. “
Damn it, Hawke
.” The next moment his body
stilled.

Chapter 15

Asia’s chest burned as if hell fire took
residence. “H
awke
?” She called his name again, sensing he
couldn’t answer, she dove into their link. His body jerked at the
intrusion.

“Hell no
,” she yelled realizing the
poison attacked his system.

“Asia, what’s wrong
?” Jasmine
asked.

“The poison is attacking
Hawke
.”

“What do you need
?” Jasmine
asked.

Asia sensed her Mistress’ energy and refused to
give into the fear knocking on the door of her heart. “
I’ve got
to stop it from damaging him. I’ll push it out
.” She shoved her
energy into Hawke, fighting the enemy that had entered his
body.

The poison resisted.

But she was his mate, his other half and
nothing could stand between mates. Not a computer chip regulating
his movements, not an out of control group of old men and certainly
not this chemical concoction. She sent another blast of her energy
through him breaking through the blockages.

Jasmine’s warmth surrounded her, reminding her
of additional resources, if necessary. Asia wondered how La Patron
would respond knowing his mate was so close to an infected
body.

“Silas is there with Hawke Asia; he’s
lending you his strength as well
,” Jasmine said.

Asia continued sending energy through her mate,
destroying the poison or sending it out through his skin. “
Tell
La Patron to collect the sweat from his skin, Hawke will want to
see it later.
”

Jasmine chuckled. “
The Goddess picked the
right mate for Hawke
.”

Asia agreed and continued battling the
intruder. The poison traveled fast and created lesions on the
surface of some organs. When he shifted, his wolf’s antibodies
would heal the abrasions.

She sensed Hawke reviving. “
Stay still, let
me work on you. The poison is attacking your lungs and
heart.”

“Okay
.”

Now that he was alert, it was easier to take
hold of his energy, braid it with hers and flood his bloodstream
with their combined forces. Hawke stiffened and then collapsed. His
legs shook for a few seconds and then he stilled.

Heart pounding from the adrenaline rush, Asia
searched for more poison. A few strains reappeared and she pushed
them through his skin.

“Hawke?”

“Asia
?” he sounded weak.

“I’m staying merged with you for a while
longer in case the poison is hiding or regenerates. You need to
drink water and rest.”
She sensed he had worn his body down
which weakened his natural defenses.

“Tired.”

“I understand, rest. I’ll stand guard
.”
She sent warmth, love and affection through their link, wrapping
him in her care.

“He’s resting
,” she told
Jasmine.

“Thank the Goddess. I’ll tell Silas
and take the kids out front while you rest with him.”

“Thank you Mistress
.” She lay on the
lounger and closed her eyes. “
I love you Hawke. You scared me
when you fell out. Please don’t do that again. I need you. Our pups
need you
.” She poured out her heart to her mate as his body
healed.

“
I love you too. Did you save a
sample of the poison
?”

She chuckled knowing her mate was on the mend.
“
I asked La Patron to take it from your skin.”

“Good. Smart mate
.”

Asia remained alert destroying remnants of
poison as they reappeared. For hours, the toxin regenerated and
each time she would destroy the mutant cells with energy or push
them through his skin.

“Silas wants to know how he’s
doing,” Jasmine asked.

“Resting. The poison regenerates
somehow. I think it’s because he’s so tired. I’ve been fighting
various strains since he passed out. Are they flooding him with
liquid through an IV?”

“Dr. Passen just finished the autopsies and
is doing that now
,” Jasmine said.

“It’ll be interesting to see if that makes a
difference
,” Asia said. A few minutes later she noticed an
increase in his fluid level. She still battled the poison but not
as often. Her eyes grew heavy.

“Asia? Asia love
?” Hawke whispered
through their link.