Addict (Hunter #2)(55)

I took a leisurely look around. Walking into the back of the clinic, I noted three exam rooms and a locked door reading Pharmacy. I was interested in that pharmacy.

I slammed my foot against the door, but it didn’t budge. “Casey.”

He was at my side in a second. “Wow, that’s some tight security.” He pointed to the high-tech looking device attached to the doorknob. “Thumb scan. You need the right print to get in.” He pushed against the door. “Considering how advanced the lock is, I bet this is reinforced with some strong stuff. I don’t think we can bust it open.”

“Use your thingee.” I pointed to the phone.

“Nope.” He shook his head. “That worked on the door because it used a sequential number code. This is way more sophisticated. I’d need my laptop and even then, it’s iffy. Someone doesn’t want you back there.”

I huffed but accepted the inevitable. We didn’t have all day. I had to consider the fact that someone would notice the security cameras were no longer giving them a live feed. We had ten minutes tops. I pointed to a door with a Doctor Linford name plaque on the door. “How about that one?”

Casey walked over and turned the handle. It opened easily. “I got this one, boss.”

“Smart ass,” I said as I walked past him.

The desk that dominated the room was neat and perfectly clean, with the single exception of a stack of files. I brushed through them. One was a financial analysis of the clinic for the accountants at a company called Bellacorp. Winter had mentioned that this was the company doing the clinical trials on his drug.

“Bellacorp? As in Brandon Bellamy?” Casey asked, looking over my shoulder.

“I have no idea who that is.”

Casey looked at me like I’d said I didn’t know who Jesus was. “Seriously? He’s revolutionizing the entire way we look at technology. The new computer system Bellacorp Electronics is rolling out in a couple of months will move us forward light years. The processor is insane. He’s a genius. He came out of nowhere seven years ago, and now he’s one of the preeminent technological minds of our time. He started out in a small shop in Fort Worth where he developed his first generation processor. It doubled capacity.”

“Good for him,” I muttered, looking through the rest of the files. “It looks like he’s expanding into the medical industry.”

“Oh, Bellacorp is into almost everything.” He had a serious case of hero worship.

I was going to have to point out a few truths to my new buddy.

“Including demon contracts.” I shoved the files into my bag. I decided to take everything.

We needed to get going. Maybe I would get lucky. I tried to open a file cabinet. It was locked. I pulled hard and presto, no more locks.

“What do you mean demon contracts?” Casey’s blue eyes were wide and innocent. I hated to be the one to crack that na?veté.

And there it was. A nice fat file marked Brimstone Clinical Trial. I pulled it out and shoved it in the bag before turning to the newbie. “No corporation takes over the world in seven years. No dude who used to have a shop somewhere goes from small business owner to king of the world in seven years, not without some help.”

Casey’s forehead wrinkled. “You don’t think he sold his soul or something?”

“I don’t think, Case, I know.” I patted his arm in what I hoped was a soothing fashion. “I’m having dinner with the man tomorrow night at the duke’s house. When I say duke, I don’t mean some English dude. He’s a duke of Hell. You don’t do business with him without an ironclad contract.” Casey’s face fell and I felt for him. I never had anyone I looked up to that way, but if I had, they would have disappointed me, too. It was the way the world worked. “Let’s go. We need to get home and let Henri make sense of all this medical jargon.”

Casey nodded and followed me out into the lobby. I noted that his shoulders slumped forward a bit. I wondered if he had a family who still mourned him. It must be weird to know that they were out there somewhere, and he couldn’t see them again. A picture of Nathan flashed through my mind for the second time that day.

“I found a file on Alan and one on Scott,” Liv said, her pretty face tight with tension. “There’s more, Kels. I know a bunch of these guys. They’re weres and shifters. They had a couple of witches in there, but from what I can tell, those experiments didn’t work. They had a stamp on them stating they terminated the tests. Do you think they’re dead?”

“Were you close to any of them?”

Liv shook her head. “No, I only know the names.”

Good. I could be honest. “Then yes, they’re totally dead. That’s what terminated usually means. Let’s get going before we find ourselves in the same boat.”

“This is serious.” Casey stopped in the middle of the lobby. There was a panicked look in his eyes.

“Yes,” I replied, agreeing with him and pointing toward the door. I didn’t have time to play the shrink.

“They really are killing people,” Casey said more to himself than either me or Liv. “This isn’t some joke.”

“No, it’s not.” I could practically feel the vamp’s distress. He was like a mouse who thought there was cheese at the end of his fun maze only to discover a big fat cat waiting for him with its mouth open. Welcome to my world, buddy. “Let’s go, and you can get back to your Xbox.”