Edge of Midnight (McClouds & Friends #4)(135)

That sounded ominous. “What the hell do you want from me?”

“Your brain.” Osterman jabbed his needle through torn flesh. “I’ve refined X-Cog so much since I experimented on Kevin with it. He was remarkable, you know. He forged new neural pathways to bypass the nerve induction, right on the spot, just to spite me. Unbelievable.”

Sean gasped with pain. “Before you murdered him?”

Osterman stabbed the raw meat of Sean’s shoulder again. “I’ve been trying to duplicate those results ever since. And here you are, an identical genetic copy of Kevin McCloud, on a silver platter. The genes must have expressed themselves very differently in you. I hear you’re quite a low achiever, compared to your twin brother.”

Sean’s teeth dug into his lip at the next savage poke. “That’s a…a matter of opinion. I survived, right? Until now, anyhow.”

Osterman chuckled. “Perhaps you’re right. You might have a certain low cunning that Kevin lacked.”

“What did you do to these kids?” Sean demanded. He was queasy with pain, and terrified out of his freaking wits, but so damn curious.

Osterman peeled off bloody latex gloves. “I got the idea years ago, trying out therapies in a mental health clinic. Controlled electrical stimulation to certain parts of the brain, coupled with a drug I’ve named the X-Cog series, produces what I call an interface.” He put a silver helmet on. “This is the master crown. You’re wearing the slave crown.”

Sean realized that he was wearing a helmet, too. His head itched.

“With these, I suppress the part of your brain that governs motor control, and send my own impulses directly from my brain to your body. I can make you do absolutely anything. You watch, conscious, but helpless. Hijacked.” He stopped, his face expectant. Like he though Sean would exclaim in admiration at his brilliance. Sean just stared at the guy, struck mute. Dread swelled up, monstrous inside him.

“Anyway. You’ll see soon enough.” Osterman yanked an IV rack over, and slid a needle into the back of Sean’s hand. “Let’s get started.”

“With what?” He didn’t want to know, but he couldn’t help asking.

“At first, I just thought that enslaving Ms. Endicott and having her perform degrading sexual acts with and upon Gordon would be entertaining, but it’s been done, and sex gets so tedious, you know?”

“Chris prefers a good mindf*ck to any other kind,” T-Rex said.

Osterman’s smile froze. “Keep your editorial comments to yourself, Gordon.”

“Do whatever you want to me,” Sean said. “Just don’t hurt her.”

“Oh, I won’t.” Osterman’s smile looked almost jolly. “You will.”

Sean’s throat clamped down over the words. “I what?”

“You, Mr. McCloud. You will be the one to torture her. What better way to demonstrate what the X-Cog can do? I want to to see how far I can push the interface. If I can smash through all moral and ethical boundaries. Imagine the applications, if I can compel you to do something which is morally repugnant to you. I’ve never tried that.”

Sean tried to shake his head, but it was clamped ruthlessly into place. “No,” he whispered.

The phone on Gordon’s belt rang. He picked up. “Yeah? I’ll check on it.” He clicked it shut. “Brice needs help wiping his ass. A car turned onto Schuyler Road, but didn’t come out.” He grabbed Cindy’s hair as he passed, yanking it. “I’ll be back, honey. Don’t go anywhere.” He swiped a card, peered into the retina scan machine, and left.

Osterman swatted Liv’s cheek. “We’ve waited long enough.”



“Yeah, I see. I’m handy when you guys need to borrow a car or do your computer shit work, but if anything important’s happening, it’s ‘go suck your thumb in the closet ’til it’s safe to come out, Miles.’”

“We don’t have time for this argument,” Con said. “You don’t even have a gun. If we don’t come back, you have to bring reinforcements.”

“So that’s when I can help,” Miles snarled. “When everybody else has croaked, and it doesn’t matter anymore. Just great. Thanks, guys.”

“You can get over it and be of actual use to us and to Cindy, or you can get clubbed over the head and stuffed into the trunk.” Davy’s voice was steely. “Those are your options. Choose quickly.”

Miles slumped down against the trunk of the cedar tree, defeated.

The two McClouds melted into the trees with the Specs handheld monitor, off to track down the signal from Cindy’s cell while he sat here with his thumb up his ass. It didn’t matter how hard he worked. No amount of training would ever get him up to par. And he was having a pity party, while Cindy chatted up a serial killer. Bat-brained, beautiful Cindy.

He wanted to howl like a chained dog.

He stared down at the grounds. The beacon in Cin’s cell had been stationary, bleeping from the far edge of the complex. It made no sense for him to lurk up here. He should at least get closer to the main house.

There was a hedge down there. Good cover. Sean always talked about the importance of trusting your instincts. His own were biting his ass, with long pointy teeth, telling him to move, move, move.