Right Through Me (The Obsidian Files #1)(69)

While Caro was occupied with talking, Zade sidled over towards Noah.

“Dude,” he hissed under his breath. “What the f*ck is she doing here? We can’t watch this thing with her. It’ll scare the living shit out of her. At best.”

Noah shrugged. “We have to,” he said simply. “She was the one who found it.”

“What are you planning to tell her about us?” Sisko said.

“Don’t know yet,” Noah said. “Hadn’t really thought about it.”

Sisko and Zade exchanged a startled glance.

Zade gulped the last of his coffee and wiped his mouth. “So play the goddamned thing already,” he said roughly. “I can’t stand waiting any more.”

Noah plugged the flash drive into a laptop connected to the flatscreen TV. A download box appeared on the blue screen. Noah selected it, and hesitated, looking at Caro.

Hannah had pressed a coffee cup into her hands, but when Caro met his eyes, she set the cup down on the lamp table and clasped her hands.

“Don’t look at me for permission,” she said. “You’ll do whatever the f*ck you want anyway.”

He picked up a remote and hit Play.



*



Caro regretted the sweet, strong coffee that she’d sipped at Hannah’s insistence. It was making her stomach churn.

This scene felt wrong. Everyone in the room exuded a buzz of controlled excitement that made no sense. There was no reason for them to be here, or to care about this. If they were here only as a favor to Noah, their vibe would be more flat.

The video had begun. She’d worry about Noah’s people, as he called them, and their hidden agenda afterwards.

The video began. The concealed camera that took it had a fisheye lens which distorted the features of the man who peered into it. But it was clear that he was handsome. Buzzed dark hair, a strong nose and jaw, and keen eyes that looked intently into the lens as he adjusted the angle. She recognized him from the pictures that Tim had dug up of Luke Ryan. Behind him, another man, fortyish, talked loudly on a cell phone. He was heavyset and bearded.

A knock sounded. Luke’s hand reached back to touch a gun in a holster inside his coat. The bearded guy yelled, “Who is it?”

A muffled voice answered. Caro couldn’t make out the words.

“I’ll get the door,” Luke said. “Stay back.”

He opened the door to someone wearing a sweatshirt with a hood that shadowed his face. “Calliope banner ibex,” the man at the door said.

Some sort of code? Except that Luke didn’t react to it. The man at the door pushed back his hood.

It was Mark Olund

Grinning, he chucked Luke under the chin, then shoved him as if to test if he’d hold still. Luke Ryan remained motionless.

The bearded guy ended his call, belatedly alarmed. “What’s going on? Who the hell are you?”

Mark grabbed Luke, heaved him into the room and shut the door. At this angle, Caro could see Ryan’s tense face. He was struggling to breathe.

“Hey, Lukie,” Mark said. “Remember me?”

Caro didn’t understand what she saw but it was awful and sure to get worse.

The bearded guy’s voice was edged with panic. “What the hell’s wrong with you, Luke? Are you having a goddamn seizure? Who’s this guy? Do you know him?”

Luke’s eyes blazed with helpless fury. He seemed frozen. He dragged in tight breaths, fighting for air, but he was still on his feet.

Mark pushed him against a wall. He stayed there.

Then Mark lifted a gun from Luke’s holster with a latex gloved hand, and deftly screwed on a silencer.

The bearded guy’s eyes went wide with terror. He lunged for the door—

Two muffled gunshots to the head. The bearded man thudded to the ground.

Mark put down the gun, seized Luke’s chin in a cruel pincer grip and kissed him aggressively. “Alone at last,” he said. “Great to see you again. The brave warrior who saved us all! What a man. You always had the biggest balls. Mind if I squeeze?” Mark reached down, grabbed the other man’s crotch and just about wrenched them off.

Luke’s face contracted with agony, but he didn’t make a sound.

Mark slapped him brutally hard. Caro half expected Luke to spit out teeth or crumple to the floor, but his tormenter steadied him before he could topple.

“Poor bastard,” Mark crooned. “What a f*cking mess. They invested so much money in you kill code boys before they scrapped the program. Everyone with clearance knows your f*cking codes, plus anyone those people feel like telling . . . and anyone who’s good at data theft, like me. I have your brother’s codes too. I think you two are the last of the tribe.” He patted Luke’s face. “I’m almost sorry for you. But not really.”

Luke was motionless, his gaze fixed on Mark.

“Want to know a secret?” Mark chortled. “Obsidian improved the product. No verbal codes this time, though. No more of that calliope-banner-ibex crap. Too sloppy. Full of bugs. Not anymore. Now it’s coded ultrasound. One pulse to activate. And now there are hundreds of them. Trained like us, only better. Stronger, faster, more mods, more implants, more power genes.”

Luke’s chest hitched as Mark leaned closer. “Aww. Don’t be jealous. I’m going to take their army . . . and I’m going to f*ck them with it. I’m going to f*ck them really hard. And you, my old friend, are going to help me do it.”