Whispers in the Dark (KGI #4)(91)

“I don’t know the answer to your question, Nathan,” Resnick said in a low voice. “But we’ll use whatever resources I have to find out. I swear it.” He turned to Donovan. “That’s exactly what they did. They studied each and every case of special abilities. Some turned out to be hoaxes, but there were others who clearly displayed unique talents. Years went into cataloging and searching out men and women with psychic or paranormal gifts. They were tested extensively and then se**n samples were taken from the men and the females had eggs removed. Then began an experimentation on mixing and matching certain profiles to see what the result would be.”

“It all sounds f**king unreal,” Ethan muttered.

“I was a failure. As were many of the offspring that were created in the lab,” Resnick continued. “In fact, Grace and Shea were the only two who displayed marked abilities. You can imagine the excitement they caused when it was discovered what they could do. There were others with questionable abilities but nothing that was tangible, that was there in black and white, that could be proven, and most important, controlled and reproduced at will. That is what they were looking for, and that’s why Grace and Shea aren’t safe. They want them not only for what they can do, but for the possibilities their offspring would provide.”

A chill went up Nathan’s spine, and fury gripped him all over again. There was no f**king way Shea was going to spend her life being tortured and have her eggs taken to produce mass offspring in hopes of having one or two who shared her remarkable ability. The mere thought made him sick to his stomach.

A sudden thought occurred to Nathan and he met Resnick’s gaze. “You were the one who helped the Petersons, weren’t you? When they moved to Oregon. It’s how you knew about the house there and why you sent Phillips there to find Shea.”

Resnick gave a resigned sigh. “Yes. I didn’t locate the Petersons or the girls until they were nearly adults. The Petersons took the girls and ran when they were very young. Just toddlers. I was glad. I hated seeing what was done to them. I was just a teenager who was helpless to do anything but watch while they were treated like objects.

“They were why I pursued a job in the CIA and why I worked my way into the upper echelons of the intelligence community. I not only wanted to find and protect them but I wanted to keep my ear to the ground so I’d know if there was an effort to regroup or if anyone began digging around for information on the girls.

“The project folded after the Petersons escaped with Shea and Grace. There was a fear of discovery. No one knew when or if the Petersons would go public. One day the project was alive and well. The next day it was a ghost town.”

“And you?” Sam asked. “Where do you fit into all this, Resnick? What did you do after the project folded? Or did you keep your hand in it all this time?”

Resnick’s lip curled at the distrust in Sam’s voice. “Since I was conceived in a lab, I didn’t officially exist. I didn’t even have a name, though the Petersons called me Adam. For the first created man. But I had no official identification. No birth certificate. To the world I didn’t exist. It was pretty easy to disappear, start over, create my own past. It didn’t take long to get a birth certificate and a social security number. Things were much easier back then. Not as much red tape. And once you’re in the system, you’re there. And so I became Adam Resnick. More importantly, my connection to the research project has never been known.”

Resnick stopped for a moment and then he tiredly ran a hand over his jaw. His injured arm hung loosely at his side and he had a gray cast to his skin. He looked beaten. Regret radiated from him in waves.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Nathan. I didn’t know. I couldn’t have known. I only wanted to protect Shea. I still want to protect her.”

“Then let’s find out who the f**k has her,” Nathan ground out. “Last time they caught up to her in California and they held her in the vicinity for a week. She escaped and I found her in Crescent City, hiding in a culvert. They kept her drugged the entire time. She remembers little except the torture, so she couldn’t tell me anything about who they were.”

Resnick sighed. “I’ve looked for her and Grace ever since the Petersons turned up dead and the girls disappeared. I knew they were in serious trouble. I made sure the Petersons’ bodies were removed and nothing got out about their deaths. The house belonged to me under an assumed name, and on paper the Petersons were renters. They kept to themselves and never involved themselves in the community, so it’s doubtful anyone ever knew they were gone. I made sure the house was kept up in case…in case one of the girls ever came back.”

“You mean you intended to nab them as soon as they showed up,” Nathan said darkly.

“I would have taken them in, yes,” Resnick said calmly. “I would have done anything to protect them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one watching the house, and Phillips and his team got there too late to help Grace. I was determined to at least bring Shea in. When we failed to intercept her at the house, I knew that eventually you’d take her home, so we waited for our opportunity and took it.”

“Who else is watching?” Sam demanded. “Who else wants them?”

“I don’t know. But I plan to find out.”

“So what now?” Garrett demanded with his trademark impatience. He was positively fidgeting with all the talking going on, an impatience that Nathan shared.