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Jack waited in the shadows outside a popular restaurant and bar whose crowd spilled from a large deck onto the beach. Mason and Faine were nearby doing the same. It hadn’t been necessary to do a deep background on Toby Evans since he and Vin had already done it, not only on Evans but also on all the security staff at the Institute. Evans had spent most of his adult life in the Navy, until an injury had forced him into early retirement. The details in the information Jack had gathered were vague, but apparently Evans had taken a lot of shrapnel in his left leg, shattering his knee and thigh. Jack could imagine how grueling his recovery had been. Every now and then Evans limped, favoring that leg.
Stine’s personal security, which he and Vin had been a part of, was a whole different story. Most of those guys’ identities were buried so deep they’d been beyond the resources he or Vin could access since they were no longer in the Army, but Gabe had the list now. Jack would put his money on the computer genius making headway.
Stine didn’t seem concerned about hiding the histories of the regular security staff, however. He didn’t seem to trust them much either, not with the secret squirrel shit, at least. The seventh floor—where the atrocities happened—was barred to everyone but his most inner circle. Even Jack and Vin hadn’t gotten that far. Because of that, they’d both tried to get on good terms with Evans and his men, but had been treated with suspicion and scorn. After hearing Quinn’s story, that made a hell of a lot more sense, but he had questions. Like if Evans had known what was going on at Stirling why the fuck hadn’t he done anything about it?
“Your friend is a Seal. I didn’t recognize him yesterday,” the man in question said softly from behind him. Jack didn’t react. He’d counted on Evans spotting him, expected the sneaking.
“Faine’s retired. He served a bit before your time too.”
He sensed more than saw Evans shrug. “I saw him around when I was in training.”
That didn’t surprise Jack, and they’d counted on the Seal connection to get Evans talking instead of shooting.
“This isn’t the place for this,” the other man continued. “Meet me at my house. Don’t be seen.”
He melted away without waiting for a response. The arrogance, assuming Jack would blindly defer to him, made Jack grind his teeth and reminded him why Evans irritated the fuck out of him. He tapped his ear mike while he slipped away from the crowd.
“Evans’s place,” he said, not waiting for an answer. He didn’t expect one.
They’d parked in a packed public lot near the boardwalk that was halfway between the bar and Evans’s house. It was a short walk in a small beach town about half an hour north of Tampa and the same distance west of the Institute. Evans had a house on one of the man-made canals that connected to the Gulf. He and Vin had scoped it and the town out before, which was why Jack had a good idea of where to look for their quarry tonight.
He approached the house from the street side. Faine was waiting on one corner in the shadows, nodded when he saw Jack, and moved down the side of the house towards the back deck. Jack did the same on the opposite side. There were no nasty surprises, but he hadn’t really expected any. A screened-in porch stretched the length of the rear of the house, a deck just a step down from it, and at the bottom of the gently sloping yard, a dock where Evans’s boat was docked. Jack knew next to nothing about water craft, but Faine had seen it earlier and nodded in approval.
Mason was already seated on the porch, sipping a beer with Evans, who reached down into a cooler and handed one to Faine and him when they joined them. They’d obviously been expected. Jack sat on a stool, his back to the wall, and kept an eye out for anyone who shouldn’t be lurking.
“You found the kid?” Evans asked, getting right to the point. That worked for Jack. Screw the small talk, right?
“He says you helped him,” Faine answered.
“I did what I could at the time.”
Jack focused on him, recalled what Esme and Zach had concluded about his intuition. It’s probably related to empathy or precognition. Don’t ignore it. Evans didn’t fidget — he was a retired Seal after all—and ignored Mason and Faine, holding Jack’s gaze.
“You’re on an op,” Jack said softly, making sure his voice didn’t carry.
“Let’s say, hypothetically, there’s a group of intelligence agents, scientists, and businessmen interested in genetic enhancements.”
“Is that what Stine told you?” Jack had seen the doctor’s indifference to Evans firsthand. He couldn’t see him sharing this deep a secret.
Evans shook his head once. “No, and it’s only part of why I’m here. I’m looking for a missing woman.”
Mason snarled and stood to pace. “Another one? This shit is starting to piss me off. The boss will not be happy.”
“Mase,” Faine murmured, the warning unspoken but vibrating in the air.
Mason stopped pacing and kept silent, though he didn’t return to his seat. Jack hadn’t known him long, and he was always intense, but tonight the other man seemed worse. More intense. Was Jack missing something? Too bad he wasn’t a telepath like most of the Elect. He could use some inside information right about now. And come to think of it, why the fuck was Evans involved in searching for a missing woman? It wasn’t exactly in his skill set.
“What does your missing woman have to do with this theoretical cabal?” Jack asked, taking the lead. “Who are you looking for?”
Evans didn’t say anything and Jack repressed an aggravated snarl. “Look, man, you’ve told us this much and I’m guessing you need our help to find her.”
Evans cocked his head to one side and gave him a curious look. “You aren’t one of them, so how did you end up with these people?”
“Of course he’s one of us,” Mason growled.
Evans snorted. “He’s human. Stine wouldn’t have let him near him otherwise. Unless it was as a prisoner. You, on the other hand...”
“Stine isn’t the only one capable of keeping prisoners,” Mason threatened.
Evans gave him a slow mean smile. “Try it.”
This was getting stupid ridiculous. “Enough. Who are you looking for, what do you know about us, and how did you find out?”
“I figured you weren’t just another pretty Southern boy,” Evans said. Olivia would probably think that was hilarious. Jack resisted the urge to deck him. “Her name is Isabella. She’s my ex-wife, and Harry Wayman’s daughter.”
Jack cocked an eyebrow. “The owner of H.M. Security?” In this case, security was code for mercenaries. Evans nodded.
“That’s him.”
None of them mentioned that before he started his company, Wayman had been the deputy director of an intelligence agency.
“He’s in the cabal?”
“Yeah. He tried to leave and they took Isabella.”
“Why?” Mason asked.
Evans looked at him like he was an idiot.
“Why did he want to leave?” Mason clarified.
“He heard rumors of how Stine was treating his research subjects. Not that he has any particular misgivings about torture, you understand, but these are Americans and if word ever got out, it would reflect badly on him,” he said sarcastically.
“Must have been an interesting father-in-law.”
“Oh, he’s a real winner, but Isabella doesn’t deserve any of this shit.”
“You’re sure Stine has her? You’ve been there two years.”
“My involvement goes back a bit farther than her abduction. Harry wanted to know exactly what was going on before he made his decision. I was retiring from the Navy and he knew the right people to approach about a civilian job here.”
Mason looked skeptical. Jack was right on that boat with him.
“Doesn’t sound like you like him, so wouldn’t they be suspicious if he recommended you for a sensitive job and then tried to leave their merry band of Frankensteins?” Jack asked.
“We can’t stand each other and everyone knows it, but I didn’t need his recommendation. I just needed to know who to ask about opportunities available to a medically retired sailor. I’m not interested in the usual work, under the circumstances, so it was an easy sell.” He rolled his eyes at Jack. “Stine certainly sold you easy with the sad tale of a missing woman who wasn’t.”
“Leave my woman out of this,” he said, forcing the irritation out of his tone. “You aren’t done explaining. Was your information what got your ex kidnapped?”
“Yeah.”
“You seem pretty calm about that,” Mason said. “How long has she been gone?”
Evans scowled. “About eighteen months. And I’m in control because every Sunday at eight A.M. on the dot, Harry gets a video email. Otherwise, trust me, I’d be losing my shit. Anyway, we can’t figure out where she’s being held, but she’s being fed and treated well. We’d see evidence otherwise. She’s in an environment that’s usually warm, judging by the way she’s dressed and the foliage around her.”
It was a crazy story and Jack believed it. But... “What the fuck was your plan in the meantime? And why hasn’t her father done whatever they want to get her released? Why are you still working there?”
“Brother, six months with these people was enough to convince me they are batshit crazy and need to be stopped, so even if Isabella was safe at home, I’d still be here.”
Jack didn’t need to be a telepath to know that bit of news excited Mason and Faine. Looked like they’d found their inside guy.
“As for Harry, I did mention he’s a world class son of a bitch, right? And a selfish bastard at that,” Evans continued. “They have Isabella, so I’m not walking, but he won’t do anything to risk his own neck, not even for his daughter. Besides, like I said, someone needs to take these assholes down.”
“Well, I’m with you on that, but she’s your ex. With your contacts, you have to know someone you could turn this over to.”
Evans’s jaw clenched and he glared, radiating a back off vibe. “Not your business.”
Was he still in love with his wife? Given Jack’s history and actions with Olivia, he wasn’t in a position to judge, and it explained that little subtle edge of desperation Evans couldn’t always completely hide.
“Why approach us now? Why send the kid our way?” he asked.
“I would have done that a long time ago if I could have. I only met him once, back at the beginning, and when I said something about his treatment, I was told to leave the house. Stine decided my skills would be better utilized elsewhere. Then he made some not very subtle threats against my grandmother, who was my only living relative at the time.” He shrugged. “I figured I’d gather intel until I could act. Of course, Isabella was safe at the time and I didn’t know how nuts Stine could get yet.”
