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HUGH SAT ON the floor, paging through his reports as he waited for Parson to fall asleep. On Parson’s day off he usually went out with friends but it was just Hugh’s luck that tonight—the night he needed the other man gone—Parson had stayed at the facility.
The other day, when he’d met with Bruno he’d mouthed that they needed to meet again and had tapped the reports. Bruno would understand that the time and location was written inside. With The Victor nearby, he hadn’t wanted to risk saying anything else. Tonight, after he’d cleaned the lab—Guards didn’t get days off—he’d gone back to the room and had waited.
“We should get some sleep.” Parson put his book down.
He grunted an agreement, placing his papers aside and stretching out on his mat.
Parson turned out the light and a few minutes later, his breathing was steady with sleep. Hugh sat up, sliding one of the other Almighty’s work shoes out from under the bed. He wedged the tracking device beneath the sole. He put the shoe back, grabbed his stuff and snuck out the door. This would give him at least a few hours head start before Parson contacted Meesus.
He went into the lab and ran the program to re-angle the cameras. He checked his path across the estate and started the timer that’d unlock the gate. In less than an hour, everything would revert back and another program would run, clearing all evidence of these activities from the computer. No one would ever find any trace unless they really studied the system logs. He left the lab, pulling the hood of his cloak over his head as he moved down the hallway and out the door. He darted across the yard and ducked into the bushes, making his way to the back of the estate.
Once at the fence he waited. He hated this part. It reminded him of prison—the noises he couldn’t identify and the helplessness and fear that clung to him like a shadow. There was a slight click and he let out his breath, not realizing until then that he’d been holding it. He looked for Bruno, but nothing moved. He counted to ten. There was no way back inside once he left the estate, but he only had thirty seconds before the gate would lock and then he’d be stuck here another night. Emmanuel could arrive any day. It was officially “next week”. Bruno or no Bruno, he was leaving. He slipped through the gate and raced across the street. He ducked into some bushes and studied the area to see if anyone had noticed his escape. The estate was quiet. He inhaled deeply and moved farther into the brush and waited. Bruno would arrive. He had faith in the Guard.
He pulled his knife. Not that it’d do him much good when he could barely see. Thankfully, it was a clear night, otherwise, he’d have to risk turning on his flashlight. There was a slight movement in the bushes ahead. He held perfectly still, not even breathing, hoping he was concealed because running wasn’t an option. His leg still hurt where he’d removed the tracking device, plus he had nowhere to go.
“What are you doing out of the fence.” Bruno stepped from the vegetation, followed by a slight odor of beer.
“Thank Araldo.” He sheathed his knife. “I’m done.”
“Completely?”
“As done as I’m going to be. A Handler visited the other day. It’s not safe for me to stay.” Plus, he had to deliver the serum and he wanted to see Trinity. She’d probably had about all the peace and quiet at base camp she could handle.
“Where are the reports? Townsend expects reports.”
He almost rolled his eyes. The Guard had a one track mind—please Townsend. He removed his backpack and dug out the hard copy of the reports and a flash drive, handing them to Bruno. “This is everything. All in layman’s terms. There’s proof, hard proof, that all of us are genetically related. There are also some notes about things I found in the lab. Illegal things.”
“Townsend will love that.” Bruno slipped the items into a brown sack at his side. “Who’s meeting you?”
“I was hoping you could arrange for someone to escort me back to camp.”
“I can do that.” Bruno glanced at his injured leg. “It’s a long walk to the carriage.”
“I’ll be fine.” He followed the Guard. “Before I go back to camp, I need to make a stop.” He wanted to see Martha, ask her about his father.
“Where?”
The Guard wasn’t going to like this. “The Remore house.”
“Jethro Remore’s house?” There was a hint of incredulousness in Bruno’s tone.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to see him.”
Bruno stopped and faced him. “Did you get any news in there? Do you have any idea what’s happened?”
“No.” A chill raced down his spine. “You’re the only one I’ve seen for weeks.”
“Townsend didn’t want me to say anything while you were working. He didn’t want you to lose focus.” Bruno looked a bit chagrined.
“I’m done working so tell me what’s going on.” It couldn’t be too bad if Townsend had been keeping it from him.
“For starters, our side ain’t doing so well anymore.” Bruno turned and began walking again.
“What do you mean?” He caught up with the Guard.
“The Remore lad has been capturing your forest troops. He’s good. He seems to know the next step they’ll take before they take it.”
“Shit.” He ran his hand through his hair. “How many have we lost?”
“Enough.”
“I have to get back to camp.”
“My orders are to deliver these to Townsend as soon as I get them.”
“You can do that after you take me to the camp.” Meeting with Martha would have to wait. “The reports aren’t going to change, but people are dying.”
“Guards and Servants die all the time. My orders are to deliver these to Townsend.”
“You’d rather more soldiers die? You know Townsend wouldn’t want that.”
“They ain’t dying. At lease we don’t think they are. It’s weird. No one but us seems to know anyone was captured. No news reporting the victories. Nothing.”
“Could they have gotten...eaten by predators?” That’d been the main risk of his plan.
“Not according to the Servants who escaped.”
“Some escaped? I need to speak with them. Please, take me to camp before you see Townsend. I have to find out what’s going on.”
“I don’t break my orders for no one.”
He clamped his mouth shut. This was the problem with Guards. They couldn’t prioritize. He could either go with Bruno to Townsend’s house and wait or...“Fine, but you don’t need my help. The Remore residence is on the way. Drop me off and come back after you deliver the papers to Townsend.”
“From what I hear, Martha and Kim Remore are on our side.”
“It’s not like that. I don’t intend on hurting them or capturing them.” He should forget about seeing Martha. He could do it later, but what if he couldn’t? This was war. What if he died? He needed to talk to her. Find out why she’d given him up. Find out what his father had done to her. Find out if she hated the sight of him.
“So, why go there?” Bruno stopped, crossing his arms over his chest.
“It’s personal.” His life had been a lot easier when Guards obeyed without question. “No one knows this and you can’t say anything to anyone.”
“I keep no secrets from Townsend.”
“Besides him. He won’t talk about this.” The man was a reporter but he was a decent guy. “Martha Remore is my biological mother. She was fourteen when she had me. My father...I’d heard stories of his...interest in young girls. I don’t know what talking to her is going to do. It isn’t going to change anything, but...I need to see her. Tell her I’m sorry.”
Bruno tipped his head in a slight nod. “I’ll drop you off, but don’t go in that house if Jethro is there.” He leaned forward until their noses almost touched. “Do you understand? I’ve heard that boy can fight. Townsend will tan my hide if I let anything happen to you.”
“I promise. I want to talk to Martha. I don’t want to cause her any trouble.”
Bruno stared at him a moment longer and then nodded. “The lad shouldn’t be there anyway. He has his own place now and he was busy with a cute, female Guard when I left the bar.”
“You saw him tonight?” Apparently, Jethro wasn’t as classist as his father.
“Yeah and like I said, he’ll be busy tonight, but make sure before you go inside.”
“I will.” Fighting with her son in her home wouldn’t make Martha conducive to talking about the past. “Where in the name of Araldo did you park the carriage?” His leg was killing him.
“Far enough away to be safe.”
He trudged after the Guard, ignoring the pain. The trip to camp was going to be a lot worse than this.