Jeff quirked his mouth. Even better. His boss was loosening up. Well, what was loose for him.
“She’s not.” Jeff let out a long breath. “But I need her back to figure out what she is. Can you find her again?”
“Probably.” Rome’s answer was laced with indifference. Gotcha. “But I need the truth about her. No bullshit, Jeff. I’ve seen what she can do. I want to know what I’m up against this time.” He watched Jeff watch him. His boss was obviously deciding what to reveal. Which meant he had something to hide.
“There’s a serum that a Five Watch scientist was developing,” Jeff began slowly. He was choosing his words carefully. “The scientist went rogue and destroyed the lab, and with it, the formula. Ms. Kane has the serum inside her. We have not been able to replicate it.” Well, that cleared up absolutely nothing.
“What does it do?” Rome asked, genuinely wondering about its intended use. “This serum. Why is it such a big deal?”
“It was being developed for soldiers,” Jeff answered. “To enhance them biologically so that they could withstand severe situations.” Was he serious?
“Like what?” What did that mean? Was Harper not giving him the whole story? She’d said she thought her brother worked with plants, not human subjects. Was she really part of the experiment?
“The serum needs to be tested.” Jeff ignored his question. So that was off-limits. His boss leaned forward, pinning him with a glare. “It’s not working the way it should. That’s why I need her back. We need to find out why she’s reacted to it the way she has.” Rome couldn’t discern how much of what he knew Jeff was revealing. But it seemed to follow what Rome did know. Sort of. “She’s dangerous. And she’s a danger to herself. It’s for her own good, Rome.”
The way Jeff said the last line chilled him. Did he know Rome helped her escape? That he was helping her now? And what was that underlying current of censure that tinted Jeff’s words?
Rome promptly decided that what little he had found out from Jeff would have to be enough. It was time to go.
The stories from Harper and Jeff, though similar, didn’t quite seem to jive with each other. But then, the whole thing was annoyingly suspicious and had holes.
Rome was more confused than ever. He’d trusted his duty for so long, it was tough to think that Jeff was feeding him crap. Yet Harper honestly believed she was an innocent victim in this mess. He was committed to his job, but he’d committed to Harper, as well. Most of all, though, he was committed to doing what was right.
Torn as he was, he’d already betrayed her once. He wasn’t going to do it again. Something very strange was going on and he was going to have to sort it out himself. He’d much rather do it with Harper. She was a phenomenal kisser.
And he wasn’t sure Jeff was on his side anymore. His boss was always evasive, but this time was different. Almost like a warning. Do your job or we’ll find someone who can, was Jeff’s message.
“So if you find her, bring her in.” Jeff tilted back in his leather chair and picked up his papers, dismissing him.
“Great.” Rome nodded with a coolness he didn’t feel and stood. He walked to the door and looked back to Jeff over his shoulder. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Yes, you will,” Jeff said, evenly holding his gaze.
Jeff was so damn hard to read. That’s what made him so good at what he did. And it’s also what made Rome now question whether going there was as good an idea as he’d thought it was earlier. Maybe he’d just tipped his hand. Damn it all.
Quickening his pace without appearing to do so, he moved down the shadowy corridor. A couple of burly guys turned the corner ahead and moved his way. They were unusually huge. Shit. Were they after him?
They looked like the same guys who’d tried to stop Harper when he helped her escape. He was sure no one had seen him in the alley, but he had witnessed them use the same power as her, though a tad muddied. And it confirmed what Jeff told him about the experiments. Maybe these brutes were the subjects.
Rome gave them a cordial nod as they passed. Nodding back, the two hulks kept walking. He resisted the urge to turn around and see whether they were watching him. He didn’t want to appear concerned, but his back felt as if it were on fire.
Walking out the door, he held his breath as if waiting for someone to yank him back inside. Or tackle him. But nothing happened.
Reaching his car, Rome quickly inspected the Land Rover. He was going to have to switch it out before returning to the warehouse with the items Harper requested.
He had to get back to her. Now. Someone was hiding the whole truth. And hard as it would be, he needed to make sure it wasn’t her. He was so damn tired of secrets.
CHAPTER NINE
Jeff Donovan watched the secure feed from the three streetlight cameras on his computer monitor. Rome finally passed the last one and moved out of sight.
He sat back against the buttery leather of his chair, steepling his fingers against his mouth.
Agent Rome Lucian made him uneasy. He always had. And that uneasiness was what prompted this whole project.
Not too long ago, the agent had mistrusted his instincts and the falter had cost lives. Yet the incident sparked an idea. An idea that removed unreliable instincts and replaced it with raw power. With the powerful serum, his men could create the variables instead of react to them.
And failures like Rome’s could be prevented.
But here the agent was, testing his instincts again. Yes, Rome knew something. The fact that he’d been to the facility twice since Harper Kane became an issue had reinforced that.
Damn her. Damn her and her goody-goody brother.
Dr. Robert Kane had wanted to use his formula for global assistance. So did Jeff. Only their definitions of “assistance” were slightly different. Jeff’s vision of saving the world meant creating the ultimate warrior. It was his pet project. To mold a force that no one would be able to reckon with. The country and its allies would be invincible. No one would dare cross them ever again.
That wasn’t Dr. Kane’s vision. Jeff didn’t understand why their dreams couldn’t live in harmony. The doctor was part of Five Watch. Surely he understood national security and everything that went with it.
But Dr. Kane refused to share even a scrap of his precious formula. And with that refusal, the doctor had signed his own death warrant. Jeff couldn’t tolerate associates who weren’t on board.
The moment Dr. Kane had found out about Jeff’s experiments using a replica of his serum, the bastard went wacko and destroyed it all. Torching his private underground lab at the Five Watch facility along with his precious plants and every single piece of research he’d ever created. And he’d destroyed every drop of the serum.
Or so Jeff had thought.
Then that damn woman had shown up just as his men were finishing off Dr. Kane. When Jeff had heard that, he’d been furious. But it hadn’t compared to the rage once he’d gotten the report about the incident at the train tracks.
Apparently the sight hadn’t been pretty. Decimated bodies everywhere. The damn woman had injected the last of the serum. Used the power. And left behind a useless flash drive, which had no doubt held the only surviving remnants of Dr. Kane’s data on the formula. Why else would her brother have given it to her?
Harper Kane was a tough bitch, no doubt, but he’d been sure they’d be able to get to her eventually-especially in the main lab at the Five Watch facility for more extensive and invasive testing.
Then she’d overpowered his own test subjects to escape. Though he knew his boys were imperfect, he’d underestimated the power the true serum gave her. Good thing he’d kept her underground.