She gasped. ‘That bad?’
‘Trust me. It’s happened before.’
‘What the hell happened, Jason?’
‘Where did you find me?’
‘In the factory. Alone. You were just coming to when I made it to you.’
‘You followed me in?’
‘I wasn’t going to just stay in the office. We were sitting ducks in there. The lady was a mess after seeing her partner get shot. She was no use. I saw you go into the factory and figured I would help you out. However I could. I waited a few minutes then came in after you.’
‘And you didn’t see anyone else?’
She shook her head. ‘Not a soul. Who did this to you?’
‘I don’t know,’ King said, pressing a pair of fingers hard against his temple. He struggled to suppress a bubbling cocktail of emotions. ‘I’m being played with, Kate. We’re all being toyed with. All I remember is being hit from behind. I remember being completely helpless. I could have been killed right there. Easily. But I wasn’t.’ He looked around. ‘Where are we?’
‘Hurst. It’s a small town. Ten minute drive from Jameson.’
‘How did you get here?’
‘I…’ She trailed off.
King touched a hand to her face. ‘Kate.’
She wiped her eyes, drying fresh tears. ‘I put you in Billy’s car and just drove. I was so scared. I had no idea what was happening.’
‘You just left Kitchener there?’
‘I’m sorry!’ she yelled. ‘I’m not used to this shit. I’m just a normal person who does normal things like make mistakes when they get shot at. I’m not some kind of warrior like you. I don’t just waltz into gunfights and danger and… whatever. I just panicked and drove.’
‘We need to go back and check on her.’
‘You can’t in this state.’
‘I know. Give me a moment. I just need… some water or something…’
‘You need more than a moment.’
He dropped his head onto her shoulder and took a deep, long breath. The physical effects of recent altercations were catching up to him. Everything hurt. He wasn’t sure where to start with addressing his injuries. It had all moulded into an intricate web of pain. He thought back to that night where he’d first wandered up the road to Jameson, expecting a relaxing visit to an unassuming little town in the middle of nowhere. What he’d encountered was something brutal, something visceral, something he still couldn’t quite put his finger on.
‘Why did you leave?’ Kate said finally, breaking the silence.
He turned and looked at her. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Black Force. Why did you really leave? I don’t believe what you told me before. Something made you quit, just like that, and come all the way out here. Looking for peace and quiet. What was it?’
‘How can you tell?’
‘Something’s eating away at you,’ she said. ‘You’re a shell that I still can’t seem to crack. You’re so quiet, but I don’t think you’re usually this reserved. I think you’re trying to suppress something.’
He didn’t respond for a full minute. He lay back on the bed and wrapped his arm around Kate and stared at the roof overhead, listening to the forest sounds outside.
‘I fucked up a mission,’ he said. ‘My last mission.’
She rolled over, draping a leg over him so she could look him in the eyes. ‘You haven’t failed one before?’
‘I have. Many times. But this one was devastating.’
‘Where?’
‘Kuwait. Two months ago.’
‘What happened?’
‘They sent me in to infiltrate an anthrax weapon production facility. It was operating under the guise of a civilian biotechnology lab. The stakes were huge. They’d been producing hordes of the stuff for months, undetected. They had an enormous stockpile, just sitting there, officially labelled as government research. Intel said they had the means and the motivation to use it.’
‘On what?’
‘I don’t know. Now I never will.’
‘What did you do wrong?’
‘Almost everything. I rushed my preparation. I was discovered early. They managed to cart the anthrax out of there while I was pinned down, and then I never saw it again. Half of them got away. It was a complete and utter failure. And I told everyone in charge that I could pull off without a hitch.’
‘That’s not your fault, Jason.’
‘It is. The higher-ups wanted to send in a full team of Delta Force soldiers. Storm the compound from all sides, big gunfight. Make sure none of the product made it out of that facility, no matter what the consequences. They were willing to let a few soldiers die to stop a full-scale bioterrorism attack. I convinced them otherwise. I told them — no, promised them — that if they sent me in there it would be over quicker and quieter, with the same results. They let me. And now I have to live with the fact that my inadequacy left an entire facility worth of anthrax spores in the hands of a group of radicals.’
‘I’d call you a hero for even offering to do such a thing.’
She kissed him for what felt like forever. Her hair spilled over his face and he let the sensation calm him. They parted.
‘That’s why I don’t have a phone, or a laptop, or anything,’ he said. ‘I left that all behind. I don’t want to look at the news one day and see how many people my failure has killed. I don’t want to know how much pain I’ve caused.’
‘You can’t be sure that the others would have been successful,’ she said. ‘You blame yourself for everything that goes wrong, and you can’t help getting yourself involved. That’s why you’re still hanging around this piece-of-shit town while everyone’s trying to kill you.’
‘I came here to get away from everything. I left the jobs I used to do to faster, stronger, younger men. I wanted to finally be free of all the responsibility that’s been eating away at me for years. And now look what’s happened. I feel like I need to succeed here, or I’ll just cause more death.’
‘If you never got involved there would be a lot more innocent people dead. You’re a good man for staying. No matter what happens.’
‘I don’t know about that. What if I’ve caused more trouble by staying?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If my old friends are showing up, and this all has something to do with me… then what am I still doing here?’
‘Trying to help us.’
‘But what if I’m just keeping them here?’
‘I don’t think you are. I think this is something bigger. You can see that too.’
King nodded.
‘Well,’ Kate said, ‘at least we have this.’
She climbed off him and crossed the room to the table in the far corner. King watched her as she walked, admiring her. A thin manila folder sat on the surface. She picked it up and threw it to him.
‘What’s this?’ he said, catching it.
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘But it’s important.’
‘How so?’
‘It’s the folder that the worker came back for. He dropped it on the way out of the office. I found it on the porch, before I came for you. Figured it might help.’
King clenched the folder in his hands, spinning it over and over. Slowly, a smile spread across his face.
‘Kate, you’re an absolute gem,’ he said.
He opened it, and began to read.
CHAPTER 30
The folder contained a swathe of documents, all bundled together, all very official looking. King buried his head into the papers and tried to decipher their contents. Kate stayed by the dining table, chewing a thumbnail restlessly.
The first dozen pages had been written with only professional eyes in mind. They contained a plethora of complicated scientific terms, with no consideration for layman explanations. He read through the description of three stages of some kind of bacteria; incubation, prodromal and fulminant. Then an endless list of chemicals, prepared and organised to perfection. All scientific jargon. Information that certainly shouldn’t be in the hands of a countryside construction company. He flicked through to the next section.