“That was one hell of a tranquilizer.” Grayson slowly sat up and grabbed the coffee. He looked at Noah, who was on the floor with his back to the couch, laptop open. He’d been combing through videos from our team’s uniform cams, looking for proof that MDG was capturing and controlling scrabs. “Are you done looking through the videos? Did you get anything?”
“Not yet,” Noah murmured. “But we got nothing from Maddie’s camera in the garage, unfortunately.”
“Why not?”
“Too dark, and even when there is light, there’s nothing helpful. There’s a brief shot of the scrabs in the van, but you actually can’t see where they’re chained up. So it just looks like two angry scrabs, same as usual.”
Madison and I glanced at each other. There was no audio on the uniform cameras, and without any video proof, all we had was our word. Which was good enough for the team, but not the rest of the world.
“What about on the street? Did you get anything of them capturing those scrabs?” Grayson asked.
“Still looking,” Noah said.
“How many did they get?” Grayson asked.
“It was hard to tell,” Julian said. He was sitting on the floor next to me, his expression tight. He’d looked worried since the moment Grayson collapsed. “We hightailed it out of there as fast as we could after you were shot.”
“And it was tough to see with the smoke,” Saira added. “But I think at least ten.”
“Maybe closer to fifteen or twenty,” Connor said. “I saw more coming up as we left.”
“Should have called a backup team,” Grayson grumbled.
“I’m sorry I was too busy making sure you weren’t dead to call a backup team,” Julian snapped. “And I wasn’t exactly eager to send another one of our teams into danger.”
“Julian, I meant that I should have called a backup team,” Grayson said. “When we headed over there. I wasn’t blaming you.”
“Sorry.” Julian sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “Sorry. I’m on edge.” He glanced at me, and I quickly looked away. I was still annoyed with him for being rude to the team earlier. And for acting like he had to protect me.
“What are they going to do with the scrabs?” Zoe asked. “MDG protects, like, celebrities and politicians and stuff. Are they going to use them as bodyguards against other scrabs?”
“I doubt they’d need this many if they were just planning to use them for their celebrity clients,” Grayson said. “They had a few hundred at that farm in France before they let them escape. And that was just that one location.”
“Then . . . what?” Zoe asked.
“And why are they sending them to this Dust Storm facility? Are they building an army? For what?” Madison asked.
“Exactly. For what.” Grayson leaned back, his gaze on the ceiling. “The potential is terrifying. The advantage we’ve always had over scrabs is our intellect—they’re just not as smart as us. But with training, and a person controlling them . . .” He shook his head. “They could potentially have the most powerful army in the world.”
“But is that so bad?” Gage asked. “They’re an American company. The US already has one of the most powerful militaries in the world. Maybe this is just the next step.”
“First of all, that’s horrifying. I do not want my government using these things against anyone,” Grayson said. “Secondly, you’re assuming that MDG is going to hand over this technology to the government. They’re a private company.”
“And you’re assuming they’d hand it over to the US government,” Laila said. “Just because they’re Americans doesn’t mean they won’t turn around and sell it to the highest bidder. They can just take their piles of cash and go hide on an island in the Caribbean with all the other rich people. We still don’t know where this Dust Storm facility is, but it’s probably not in the US.”
Gage blanched.
“This is all just speculation,” Julian said.
The woman who often worked the front desk appeared in the doorway, hands on her hips. The noise level in the lounge had reached a roar.
She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Can you please keep it down?”
No one obeyed, if they’d even heard her. She tried once more, and then muttered something I couldn’t hear and walked away. Julian cast a concerned glance from her to Grayson.
Noah cursed and closed his laptop. “Nothing. I got nothing.”
“You checked all the cameras?” Zoe asked.
“Yes. All of them. Everything is obstructed by the SUVs or the gas.”
“It’s fine,” Grayson said. “We’ll keep working on it, and I’ll keep passing info to my contacts. Saira’s working on getting leads on more storage facilities. We think they may have several around town.”
“Grayson, they just shot you.” Julian sounded exasperated.
“With a tranquilizer gun,” Grayson said. “I’m fine. Just a little woozy.”
“You were in the middle of the street, surrounded by cameras. These guys had no problem setting scrabs on Clara and Edan. There’s no telling what they’ll do if they get you alone.” Julian’s hand brushed against mine. I moved it away. “And what about everyone else? You’re fine putting everyone in danger?”
Worry flashed across Grayson’s face.
“We’re already in danger,” Laila said.
“And what are we supposed to do, just forget about all of this?” Noah said. “These guys might be building an army, and we’re just going to let them keep capturing scrabs and shipping them to god knows where?”
“Julian does have a point, though,” Grayson said. “This might put a target on our backs.”
Edan shrugged. “I think it’s already there, Grayson. They know we’ve seen all sorts of things.”
Grayson looked at Julian like he thought Edan had a point.
“I don’t know. Just make sure you’re honest with everyone about the risks.” Julian’s phone buzzed, and he sighed as he read what was on the screen. He closed his eyes for a moment, like he was gathering his strength. “My parents are here. I need to go say hi.” He stood and extended his hand to me. “Will you walk with me?”
“Yeah.” I ignored the hand and
