Maximus scoffed. “In other words, governments are trying to clean up before anybody else realizes how knee-deep they were in trying to score some supersoldiers themselves?”
“Whatever works.” Titus shrugged. “I’m not enough of an optimist to think this means it’s all over, but it does mean your men are going to have a lot more free time on your hands.”
“So? Gives us more time to work on hobbies.”
Titus leaned forward with a thoughtful look. “I’m thinking you should all relocate to Isla Luna full-time.”
“That’s stupid,” Maximus replied. “Sure for the guys who aren’t infected, but the rest of us—”
“Spare me that shit,” Titus growled. “Rachel’s kept me in the loop on everything. You’re not infected with anything.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that we might be dangerous.” Maximus pointed to his nose. “Not every Luna hybrid has their Vestal yet. I told Rachel that too, but I think she’s more obsessed with solving the mystery than thinking through what else this will mean.”
Titus’s nostrils flared. “You’re going to need a place to live anyway. I thought we both agreed that the government had been poking around this place too much. It’s time to abandon it.”
Maximus nodded. “Which is why I started construction on the other place off the coast of Maine.”
“But it’s not ready,” Titus said.
“It’s close enough.” Maximums smiled. “We’re hybrids. It’s not like we need five-star hotels.”
“Why bother?” Titus shook his head. “Just come to Isla Luna, and don’t tell me it’s because you’re infected.”
“Your people saved us.” Maximus furrowed his brow. “And we’ll always appreciate it, but at the end of the day, we’re not your people, those of with the problem even more so.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. It—” Titus’s cell phone rang. He frowned and pulled it out of his pocket. “I’m here.” He listened intently only sprinkling in quick questions.. “Yes? What? You’re sure? I’m with him now, and I’ll tell him. No, you did the right thing in calling me.”
Maximus waited expectantly, staring at Titus.
Titus slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Do you know the name Doctor Quinen?”
Maximus let out a low growl. “He was one of the people in charge of the research side of things for us. Total egomaniac who got off on playing God. A lot of the scientists you could tell they might not be moral, but they were there for the research and had the decency to be half-ashamed. He wasn’t. He was always proud of what he’d done, proud that he’d made sacrifices of others.”
“That meeting with the government is already providing dividends,” Titus said. “A government contact passed along a lead that we were able to put together with some other information. He’s apparently the guy the government says is left and he was spotted in Hawaii. If you move quickly, you might be able to get him before the government does, or we can pass it along to them and let them clean up.”
Maximus shook his head. “They love frying the ops guys, but the scientists? They’d pardon that bastard, stick him in a basement in D.C., and ask him to keep doing what he had been doing. We both know that.”
“That’s what I figure, too. We can help you on this. Just because he worked for the Phoenix Corps and not the Horatius Group doesn’t mean he’s not a threat to hybrids.”
Maximus stood and cracked his knuckles. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got eleven guys already who are perfect for the job. It’s time for us to finish off the scraps of the Phoenix Corps.”
Chapter Two
Selena’s hand hovered over the door handle. Her heart pounded, and she nibbled on her lip. One quick twist and a step, and she would be inside the conference room. Maui was supposed to be her site of triumph, but nothing but pain waited for her inside.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Not remotely. Her twenty-fifth birthday had come and gone a couple of weeks earlier, and she thought her new job was some sort of cosmic reward for her hard work. That was the American way, work hard and she’d get what she deserved. She didn’t deserve the idiocy on the other side of the door.
“You have to move on, Selena, they said,” she muttered. “You’re getting stuck in an area you don’t love, they said. I should have just dyed my hair purple and stayed at my old job like I planned.”
Even as Selena said it, she knew it would have never happened. She enjoyed being a redhead, both for the look and as an excuse for being feisty, and as much as she enjoyed her old job, there was only so far helping out on nature documentaries was going to take her on her desired career path. Making the shift over to commercials was the first step on a long journey. It was just turning out to be a long, scary drop to the next step.
Selena gripped the handle, trying to concentrate on the positive. “This should have been the sweetest gig possible. I’m in Hawaii. I always wanted to go to Hawaii. That’s it. I should be happy about that. Somebody else paid for me to take a trip to here. Just because I’m not seeing the beauty of the islands and experiencing anything other than hotel rooms doesn’t mean I’m not here. I’ll go out and have some food at some famous local chef’s place. I’ll drop to my knees and tell them I’m ready to know the glory of Spam.”
As a junior production assistant, Selena’s daily work and responsibilities varied, but in this case, her main job had been securing the location and working with locals to source additional gear for the job. It was a commercial shoot featuring no extras and only one actor, Chris Silvers.
That basic reality should have simplified logistics, but Chris’s demand for a particular brand of sparkling water and preferred
