Not only that, Cartwright’s security detail consisted of paid guns for hire from a disreputable local agency who thought simply being a nonhuman was enough to make them qualified for the jobs.
Fools. And I was glad for it.
“Lion down.” I zip-tied the guy’s hands behind his back and did the same to his feet. A SICB team would haul him in later for questioning. With the first task complete, I headed directly into the main server room.
“Vamp down” came over the line. I smirked, appreciating the distraction. While I had the computer to work on, anticipation vibrated through me. Waiting was not my strength. It had been enough for me to back down and accept that Thatch was taking point on Cartwright. I’d done so with the grace of a grounded stroppy teenager. Kent had been the first to call me on my petulance. Thatch had looked an interesting combination of disturbed, pissed off, and amused.
When he’d promised I would be involved in his questioning, I’d grinned like a fool and proceeded to shut my mouth.
Memory stick in hand, I searched for the right port.
“Not that one, genius.” If rolling eyes had a voice, they matched perfectly with Kent’s tone.
I shot the camera the finger, my usual salutation for Kent, and moved to the correct server. Stick in, I sat at the workstation.
“Cartwright down.”
My breath rushed out of me at the sound of Thatch’s voice. We had Cartwright. A relief. But Thatch being okay was the cause for my deep exhale. It had been four days since I’d recklessly hit on him. Surprisingly, he’d given me a free pass. We carried on as though nothing had happened. Though the we was more him, since I worked hard to ignore my reaction to Thatch and my developing feelings.
Still, we got on, made it work, and now we were one step closer to getting real answers.
I keyed in the details Kent had drilled into me. Movement at the door had me glancing over. Michaels.
“All good?” He stood in the doorway and then leaned against the frame, one foot crossing in front of the other. Michaels was the epitome of smooth and laid-back. It made him deadly. A killing machine wrapped up in a smiling and relaxed human body. I’d read his file, knew his numbers. Being in infiltration made so much sense.
I nodded, eyes back on the screen as I continued with the code. A quick scan, and I hit Enter. “Two minutes.”
“Yep.”
He waited in the doorway while I finished up. Hanging around for tech was never fun, but at least I’d managed some action. Despite it being over before it had barely begun. It felt like an age since I’d been away from the constraints of an office and research. If it wasn’t for the necessity of the investigation, I would have gone stir-crazy. That, and admittedly Thatch were the only things keeping me tethered and not heading out half-cocked, which was more my style.
“Done.” Standing, I released the memory stick and then handed it over to Michaels when I reached him. He secured it away. Together, we headed to the waiting vehicle, passing Jenson, who was talking to the SCIB agent who’d arrived. Thatch was in the front seat, hands on the steering wheel. His head bobbed in greeting when I slid in beside him. Michaels jumped into the back and I glanced over my shoulder, seeing Cartwright bound on the metal van floor.
As soon as Jenson joined Michaels in the back, Thatch put the van in gear and pulled away.
NOTHING. Cartwright hadn’t given us a thing. Thatch, the epitome of control, stormed out the room. He’d officially lost his cool. Equally terrified and impressed, I stepped out of his way, sure he was going to throw something. New memories hit Thatch daily. Some were inconsequential, some were sweet but random moments of my sister’s past, while some redirected our investigation and changed our understanding of events.
There was also the incident a couple of days ago when he made cookies at midnight, courtesy of my sister’s recipe. While they were legit delicious, we were both kind of freaked by that development.
Between the scattered flashes of memories and Kent’s skills, we’d reached the point of Cartwright’s capture. And I’d be damned if we halted here. Cartwright had been one of two lead scientists who’d experimented on Hazel. The second person, a woman, Thatch had a face to, but we had no name and no idea of who she was and how far up the sick ladder of corruption and evil she was. To cut the experiments at the core, we had to find the head of the snake.
The whole team knew Cartwright held either the next clue to get us closer, or quite possibly knew the answer.
“You need to cool off and have me give it a try?” While Thatch had barely stumbled since becoming a shifter, the reality was that with shifter blood running through our veins, it wasn’t just our bodies that ran a little hotter. Our tempers tended to also. That Thatch had remained unruffled for so long was impressive, but much more and his composure may slip, and he’d find himself turning.
I didn’t know how he’d bounce back from that. A small stumble was one thing, but to allow his anger to dictate his behaviour went against who Thatch was soul deep.
His dark eyes peered back at me. Black
