He shook his head, he was making careless mistakes because his mind of late has been occupied with hunting down the woman Joseph had sent to spy on him. The woman who had somehow become his very reason for breathing. The woman who had left him, taking his heart with her.
However, he could not think about that now. Now, he would seek vengeance for his sister. And then he would continue to hunt Nak until he found her. And so help him God, when he found her, he will never let her go again.
Carefully, he made his way to Journey’s bed to see with his own eyes that she was okay. As he did so he kept a leery eye on the alter. Although he didn’t want to, if the Politician made one move toward his family, he would not hesitate to empty a clip in its head.
Next to the alter’s feet sleeping in her car seat was Ayana. Rome wanted to get his niece away from the being, he didn’t know how stable he was. From what he’d seen from the old footage he’d hacked from the CIA database, the alters were quite deadly.
“Oh Jo, what happened to my baby?” His mother cried right before she threw herself into the Politician’s arms.
“Ma! No!” Rome called as he carefully approached them preparing himself to go for his gun.
The Politician stiffened at first, surprised by the sudden contact. But when he saw how uncomfortable the young cocky one was that his mother was embracing him, he slowly lifted his arms to hug her close.
Joseph didn’t care much for the kid who stood across from him, and the Politician decided that he didn’t care for the kid either, he was too damn cocky. The little bastard felt that he was smarter than everyone. The whole time he hugged Rome’s mother, with his eyes, he dared him to go for the gun he knew he carried.
Make my day, punk. Give me an excuse to snap your neck.
“There, there, mom.” He told her in a soothing voice, although he still looked at Rome with the eyes of a killer.
Rome bit down on his teeth not liking the fact that the thing called his mother, mom. As if he sensed his irritation, the Politician smiled at him. Figures, the alter would be just as irritating as his original personality. Although Rome now had respect for Jo, it didn’t mean he cared for him. And now he’d decided he didn’t care for either of them.
“Everything is going to be alright.” It continued to speak to his mother as he gently rubbed her back. “I’m going to find who did this and I’m going to kill them.”
He said that so matter-of-factly, Abigale looked up startled. However, the Politician just smiled down at her.
“I need you to do me a favor, sweetheart.” He said gently.
She nodded sensing something was different about him, but not being able to put her finger on exactly what it was.
“Your granddaughter is going to need you when she wakes up. Can you sit here with them till I get back?”
He spoke gently to her, but Rome wasn’t deceived. This was why this alter was called The Politician. Rome had studied hours and hours of footage dealing with this particular alter alone.
A six-year-old Joseph had unwittingly been a part of a group of test subjects whose minds had been shattered to create alters. In that group, Jo’s alter was the only one that displayed sociable skills. So, they’d dubbed him The Politician 373493.
“Thank you so much, mom.” It purred as he walked past her and Rome.
Stopping at Albert’s bed he turned to look down at the sleeping man. Pursing his lips, he made a sound that none of them could hear. However, the man lying in the bed jerked before his eyes began to move under his lids.
The Politician made the faint noise again and the man’s eye snapped open. He groaned as his hand lifted to finger the bandage on his neck.
“What happened, kid?” He asked the alter, his voice barely over a whisper.
“Flesh wound, just a graze.”
When he heard the voice that spoke back to him, his facial expression sobered as he struggled to sit up a bit to see better.
“Politician… how long have you been here?”
“A little over an hour.”
Albert nodded as he took in the other occupants of the room. When his eyes landed on Abigale they brightened.
“Abby Cat.” He called opening his arms.
With a cry of relief Abigale ran to him, gently falling into his embrace.
“What the f***?” Rome hissed as his angry russet gaze landed on the man that was holding his mother.
“Watch your mouth, Romeo!” She admonished from where she still lay in Al’s arms.
“This must be the famous Rome I’ve heard so much about. It’s good to finally meet you and your little brother.”
Rob had not left Journey’s side. He still sat in the chair next to her bed holding her hand. He didn’t even look away from her; he just stared at her through tear filled eyes. He and Journey were very close and he was not handling the thought of almost losing her well.
“Why are you talking to me?” Rome’s question was filled with so much contempt Abigale cringed. She opened her mouth to admonish her older son some more, but the Politician’s deep deadly voice cut her off.
“Old man, I need you to protect these civilians.” He removed Albert’s gun from the back of his pants and handed it to him.
Albert nodded. “Where are you going to begin to look?”
The Politician shook his head. “I don’t know, see if I can get an I.D. on the men you killed and start there.”
“I know exactly who did this to my sister and why.” Rome muttered as a plan began to come together
