Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
He’s trying to provoke a response. But from whom? Diego mused.
He accused you of murder, Diego, Rubin said. No general sends out soldiers they know are flawed in dominant and aggressive ways and then calls those dealing with them a murderer. He’s misdirecting.
Rubin was most likely right.
Keep him engaged for a few minutes, Logan, Diego said. Let me give this some thought.
No problem. I’m in my element. There was a note of amusement in Logan’s voice. He could argue with a deity and win. He always claimed the practice was good for him. His fellow teammates deemed it impossible for him to find a woman willing to put up with his ability to debate anyone, anytime. Diego was thankful for that trait in him though. It gave them all the time needed to puzzle out what the general was up to.
Diego tuned out the arguing going back and forth between the general and Logan. He felt Rubin moving in his mind. Then Ezekiel. They were used to discussing strategy and passing information back and forth. Ezekiel was a strong telepath and often aided others in their unit who weren’t quite as strong. Ezekiel brought in the others so they all could contribute to the discussion.
If the general is deflecting, it’s because he doesn’t want to answer specific questions. Like why he would take two young girls and force them into a program for soldiers, Diego pointed out. Why would he give one of the girls to Whitney?
Information coming in now, Ezekiel said. Jesse Calhoun from Team Two has been gathering data on the general. According to what he’s found, Bradley Pillar goes way back with Whitney, far before Whitney was ever accused of the crimes against the orphan girls he bought to experiment on.
That shouldn’t be a little shocking, Rubin said, but it is. I find it crazy that a man like the general, who has spent an entire career standing for his soldiers, would be associated with Whitney.
Diego considered the repercussions of backing Whitney and the reasons why a patriotic man who had dedicated his life to serving his country would associate with Whitney. He posed the question to the others.
Ryland was leader of the first team. When the men had begun to have problems, Whitney put them in cages, and some were mysteriously killed. Whitney claimed another man was responsible, but when the team members broke out of the cages, with the help of Whitney’s daughter, it was discovered that the scientist had been experimenting on young female orphans before he ever tried his experiments on soldiers.
Whitney considers himself a patriot, Ryland explained. He has that in common with General Pillar. Leila was taken when she was ten. It hadn’t yet come out that Whitney was doing illegal experiments with children.
But Pillar took my sister and me. He gave Bridget to Whitney, Leila protested. He had to have known even then what Whitney was doing.
She has a point, Diego agreed. Pillar wouldn’t have given Bridget to Whitney if he was unaware of what Whitney was doing.
Logan fell silent, allowing the general to talk sternly to the room while he digested the revelation that Pillar had to have known what Whitney was doing all these years. The fact that he sent his soldiers after Leila, knowing they were flawed, spoke volumes. He didn’t want Whitney’s experiments or his culpable actions to come to light.
Logan cleared his throat. “Sir, I think it’s necessary to cut through the bullshit. We need to focus on the real reason we’re here. We aren’t going away. Leila is prepared to go to the press and expose the experiments you’ve done here and the ones you conspired to aid Whitney with.”
Pillar turned bright red, sputtering with anger. “You can’t possibly condone such a thing. Every one of these soldiers and the GhostWalkers are classified. So is Leila.”
“Again, I reiterate, Leila is not in the military. She never signed up for any of this. She was abducted along with her sister,” Logan insisted.
“Ted, these threats are outrageous. Your GhostWalker teams cannot be made public.” His fierce gaze swept the room, taking them in. “Do you have any idea the prejudice people would have if they found out you have animal DNA in you? Reptilian? Snake? You would be hunted to the ends of the earth. Every foreign country would want a piece of you. If you think you could keep your identities secret, with the kind of scrutiny you would be under, you’re wrong and you would be found.”
“And are our lives more important than Leila’s and Bridget’s?” Logan asked, his tone very low. Those who knew Logan knew that when he spoke in that particular tone, it was never a good thing. He was about to go in for the kill.
Diego admired the way he led the general right into the noose. It was the old adage of “give the man enough rope.”