Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
It wasn’t a guarantee, but it was a good start. And far better than he’d had with the others. Excluding Jak, of course, who had had Harper. And it’d made all the difference. Maybe it would in this case too.
The muscular man sitting next to her looked as taut as a wire. And Mark could see that if he threatened Autumn in any way—not that Mark was planning on that, quite the contrary—Sam would react swiftly and probably violently.
They were all wired differently. From each other but especially from other, more average humans. Yes, Mark knew Sam would fight if he had to. After all, he’d been trained to do so.
“I understand why you didn’t come forward. And before I ask you to trust me, to be honest with me, I want to be honest with you. I work for a task force dedicated to finding those who have been unwillingly and sometimes unknowingly enrolled in a program that seeks to create…super soldiers for lack of a better description.”
Mark saw Sam draw back slightly right before he caught himself, stilling completely. Yes, that had gotten his attention. Autumn glanced at Sam and then back to Mark. She wasn’t overly surprised either. Sam had already confided in her—at least some of it. Good.
“Unwillingly…” Autumn murmured.
“Meaning it’s done when they’re babies…or children. The first man I found in this program is named Jak. I’ll tell you a little more about him later. Since Jak was rescued, the task force has located two additional groups. There were only five survivors, all of whom…didn’t adjust well to outside life and have subsequently been institutionalized.” He looked back and forth between Autumn’s and Sam’s rapt expressions, thinking about those poor souls he’d just mentioned. Didn’t adjust well. There was a whole world included in that description, but he didn’t have time to go into it now. He could tell by the way Sam’s eyes had widened when he’d said it though that the man had some concept of what he alluded to.
Mark had left his weapon in the car so as not to pose any threat. But Sam likely had one somewhere close by that he would use at a moment’s notice and with the skill of a trained professional if it even became remotely necessary. But he was digesting Mark’s words, and he was obviously attached to the woman sitting next to him. Both extremely positive signs. There had been one success story, and God, but he hoped for a second.
“How did you find them?” Autumn asked.
“I became interested in a series of crimes where each perpetrator had several of the same defining qualities as the men in these programs. To simplify, they were all large, strong men who appeared more like athletes or soldiers than the typical criminal element. Flimsy evidence at first, I realize, but the more I looked into the situations and the accused, the more I became convinced these men were who I thought they were. Eventually, they led back to the groups I mentioned.”
“What sorts of crimes did they commit?” Autumn asked, suspicion creeping into her tone.
Mark looked at Sam, who remained still and silent. Mark had the impression he already knew the answers to the questions Autumn was asking. He appeared neither surprised nor curious, simply stoic.
“They varied,” Mark said. “Mostly shootings. A stabbing. The other thing that made the crimes similar was that they occurred during a time that was extremely advantageous to someone who was facing a major scandal in the news cycle.”
“There’s always a major scandal in the news cycle,” Autumn noted.
“Seemingly so. But not all are willing to pay the price to change public focus.”
A flare of surprise widened Sam’s eyes before his shoulders sank as if with understanding. He leaned back slowly against the couch cushions. Autumn glanced at him, worrying her lip again as she focused back on Mark. “Willing to pay…” Autumn all but whispered. “Are you saying someone instructed the men in these programs to commit crimes in order to take the spotlight off them?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Oh,” Autumn breathed. She paused, giving Sam another worried glance, but he remained staring straight ahead. “So…you think the school shooter was…hired to do that? To…distract from whatever else was in the news?”
“Or was about to be in the news,” Mark said. “Something that would ruin a career or many careers. It typically works. At least to turn the focus away long enough that the person or persons can come up with a lie or take the pressure off for various reasons.” To scrub a database, hide evidence. The list went on. “Is it possible, Sam? That the man who shot those kids that day was used as a false flag operation?” He wouldn’t ask Sam about his own involvement in any program, not yet. He’d let Sam come at this from a safer angle, if he even chose to do that.