Page 6 of Black Bay Enforcer (Beasts of Black Bay #3)

“We’ll find him again. You’ll get him,” Jace yelled to be heard above the noise of the rotors. He thumped his fist against Kong’s vest as the helicopter touched down on the pad at Black Bay.

All the Beasts understood Kong’s need for vengeance.

They all had their white whale so to speak.

For many of them, including Jace, their nemesis had been Doctor Anne Deitrich, the geneticist who’d created them and experimented on them.

She’d finally been found – the crazy bitch had driven right up on their doorstep – and was currently in their custody, locked up in the brig at Black Bay.

For Kong, his whale was Godwin. But locked up wasn’t good enough for that piece of shit.

He wanted the sick sonofabitch to suffer a slow, painful death at his hands.

He’d vowed to make it so, and time hadn’t lessened his resolve.

He'd picked up trickles of information over the past few years.

Sightings, reports, usually after Godwin had beaten or killed some poor woman.

But by the time Kong received the intel and mobilized, Terrence Godwin had moved on, his trail cold.

Kong had been so sure that this time he had him by the balls.

Clenching his molars, he secured his pack and jumped down from the helicopter.

What time was it? It was night, dark, but Black Bay was lit up by the security lights that lined the containment walls.

Where would Katherine Knox likely be right now?

In her room? Turning so he could see the administrative building where she bunked, he scanned the windows on the upper floor. No lights. Was she sleeping?

“Hey, Kong!” Jace yelled, grabbing his attention. “You coming?”

They needed to do their full debrief with the general and take care of their weapons and gear but all he wanted to do was find Katherine Knox, corner her, and make her talk. As skittish as she was, he probably wouldn’t need to do much more than loom over her to make her spill her secrets.

He sniffed his shoulder. Maybe he should shower first though or she might pass out from his stench before she could spill anything. After spending time in the humidity of the jungle in full gear, he smelled ripe enough to blister the paint on the walls.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

It didn’t take long. They’d given General Davies the highlights of the mission when they’d spoken to him earlier, and the general hadn’t wasted any time putting a team in place to watch Cleary, making him priority one.

Black Bay now had eyes and ears on the weapons manufacturer.

He wouldn’t be able to take a piss without the general knowing it.

Paige had shown up to meet her husband, and she and Jace, along with Erik, Leo, and Perrin were all heading back to the residential area to shower and decompress, but when they asked him if he wanted to ride along, he’d shaken his head.

“I’m going to get cleaned up here and grab some chow.”

Their apartments all had kitchens, but Kong didn’t cook.

He didn’t even own any dishes. He got all his food from the mess hall unless his neighbors took pity on him and cooked for him.

Tonight, though, he was definitely heading to the mess so he could ask around to see if anyone had seen Katherine Knox.

Katherine was stalling. She’d long since finished her dinner but she was in no hurry to leave the mess hall to go back to her lonely, boring room.

At least here, even if she was sitting by herself at a table, there were other people around.

She could hear some of their conversations and pretend she was included.

At the table to her right, some of the off-duty soldiers were talking and laughing about some show she’d never even heard of.

By the sounds of things, it was both graphically violent and hilarious.

Not exactly her thing, but awesome according to these guys.

Maybe she should tell someone that she’d changed her mind about getting a TV.

They’d asked her when she first arrived if she’d wanted them to set one up for her but she’d declined.

She’d never been one to sit around and channel surf, preferring to go out and do things with her friends.

The nights she opted for a quiet night in, she usually spent on the internet browsing social media or shopping online sites for quirky little kitchen gadgets that sounded cool but she never ended up using.

Behind her, another conversation was taking place, though their words were hard to hear because the TV guys were so loud.

She’d only caught a few snippets – something about someone named Erik.

Katherine wondered if it was the same Erik one of the Resurrection doctors had been discussing recently.

She’d never met the man, but from what she’d heard, he had significant facial scarring and might be a good candidate to receive the cloned skin many of the Resurrection soldiers had.

“Kong!” someone yelled, jerking her attention to the other side of the mess hall.

Her eyes collided with seven feet of muscle and her throat closed up. There he was. He’d been doing such a good job of avoiding her since she’d arrived that she’d begun to wonder if he’d left the base entirely.

That first day, all she’d seen was how big he was and those fangs that had frightened her. From this distance, he didn’t look as intimidating as she remembered, and she could look him over without fear clouding her mind. She hadn’t realized he was so attractive.

His hair was black, and like so many of the soldiers, buzzed on the sides and back, though he’d left the top a bit longer.

Tonight, he was wearing it slightly messy though she wasn’t sure if that was a style choice or the result of the wind.

Either way, it looked good on him. His eyes, she knew, were a dark coffee brown under a heavy brow.

His nose was straight and the smile he threw at the person who had called to him was wide, making just a hint of a dimple appear.

His strong jaw was shaved but she could still see a shadow of dark beard grain on his swarthy skin.

He was dressed casually in an olive-green T-shirt that stretched across his incredibly broad shoulders. His arms were thick with muscle as were his long legs that were encased in a pair of camouflage pants.

The table he jogged over to was fully packed with genetically altered soldiers, some having dragged chairs over so they could all sit together. One of the women, a tall, slim, redhead stood and he immediately hugged her and swung her around, both of them laughing.

Lark, Katherine thought. She was pretty sure the woman’s name was Lark and she had recently married Commander Grady Carter, one of the Resurrection soldiers.

Yes, there he was, sitting beyond the chair his wife had just vacated.

His posture was relaxed and he was laughing with everyone.

No longer an emotionless weapon with a single directive.

The Commander, Navy SEAL Weaponized Combat Unit 7 as he’d been known in the Resurrection project, had been the first to break his programming, and with Black Bay’s help, he’d spearheaded the release and rehabilitation of the other soldiers in the project.

He was the figurehead to which all those men and women now looked as they slowly made the transition back from what had been done to them. Commander Grady Carter was proof that it could be done.

As Kong set Lark back on her feet, she said something to him and he threw back his head and laughed, the others at the table laughing with him.

Regret filled Katherine nearly to overflowing. What would have happened if she hadn’t been blindsided that first day? Would she be over with that group now, talking and laughing with them?

Get up, Katherine. Get up, right now, and go over there and apologize . But her body refused to obey her commands. So she was still sitting there, watching enviously, when someone at the table pointed and Kong looked over his shoulder. Right at her.

Gone was his smile and his laughter. He looked downright menacing as he turned and stalked purposely her way.

Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit… No more stalling. It looked like she was finally going to get her chance to apologize and it was going to happen now.

Sitting up straighter in her seat, she fought the urge to smooth her hand over her hair or straighten her sweater.

Grabbing the empty chair on the opposite side of her table, Kong dragged it out, the legs scraping loudly on the floor. Flipping it effortlessly around, he straddled it and settled his weight in the seat. “Katherine Knox.”

She swallowed hard and stuttered out, “Hi, hello, hi.” Her smile was tremulous, betraying how nervous she was.

The intensity of his stare unnerved her further and she dropped her eyes before she completely lost her nerve and scurried away like a frightened mouse.

She could do this. She’d been waiting to do this.

How many times had she looked for him on base, hoping to spot him so that she could say she was sorry?

Her hands were shaking so she stuffed them under her legs.

Clearing her throat, Katherine screwed up her courage and blurted, “I – I wanted to apologize.”

When he didn’t respond, she dared a peek up at him. There was no change in his expression so she quickly clarified, “For how I acted that first day.”

She wanted to explain herself and offer up excuses for her behavior – tell him how nervous she’d been that day, how badly she’d slept the night before because of her nerves, and how she’d had too much coffee to compensate for the lack of sleep, the caffeine making her extra jumpy – but really, there was no excuse for how she’d acted.

“It was uncalled for and I’m sorry I offended you. ”

There. It was done. But if she’d thought she’d feel some relief, some great weight lifting from her shoulders, she’d been mistaken.

Her mouth felt so dry she wanted to grab her cup of soda – which had become a cup of melted ice – and suck down the dregs, but she was afraid if she pulled her hand out from under her leg, it would still be shaking.

Honestly, she was so nervous, she was amazed her whole body wasn’t quaking in her seat.

Why wouldn’t he say anything?

She heard a deeply disturbing rumbling sound and her eyes snapped up once more, then widened at the look on his face.

She lurched back in her chair and that full-body tremble that hadn’t been there just seconds ago finally made an appearance.

Had she thought he looked menacing before?

That was nothing compared to the glare he was currently directing at her.

“Who’s your source?”

Katherine blinked rapidly. “I – I – I”

“How are you getting the messages out?”

She was gaping like a fish, her brain refusing to work.

Kong leaned forward and thumped the table making it jump and Katherine let out a little squeak. “Trust me, human. This will go easier on you if you tell me.”