Page 12 of Brax (Voodoo Guardians #36)

Stephanie spent the afternoon with Irene, enjoying the beautiful summer weather. Until it wasn’t so beautiful any longer. The thunder was so loud and intense she felt her bones shaking. Then the lightning started, and the rain came down like a waterfall had been turned on somewhere in the heavens.

Most of them were in the cafeteria when it started and saw no reason to rush home, only to get wet. Many years ago, the cafeteria staff decided to line one wall with books, videos, and games to entertain anyone stuck in the space during storms.

The children played some games while a few adults grabbed a book and tucked into the seats or booths. Stephanie sat with Brax, Pax and Deanna, Mav and Katelyn, and Saint and Marilisa. Trevon was sitting with Nash and Jenna as she was contemplating returning to Arizona.

“I feel so terrible for her,” said Stephanie. “Do you think she’ll be alright?”

“I think Nash is going to make sure that she’s alright,” said Brax. “It’s what we do around here. Care for those around us, especially the women we love.”

“He loves her?” asked Stephanie.

“You can’t tell?” smirked Deanna.

“No. I guess I’m still not very good at that. I wish they would have taught us about emotions, love, hate, all those things when we were in that school,” she frowned.

“In a way, they did,” said Katelyn. “They taught us what not being loved felt like and, in the process, showed us what hate felt like. It wasn’t ideal, and whether or not it was intentional, they damn sure showed me a few things.”

“When everyone left the school, I looked for anything that would tell me where I was or who everyone was that had been there. They didn’t leave anything. No letterhead, no business cards, nothing with an address, city, or state on it. I was terrified to speak with anyone or to attempt to find anyone. I just didn’t want to chance it.

“They did leave a few books behind, mostly textbooks, but it kept my mind occupied when I was alone. There once were thousands of books, and yet they only left a handful behind.”

“Didn’t it get cold in that school?” asked Marilisa. “I don’t remember a lot about Maine, but I remember it always felt cold to me.”

“It was cold, but I was able to start fires in the fireplace when I needed it. They had cameras on the outside of the building, at the perimeters, but nothing on the inside. That seemed odd to me as well. I found the tunnels that led from the main school building to the medical buildings. That’s what allowed me to go into town when I needed to.”

“We didn’t see any tunnels,” frowned Saint.

“You really had to know what you were looking for. There wasn’t anything or anyone in them. It was clear they were using them to move girls from one place to the next, or my worst nightmare, that someone was moving from place to place to watch us.”

“That’s the nightmare I have,” said Katelyn. “I always felt like someone was watching me. I mean, I know they were watching me on cameras, but this was different.”

“Hey, do you guys feel like talking about something?” asked Regan.

“By something, I assume you mean something to do with me,” smiled Stephanie.

“That’s why you’re a genius,” he smirked. “It has to do with you but also with everyone. I went back through all those records in my head and used the files that we were able to pull from the databases and internet that we found in the agency files.”

“Did you find something?” asked Mav.

“I’m not sure. There are several attempts at cloning as far back as Mary, our teammate that we lost a few years ago. We always believed that she was the first person at the Depot. She was also the first to figure out that she could communicate with others without speaking.”

“That’s what prompted them to not have more than a few kids there at a time,” said Pax.

“We think so. Then, when the Depot came under suspicion for a whole bunch of things, it looks like the agency started building these schools. They hired this man. The name always stuck out as odd to me because he had nothing to do with weapons. His name is Dr. Felix Rubenstein. He was a geneticist.”

“Oh,” whispered Stephanie.

“Yes. It didn’t fit, but I didn’t think about it until I learned about you. The thing is, he died before you were born.”

“Thank you for saying that. Born. Most would have said created.”

“You were born, Stephanie,” he said adamantly. “You were grown inside a surrogate and born like any other child. Dr. Rubenstein had a daughter, but she never lived with him. She lived with her grandmother, Muriel, in Houston. Luke sent a few guys over to speak with her. She might have some of her father’s old records or notes.”

“I’m not sure what that would tell us,” said Stephanie.

“It could be anything from the name of the donor and the surrogate to something else. There’s no mention of a wife, but surely the daughter didn’t live alone in Houston. I’ll let you know if we find anything.”

“Regan? Who did the leadership team send?” asked Saint. He grinned at him.

“Carl, Joseph, and Kiel.”