Page 20 of Covert Affections (Shadow Agents/PSI-Ops #5)

Chapter Eighteen

Jesse

"Should've seen her face when she realized what was happening," one of the hybrids said, earning cruel laughter from the others. "Tried to run, but you know how that goes."

“She was a fighter,” said another with a mocking growl. “I love it when they fight.”

Jesse’s gums pulled back from his teeth, and he only barely managed to suppress a snarl.

These sick fucks had no business roaming around freely, doing as they wished.

People were dying for The Corporation’s field test. It needed to end and soon, but Jesse’s hands were tied.

If he dared to kill them, the blowback from The Corporation would be swift and severe.

“Wish we’d have played with this one longer,” said one of the men who was naked. He reached down and stroked himself, seemingly unconcerned that others were around him. Even stranger, none of the others seemed bothered by the action.

“We can play with Samuel’s daughter for as long as we want,” said another of them, the declaration making Jesse and his shifter side fight to keep from leaping from the tree line and tearing the man’s throat out.

What in the hell did they know about Charley? Was she their next target? Was that where they were headed next? Jesse had heard rumors that Samuel and Charley were in Texas, but he’d never verified. Was Texas the next stop on the hybrids’ nationwide murder spree?

“I can’t believe how fucking hot she is,” a man near one of the tents said as he finished putting on a pair of jeans. “When they told us where to find her—here, of all places—I thought they were full of shit. I mean, coming back here to the same town she lived in as a kid, rookie move.”

Shock shot through Jesse. Charley was here, in Colorado?

Another of the men grinned in a smarmy way. “I kind of thought she’d be ugly or something.”

“Why? Samuel is good-lookin’,” added another, earning him sideways glances from the other males. “What? He is.”

“You’re a dumbass,” stated the first. “And we’ll get a firsthand view of how hot she is tomorrow. The plan is still a go.”

What was Charley thinking? Coming back to the same area where her father’s ranch had been located was begging for trouble.

The Corporation could easily find her here.

Did she want to end up in one of their labs again?

As a fully grown woman, there was no way of knowing what in the hell The Corporation would do to her. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good.

“Let me see that picture of her again,” said the naked man, lying on his back near the fire, still stroking himself. “She’s smokin’ hot.”

The man in the jeans took a phone from his back pocket. He pulled up something on the screen and turned the phone so the asshole on the ground could see it.

From Jesse’s point of view, it looked a lot like a picture of a grown woman in a bikini.

He couldn’t be sure since it had been a long time since he’d seen Charley, but the hair and eye color were a match.

The thought of finding her attractive made his stomach turn.

Sure, Charley was pretty, but his instincts marked her firmly as off-limits.

He didn't question why. He also didn’t question the irrational anger he began to feel at the men objectifying her.

The photo was on a post from a popular social media application. Since Jesse’s eyesight was far superior to a human’s, he could also see part of the post accompanying the photo. It had something to do with a job fair and hiring ranch hands to help at a horse rescue.

“Toss your phone over here,” said the masturbator, one hand in the air, the other still on his junk.

Jean-Guy shook his head. “Hell no. You’ll give it back all sticky.”

Masturbator grinned. “Damn straight. Look at that body on her. Fuck.”

“Hey, did you see the pictures of the chick who put up that post?” asked another before coughing and spitting rancid-smelling blood to the side.

Silence followed as the men’s gazes lingered over the male, sympathy in their eyes.

If the smell of rot coming from the man was any indication of his state of health, he was further along in the decomposition process than the others and didn’t have that much longer before he probably ended up a pile of goo.

Jesse had seen it happen to more than one of The Corporation’s hybrids. He’d actually witnessed one explode into what looked like sticky tar. That visual had stuck with Jesse for a bit, a stark reminder of the years he’d been forced to be a test subject for their serums. Thankfully, that was over.

The man who had spit up blood coughed more and bent. He spit something into the palm of his hand and held it up so the fire’s light caught it, showing it to be a bloody tooth. His gaze darted to Jean-Guy and then down as if he was ashamed.

He knew what kind of men they were. Society would be better off without them. Better if they all just burst into goo.

Jean-Guy walked over to him and touched his shoulder. “They have a cure. I know it.”

The man who had spit up the tooth gave a half-hearted nod as if hope wasn’t something he had much of anymore.

He tossed the tooth aside in the direction Jesse was hiding.

The tooth rolled to a stop near Jesse’s front paw, and the urge to yank the limb back from it was great.

Jesse held still, concerned about revealing himself.

While he was a hell of a fighter, he couldn’t take on that many hybrids at once and live to tell the tale.

Masturbator increased the pace he was stroking himself. “Mmm, tell me more about the hot chick who posted the picture of Samuel’s daughter.”

“She’s one of them plus-size chicks who looks like they’re a model,” stated another as he tossed Jean-Guy a beer and then handed one gently to the missing tooth man. “She’s got long dark hair, and her eyes…they’re wow. They look like jewels or something.”

Jesse couldn’t help but think of the young woman behind the grocery store.

The one from thirteen years ago. The one he’d looked for after his scrimmage with Efren but had been unable to find any trace of her.

He’d looked for her for days, in between searching for Efren, who had managed to get away at the last minute.

He’d only stopped because the woman who had appeared with a bat and hit Efren had shown up one morning at Jesse’s Airstream, chain-smoking while holding a tray of cookies that looked homemade.

She’d given Jesse the cookies, told him it was a thank you for helping out like he did, told him the girl was fine, and then she gave him thirty minutes to get his ass out of the area before she stopped being nice and got her bat.

Oddly, he’d believed her. He’d tried to get more information from her but she’d been steadfast on him leaving.

She’d even had the nerve to point out the girl was in her teens—too young for him.

As if he’d been interested in her welfare for nefarious reasons, not because he simply wanted—no needed—to be sure she was all right.

“Wow?” asked another man with a laugh. “Someone smitten?”

“Who the fuck says smitten anymore?” demanded a man from the far side of the campsite.

“Evidently, him,” replied Masturbator. “Tell me more. I’m almost there.”

Mr. Smitten chuckled. “She’s gorgeous, and her tits are out of this fucking world. Don’t even get me started on her ass…” He grinned as he made an outline of a curvy shape with his hands in the air. “I call first dibs.”

“So we can play with her too?” asked Masturbator.

Jean-Guy shrugged. “Depends on what they say.”

They?

Who was they? Did he mean The Corporation?

Jesse didn’t want to think he was being played by his employer, but he wouldn’t put it past them. They’d do anything if it achieved whatever their final goal was. He didn’t want to hazard a guess at what that goal might be.

“I don’t see why we have to obey them,” interjected Masturbator.

“Because they have a plan, and they’re in charge,” Jean-Guy said firmly. “This has been a long time coming. It’s all connected and nearly complete. We can’t fuck it up for them now…not this late in the game.”

Masturbator shrugged. “We could take them and make our own rules. Fuck a plan.”

“Hey, this way, we get revenge on Samuel,” said Jean-Guy.

“He’s a traitor to the cause. He turned his back on all of us years ago, and there’s not one of us who didn’t pay the price for his betrayal in some way or another.

The minute he pulled that stunt of stealing their test subjects, the people in charge tightened their hold on all of us… waiting for us to fuck up too.”

The statement hit close to home for Jesse.

The months of torture flashed through his head, the remembered pain causing his body to tense.

Samuel could have gone about freeing the children from the lab better, but what was done was done.

And there was no way in hell Jesse would have wanted to see the children stuck in that situation.

He’d endure a hundred years of torture if it could have prevented that.

“And they’re sure the other will show?” asked a man with short red hair. “That this will lure him here too?”

Jean-Guy, who Jesse was starting to suspect might be the leader among the hybrids, nodded before opening another beer. “There is no doubt in their minds.”

“What about Samuel and his buddy, Benat? I want a go at them,” said a man who was across the campfire from Masturbator.

Another of the men laughed. “Why do you think they want us to record our attack on Samuel’s daughter?”

A man shrugged. “Proof of death?”

Jean-Guy laughed. “They want Samuel to see the attack when he’s staring down at the aftermath—you know, her head in a box with a bow on it.”

His statement left Jesse’s hackles rising.

“I’d rather kill Samuel than keep doing these side missions,” stated another man before belching loudly and tossing his empty can of beer onto the pile of discarded cans.

Jean-Guy licked his lower lip. “Stick with the plan. It will be worth it.”

“What the hell did they promise you?” demanded Masturbator of Jean-Guy. “It’s got to be more than just revenge.”

Jean-Guy’s gaze hardened on Masturbator. “Revenge served right is a glorious thing. We do this, and then we can handle the fuckers who tested on us. The ones who did this to us. We gotta build some trust first. Then we can get closer to them all.”

The men grew silent for a moment. Their gazes all slid toward the man who had lost a tooth and coughed up blood.

The sight was pitiful to see, but Jesse still found it difficult to drum up any sympathy for any of them.

Not after the shit he knew they’d already done and what they no doubt still intended on doing.

Jean-Guy patted the other man’s shoulder again. “We’ll get our revenge by killing the one thing that matters most to Samuel in the world—his daughter. And sure, kill her friend, too. I don’t really give a shit.”

Jesse's claws dug into the earth as rage rushed through him. His beast wanted blood, wanted to tear into them limb for limb. But he had his orders. Observe only. Report back. Even so, he wasn’t going to stand around and let them hurt Charley.

“We’re doing it tomorrow, right?” asked Masturbator. “At that get together thing?”

Jean-Guy nodded. “I swear it’s gonna be like shooting fish in a barrel. A job fair, begging strangers to show up and meet the girl? Too easy.”

Not if Jesse had any say in the matter. He backed into the darkness, careful to stay downwind of the hybrids.

The first thing he needed to do was figure out if they were right.

Was Charley the woman in the photo and was in the area?

He’d do whatever it took to keep her safe, despite thinking her father was an asshole.

She didn’t need to suffer just because Samuel was a massive dickhead.