Everett couldn’t deny it. She had shown him what she was capable of. “I was spying on a new mark. Rowland Batiste.”
Reyna wrinkled her nose at the name. Rowland had been her stalker and sexual predator for the time that she had lived with Beckham. Death would be too kind for him.
“I was supposed to be doing the same thing that I did to Beckham. But I found out sensitive information about the company that I shouldn’t know. I don’t think anyone else is aware yet. But in all my snooping, I found it.”
“Found what?” she snapped anxiously.
“They bought a huge tract of land and are building facilities on it.”
“We already know that.”
“Do you know what they’re for?”
She didn’t respond.
“Camps,” he whispered in horror. “Human feeding camps.”
Chapter 28
“I would have heard about this,” Beckham snarled later that night back at headquarters.
Reyna paced agitatedly. Beckham, Gabe, and Tony had recounted what had happened to Sydney and Washington. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Couldn’t fathom how it was possible. How Harrington could get away with it. How he thought that everyone would just allow this to happen.
“You’re on the out,” Gabe said. He almost sounded satisfied at the insinuation.
“Which means we’re blind,” Sydney snapped at Gabe. “Without Beckham in the know within Harrington’s inner circle, we’re blind.”
“I don’t think Everett’s lying,” Reyna spoke up. “He was shaken. I saw all of his acts in that room. This wasn’t one.”
“And you’re an expert on spy tactics, are you?” Sydney asked dryly.
“It sounds like William,” Washington said. “It falls in line with his basic philosophy in life.”
“Philosophy again, Roger?” Sydney asked with a sigh. She massaged her temples and sank into a seat at the head of the conference room.
“We know that William works within a certain set of core beliefs. Human subjugation is fundamental among those. The blood type cure only facilitated that goal. A means to an end. It would make sense then that he would want to push forward with his own agenda when he is in power. A conqueror claiming more territory.”
“Will he overextend himself then? Will Rome fall?” Reyna mused.
“Wishful thinking,” Gabe said.
“Let’s say that this is Harrington’s endgame,” Sydney said. “How is he going to structure it? He’s not going to come out to the public and say that he’s starting feeding farms. He’s going to cache it with something that the people find permissible.”
Everyone was silent as they thought about the million scenarios that Harrington could possibly use to make these camps work.
“It could be anything,” Gabe said. “He’s just as likely to commandeer the military and march people into the camps as he is to kidnap them or offer them a job in some new factory he owns. Who knows what’s going on in his twisted mind?”
“That’s precisely why we have people here who know him,” Sydney snarled.
“He’ll do it out in the open,” Beckham finally said. “If he can make Visage seem like a savior, then he can make people want this too.”
“I agree,” Washington said. “Easiest way to hide is out in the open.”
Sydney sighed. “Perhaps Penelope has some inside information. She might know if something is coming up that we need to direct our attention to.”
Reyna couldn’t suppress her cringe. She’d forgotten about Penelope. The argument they’d had this afternoon felt like a lifetime ago rather than a matter of hours.
“I’ll get in touch with her,” Beckham said.
“Good. Let me know immediately if she has any idea what might be coming,” Sydney said, standing. “Otherwise, I’m going to have to reach out to Tye to organize a group to scout the camps. I need someone on the inside to verify Everett’s information. I won’t act until I know for sure what we’re up against.”
Sydney strode out of the room, dismissing everyone. Reyna felt a wave of exhaustion hit her at Sydney’s abrupt exit. She’d thought that today would be a fun day of wedding dress shopping. But nothing could be that simple. It never was.
Beckham tilted his head toward the door and she followed him out into the empty hallway. The idea of feeding farms was so outrageous that all she could feel was disbelief. She wanted them to come back and find out that Everett had lied to them. That it wasn’t even possible for Harrington to stoop that low. But she had firsthand experience with how low Harrington would stoop.
She and Beckham returned wordlessly to her room. She flopped back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. “Are you going to Penny’s?”
“Yes. Our conversation needs to be had in person.”
“She’s going to love that.”
Beckham crossed to the bed and hovered over her. She could feel his dark shadow looming over her, but she didn’t look at him.
“Why didn’t you pick me up?” Reyna asked quietly instead of talking about Penny.