Cursed Angels

Shaking my head, I sigh, running my fingers through my hair, still deciding if I should tell them this or not. But Mara has seen the ugliness of The Factory.

“There’s a regular barracks with a few hundred men kept close to the orphanage at any time. I was the first to receive the chip, but it wouldn’t surprise me if most of them have it. The place is too organized, and time seemed jilted for most people. We remember going out in trucks for jobs, but none of us remember what we actually did.”

Samara becomes paler and paler as I speak. Hunter angrier.

“Anyone in that camp now are vessels for murder and rape. Man or woman, no discrimination is made. One dies, another replaces them. Demand is greater than supply. I’ve killed potential purchasers before because they wanted to haggle over the deal or demanded more. I’m head of security at the moment. That’s why I’m tasked with finding you both. You’ve caused a few problems, and until new doctors are in place, the supply is going to dry up even more. Rebekah is weakened but fighting back. It wouldn’t surprise me if she starts having people stolen off the streets to cater to her needs as a businesswoman.”

“We need to shut this down before that starts. It’s bad enough she’s pushing children into this after they come of age, but if she’s going to go down that line of recruitment, then this gets worse.” Hunter shuffles through some papers and pulls out a photo of a man I’ve seen a few times around The Factory. I haven’t dealt with him though.

“Who’s he?” I ask.

“You don’t know him?” Hunter questions.

“I’ve seen him but never been introduced. He keeps to himself.”

“He fits in with your theory on increasing supply. His name is Cole Middleton, and he’s wanted by the US government for human trafficking. Again, he’s not bothered by who he steals — men, women, and children. He’s a nasty piece of work.” Hunter presses his finger into the picture. “If Rebekah’s getting him involved, she’s getting desperate.”

“It’s why she’s so desperate to control me and keep me at her side.” I suck the air in through my teeth in thought. “With Samara being back on the scene, I was remembering things. I thought it was a dream, but they took me back into the lab and upped the power of the chip recently. If I prove the chip is worthless and can be overridden by a person’s feelings, then she’s in trouble. If she’s involved with this man to acquire more people and this chip is found inferior, he’s the type to put a bullet in her brain, I’m guessing.”

Hunter nods. “Yeah, after he’s cut the rest of her body up and put it on display as an example of those that mess up with him.”

“Then we go to him and show him how she’s messed up,” Samara interrupts.

“No,” Hunter and I both answer at the same time.

“He’ll take over, and we’ll be back at square one with trying to bring down this organization. We have to take them both down at once,” Hunter snaps.

“I have to go back in.” I breath out and shut my eyes. It’s the last thing I want to do, but the only way we can take them down and rescue all the innocents is to do it from the inside.

“No.” Samara folds her arms across her chest. “Not happening. I’m not allowing you to go back in there.”

“You know it’s the only thing we can do to stop this,” I tell her. Hunter nods.

“There’ll be another way. Hunter and I have been doing well with the doctors so far. If we continue taking them all out, then she won’t be able to make the soldiers anymore.” I can see the fear in her eyes. My beautiful woman has been so strong for so long, but this scares her. I can’t exactly blame her. I’ve got the same feelings twisting in my gut.

“She will just replace them. We have to strike at the heart.”

“No!” Samara shouts and pushes the chair away from the table. “End of discussion.”

She doesn’t give me time to answer because she rushes out of the room.

Hunter gets to his feet and goes over to a safe in the corner of the room. He presses a code and opens it, pulling my mobile from inside and hands it to me.

“I’ve been sending Rebekah texts the last few days to explain your absence. It’s probably about time you called her with an update. She seemed a bit pissed off on the last one.” He hands me the phone, and I turn it on. I scroll to my messages and see the brief conversation he had with my employer.

Archer: Got a lead. Message when I can.