Scarlet (27 page)

Rita came to life the second he clasped the band. "Gina, where have you been? My systems have been unable to detect you for almost two months."

Red laughed. "Sorry, Rita. I had to go away for a while."

"Well don't do that again," the navcom scolded in a nasal voice.

Robert laughed. "Just like old times," he said, smiling.

"You really should keep her." Red started to remove Rita. She'd just gotten to the point where she no longer missed the navcom. She didn't want to get reattached and have to give her up again.

He shook his head. "I'd feel better if she was with you. At least that way you'll have a second set of senses helping you scan your environment. Roark isn't going to be happy when he's forced to allow you in to see Morgan. Be careful."

"I always am," she said, standing to hug him. Red held on a long time, not wanting to release him. In the end, she knew she had to go. "I'll call after I've seen him."

"Use Rita. I've had her modified to contact me directly."

Red grinned. "So that's why you wanted me to take her with me. You want to keep tabs on me."

"That's only one of the reasons." He grinned. "Here are the coordinates for the facility Morgan will be kept in."

She logged them into Rita. "I better go," she said, looking around his office one more time. She inhaled, trying to hold the memory in her mind.

"Take care, special one. And remember, if he's guilty, then you'll have to let him go."

"I'm aware of that," she said, knowing that she'd never be able to do so.

The trip to the Republic of New Mexico took four excruciatingly long hours. Red drove straight through without stopping. By the time she reached the facility, the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon and she was exhausted. Anxiety heat inside of her. She didn't know what to expect when she finally got to see Morgan. Would he look the same as the photo, or had he been injured? She hadn't actually considered that he might have been hurt in the blast. Red had been too grateful that he was alive.

She parked the shuttle, staring at the electromagnetic fence that surrounded the detention processing center. Smaller than prisons in the twentieth-first century, the detention center acted as a filtering system. Prisoners were held there before the tribunal met to decide their fate. Depending on the findings, they would be released, executed, sentenced to labor, or sent in for reprogramming.

Red shuddered at the thought of having Morgan reprogrammed. She'd once met a man who'd been reprogrammed. He had no knowledge of his history. They'd changed his face, fingerprints, and erased much of his memory. The scientist who'd performed the procedure had called it a clean slate. Red called it legal mind rape.

She hurried, her booted heels slamming the pavement. She approached the guarded gate and stopped. "Gina Santiago to see detainee Morgan Hunter."

The guard nearest her raised his navcom and hit a button. He scanned what she presumed was a list of names. Red held her breath. Had her grandfather's friend Sam been successful? She'd hate to think she'd come all this way and wouldn't be allowed entry.

"Santiago," he said. "Here it is. A last-minute addition." He pressed a button and the gate opened. "Weapons will be collected at the next checkpoint."

Red nodded.

"Walk straight ahead. Guard number 11174 will process you."

She followed the walkway toward an imposing gray building that looked like a grounded storm cloud. There were no bars on the windows because there were no windows. She stepped through a set of doors and nodded to the two guards waiting.

Inside, the building seemed even more immense than it had from the outside. Gray halls led off in four different directions. There were black stairs at the end of each hall that led to goodness only knew where. Electromagnetic fields crackled, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end. The lights had been converted to natural light to make up for the lack of windows. It also kept the prisoners calm.

Red looked from hall to hall. Guards patrolled every inch of the facility. She had no idea how many people were being held here. Hadn't bothered to ask. She only cared about one man.

"Place your weapon in here, please," the guard said, indicating her pistol.

Red pulled the weapon out of the holster and set the gun down in the container he held. The second her hand was clear of the box, it folded in on itself, securing the gun.

"You can get the pistol back when you leave," he said. "Now step through the scanner."

She proceeded forward as a bright yellow light engulfed her. After a few seconds, it was too bright to keep her eyes open. She closed them against the glare. The light was warm as it spread over her body in search of hidden weapons and explosives.

"All done," the guard said after a minute. "Follow guard 77737 to cell twenty-two alpha."

Red followed the dark-haired bull of a guard down the middle hall on the left. The cell doors were open by design, only giving off the occasional spark to let the prisoners know they were still locked up. Most of the cells were empty, as she'd suspected, but a few were occupied. The prisoners stared at her. Whether it was curiosity over her presence or simply wondering whether she was a new resident, she didn't know. Red avoided eye contact.

The guard continued to the end of the hall until they reached a flight of stairs. He looked back at her. "We have to go up another level."

Red motioned for him to continue and climbed after him. They were now on the second level, and from the looks of it, the detention center went up at least another two. She was relieved that they stayed on the second floor.

"This way," the guard said, stopping three doors down.

Red looked past him. Seated on a small rest pad that had been
hastily tossed into a corner sat a man whose back was to them. Despite not being able to see his face, Red recognized
Morgan. He had bandages around his ribs and his hands were covered in a dozen or so cuts. He didn't turn when the guard lowered the power on the door. She stepped inside. The room didn't hold much: a chair, a waste dispensing unit, and the rest pad. Just enough to exist.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice rough. He hadn't turned to look at her, which meant he'd identified her by scent. "You shouldn't be here."

"I came to see how you were holding up," she said, walking
to the only chair in the room. Red sat before her trembling knees gave out.

"I'm great. Can't you tell?" he said, swinging around. His lace was bruised. Blue, black, and purple covered one cheek and eye. Without being able to shift, Morgan hadn't been able to heal himself.

Red gasped before she could stop herself. "Is that from the blast?"

Morgan shook his head. "Roark made sure I got here relatively unharmed." He shrugged and looked over her shoulder toward the guard waiting in the hall. "I was given a warm welcome when I arrived. Apparently, a lot of people are pissed off about the lab."

Red glared at the guard. "Can you give us a little privacy? It's not like we can go anywhere."

He scowled, but stepped back a few more feet.

"What happened?" Red asked, lowering her voice.

"I was set up," he said without inflection.

Unable to stand the distance between them. Red walked over to the rest pad and dropped down beside him. Underneath the blood, sweat, and pain, she could smell the man she loved and her heart melted in response.

"Gina, your blood pressure is rising," Rita piped up. "Please do something to stabilize it."

Morgan looked down at her wrist and gave her a small smile. "Well that explains why they let you in. How is your grandfather?"

"He's fine. Worried, but fine."

Morgan's smile faded. "He has reason to worry," he said, all warmth gone from his tone. "You shouldn't be here. Roark might return any minute."

Red ignored his plea. She wasn't concerned about Roark right now. She needed to find out the truth. "What happened at the lab? We heard that it was blown up. It's been all over the viewers."

Morgan scowled. "It wasn't the whole facility, only a section of it. I was there when it happened, but I didn't set the charge. Don't know who did for sure, but I suspect it was the man who hired me."

"What were you doing there?"

"I was checking out an incoming shipment and looking for a scientist by the name of Finley. From what I could uncover, he doesn't exist. Neither do any of the other scientists on my list, who were assigned to make the Scarlet vaccine and the clones."

Red frowned. "You mentioned that before, but that doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't, but Roark stated that the clones of my wife and child were never there when he had me arrested. With all the other information I've managed to piece together, I believe him." He let out a heavy breath. "I've been such a fool."

"What about the vaccine? They say you destroyed Scarlet." Red looked over her shoulder to check on the guard.

Morgan's head dropped and he snorted. "I'm sure Roark made sure the news said a lot of things. But as far as I can tell, the vaccine never existed. It was a ghost, a sham, like the
clones of my dead family. He just wanted to get me away from Nuria, away from you." Pain filled his eyes as he met her gaze for the first time. "And he succeeded. Can you ever forgive
me?"

Red leaned forward and embraced him, careful not to squeeze too hard. Her lips touched his in a tender kiss. "There's nothing to forgive. When I heard about the explosion. I didn't think I'd ever see you again." She buried her face in the crook of his neck.

He gently stroked her hair. "Shh . . . It's okay."

A lump formed in her throat. "No, it's not okay. You're being framed and I intend to prove it."

Morgan's eyes chilled. "You will do no such thing. I need you to go back to Nuria. The town is vulnerable without you."

Red laughed before she could stop herself, the sound quaked with bitterness. "Nuria doesn't want me."

Morgan frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"They all but ran me out of town," she said.

He brushed a tear from her face. "Why would they do that?"

"I told you why. It's because I'm a stranger. The second you left everyone closed ranks, keeping me out. Maggie, Jim, just about the whole damn town turned on me. While you've been chasing your tail at the lab, I've been getting framed for murder."

He searched her face. "Roark said something about that, when he put me in the shuttle. That doesn't explain what's happening in Nuria. I know these people. They protect their own."

"I felt the same way, until the two men came into town. Both hassled me and later ended up dead. The last one had time to file a formal complaint against me. Maggie personally called in IPTT to investigate. Claimed it was in my best interest to cooperate. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to have your grandfather, your former commander, receive a brutality complaint?" She growled in frustration. "I know Roark is behind their arrival, but I can't fight him and the town at the same time."

"So the killer is still on the loose?" he asked.

"Yes. Like you, I've been led on a merry chase that's ended up coming full circle. Recruits are quitting. Maggie's on a power trip. The town doesn't trust me. Most of them are afraid of me because of my—" She stopped short and looked at the guard. He was staring down at his boots, but she had no doubt he was listening intently to their conversation. "My lack of control."

"I can't believe Maggie would do such a thing."