Part 28 (1/2)
The commander nodded. ”Fortune s.h.i.+nes on the bold. You were caught hacking, and all of a sudden, I found a way to solve both your problem and mine.”
Wait a minute. Piper rapidly clicked facts into place. ”Now that's quite a coincidence.” Sarcasm coated her words.
He kept her gaze, not moving.
Oh, h.e.l.l. ”You set me up.” She shook her head. ”You f.u.c.king set me up.” The box of stuff sent to her house had been deliberate. The one that had set her on the path to finding her real father.
His upper lip twitched. ”Well... yes.”
Piper's breath heated. ”Okay. Let me see if I can figure this out without my head blowing off my shoulders.”
”Cease with the dramatics, please.” His voice remained cordial.
a.s.shat. ”Jory was taken by the PROTECT group, and you discovered his location. So you set about learning everything you could about the PROTECT group and the area in which it worked.”
”I knew one of my soldiers was a prisoner, but I didn't even consider it was one of the Gray brothers and just figured it was somebody expendable. Your mother's yogurt shops weren't close to the facility, but we sent several flyers about the business expanding and looking to move into the neighborhood to the receptionists of the building. Then we sent yogurt.”
Piper frowned. How had all this happened under her nose? ”But when you found my mother-wait. Wait a minute. I'm getting confused.” It was all too much. She'd been living in a spy movie and hadn't even known it.
The commander sighed as if truly disappointed with her lack of understanding. ”I did all the prep work with the flyers and contact, and your mother was easy to google, so anybody looking for her online would've found her. Once we had the road paved, you tried to hack into my server and ended up in trouble.”
Piper's head slowly lifted. Heat flushed through her. ”I wasn't arrested by the government, was I?” Son of a b.i.t.c.h. She'd been scared out of her mind.
”No. That was us.” He shrugged. ”We have facilities that appear like a jail.”
The f.u.c.king liar. She'd been so easy to set up. The scenario was unbelievable, and her brain quickly caught up. Fire lashed through her. ”When you pretended to arrest me-you blackmailed my mother.”
The commander kept Piper's gaze. ”Yes.”
Oh G.o.d. ”But she worked as a receptionist for you so long ago.” Not a super-spy.
”True, but she was undergoing training to be an operative when she discovered our genetic experiments, and she had qualms. She became pregnant and ran.” He shrugged as if the entire scenario wasn't a.s.s-backward crazy.
Piper shook her head almost in slow motion. ”You didn't follow her?”
He chuckled. ”I found her within three days, Piper. But I let her be until I needed her again. This time to shoot one of my captured soldiers before he gave everything up about our organization.”
So he had never given a c.r.a.p about Piper or had wanted to reach out to meet her. She tried to slow her erratic heartbeat. ”Why not just rescue Jory?”
The commander sighed. ”We didn't know it was one of the Gray brothers until your mother reported back after the shooting. We'd wired her with a camera, of course. Our sources said the PROTECT group had one of our soldiers, but at that time, we were still regrouping after the Tennessee mess and working to save face with the government, so we didn't know it was a Gray brother.”
Dean brother, a.s.shole.
Piper frowned. ”This was more than just you making my mom shoot an absent soldier.”
The commander finally smiled. ”There's the brain I'm hoping you have. You're right. This was about getting rid of the soldier, pulling you into my organization, and neutralizing your mother from stopping me. With the recording of her committing murder, of course.”
Piper swallowed. ”So you wanted me?”
”You have impressive computer skills-quite impressive. Your skills combined with one of my super-soldiers might create an unheard-of next generation.” He nodded as if giving her approval.
She shoved back against the chair. ”You wanted to breed me?” she yelled.
He nodded. ”Yes.”
Her head actually spasmed. ”You're f.u.c.king crazy.”
”Really, Piper.”
She covered her face with her hands. ”I don't believe this. I really don't.” She lifted up and frowned. ”Wait a minute. Jory didn't die.”
”No.” The commander blew out air. ”The second I saw the video, we went on a mission to retrieve his body. At that point, we didn't care about the publicity. Of course, we found him alive, took him, and our surgeons went to work.”
Piper gagged and swallowed quickly. ”Why didn't you seek me out before-when I was young?”
”You were a girl.” His voice remained dispa.s.sionate. ”It wasn't until I discovered you were exceptional that I considered using you.”
A figurative blade sliced into Piper's heart. What an a.s.shole. And what a relief that she didn't have to worry about him any longer. They weren't on the same side. They never really had been. ”So if I hadn't had an apt.i.tude for computers?”
”Then I wouldn't have interceded.” No emotion showed in his black eyes.
Piper blew out air, letting go of any hurt. Then she focused on the problem at hand. ”My mother has lived with this for two years? This video?”
”Yes. If she tells you about me, or about our past, she goes to jail.” The commander scratched his arm. ”She might not know Jory survived.”
So her mother might've been living with the thought she'd murdered a man? Piper stood. ”I have to get to her.”
”No. Work with me, or I'll turn the DVD over to the authorities along with a body pretty much matching Jory. Close enough. Your mother will go to prison.”
”Bulls.h.i.+t.” Piper turned and headed for the door.
”Try me, Piper.”
She stopped. He was serious. Could she get her mother to safety? Away from Utah?
”I'll have soldiers on her the second she tries to flee, and she'll be in federal custody a moment later. Believe me, I have excellent connections within the United States government.”
A rock slammed into Piper's gut. The commander contracted with the government for a.s.signments and missions. He probably did have decent connections. She slowly turned around. Her hands shook, so she stuffed them in her pockets. Time had moved from ticking to a full-out run, and she had to get back to her computer. Maybe Jory could protect her mother while Piper figured out how to save his life. ”What do you want?”
”Well, for starters, I want your help bringing in Jory.”
”I don't know where-”
The commander lifted a large hand. ”Stop lying. I have cameras lining the street outside the old facility and saw Jory rescue you. I'd like to say I'm disappointed in you, but women always lie. Worthless b.i.t.c.hes, all of you.”