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Sloane took a seat on the leather couch against the wall. This was going to take a while. It was obvious Dex didn’t even know where to begin, so he started with Shultzon, telling Maddock all about the Therian control drug, the hijack, Sloane, Ash, and Hobbs getting kidnapped. He told Maddock about the facility, leaving out the part about Sparks being an operative for TIN, referring only to a Therian agency, until finally they got to Dex’s latest kidnapping, torture, and everything Shultzon had said to them. Sloane waited for the blowup, surprised when it never came. Something wasn’t right.
Maddock stood motionless, his gaze on the carpet. Sloane had never seen him like this. Usually he would have blown a gasket at Dex not having told him what happened to him, and then Sloane wondered if Maddock knew something they didn’t. He stood slowly, his eyes narrowed.
“You have nothing to say about any of that?”
Maddock’s expression hardened, his dark eyes daring Sloane to challenge him. “I’m getting there,” Maddock replied, his voice as icy as his gaze. “But I will say this. You watch your tone when you speak about Gina Daley.”
Sloane confronted Maddock. “She could have stopped them, could have saved me, my parents, Ash, and countless others, but she walked away!”
“Are you fucking joking, son? That asshole Shultzon has been lying to you from day one, and you’re still believing him?” Maddock shook his head, his hands planted on his hips. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His eyes became glassy, and he gave a sniff before turning to Dex. “I’m sorry. Just know everything I ever did was to protect you and your brother. To give you the lives you deserved.”
“What’s going on, Dad? You’re kind of freaking me out here.”
“Yeah, well, it’s about to get worse.” Maddock tapped his earpiece. “Ash, Cael, I need you in my office right now.”
Sloane waited, giving Maddock the benefit of the doubt. The man had never let him down. He’d always been there for Sloane, and for Ash. Always looking out for them, standing up for them, protecting them. He’d accepted them and taken them in when the world thought they were nothing but a couple of fucked-up Therian youths, damaged and broken. Tony Maddock had been the closest thing to a father he and Ash had since they’d been branded animals.
There was a knock at the door, and Maddock opened it long enough to let Ash and Cael in before closing it again, the room still in privacy mode.
“What’s going on?” Ash asked, taking a seat on the couch Sloane had just vacated. Cael joined him, his curious gaze on their sergeant.
Maddock took a deep breath as he resumed his seat on the edge of his desk, facing them. “Yes, Gina knew. She knew about the kids, about the facility they were planning to open, about Sloane being the first to be taken. She knew Sloane was about to shift after examining him that day his family brought him to the CDC.”
The room was silent, and Sloane’s heart sank. Maddock addressed Sloane, his anger catching Sloane by surprise.
“Here’s the part where Shultzon is full of shit. Gina wanted to tell your family, but he wouldn’t let her. Jesus, Sloane. These were very powerful, dangerous people she was dealing with. She knew if she was going to do something, she’d have to do it right, without them getting wind of it, and she’d have to do it quickly. She was determined.
“Gina didn’t
walk away. She and John died trying to save you, Ash, and all the other First Gen children on that list. They wanted their son to grow up knowing there were people out there willing to do what was right. When she saw you, she couldn’t walk away. The night they were killed, Gina wasn’t carrying any file, because she wasn’t passing anything off to anyone. She was going to meet with your parents.”
Sloane had to sit down before his knees gave out from under him. He sat next to Ash, numb, as Maddock continued.
“Gina tried to go through the legal channels, and when that didn’t work, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She copied some list Shultzon had and did God knows what else. I think she’d been doing some reconnaissance far longer than even John knew. She wouldn’t tell me, didn’t want me involved. What I do know is that she was determined to stop them from hurting those kids, and when she met you, she had to do something.”
“How do you know all this?” Sloane asked.
“Because I was at the house the day Gina told me what was happening. She and John were going to put a stop to it. While they were at the theater, she called in to check on Dex.” Maddock swallowed hard. “I could tell in her voice that she was scared, and I begged her not to do whatever it was she was going to do. She said she had to tell the Brodie boy’s parents about his shift. Then she was going to blow the whole thing wide open. She told me to kiss Dex good-night for her. That night I lost my best friends, and Dex lost his parents.”
Sloane couldn’t believe it. He was at a loss for words. She’d tried to meet with his parents? She had tried to save him.
Cael shook his head, as if attempting to get his thoughts straightened out. “Wait, you knew about Sloane?”
“And Ash,” Maddock replied, looking from Sloane to Ash and back. “Yes. And believe me, I tried to find you. By then it was too late. You’d both disappeared.”
“I don’t understand.” Ash stood. “Then you knew who Sloane and I were when we started at the THIRDS?”
“I was the one who submitted your names to Sparks for recruitment. I asked her to find you.”
“You acted like we’d never met,” Ash growled.
Maddock’s gaze never wavered. “We hadn’t. Officially.”
“How could you look us in the eye and act like you didn’t know?”
“Guilt. The fact I wasn’t able to help you boys has eaten away at me since the day I found out about you. When I saw your names on the new recruits’ roster, I knew it had to be the same boys Gina talked about. Your classification, your age, the fact your files were sealed, I knew it had to be you. Sparks had found you like I’d hoped she would. I wanted to say something, but you boys had been through so much. I couldn’t change the past, but I could help you have a future. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, but the moment I saw you, I told myself I was going to make up for my failure.”
Sloane didn’t say a word, mostly because he had no idea what to say, and even if he did, he doubted he could get his voice to function. Which was fine, because Ash wasn’t done.
