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“I did,” Brian rasped. “One of my investigators snuck into Oak Haven yesterday, and what she reports is appalling. Cramped quarters, horrible abuse, human experimentation. We think they’re injecting these women with deadly viruses and using nurses like Emily Milano to cure them.”
Tristan pushed his chair out and stood. “There are others capable of healing?”
“At least one other. They had her under lock and key—probably not there willingly. But my investigator swears she witnessed the healer put her hands on a young mother with pox marks all over her face, and when she removed her hands, they’d vanished.”
“My God. No wonder Lillian’s terrified. They want to force her to participate in these experiments. Who the hell is funding Project Green?”
“Looks like their major sponsor is the genetic research corporation you mentioned, Kinetica.”
ChapterNineteen
Tristan leaned on the desk to steady himself. Cold drops of sweat trickled down his back.
“Kinetica? Are you certain?”
To think he’d been considering investing a million dollars into the firm. That’s why Lillian had been so terrified of Dominic. The final piece of the puzzle snapped into place.
“Yes.”
“It makes sense. They’re a major player in DNA research.”
“We’ve been looking into them. My instincts tell me they’re up to their eyeballs in this mess, although we haven’t found any direct evidence.”
“We need to get the FBI involved.”
“I’ve already contacted them.”
“Good. And I want even more security watching the hospital and my house. If anyone shows up to try and take Lillian or her family, we need to be prepared to stop them.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks, Brian. Tell my friends at the FBI I’ll offer a sizable reward to anyone willing to come forward and provide evidence that leads to the group’s arrest. We need to nail these assholes.”
“Gotcha.”
Long after he ended the call, Tristan remained standing, staring at his phone, trying not to panic. A shard of icy-cold fear broke free from his control and moved through his veins. What if they had captured Lillian before he understood what was happening?
He gripped the phone with cold fingers. He needed Lillian to trust him with the truth of her situation. If he were missing any details or there were others involved, he needed to know. Not only so he could protect her and any other innocent victims, but because lies and distrust were no way to begin a relationship. Hadn’t he been down that road before? If she wouldn’t share her past with him, how would they have any hope of a future?
He shoved the phone in his back pocket and went to find Lillian.
Lillian had changed her clothes and returned to the entertainment room, pacing back and forth in front of the stone fireplace, but she stopped as soon as she saw Tristan in the doorway.
“Is everything okay?”
He nodded but didn’t say anything, which had the effect of making her heart beat harder if that were possible. “What is it?”
“Nothing alarming, I promise. We can talk over breakfast. C’mon. I won’t have you attempt to heal my mom until you have a good meal in you.”
She thought about insisting they leave at once, but it was clear he knew something he wasn’t telling her, so she followed him into the kitchen. “Can I help?”
He paused in the act of pulling out eggs and milk from the refrigerator. “You can sit and relax and talk to me.”
She did as he said, pulling a chair up to the bar and watching him work. “I thought you said you weren’t much of a cook?”
“Scrambling eggs isn’t cooking.”
She searched for something to talk about. “How do you spend your free time? I mean, when I’m not around to complicate things.”
