Cyn (Moon Hunter's Inc. Book 2) Read online

Cyn woke up next to Alex. Dear Lord, she had never had such a wonderful night with any man. Unfortunately, she knew she should have waited until the lab situation was settled before sleeping with Alex. Even though it was clear to her that he was innocent, their sexual relationship would just complicate things.

  Carefully, she slipped out of bed and dressed. Bear had probably notified Cash and help would be on its way so they could disband the lab and deal with the culprits. They had information now and the rumors of other labs would be confirmed or denied. If there were more, their work had only just begun. Cyn looked at the handsome face of the man she’d just made love to all night long.

  He was one more thing she would have to deal with and she wasn’t sure where that would leave her. A bond was forming, hell, it had already formed and it was hard to leave him there like this. It was her dedication to her job and this particular task she had to complete.

  Once she made it to the suite, Bear was up and waiting on her. “You’ve taken dedication to duty one step higher.” Bear said as he wrinkled up his nose.

  “This was personal. I’m positive he’s innocent. Rutger is running the show and ready to move on Alex if he becomes a problem. We need to move before any of that happens. I believe Alex was born in the labs just like us. Trundell adopted him and for some unknown reason, Alex has memory loss.”

  “You must have been young when the lab was dismantled. They tried to erase the memories of those they could, they just didn’t have time to do very many. I’d guess ten percent of the children and parents that they released couldn’t remember a thing at the time.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “That’s the kind of people we’re dealing with. Cash said four of ours will be here tonight to help go in and free those we can. He also wants us to grab what information we can. They’ll be on a big enough ship to take fifty passengers out with them. Cash wants to take them to Oison to recuperate. The reach of those running the labs is long, but Oison is safe.”

  “The Mazlans have agreed to take them?”

  “You know how welcoming those people are. They are already set up for them. These victims will have it better than any in the past did.”

  “I’m sure you’re right about that. Are we monitoring to make sure none of the prisoners are moved?”

  “Some are being moved, but I got trackers on the ships. It looks like they rotate them out regularly to other locations. New people are added too.”

  “There’s no end to their atrocities.”

  “There will be now. They are coming down one lab at a time.”

  “It feels good to be part of the end of these places. I wonder if any of our parents will be found alive.”

  “I almost wish we wouldn’t. Can you even imagine the pain and suffering they would have lived through? Just imagining it makes me want to go through that lab with a gun and take out anyone who works there. It’s hard to contain my anger.”

  “I feel the same. This Rutger guy not only betrayed Alex and tried to make him look guilty, but he is responsible for the continuing torture and testing of so many people. That woman too has no softer side. She needs to be taken out because if either of them escape, they will continue to do exactly what they are doing now somewhere else.”

  “We’ll get them all. I wonder what your man will think when he finds out.”

  That was something that worried Cyn, too. He didn’t know her real name or anything about her. Bear wasn’t her brother and while she had been paid to negotiate, it wasn’t really her usual job. She knew he’d feel disappointed and he might even turn away from her. It was something to worry about later because she couldn’t do anything about it now.

  Cyn took a shower then laid down to rest. It wasn’t long or at least it didn’t seem long, before Bear woke her. “They are here.”

  She didn’t need to ask to know he meant the team that would accompany them into the tail and underbelly to release the victims, gather evidence, and arrest or take out the guilty ones. Rutger was going down as the leader of this crew. Was he the mastermind of the whole operation? Cyn would guess no. He didn’t seem smart or strong enough. All they could do was hope he would lead them to the next clue. There was so much more to find.

  A knock sounded on the door and she assumed it was the crew. She opened the door ready to invite them in, but it was Alex. “Any reason in particular that you disappeared on me?”

  “It was just a night of pleasure. Leaving afterward is what a girl does. You can’t tell me I’m the first woman to disappear from your bed.”

  “Very funny. No, you’re not the first to sneak away. Only the first that I wanted to keep. Now I get the feeling that you’re keeping secrets and I need to know what they are.” He pointed to Bear who had stumbled in unaware of who was here. “He’s not really your brother, is he?”

  “No, we work together and we are friends.”

  “Why? You clearly didn’t want to marry me or be a kept woman. What would seducing me possibly gain for you?”

  “Nothing, it wasn’t supposed to happen. I couldn’t help myself and I let things go. It still can’t interfere with my job.”

  “Your job?” He had a disgusted look on his face. “What the hell might that be?”

  “I work for Moon Hunter’s Inc.” She told him and something seemed to click.

  “A fucking mercenary?”

  “Not just any fucking mercenary. You remember ten or so years ago when a genetic lab on Earth was shut down? Most of the people were just moved, here.”

  “That’s not possible.”

  “I’m afraid it is. They are being held in the underbelly and the tail of the station. Rutger is in charge of the operation and he plans to kill you if it becomes necessary.”

  Alex laughed. “I might believe it if you said anyone but Rutger.”

  “Your security chief is working with him. Betrayal is nothing new. Think about what kept you out of those two areas over the years. You are also a product of these experiments as are Bear and me.”

  “That’s just crazy, Cindy.”

  “My name is Cyn.”

  “That suits you. Is anything you told me true?”

  “Most of it is. Come here and look at the vids we shot and then deny the truth of what we told you.”

  The vid player was already set up and she pushed the on button. What showed on the screen was enough to make any decent person cry. Cyn looked away, she’d seen it before and it hurt her heart to watch the people in the cages and see how hungry and filthy they were.

  Her eyes were on Alex and he seemed stunned at the least. His eye watched every move and tried to look for something familiar. She could see that he recognized things and knew that this horror was taking place on his station. What would he do now?

  “When was this filmed?” He asked his voice soft and uncertain.

  “Since we arrived. Bear filmed part of it and I filmed the other.”

  “Why,” he cleared his throat. “Um, why didn’t you tell me? Never mind. I was a suspect. Am I still a suspect?”

  “No, we cleared you. Their plan to kill you if you found out made it clear you weren’t involved.”

  “So, I’m just naïve and easily fooled by those close to me?”

  Cyn knew he was including her in the comment. “What passed between us was real.”

  “You think I’m still easy to fool?”

  “There would be no point to lead you on now. Think about that and you’ll know it’s true.” It pained her to know she hurt him. That had never happened before and she had been forced to use people who were completely involved in the crimes she investigated. This feeling, the guilt, it had never affected her before.

  “I’m sure you’ve become good at explaining yourself on these missions.” Alex turned to look at Bear. He had dismissed her. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Under the circumstances, it would help if your people were locked into their rooms along with the guests. Maybe fake a leak? We don’t know who is in
volved and we want to get the victims and the information out before we deal with the culprits. Cameras should show us who is coming in and out of the cells.”

  “You’ve got it. I know a couple of the maintenance guys well enough that they’ll do it for me and a hefty bonus.”

  “That will be a great help. If you’ll do that right away, our people will be here anytime.”

  “Gotcha, I’m on my way.”

  Alex left and it nearly broke her heart. “I see the lesson to be learned here.” Bear softly said.

  “Yeah, don’t get involved with targets.”

  “Well, that, or don’t get attached.”

  “Like that’s easy to do.”

  “Ever get attached before?” Bear wondered. Cyn didn’t answer. “I thought not.”

  An alarm sounded throughout the station telling everyone to get to their rooms or the closest shelter area. Those were the places marked with a green X. Cyn hadn’t noticed any places marked that way. There was a pounding on their door and she opened it. Terrik stood in front obviously the leader for this mission.

  “What’s going on?” He asked.

  “Trundell wasn’t involved and he’s helping us by locking the station down because we don’t know who is involved and who is innocent. It will also keep visitors out of harm’s way.” Bear explained.

  “That was a good call.” Terrik agreed. “Lead the way and we’ll start with the tail section. Judging by your vids, it appears to be their command center. We’ll take it out first.”

  At one time, Cyn had thought Terrik wonderfully attractive. She still recognized that he was, but all she thought of was Alex. She and Bear left the room and led the way to the tail section. Cyn hoped Alex would stay out of the way and safe.

  They opened the hatch entering the tail area of the space station and the alarm blared. They weren’t trying for subtlety, this was a head first attack. The leaders weren’t here and those who were appeared to be mostly lab workers. Only two guards were present and they saw the futility of their position and gave up. Those two were put in one of the cages they had kept others trapped in.

  Cyn got to work on the computers sending files to Cash as quickly as she could. Paper files and notes were also filed away and she boxed them off. She caught sight of something that had Justice’s name and hers. To say she was surprised was mild. It was something she would deal with after she returned to their moon.

  Now that everything was sorted here and the victims had all been released from their cages, it was time to plan to take on the bigger section. Only a handful of their employees had been locked up and that left the majority of on duty people, especially guards, down below. There was no use in delaying, it was time for the final battle.

  They moved through the hallway and out the hatch. This was the most limited area and the easiest place to get attacked. No one was there and that made her hope none of the culprits were aware of the actions they’d already taken in securing the information and freeing those imprisoned.

  Moving to the elevators, they spread out taking three of them and a couple of the team took the stairs. Cyn was in too big a hurry so she took the closest elevator. The guards on the lowest level were stunned as they saw her and others of her team exiting those elevators. Their surprise didn’t last long, but it was long enough to be taken out by stunners.

  Cash’s directive was to use the least harmful methods possible. He planned to interrogate these people in an attempt to get inside information about other labs and discover whoever was behind these atrocities.

  The team moved like a wave shooting anyone who wasn’t locked up and restraining them to deal with later. As was usual, Cyn went to the computers once the situation was contained and followed up with any paper files. This time, she perused the files as she worked through them and shocking information came to light. Alex was mentioned, it seemed they had kept an eye on many of the lab bred children in case they became useful at an older age.

  There was no end to the evil these people continued to create. Some of the vids of experiments were so cruel, she couldn’t watch them. The information kept in the office was so plentiful, she would require an additional day to pack it all up.

  Her thoughts kept moving to Alex and even though he acted like he didn’t want to see her, she wondered if he would anyway. Her heart wanted to test his resolve while her mind wanted to honor his decision. In the end, it was her heart that pushed her to contact him.

  “Hello? What can I do for you?”

  “Alex, It’s Cyn.”

  “You have to be the last person I ever expected to hear from. What do you need from me now?”

  “I don’t need anything. I found some information I’m sure you will want.”

  “What do you want for it?”

  “I just want to meet you to give it to you. Can’t we be civilized about this?”

  “You tear my heart in two and you want to be civilized. Very well, let’s meet in the restaurant in an hour.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  He might feel hurt and betrayed, but damn the man looked good. Cyn pulled out the file on Alex, he needed it more than Cash did. Now she would go upstairs and get ready for a life defining moment. As she walked through the halls, she saw some people had been released from their rooms. Terrik had assigned two of his team members, Trax and Seralym, to determining which employees at the space station had been used in the labs.

  Alex wouldn’t be pleased when he found out he had been covering all the expenses of the lab including their employee paychecks. There was more that wouldn’t please him and maybe a thing or two that might give him hope.

  Getting to the suite she and Bear shared, Cyn hurried into her room and took a relaxing bath. She didn’t linger in it as she usually did for fear of being late. Applying her makeup, fixing her hair, and finally dressing sexy took all the time she had. Now, she had to hurry to meet Alex.

  He was sitting in the seat he always had when he was at this place. Everything seemed so familiar with nothing different except the way he viewed her. It should come as no surprise since she had deceived him. His whole demeanor was cold as ice.

  There was a drink waiting for her so it seemed he wasn’t going to forego the niceties. “Now tell me what this information you have is and what it’ll cost me.”

  “It’s your history and it’ll cost you some pain, but I think you’ll want to know, anyway.”

  “Show me.” Alex said and she slid the file to him. “Maybe I was wrong when I assumed you were a good negotiator.”

  “Or maybe you were wrong when you assumed I wanted something for this information?”

  “I’ll admit I’ve never understood the fairer sex and you are even more mysterious than any of the others.” He opened the file and his look was that of shock. It was clear this was new information for him. Now he knew who his parents were and how he had come to be. The story wasn’t pretty, but Cyn felt he needed to know. She would certainly want to know.

  “How many others?”

  “Hundreds.”

  “Do they know?”

  “I do, and so does Bear. Cash my boss, hell everyone I work with at Moon Hunter’s is offspring from one lab or another and all of them know. Most from the Earth lab that was disassembled, because someone informed on them and released pictures on the internet.”

  “Why didn’t I know?”

  “Bear said a small percent had their memories messed with. They didn’t have time to do us all.”

  “These people are sick fucks. It makes me want to do something, anything to stop them and help those that have been harmed by them.”

  “I understand. We all feel that way. I suspect it’s why Cash gathered us all together to work for him.”

  “What does he get out of all of this?”

  “If there are bounties on these people, he collects them. Other than that, he gets the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing he brought monsters to a reckoning. Don’t forget, he’s a victim of these people too.”
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  “I’m at a loss for words. That rarely happens to me. You seem to bring that out in me.”

  “I don’t know why. I’m nothing special, just one of hundreds of survivors of their program.”

  “You are special, I just wish you weren’t.”

  “I really am the person you thought I was. There was something between us, but you’re going to let your pride ruin it. When I agreed to take this job, I didn’t know you. How can you betray someone you don’t know?”

  “When you slept with me, you knew me then. Why couldn’t you come clean and tell me why you were really here?”

  “I didn’t know what you would do. This operation was too important to the lives of all these victims. You were personally tied up in it. Your assistant was responsible for keeping the horrors alive. I couldn’t risk you going off and messing things up.”

  “You had no faith in me? And now you’re upset because I have none in you.”

  “I guess whatever we had is over. I won’t come to see you again.” Alex said nothing as she got up and walked away. Her chest hurt and she didn’t know if the pain would ever stop.

  Chapter 6

  No Love

  The woman had lied to him. What kind of relationship could be built on such a foundation? His heart didn’t seem to care. The woman had just left and he already missed her.

  He put an ad for an assistant and tried to work through his emails but his chest hurt. Alex had heard the term lovesick, but he’d never realized there were physical symptoms. Everywhere he looked, he imagined her. She was so beautiful and he had thought she was just what he needed. Now what would he do?

  The ache he felt deep down to his soul argued he should keep her. All she had really done was carry out the job she’d been assigned. He honestly couldn’t say what he would have done in her position. Fear raced through him that she would leave and he’d never see her again. Pride was a lonely companion and wouldn’t warm his bed.

  It had never been his way to make spontaneous decisions. He decided to read his history first and see what he could find out.

  Journal entry:

  The couple have built a bond and although he is an Argisite, they seem to be compatible. The female is a mix of human races as are many of the people we capture from Earth.