Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Madness

She sucked in a breath and froze when Garret raised his hands in the air and told his bodyguard, "You're right. Search her, then tie her to the chair. Make it painful."

Grace was so thankful she'd given Neva her backpack and Raptor the small data device. She could only imagine what would happen to her if they found either of those things. Not to mention they'd take everything from her.

She didn't have anything for them to find, but they'd continue to hurt her. She only hoped she could distract Garret and the other man. Maybe that would interfere with a beating.

The bodyguard motioned for her to raise her hands in the air. As she did, Grace concentrated on the section of the wall where Raptor hid. She couldn't see him, but just knowing he was there kept her from panicking. It reminded her she wasn't alone.

The guard was rough, pulling her hair until her eyes teared. Pinching her flesh and gripping her arms much harder than was necessary. She'd definitely be bruised from the search. But he didn't outright hit her. Grace realized the man truly was concerned about the security cameras as he kept eyeing the ceiling in the corners of the room behind Garret's desk and shifting her around. Keeping his back to them. She knew the small, black glass bowls up there held the cameras. Those black bowls decorated the ceiling in every hall and room in the building. She even had one in her lab. She had arranged her desk, so it faced the camera. That way, her computer screen wasn't visible.

The guard took out her phone and looked through it before shaking his head at Garret. "Nothing." Then walked over to a cabinet next to the desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out what looked like a large halter for a horse. The guard came back and pushed her into one of the chairs and quickly strapped her in, fastening her to the chair. He wrapped thin leather around her arms, as well as her back and legs. Then he clipped several metal hooks into rings that flipped up from the floor. It bothered her that they had a custom-designed restraint for Garret's guest chairs.

Frowning at the man slumped in his seat, she said, "You've done this before."

Garret's smirk was evil. "A few times, yes. What the hell were you doing in here, Grace?" he snarled at her.

Her mind went blank. She knew that question was coming, but she hadn't been able to come up with anything that sounded remotely plausible. She resisted the urge to explain that she figured out he had something to do with the SUV trying to run her off the road, then his men surrounding her home. Grace didn't want to remind him about the guards he'd sent after her. He'd want to know what happened to them, and that wasn't where she wanted to start this conversation. So, she told the truth. Kind of. "I came up here to see if I could figure out why you're doing this."

He stared at her, waiting for more. She noted he didn't bother to ask her what this was.

She didn't offer anything else. For one thing, her heart was beating so hard, the blood was rushing in her brain. She felt like she was going to pass out. Her face pounded with pain. Grace concentrated on breathing slowly and carefully. Trying to calm the fear.

Finally, when she stayed silent, he asked, "Did you figure it out?"

She frowned. "I know the fertilizer you make is being dumped in the town's water supply." Shrugging as much as she could in her tight bonds, she huffed out a breath before saying, "I don't know how you're doing it. Or why?"

He laughed. "I love that you are frustrated. How I did it is easy. As part of the bonus for moving my company to this city and county—I requested direct access to the power grid and the water supply. The county commissioner and city council didn't blink. They were so excited to have the jobs my company provided—they didn't question the security risk. I think they'd have given me anything."

Grace struggled to keep the anger off her face. " But why? Do you realize what those chemicals are doing? People are dying, Garret!"

This time, he laughed louder. The chilling sound filled with glee and more than a little madness. Looking over, she noticed the answering grin on the bodyguard's face. This man had no problem with what his boss was doing.

For the first time, Grace was truly afraid.

Garret was more than evil. He was crazy. She could see it now. It was in his eyes and in his unquestionably cheerful attitude about causing all those deaths. Grace couldn't keep her mouth shut. "So, you know that the chemicals you're dumping in the water are causing miscarriages, stillbirths, as well as clotting issues—which led to more deaths."

He giggled at her words. "Oh, and so much more than that. Over a period of time, there will be a sharp rise in every type of cancer. Not to mention just about every autoimmune disease known to man." He frowned for a moment. "Plus a few new ones."

She shook her head at him. "Do you have a reason? Or are you just doing this for the hell of it?"

Garret barked his laughter this time. "Oh, I do love your mind. Yes, there is a reason. Because there are too many damn people in the world. The organization I represent wants to lower the birth rate of the middle class and poor. If we make it next to impossible for them to get and stay pregnant, in a few decades, most of them will die out."

Grace glared at him. "Why? Why are you doing it and why do you think you can get away with it?"

Grinning, he leaned forward, excited to share this with her. "Because I can. I'm rich. The people working with me all have more money than they can spend. We are doing it in part because we can, and so that there aren't so many damn people cluttering up the place. Think about it… there won't be any rush hour traffic to deal with. The beaches won't be crowded. Pollution will go away, and so will poverty. No one will have to fight for a job because we'll just assign them the work we want them to do. And as for getting away with it? Piece of cake. Everyone wants to be us, so they bend over backward, trying to be our friends. But they are scum. For the short term, the scum will protect us, and we can continue with the plan."

She wanted to scream at him. To jump up and use her fists. He was killing people so he wouldn't have to deal with rush hour traffic?

There had to be more to this. "Continue with what plan?" she asked carefully.

"I'm so glad you asked. I so seldom get to share my greatness with anyone. But you'll be dead soon. So, I can tell you everything. The goal of our group is to help the elites—those groomed from birth to lead. We want everyone who doesn't belong with us… moved off the land and into the cities. That way the land will belong to us, or we will deed it to the government for them to create green zones. We won't allow anyone to grow or raise their food. It will all come from us. They won't own a house or a car… anything. They will have to rent from us. If we deed the land to the government, we'll keep the water and mineral rights. No one builds or creates anything… without our permission and control."

The man was bat-shit crazy. She couldn't believe what he was saying to her. No one would believe her if she told them about this. God, she hoped he detailed everything on the data drive she'd given Raptor. Grace just needed to live long enough to make sure this craziness got shared with the world.

Garret didn't shut up. "The people who are left, who don't die from the poisoned water, will eat what we tell them to eat. Whether we want them to become vegan or have an all-meat diet, they won't have a choice. We might decide they need to eat bugs." He laughed at this. "Whatever works to keep them hungry and weak—so they'll never fight back. And if we make it impossible for the masses to reproduce, when they die out, eventually, so will their ideas. They won't have any children to pass on their mistaken notion that they have a right to freedom and this land. The children who are born into our new, ideal world will know they get nothing. Not unless we give it to them. And since they won't know there used to be options—they won't fight it."

Anguished, Grace cried out, "Why the hell did you offer me the job when you knew I was researching poisons in the water supply? You knew I'd work long hours until I figured this out."

Garret sat there. Silent now. Watching her as if debating if he would answer or not.

She really wanted an answer. So, she asked a different way. "Why did you hire me, knowing my background and how tenaciously I approach research?"

He threw his head back and laughed again. Garret was beaming when he said, "I did that on purpose. As part of the plan. You were my guarantee. I wanted to see if you, or anyone, could find the source of the poison. If you worked for me, I could monitor what you were doing and track every step. This way, I could ensure no one else would follow the dots you discovered. You were my guarantee. If you found anything, I knew I could fix it. There was an alarm on the server that alerted me when certain files were accessed. At that point, I knew you were getting close."

Closing her eyes for a moment, Grace couldn't stand the sight of Garret's gloating face. She wondered how she could have missed this fanatic craziness.

Garret didn't stop. He still had more to tell her. "Even if you figured it all out and tried to tell anyone what I did, they wouldn't believe you. You'd never get past all the personal relationships I nurtured with the media and law enforcement, ensuring they would come to me before releasing any information about my company. If that ever happened, I planned to manipulate any data you found or simply delete it. I could manufacture evidence that made you appear crazy or vindictive. It's one of the reasons I asked you out—I figured it would flatter you and we'd go out a few times. I'd either get you to sleep with me or roofie your drink one night and take lots of compromising pictures. Then it would be easy to pass you off as a woman scorned."

Oh, good lord. He'd planned to use a date rape drug on her!

He scowled at her and shoved up from the chair to stomp around the desk. Garret glared down at her. " Why wouldn't you go out with me? I'm handsome, rich, everything any woman would want. Why did you say no?"

Now she had to work to keep the grin off her face. "Because my cat hated you. Baby isn't fond of most men, but her hatred of you was stronger than that. My cat became savage and uncontrollable anytime she saw or smelled you. The few times you came over to my house, I never let you inside because my cat was having a meltdown." Grace shrugged. "She's never done that before, so I paid attention. I'm glad I did."

Garret raised his head and looked at his bodyguard. "Send someone to kill the damn cat. Bring me the body so I can throw it in her face. Do it now!" he snarled.

Her heart leaped, and she sucked in air too fast. She hyperventilated while she struggled with the leather holding her strapped in the chair. Until she remembered Baby was on the ship.

She stopped. Remembering her cat was safe and sound because Raptor protected her.

Grace willed her breathing to calm. She focused on how much the cat loved Raptor. How Baby sat on him, laid on him, and rubbed all over. Baby crazy-purred whenever she looked at Raptor. Grace told herself she'd never be jealous again. Loving Raptor was a good thing for her cat. The man had saved them both.

Grace looked up. Seeing Garret clench and unclench his fists. She noticed a blood vessel beating in his neck. Oh, this wasn't good.

Five seconds after his man closed the door behind him, Garret hit her . "They can fix the damn video," he muttered . One right after the other, he rapidly threw punches at her face and across her chest. Hitting her arms and her legs… three times, four… until she lost track. Her head snapped back and forth as if she were a punching bag.

He did all this… in seconds.

Then it halted abruptly.

Grace looked up to see Raptor with his hands around Garret's neck. Her buff alien lifted the puny human from the floor with no effort.

Grace moaned. Her head pounded and her skin radiated heat. Garret hit her so many times in the face, she could feel rivulets of blood cascading down her cheeks and her eyes swelled to little slits. It was hard to keep them open anymore.

She let out a heavy sigh of gratitude. Raptor had this under control. He could take care of anything that happened. She'd just close her eyes and rest. Maybe then it wouldn't hurt.