Chapter Seventeen

Ciaran

This whole plot is a giant disaster. Even with the intel from Nash, Ollie, and Miles at GO, and with as much information as Reed has been able to get, there still seem to be pieces missing. I’ve been in New York for a month now, longer than I ever wanted to be, and it feels like we’re no closer to answers than we were two months ago. It’s an endless cycle.

MADAM B.

The Chemist.

Missing people.

Memories vanishing.

The Surgeon.

Each clue was just as ominous as the next, and each lead was a dead end. Literally. Our last contact with a possible informant led to finding their body twenty-six hours later. Someone knows we’re looking for answers, and they’re quick to cover their tracks. The only good news is that no one has connected our activity to Rogue, or Ghost Operatives. Yet anyway. Since I’ve been gone, Silas and Kai have joined me, and each time reporting the same information that things are well and safe in Minnesota.

While it’s good to hear, I can’t help but think we’re only at the calm before the storm. Some of the things from this case are giving me the same feeling from five years ago when our security was breached and we ended up wiping out the whole town to keep it safe. I’ve been having dreams about it. And at the end of each dream I see Saylor reaching for me, while blood trickles from her mouth.

I haven’t spoken to Saylor since she walked out of Matt’s house after kissing me goodbye. I didn’t know what to say to her to make her feel better. Every time I think I have a solution for us, I end up pushing us further apart. I told her to take time and think about what she wants. And I meant it. Whatever she wants when this is over, I’ll give it to her. My heart might break, and I might be alone for the rest of my life, but at least Saylor will have had her time, had her space, and she will be happy again someday.

Just looking around the city reminds me of her. This is where she came from. Where she spent seventeen years of her life before being uprooted to my home town. This is where she breathed and dreamed. This is where I chased her down, and asked her to come with me, when we were kids. Despite our rocky beginning, I always wanted her. Maybe it was selfish to ask her to change her whole life for me back then, but I’ll never forget the way her eyes found mine when she arrived back with Matt at our home. And even a year later when we had to be back here for our last mission, when that fuck-face Nash stabbed me, she still chose me. She chose Rogue over and over. It has to be a sign, right? Except this time I might have pushed too far.

One last time my eyes roam over the city lights and skyline. It’s beautiful. The city really is beautiful, from a distance. I can’t wait to put this image in my rearview mirror. At this point I need something lucky, something big to happen, to break this case wide open. Who is the string puller of the Surgeon who uses MADAM B to hurt innocent people? And who is the Chemist who created the drug? How did a classified military project end up twisted in this mess? The pieces want to put themselves together for me, but I can’t focus enough to see it. My gut is telling me it’s because of this city. The origins come from right here.

My burner phone vibrates. It’s an incoming call from Reed. Anxiously, I hit the talk button.

“What do you have for me?”

I can hear him typing on his computer. “Six years ago in New York, a man provided a stimulation drug at a party held by Aimsworth’s family. The man claimed that there wouldn’t be any danger because with both parties taking it, neither would remember the indiscretion. A few couples swapped partners for the night, and the next day they didn’t remember anything about their night. One year later the same stimulation drug reappeared with new side effects. Stronger, more potent. The Madam is what it was dubbed, and instead of before, it was given after a situation occurred.”

“So the Chemist was dealing out MADAM B at these parties. Or trying to,” I start putting the time line together. “This was when we first became involved.”

“Yes. You aren’t going to like this next part. The Chemist was last approached by someone on the black market who was looking for a particular substance to go along with his particular skill set. He sold bodies, alive, or deceased, or parts, and used MADAM B on his victims after, if they lived, so they didn’t remember.” Reed goes on to explain.

“Why after? Wouldn’t he want them out for whatever the fuck he was doing?”

“He wanted the chase and the thrill,” Mila pipes in, her voice oddly cheery. “It was part of his calling card.”

“Lovely.” I respond, my insides twisting. “So where is the Surgeon now?”

“He was imploded, along with all the other individuals, in the party that was taken out by Rogue,” Reed informs me.

My stomach falls along with all the hopes I had that we were finally getting ahead. “So the Surgeon is no more.”

“No,” Mila jumps in again, “But his apprentice is very much alive. I think that is who is working with the Chemist now. Some of the same activity, only cleaner, more precise, and limited in blood and gore. The survivors now are almost being treated like escorts. When they turn up again, they know nothing. There are fewer casualties, and less blood.”

I swipe a hand over my face. “Anything in particular I should be looking for?”

“Well, based on the changes in pattern and technique, we think it’s safe to say our new Surgeon is a female.” Mila and Reed finish at the same time.

“Actually it was Saylor who came to that conclusion,” Mila adds softly.

This time my heart soars and plummets for entirely different reasons. Saylor is getting involved in Rogue stuff. I’ve been putting off involving her in this. After Nash’s threat about seeing her if she came to New York, I’d been making it impossible for us to need her here. She does well in Minnesota. For so long she’s only put attention into her own practice, not that what she does isn’t equally important. She’s the first person our targets see when they arrive home with us. She is the first person to ease their fears and anxieties. I would often argue she is the most important key when taking in new targets.

“She might be onto something,” I finally get my words out, my voice thick with pride and a sadness I can’t shake. “I’ll pass this along to GO.”

“I think you should wait,” Reed sighs. “The Chemist was around when Aimsworth’s family was at their peak. He’s being watched whether he knows it or not. I’m running a reconnect right now, and going through all our hardware first to make sure nothing has been compromised. So far, only one error has popped up.”

“What does that mean?” I ask him, and start walking back to the car. The urgency to get back to the city crawls up my spine like a million spiders.

“If there are two more it means they’re compromised.” Reed replies, his voice calm like always even while I’m starting to spiral into defense mode.

“And there was number two.”

“So what do we do?” I ask him, sliding into the car and starting it up.

“I already sent them a warning. Everything we do have is backed up, but everyone should get out of the city,” Mila adds. “Drop this call Ciaran and get back to Silas and Kai.”

I drop the phone and drive to where our bunker is. Reed and Mila have already sent an alert text to our business phones with coordinates on where to meet up. We’re being attacked. It’s a virtual attack, but the power move is understood. Our enemies know they’re being watched, and now they’re watching us too. Rogue needs to lay low so our operation isn’t blown. It will be best if Ollie, Nash, and Miles can close down GO until Reed can reestablish things. The last thing we need is their system hacked and for their link to us to be compromised as well.