Chapter 43

CHAPTER

FORTY-THREE

Kai didn't dare sit. He didn't want Larchmont to think he'd let down his guard.

Instead, he glared at his boss. "We need an explanation."

"We demand one." Gage cocked his head as he moved to stand on the other side of Larchmont.

Stephen sat on the edge of the bed, his skin pale. Kai heard Tori rifling through the first-aid kit, trying to find something to put on his wound.

But Kai's focus otherwise remained on Larchmont.

"I know you have a lot of questions," Larchmont started. "Maybe I can give you some answers. But you might want to sit down first."

"I'd rather stand," Kai said.

Gage offered a curt nod. "Me too."

"Very well then." Larchmont let out a breath before nodding. "What do you want to know?"

"More about Project Elevate, for starters," Kai said.

He let out another breath. "I suppose I should start at the beginning. Project Elevate was launched nearly twenty-five years ago as a joint effort between all the military branches. The Joint Chiefs of Staff sanctioned it."

Kai blinked when he heard the number. "Did you say it was started twenty-five years ago?"

"That's right," Larchmont said. "I wasn't there at the program's inception. In fact, for the first decade, the concept was in developmental stages. There were no test subjects."

Gage bristled. "I'm assuming we were considered test subjects?"

Larchmont nodded grimly, an almost apologetic look in his eyes. "That's correct. Stephen was in the first generation of our experiments, and he operated under a man known only as Rafferty."

"I don't remember you," Stephen said.

"I was more of a liaison for the program," he said. "I didn't work directly with you or the other guys you went through with. I took over after Rafferty was fired."

"Who exactly is Rafferty?" Stephen asked as Tori dabbed his wound with what looked like an antiseptic wipe. "I keep trying to find out more information on him, but he's like a ghost. He calls all the shots, but no one has ever seen his face. It's weird."

"Even though I officially worked with him, I don't know much about him," Larchmont said. "He was the man behind the curtain, so to speak. I only know he left the program under not-so-good circumstances. Many people weren't happy with him or his ethics."

"And the men under him?" Kai asked.

"They were let go. Many of the experiments done on them weren't considered a success."

Kai glanced at Stephen, trying to see his reaction. His expression remained calm as Tori continued to clean his wound.

"So Gage and I were in the second generation?" Kai continued, his mind still racing.

"That's right. That's when I took over. Before that, I was second in command, and I didn't like a lot of the things I saw. I was determined to make some changes and to not make the same mistakes made the first time."

"What kind of mistakes were those exactly?" Stephen narrowed his eyes, his voice strained and veins bulging at his neck.

Larchmont let out a long breath. "The experiments were too harsh and damaging. There was some work with electrical pulses and brainwaves. Those experiments nearly wiped out some of the men's consciousnesses. We feared it had altered people's brain chemistry. Maybe even permanently. These men were also pushed to the limits. And in the end, they were . . . broken."

Kai fisted his hands at the thought. People shouldn't be disposable like that. Someone needed accountability for what they'd done.

Gage shifted. "And the pacemakers?"

"I heard Rafferty discussing it as an exit strategy in case things went wrong. He said we couldn't have people going rogue and causing collateral damage. It seems a more humane option than shooting them dead."

"But you continued using that method with the second generation of soldiers," Kai said. "So you must have agreed."

Larchmont's expression remained stoic. "We did. The devices served various purposes, really. We could monitor heart rate. If it got too high or low, we could make corrections. It all tied in with the idea of being a super soldier. Then we could use the device for other purposes if our project went off the rails."

"Who controls these pacemakers?" Kai continued trying to put together the pieces.

"I did . . . for a while. Then we destroyed the remotes. However, we believe Rafferty was recently able to gain control of all the devices. He hacked into the system."

"You guys couldn't reprogram anything?" Gage asked. "Bypass some system controls or something?"

Larchmont ran a hand over his face, suddenly appearing exhausted. "We could not. We feared that Rafferty somehow blocked our efforts. He is that smart."

Based on his tone, Larchmont sounded like he was telling the truth. Yet Kai still couldn't be sure.

Kai tightened his arms across his chest, still in interrogation mode. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I've been sworn to secrecy," Larchmont said. "It's a matter of national security."

"And these other guys?" Kai's voice rose. "The ones who made it through the program but weren't successful? What happened to them?"

"They're the ones who've been after you," Larchmont said.

"How do we stop them?" Gage asked.

His expression turned grim. "We can't. They've been programmed to be the way they are. The only way to stop them is by killing them."

"But I'm innocent," Stephen said as Tori placed a bandage over his wound. "Am I on your list of people to kill?"

"No, you're not like the rest." Larchmont tilted his head. "Why are you different from the rest of them? I've been curious about that for a while."

"I don't know," Stephen said. "I saw some of my colleagues go off the deep end and become . . . dark, for lack of a better word. A couple of us—including Nathan—weren't affected like that. We began working for Rafferty doing private missions."

"And the rest of the guys?" Kai asked. "What happened to them?"

Stephen shook his head. "I think Rafferty developed another team using them. I think they do the missions that Rafferty knows the rest of us won't do—the ones that require abandoning any sense of morality or goodness."

His answer hung heavy in the air.

Kai wasn't surprised. But he knew the implications of Stephen's words.

He knew they were all in grave danger.

Tori listened to the conversation with interest. But she had a more pressing question that she couldn't believe hadn't been asked yet, something more important than the history of this program.

"We need to get these pacemaker-like devices out of these guys." Her voice came out strong and sure. "Now."

Surprise flickered through Larchmont's gaze before it settled with a nod. "I agree. But there will be challenges to doing that. For starters, taking you guys to a hospital is too risky—especially right now. You could be recognized. Also, there would be too many questions about the devices. It would raise some red flags. We can't risk that. The best way to tackle this is by doing so privately."

"What about the surgeons who implanted them?" Tori asked.

"We can't trust them."

Her mind raced. She glanced at Kai, who now stood near the window, peering out on occasion. That was Kai for you—always on guard.

She found a lot of comfort in that fact he was always so alert and responsible.

So protective—even if he was only that way because that was how he'd been trained.

"How have you even been changing the batteries?" Tori asked. "These guys have to be under sedation for the procedure."

Larchmont nodded slowly. "A lot of the experiments we did required sedation. The protocol wasn't ever questioned. When we took the guys in to do any type of procedure on them, we changed the batteries while they were sedated. Then we kept them sedated until they could heal."

Tori narrowed her eyes. "It seems like an overreach if you ask me."

"Yes, I suppose it has been."

"How did my brother even get through this program?" Tori continued. "He was always kind with a good heart. He didn't change into one of the bad guys."

"Not everyone who went through the first generation turned out bad. Like your brother. Like Stephen. My understanding is that the recruiters who handpicked Nathan didn't know at the time that you were trying to reconnect with him. That became a problem since we prefer the men who go through the program to be unattached."

"I find it despicable." Tori didn't hold back how she felt. "How can you even sleep at night? How can you live with yourself, for that matter?"

Larchmont's gaze darkened. "I've only tried to protect my men."

"The same men you've used and lied to, you mean?" Tori's tone remained biting.

Silence stretched a minute.

Larchmont apparently didn't know how to respond to that.

Kai paused near an outside window and frowned. "You guys, there's movement outside. I'm nearly certain the police have us surrounded."