Chapter 24

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FOUR

Stephen couldn't stop staring at the man in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Larchmont?" Stephen finally muttered. "I thought you were in the hospital?"

"They released me a couple of days ago." His voice sounded unusually weak, yet it still held an underlying level of confidence.

"I see," Stephen stated. "No one updated me."

"I didn't tell anyone," Larchmont said. "I needed some time to regroup first. Besides, there were many other things going on, so I figured we had time."

Stephen crossed his arms, not appreciating being left in the dark. It was true that he'd never directly worked for Larchmont. But he'd given up everything to help out his new colleagues with the Shadow Agency. The fact that Larchmont was now awake seemed like a courtesy someone should have mentioned.

He glanced around. "This your place? They told me you lived in Wyoming."

"I have more than one home. This is one of them."

A woman stepped out from another door. Stephen instantly recognized her.

Cynthia. The wife no one knew Larchmont even had.

She'd taken charge ever since Larchmont was placed in ICU.

But she hadn't said much. She'd told the guys she wanted to give her husband a few more days to wake up before disclosing any information or making any decisions.

It appeared this was the moment.

Stephen turned back to Larchmont. "What happened?"

Larchmont's face remained grim. "When Rafferty first came up with the idea of implanting devices in the soldiers, I told him it wasn't a good idea. But he was insistent, and no one stopped him."

Stephen remained stiff, still cautious about the man. "How does that equate to you having a pacemaker?"

"I told him to test it out on me first. So he did."

"But even after Rafferty went rogue, you kept the device in you?"

Larchmont's gaze darkened. "That's where things get weird. The truth is that I had surgery to remove it. Only the person who did the surgery must not have been telling the truth. Because I clearly still had the device implanted—I just didn't know it."

Stephen gave himself a few seconds to let that sink in.

"Who ordered the surgeon to leave the device in?" Heidi asked.

"I'm looking into that now." Larchmont's lip twitched as if he wasn't pleased with that development. "But this doctor seems to have disappeared. I have to wonder if Rafferty got to him. Blackmailed him or something."

"Go figure," Stephen muttered.

"You never had any follow-ups with other doctors who told you that the device was still there?" Heidi asked. "What about the battery? It would have needed to have been changed."

"I'm still trying to get all those answers."

"So you had no idea you were under Rafferty's thumb either?" Stephen asked.

Larchmont shook his head. "Unfortunately, I did not. I had to learn that lesson the hard way. It almost cost me my life."

Cynthia squeezed her husband's hand.

Stephen stared at both of them, still trying to put the pieces together.

He didn't trust Larchmont. He'd told too many lies. Kept too many secrets.

But he just might have the answers they needed also.

"Thank you for rescuing us," Stephen finally said. "We would have been goners if you hadn't let the team use your copter."

"Of course." Larchmont nodded slowly, his eyelids slightly droopy. "We would have gotten you sooner if we'd been able to locate you."

"What are we all doing here?" Heidi asked.

Larchmont's cheek twitched as he turned to her. "I'm glad you asked. I really need to speak with you, Heidi."

She pointed at herself, and surprise laced her voice as she asked, "You need to speak with me?"

"That's right. You might want to sit down, though. Because this won't be a fun conversation."

Heidi's mind was already spinning, and Larchmont hadn't told her anything yet.

Still, she lowered herself onto a nearby leather couch, and Stephen sat beside her. On the coffee table in front of them were some crackers, cheese, nuts, and grapes, as well as a pitcher of water and two glasses.

Her stomach grumbled. But eating would have to wait.

She and Stephen turned toward the man, waiting for him to share his news.

"What I'm about to say isn't going to be easy to hear." Larchmont sounded weary as he said the words.

"I can handle it," Heidi assured him.

His cheek twitched again, almost as if whatever he had to say was painful for him also.

That fact put her on edge.

"Your mother was Theodora Myers," he started.

Heidi's back muscles instantly tightened at the mention of her mother. "That's right. Why are you bringing up my mom?"

"What did she tell you she did for a living?"

"She worked for a healthcare company in downtown Atlanta." Her mind raced as she wondered what he was getting at.

"The truth is, Heidi . . . your mom worked with Project Elevate."

Her eyebrows shot up. "What? No, that can't be right."

Larchmont nodded, no hints of deceit in his gaze. "Unfortunately, it's true. She had an alias, of course, because everybody who worked with the program did. We couldn't let people know what was really going on."

Heidi shook her head, unable to comprehend what he'd just said—or maybe she just didn't want to believe it. "She did not work for Project Elevate."

"But she did," Larchmont said. "She was Rafferty's assistant."

Heidi rubbed her temples, a sudden headache coming on. "That can't be right."

"I know this is hard to hear."

"Go on." Part of her didn't want to hear any more, but she knew she had no choice.

"She worked for Rafferty for many years. Then, when he started to become unhinged, she became wary. She quit, even though Rafferty expected her to stay. Honestly, I think he'd become quite fond of her, and I'm not just referring to professionally."

Heidi tensed. "Is that so?"

"When she started working for them, you weren't even born yet. Your father had died while your mom was pregnant."

"That sounds about right, from what I remember."

"So when she left the company, you were in your early twenties."

"Okay . . ." Heidi tried to be patient and figure out where he was going with this.

"That same year, your mom was in the accident that essentially left her in a vegetative state, correct?"

Bile churned in her stomach at the memories.

"That's right." Then she realized what Larchmont was hinting at. "Wait . . . you're telling me that Rafferty was behind her accident?"

Larchmont's face remained grim. "Yes, I believe that's true. I believe he tried to silence her because she knew too much. He never expected her to survive. However, since she was in a vegetative state, he no longer considered her a threat."

Heidi's muscles thrummed with tension. "So what are you getting at?"

Part of her knew the truth, but she didn't want to acknowledge it yet. She needed to hear the admission. Needed Larchmont to say the words out loud.

"You brought your mother home to live with you." He said the words slowly, carefully. "When that happened, Rafferty made sure to offer you a job that checked all your boxes."

"Why would he do that?" Her voice rose with frustration.

"So he could monitor the situation with your mom. Just in case she ever started to speak again and tell you anything."

Heidi shook her head, her temples pounding even harder. "If that's true, and if my mom could understand anything going on during that time . . . then she would have known I was working for Rafferty. She wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. She was unable to speak, to communicate, but the doctor said she could still understand." Her voice cracked. "It would have been agony for her."

Compassion flooded Larchmont's eyes as he nodded. "I know. That's because he's heartless like that. The only person he truly cares about is himself."

"But . . ." Heidi didn't even know what else to say. Should she even believe this guy? He wasn't exactly the picture of virtue.

But her mother was no longer around to talk to either.

It reminded her again of the hole that had been left in her heart after her mom's passing.

Stephen softly placed his hand on her back, offering her a small measure of comfort.

However, it would take time to comprehend everything she'd just learned.