Chapter Ten

John

When John entered the lake house, he noticed Julia, Sammie, and Ben weren't there. Likely for their own protection, he mused. Conor was the only other person there waiting for them. John appreciated knowing Conor's gift could sense anything hickey and they'd be pre-warned.

He also saw how Stryker always placed himself between him and the detective. The gruff SEAL was slightly off to one side but never far enough away where he couldn't jump forward to block an unwanted action. While John had repeatedly stated he didn't need anyone to stick up for him, he had to admit having Stryker around was comforting. And, if he was being truthful, quite sexy. Having a man like him have his back made John feel…special.

"So, Detective Woodley, what brings you here?" Conor asked before the man even had a chance to sit down.

Woodley looked at Conor. "And who might you be?"

"He's the one who's going to determine whether or not you stick around or you're escorted out of my county," Elias said as he stormed in the front door.

"I thought Brick was the team leader in this group," Woodley said.

"Avoiding the question is not racking up any points in your favor, dude," Shaw said as he entered the room from the back deck.

"I see we have a full house," the detective said as he looked from Brick, Elias, Fletcher, Gunner, Gator, Stryker, John, Conor, and Shaw back to Brick. "To answer your question, I'm here to protect John from whatever threat is out there looking for him."

"Lie," Conor growled, his face darkening.

Stryker moved so fast that John had to blink to register it. One moment, he stood beside John, and the next, he had the detective pinned to the table by his neck.

"Why are you here?" Stryker demanded. "Forget the fucking lies."

Woodley looked around the room, and saw no one coming to his rescue. "Okay, okay. I'm here to find what John's father has hidden."

"Truth," Conor stated.

Stryker didn't let go of his prisoner.

"You lied to us. Not a good way to start a relationship,detective," Stryker growled.

"Iaman officer of the law. I didn't lie about that."

Conor nodded. "Truth."

"Now let me go," Woodley barked, making Elias laugh.

"That's not going to work," Brick said. "You tell us everything, or I report you to my many contacts in the government as a threat to national security. And if you know anything about me, you already know I never bullshit."

As people shuffled around the room, John noticed Gunner move closer to Conor, Elias closer to Fletcher—even though the guy was as big as a house—and Shaw stood between the table, Brick, and John as if protecting them at the same time. John didn't think the men realized what they were doing; it was instinct, but it was fascinating to see. Stryker released Woodley and moved to John's side. His body was tensed, his gaze watchful, like a cobra about to strike.

"Frank Seya was part of an elite task force encompassing all branches of the US military," the detective said.

"Truth." Their human lie detector was certainly earning his stripes today.

"Elite task force? My dad was a pilot in the Air Force," John argued.

"Yes, he was until he was recruited onto the task force," Woodley said.

"Who recruited him?" Brick asked.

"The secretary of defense."

"Why?" John asked.

"Your dad had been part of a project that I believe the team here is already aware of," Woodley explained.

"What project?" Gunner demanded.

"The Noah Project."

The mood in the room changed drastically. What was once controlled aggression was now outright anger.

"Truth," Conor stated.

"And by the way you're acting, I'm guessing you were one of the test subjects, Conor," Woodley said.

"Why are you here?" Brick asked with barely controlled rage. "Are you one of those Noah Project believers here to collect the research and the people that damned project hurt? Because if you are, you've gone down the wrong fucking road."

"Wait." John was dazed. "Jason told me a bit about the awful things the Noah Project did to babies and children before they were born. Was my father involved in making the Noah Project, or was he a recruit, a specimen of some type?"

"Your father was one of the men who suffered under what those scientists were doing," Woodley confirmed.

"You mean he…" John looked over at Conor. "You mean he had gifts due to his DNA being messed with?"

"Yes. He benefited from increased reaction time, which made him a flying ace, and he was instrumental in bringing the group down, alongside Aleksandr Popov. The Russian wasn't a defector. He was a scientist trying to stop those experiments."

John's head was beginning to hurt. A throbbing started at the base of his head, and his breathing became labored. He had to know the truth.

"Does that mean I'm part of that project?"

"Yes, John. You are," Woodley said.

"Truth," Conor whispered, looking at John sadly. His gaze honed in on the detective, and his tone grew frosty. "And I wouldn't use the wordbenefitedwhen referring to those of us who were used and changed without our consent."

John was struggling to breathe, the stress of the situation and its horrifying ramifications too much to bear. As panic trapped him, strong arms wrapped around him, and the plastic of his inhaler touched his lips.

"Breathe in, babe. You can do it. Just breathe in nice and deep." Stryker's voice was calming and strong, exactly what John needed right now.

"Holy shit," Shaw said. "How does this keep happening? These people need to be stopped."

John didn't give a shit about how anything kept happening as he gulped in the relief of his inhaler. But it still wasn't enough.

"Outside, please," John begged Stryker between gasps.

Within seconds, Stryker had him outside the lake house and on the back deck facing the calm water, where he could finally take his first few deep breaths alone.

"This can't be happening." John sank down into the lawn chair. His bewildered gaze found Stryker's, who was gut punched at the despair in John's eyes.

"What does this all mean for me? Am I going to change too?"

***

Stryker

He sat down in the chair next to John. "Let me explain what I know about this project. Maybe more knowledge will help you feel less stressed. Is that okay?"

John nodded mutely.

"As you know, the Noah Project was all about changing people's DNA, which resulted in giving them supernatural gifts of certain kinds. Four people we know were unwitting participants—Conor, Harris, Jennifer, and Freddie. And now you." Stryker said grimly. "And this team believe it was their mission to stomp these people out. I believe in fate, forces that lead you to a predetermined destination. And while everyone possesses free will, ignoring what fate says is never a good idea."

"I would have said you were the type of man who only believed in absolutes," murmured John. "If you can see it, you can shoot it."

Stryker smiled at John's attempt at lightheartedness. Good. The man was relaxing.

"That mission showed me not everything is black and white," he acknowledged. "And it was fate that brought me and Brick together, when we discovered we were second cousins when teaming up in the SEALs. We aren't one hundred percent sure how it happened, and Great-Aunt Sophie isn't around anymore to enlighten us, god bless her, but we believe it because DNA tests don't lie."

John shook his head and stood, his breathing easier now. "It can't be true I'm part of this project. There's nothing remarkable about me. I don't have any gifts like the others. No special ability. Hell, I can barely breathe properly."

"That kinda stems from being shot in the lung," Stryker said drily as he stood too.

"Still, there's nothing else to indicate I'm different."

"We'll figure this out, I promise you," Stryker said before pulling John close into the safety of his embrace. "Is this okay with you?"

"Yes. Very okay."

The two stood staring at the water for a while before the back door opened and footsteps approached them. Stryker knew who it was by the slight limp from the person's right leg.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, guys, but Brick needs Stryker to come back inside for a moment," Fletcher said. "I'll stay with John, keep a look out."

Stryker nodded and let John go. "Okay with you?"

"Yeah. I'd rather stay out here anyway."

As Stryker left, Fletcher casually took position behind the smaller man, which Stryker appreciated. His fellow teammate was a man of his word and could be trusted with John's life.

When he returned to the kitchen, the detective was sitting in a chair surrounded by the team. Brick nodded at Stryker and then looked at Conor. "Please continue. Let's bring Stryker up to date."

"Recap," Conor said. "John's father and the Russian were responsible for taking down the initial Noah Project Laboratory." He gestured at Woodley to confirm.

"Yes. Along with a task force of five other people."

"Who were the five other people?" Brick asked.

"I'm not willing to share that just yet," the detective protested. "I want to protect their identities until I'm sure."

"Sure about what?" Conor asked sharply.

"That they're being targeted and have been targeted over the last two decades. Also, that you and this team are trustworthy."

Brick snorted. "You'd better believe we can be trusted. It's you we're worried about." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You think that the task force is being targeted?"

"I believe so."

"What grounds do you have for believing that? And I don't care about you keeping secrets—I want to know the names of the others on the task force. Now."

Woodley huffed. No doubt he saw from Brick's posture and the dark expression on his face there was no getting away with keeping quiet. "Fine. There were seven people on the task force. Frank Seya, Aleksandr Popov." Woodley hesitated.

"We can't help unless we have all the information," Brick stated.

With a nod of his head, Woodley continued. "Frank Seya, Aleksandr Popov, my father, Jerome Woodley, and four others. As it stands now, those first three are dead, and I'm in the process of finding the final four or their fates. After Frank and then my father were shot, the remaining task force went into hiding."

"Shit," Shaw huffed.

"Wait a minute. Does that mean all the people on the task force had been Noah Project test subjects?" Conor asked.

Woodley nodded. "Who'd be better to take them down?"

"That means if your father was among them—you're also a Noah Project survivor," Brick stated.

Woodley looked him straight in the eyes. "Yes."

"Well, this just took a great big fucking turn," Shaw said.

"Did you know about Conor before you got here?" Gunner asked.

"No. I figured it out pretty damn fast, though."

Stryker had one question that remained most important to him.

"Why are they coming after John now after two decades?"

"Popov was poisoned. By the time I found him, there was nothing we could do to save his life. He'd been hiding, but they still managed to get to him. That task force knows something that the Noah Project doesn't want to get out. When I asked Popov what that was, he only managed to whisper John's name and ‘protect him, they now know.'I can't be sure if any other individuals on the task force knew what Popov knew, or are even alive, but it's a risk I'm unwilling to take."

"Pretty damn cryptic," Shaw said.

"That's why you reopened his parents' murder case so you could get information on John, where he was, and so on," Stryker said.

"Yes. I had to get to him before someone else did. I used Popov as the new lead necessary to do so."

"But protecting him isn't your top priority, is it?" Conor asked.

"I'm sorry to say, but no. Don't get me wrong, I don't want anything bad to happen to John, but my main concern is finding out what my father was killed over and making those people pay for it."

"If you're part of the Noah Project like I am," Conor said, "do you have any abnormalities or abilities?"

"You mean like your ability to be a human lie detector and to know things other people don't?"

"Yes. I mean exactly that."

"Yes. I can heal at an increased pace."

"How increased?" Brick asked.

Woodley rolled up his shirt sleeve to show his bicep. "I was shot in my arm during an attempted robbery, through and through, less than two months ago."

"There isn't a mark on your arm," Stryker said.

"Precisely."

"Truth," Conor said.

"Whoa," Shaw said. "I could use that ability."

"Yeah, well, try hiding that little trick from the rest of the department. I have to keep a fair distance from any medical professionals. Luckily, I was alone when it happened, so by the time backup arrived, I'd been able to cover it up."

"We have to figure out why Popov said what he did, which means we have to figure out what John doesn't know he knows," Brick said.

"It could be as simple as a memory of something his father said, an event, or even a location," Conor stated.

"It's a needle in a haystack," Stryker said.

"Yeah, and somebody's set fire to that haystack," Brick said. "And I guess it's up to us now to put it out."

"I may be able to help with that." John's quiet voice made everyone turn as he walked into the room. "I may have something in my possession that will answer some questions."