Magnus smiled. Danté recognized a rare expression on his brother’s face—respect.
“Colonel Fischer,” Danté said. “I assure you that—”
“Save it,” Fischer said. “As of right now, Genada is shut down.”
He pulled another folder out of the satchel and tossed it on top of the Galina murder report.
“That’s what we know about your C-5. Brilliant work, I admit. We want your flying lab, we want all of your research, and we want your staff. While I want to see you and your psycho brother in jail, my mission is to find Rhumkorrf and the others. Should we find them, that means Genada is no longer harboring fugitives. Your accounts would be opened up.” He put a business card on the desk. “If you need to reach me, that’s my number. Otherwise, good luck dealing with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.”
Fischer turned and walked out of the room, limping just a bit. The other men followed.
Magnus sat quietly. Danté pushed the C-5 folder aside and opened up Galina’s murder report. There were pictures. The pain in his chest grew stronger, more piercing.
“Magnus… how could you do this?”
“She was a threat.”
A threat. She was also a human being. Burns down to the bone? What kind of an animal had Magnus become?
“It will be okay,” Magnus said. “Danté, I’m here to protect you.”
“We don’t need that kind of protection. We need to get our lawyers going on this right now.”
“Come on, Danté,” Magnus said. “Lawyers? What do you think they can do against the bureaucracies of the entire free world?”
“We have to do something.”
“Do we? Wouldn’t it be easier if Fischer just… went away?”
Danté stared at his brother’s cold eyes. Magnus couldn’t consider something that drastic. That wasn’t even sane.
Then he looked down at the photos again and wondered whether Magnus had ever been sane.
“You don’t do a thing,” Danté said. “You hear me? Not a damned thing. I can fix this. All we need is a live animal. Once we have that, we go public. Everyone will back off. They can’t drop the hammer on a company that will save millions of lives. In fact, Magnus, I need you at Black Manitou. You have to make sure there are no problems.”
Magnus stared, said nothing for a few seconds. “You want me out of the way?”
“That’s not it,” Danté said, but they both knew that was it. “The project is our only hope. If this round of fetuses doesn’t turn out, we don’t have the money to fund another. I told Colding not to kill any additional fetuses, for any reason—you make sure he obeys that order. You also have to make sure that island is locked down tight. If someone gets off and Fischer finds them, he’ll find Black Manitou, and then it’s all over. Can you do that, Magnus? Can you do that for me?”
Magnus blinked, and his eyes softened a little. “Damn, you’re good at this stuff, brother. My brain knows exactly what you’re doing, but the way you sling words, it makes my heart want to obey.”
“Will you go?”
He nodded. “Yes. I’ll call Bobby and leave right now. I’ll be on Black Manitou by tomorrow morning. Do me a favor, call Colding and let him know he’s taking over Andy’s security shifts for a few days.”
Magnus turned and walked out.
Danté breathed in and out, long and slow, until the pain in his chest started to fade. Colding wouldn’t be happy about Magnus coming to Black Manitou, but that was just too bad.
NOVEMBER 22: HOT EVENING
Implantation +13 Days
SARA LOOKED BEHIND her as she quietly walked down the basement stairs. No one there. She walked to the security room door, punched in the supersecret code and slipped inside. Colding sat behind the monitors, feet up on the desk, a thick sheaf of papers in his hand. His eyes lit up when he saw her. Such a smile. That boy was nothing but trouble.
“Hey,” he said. “Anyone see you come in?”
She shook her head. “I think I lost the tail, Mister Bond.”
“Oh, knock it off. I just don’t want Magnus finding out about us. Technically, I am your boss, you know.”
“You can boss me around anytime.” She walked to the desk, pressed against him and stroked his hair. “I’m down for some covert lovin’, but what are you doing here? Isn’t this Andy and Gunther’s gig?”
Colding shook his head. “Not since Bobby dropped off Magnus yesterday. Seems Mags prefers the company of Andy, so the two of them are either snowmobiling or in the lounge getting ripped.”
“Bit of a sudden shift in the totem pole order? Andy must love that.”
“Yeah. He’s walking around like the cat that tortured and killed the canary. But it’s not so bad. I can’t keep as close an eye on Jian as I’d like to, but I’m watching her on the lab cameras. Other than that, just catching up on my reading.”
His pile of papers looked like a manuscript. The header at the top read HOT EVENING—BY GUNTHER JONES.
“Oh, snap! Is that Gunther’s trashy vampire romance novel?”
He nodded. “Yeah, only it’s not all that trashy. The writing isn’t that great, but I have to admit I can’t put it down. I already read the first one, Hot Dusk.”
He set his stack of pages down carefully, then reached back on the counter and found another thick sheaf. “Here,” he said, handing it to her. “Hot Dusk, the first in the series.”
“You’re serious. You’re actually telling me this is good?”
“Good enough to keep me hooked. I’m a little surprised myself, but I’ve got to find out how Margarite handles Count Darkon.” He stopped talking and just stared at her, as if he were weighing his options about something.
“What,” Sara said. “Do I have a booger or something?”
Colding smiled and shook his head. “No, no boogers. I just… well, I think you should know what’s happening with the fetuses. I don’t think it’s anything to really worry about, but you should know—as long as you promise not to tell your crew.”
“Why wouldn’t I tell them?”
“Because you’re not supposed to know,” Colding said. “I like those guys, don’t get me wrong, but if Miller and Cappy start blabbing and Magnus finds out they know, it’s my ass, and…”
“And?”
“Well, nothing. I just don’t think you need that kind of pressure.”
She never hid anything from her crew, but she trusted Peej. “Okay. I promise.”
She waited. Eventually, he talked and told her what was happening inside her plane, what was growing inside the cows.
She did freak out, but only a little.
NOVEMBER 24: NICE FUCK-FACE
Implantation +15 Days
COLDING WALKED INTO the lounge knowing he’d see the same thing he’d seen for the past three days—Magnus and Andy getting trashed. Sure enough, there they were.