Payback (2 page)

What emerged was a chilling picture. A network that targeted men within the law enforcement and military communities, arranged for their kidnappings, then sent the men to a lab where they underwent treatment intended to turn them into superhuman soldiers. In the meantime, the victims were reported as dead.

Faith shivered and rubbed her arms. Unfortunately, while Toby had uncovered the existence of the program, he did not know who was in charge on the scientific end. He also hadn’t learned what, exactly, was being done to the men. Only that several of the missing men had shown up hundreds of miles from where they’d last been spotted. They’d been bulked up on what appeared to be steroids, and had suffered from insane rage.

Faith was beginning to understand why Toby would rather be dead than be captured. Still, she had to cling to the hope that he was alive and she could find him. But to do that, she needed help. She didn’t have the contacts within the military and law enforcement communities necessary to investigate the program. Because she was Toby’s sister, his friends and colleagues had already spoken to her about his disappearance. Yet even getting them to admit to her that they hadn’t seen Toby in a while had been as painful as pulling teeth. Faith didn’t think they’d be any more forthcoming if she started asking pointed questions.

But Siobahn’s father and brothers were all either in the military or law enforcement. Much as she hated to involve her friend, Faith needed help.

“F
aith, my God, are you okay?” Siobahn demanded when Faith called her that evening from a disposable cell phone.

“What?” Faith halted at the base of a sand dune and stared out over the water of Chesapeake Bay. This beach down from Baltimore offered the advantage of both privacy and the relative safety of a few dozen tourists who strolled at the edge of the water or huddled in groups to watch the sunset. Plus, it had multiple escape routes. “Yes. Of course. I’m fine. What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong is that someone has been poking around the newspaper, asking about you.”

“About me?” Faith slapped down the hem of her yellow and orange flower print sundress, hoping she appeared to be just another tourist unwilling to unplug from her electronics.

“Yes. When did we last see you? Talk to you? Were you working on any freelance projects for the paper, etc. Sheesh, girl, what kind of trouble are you in?”

Faith squeezed her eyes shut. So. The hunt was on. She’d have to assume that meant Toby had given up information about his safe house. As soon as she finished her call with Siobahn, she’d have to find a new place to stay. Thank goodness she’d been paranoid enough this afternoon to pack up all of her things and put them in the car, just in case. “Who was asking? Anyone official?”

“Yes. Well, sort of.” Siobahn gave a skeptical snort. “You’d think the Department of Defense would realize that an experienced reporter can sense a lie. The story is that your brother went AWOL a few days ago and they want to talk to you as part of their investigation. But they’ve been unable to find you. However, I remembered that you said it had been almost a month since you heard from Toby, so I figured my visitor was up to no good. Therefore, I repeat, what trouble have you gotten yourself into?”

“Not me,” Faith corrected. “Toby. Before he disappeared, he took official leave in order to continue his personal investigation into the missing military and law enforcement personnel.”

“Well, crap.”

“Yeah. Apparently an army friend of his went missing and was later reported dead. Some time later, Toby saw a glimpse of him on the news. When he started looking into it, Toby discovered evidence that made him think people he worked with might be involved. So he asked for time off and went into hiding.” Which scared Faith to death, because if Toby had been captured while in hiding, what chance did she, whose clandestine skills were meager compared to her brother’s, have of surviving? “Whoever is responsible for the disappearances likely kidnapped Toby, so you need to be careful, too.”

“Which is why you left me a voicemail with the code that meant we had to use disposable phones for this conversation.”

“Yes.” Faith took a deep breath. “But that’s not the main reason I called you. Siobahn, in your research into the missing service personnel did you ever come across reference to Kerberos?”

“Kerberos?” Siobahn replied. “Yeah, that rings a bell. Hold on.”

Faith scanned her surroundings for danger signs while she waited for Siobahn to pick up the phone again. She’d decided not to call Siobahn from Toby’s cabin, even though she was using a disposable cell phone. She didn’t know if technology existed that could somehow tap into their phone call and trace it back to a location, but figured it was best to err on the side of extreme caution.

With Siobahn’s news, however, Faith feared for both her own safety and Siobahn’s. Although her friend’s article had been published a few weeks ago, she suspected that Toby’s disappearance indicated a decision to eliminate all possible sources of information on Kerberos. Which could lead them to decide to kill Siobahn, just in case she knew more than she’d printed.

Not that Siobahn’s article had gone into great detail. It merely suggested that the missing personnel had been kidnapped, and implied that people in several branches of the government had been involved in faking the men’s deaths and funneling them into the superhuman soldier program. However, Siobahn hadn’t pointed the finger at any one particular organization being in charge. Or given details about the scientific program.

On the other hand, when Faith had finally cracked the encryption on Toby’s second flash drive, she’d found documents linking the scientific program to a group called Kerberos, run out of the CIA. Toby believed people within the DOD and the law enforcement community had been working with Kerberos to choose men for the program.

Suspecting both the DOD and the CIA of involvement in Toby’s disappearance had made Faith even more paranoid. To the point that simply leaving the cabin for this short trip to the bay had her jumping at shadows, although her instincts told her she’d escaped detection so far.

To avoid being tracked via facial recognition software run on security camera images, Faith had used the costuming skills she’d learned while acting in school plays during junior high and high school. Thankfully, she’d insisted that any safe house Toby set up contain a wide range of disguises for them both in case they needed to leave the cabin.

Thank you, Mrs. Kukei.
The woman in charge of Faith’s high school drama department had made certain all her actors became competent at changing their own appearances, whether through costuming or makeup. While Faith hadn’t acted in years, she’d often used the techniques she’d learned in order to keep her identity hidden when under threat from foreign governments or other groups who hadn’t wanted her to reveal the truth.

Today Faith had gone with a simple disguise. She wore an oversized, floppy hat that tied underneath her chin and hid all of her hair. Not only did the wide brim add shadows to her face, but the attached scarf covered her ears and jawline. Large sunglasses in tourist Day-Glo green protected her eyes.

“Okay. Here it is,” Siobahn said. “Hmm…right. I went down to Fort Bragg to meet a contact while researching my article. As he was walking me back to my car, we caught sight of a group of special ops guys heading back onto base from some mission in the woods. Before they realized we were within earshot, I overheard one of the men complain about their training exercise being cut short due to those freaky guys from Kerberos. I turned to my friend and asked him what Kerberos was, but he claimed not to recognize the name.” Siobahn’s loud, frustrated sigh made Faith smile.

“In fact,” Siobahn continued, “everyone I asked after that either denied having heard of Kerberos or clammed up and told me to leave it alone because it was too dangerous. Since I couldn’t find corroboration, I had to leave the name out of my article. Does that help?”

The hairs on the back of Faith’s neck quivered. “Yes, I think so. A few of the missing military personnel Toby had been investigating were later seen in training exercises conducted by a secretive group of soldiers.” Her brother had speculated that the members of that secret team had been experimental, superhuman soldiers.

“Toby claimed that Kerberos is a top-secret black ops group run out of the CIA by Wayne Jamieson, the CIA’s Director of In-House Projects.”

“Figures the CIA would be involved.”

“Yeah. Toby’s notes indicated that Kerberos is Jamieson’s private organization and hinted that not even his superiors at the CIA know the full reach of Kerberos. Toby heard rumors that Kerberos provides elite assassination squads and military style units comprised mostly of graduates from the superhuman soldier program. But he hadn’t been able to locate the program or determine who provided Kerberos’s teams with assignments.” If Faith could locate the freaks those soldiers at Fort Bragg had been talking about, maybe one of them would lead her to where Toby was being held.

“I wonder…” Siobahn said.

“What?” Faith heard the rustling of paper over the line.

“Four of the missing men in my article were found in remote towns near military bases. The men were crazed. Filled with such violent rage that a few observers suspected they were rabid.”

Which matched what Toby had discovered. “You think maybe they got separated from a Kerberos team?” Faith asked. “If so, wouldn’t someone have gone looking for them?”

“Not necessarily. The men had already been declared dead.” Siobahn’s voice vibrated with the energy that came from being on the trail of a juicy story. “If they really were part of Kerberos, by the time they ended up under observation by civilians, it would be too much of a risk for their commanding officers, if Kerberos even has such a thing, to claim them. Better to write them off as collateral damage, then go in and secretly destroy the records and the wayward men. Two of the missing men from my article were admitted to hospitals, one was taken to jail, and one was spotted by local law enforcement but eluded capture. Within a week, all the subjects were dead, their bodies gone, and no records left that they’d ever been found. Most of the people who had initial contact with the freaky men also died shortly after in suspicious accidents. The only reason I learned about what happened was that several of the first responders were scared into hiding. One of them later contacted me and put me in touch with the others. Through their statements, and thanks to copies of records a number of them had made, I was able to match identities of the men they’d seen to those from my list of military personnel who’d been declared dead.”

Faith’s heart sank. “Yes. That matches Toby’s research. He found a few escapees. Based on their symptoms, and testimony from others involved in the scientific program, the treatment given to the men resulted in insanity and rage. None had survived their encounters with the outside world. Either they’d killed themselves or been killed when law enforcement tried to capture them.” Her gut screamed that she was fast running out of time to find Toby. She wished his notes included some sort of timeline regarding how long men lasted in this program.

Did she have days? Weeks? Hours?

Faith bit her lip and shoved her fear for her brother aside. Siobahn’s story only proved how severe a threat the men running Kerberos posed. She hated putting her friend further into danger, but she couldn’t do this alone. “I need to talk with your contact at Fort Bragg.”

“Faith, this was four months ago. Teams rotate in and out of there on a daily basis. The odds of the Kerberos team still being there are small. Besides, my friend isn’t stationed at Fort Bragg any more. He was on a short-term assignment and is now working at the Pentagon. Without a contact on the inside, you’ll never get the information you want.”

Faith grinned. “That’s why I have you. Ms. My-Dad-Is-A-Four-Star-General.”

“Retired.”

“Like that makes any difference.”

“You’re right. Dad could get you access. But with the heightened security in place these days, I don’t think he can arrange for you to talk to people fast enough for what you need.”

Faith ground her teeth, hating that her friend was right. “So what do you suggest, Siobahn? Because I’m at my wit’s end. This is my brother’s life I’m talking about. Think about how you’d react if one of your brothers went missing.”

Siobahn sighed. “Tell you what, I’ll ask Dad and my brothers if they’ve ever heard of Kerberos, freaky soldiers, or Wayne Jamieson. Have them discretely put the word out. Okay?”

“Yes. Thanks. And Siobahn, please, be extra careful. Toby wouldn’t have been easy to take down, yet they got him. I don’t want you to go missing, too.”

Her friend’s deep, reckless laugh made Faith remember too late that warning Siobahn away from danger had always sent her running forward instead. “Never mind, it’s not as if you pay any attention to personal safety when you’re hot on a story,” Faith grumbled, earning another laugh from Siobahn.

“Pot. Kettle,” Siobahn pointed out. “You wouldn’t be sticking your nose into this matter against your brother’s advice if part of you didn’t thrive on danger. You’d have turned the investigation over to the authorities if you wanted to stay safe. Maybe now you’ll finally realize that you were born to be a journalist. I want you back on the team when this is all over.”

“Siobahn,” Faith said, lacing the word with exasperation.

“I’m serious, kiddo. Think about it. I’ll call when I can. Ciao.”

“H
ow is he doing?” Dr. Leonard Kaufmann asked his lead scientist as he nodded toward the room where Toby Andrews was being given another injection of the drugs that would open him to mind control.

“His extensive training on how to resist torture has been a difficult obstacle to overcome, sir. However, it appears that we have finally found the right combination of physical torture and poisons to weaken him so that our drugs can break through his resistance.”

“Excellent.” Kaufmann had been reluctant to add the former military intelligence officer to the program. Not only because of the man’s training, but because as an officer, the man was used to being an authority figure. The men who adapted easiest to the mind control protocols were those in subordinate positions who already had an innate need to please their commanders.