Page 53 of Cause of Doubt
“Oh, come on, Victoria. We helped you. We removed the weakness. Fear. Attachment. We made you extraordinary.”
“Extraordinary?” I circled him. “You stripped us of our humanity.”
“Now, now. That is not true.” He wiggled his finger. “We refined it.”
“You broke us,” I spat through gritted teeth.
“We rebuilt you. You were on death’s door when we found you in that accident. You never would have survived. We saved your life.”
“You turned us into weapons.” My jaw tightened.
“And yet you survived. You thrived. You became exactly what Hearthstone was built to do. You’re here for answers,” he said. “Or revenge. I imagine both.”
“I’m here because you took everything. My childhood. My ability to trust. My ability to feel.”
“And you think killing me will change what happened?” he asked.
“No. Nothing can ever change that.”
“Then why? Why have you come here?”
“Because monsters don’t get to keep pretending they're doctors.”
“You were our first, and our greatest success. The intelligence committee needed operatives who couldn’t be broken. Whocouldn’t be manipulated by emotion. What we created was resilience. You won’t walk out of here, Victoria. This place was designed to contain threats.”
“And I was also designed to contain threats. You, Dr. Healey, are a threat to humanity. I’m going to dismantle this new version of Hearthstone brick by brick and make all those involved pay.”
“And what will that make you, my dear?”
“Free. And I can’t feel that until every single one of you is dead.”
“You won’t feel better. Trust me. I know.”
“I already know that,” I spat.
“I truly believed I was saving you,” he said. The shakiness of his voice confirmed his fear.
“And that right there is what makes you dangerous.” I fired my gun, and he instantly dropped to the ground.
I wasn’t about to have the same conversation with his colleague. I carefully opened his office door, stuck my gun in, and fired, shooting him between the eyes as he sat behind his desk.
I tapped my earpiece. “It’s done, Gabriel.”
“Excellent, Paige. Get out of there. Renae Caldwell and her team will be there within 20 minutes to blow the lid off this thing, as will the FBI.”
Renae Caldwell was an investigative reporter hungry for the story that would elevate her career. She didn’t know who Gabriel was. Only as an anonymous tip with a muffled voice.
I kept my head down as I walked through the corridors, not making eye contact with anyone passing by. I escaped through the back, ran through the forest, and made it to my car as I heard several sirens blaring in the distance.
Chapter Twenty
Parker
“I’m going to take off,” I said, handing my newborn niece over to Julian. I kissed Laurel’s cheek. “She’s beautiful.”
“Why? Where are you going?” Roman asked.
“Home. I have a few things to do.”
