Page 65 of Hollow State

Gideon had taken the chair next to Zadie and opened his laptop, while Zadie had her tablet flat on the table, fingers swiping across the screen, like she did at every meeting.

Scout sat at the far end with her chair turned sideways and her back to the wall.

Neve and Coulter had the middle of the table, across from each other.

Quinn's chair was empty, which was often the case. Scout had mentioned that she wasn’t sure when he'd make it back to the bunker considering last night's events. Not to mention, it was good for them to have Quinn working closely with his team. They needed eyes and ears at the RCMP, and Quinn was their guy.

Wynn sat down near the front of the table, turning a second seat toward her. She stretched out her leg, and Darwin immediately wanted to go find her a pillow.

But for now, he pulled out a chair at the head of the table and drew in a long breath. He'd called this meeting, and all eyes were on him. What a fucking uncomfortable feeling that was.

"Quinn sent a report about twenty minutes ago," Coulter said. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to share it before we start."

"Go ahead." Darwin had always been good at deflection, but giving the room to Coulter for this wasn't exactly that. Whatever Quinn had found out directly affected everyone in this room.

"Burn has a hard-on for you, and he's taken over the case." Coulter set his phone face down. "He had a meeting with Quinn's boss and Quinn's team. According to Burn, they've got two eyewitnesses from the institute who reported that Darwin and an unidentified female kidnapped a John Doe."

"That was already suspected and reported," Scout said.

"It gets worse," Neve said.

"Burn is stating that the John Doe from the institute and the John Doe in the morgue at Vancouver General are one and the same." Coulter tapped his fingers on the table.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Darwin mumbled.

"It hasn't been confirmed yet, but Quinn says they're close," Coulter said. "The spin Burn is using is that you dosed a man with your own drugs. No approval, no oversight, and certainly not done in a combat zone. Strictly experimental. Somehow, Prewit got involved. Probably after you went on the run and things unraveled for you and Prewit realized you were a loose cannon."

"This is utter insanity." Darwin closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. It was straight out of a medical horror novel. "Are they suggesting I intentionally killed Prewit?"

"They are," Coulter said matter-of-factly.

Darwin blinked open his eyes. If he had any doubts about his plans, they flew out the non-existent window.

"The rest of the spin is that when the cops got too close to you after you and your lady friend ran from the institute, you put a bullet in that John Doe and left him to die on the side of the road. And then you went into Vancouver General to change what's in his chart when you heard he’d survived, but you didn’t make it in time to successfully do that."

Darwin's fist came down on the table hard enough to rattle Zadie's mug, and he was on his feet in seconds.

"That is some fucked up bullshit," Darwin said. "They’re making me out to be a monster. Worse, a monster creator. Like I'm some kind of Frankenstein, or something. Finch is behind all of this. I bet Hank Burn is in his pocket."

"Agreed," Neve said.

"Quinn's direct supervisor, Staff Sergeant Noah Henry, is struggling with some of Burn's decisions, but Henry has to be careful. He's got the paperwork. He's listening to Quinn," Scout said. "We just have to be very careful how we handle this."

Darwin pinched the bridge of his nose. That was something. Not much, but it might help if they still wanted to play the long game. But Darwin was tired of having his life dictated by Finch.

"Henry doesn't like the way this is being run. He doesn’t understand why the Surrey office has taken charge." Scout leaned forward. "Granted, this is federal. But there's no reason for a man at his level to be stepping on the local detachment's toes the way he has been."

"I'd agree with that," Gideon said. "Zadie and I did some poking."

"And?" Coulter asked.

"Burn made two interesting investments in the last little while that, at first glance, don't say much. But considering everything that’s going on, they could be suspect." Gideon turned his laptop around. "First one's a pharmaceutical company. Small. Nothing to look at in terms of how much he's making, but the company took a hit recently." Gideon tapped his finger on the screen. "It's a supplier that Emma Pryce's company bought from."

"That's interesting," Neve said. "What's the second?"

"It's tied to a shipping company," Zadie said. "One that Hyperion uses."

"Coincidence?" Gideon turned his laptop towards him. "I don't think so."