Chasing Victory (The Winters Sisters) Read online

  “Did you tell Max or anyone else that we were out there?” Tristan asked.

  “No. So now it’s my turn to ask a few questions. Why are you here, Military?” Morgan asked as he scrutinized Tristan.

  Tristan didn’t know how much he should tell him, but he knew he had to give him something to gain his confidence. “I was sent in to keep tabs on Victory. To pull her out if the need arose. I’m also trying to get some inside information on Braxton and the people working with him.”

  “Do you have a way out?” Morgan asked.

  “My team on the outside is working on that as we speak.”

  “They’re here on the island?” Morgan asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Then let’s get the hell out of here,” Morgan said.

  “It’s not that simple,” Victory stepped in. “I need to gather all the research that Braxton has. Together with my research, I’m certain that I will be able to help you and hopefully Collin. If we leave now I’m sure I could reconstruct the research, but it could possibly be too late for Collin and you.”

  “For now we need to stick to what we have been doing. I’ll work on getting all of us out as soon as we can,” Tristan said.

  The door to the lab swung open. Max came striding through. “At least you settled him down. That’s good. Now let’s get back to work.” He opened the door to the exam room, and instantly Victory noticed the buzzing stop.

  “We are working,” Victory sassed him. “I was preparing to draw a new blood sample from Morgan,” she said as she pulled a syringe and large rubber band from her pocket. She tied the band around his upper arm and inserted the needle.

  “Thank you,” Morgan whispered in her mind.

  She looked into his eyes. She felt the warmth of his words, but not the words themselves. She made a leap of faith. “You’re welcome Morgan. I’m going to do all I can to help you and Collin, I promise.” She smiled at him then withdrew the syringe, untied the rubber band and left the room.

  * * *

  “Wyatt, I’ve gotten additional information,” Tristan was stretched out on a blanket next to Victory. They had taken their lunch to the beach away from the hubbub of the lunch room.

  “Good to hear from you Tristan. What do you have for me?” Wyatt responded.

  Tristan debriefed Wyatt on the morning’s events. “I believe the guy is for real,” Tristan commented before Wyatt had a chance to ask.

  “I’ll have Jack do some digging and see who assigned Morgan and Collin to Braxton. We’ve been running up against brick walls back here. We can’t get a clear lead on who is connected to this group.”

  “So are you saying that you want us to stay for the rest of the week?” Tristan surmised.

  “At least for a few more days. The more information both you and Victory can gather, the better off we will be. It doesn’t look promising on my end at this point.” Wyatt said.

  “So, do you think Braxton is simply going to let us go home at the end of next week? And even if he does, we can’t leave Morgan and Collin here.” Tristan said.

  “I don’t know, probably not. Victory is too valuable to him. What I do know is that Braxton is not the kind of man that will allow Victory to leave if he feels there is anything she can still contribute to his cause,” Wyatt said.

  “I agree. We’ll stay here for a few more days. Then I think we should pull the plug, no matter what,” Tristan said.

  “Sounds like a plan. In the meantime gather as much intel as possible and plan on pulling Morgan and Collin out with you. I’ve got a couple of outside guys that I can call in, I’ll put them on Morgan’s sister. Take care Tristan.”

  “Always,” Tristan assured his brother.

  Tristan looked over at Victory lying beside him. Her eyes were closed and she looked so peaceful that he thought she had fallen asleep.

  “So, what’s the scoop?” she said without opening her eyes.

  “Wyatt wants us to stick it out here for a couple more days, gather as much information as we can. Then we need to plan on pulling out and taking the two men with us.”

  She rolled over onto her side and propped herself up on one elbow. “I can’t leave. Braxton will do something awful to Payton. Besides, my time is up in ten more days. He promised to let me go home then, and he said he would leave my sisters alone.”

  “Victory, do you really think Braxton is a man of his word? Do you really believe he is going to let you get on a helicopter and leave? You’re too valuable to him. At the very least he will try and convince you to come to work for him permanently and the very worst, he will kidnap you again.” He sat up and was staring down at her. Tears were gathering on her lids. The sight of her upset pulled at his soul.

  “Then how am I supposed to keep my sisters safe, baring working for that maniac,” she responded, the tears threatening to escape.

  “Don’t worry. Even if the team can’t get to the bottom of the Kaleidoscope Group, we will make sure you and your sisters are taken care of.” A single tear trickled down her cheek; he reached out with his finger and wiped it away. Then he got to his feet and held his hands out to her. “Come on, we need to get back. I’m sure Max has the lab cleaned up by now.”

  EIGHTEEN

  The compound was quiet, except for the warm gentle breeze that was blowing in from the ocean, causing the palm trees to rustle in unison. The night was lit by the glow of a new moon. Not the optimal time to try to move through the compound without being seen, but Tristan had no other alternative. With the days counting down, it was imperative that he step up his recon, full moon or not. Victory was not pleased with the idea of him lurking through the camp, but he reassured her that this was what he did. It was a few minutes past midnight, and like the last time he was out at night the area was devoid of all the usual inhabitants that filled the paths and buildings during the day.

  As he crossed the yard from the dorms he heard the sound of voices. He centered himself and honed in with his acute sense of smell. Tristan estimated the group was probably standing somewhere near Collin and Morgan’s building, inside the heightened security area. This meant they were clear across the compound. He could distinguish four others besides Max. He moved through the shadows to get closer to the group.

  “Okay, I don’t want any more repeats of the other night,” Max snarled. “Neither Collin or Morgan are allowed out of their cells, got it? I don’t care if they want to stretch their legs. Whatever idiot lets them slip by him won’t live to regret it.”

  Closing his eyes, slowing his breathing and listening, Tristan picked up no other scents or sounds of humans between him and Max’s little group. He opened his eyes, took one last look around, and shot off in the opposite direction heading to the main office.

  Having observed Max’s routine over the past several nights, he knew he had at least an hour before the man would head towards his office and suite. At this time every night Max made a visit to one of the female employee’s bungalow. Tristan reached the target and surveyed the area surrounding it. No one was around and the office was dark, save for the insignificant glow of what looked like a small desk lamp. Tristan moved towards the building, carefully checking the perimeter. He found no motion or heat sensors, so he moved in closer and found two of the windows opened.

  “Arrogant son of a bitch,” he murmured to himself. “He thinks no one has the balls to enter his domain. Let’s see what I can find, shall we?” Tristan pushed one window open enough for his body to clear it and slid through, closing the window behind him.

  Standing in the office, out of reach of the glow of the desk lamp, he surveyed his environment. The office was neat, which surprised him. There was a four drawer file cabinet on one wall, two overstuffed chairs, a small table between them, and a large desk dominating one third of the room. He walked to the desk and clicked the mouse on the computer. To his astonishment the computer came awake showing an open file. “Dumb bastard.” He shook his head; this guy was really something, all the easier for him.
The file seemed to be his daily report to Braxton and the Kaleidoscope Group. He read the screen.

  “Have men under control, will not be allowed to roam loose in the outer jungle due to Collins’ unpredictable behavior. Morgan seems to be adapting. Winters made a connection with Morgan today. Believe research should move along quicker now that she has developed a rapport with him. Believe to still be on target with primary goal, to develop a serum to be sold, with the purpose of creating the perfect soldier.”

  Tristan read through the passage again. It had been obvious from the start that this group was up to no good, but this was even worse than he expected. He spent the next ten minutes reviewing more of the reports. Then he pulled a small thumb drive from his back pocket and began copying all the files on the computer. While it was working he went over to the file cabinet, and pulled out the top drawer. He checked his watch, estimating that he had only about ten minutes until Max might return.

  Tristan went back to the desk, reached into his pocket, pulled out what looked like a chap stick and rubbed it on the coffee cup that was sitting on the desk. A few seconds later a print of a finger and thumb appeared on the coating. When they had dried he peeled them both from the coffee cup and placed them inside a small Altoids tin. Then he pulled the thumb drive from the port, glanced at the door that lead to the suite, and begrudgingly headed back to the window where he had entered. He would have to save the suite for tomorrow night. As he was lowering the window to its original position he heard the click of a lock release. Damn, Max was early tonight. He pulled away from the window and vanished into the night.

  Victory left her bedroom window open as Tristan had instructed. Using her window to leave and return made it appear to anyone monitoring the room that Tristan had once again spent the night.

  “What did you find?” came a whisper from her bed.

  “I thought you were sleeping. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said.

  “No, I haven’t really been able to sleep, I’ve been dosing. I take it went okay since you are back in one piece. So, what did you find?”

  He lay down on the bed next to her and relayed what he discovered.

  “They want to use my research to create an army.” She was appalled. “I was doing this work for peaceful reasons, to improve the bond between humans and canines. My long term goal is to find possible combinations of DNA that will lead to curing diseases in humans and canines, not for destruction.”

  “Unfortunately Victory, Braxton and the Kaleidoscope Group are only two, of thousands of demented individuals and groups that exploit well meaning research into something that they feel will financially benefit themselves,” Tristan responded.

  “Why can’t they see the good that this could produce? It could be a way to improve people’s lives in the very near future,” she said.

  “Because improving people’s lives won’t make them money now. The Kaleidoscope Group has no concern for the future, they want it now,” Tristan said.

  “Seems to me that finding cures to cancer would be a profitable venture,” Victory said.

  “Yes, someday. But that’s not what this group wants. Terrorism sells. They will take outstanding military personnel and others and make them indestructible killing machines. Create the prefect mercenaries. It gives people like Braxton a feeling of power, that’s what drives him.”

  “I need to stop him. I can’t let him exploit my work,” she said with steel in her voice.

  Tristan reached out and pulled her close to him tucking her shoulder under his arm. “There’s nothing more we can do tonight. We both need to get some sleep.” He leaned over her and kissed her lips lightly. Pulling away he looked into her face and was mesmerized by those bottomless jewel-green eyes. Claiming her lips once again he deepened the kiss, he ran his free hand lavishly down her silky neck. He continued down her body stopping as he gently molded her breast in his palm. Then he resumed his journey downward to the hem of her nightgown.

  Skimming his palm back up her soft smooth leg, he lingered at her hip as he felt her heat for him increase. Tristan pulled the nightgown up over Victory’s head and lovingly gazed at her perfect body. “Maybe sleep can wait for a little awhile,” he murmured, his stare blazing a trail down her curves.

  * * *

  Victory found a cooler next to her computer when she came into the lab the next morning. It contained three vials of blood. She had a hunch that they were from Collin.

  “This doesn’t look good,” Victory mumbled to herself as she stared into her microscope. Every time she introduced the wolf DNA to the spun down blood serum, it immediately began to attack and breakdown the human serum. After running this same test a number of times, she came to the conclusion that a person who lacked some type of heightened senses could not withstand this coupling. She must find a way to stop this breakdown or Collin would not survive. The only way for the process to be successful was to create some type of binder that could act as a bridge to join human and wolf DNA in harmony.

  Victory finally looked up from her microscope. Putting her hands on her waist, she stretched the cramps from her back. “I feel like a cup of coffee, how about you?” she asked Tristan.

  Tristan looked up from his computer. After spending the last two weeks with Victory almost twenty four hours a day, he was now able to read her demeanor; he knew something was troubling her. She was smiling slightly but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, those breathtaking jade jewels. There was sadness and concern in them along with paleness to her skin.

  “Sure,” he commented lightly, “you know me, when do I ever turn down a cup of coffee.”

  They both got up and headed for the door.

  “How long are you two going to be gone?” Max grumbled from his permanent fixture on his chair in the corner of the lab.

  “Thirty minutes or so, I thought we could take our coffee down to the beach and take a walk, I need to stretch my legs and clear my head,” Victory said casually.

  “Don’t be gone any longer. Mr. Braxton is coming out to the island. He’s due early this evening and he is expecting great progress,” Max said.

  “Great,” Victory mumbled.

  “You say something?” Max asked.

  “I said no problem,” Victory lied.

  They picked up some coffee at the lone coffee stand along with a couple of cookies and headed toward the beach.

  “Assuming that the blood that was left for me today is Collin’s, it’s not looking promising,” she began.

  “So you have discovered something,” Tristan said.

  “I’ve run the same test numerous times and gotten the same result. The foreign DNA attacks the human DNA, it breaks it down and destroys it.” She was feeling the pressure of failure. “I don’t know what to do Tristan. This is why research needs to be done one baby step at a time, each step is then tested and retested. This is a new dilemma for me. I have a person’s life depending on me finding a solution to this problem.”

  “That sounds positive, you think there is a solution,” Tristan remarked.

  “Maybe not the solution Braxton wants. But everything has a solution; it simply depends on how long you have to find it and if you are willing to keep on looking.” Victory answered, as she took a sip of her cooling latte.

  “Based on your research today, how long does Collin have?”

  “I don’t know. It depends on a multitude of factors.”

  “Such as,” he prompted. He hoped that if he kept her talking and thinking she would eventually stumble on at least one path to follow.

  “Such as, how much serum they injected into him. How long ago they injected him. I would have to back track and figure out what the percentage of serum is to the percentage of human DNA. These are the obvious factors,” she replied.

  “Then you could possibly save Collin,” Tristan stated.

  “Maybe, possibly. Depending on how fast I could find some answers. You heard Max, Braxton is coming in tonight. That’s a whole new se
t of circumstances; I have no idea what to tell him. There isn’t enough time. Research takes time, trial and error, you know that. And if Braxton even caught wind of the idea that my real focus is to try and help Collin, we would all be in trouble. He can’t find out that I am looking for a solution to this problem. We both know his only concern is super human soldiers.”

  “You tell him the truth,” he answered.

  “The truth! If I tell Braxton what I believe, he may feel Collin is expendable.” She responded, looking bewildered.

  “I never said you tell him the whole truth. Look, Braxton is an astute man. He’s going to know if you are stalling or not. He’s knows your background Victory, he is aware how intelligent and diligent you are.”

  “So what you are saying is?” Victory asked.

  It still surprised him, for such an adept researcher she sure was naïve when it came to the ways of the world. “What I’m saying is you tell Braxton that there is a basic cellular change taking place, but you’re not sure what the outcome will be. Tell him the rate of change is different in each individual. Therefore if he has another person infused with the serum you need to study him or her,” Tristan prompted.

  “Oh, now I get it. Give him enough information, but not so much that he has the answer,” she said excitedly.

  “Exactly,” Tristan smiled at her. “Have an answer to everything he asks you, but only enough to convince him that you are making progress.”

  “I can do that,” she said. “I’m so grateful to have you here with me Tristan. I wouldn’t be able to make it through if I didn’t have your help.” She couldn’t believe she was saying that. When had Tristan begun to matter to her? The thought sent tiny shivers down her back.

  “Thanks, but don’t sell yourself short Victory. You can do anything you put your mind to, and you would survive this,” he said.

  She flashed him a wicked little grin. “Maybe, but you are a great fringe benefit.” She reached down and took his hand.