Betrayal - Book 3 of Guardians Saga - EDITED

CH 8.2 1950's SciFi Movie?

Grange, the grey suited man on the brothers' couch, drew a cigarette from his pocket and threw it into his mouth. He lit it with a match and blew out a cloud of smoke. He adjusted his coat and turned to Gabe. "Which one of you is Gabe? I'm looking for Alex Robertson, Richardson, or Brown - whichever last name she's using."

Gabe's jaw clenched as he drew his sword
. "You shouldn't be the one asking questions. Who are you? What are you doing in our apartment? How do you know about Alex? What do you want with her?"

Cale stepped beside him and unsheathed his own blade.

Grange acknowledged the deadly blades with only a brief glance. "Didn't Alex tell you about me? Well, she has reasons for her secrets. I'm from the agency. Alex has done a few jobs for me lately, but she stood me up this morning and I want to find her."

Gabe stepped forward, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You're from the agency? What do you want with Alex?" His voice was sharp and accusing.

Grange pulled a leather billet out of his pocket and tossed it to them, an eyebrow raised in challenge. "Good enough?"

Cale glanced at the ID before pushing it away. "If you're from the agency, ask Brockner where she is."

Grange's face shifted to near panic as he grabbed the billet back. "Brockner? What do you know about Brockner? Is Alex with him now? Brockner is dangerous and we have to find her." He stood up and paced back and forth in agitation.

Cale slowly slid his sword into its scabbard. "Maybe I should explain. Please sit."

Grange sat but puffed his cigarette rapidly.

***

It took a little while, but Cale told as complete a version as he knew.

"I certainly hope you didn't buy that load of crap from Brockner." Grange rocked back on his heels. "Didn't Alex tell you she was assigned to trap Brockner?"

"Sort of." Cale eyed his silent, angry, eldest brother and decided not to tell Grange the whole scenario.

"So why did you believe him? Even if you didn't totally trust Alex, don't you think Brockner was a bit prone to exaggeration?"  Grange sounded puzzled by their attitude. "'Power to make anyone love her'." He snorted in derision. "Where did he get that, a 1950's science fiction movie?"

Gabe looked away, flushed an embarrassed deep gold color. He examined his sword's edge intently as he asked, "What can you tell us about her powers?"

Grange placed his hand over his chest as he spoke. "She has a nuclear fission slipstream generator implanted here, which gives her the power to fly. Plus, her nervous system is enhanced with organic neural grafts so she can stimulate various portions of the nervous system of her target. It certainly does not make her target fall in love with her. It's an exhausting process for her that requires a lot of rest and regeneration after using her powers."

He strode around the room, gesturing with his hands. "We've suspected Brockner was a spy for some time. So when he proposed project AL-X we jumped at the chance – and Alex was the perfect bait. She made it look like she had murdered someone on her training mission, making her irresistibly dangerous to him; and he fell right into our trap. She isn't a psychopath though... that's just part of the act."

With a shake of his head at their foolishness, Grange continued, "She was an overly eager raw recruit who perfectly fit the biophysical profile needed for the project. When she found out, there wasn't a day that went by that she wasn't trying to receive the implants. It was all she cared about. Brockner made his move before we or Alex were ready. Even worse, he was double-crossed by his own operative, Morgan. Neither Brockner nor I could pick up his trail. I wish I knew who or what that Morgan character was. Brockner falsified all Morgan's information."