Read Online New Species 11 True by Laurann Dohner - Free Book Online Page A

chair had been placed in the center of the large room with
one brighter light turned on above it. She was led there and Jericho nodded. “Have
a seat.”
    She sat, staring up at all three of them as they surrounded
her. The mood was grim, their features were, too, and that uneasy feeling grew
ten times worse inside Jeanie. She’d expected to be taken to an office or at
least a real room with chairs, maybe a desk and a window. Instead she was in a
dim, dank environment that left her wondering if anything lurked in the unseen
corners. She hugged her waist and huddled in the seat as her gaze drifted to
that darkness.
    “What’s going on? What is this place? Why am I here?”
    She heard a soft thump and turned her head. Two big men
stepped out of the shadows to her left and drew closer. Movement from her right
had her turning her head. 710’s blond hair almost glowed as he stepped into the
circle of light. She couldn’t see his face but she knew it was him. A human
stood next to him. Jeanie’s gaze lingered on 710 until a man in uniform stepped
between them, blocking her view. He was human as well.
    “New Species get upset when they hear women scream. This
place has reinforced walls and sound is muted.”
    “Easy, Chris.” Trey Roberts shot him a dirty look.
    The implied threat slowly sank in and she swallowed, fear
growing by leaps and bounds. “What?” She hoped she hadn’t heard right.
    The human guy in the uniform who’d stood next to 710
approached and crouched, invading her space when his hands gripped the sides of
her chair. He frowned.
    “I’m Jordan.” The man was in his mid-thirties and had frosty
gray eyes. “You’re lucky to be alive, Jeanie.”
    She nodded. “I know.”
    Her gaze darted to 710. He stood about eight feet behind the
man crouching in front of her. His arms were crossed over his chest and his
lowered chin kept his features concealed in the shadows. Jordan moved his head
in a way that completely shielded 710 from her view.
    “Eyes right here, Jeanie. Look at me.”
    She did as he asked, staring into cold gray irises.
    “What was on the mainframe computers at Cornas Research?”
    She hesitated. “All the files on the experiments they were
conducting.”
    “You poured coffee into the computer.”
    She nodded. “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    She licked dry lips, wishing for more water. “They installed
poison gas dispensers inside every room that held New Species. I knew they’d
kill them if I didn’t take out the computer. Anyone in Security could have
accessed the program and activated it from their desk terminals.”
    Jordan frowned. “We didn’t find any poison dispensers. Their
security was lax, if anything.”
    “Check the fire alarms in each of the rooms where the New
Species were kept. I spoke with the guy who installed them. He thought he was
really smart and no one would look there.” She swallowed. “I guess he was right
if you didn’t find them. The only thing I could think of on short notice was to
pour coffee on the mainframe computer and fry it. I couldn’t risk just
unplugging it in case someone noticed. It had to be something they couldn’t fix
in time. I thought about smashing it but it would have made too much noise. I
probably could have opened the casing and removed parts if I’d had more warning
but I wasn’t told the raid was going down until the night before. I couldn’t
exactly clock back in at work that night or show up early for my shift. It
would have raised suspicion. I only had about two minutes to take out the
computer and get to the lower floors to deal with the card-reader locks. It
still wasn’t enough time since I wasn’t able to disable them all.”
    Jordan didn’t appear convinced. “How did you know we were
coming?”
    His question stumped her for a few seconds. She wondered if
the agent she worked with had bent rules to warn her in the first place. It
didn’t matter in the end though. She wasn’t going to lie to the NSO.
    “I read the