Laurann Dohner - Fury

Ellie held back a snort. “No. I’m not that adventurous. It just really got to me when Victor Helio came to me and told me what the rumors were. I had to do anything I could to find out if they were really experimenting on people. I was horrified at the concept.”

“You’re a good person.” Ted spoke to Trisha next. “If they are using drugs to attack New Species we need to be aware of it. We need a lockdown on all incoming products that could be affected.”

“Starting with the food,” Trisha agreed.

“You think it’s possible?” Justice looked wary.

“I’m thinking about what I could do if I wanted to sabotage your people, Justice. Contaminating the food would drive everyone crazy,” Ted stated grimly.

“Wouldn’t it affect humans too?” Justice didn’t look convinced.

Ted shrugged. “Sure but I bet they don’t care. They are being prosecuted for what they did to you and their only defense is claiming you aren’t human. What would hurt New Species more than making at least a good portion of you go nuts enough to turn it into a bloodbath, and the press running with that story?”

“We don’t even know if the plot is that big,” Justice growled. “I don’t want to panic anyone.”

“Right,” Ted snapped. “I’m going to start looking for something that will counteract Freltridontomez. That way if they use it again we can use darts to deliver an antidote to anyone affected before someone gets hurt. That is the safest thing to do. As I said before, if we sedated them while they are in a full-blown, drug-induced rage it would most likely kill them. They could have a stroke or a heart attack.”

Trisha stood. “Do you think we can find something for it? We’ll have to work quickly, Ted. We also should order random testing on the water and food shipped in.”

“They had some research notes included with the file we got about Freltridontomez. They may have been close to finding a drug to counteract it.” Ted collected his bag. “Just because we don’t have the end result on paper doesn’t mean it’s not right there.”

“Let’s go.” Trisha grabbed hers. On her way out she stopped to smile at Ellie. “When Fury wakes up he might have a headache and be sore but he should be fine. If not, give us a call. We’ll be at the medical center.”

“Wow,” Ellie muttered as the couple left. She arched her eyebrows at Justice. “I think my head just spun. Are they like that all the time?”

He nodded. “Ted is what you’d call paranoid but he’s the best at what he does. I don’t think it is a big-scale plot against us. Eat your meals without fear, Ellie. If they were going to attack our food or water they wouldn’t have had to send in a woman to poison Fury with her needles. They would have already attacked us that way.”

“Do you think she came from one of the hate groups or Mercile?”

“Mercile makes more sense to me. Two birds with one stone.”

“Two birds?”

His eyebrow arched. “You brought them down, Ellie. What better revenge than to make the man you risked your life to save become the man who caused your death? Fury could have killed you. The bad publicity would have crushed us in the press. Ted’s right. The only defense they have for their crimes is convincing people we aren’t human and therefore it’s impossible to abuse us. They’re facing criminal charges but we’re suing them for money as well.”

She let it sink in. “My vote is on Mercile too.” She checked on Fury. He slept peacefully.

“I need to make some phone calls, Ellie. I want to check on what this Beatrice Thorton is saying. I’ll be in the living room if you need anything.”

“You don’t have to stay. Thank you for everything today, by the way. Well, except for having Tiger toss me inside a car trunk and kidnap me.”

He winced. “I’ll be in the other room. We need to stay close to make sure Fury is really fine when he wakes.” Justice jerked his head at his men to follow him out.

Breeze stood. “I’m going home.”

Ellie gave Breeze a sincere look to convey her gratitude. “You’re really a good friend to have come today and I won’t forget it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“I’ll see you when you come back to work. Take a few days. We’re good at the dorm. Don’t worry about us.”

“Thanks.”

Ellie watched everyone leave the bedroom. She was alone with Fury again. She turned on her side and curled against his warm body.

“I love you,” she whispered. She just held him, knowing one of them could have died. It scared the hell out of her.

Chapter Twenty

Ellie wanted to go down to the detention center and punch Beatrice Thorton, otherwise known as Nurse Bitch, Belinda Thomas. Tiger and Slade had interrogated the woman until she’d broken and confessed everything. Someone from Mercile Industries had hired her to sabotage the New Species for the bad publicity it would earn. They thought making Fury resemble an unfit animal would turn public opinion in their favor.

Fury had recovered fully but he’d been really upset that he’d lost control the way he had. The blame fell strictly on Nurse Bitch’s shoulders for having no morals. The NSO turned the woman over to the authorities to be prosecuted for a long list of crimes but it barely consoled Ellie or Fury.

That bitch had nearly destroyed their lives. She’d picked Fury because he’d been easily accessible after the shooting. She’d just had to be hired to do homecare and bribe a few people on the list to refuse to work for New Species.

Beatrice Thorton had admitted to being curious about what it would be like to have sex with Fury. It was why she’d hit on him and had made Ellie’s life miserable. When she finally realized Fury would have nothing to do with her she’d decided to implement her plan while Ellie took a shower so he’d hopefully go insane and kill the woman he loved. It was a vicious scheme and it could have worked in the woman’s favor but she hadn’t counted on how deeply Fury loved Ellie.

Justice stared at Ellie and Fury grimly. “I swear, she’s going to get some serious time. They promised me that she would be made an example of. We have to totally change our security protocols now. We’ve decided to start schooling some of our people in nursing. That way if we need help in the future we aren’t totally dependent on humans for nursing care.”

Fury shifted in his seat and glanced around Justice’s office. “Did she say if she knew if Mercile would send others?”

Justice’s shoulders slumped. “We are sure they will try to infiltrate us again. At least it wasn’t as large of an attack as our doctors feared. Our food supply and water were never tampered with. We just have to be very careful of full humans.” He gave Ellie an apologetic look. “No offense. I would trust you with my life. It’s just strangers we have to be careful with. From now on we do full background checks on any humans who are allowed through the gates.”

“We need to rely more on ourselves,” Fury concluded. “We have a lot of full humans working here. If Mercile wants to get ugly they could start attempting to bribe them into allowing someone to get past security to cause us harm.”

“I’ll leave you in charge of that.” Justice appeared tired. “It’s always going to be a battle for us, my friend. There are always going to be enemies we will have to deal with. Hopefully Mercile will be completely destroyed by the lawsuits and bad publicity. One day I hope they no longer exist. Then all we’ll be left to deal with are the humans who think we’re an abomination against humanity.”

Fury sighed. “Don’t forget the arrested Mercile employees are facing a lot of years in prison. I’m sure their families and friends feel rage toward us. There’s also the ones who are still out there who avoided arrest. We need to be wary of them. Our people can identify them and this incident has made me realize the danger we pose to them. That woman could have gone after our women who knew what she looked like and could have picked her from a lineup. We were lucky she didn’t attack them too.”