Page 89 of Shattering Dawn
“Your pal Falcon?”
“No. Falcon is dead.”
Amelia went cold. “Seriously?”
“Yes,” Irene said.
A man appeared in the doorway before Irene could answer.
“Hello, Amelia. A pleasure to meet you again. My name is Cutler Steen. I realize you don’t remember me—”
“I remember you,” Amelia said. “You’re the creepy guy in the Night Island photograph, the whack-job responsible for kidnapping my friends and me and shooting us full of some weird drug. How many innocent people have you murdered in the course of your crazy experiments?”
“So you do remember me.” Cutler looked intrigued now. “That is extremely interesting. The drug you and your friends were given is supposed to induce permanent amnesia. I wonder if your core psychic senses combined with the enhancement serum has allowed you to overcome the memory loss.”
Amelia ignored him and turned back to Irene. “How did you get involved with this creep?”
“I had no choice in the matter,” Irene said. “He’s my father.”
Chapter Fifty-four
“The enhancement serumwas developed by a small, private offshore research facility,” Cutler began.
“The Aurora Islands Pharmaceutical Laboratory,” Amelia said.
Cutler looked shocked, or maybe horrified. “How in fucking hell did you discover that?”
“The podcast has its sources.” Amelia switched her attention to Irene. “I’m guessing that when you took those trips to the islands during the past few months you did not end up in Hawaii.”
The three of them were in the great room of the big house. She was perched on the edge of a large leather chair. Irene sat on the matching leather sofa across from her.
Cutler Steen prowled the room. Everything about his body language indicated a barely controlled agitation. He looked like a man who might explode at any moment. From time to time Irene cast him an uneasy, covert glance.
Curious family dynamic, Amelia thought.
A muscular man with a shaved head hovered in a doorway. Not a butler, Amelia decided.
“No,” Irene said. “I did not visit Hawaii on those trips. I went…home to see my father and the rest of my family.”
The slight pause before the wordhomewas another interesting factoid, Amelia decided. One thing was clear. Gideon was alive. She was certain of it. He would be searching for her, and he was very, very good at that kind of thing. She had one job now. She needed to buy time.
“Your home is on an island?” she asked.
“My father is the head of a large global business,” Irene said smoothly. “There are tax and logistical advantages to the island location.”
“Got it,” Amelia said. “The Steen family business is running drugs on an international scale.”
“I am not in the fucking drug business,” Cutler snarled from the far side of the room.
“Gosh, I wonder where I got that idea,” Amelia said. “Probably because my friends and I were drugged and kidnapped and then forced to become test subjects for some extremely dangerous drugs. Yep, that was why I jumped to such a ridiculous conclusion. Silly me.”
Cutler looked as if he wanted to throttle her but he succeeded in gaining control of himself. “You have no idea who you are dealing with or the stakes involved in this situation.”
“Maybe you could explain both to me,” Amelia said. She looked at Irene. “But first I’ve got a couple of questions for you. What makes you sure that Falcon is dead?”
“I’m the one who shot him,” Irene said calmly.
“Oh.” Amelia took a beat. “Okay, I did not see that coming.”