It took a minute for the truth to sink into Athena’s information processing brain cells.
And when it did, her face underwent varied transformations—from eyes widening partly in shock to jaws slackening in disbelief; then to eyes shutting as rage swallowed her up, to jaws firming, to furrows marring her forehead, which informed the observant group that she was thinking on how this matter had occurred.
Who had done it? And when? How could she be ignorant of a machine inside her body?
Her fists balled, nostrils flared next, and teeth grinding followed the cue.
Who? When? She asked again and again, her mind wheels spinning at an exponential rate. Who would dare to...
She stopped when an answer clocked into her mind. And when she opened her eyes, rage far from being distilled out, the people knew that they were about to get the second piece of the puzzle—that the second phase of the mission was about to begin.
"Who are the tyrants?" Ewan gritted out, voice heavy and gruff.
"The twins," Athena replied simply, astonished at the simplicity of it, at her carelessness again.
She didn’t trust the twins, and yet she hadn’t thought to check her body after they had operated on her. But that was only because Finn had assured her that the surgery had been done under strict supervision. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on No(ᴠ)ᴇlFire.nᴇt
However, Finn was Heron.
Athena chuckled. Then laughed. Again and again, until it became a boisterous one, one that had her holding her belly.
"Now it all makes sense. Those idiots..."
The people were confused all the more. What was she talking about? Which twins was she referring to?
"Athena..." Ewan couldn’t bear the tension any more. "When you say twins and idiots..."
Athena turned to him with a genuine smile, anger seemingly abated. "Mary and Matthew. The doctors you had rushed down to the country to take care of me after the accident that had almost claimed my life."
Ewan felt his world turn over, to think he had played an indirect role in this. He opened his mouth to explain himself, past the budding headaches that pested his brain, and the pain assaulting his back, but Athena raised her hand, cutting him short, still smiling.
"I trust you, Ewan. I know you made them come solely to make me live. And I appreciate that. But it seemed their eagerness to arrive had an ulterior motive... as usual..."
"And to think they manipulated Herbert to let them stay and continue to perpetrate their crimes."
She laughed again. "Men and brethren, we have found the producers of the Grey virus. If we can nab them, I am sure we can locate the main perpetrator of this crime."
She chuckled, shook her head at the simplicity of it all. "I have to say they are very smart. It explains why they had us back at the hideout, how they seemed to tow head to head with us. How..." She paused, and cursed, rushing toward one of the vans.
"Athena wait! What is the matter? What did you remember?" Ewan called out, hurrying after her in the company of the others.
Athena stopped, remembering that all these people were for her. She needed their help now more than ever.
"The lab. My lab..." She cried out, frantic. "They would know the location. We have been there recently, yesterday as a matter of fact. If my hunch is right..."
Ewan already knew where this was heading. Her research was in the danger of being compromised. If he was to take a guess, he would say this was the main reason she had been tagged in the first place.
"Get the car now! I’m driving!" He shouted, pointing at one of his men.
Athena watched as the men moved into motion as if being switched on by a remote.
Some entered the vans and moved out to their earlier designated locations, while others followed Ewan and Athena, including Old Mr. Thorne and his wife.
"Do you think we can nab them now?" Florence asked five minutes into the speedy drive. She was sitting with her husband at the back seat of the car, in the company of Susan.
"I don’t think so," Athena replied. "We will need evidence. Whoever is backing them has ties in the government... it won’t be an easy job as Morgan’s was."
"Morgan is a national criminal, while the twins are doctors. A hard story to sell to the public would be that the doctors responsible for treating them, were also behind the production of the grey virus. We need evidence. Hard core evidence."
Another pause. "I doubt we will get some from the hospital..."
A bitter sigh. "This must be the reason why they had tricked Herbert into employing them permanently, so they can have access to the hospital systems, and put in more of their people...so they can build a reputable reputation among the citizens."
She cursed and looked at Ewan, whose grip on the steering wheel was as white as the color white.
"Do you think Spider can do some digging?"
"He’s already on it." He answered immediately.
And Athena wondered if that was the communication he had made when he had been typing away on his phone before the aforementioned car had arrived.
Ewan Giacometti. Her first love.
She looked away from him; looking at him made her distracted, made her ask a lot of questions she had no business asking, not at the moment, not with what she was facing.
Still... fate really had a slice of humor; had a funny way of unravelling truth and making connections work.
Will they work? She couldn’t help but ask herself this question, indulging herself a little. Maybe. Maybe not.
That he was the reason why she had lost her memories wasn’t helping her decision-making either. Never mind that she had saved him willingly.
"Are we picking Rodney?" Ewan’s abrupt, abstract question threw Athena off a little bit.
Ewan pointed at the fellow waiting at the three-way junction, under a tree.
Athena bit her lips, remembering that Aiden had informed her of his own plan concerning Rodney.
She immediately called him; they were right behind Ewan’s car.
"Please pick up Rodney."