Page 20 of Catch Me
I frowned. “Know what?”
Abrams shrugged. “It wasn’t necessary to fill him in. The development had nothing to do with his mission involving the Abromov group.”
I looked back and forth between the two. “Excuse me, but know what?”
Hannah turned to me and the darkness I saw her battling earlier was back in her gaze. “The Abromov group wasn’t just involved in weapons dealing. When I found that shipping container of immigrants, I thought I was just busting up a human trafficking ring. What I didn’t realize at the time is that the Abromov Group and the Hildago Syndicate were working together on a new venture project.” She frowned. “When we raided their offices, we took some information that would have linked the two organizations together. I didn’t see it. But Sybil knew and that's when she decided I needed to be removed from the picture.
She picked up her half drunk pint and took a few more swallows, as if to steady herself.
“Javier wasn’t a heartbroken brother mourning his sister, he was a plant. I told Sybil everything — well, mostly everything. But she knew I was working on a major human trafficking case. It didn’t take much for her to realize who I was going after.” She stared into the depths of her Guinness with a look that spoke volumes. It was of utter betrayal. She’d confided in her sister as if she was someone to be trusted, but Sybil had never deserved or earned that trust. She’d always been out for her own selfish gain.
I turned to Abrams. “What do you know about the project that the Abromov group was working on? Why did they want to partner with human traffickers?”
Abrams hesitated, his gaze flicking back and forth between me and Hannah before he seemed to come to a conclusion and cleared his throat. “The Abromov Group used weapons dealing to fund their other activities. It was never about selling weapons. Their primary focus was always about the sciences.”
Hannah looked up and nodded. “Yes, that’s what always confused me about Sybil’s involvement. Selling weapons just seemed so low class for her. I never understood it until I realized the connection between the two criminal groups.”
She turned to me. “Have you ever heard of a South African scientist nicknamed ‘Dr. Death’?”
I frowned. “I’m somewhat familiar. He was a part of a genocidal program during apartheid, correct?”
Abrams nodded. “You’re correct. The project, named Project Shore, committed unspeakable atrocities against the South African people. The program that this ‘Dr. Death’ headed up involved chemical and biological weapons that were supposedly meant to be used for mass crowd control. They were mind altering and physically incapacitating drugs that would make an entire population pliable and weak against armed forces.”
“When we were interrogating Javier, he couldn’t tell us much, which is typical of someone at his level. All he said, over and over, was that the new Dr. Death would come for us.” Hannah’s green eyes bored into mine. “And that this new Dr. Death, is Sybil.”
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Hannah
I looked down at the frail hand clasping mine. The blue of her veins was a stark contrast to the porcelain tone of her skin. The family had taken their turns saying goodbye over the past several days. It was her wish. “I don’t need ya’ll standing over me like some sick death watch. I know I’m dyin’. Don’t need to be reminded of it by your sorry faces.” But I was the only one who kept showing back up, and for as much as she fussed at me, she never turned me away.
The firm but gentle squeeze was all I needed to know she’d woken up from her brief nap. She did that more and more every day. I wasn’t sure which day I’d show up to find her drifted away into that final dark sleep.
“Hannah, you’ve got to get out of here.” Her voice was soft. Softer than I’d ever heard it before, and for a moment I wasn’t sure I’d even heard her correctly.
“I ain’t goin’ nowhere, Memaw. I’ll be here as long as you need me.” I picked at the bright crochet blanket I’d brought from her house. Mom and Dad had already packed up her little cottage and put most of her things in storage when she’d been moved to the hospice facility. But I knew she’d loved the crazy, mismatched patterns of this afghan and I’d snagged it before they could box it up.
She chuckled, “Lord save me from stubborn Kelly women. You still ain’t got the sense God gave a billy-goat. Now you listen here, girl, and you listen to good.” The whip was back in her voice and I sat up a little, my eyes blinking back tears.
“You keep letting other people determine who you are. Especially that sister of yours. No one has to tell Sybil who she is. She knows. She just tries to hide it because if anyone looked behind the fake curtain long enough, they’d see she’s been pullin’ everyone’s strings for longer than they want to admit.” I gaped at her.
“Memaw! Sybil can be- difficult- but she’s not evil.”
My grandmother just snorted and shifted in her bed. I leaned over to help her adjust her pillow and when she was sitting more upright; she gestured to a glass of water on her bedside table. “No? Not evil? Maybe that’s true.” She took a sip and closed her eyes as if the effort to even do that had exhausted her.
“But she ain’t good either.” Her eyes opened again, and their watery blue pierced me like a cloudless summer day. “The darkness tries to hide the light. Remember that Hannah. Darkness and death go hand in hand. And if you keep letting your light get smothered by Sybil, you’re going to eventually end up the same way.”
“Memaw, you shouldn’t say that about Sybil. She loves you and it would break her heart if she heard you talk like this.” I frowned, not sure why my grandmother was so hell bent on trying to convince me that Sybil had some ulterior motive.
My grandmother looked at me for a long moment and then nodded. “And I love her, Hannah. Believe me, I’ve spent the past decade trying to understand her. But just like I can tell you that sometimes you’re as slow as a molasses on a winter day, I can also say that the only thing your sister loves is control. One day you’ll wake up and realize it.” She waved a hand. “Now go on, I need to sleep.”
* * *
I watched as Simon processed the information we’d just shared with him. I knew what he was thinking. Had Tory known about this? Had she been ok with the Abromov group testing experimental drugs on humans? He didn’t voice anything, just turned back to Abrams. “If this is true, and Sybil and the Abromov are dealing with chemical and biological weapons testing, this would take priority over every other objective.”
Abrams nodded in agreement. “You would normally be correct. However, when Ms. Kelly went after José Hildago, the operation came to a stop. As far as we know, it hasn’t started up again.”
Simon turned his gaze back to me. “That’s why the Hildagos are going after you.”
