Act of Mercy (PSI-Ops / Immortal Ops) by Mandy M. Roth Read Free Book Online

he didn’t. He looked about as far from fine as a person could get and still be breathing.
    Actu ally, a normal person wouldn’t still be breathing.
    “ I’ve looked worse.” His attempt at humor fell flat on her.
    She doubted that he’d ever looked worse. “I did what you told me to. No one responded through the channels. I don’t know if they got it all.”
    He coughed and blood flew out. His internal injuries were grave. “They got it.”
    “ How can we be sure?” She wanted to comment on his condition but she’d spent enough time talking with him over the past few months to know he had some sort of medical training. In fact, she’d hazard a guess that he had quite a bit. He knew what bad shape he was in. He didn’t need her constantly pointing it out.
    He let out a weak laugh. “Because once information like that begins to float in the public at all, they have a way of picking up on it, and if you sent it to who I said to, it went straight to the source.”
    “ What does this mean?” she asked, her voice strained with worry as she balled her hands into fists in a futile attempt to keep from crying. The situation was grave enough as it was without her melting into an emotional heap. That would accomplish nothing.
    He lifted his head slightly and the action looked as though it took great effort. “Means the cavalry is coming and is gonna hand out a can of whoopass on this place.”
    A sma ll smile pressed to her mouth, but she didn’t feel happy so it never reached her eyes. She hated what had been done to him and others like him. Hated that she’d been unable to release him. She’d thought of all the varying ways she could try to sneak him out but none were plausible. And if he didn’t get out soon, he’d end up dead.
    Others had.
    One life lost would have been one too many. There were far more than one.
    She ’d found records on the test subjects who hadn’t survived, who hadn’t had anyone there to help them. There had been too many to count. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know they did this…”
    “ I know,” he said. He took a few deep breaths that looked painful.
    She wanted to help him, to take away his pain , but that wasn’t possible. At best she could ease it, if he let her.
    “ You did everything I told you to, right?” he asked.
    “ Yes,” she responded, her voice shaky. She couldn’t cry. If she cried she’d never get herself pulled back together. Now wasn’t the time to go to pieces. She’d not let herself break down over this all yet. She would, if she survived it all. Then and only then would she have a good cry. One that probably lasted days. “I gathered all the research I found they’d done here, encrypted it and sent it along with the message PSI-Op JH2.”
    He licked h is lower lip and she knew he was thirsty. She rushed out of the cell and to a small kitchen area not far from the cells. Paper cups were stacked neatly near a water jug. How cruel to put a jug of water so close and within sight of the prisoners but never offer them any.
    I hate these people.
    She filled a cup with water and was back in his cell within seconds. “Here,” she said, lifting his head and putting the paper cup to his lips. He only managed to take a small sip.
    He nodded slightly. “You added your name, right?”
    “ I did.”
    He blinked up at her. “And you added the other code word, right?”
    “ What other code word?”
    “ Tell me you added the GreenLightJH2 behind your name,” he said, trying but failing to sit up. Everything on him appeared to strain, but he made no headway in moving. She’d seen him months ago when he’d been newer. He’d been ripped then, full of muscle and an imposing sight. He was pretty much skin and bones now, and the definition he’d once had was barely there.
    Mercy bit her lower lip. She ’d forgotten that part. All of her energy had gone into gathering and encrypting the data. She wasn’t a super spy. These types of things didn’t come