The coffee shop on Fifth Street was the kind of place where nobody asked questions and everybody minded their own business. Victoria had suggested it as a meeting place, and Scarlett could see why. Half the customers looked like they were conducting business that wouldn't hold up in court, and the other half looked like they didn't want to be found.
Perfect for a conversation about supernatural resurrection and government conspiracies.
"Sarah's been dead for eight months," Victoria said, sliding a folder across the table. "Car bomb in Detroit. Happened three weeks after someone tried to break into her apartment."
Scarlett opened the folder and found herself looking at crime scene photos that made her stomach turn. There wasn't much left of Sarah's car, and even less left of Sarah herself.
"But if she's dead, then who's the pregnant woman living with Marcus?"
"That's what we need to figure out." Victoria pulled out her laptop and opened it. "I've been tracking Blood Queen activity since my system activated. There are twelve of us total, but only five have been resurrected so far. You, me, the woman in that warehouse photo, and two others I haven't been able to identify yet."
The laptop screen showed a map of the United States with red dots scattered across different cities. Chicago had three dots. New York had one. Los Angeles had one. And there was a cluster of dots in Washington D.C. that made Scarlett uncomfortable.
"The government knows about us," she said.
"Of course they do. They created us." Victoria clicked on one of the Washington dots, and a new window opened with what looked like a classified government document. "Project Blood Queen. Started in 1987 as a joint operation between the CIA and something called the Lazarus Foundation."
Scarlett read over Victoria's shoulder. The document was heavily redacted, but she could make out enough to understand the basic idea. Take women with specific genetic markers and psychological profiles. Train them as operatives. When they died in the line of duty, bring them back with enhanced abilities and use them for missions that were too dangerous for regular agents.
"They were turning us into disposable super soldiers," Scarlett said.
"Except something went wrong. The first few subjects came back, but they were different. Stronger, faster, but also harder to control. Some of them turned on their handlers. Others just disappeared." Victoria scrolled down to another section of the document. "By 1995, they'd officially shut down the project. But they kept monitoring the subjects they'd already created."
"Which is why Marcus was assigned to watch me."
"And why someone decided you needed to die when you started asking the wrong questions." Victoria closed the laptop. "But here's what I don't understand. If Sarah's dead, and she's been dead for eight months, then who's been sending those system messages? Who told you where to find Marcus and the pregnant woman?"
Before Scarlett could answer, her system activated without warning.
*Incoming priority message. Source: Blood Queen Seven.*
"I'm getting a message," Scarlett said.
*Meet me at the Riverside warehouse district. Pier 47. Come alone. If you bring Victoria, I'll kill her.*
*Time sensitive. You have one hour.*
*- S*
Victoria was watching Scarlett's face. "What does it say?"
"Someone wants to meet. They signed it with 'S'." Scarlett looked at Victoria. "Could it really be Sarah?"
"There's only one way to find out. But I'm coming with you."
"The message said to come alone."
"The message also said they'd kill me if I showed up. Which means they know I'm here, watching this conversation right now." Victoria stood up and grabbed her jacket. "If it really is Sarah, if she's been brought back like we were, then she's been playing a very long game. The question is: what does she want?"
They left the coffee shop together and walked toward Victoria's car. As they crossed the parking lot, Scarlett noticed a black sedan that had been following them since they left the hospital. It was trying to stay inconspicuous, but the same car had made every turn they'd made for the past two hours.
"We're being watched," Scarlett said.
Victoria glanced in the side mirror of a parked car and spotted the sedan. "Government?"
"Or whoever's been cleaning up the Montenegro witnesses."
They got into Victoria's car, and she started the engine. Instead of driving toward the warehouse district, she headed in the opposite direction, toward the interstate.
"Where are we going?"
"Taking the scenic route. If we're being followed, I want to know how many cars they have and how badly they want to keep tracking us." Victoria took the on-ramp and immediately moved into the fast lane. "Tell me something. When your system activated, did it give you any information about how you died the first time?"
"Just that I was betrayed by people I trusted."
"Mine told me something different. It said I was killed because I'd discovered something about Project Blood Queen that I wasn't supposed to know." Victoria checked the rearview mirror. The black sedan was still there, now joined by a white SUV. "I think we were both killed for the same reason. We got too close to the truth about what the government was really doing with us."
*Warning: Multiple hostiles detected. Recommend evasive action.*
Scarlett's system was picking up on the pursuit as well. As they exited the highway and drove through downtown Chicago, she counted at least four different vehicles that seemed to be coordinating their movements.
"They really don't want us to make it to that warehouse," Victoria said.
"Which means that's exactly where we need to go."
Victoria smiled, and for the first time since they'd met, Scarlett could see the family resemblance in something other than their physical appearance. They both had the same reckless streak, the same instinct to run toward danger instead of away from it.
"You know what I think?" Victoria said, making a sharp right turn that forced the black sedan to brake hard to avoid being spotted. "I think Sarah's been awake a lot longer than eight months. I think she's been playing dead while she figured out who was really responsible for the Montenegro job."
"And now she wants to team up?"
"Or she wants to eliminate the competition." Victoria pulled into an alley and killed the engine. "Either way, we're about to find out."
*Time remaining to reach meeting point: 23 minutes.*
*Warning: Failure to attend meeting may result in mission termination.*
Scarlett looked at Victoria. "Ready to go see a dead woman?"
"Lead the way, sister."