The Lethal Agent (The Extraction Files Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

She batted her eyes and looked away from Hadley’s battered features. She couldn’t look.
    “I’m sorry, angel. I’m so sorry. I never should have left. This never would have happened.” Her words spilled out before she could pull them back.
    Hadley only cried harder, her face pressed against Mable’s shoulder as hard as she dared.
    “You know who did it?” Arrenstein asked from where he stood by the door.
    Theo said something she didn’t hear, but she didn’t care. She was in no mood to discuss it with them. She came to see Hadley.
    “I’m sorry,” Hadley said, her voice little more than a breath.
    “No, you have nothing to be sorry for. This is my fault. I should have known. I thought—” As she remembered Rowen’s promise to keep Hadley safe, Mable’s heart broke. She realized now why Hadley was sorry.
    “They killed him?” she asked, dreading the answer. The crack in her voice almost betrayed her agony.
    Hadley’s renewed sobs were the only answer she needed.

 

ABRAHAM
    LUNA COLONY
    SEPTEMBER 2, 2232
     
    Abraham didn’t like Siya from the moment he saw him. Something about the stranger, the look in his eye, the strange arrival, shook him to his core. It had only been two days, and Abraham already wished he’d never come. The sooner Siya was gone, the sooner things could go back to normal.
    Charlene was not a person to be rushed. Abraham had a few things in mind, a few questions he’d like to ask, but he knew to let her have her time to think.
    They kept Siya out of sight in Abraham’s room until they could get their instructions. But none had come. It was time to work it out for themselves.
    At last, she called Abraham and Siya back to the kitchen. The children were safely tucked in their beds for naps. With crossed arms, she asked, “What makes you think this is Mars?”
    Siya rolled his eyes, as if he was tired of the conversation as a whole.
    Abraham moved closer and stood behind her. “She asked you a question.”
    “Look outside. It’s red. You’re on the red planet. The moon is grey. You birds is colorblind.” Siya slammed his open palm against the metal table.
    Abraham seethed in anger. He wished he had the tablet. He wanted to search for articles and files related to the Earth’s moon and Mars. So far, he’d found nothing that could determine if Siya was lying.
    He had to be.
    There was no way they had been on a planet instead of the moon. It wasn’t possible.
    “Charlie?” called out a small voice.
    They spun to see Ellicot in the corridor, staring at Siya. Abraham had no doubt the sudden outburst was an alarming sight for a child so secure in their home. There were only fourteen people in Luna. He had no reason to expect to see a stranger at the kitchen table.
    It was why they chose to keep Siya hidden from the children, at least until they could figure out what to do.
    Charlene kept her eyes on Siya as she asked, “Can you take him back, please?”
    But Abraham didn’t want to leave her alone with Siya, if that was his real name.
    They didn’t know anything about him. He could be dangerous.
    “Go on back to bed, Ellicot. I’ll be there in just a minute.”
    Charlene grumbled but didn’t say anything. Abraham knew she was displeased, but he refused to leave her with the stranger.
    “You have anything to eat?” Siya asked.
    “Yeah, we—” Charlene started.
    “No,” Abraham insisted. “I gave you enough. You don’t get anything else until lunch. We don’t know you. We don’t have any reason to trust you. There’s no way for us to know if you are who you say you are.”
    Siya dissolved into a string of complaints in a language Abraham didn’t recognize. He pulled at the Velcro around his neck and pulled the zipper from his chin down to his waist. When he pulled back the chest of his suit, it revealed the letters MMCSA across the image of a red planet. Around the rim, white letters on royal-blue stitching read, Martian Mining Corporation South