"Who the hell is this?" he asked, motioning to Angelo. "And why isn't the hybrid sedated and restrained?"
Angelo had never met the man, but he didn't have to be a genius to figure out it was the one and only Dick Coleman, deputy director of the DCO. Landon had said the man was the worst kind of bureaucrat and a Grade A asshole. Angelo immediately decided his friend had been too kind.
Angelo didn't miss the look of irritation that flashed across the security team leader's face at being questioned about how to do his job. "Because I didn't think it was necessary."
"You weren't hired to think. You were hired to look intimidating and occasionally shoot things," Coleman snapped. "Get rid of the soldier; then get that hybrid strapped to a table, so the doctors can tranquilize her."
Angelo knew he couldn't babysit Minka forever, but he sure as hell wasn't going to turn her over to someone like Coleman, especially if the asshole thought he was going to stick a needle in her. Minka didn't seem interested in waiting around to see what was going to happen. She went from shy, quiet Tajik girl to snarling saber tooth in two heartbeats, lunging forward with a hiss and taking a swipe at Coleman with her claws. If Angelo hadn't tightened his arm around her waist and held her back, the jackass would have been looking for his face in the nearest corner.
But instead of realizing how incredibly fortunate he was to still be alive, Coleman motioned to one of the doctors. "Get her sedated. Now!"
Angelo wrapped his other arm around Minka's waist and yanked her close. The idiot doctor must have thought Angelo was actually going to hold her while he stuck the needle in her arm because he boldly stepped forward with the ridiculously long syringe. Bad idea. If they thought they knew what a pissed-off hybrid looked like before, they got a whole new education on the subject. Minka darted forward so fast and so forcefully she actually dragged Angelo's big-ass body with her. Minka's claws and fangs extended so far, it boggled his mind trying to figure out where they had been hidden. The scream of rage that came out of her was so loud and terrifying, people half a mile away probably pissed themselves.
Trusting Minka wouldn't turn her rage on him, Angelo dug in his heels and got a better grip on her. The move made her hesitate, and he used the opportunity to spin her around behind him. Lashing out with his foot, he kicked the doctor in the hand and sent the syringe flying. Then he planted the sole of his combat boot in the guy's stomach and shoved him back ten feet.
Angelo slipped his right arm around Minka's shoulder and yanked her tightly to him, hoping close physical contact would calm her down like it had back in Tajikistan. She kept hissing and growling, and those weapons of hers definitely didn't retract, but she didn't fight him.
Angelo glowered at the doctor. The man had his arm wrapped around his stomach where Angelo had given him a shove. "You try that again and I'll put the next syringe up your ass. She doesn't do needles. Do I make myself clear?"
The doctor looked to Coleman for guidance, but the deputy director was too busy giving orders to the security guards.
"Restrain her."
Angelo noted with interest that more than half the men didn't move, including Eagle Eye. But four of them moved forward to do Coleman's bidding.
Okay, he'd had enough of this shit. He was hungry, tired, and hadn't even seen a shower in a month. He'd brought Minka here to get some help, but if this was the way the DCO was going to act, he'd haul her right the fuck out of there and dare anybody to stop him.
Jaw tight, he pushed Minka a little farther behind him. She growled long and low but moved as he directed.
"You obviously don't know who you're dealing with, but I can guarantee you boys aren't nearly big enough or mean enough to handle me," he told the four security guards. Then he pointed at Coleman. "And when I'm done with them, you're next. Only it won't be a needle going up your ass like your doctor friend; it'll be my boot and whole fucking leg."
Coleman's face turned so red, Angelo thought he might rupture something. But the guards definitely hesitated.
"That's enough," a soft but firm voice said from the doorway.
Angelo glanced over to see John Loughlin standing there looking like he'd just walked in on a classroom full of unruly schoolkids. Angelo had met the director of the DCO briefly before heading down on that rescue mission to Costa Rica. He'd gotten a pretty good vibe off the man, but Ivy and Landon hadn't been sure they could fully trust him. Angelo had no idea if anything had changed between the director and his friends while he'd been deployed to Tajikistan, but until he knew for sure, he wouldn't put his faith in the man, either.
One thing was definite, though: John knew how to take charge of a situation. With a few words and a couple hard looks, he had the doctors and all the guards except for the team leader cleared out of the room in seconds.
When everyone had left, he turned to the remaining guard. "Jaxson, please find Zarina Sokolov and ask her to come in here."
Jaxson nodded and walked out, leaving Angelo alone with Minka and two of the most powerful men in the United States, if not the world.
"Have you completely lost your mind?" Dick demanded of John. "This is totally against security protocol. This grunt isn't even cleared to be on the complex, much less know about hybrids. And while we're talking about hybrids, leaving us alone with a dangerous one like her without guards for protection is the definition of insanity."
John fixed Coleman with a cool look. "Actually, Sergeant Rios is cleared to be here. If you check the security clearance database, you'll see that he has a top secret clearance and was granted full access to the hybrid program in mid-November of last year."
Angelo might have gone down to Costa Rica to help rescue Kendra and Declan, but he wasn't sure he liked the idea of the DCO director taking it upon himself to associate him with programs Angelo really didn't want to be part of.
Then again, he did like seeing Coleman stand there grinding his teeth together. Maybe if John kept poking him, the man's head would actually explode.
"Are you trying to tell me that you've been using active duty Department of Defense personnel to conduct sweeps for hybrids on foreign soil?" Dick spit out. "And that you've been doing it since November? Without informing the Committee or me? You know that's a direct violation of Committee protocols and that I have no choice but to make sure they know."
"I'm sure you will. Let me know how that goes," John said, appearing completely unconcerned. "Until then, you might want to leave the lab, considering there's a dangerous hybrid in here and all."
The vein in Dick's neck throbbed. Damn, he looked like he might actually take a swing at John. Minka must have thought so too, because she started hissing and yowling at the deputy director, trying to free herself from Angelo's restraining arm. Not that she was trying too hard. If she were, Angelo wouldn't have been able to stop her. But Coleman clearly decided he'd had enough because he threw a disgusted look at all of them, then turned and stormed out.
Minka calmed down the moment Coleman was gone. Her fangs and claws retracted and the red glow faded from her eyes. She still stayed close to Angelo though, and he slipped an arm around her waist again, holding her close.
A few feet away, John regarded them with interest. "You did a good thing getting this girl back here to us, Sergeant Rios."
"Did I?" Angelo asked sharply. "Because right now, I'm getting the idea she'd be safer in Tajikistan. The villagers might have been trying to kill her, but at least they weren't trying to experiment on her."
John seemed taken aback by the heat in Angelo's voice, but before he could say anything, a woman's voice interrupted him.
"And there isn't going to be anyone experimenting on her here, either."
The Russian accent immediately gave away the attractive woman with wavy, blond hair and blue eyes as Zarina Sokolov, one of the few scientists in the world who actually understood the hybrid process that Stutmeir and his team had developed. Zarina had been kidnapped from her home in Moscow by Stutmeir early on in his insane quest to create man-made shifters, and while he'd executed many of the scientists and doctors he'd taken captive, she'd proven herself smart enough to keep around. But while the Russian doctor had been forced to help Stutmeir create the first hybrid generation, she had also done a lot of good. For one thing, she'd saved Tanner's life by making it look like he had died, then slipping him out of captivity with the other bodies Stutmeir's men had been taking out for burial. She'd also tried to help Ivy escape when she'd been captured. That plan hadn't worked out as well, but not due to lack of effort.