Back inside the dimly lit bar, I ordered a beer, because Trev was probably right, but hell if I was going to admit it. We sat at the table farthest from anyone, the jukebox blaring a bluegrass song ten feet behind me. It was enough to give us privacy.
“I don’t work for the Branch anymore,” Trev said. “Let’s just get that out there right now.”
I took a draw from the beer and waited for him to go on.
“They knew I’d turned when I helped you guys escape. And, of course, they suspected I was the one who planted the bombs.”
“How much is left?”
He didn’t need clarification to know I meant the Branch.
“Riley, obviously. He’s the one running whatever is left. He just got a big push from someone in the Department of Defense. I don’t know what it was. Or why. But I’m guessing they’re working on some new program.”
I cursed and tightened my hold on the beer bottle, wanting to smash something so badly my fingers itched. “So if you don’t work for them, then why are you here?”
“Because…” He glanced at the bar’s entrance, then at the back door, before going on. “We got word that there was something here that Riley might want, something to kick-start the new program. I didn’t know it was you.”
“Who’s we?”
“We call ourselves the Coats.”
I cocked a brow. “The Coats?”
“Short for Turncoats. Remember Sura mentioning she was part of a group that opposed the Branch?”
I nodded. Sura had been Arthur’s ex-wife—Arthur was the scientist who ran the program at the farmhouse lab. He had also posed as Anna’s dad for five years, after the Branch wiped her memory and made her forget her real parents.
Despite all the shit Arthur had put us through, and the lies he’d force-fed Anna, he was all right.
“The group Sura was part of,” Trev said, “was the Coats. They’re all ex–Branch employees. They still have some people on the inside, who provide us info as it comes in.”
“So you were already on your way here to check out what Riley might be interested in?”
Trev nodded.
“Is Riley on his way here now?”
“Not yet.”
Was Riley coming to Trademarr for me? Or for something connected to Elizabeth? He had to know she was still alive—the news of her rescue had been plastered all over the place.
“Will you know when Riley is coming?” I asked.
Trev nodded. “They’ll keep me up-to-date on his movements.”
“Good. Because I have a few things to take care of before then.” I stood and drained the rest of my beer, slamming it on the table when I was finished.
I moved for the door.
“Wait,” Trev said. “There’s more.”
I paused, and glanced over a shoulder. “What?”
He leaned back in his chair, stared me right in the face. “There’s an old lab here, too.”
Trev drove south of town, taking an old highway lined with decrepit, barely functioning factories. The Jaguar’s engine roared as Trev picked up speed.
“What did this thing cost you?” I asked.
“A lot of money.”
I grunted. “The Branch must have paid you well.”
He glanced at me for a second before turning away again. “I would give it all back if I could.”
“You mean, instead of turning on us?”
“Yes.”
“Still feeling the guilt of that decision, huh?”
“‘You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough.’”
“Great. You’re doing that thing again.”
“I just mean…” He trailed off as he slowed to make a left turn. “I trusted the Branch too much, is what I mean. But I thought it was worth it. It wasn’t.”
The others had forgiven Trev, to an extent. We’d all been warped by the Branch. They were good at telling lies. Good at cracking open your head like a pumpkin and scooping out the guts. All the things that mattered. I think that’s why Sam, Cas, and Anna had cut Trev a little bit of slack.
I was still having a hard time following suit.
You screw me over once, that’s it. Didn’t mean I couldn’t use Trev, though. He owed me.
“Yeah, well,” I said, cracking a knuckle, “you’ll always be a fucking rat in my book.”
His hands tightened on the leather steering wheel. “I don’t have to help you, you know.”
“Fine. Then don’t.” He slammed on the brakes. I braced myself with a hand on the dash. “Jesus Christ.”
“Get out.”
I glanced at him. “Come on. Don’t be a dick.”