Rising Tomorrow (Roc de Chere Book 1) by Mariana Morgan (essential reading txt) 📕

While the Medibot could flush the drugs and toxins out of her, it couldn’t instantly remove the effects those drugs had had on her body’s biochemistry over the last few days. It was crucial to keep any exposure to further nano-meds to the absolute minimum. The effects of the overload would disappear by themselves in a few days, but any more drugs in the meantime would delay her full recovery. It was particularly important to be careful given how impure the drugs from the slum were. Eloise’s body wasn’t accustomed to dealing with them. Predisposing her body to developing drugtox was something Gonzalez wanted to avoid at all costs.

‘Ms Moretti, please try to breathe deeply. You are correct, my reply wasn’t precise. You are in a safehouse deep in the Alps, some hundred kilometres from Lyon. I’m afraid I cannot give you a more precise location.’

‘Alps…’ Eloise muttered, orienting herself on a mental map. ‘Home. I want to go home.’ Her brain felt fuzzy, but she was sure of one thing. Home was where she had to be.

Her chest felt tight again, and the feeling was disturbingly familiar. She shivered involuntarily despite the warm temperature.

‘I’m very sorry, but that won’t be possible,’ Gonzalez replied patiently. ‘The people who were after you, the people who fired missiles at the police aircar you were in, are very dangerous, and their intentions towards you are hostile.’

He carefully did not add that even if it had been safe for her to go back home, he couldn’t let that happen. He needed her expertise. And he would nano-drug her despite the risk, forcing her to co-operate if that’s what it took. Though he by far preferred voluntary co-operation.

‘Do you intend to keep me here against my will?’ she demanded forcefully, and the Medibot beeped another warning.

‘To save your life, Ms Moretti? Yes,’ he replied gently. And honestly.

‘Dammit, who are you?’ she demanded. ‘I have been attacked! I have been drugged! I have been lied to. I have had enough of that. Who the hell are you?’

The Medibot beeped in quick succession and Eloise winced as the nano-tubes inserted into her arm released chemicals.

‘And you are still drugging me!’ she shouted, ripping the tubes off before Gonzalez could stop her. ‘How dare you. Fucking criminal. Fucking—’

Her hands lashed out at Gonzalez. He shielded his face and head from the blows, but made no threatening movements. He didn’t even take a step back.

***

Back in the security room, Lieutenant Rivas rose from his chair.

‘Lieutenant!’ Ingram grabbed his arm, but her eyes stayed glued to the screen. ‘No.’

Rivas hesitated. He still remembered his surprise when Eloise attacked him. It was wild and uncoordinated, but there was force and skill behind the madness.

‘With all due respect, Lieutenant, it will hardly be reassuring for Ms Moretti if three people hold her down forcefully. DCI Gonzalez can manage just fine.’

Her grip relaxed on Rivas’ arm as soon as she felt the man settle back down in the chair. She still believed that restraining the Elite woman would have been a better choice, but if Gonzalez wanted to do it his way, they would do it his way.

She watched on the screen as Eloise tried to close the distance. The woman stumbled to the floor, and her body swayed as the new shot of sedatives began working full force. All her joints folded, and if it weren’t for Gonzalez catching her, Eloise would have smashed into the floor.

Score one for gravity, Ingram thought, torn between amusement and concern.

***

A couple of hours later, the Medibot was yet again bringing Eloise Moretti back to consciousness. Yet again, Gonzalez had chosen to ignore the suggestion to use restraints, and this time Ingram hadn’t resisted a very disrespectful look to convey what she thought of the idea. Gonzalez had ignored that as well.

‘No lies. The whole truth, Ms Moretti,’ he reassured her.

The woman sat up in her bed and quickly checked her body for any nano-tubes or patches.

‘And no drugs,’ Gonzalez promised. ‘You are not a prisoner, but you do have to listen and understand.’

He settled down more comfortably, stilling himself to tell the whole story. Well, not the whole-whole story, but close enough.

‘My real name is Colonel Mathias Larsen. I work for the MIS. For the last few months, we have been investigating a series of violent murders on the East Side of Lyon…’ Gonzalez explained about the murdered Leeches fished out of the Rhône, Alexa Valentino, the recovered VRP and how inadequate the police investigation was.

‘We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg affecting hundreds of young people used against their will for sexual purposes. I, and some of my colleagues, infiltrated Lyon’s 4th Police Station in the hope of bringing the investigation to a satisfactory end while exposing the people behind it. We believe that a group of highly placed and influential Elites have been kidnapping young Leeches and forcing them to serve in VR sex houses, under threat of violence or death, while the police cover their tracks.

‘Our experts reached a dead end trying to analyse the VRP. I have been looking for you, Ms Moretti, for weeks. We believe you can shed new light on the investigation. We need your expertise. I was hoping this could be done safely at the 4th. But by the time I knew where to find you, I was no longer leading the investigation. You analysed the VRP in question yourself at the 4th. I know that you found something. I need to know what you discovered. We need your help.’

‘Take me home and I will co-operate with the police,’ Eloise demanded. Her chest still felt tight, and her body tingled, forcing her into incontrollable shivers from time to time, but the unfamiliar discomfort felt weaker, almost distant. She could recognise the acute toxicity caused by the drug overload and could hardly believe she was experiencing something so… exotic.

‘I wish it was that simple, Ms Moretti. Unfortunately, the