Page 105 of A Touch of Treachery
Once again, I flexed my hands and feet, and once again, the plastic bands around my wrists and ankles didn’t move an inch.I had to find some way to get out of this chair.I had to find some way to kill Henrika and Bryce before they could do to Charlotte what they had just done to me.
Henrika shrugged, as though the news was troubling but not unexpected.“Ms.Locke is quite brilliant, and perhaps even more tenacious.She must have realized we never left the mountain.After that, it wouldn’t have taken her long to figure out we had literally gone underground.”
“What do you want to do?”Bryce asked.
Henrika chewed on her lower lip.“How many intruders are in the facility?”
Bryce tapped a few more keys.“Looks like three so far.Locke, along with a man and a woman.”
Henrika nodded, as if she had been expecting the information.“Charlotte only brought a few friends instead of an entire strike team.She doesn’t trust Jethro Percy any more than I do.Maybe we can still salvage something out of this situation.”
“What do you want to do?”Bryce repeated.
Henrika stood up, strode over to a shelf along the wall, and grabbed a silver briefcase.She snapped it open, revealing black foam padding inside, then pulled several syringes and vials out of the industrial refrigerators.
“I’ll take the most important samples with me.The rest of it can burn.I’m not leaving anything behind for Jethro Percy to get his hands on.That arrogant bastard has already stolen enough of my work.”
I frowned, my muddled mind trying to make sense of her words.When had my father stolen her work?And why?
Bryce nodded.“Understood.I’ll alert the guards and start the evacuation and self-destruct procedures.”
Henrika nodded back and closed the briefcase.
“What do you want to do about him?”Bryce jerked his thumb at me.
Henrika grabbed the briefcase, then walked over and stared down at me with a dispassionate expression.“We could take Desmond with us.I’dloveto conduct more tests on him.”
My breath seized in my throat.I wouldn’t survive any more tests.My body would finally give out, or my mind, or both, and I’d start begging for mercy and spill every Section secret I knew.
“But we don’t have time to knock him out again,” Henrika continued in a regretful tone.“Leave him here.He can burn with everything else.”
Henrika leaned down and grabbed my chin.Her fingers dug into my burned skin, and she wrenched my head from side to side, still staring at me with that dispassionate expression.“It’s a pity our time is being cut short, Desmond.You’ve been a marvelous test subject.”
She leaned in a little closer, her voice dropping to a whisper only I could hear.“I do hope you figure out a way to escape and save Charlotte.Ms.Locke is a worthy adversary, and I don’t have nearly enough of those.Call me a sentimental fool, but I’m rooting for you two crazy lovebirds.”
I blinked, once again struggling to process her words.Why would Henrika want me to escape and save Charlotte?What game was she playing now?
Henrika winked at me, then released my chin.Still carrying the briefcase, she strode through the open door and left the lab.
Istaredattheopen door, but Henrika didn’t return.Bryce kept tapping keys on the laptop.I studied the monitors, trying to learn everything I could about the layout and the number of guards.
Several men with guns ran through the corridors, but I couldn’t tell whom they might be chasing.Charlotte was still moving through the main corridor, which seemed to run the length of the facility.
The sight of Charlotte cut through the rest of the dull fog cloaking my mind.Once again, I struggled against the wrist and ankle restraints, and once again, I went nowhere.I swallowed a frustrated growl and redoubled my efforts.I had to get out of this chair and help Charlotte.
Crack!
Crack!Crack!
Crack!
The distinctive sounds of gunfire zipped through the air.On the monitor, Charlotte stopped.I flinched, thinking she’d been shot, but after a few long, tense seconds, she raised her gun a little higher and moved forward, her pace much quicker than before.
“Aw, are you concerned about your girlfriend?You should be.My men will kill her before she even gets close to the lab.”Bryce looked at the monitor with an appreciative leer.“It’s too bad we have to evacuate.I always enjoy having a little extra fun on my assignments.”
White-hot rage roared through me at the thought of Bryce hurting Charlotte, and I jerked against my bonds even harder than before.Bryce laughed at my useless struggles, then started typing again.
I forced myself to stop moving.I simply didn’t have the physical strength to snap the bonds, so I had to figure out some other way to get free.I focused on the chair itself, curled my fingers around the metal arms, and reached out with my galvanism.
