Page 12 of Atone in Darkness
The first blow rattled the door of his cell, drawing the guard’s attention in his direction. As soon as he realized that Chase had succeeded in cracking the glass, the guard shoved away from Marisol and called for reinforcements.
They weren’t long in coming. This time, theydidn’t bother with the gas. Instead, they came at him in numbers. Chase fought back with everything he had, swinging his makeshift weapon hard and fast. As it turned out, the same thing that could break glass did a fine job of cracking skulls.
The limited space in his cell ensured only a few guards could enter at the same time, allowing him to hold his own for a while. But for every guard hetook out of the equation, there were two more ready to join in. Even knowing he was bound to lose out to superior numbers, he would go down fighting. He enjoyed watching Danny Boy spit out a couple of teeth as blood gushed from his nose after Chase’s fist connected with his face.
That was his last happy thought as the hits kept coming. The pain ramped up until it consumed him completely. Finally,as the all-too-familiar darkness of death flowedthrough him, he sent a prayer winging upward to the cosmos that his keeper wouldn’t be the guards’ next target.
•••
MARISOL’S THROAT WASraw from screaming as she tried to claw her way through the guards to reach Chase. God knows what she could do if she managed to reach him; she only knew she had to try. He’d done nothing to deserve the beatingthey were giving him. She’d been the one to threaten Dan. She pushed past the back layer of guards, but that was as far as she got. When she latched on to the collar of the next man in line and yanked, he pried her hand off and spun around to face her.
“Get back, you dumb bitch! Or do you want to be next?”
She couldn’t find the words to respond as he shoved her back the way she’d come. Realizingthe situation was both hopeless and dangerous, all the fight went out of her. She wouldn’t be of any good to Chase if she got herself beaten senseless—or worse—right along with him.
After one last look at the feeding frenzy of violence, she crawled under the counter and covered her ears with her hands to mute the sound of fists pounding on flesh and groans of pain. Right now all she could dowas pray they wouldn’t come after her next as she waited for the nightmare to end.
•••
IT COULD’VE ONLYbeen minutes, but it felt like foreverbefore silence returned to her world. Marisol waited another few seconds before daring to stick her head out to look around. Seeing the room was empty, she abandoned her hiding spot and rushed across the lab toward Chase’s cell. The door stood open,and the cot was empty. Had they taken him with them?
“Chase, are you in there?”
No answer. She skidded to a stop just outside the threshold. He was in there all right, sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood. That was horrific enough, but it was the way his eyes stared at her, unblinking and lifeless, that had her keening in grief and pain.
She dropped to her knees on the floor as she franticallyfelt for a pulse she already knew wouldn’t be there. CPR wouldn’t bring him back, but she had to try. She did chest compressions alternating with breaths until her arms ached and her head swirled with dizziness. Giving up her efforts meant giving up on him, but there came a point where a doctor had to accept that some patients were beyond saving. It was time to step back and admit enough wasenough.
It would make no difference to Chase now, but she closed his eyes and rearranged his limbs to make him more comfortable. Looking around the small cell for something to cover him with, she reached for the blanket that she’d warmed for him earlier. Her heart told her it was wrong to leave him there on the floor, but right now she had no choice. Somehow she’d escape this place and find away to get justice for him. She might not be able to identify all of the guards who were responsible for his death, but she knew one by name. Dan would pay for this atrocity.
Before covering Chase’s bruised and battered face, she brushed the hair back off his forehead. “God, I’m so sorry. I should’ve known that nothing good would come from threatening Dan. You did your best to protect me. I willdo everything I can to bring you home to your loved ones.”
Not that she had any idea who they were or how to contact them. Regardless, she owed that much to him. How could she ever get over knowing he’d died trying to save her? She couldn’t remember anyone ever lifting a finger to protect her from anything, not even her parents. Heck, especially her parents.
Then there was the problem that shewas as much a prisoner as Chase had been. What made her think she could do anything for him when she couldn’t even save herself? With tears streaming down her face, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and then tugged the blanket over his handsome face.
Having done all she could for him, she pushed herself back up to her feet and walked out of the cell. More than anything, she wanted to return toher quarters and lock herself inside, but she couldn’t risk running into Dan and his friends again. Eventually, she’d have to venture out of her lab, but she didn’t have the strength right now to face another confrontation.
The other worry was how to defend herself if she did encounter trouble. She went through the lab drawer by drawer, cabinet by cabinet, looking for anything that could be usedas a weapon. When she was done, she studied the meager collection she’d assembled: a few scalpels, some chemical reagents, and a box containing small vials of a tranquilizer. Nothing that would be very effective againstmen armed with automatic weapons.
Doctors were supposed to do no harm, but she would defend herself. To start with, she filled several syringes with the tranquilizer. She hadsome doubts as to how much of a deterrent they would be, but she felt more in control with even rudimentary defenses in place.
Next, she cast around for something else to occupy her time and her mind. She considered updating Chase’s files to reflect his time of death and the circumstances, but her emotions were too raw right now. Her head and her heart both ached, and it took everything she hadjust to keep moving.
After a bit, she checked to see what food supplies she had on hand. The pickings were pretty slim, but she settled on eating two of the breakfast sandwiches that Chase liked. The emotional toll of the day’s events had left her totally exhausted. Once she was finished eating, she made herself a pallet in the back corner of the lab out of sight of the door and stretched out,making sure to keep a scalpel in easy reach.
Then she cried herself to sleep.
•••
MARISOL JOLTED UPRIGHTfrom a sound sleep, her pulse racing. For several seconds, she blinked up at the ceiling and tried to make sense of why she was sleeping on the floor in her lab. Then the memories of what had happened came flooding back along with a resurgence of grief and pain. Chase had been murderedby the guards.
She was about to stand up when a noise caught herattention. What was that? Closing her eyes to listen better, she waited to see if she heard it again. There it was. She had no idea what made that soft rustling sound, but it was definitely coming from somewhere on the other side of the lab.
Were the guards back? Only one way to find out. She crawled over to the counter in thecenter of the room. After pausing to listen again, she peeked around the edge toward the entrance to the lab. Relieved to find herself alone, she let out a slow breath. Checking the time, she was surprised to learn she’d slept for several hours, and it was nearly dinnertime.
Most of the guards would be either on duty or in the cafeteria, which meant the hall outside the lab would be all but deserted.She’d gather her arsenal and her laptop in preparation for making a run for her quarters at the opposite end of the building.
Before she’d gone two steps, that same rustling noise whispered through the room. She spun around searching desperately for whoever was playing games with her. Except for her, the room was still vacant.
