Page 15 of Atone in Darkness
She nodded. “I’ll get you some fresh clothes and then study the ingredients in the reagents.”
•••
MARISOL READ THElist of chemicals on the bottles andtried to come up with some idea of what could be done with them. She’d studied organic chemistry, not bomb making, but at least the bottles were labeled flammable. Ifnothing else, they could pour the stuff on the counter and light a match. Better yet, they could cut up a lab towel for wicks and put together some good old-fashioned firebombs.
As she cut strips of fabric, her attention shifted back to the mystery of the man in the cell. Chase had really scared her earlier. There was no denying that. She also felt guilty for leaving him for dead when he clearlyhadn’t died.
But a worried voice in the back of her mind kept insisting that, regardless of the clear evidence to the contrary, hehaddied. She’d seen enough corpses over the years to know one when she saw one. No pulse. No breath. All the intelligence and life in those stunning blue eyes of his had been gone. She’d grieved over his passing, sobbing her heart out until sheer exhaustion had wonout over her pain.
And yet, there he was in the next room acting as if none of it had ever happened, his bruises already fading away. No, that wasn’t right. When he’d lumbered to his feet, Chase had been anything but normal. Even now, the memory of how he’d watched her through the glass gave her the creeps. Why had the sclera of his eyes turned from white to orange and back again?
So many questionsand no time to figure out the answers. There was no telling when the guards would return or what they’d do when they got there.
She paused to listen. The water was no longer running, so Chase would be rejoining her shortly. Her pulse kicked it up a notch, wondering which version of the man would bewalking out of the cell. Gripping a scalpel in her hand, she turned to face the door.
He stoppedjust shy of where she stood waiting. After glancing at her hand, his mouth quirked up in a small grin. “I’d really hate it if you tried to gut me with that, Doc. I’ve already bled enough for one day.”
Leave it to the man to make a joke of a grim situation. She put the blade back on the counter within easy reach. “I thought we could make some firebombs from the reagents.”
His smile got biggeras he studied her handiwork. “Good idea. If we set off one or two, the fire alarm will force everyone to evacuate. We can get lost in the crowd.”
Well, she could. Him not so much. As long as she’d been there, she’d never seen any of the guards wearing the distinctive red sweats that were the only pants that her employer had provided for Chase.
“About that—”
Before she could say more, Chaseclapped his hand over her mouth, his expression suddenly cold. She tried to pry herself free of his grasp, but froze when he leaned in close to whisper, “Someone is headed this way.”
His hand dropped back down to his side, but not before he grabbed one of the other scalpels off the counter. “Hide the pieces of fabric. Stay calm.”
“Where are you going to be?”
“In my cage and back under thatblanket on the floor. If he sees me out here with you, he might call in the troops again. Let him think I’m still... unconscious. I can’t afford for them to hurt me that badly again this soon. Close the door once I’m back inside.”
That slight hesitation in his voice brought back vivid images of what had happened to him the last time the guards had trapped him in that cell. She suspected thathe’d really meant to saydeadinstead ofunconscious, but she let it pass.
“No, I’m not going to lock you up again. Not after what they did to you.”
His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t argue. “Can you close the door most of the way, but not let it click shut?”
“Maybe, but I’d rather give you my remote control. That way you can open it from the inside if you need to.”
“Hurry, he’s almostto the door.”
Although she couldn’t hear anyone approaching, she didn’t doubt Chase’s word. She pulled the remote out of the drawer and tossed it to him. He stepped back into the cell and closed the door just as the guard strolled in.
Hustling over to stand in front of her computer, she pretended an interest in the numbers that were displayed there. After counting off several seconds, she finallyglanced toward her uninvited guest. It was the guard she’d spoken to after breakfast when she’d been hunting for Dan. She gave his name tag a pointed look. “Was there something you needed, Wesley?”
He jerked his thumb in the direction of Chase’s cell. “I came to check on him.”
How should she play this? She settled on anger. “Why bother? I pronounced him dead hours ago. I’ve already marked hisfiles as terminated in the system.”
She crossed her fingers that the man didn’t have the authority to access her files.
Wesley’s eyes flashed wide with what looked like fear.“What do you mean he’s dead? Hasn’t he revived yet?”
She slowed her cadence to make it sound like she was talking to someone who was slow on the uptake. “No, he hasn’t revived. Like I said, he’s dead. You idiots killedmy one test subject. I’m sure our employers will be just thrilled to learn they’ll have to go hunt down someone else with Number Five’s particular characteristics. I look forward to meeting test subject Number Six.”
The guard’s face flushed red. “You better be lying about all of that. There’s no way he died from a simple beating.”
