Page 41 of Atone in Darkness
“Yeah, I was. That wasn’t the only time, either. There were atleast two other times that I can remember.”
She drew a sharp breath. “I’d think a person would have a hard time forgetting something like that.”
He shrugged. “It depends on how many times you’ve died. Personally, I do my best not to remember. It happened the first time when I was eighteen.”
“You let me think I had left you suffering all that time under that blanket.” She plopped his pants onthe side of the tub and reached for another piece of clothing. “And what was up with your eyes flashing orange like that?”
Damn, did they really have to do this now? Evidently, because she tossed the shirt back down into the water and looked up at him in expectation.
“Fine.” He sat down on the edge of the tub resting his elbows on his knees. “We only get so many get-out-of-death-free cards.Before you ask, no one knows how many we’re dealt or why it varies from man to man. The orange-eyes thing is a sign I’m on the verge of running out of chances. If they ever stay orange, it means I’ve used up my ability to recover, and I’ve come back whack-job crazy.”
He had to force himself to look straight at her when he told her the next part. “The only choice at that point is to put me downlike a rabid animal. In fact, if that happens to me or to our new friend out there, either kill us or get the hell away before something happens we’ll both regret.”
She turned her attention back to their laundry. “You believed Edgar out there. That I was part of the team thattortured him. Don’t bother to deny it.”
The abrupt change in topic had Chase running his fingers through his hair infrustration. “To tell you the truth, Doc, I don’t know what to believe. Until now, I’ve never had call to doubt the word of anyone I’ve ever met who shares that DNA marker you’ve been studying.”
“Either you believe him or you believe me. It’s that simple, isn’t it?”
“That’s not fair, Marisol. We’ve both known all along that if I was the fifth lab rat your employers had gotten their hands on,there had to be four others before me.”
When she swiped at her cheek with the back of her hand, he realized she was crying. He reached for her, hoping to undo the damage his doubts had caused, but she scooted back out of reach. “Damn it, don’t cry, Doc. You have to understand why I’m having trouble with all of this.”
“Just go, Chase. I’ve got work to do here.”
A sound from the other room caughthis attention. There was no way he should be leaving Edgar alone out there. “I’ll go keep an eye on him and warm something up for breakfast. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”
“Fine.”
Before he walked out the door, she added, “And what you said about something happening that we’d both regret. All things considered, maybe it already has.”
Not knowing what to say to that, he walked out and quietlyclosed the door behind him. Yeah, he had regrets, but last night wasn’t one of them. The fact that she felt like that hurt like hell, so Chase did the only thing he could. He made breakfast for the three of them, wondering the whole time ifhe was feeding the enemy, and if so, which of his companions actually fit that description.
