Page 57 of Atone in Darkness
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Marisol panted as if she’d just run a mile straight up the side of a mountain. What had Larem just done to Chase? And how? Once again, she glanced at Eli and Tyson, hoping for some kind of explanation. However, both of them stared at the drama still playing out in front of them with something akin to both fear and horror. The newcomer took it more calmly, but he still looked shaken. He wasalso back to rubbing his chest.
Maybe he had some answers.
She tugged on his jacket sleeve to get his attention. “What just happened?”
He glanced down at her, his handsome face pale. “I was there the first time Larem used his special mojo. I didn’t see that part because I was dead at the time. It hurt like hell, though. I remember that much.”
He shook his head as if to clear it. “I can’t tellyou much more than that, and wouldn’t if I could. The how and why of it are both on a need-to-know basis. Sorry, but until Jarvis or Lonzo says otherwise, you don’t need to know.”
Then he stalked away.
Tyson muttered something colorful under his breath. “Eli, I swear this shit just gets weirder by the minute.”
The other man actually laughed, his humor dark. “Yeah, but you’ve got to admit thatit never gets boring.”
She had so many questions and so few answers. The scientist in her demanded to know exactly what Larem had just done. Was it the combination of blood and steel that somehow jump-started Chase’s return to life? How was that even possible? Realizing Tyson had released his hold on her, she took a cautious step forward and then another, hoping to reach Chase’s side before anyonewould notice.
Someone did.
Yet another man she hadn’t met blocked her way. “Just where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m a doctor. I need to make sure Chase is all right.”
“He’s not your concern.” He glared down at her with a whole lot of attitude. “Lady, your being a doctor doesn’t mean squat right now. You’re batshit crazy if you think we’re going to let you within spitting distance of Chase.On the other hand, you do have a choice to make. Either stay right there with Eli and do what you’re told, or we’ll handcuff you and drag you over there to wait with your guard buddies.”
She didn’t bother pointing out they’d never been her friends. Instead, she sighed and retreated to where Eli and Tyson stood waiting for her.
The newcomer said, “Smart move.”
Eli shifted from foot to foot.“What’s next on the agenda, DJ?”
The other man turned his attention back to Eli. “Thechopper is on its way in. It will take Chase, Doc, Jarvis, and Larem back first. After refueling, it will return to take the prisoners and their less fortunate partners in crime back to headquarters. Jake and Hunter will provide security on that trip.”
He slanted a glance toward the bodies wrapped in blue plastictarps and laid out in a neat row. The two guards who had survived the brief but vicious fight with Chase’s friends were tied up nearby. Their resigned expressions said they suspected there were tarps with their names on them somewhere in their immediate future.
Marisol didn’t think they were necessarily wrong about that.
DJ was still talking. “After that, it will make one last trip to pick upeveryone else, but it will drop us back at the compound. Devlin plans to meet us there with reinforcements to do a more thorough search of the place to see what we can learn.”
He once again turned his attention in Marisol’s direction. “He wants you there to give him a guided tour and a full report on what happened in that place. He’ll also want to know how you and Chase escaped and everythingthat has happened since.”
She was getting tired of being ordered around, but right now she had no choice but to go along with the program. “Fine, but what happens to me after that?”
There was nothing friendly in DJ’s smile. “Well, it all depends on whether Devlin likes the answers you give to his questions.”
Tyson moved up to stand beside her. “DJ, I’ll say this onemore time. She’s not yourenemy. Stop threatening her.”
DJ smirked. “It’s not a threat if we mean it. It’s a promise.”
Enough was enough. She maneuvered herself between the two men, who were currently locked in a stare down contest.
“DJ, is it? Listen, I’ll willingly go where you tell me to go. I’ll answer what questions I can, and I won’t lie. I have no reason to.”
The tension in his stance eased off just enough forher to think he was listening. “All I ask is that when you kick me to the curb, you do it someplace far away from wherever we are. Chase was convinced that the Cadre won’t quit looking for me anytime soon. I’d appreciate a head start in getting away.”
DJ frowned. “Who the hell is the Cadre?”
