Get Lucky (28 page)

There was no way all of this could end with him being dead. London knew how unfair and cruel real life could be, but she refused to accept that he was dead. Turning, she walked away from her parents and Jake, gripping the gun she still held in one hand and the flashlight in the other. She was going to find Marc.

Chapter Sixteen

Marc couldn’t feel his hands, ears, or nose. The soft loafers he wore didn’t do shit against the rocky, hard snow-covered ground. His feet burned so badly he started worrying frostbite might kick in and make it hard for him to keep walking across the frozen desert. Evelyn pressed on alongside him, though, keeping a hard, determined pace with her duffel bag bouncing against her back. They hadn’t said anything to each other for a while now. He’d worry she was leading them into a frozen world of nowhere if it weren’t for the cell phone she held with some kind of navigation program on it. She glanced down at it from time to time and continued walking without a word through the pitch-black, frozen night.

More than once it crossed his mind to knock Evelyn out, hitting her just right to render her unconscious. She wouldn’t grind her teeth, if there was in fact some kind of remote that would activate whatever was under his skin. He considered it again when Evelyn glanced at her phone, holding the glowing device up in her hands and studying it as she slowed her pace.

“Over here,” she broke the silence between them, grinning up at him as if she’d just accomplished some feat and was proud of herself. “We’ll be enjoying a hot shower and hot meal here soon enough.”

Her amiable nature didn’t relax him or end his thoughts of knocking her out cold. Especially when she hurried forward but stopped suddenly, looking around as she began walking in circles. Marc stopped, watching her while worrying he was slowly freezing to death.

“You really need to learn to trust me.” She grinned as she stomped her foot on the ground. Then squatting down, she reached for something on the ground.

He was amazed when she picked up what looked like a remote and began pushing buttons on it. Evelyn hurried toward him, turning around before she reached him and backing into him as she held the remote out and looked as if she were trying to find a channel to watch while aiming at a TV that wasn’t there.

He took a step or two backward when the ground parted, just as it had when he and Jake had been taken to their underground prison in the black SUV. Evelyn didn’t reach for Marc or gesture for him to follow her when she hurried toward the dark hole appearing in the ground. There wasn’t any hiding his surprise when a platform rose out of the ground with a car parked on it.

“The escapemobile,” she announced, laughing. “I told him it would come in handy,” she mumbled, not elaborating as to who “him” was.

Marc walked around to the passenger side after Evelyn jumped into the car and started it. The platform it was on stopped when it was flush with the ground. He felt the ground give way slightly when he stepped next to the car. There was a hollow thud as his weight caused the platform the car was on to rock. He chanced it, climbing into the passenger seat. She had the car running but didn’t try putting it into drive until Marc adjusted the seat backward so he could fit inside alongside her.

Evelyn laughed, driving the car off the platform and holding the remote up between them, pointing it backward and pushing a button on it. “No reason to give away my secret garage,” she said, still chuckling when she dropped the remote between them. “Don’t worry, Neanderthal. The heat works fine and you’ll thaw out soon enough.”

He turned to make a comment but didn’t react quickly enough. Evelyn had a syringe in her hand that must have been in the car. She stabbed Marc in the side of the neck with it and the sharp pinch was the last thing he felt before everything around him went black.

*   *   *

“Wake up, sweetheart.”

Marc blinked, thinking for a second London rubbed his arm. He wanted to pull her into his arms. Cuddling with her would keep him warm and at the moment he was cold as hell.

“Come on, Neanderthal,” Evelyn whispered, leaning close enough that her breath prickled his flesh.

Marc blinked and leaned forward, resting his head against his hand for a moment before rubbing his face and squinting at his surroundings. Bright lights glowed against the black night, which illuminated the parking lot and curved drive in front of a large hotel.

“The valet will park the car,” Evelyn told Marc, nudging his arm until he looked at her. “Wake up. Now. Come on. We’re going up to our room now.” Her words were choppy and didn’t make sense.

She got out on her side of the car. Marc reached for his door, ignoring the young college kid who held on to the passenger door as he climbed out. Evelyn said something about him being a sound sleeper as she passed over keys and a bill for the tip. Marc didn’t care what she told the kid but instead focused on the fancy hotel, searching for some indication of where they were.

Evelyn was already at the front desk when Marc walked through the revolving doors. She laughed easily with the lady behind the counter. Marc pictured London behind the counter at the lodge, her friendly, relaxed nature making it easy for anyone to approach her with any question or just to check in or out. He didn’t bother looking at the woman talking to Evelyn but instead stared at the sign next to the front desk.

WELCOME TO PHOENIX.

Crap. Evelyn had done some driving. Marc rubbed his neck, remembering when she’d injected him with something strong enough to knock his ass out as she drove across the state of Arizona. She accepted the card keys and walked across the lobby, apparently feeling she didn’t need to tell Marc to follow her or look over her shoulder to see if he was.

He waited until they were in the elevator before grabbing her wrist and lifting her hand. Then removing the card keys from her hand, he released her and read the room number on the cards.

“Why are we in Phoenix, Blondie?” he asked, pocketing one of the cards and flipping the other one between his fingers while staring down at her.

“Because I got tired of driving.” She pressed her lips into a straight line, narrowing her gaze on him. Apparently, studying his face told her that he wasn’t in the mood to be bullied by one of her drugs being used on him. She relaxed her expression and focused on the elevator doors. “I’m not taking the rap for any of this,” she said under her breath, then stormed out ahead of him when the elevator doors opened.

Marc took his time walking down the plush-looking hallway, partially because he was still groggy from whatever she’d shot him with. He also needed to make his brain work. Evelyn had driven all night and he got a good night’s sleep. That would work to his advantage if he could get the fog out of his brain. Evelyn stopped in front of one of the doors, not looking at him. Marc double-checked the room number against the number on the cardholder, slid the plastic card out, then reached around her and opened the door.

“What are you doing?” she asked when he walked into the room and collapsed on the king-sized bed.

He thought of asking her the same thing when he noticed there was only one bed in the room. Marc stretched out, lying from corner to corner and rolling over, easing a pillow under his head while his feet almost reached the end of the opposite corner.

“You’re not sleeping while I shower.” She didn’t comment on him being sprawled out on the entire bed. “Until I know I’m clear of this mess you’re my insurance policy, and that means we’re both going to have to live with a few rules.”

“I’m not your insurance for anything and I think we’ve already established what I think of following your rules.” He clasped his hands behind his head and stared at her.

Evelyn stood at the end of the bed, scowling at him. There were dark shadows under her eyes, and in the lighting from the lamps already on when they entered the room it was obvious she was much older than she wanted the world to know.

It wasn’t her physical appearance that mattered to him, though. Evelyn did nothing for him. Her physical beauty was superficial at best and faded quickly when the coldhearted bitch inside her came forward. What grabbed his attention was the way she looked at him. Marc knew when a woman wanted him, and there was absolutely no interest in Evelyn’s eyes at all. Instead, the way she focused on him, forcing her gaze to travel down his body slowly before returning to his face, revealed even more about her. Evelyn would try seducing him if she believed it would be to her advantage. Not that this revelation surprised him. It was the flash of fear in her eyes when she returned her gaze to his that he focused on. Evelyn was afraid of him, terrified in fact.

“Whether you like it or not,” she said, cocking one eyebrow. They were one-on-one now and it was obvious Evelyn planned on ensuring her title as captor and his as the prisoner. “You’re not free to do as you wish. I would prefer you honor my wishes of your own free will, but if you force my hand I’ll make sure you do what I tell you to do regardless of the means necessary.”

“Whether you like it or not, you’ve broken quite a few laws. Take your shower, order food, or go to sleep. Your next move won’t change the fact that I’m going to see you arrested and behind bars.”

Evelyn shook her head, walking away from him and into the bathroom. Marc didn’t move. He suspected she didn’t want to leave him alone and believed he would try doing something, either escaping or calling someone the first chance he had. The shower didn’t turn on. No other sounds came from the bathroom. Marc didn’t move, either. Instead he worked to sharpen his thoughts while replaying everything in his mind he could remember prior to leaving the underground facility.

There had been shots, although he was pretty sure what he heard was Evelyn shooting the men in the other cells. He could only speculate as to why she’d shot them but hauled him along with her. He was not an insurance policy. She’d been frantic to clean out her lab, packing files and deleting files from her hard drive to flash drive. When she’d thought she’d run out of time she’d blown up her computer, which annoyed her to do. Obviously, she would rather destroy whatever work was on her computer than allow anyone else to find it.

She’d repeatedly mentioned that she wouldn’t take the blame for any of this, which seemed to be her motivation for running. Marc had to conclude someone had found the facility. Evelyn told him they’d been compromised. If London somehow figured out where he was, she must have pulled off some kind of impressive show to send Evelyn scooting out the back door. But did that mean she was at the facility when he left with Evelyn? Had she searched and found her parents and Marc’s family?

He prayed that was the case. It would mean that she got past the men who had taken him and Jake out of the hotel room. It would also mean Marc’s sexy dark-haired seductress had some hidden talents he hadn’t initially seen in her. Maybe growing up as the only child of two habitual criminals made her despise anything to do with guns or law enforcement or criminal investigation. Did London know of her skills and simply not want to put them to use? Was she forced to use them, then put on one hell of a show that he’d missed? A show so spectacular it sent Evelyn running?

Evelyn popped out of the bathroom, almost jumping around the corner but then frowning when he was lying in the same position she’d left him. “You can try all you want to make me think you’re not going to try to escape, I won’t believe you.”

He turned his head to look at her. “That would make you a smart woman.”

She seemed surprised he so openly admitted he would try to escape. “Which I am,” she said. “Therefore, you’re not staying out here alone. I want to take a shower. You’re coming in here with me.”

“Do you have luck with many men seducing them like that?” He rolled off the side of the bed, taking his time standing and moving around the bed until he stood in front of her. “Or is that why you’re so obsessed with controlling men?”

“You’re not going to say anything I haven’t heard before.” She stepped to the side and pointed to the bathroom.

Marc walked into the large fancy bathroom, turning when he stood in front of a large sunken bathtub complete with jets to turn it into a Jacuzzi. Evelyn paused in the doorway but entered as well, closing the door behind her.

“I know what you think.” She moved to the counter, staring at him through the mirror as she pulled the ponytail holder out of her hair. “You think I’m crazy, some kind of mad scientist.”

“I’ve never thought of you as a scientist.”

Evelyn was one of those people blessed with a very nondescript appearance. She wasn’t ugly, far from it. In fact, she was thin, with large breasts, clear skin and long blonde hair. That generic description would imply she was hot, sexy, stunning, and she was none of those. His insult hit a nerve, and eyes he wouldn’t have been able to describe once he was away from her suddenly glowed with raw rage.

She turned on him slowly. “Displaying your ignorance only makes you even more of a Neanderthal,” she hissed.

He watched her teeth, remembering her accusation that clenching them would erupt the capsules under his skin. “Actually, I find it interesting that you claim to know what I think when, since I’ve met you, it seems to be your intention to make me not think.”

“If I didn’t want you to think, you would have been running laps until you collapsed,” she pointed out, and ran her fingers through her hair once it was loose, fluffing it out until it hung past her shoulders, looking wild and untamed. Again, it transformed her appearance, and she actually looked better than she had when it was pulled back tightly against her head in a ponytail. “You were an experiment of one, an attempt for me to show in my work that soldiers can perform and meet exceptional standards without being drained of all cognitive thought.”

“And apparently I was an experiment that no one but you wanted done,” he added, putting it together as he spoke to her. “Claude didn’t want you working with any of the men abducted unless they were drugged. Why is that, I wonder?”

“Claude is an idiot.”

“If he’s an idiot, then why did he choose such a successful scientist as yourself?”

She straightened, accepting Marc’s praise with a nod. Her anger drained out of her as quickly as it had spiked. Evelyn walked around him and turned on the tub, bending over to adjust the water while the silence between them grew. The last thing he wanted to do was sit there and watch her bathe. Closing the lid, he sat on the toilet and waited for her answer. Once she was soaking in her bath he would make his move.

“Claude wouldn’t have chosen anyone else to work with him when he decided to enter the game,” she said, satisfied with the water and pulling off her shirt. She faced him in her jeans and bra, putting her hands on her hips and showing off round breasts that filled her lace cups perfectly. “I’m his wife and in most cases that means I can’t testify against him. But it’s not just that. I know how to work with him. Claude doesn’t get along well with many people.”

Marc didn’t find that as surprising as he did the fact that the two of them were married. It explained their banter that he had overheard while in the facility. The way she taunted Claude, suggesting she enjoyed her prisoners possibly more than she actually did. He was jealous of her working with the men and Evelyn fed off that jealousy, believing he cared for her because he insisted she not be too impressed with any of the men in her care.

“Why did you leave him there if he’s your husband?” Marc’s gaze fell to her hands when she unzipped her jeans. Evelyn was possibly twenty years older than London. She looked forty years older.

“He knows where I am.” She waved her hand in the air, dismissing Marc’s question. “He’ll come crawling to me when he realizes I was right. I told him from the beginning he wouldn’t be able to set up his players by himself. When he insisted on choosing all the wrong kinds of people for his pawns, I knew I would have to step in and help. And it was the perfect opportunity to show how well my new drug worked.”

There were so many questions. He needed to stay on topic, though, going with the flow of their conversation, to keep her talking. Since Marc and his family were the pawns chosen to play his game, Marc was curious if Claude had wanted them on board, or Evelyn. “Why didn’t you like the idea that Claude chose my family?”

“Because Neanderthals don’t train well.” She slipped out of her bra and her jeans. “I lined you up with the dummies we’d chosen, intending to prove to him that you wouldn’t conform simply because you were told the men around you were conforming.”

“Who were those men you killed?”

Evelyn pushed her underwear down her legs and stepped out of it while laughing. “I didn’t kill them. They are all still alive. I injected them with a neutralizing drug so if anyone found them they wouldn’t be able to detect my drug in them. I’m not ready to announce it to the world yet. But I will be soon, very soon.”

Marc would have to find out more about this drug she was so proud of, but there were other questions he needed answered first. He ignored her as she pranced around him naked, moving to the counter and gathering her shampoo and conditioner. Marc rested his head on his hand and stared at the water filling the tub.

“What do you mean by ‘dummies’? You knew before I showed up I wouldn’t follow orders just because the men already there were? They were high on your drug, though, and I wasn’t.”