Revolution (Replica) (6 page)

Angel nodded slowly. “Can’t pretend I’m not curious as hell. But for all I know, you’re government spies sent in here to learn about the resistance.”

Bishop rolled his eyes. “Oh for Christ’s sake, Angel. Can we just skip all this tap dancing and get on with things. You don’t think the Chairman Heir and his fiancée were sent into the Basement as spies. You’re just playing hard to get because you don’t know any other way.”

Angel’s eyes narrowed for a moment, and Nadia feared Bishop had jeopardized their negotiations by pissing her off. But of course Bishop was too street-smart to do something stupid like that, and unlike Nadia, he had previous experience with Angel. Angel’s glare slowly transformed into a grin, and she spread her hands in a gesture of surrender.

“Guilty as charged,” she admitted, then turned to Nadia. “You give me good information, I give you good money. And then you and the rest of your little kiddie gang don’t get within five blocks of my club or me again. I’m taking one hell of a risk even talking to you.”

Not as much of a risk as
we’re
taking,
Nadia thought. But she and the rest of the new resistance were at risk no matter what they did, and at least dealing with Angel meant they could take care of their immediate financial needs.

“Let me start by telling you that that video on the blimp is a complete fabrication,” Nadia said, and was rewarded by a glint of interest in Angel’s eyes. “Now tell me how much you’ll pay to find out what really happened to our dear departed Chairman Hayes.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Nate
paced the living room for about five minutes after he lost sight of Nadia and Kurt, but he quickly discovered pacing wasn’t enough to defuse his nervous tension, so he unilaterally decided he and Dante and Agnes should change into their Basement disguises even though they weren’t planning to leave the apartment. Not only would it give them something to do while they waited, it would make it easier to launch a rescue mission the moment he decided Nadia and Kurt had been gone too long. Knowing Nadia was plunging headfirst into danger while he was safe and secure in Kurt’s apartment was a blow to his ego, and it was making him so crazy he wanted to chew the scenery.

Neither Dante nor Agnes argued Nate’s decision, though Agnes made no bones about how much she hated her disguise. She was used to wearing frumpy, poufy clothes in an attempt to camouflage her bottom-heavy figure, and the formfitting, eye-searing blue bodysuit provided no camouflage whatsoever. She put it on, but she kept her ugly pink opera gown wrapped around her like a shield.

“I’ll drop it if we have to go out,” she assured Nate when he frowned at her. “It’s chilly in here.” She wrapped the gown more tightly around her shoulders and tried to look like she was cold.

“You don’t have to hide,” he told her. “You look fantastic in that outfit.”

It was true, although he was rather surprised at himself for saying it. He had despised Agnes from the moment he’d first met her. Not for any fault of her own, but because his father was going to force him to marry her and ruin Nadia. He’d treated her abysmally, and though Nadia had shamed him into being more fair, he’d been convinced he could never do more than tolerate the girl.

Agnes was as startled by his words as he, and she continued to huddle under the cover of her pink flounces. “I look ridiculous. You don’t have to try to flatter me.” Her face practically glowed with her familiar mottled blush.

“I’m not flattering you,” he said, feeling bad for all the times he’d sneered at her. He didn’t think he’d ever said anything derogatory about her appearance to her face, but he’d certainly had unflattering thoughts. Agnes would never be beautiful, but she would be a hell of a lot more attractive if she’d just stop being so self-conscious about her looks. Every attempt she made to hide her flaws just made them more obvious—like her insistence on pleated pants and poufy skirts. “You look awesome in that outfit. Sexy.”

Her blush deepened, but there was a spark of anger in her eyes, too. She was seriously resistant to taking a compliment. “Is it even possible for a girl to look sexy to you?”

Reminding Nate once again of just how many ways he had mistreated her during their brief unofficial engagement. He had been fully prepared to let her sign the marriage agreement without revealing the truth about his sexual preferences. He’d been protecting himself from the horrors of being sent to “reprogramming” to correct what his father termed his “sexual deviance,” but that hadn’t made his silence any more fair to Agnes.

“You know when a girl looks sexy even if you’re not attracted to girls, don’t you?” he asked.

She looked like she wanted to argue, then sighed and nodded. “Yeah. I guess I do. But I still think you’re full of it.”

Thinking about the marriage arrangement made Nate suddenly remember something. “My father planned for you to sign the marriage agreement today,” he said. Nate had already been coerced into signing it, and Agnes was meant to sign it at 12:01 on the day of her eighteenth birthday, making the agreement legally binding for all involved. “Happy birthday.”

Agnes looked around the squalid little room and shook her head. “This isn’t quite what I had planned for the big one-eight,” she said quietly. There was a haunted look in her eyes that made Nate squirm on the inside. He was responsible for all the crazy changes in her life, and he wished he could do something to cheer her up. Unfortunately, he didn’t see any birthday cake or big parties in her near future.

“I’m not complaining,” Agnes said. “Ask me how much I love big, formal birthday parties where I’m supposed to be the star of the show.” She shuddered delicately.

No, Nate was sure she wasn’t a big fan of those parties; however, he doubted she found hiding out in the Basement under threat of death to be a great improvement. Maybe when Kurt and Nadia came back, they could whip up some small improvised imitation of a party. Or at least sing “Happy Birthday.”

It was too soon to expect Nadia and Kurt back yet, but that didn’t stop him from scanning the growing crowd outside in search of two familiar figures.

He didn’t see them. But what he
did
see made him go cold all over.

“I think we may have a big problem,” he said, gesturing Dante and Agnes over and pointing.

A group of five uniformed security officers were making their way down the street with purposeful strides. All the laws of Paxco officially applied to the Basement as well as to the rest of society, but there was no such thing as enforcement here, and security officers didn’t set foot in the place unless they were on the hunt for a fugitive.

“Damn it,” Dante said as he followed Nate’s pointing finger. “What are the chances they’re here for someone else?”

Nate snorted. “What are the chances something would actually go right for us for once?”

“They couldn’t possibly know where we are,” Agnes said. “Could they?”

“Until we all went on the lam,” Dante said, “Bishop wasn’t in hiding. I’m sure there are Basement-dwellers who know where he lives and that security can find a way to convince them to talk.”

Nate uttered a curse that would have done Bishop proud. The officers
did
look like they had a specific destination in mind, and that destination
did
seem to be this apartment building. “We need to get out of here. Fast.” The officers were already too close for comfort, and Nate didn’t think they had much chance of getting out without being seen.

“And go where?” Agnes asked in a small voice.

“Angel’s,” Nate responded instantly. “We have to meet up with Bishop and Nadia anyway.”

He tore himself away from the window and began pawing through his meager pile of belongings to find the gun he’d had hidden on his person when he and Nadia had confronted Dorothy. Dorothy had confiscated their other weapons, but she’d never known about the extra gun. Hardly an expert with guns, Nate had no idea how many bullets were in this one, but he doubted it was enough to get them through a shootout with a security squad. Didn’t mean he was going to leave it behind, though.

“They’re definitely coming here,” Dante announced, backing away from the window. “Let’s move it.” He saw what Nate was doing and wordlessly reached out his hand.

Nate swallowed his ego and handed the gun over to someone who knew how to use it. Agnes let go of her evening gown/security blanket with obvious reluctance as the three of them rushed to the door.

“How are we going to get past the security squad without being seen?” Nate asked, hoping Dante, as a professional spy, might have some clever tactic in mind. But it was Agnes who answered.

“We walk right past them as if we have nothing to hide.”

Nate stared at her in astonishment.

“Our disguises are good,” Agnes said, “and they’re expecting us to be holed up in the apartment. They
certainly
won’t be expecting us to come right out in the open like that. I’ll bet they barely give us a passing glance if we pass them on the stairs.”

“She has a point,” Dante agreed as they darted out into the hallway and closed the door behind them. Kurt had the keys, so they weren’t able to lock the door, but the security squad was probably going to bash it down anyway. “They’d expect us to run or sneak away, not walk right by them. Besides, I don’t know if we have any other choice. If there’s a back way out of here, I don’t know about it, and they probably have a couple of men watching it anyway.”

“For the record,” Nate said as they hurried down the hallway to the stairs, “I hate this plan.” Unfortunately, he didn’t have an alternative suggestion.

“Just act cool and natural,” Dante said. He put his hand on the door to the stairwell. “Walk at a normal pace, don’t act like you’re trying to hide your face, and ignore them like they’re no business of yours whatsoever.”

Agnes’s face looked pale and frightened, and though her disguise was good, Nate worried that it wasn’t enough. Her face was almost as famous as his, and her disguise was more superficial, having been cobbled together in a hurry. Nate’s had been built over a period of months, and included details like contact lenses and cheek pouches. He’d be shocked if anyone recognized him, but Agnes … He put his arm around Agnes’s shoulders and tucked her against his side.

“I’ll keep between you and them when we pass,” he said in response to her startled look.

“Don’t try to hide!” Dante reminded them brusquely.

“I’m not talking about hiding her,” Nate snapped. “I’m just going to give her a little extra cover.”

“We don’t have time for arguing,” Agnes said, slipping her arm around Nate’s waist as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Let’s just go.”

They went, but Nate still had an uneasy feeling in his stomach about Agnes’s disguise. They should have put some face paint or something on her to draw attention away from her features. The bright blue gunk that plastered her hair to her scalp certainly drew the eye, but if anyone took a second look …

Since the building’s elevator didn’t work, there was a fair amount of traffic on the stairs, which could work to their advantage. It was still a little early for Debasement’s permanent street fair to be in full swing, but the early birds were already heading out.

With Dante leading the way, they headed down the stairs, quickly catching up with three women who were most likely prostitutes on their way to work. One of the women had enormous boobs that were barely contained by a red lace bra top, and Nate hoped the display would distract a member or two of the security squad. He could hear one of the officers from below barking at people to get out of the way, his voice echoing up the stairwell. He sounded like a hard-ass, and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to get his whole squad killed. Basement-dwellers weren’t fond of security officers at the best of times, and despite their training and superior weaponry, the security squad was badly outnumbered.

Dante looked over his shoulder with a concerned expression. “At the first sign of trouble, we get out of the stairwell immediately.”

Nate wondered if they shouldn’t do that anyway until the squad had passed them by, but they were currently between floors, and by the time they reached the next floor, the squad would be able to see them. Trying not to hold his breath, Nate tightened his arm around Agnes’s shoulders and continued downward.

They reached the third-floor landing just as the security squad did, and Nate saw it was a good thing they hadn’t ducked into a hallway until the squad passed. One of the men stuck some kind of metallic rod into the door mechanism, jamming it shut, keeping the residents of that floor trapped. They were also taking close looks at everyone who passed them on the stairs. The three hookers started strutting their stuff as if they thought the officers were on the hunt for an on-the-job quickie, and Nate hoped that would give him and his friends the distraction they needed to slip by unnoticed, but Captain Tight-ass of the barked orders suggested he might do something unpleasant with his night-stick if the hookers didn’t move along.

There was nothing to do but walk on by as planned.

Dante hit the landing and continued walking at a steady pace. The officers each took a close look as he went by, but the chances of
him
being recognized were slim. Then it was Nate and Agnes’s turn. They stepped onto the landing, and Nate was painfully aware of all those eyes scanning his face, and, more alarmingly, Agnes’s.

Under normal circumstances, Agnes had approximately zero self-confidence. The kind of girl you’d expect to cower in the corner or hide under the bed at the first sign of trouble. But Nate had already seen what a different person she became when under fire, and he shouldn’t have been surprised that she improvised a new plan in the blink of an eye.

When the officers started looking her over, Agnes affected a sexy pout and stuck out her chest to make the most of her modest assets.

“I gotta date for the next hour,” she said, running her hand seductively over Nate’s chest, “but I’m sure I can fit you boys in afterward if you want.”