Rough Edges (28 page)

V
ictor met Adam in the back booth of a small diner outside of town. “Were you able to get it?”

Adam pushed a padded envelope across the table. “I had to break about ten laws, but yes. I got it. If you'd called any later, it would have been in the evidence locker and completely out of reach.”

Victor looked inside the envelope and saw the tracking signal receiver matching the device Bella had planted on Randolph.

“Stynger had protocols for checking for tracking devices. There's no way that made it past her security.”

“Maybe not, but it was live when Bella tagged him. If it gets us closer, then it's better than what we have now.”

“I want my brother back as badly as you want Bella. I've been calling in every favor I have, using every resource at my disposal. I'm desperate to get him out of Stynger's hands, but we have to be careful. If any of this looks too easy, it's because Stynger is luring us in. It would be just like her to make us think we have a shot so she can be there waiting, goons armed and ready to mow us down.”

“I'll be careful. We know she'll move soon. If we get close, then maybe we have a chance to see the activity on satellite. It's got to be quite an endeavor to move that many people and that much equipment.”

“She always did it in stages. Moved slowly over time, at night. She employed various types of trucks, following different paths. Believe me, if we've thought of using it against her, she's already covered it. The woman is smart. Cunning.”

“You probably know her better than anyone. She's got to have a weakness.”

Adam shook his head. “She has a tendency to be a bit overconfident, but not often. There's a reason we haven't caught her yet, and it's not for lack of trying.”

“I have to try. Even if Bella would normally be able to fight her way free, she's injured. I could see in her eyes that she wasn't thinking clearly. She looked confused and disoriented.”

“I'll back your play. Payton should be able to join us soon.”

“I figured he'd be detained for a while,” Victor said.

“That man has more favors saved up than anyone alive. When I was at the precinct, he was cashing all of them in to get out of there.”

“Did you bring the gear I asked for?”

Adam nodded. “I did. Mira's in, too, but she's doing it from a distance. I'm not risking her life ever again. I still have nightmares about what she went through with her father.”

“I understand. Mira's more use in front of a keyboard, anyway.”

“She already did a scan for all of Bella's personal trackers. The ones in her keys, her purse, her dog tags, her car . . . they're all dead. If she was wearing one, Stynger found it.”

“Could there be any others we don't know about?”

Adam shook his head. “Mira knows them all. I'm sorry.”

“At least she tried.”

“What's your plan?” asked Adam.

“We go to the place where the tracker Bella planted on Randolph was last detected and see what's there.”

“Mira did that.”

“And?”

“There was nothing. It was in the middle of nowhere, miles from any paved roads.”

“Just the kind of place Stynger likes, away from prying eyes,” Victor said.

“That's what I thought, too.”

“Care to join me?”

Adam grinned. “I was hoping you'd ask.”

*   *   *

Jordyn went straight to Gage's room, toddler in tow. She didn't dare let the boy out of her sight for fear of what Mother might do.

Jordyn had riled the beast. It was only a matter of time before it came back to bite her.

The boy fell asleep in her arms within minutes, exhausted from crying. His fingers were in his mouth, drool painting his chin. She walked with purpose, head high and forcing herself to look each guard in the eye as she passed so they wouldn't question her presence with the child.

When she came to Gage's door, she shot the guard an expectant look, then glanced pointedly at the knob. “My hands are full,” she said with curt impatience.

The guard hurried to let her in, shutting and locking the door behind her.

Gage woke immediately as she walked in. She could see a haze of drugs clouding his eyes, but she didn't doubt for a second that he was alert enough to do whatever needed to be done.

His gaze moved to the child. Something in his face shifted, softening his expression. He nodded once as if resolved to something, then eased himself upright. “Friend of yours?”

“Mother was going to torture him. I decided not to let it happen.”

“Good choice.”

She kissed the top of the boy's head, marveling in the softness of his skin. “One I'll pay for later, no doubt. Which is why I intend to be gone from here soon. How are you feeling?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“Are we walking out or running?”

“Mother won't let us leave. We're going to have to fight our way free.”

“Weapons?” he asked.

She didn't know if she could get her hands on anything conventional, but there was a chance she could come up with something. There were some tranquilizer guns they used on lab animals. One of them might go a long way toward getting free. “I'll see what I can do. But I can't take him with me and I don't dare leave him alone.”

Gage scooted over on the bed, wincing as he moved. “There's room here.”

“You'll guard him?”

He nodded slowly, giving her the oddest stare, like he was making plans that involved her somehow. “With my life.”

“You should get all the sleep you can. You're going to need your strength.”

He grinned. “Yes, ma'am.”

She settled the boy on the bed next to him. His thick arm cradled the child, keeping him from rolling onto the floor. In that moment she knew she'd made the right choice. Gage wouldn't let anything happen to the toddler. Not even Mother.

“I'll be back as soon as I can. If you don't see me in one hour, find a way out without me.”

“Not going to happen,” he said.

She nodded toward the boy. “He needs you to make it happen.”

Gage was silent for a long time, simply staring at her like he was coming to some kind of decision. She was just about to say something when he broke his gaze and looked at her lab coat pocket. “I need your pen.”

She handed it to him without question. If he wanted to write a note for a loved one, or pen some kind of hate letter to Mother, that was fine with her. Whatever got him ready to move when the time came. “Anything else?”

“There's something you should know.”

“What? There's not a lot of time to do what I need to do. There are no guarantees Mother won't come for me to punish me before we get free. If she does, it will be days before I can walk again. I need all the time I can get to find weapons and clear our path.”

He hesitated for a second, then shook his head. “It can wait. Stay sharp.”

She nodded. “One hour, Gage. No longer.”

“I'll be here.”

B
ella woke up with her head splitting into fragments of pain. She tried to reach for her skull to hold the pieces together, but her arms wouldn't move. Panic cleared away a bit of the fog and forced her to open her eyes.

Light drilled through her eyeballs and into her skull. The pounding increased until she was barely staving off the urge to puke.

“I'd rather you not choke on your own vomit,” said a woman. “You have far too much potential to die like that.”

The whole surface under Bella spun until she was upright, suspended by a series of wide straps. A pair of black high heels on the ends of scrawny legs came into her field of view. She followed those legs upward, recognizing the sticklike figure of a woman Bella knew all too well.

Dr. Norma Stynger's bright red mouth curved in a smile. “Better?” she asked with mock concern.

“Where am I? How did I get here?”

“Randolph brought you here as a courtesy. I heard you were dead, but I can see that report was premature.”

“Why am I here?”

“I understand you've been looking for me. I've been hoping we might have the chance to meet.”

Cold dread settled over Bella's skin. “Where is Gage?”

Stynger ignored the question. “How's your head? You took a nasty blow. I stitched you up, but I'm afraid you've sustained a concussion. It's a shame, really. I'd hoped to give you the best odds.”

“Odds of what?”

“Surviving the surgery, of course.”

Bella didn't need to hear more to understand exactly what the woman was going to do to her. She'd seen it too many times in others—the scar at the base of the skull. The implants that were driven into people's brains, turning them into little more than mindless puppets. “I'll die before I let you do that to me.”

Stynger continued as if Bella hadn't spoken a word. “I'd like to wait until the swelling goes down, but there just isn't time. I need you ready for transport too soon. And the first twenty-four hours are . . . precarious.”

Bella strained against the straps holding her in place. Not only were they too secure for her to break, the effort made her head throb.

“You really should rest while you can. I'll be back in a few hours to check on you. I have a couple of arrangements to finish for our relocation, but I should be able to start the surgery tonight. Most of my female subjects didn't survive, but you're stronger than they were. I'm sure of it.” She patted Bella's arm. “You're going to wake up tomorrow feeling like a new woman. Assuming you wake up at all.”

*   *   *

There was no way in hell Gage was leaving Jordyn behind. Not only was she carrying his child, she was far too kind to deal with the level of psychotic violence Stynger could dish out.

The little boy snoozing beside him proved just how low the bitch would go.

Rage tried to gain a foothold in Gage's chest, but he took deep breaths, staving it off as much as he could. Jordyn wasn't the only one who needed to stay sharp and focused. He did as well.

He'd almost told her about the baby. She had a right to know. But he didn't dare take the chance that the shock would slow her down or distract her. She was determined to do what needed to be done to free them. For now that had to be enough.

As soon as they were out of here he'd tell her. He didn't know her well enough to have a clue how she'd react, but whatever her reaction, he'd deal with it then.

He had to admit that she looked comfortable holding the little boy. There was no awkwardness or hesitance. Her instincts to protect him had taken hold and compelled her to act. It was the kind of thing any good mother would do.

That reassured Gage on a level so deep he hadn't even realized how worried he'd been.

He pulled the sheet up over his lap to hide his actions from the cameras he was certain had to be watching. He unscrewed the pen and used the clip to make quick work of picking the lock on his handcuffs. Once that was done, he screwed it back together and readied it to be used as a stabbing weapon if the shit hit the fan.

An hour was a long wait—more than enough time for excrement to start flying.

B
ella was sweating and panting from her efforts to get free when the door opened and Randolph walked in.

“Didn't think I'd see you again,” she said. “Figured you'd be slinking off with your reward by now.”

“Stynger and I don't see eye to eye on my pay for the job of bringing you in. I decided to take my own benefits where I could find them.”

There had been a time when Bella had liked this man. He'd been easy to laugh, good at his job and even better with a rifle. If not for his overconfidence and a morally gray streak that made him genetically incapable of following the rules even when he had no reason not to, he would have been an asset to the company. He'd fooled her for a while, covering up his mistakes with grand, nearly heroic stories. But eventually she'd figured it out. He was just one more cocky asshole with a gun and a desire to pull the trigger as often as possible.

“Here for a little slap and tickle, heavy on the slap?” she asked.

He snorted. “Don't flatter yourself. I prefer my women a little softer than rawhide.”

“At least now I know you like women. I always wondered.” The straps holding her to the steel table cut into her skin. It took all her willpower not to keep working to loosen them.

A rolling table draped with a blue cloth sat in one corner of the room. He pulled the cloth away to reveal an array of surgical instruments.

Bella's blood froze solid, stopping her heart for a few painful seconds. She had to take several breaths before she could find enough air to speak. When she did, she tried not to sound as terrified as she was. “So, is this the part where you exact your pound of flesh, then?”

He ran his finger over the instruments as if trying to decide which one to use first. “You know what your problem is?”

“I'm strapped to this fucking table?” she asked. “You could fix that, you know. Let me free. We could sit down and discuss your grievances. If it will make you feel better, I could go back and redo your performance evaluations. Add team player to the list of your attributes.”

“You never think things through,” he said, as if she hadn't spoken. “That's your problem. You charge in, certain you know exactly what's going on when you really only have half of the story.”

“Are you saying I only know half of your story? And that if I'd known the whole thing I wouldn't have fired you? Feel free to enlighten me.”

He picked up a scalpel and tested its edge on his forearm, cleanly slicing away the hair there. “I was finally getting my shit together when I came to work for you. My parents were proud. My ex stopped bitching that I never paid her child support. Hell, even my bookie was smiling.”

“If you liked your job so much, then why did you kill that kid?”

“You say I don't follow orders, but that's exactly what I was doing at the time. You said to take out the hostiles. They were shooting at our principal's motorcade. We had every right to defend him and ourselves.”

“You had no right to shoot a child.”

“She had no right to be in the way. They were using her as a fucking human shield.”

“I don't care!” Bella shouted, making her head pound. “You find another way. You don't mow through innocents.”

“It's not like her life would have been worth living. Poverty, squalor, life as some man's property. I was doing her a favor.”

“Yeah? Maybe someone should have done you that favor when you were a kid and saved us all the trouble of locking you up now.”

He balled up his fist and hit her. She didn't even see it coming. Her already concussed head screamed in agony, and her vision dimmed for a few seconds.

When her bell stopped ringing, he had her hair in his fist and his face only inches from hers. “See what I mean? You never think.”

“Kinda hard to think when you're scrambling my brains like that. How about you let a girl free and we'll fight it out like men.”

Randolph laughed. “I just bet you would have liked to have been born with a dick.”

“I bet you would have, too.”

His expression tightened into a snarl. She was sure he was going to hit her again, but instead he backed away and went to the little table of instruments. “I'm done letting you get under my skin, because in a few hours, Stynger is going to get under yours. She's going to shove one of her toys in your brain, and you'll know exactly what it's like to have someone boss you around.”

“No, thanks. I'll pass, honey.”

He picked up an electric razor. “No more passes,
honey
. Time to prep you for surgery.”