Frustrated, Rein waved his hands. “Just go.”
“I’m trusting you,” he said, and disappeared into the corridor.
Ellyssa listened to the fading steps, her gaze turning toward Rein. He watched her with the same amount of intensity and distrust. His eyes raked over her, scrutinizing her, and his jaw clenched so tightly the tendons in his neck jerked. Tensing, Ellyssa scooted against her pillow.
She grasped for his mind and saw herself through his confusion, wondering who she was and why she was there. Although still frail-looking, and her hair comparable to a bird’s nest, her complexion was creamy again. Her strength was returning, and if needed, she could defend herself. His mind kept flashing to the night in the old store.
Never taking his eyes off her, Rein grabbed a chair and rolled it to the end of her cot, then took a seat. His arms, once again, crossed over his chest showing his tenseness, his distrust. He was much younger than she’d originally thought. Twenty, maybe twenty-one. Tanned, angular cheekbones, a straight nose, strong jawline, and hair that was a mess. Completely different than the males at The Center, Ellyssa found his dark features fascinating, attractive in a barbaric sort of way.
Her heart pattered.
“Who are you?” he asked.
She didn’t answer.
He blew out air and rubbed his temple. “Why are you here?” he tried again.
When she didn’t respond, he ran his fingers through his brown hair. “You’re rather irritating.”
Ellyssa’s brow rose slightly.
“You’ve been here for almost a week. We’ve fed you, Doc healed you.”
She stared at him.
“Look, are others coming?” Rein asked. “None of us want to hurt you, but we will if it comes to that.” When she didn’t answer, he rose to his feet and hovered threateningly over the end of the bed.
In less than a heartbeat, Ellyssa’s training came to the forefront. No emotion, only self-preservation. Her muscles tightened, waiting to respond at a moment’s notice. If Rein attacked, she would kill him.
Unmoving, they glared at each other. Then Rein threw his arms in the air and plopped back down in the chair. The wheels squeaked under his weight.
The threat removed, Ellyssa eased back. Warily watching him, she reached into his mind. Although Rein’s face read anger, his insides felt worry, fear, and uncertainty for his friends and family. He couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to them. He cared for them.
She’d never cared for anybody, nor had the emotion been reciprocated. Not by her siblings. Especially not by her father. To him, she was nothing more than a disposable weapon.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He wheeled his chair over to the side of her bed. “Did you say something?”
“Yes, they will send others to find me,” she answered, a bit more loudly.
He frowned. “Are you from Germany?”
Ellyssa thought that to be a strange question. “No. Why?”
“Your accent.”
She shrugged.
“Hmm,” he said, leaning forward. “Are you part of a search team?”
“No. I escaped.”
He leaned closer. “You escaped?”
Rein’s closeness was unexpected. She could feel heat radiating off him. Strangely, her heartbeat quickened. She nodded.
“From where?”
“From The Center.”
Disbelief slackened his jaw, and he scratched the side of his head as if perplexed by an unanswerable question. “The Center? In Chicago? Are you kidding me?”
Ellyssa shook her head.
The next instant, fury contorted Rein’s features as he rose to his feet. He reached for her, but she was already on her feet on the opposite side of the cot. Blinking in surprise, he turned and stalked to the doorway.
“Do you know what you’ve done?” Rein asked. “What I’ve done?”
Waves of dizziness sloshed in Ellyssa’s head from the sudden movement. Her muscles, not expecting the rush of adrenaline, trembled. Her vision swam, and her stomach tossed uncomfortably. She staggered back.
Closing his eyes, Rein ran his hand down his face. “I’m not going to do anything. Get back into bed before you hurt yourself and get me in trouble with Doc.”
Ellyssa edged closer until her knee touched the cot. She wanted to see his true intentions, but the jackhammer had returned and ricocheted inside her skull.
“Please, lie down.”
She hesitated for a second before doing what he asked. The scratchy canvas was welcoming, but the bed seemed to rock.
Rein stayed on the other side of the room, occasionally looking at her, mostly pacing. Ellyssa watched his blurry figure through slitted lids until she heard the doctor’s footfalls.
Doc entered the room and stopped, his gaze jerking back and forth between them. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Your patient found her voice.”
The older man’s mouth puckered. “Oh, really.”
“She’s from The Center. They’ll come for her.”
Doc sat in the chair Rein had abandoned and leaned over with his hands clasped in front of him. “Are you part of a search team?”
Skeptical, Ellyssa didn’t answer.
The doctor patted her hand. This time she didn’t withdraw. “Hon, no one is going to hurt you. We have to know.”
Rein paced behind the chair where the doctor sat, glowering at her as if she were a dangerous animal, worthy to be locked away in a cage. They had no clue how dangerous she could be. “She says she isn’t,” he interrupted.
Doc flashed the familiar smile she found herself growing used to. “Good. Why are you here?”
“She says she escaped.”
Doc tossed Rein a look over his shoulder. “Would you let her speak?”
Rein’s mouth popped open. Fighting back some remark dangling on the edge of his tongue, he pressed his lips together and folded his arms over his chest.
Ellyssa’s eyes moved from the towering male to the soft face of the one who took care of her. “I escaped,” she confirmed.
“Escaped? What do you mean? Were you in trouble?”
Her head felt cloudy, and the rush of words wanting to escape jumbled in her mind. She shook her head. “Not exactly,” she uttered.
Doc took her hand and, even surprising herself, she let him. He didn’t pose a threat, and his touch was warm, gentle…pleasing.
“It’s okay. Take your time.”
Ellyssa nodded.
“Why did you come here?”
“I was called,” she mumbled.
“By who?”
Her eyelids felt so heavy. Her mind whirled. “A man with dark hair.”
“What was his name?”
She felt herself drifting. “I do not know. He was special.” Her eyes opened to the doctor.
“Special?” The voice sounded far away.
“Please.”
“One more question. What’s your name?”
“Ellyssa.”
His grin broadened. “Nice to meet you, Ellyssa. My name is Mathew. Everyone calls me Doc.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting go. “Get some sleep.”
She heard the soft scraping of the wheels as the doctor stood. “Come with me,” he whispered to Rein. Light steps stopped at the doorway. Whispering voices reached her ears.
“We can’t keep her here. It’s too dangerous,” Rein said.
“She’s still not ready to move. Besides, she might have information we need.”
There was a long pause, and she started to sink into darkness. Rein’s deep whisper stirred her.
“Do you think she was talking about Jeremy?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
Who was Jeremy? A vision of the dark-haired man being carried away by the police wavered with a dream-like quality.
Shuffling footsteps went into the hallway and faded down the corridor. The doctor lingered at the entrance for a moment, before she followed his distinct sound to the desk. The chair sighed when he sat. The whisper of pages flipping drifted over and lulled her to sleep.
14
The town of Deepwater looked just like the other five abandoned settlements Angela had searched. Weathered wood and brick buildings. Jagged shards of glass clung to window frames. The few remaining doors hung from rusted hinges.
Angela walked along the brittle red bricks that had once served as a sidewalk. She stepped carefully over the obstacle course of jagged edges and broken chunks. The last thing she needed was an injury.
“Detective Petersen,” Dyllon yelled from behind her.
She turned as the captain jogged up to her. Of course, grinning.
“What can I do for you, Captain?”
“Dyllon.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “Dyllon.”
The captain’s smile widened, and Angela felt elated while her stomach cringed at the same time. “Good news. We have a lead.”
“Where?”
“Over there. The dogs picked up her scent.” He turned and pointed toward an old store.
To Angela’s horror, members of the
team
, all just ill-prepared area police with their green uniforms, were entering the building, carrying equipment, stomping all over the evidence. “What are they doing?”
Dyllon’s brow bunched, as if confused by her question. “Their jobs.”
Finally, the break she’d been waiting for, and his people were in there contaminating the site. She couldn’t believe the stupidity. “Why would you have them go in there before informing me?”
The captain opened his mouth to say something. Frustrated, Angela didn’t give him a chance to respond. “Just never mind,” she said, shoving past him.
Angela ignored his grunt of protest as she rushed down the street to intercept his people. But even with thoughts of the evidence being contaminated, the detective could barely suppress the grin tugging at her lips.
Stupid of the girl to seek cover during a storm. If she could’ve endured, the rain would have washed away her trail, washed away any chance of Angela finding her. Seems the vision of perfection was more flawed than Dr. Hirch believed.
She entered the rundown store with Dyllon on her heels. Thick dust coated everything from the ceiling to the floors. Small dunes formed against the back walls. Between the cracks of the floorboards, seeds had randomly taken root and grown into greenery. Empty shelves, which at one time had lined the walls, decorated the floors now, and an old counter with the glass broken out still held an antique cash register. Must and the underlying pungent scent of ammonia floated in the air and assaulted her senses.
Angela wrinkled her nose.
“Years of animal inhabitants and mold,” Ranger Davis, area expert on what had been formerly known as Henry County, said. He stood against the wall next to the old counter; his long beak-like nose pointed into the air, resembling the snouts of the two German Shepherds sitting next to him. The dogs looked back and forth between the newcomers, their tails beating a tempo against the floor; their long black-spotted tongues lolled out, panting.
Two females and a male from the search party formed a half circle next to a mound of old rags. They looked up as the captain and detective approached.
“Careful where you step,” said a woman, as if Angela was some rookie. Her hair curled like springs and bounced when she knelt down. “Look. There.” Her finger swept across the area. “And there.”
Angela’s eyes followed from the large spot of coagulated dark crimson next to the rotting rags to an area where shoe prints littered the dust.
“And over there.” Curly-head walked over to the crumpled shelves and knelt next to them. “This is recent.” She handed one of the splintered shelves to Angela. Dust streaked across the long planks. Red dots were sprinkled along the grain.
“It seems there was some sort of scuffle.”
“Plus, someone fired a shot,” said the man. His voice was deep, like a trombone.
A large hole left jagged splinters in the wood above a mound of molded tarps. After Angela traced the edges with her fingers, she brought it to her nose. Gunpowder.
“Do you think she was shot?” the other woman asked. Her hair was straight as a pin, and thin. The pink of her scalp showed through the yellowish-blond.
The detective shook her head. “No, there isn’t any splatter.”
“She was taken,” said Dyllon.
“Seems that way,” Angela said while pushing the rags with the tip of her boot.
“Renegades?”
“Who else?”
Ranger Davis shook his head. “There hasn’t been any activity here for years. Even before I took over.”
Angela looked sideways at him. “That doesn’t mean they aren’t here.”
“I’m very thorough at my job.”
“I have no doubt.” She turned to Dyllon. “I want an up-to-date map of this area. Satellite, if possible.”
“No problem.”
“I have all the information back at my office,” Davis said, his voice carrying a hint of indignant annoyance.
“Great. That saves me time,” said Dyllon.
“There has been no activity here. I conduct random patrols and investigate the area thoroughly.”
Angela whipped around to face him, hands planted firmly on her hips. “There
is
activity here. Can you deny the proof?” She waved her hand. “It’s everywhere.”
Apparently, the expert had nothing more to say. He tightened his hold on the dogs’ leashes and stormed out of the store. The way the floor groaned, Angela halfway expected the man to fall through in his tantrum. Once outside, Davis unleashed his companions. The dogs bounded happily out of view.
“I think you made him angry,” Dyllon pointed out.
“Proof is proof. There is a nest of them, somewhere.” She turned toward the woman with the springy hair. “Do a blood analysis against the sample on the shelves and the one on the floor. Also, find the shell casing.”
She cast Dyllon a glance and nodded toward the door. He followed her onto the road. Out of earshot from the others and the disgruntled expert, she turned toward him. “Don’t let the ranger out of your sight.”
“I’ve known Davis for years. I completely trust him.”
Angela’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t.”
Dr. Hirch answered on the first ring. “
Hallo
.” The more he listened to Detective Petersen’s report, the angrier he got. Retrieving his missing daughter was not going as he’d expected. Worse, the incompetent people he, himself, had put in charge were delaying his experiments. “Let me know of any further development.”