Still, it was a lesson learned. We needed to stay on the down-low to avoid Michael and his connections from finding us. Big Brother was still our enemy. But we didn’t need to stay that down-low, so far to the bottom of the barrel that we accidentally ended up in places where cops might come for other reasons. It was enough of a scare that when we’d driven away, I’d pulled over to slosh up a mud mixture on the side of the road. Our burner car’s plates weren’t so easy to read now.
I reached my arms out in front of me, my forearms hovering over the steering wheel until I felt the familiar burn of waking up my muscles. Despite the awkward “bed,” my shoulder wasn’t on fire. As I woke up and shifted, my knee knocked into the center console. It was just enough movement to rouse Cassidy.
She blinked and snuggled tighter into a ball until she abruptly froze. Now, she jerked upright, scanning the SUV in a rushed three-sixty, widening her eyes as though to force them to operation.
“Sorry for waking you,” I said.
She yawned, apparently recognizing where we were. An indifferent meh left her lips. “What time is it?”
We’d turned off the car before we’d claimed lights out. I flicked my wrist and informed her it was just past dawn. Pale-gray skies covered the park’s horizon. Scattered trees broke the overwhelming expanse of the stormy-looking morning. But out here in the state park, there were no Carloses bringing cops near us and there were definitely no surveillance cameras we could be spotted on.
“You get any sleep?” she asked.
I’d been zoning out at the dawning sky, trying to ignore the feeling of doom from the overcast atmosphere. It just looked like it would be a bad day. Turning to face her, I realized she’d been staring at me. I shrugged. “Not really.”
She pursed her lip, as though she didn’t want me to see her frown. “Nightmares?” She rubbed at her shoulder, massaging the bare skin uncovered by her tank top. “I didn’t hear you…”
And she’d already made me out to be that predictable? That I turned into a violent nutcase when I dreamed about Ryan coming after me in prison? Strangely enough, I hadn’t had a nightmare of that psycho last night. Maybe seeing him in the flesh served for more than enough of a visual in my head. I didn’t need my subconscious to remind me of that asshole. Reality was doing that job just fine.
The reality that my worst enemy was somehow collaborating with Cassidy’s newest enemy. I tilted my head, admiring how damn innocent and…delicate she looked as she still woke up, the remnants of drowsiness clouding her eyes. If not for Michael on our trail, I bet she didn’t have any enemies.
“I don’t think I really fell asleep,” I admitted when our staring contest began to feel awkward. Direct eye contact with her never failed to reignite the sexual tension between us. Whether we were tired or rested, the attraction remained sharp. This wasn’t the opportune time to explore it though.
She smirked at me. “You don’t think?”
I shrugged. It was the truth. I rested, yeah. But I was too keyed-up to fully conk out. It didn’t matter anyway. We didn’t have the luxury of turning back time.
“Hopefully tonight…” Cassidy let her words fade.
Was my anxiety about what was going to happen today rubbing off on her? She didn’t want to speculate where we might be at the end of the day? I couldn’t blame her.
I reached over to rub at the back of her neck. “We’ll take it one step at a time.”
She inhaled a shuddering breath and nodded. “All we can do.”
I pressed harder, trying to soothe the tightness in her neck. She’d said we again. Didn’t seem like she’d dreamed about that please-leave crap. Thank God. Because I wouldn’t be so rash to speak my feelings again, but I sure as hell wanted to see her waking up after a good night’s sleep, preferably in a bed where we were both safe.
Keep dreaming, fool.
As she straightened in her seat, I removed my hand from her. “So, we may as well get started.”
I sighed. She was right. Yet it was tempting to at least sit here for a few minutes. A quiet, natural peace. Just the two of us.
“Like now.” She reached for the hoodie she’d discarded during one of her numerous fits of tossing and turning. “Because I gotta pee.”
I chuckled. Now who’s impatient? I started the car. “We’ll head to the bathrooms first thing.”
The park facilities were likely more geared for the empty campsites nearby but we took full use of them. After taking care of business and changing out of what we’d slept in, we headed back into town. We breakfasted on wrapped-up, glorified junk food—a protein bar she’d picked out that was basically candy—and a bag of too-sweet banana chips. We were past due for a normal meal but that, too, fell into the category of things to do after we collected the stuff from Scott’s storage.
“What time do they open?” I asked as I drove around the parking lots nearest to the library. At this early of an hour, the campus was mostly deserted. Some stragglers exited cars and dragged themselves inside the buildings—overworked professors and over-ambitious wannabe profs. Yet I kept my eyes open and my focus on locating Michael. Or Ryan. Still, I couldn’t make sense how a convicted murderer was working with a mutated, supposed cop.
“Eight.”
We had twenty minutes before we’d be permitted to the library’s basement.
“We should keep scoping out the place.”
“Yeah. But we don’t even know what kind of car to look for.”
True, but if we were going to encounter Michael and/or Ryan, I felt our odds might be better out in the open of the parking area. At least our chances of escaping were higher.
We parked nearby not too close to the library. It was hard to believe that it was only yesterday that we’d come here. Time with Cassidy flew through blurring and distorting bursts of time. Adrenaline rushes could do that to a person.
“Let’s recap. We’re going to go to the back of the library and request entrance to the archives in the basement.”
She nodded, twisting her hands together as she stared out the windshield. “Yes. Then we’ll say we want to see Scott’s storage containers, take whatever seems like Project Xol stuff, and then get the hell out of here.”
I’d watched her ramble it all out. Then she turned to face me, showing me how clearly she was nervous about this. Surprising me, she shot her hand out to find mine. “Right? That’s the plan.”
I nodded, returning my attention to scanning our surroundings. No one had walked by or parked in the last few minutes. I wasn’t stupid enough to assume that meant we were in the clear. No. Not only would we need to watch each other’s backs out here, but we’d also need to be cautious inside the library—in case Michael had slipped in earlier than the opening hour.
“Then after we get out of here…” I sighed, rubbing at the stubble on my jaw.
“We have to find Rosa. Between Zero and us, we’ll find her. She couldn’t have sent me on this…this mission if she didn’t expect me to bring her this stuff.”
I squeezed her hand, hoping that would be the case. Because as we stalled in the car, waiting for the library to officially open its doors, I had a bad hunch that hanging on to Scott’s data might make things even more dangerous.
Michael—and whoever he really worked for—was intent on getting what Cassidy was to retrieve. And I didn’t want to have us targeted for even longer once we obtained it.
Especially not if Ryan is working with him.
Nerves sparked along my spine, feeding the anxiety and uneasiness about going for this lost data. No, not lost, hidden. I glanced at my watch, knowing we shouldn’t stall any longer out here.
“Ready?” I asked.
She gulped and shook her head. “Fuck no.”
I wanted to smile at her reliable honesty, but I felt the same.
“In-and-out. We’ll get the files and leave.”
“Okay,” she answered meekly.
I exited the car and met her on the passenger side. Holding
hands, we left the car. I beeped it to lock and shoved the key in my pocket. Cassidy breathed quickly, like she knew she’d need to bolt to safety.
“You got the key?” I asked.
“Yeah, the right one this time.”
It surprised me that she was still bitter about not having followed Rosa’s directions the first time. It was only a misunderstanding. But Cassidy was quickly proving to be a woman who wanted to please others.
She tightened one of the backpack straps as we jogged up the stairs to the library. Securing it closer to her body reduced the jostling noise of our possessions as we trotted forward.
8:01. As soon as we reached the double glass doors, a college-aged worker unlocked them. He pushed them open and held one side out, gesturing for us to enter. A combined stench of weed and coffee wafted from him as we passed by.
The cavernous space was no different than the day before. Towers and rows of books. Computers along workstations, all lonely and waiting for people to stroll by and research or study on them. Forest-green carpet spread forever, the curly golden motifs swirling in a symmetrical border. It was the same, but an oppressive sense of doom settled in. Darker corners seemed more ominous. Shadows around bookcases were riskier. The quiet—that was the worst. Yesterday, it was silent over here near the entrance, but there weren’t even any faraway buzzes and thuds of construction.
It was too still. Too quiet.
I glanced at Cassidy, hating the anxiety that widened her eyes and forced her breathing to quicken. Her grip in my hand was still as tight as it had been when we’d gotten out of the SUV.
Just go. Get it over with. They literally just opened the doors and we had to have beaten Michael and Ryan here.
I hurried forward, leading Cassidy to the back of the library. As we approached, our footsteps silent on the plush carpet, I refused to lock my gaze on the desk where we’d tried to check in the day before. No one stood or sat sentry there, playing Candy Crush and telling us we couldn’t get into archives. I wasn’t sure if the absence of a worker was a good thing or bad—
Cassidy gasped and yanked back on my arm. It wasn’t enough. Her pull on me wasn’t strong enough to stop me in my tracks. Michael stood in front of us, landing like a cat launching to the floor. He rose from a crouched position, and I realized belatedly that he had. He’d jumped down from the ledge of the fat bookcase that lined our path. I’d been too focused on scanning every nook and cranny at floor level.
Fuck.
“I’ve been waiting all night for you.”
He’d staked us out. Goddammit. Cassidy was right. We should have planned ahead. Prepared a backup plan or ensured some kind of defense other than a single knife. Our idea to be on the offensive—coming to the library first thing—was a fail.
Cassidy tucked into my side and I took a step forward, blocking her the best I could. She inhaled sharply and spun, looking behind us. “He…” She breathed it more than whispered. “Ryan.”
We were trapped. Michael stalking toward us, that beastly killer the only obstacle to the entrance to the archives in the basement. It was right there. Yards away. We were so close but had never been so far. And behind us waited my enemy.
My heart jackhammered and I concentrated on keeping my breaths steady. I blinked, trying to keep my vision focused as everything seemed to blur. The library’s quiet washed over me like a suffocating blanket. The only sounds I could make out were Cassidy’s panted rushes of air. I clenched my fist as Michael headed toward us.
No scars lined his face from Cassidy’s nails. There wasn’t a single bruise, black eye, or swollen injury to see on his face or arms. Only perfectly tan skin that failed to hide his grotesquely large muscles. A mutant who liked to work out like a steroid punk. Or maybe Project Xol’s cure took place of the ’roids.
With my peripheral vision, I took stock of how shitty our situation was. We were lined to the sides by solid, tall shelves of books. Thick, fat hardbound tomes, not dinky paperbacks. Books and wood walled us in. Michael and Ryan holed us into this lane. But there was no other way. It was the only path that opened to the archive entrance. We couldn’t have avoided coming this way and regret didn’t matter in the face of survival.
Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe. Would it be the sedative or something else this time? Fury sparked at the sight of the Daysun logo visible between his meaty fingers. Daysun. Dale. The man my brother listened to and believed. My fight was even deeper than just sticking this out with Cassidy. But I could only manage one battle at a time.
He narrowed his eyes at Cassidy. “We’re going to head downstairs and you’re going to give me the data.”
I gritted my teeth, flaring my nostrils at his command. The hell we would. Cassidy pressed into me, her entire body shaking. She moved us toward the bookshelf to the left, and we turned together, enabling us to see both of the men at the same time.
“Fuck this. I’m done waiting around.” Ryan ended his complaint with a sneer and taking my attention off Michael long enough to see him was the only mistake I’d make.
They rushed at us and we met in a confusion of limbs and hard smacks of bodies. I shoved Cassidy to the ground and behind me as Ryan barreled into me. Michael dove, aiming for her. I punched, kicked, and elbowed them. I couldn’t tell which freak I was striking, but finding only rock-hard muscle, I knew I was at least not hurting Cassidy by accident.
Ryan yelled and grunted as I started to secure my arm around his neck. I could have gained the upper hand, but Michael stood from pinning Cassidy to the floor, the needle in his mouth, and kicked me in the side. Electric pain radiated from the impact, but he was too low, hitting more on my hipbone than my stomach.
What felt like a blurred hurricane of pain and fear was only moments of chaos in this usually peaceful building. I begged for someone—anyone to come investigate. How no one could hear this frenzy of violence—
“Run,” I grunted to Cassidy around my breaths. Ryan slammed me back to the bookshelf and dense copies of encyclopedias littered down on us. The corner of one jabbed into the still tender area of my shoulder and I roared. In a fumbling, uncoordinated dance, I struggled to maintain a lethal hold on Ryan. We stumbled over books and toward the unmanned check-in counter. Like a furious bull trying to buck me off, Ryan jumped, throwing my lower back against the edge of the wooden desktop.
Cassidy squirmed and wriggled, trying to get Michael off of her. As he released one hand from hers, reaching for the syringe, she groped for one of the books on the floor and smashed it up at his face. The syringe went flying. Growling, he closed his hand around her neck.
“Let go of her!” I bellowed the order, anger coursing through my every cell. As soon as I could get rid of this motherfucker elbowing me, Michael was dead. Until my last breath, I’d fight to end him.
Cassidy gaped, gasping for breath. Her fingers scrambled at Michael’s hand and I resisted letting go of Ryan to help her.
With one hand on Cassidy’s neck, Michael dragged her off the carpet and raised her in the air. His other hand fisted and whipped to her stomach. Her watery eyes winced shut.
“Let her go!”
As I watched Cassidy claw for Michael’s hand, I noticed Ryan had ceased fighting me back, remaining still in my chokehold. I clenched my jaw and gripped harder, determined to just kill him once and for all. Cassidy needed me. We needed someone. Anyone. Some help, goddammit. My increased pressure around Ryan’s thick neck made no difference. Without a flinch, he stood there. He was too still, but not as a deadweight. He wasn’t fooling me—he’d stopped fighting back for a reason—if not to save himself. What was he up to? If he was going to try to turn the tables and retaliate, I didn’t want to be so close to him.
“Hey!” a new voice entered the melee of grunts, growls, and yells.
Finally. Fucking finally, someone came to rescu—
“Hands up!”
The security officer had just entered my line of sight, two of them actually. Gray-unif
ormed men, one younger and one older, ran around the bookcase of upended books, tasers pointed out.
As soon as they’d arrived, Ryan raised a hand, reached to his waist, and brought up a gun. One shot. A pop more than a blast since the handgun had a suppressor.
So much for help. I hadn’t even had the time to access Ryan for a weapon, as fast as he and Michael had jumped on us. Now that he had one, and was seemingly impervious to being strangled—
Shit.
He wrenched around, strapping an arm over my shoulders and tucking me into his side. As he raised his arm, I crouched away, deflecting him from hitting me with the weapon. It still caught me on the cheek. Where he promptly pointed the trigger. Blood trickled down to my lips and I licked them, my stare on the other security guard.
“Hands—” It was the younger guy. Maybe twenty-something. Barely legal and about to piss his pants if the wide-eyed terror is his eyes was any indication. “Hands up,” he got out a little stronger. His lips trembled and tears beckoned at his eyes. With shaking hands, he kept the taser pointed at Ryan and reached down for his gun on his belt.
“Fuck off.” Ryan flexed his arm as though to reemphasize he already had his weapon at the ready, even if it was on me. “I’ll kill him if you don’t fuck off.”
I gritted my teeth, my hands curled so tight I tremored with rage. His voice. That sneering, cocky tone that promised hell. I never thought I’d hear it again. Michael released Cassidy, and she slumped to the ground. Her hands went to her neck and she gasped for air.
“Drop— Please, drop your weapon.” The kid had one hand on his gun but he didn’t finish raising it as he plead with Ryan.
Cassidy scrambled back from the shot man on the ground. Tears streamed down her face as she darted her red stare from the dead man lying next to her, to me, then to Michael as he advanced toward the inept guard. As Michael stepped over the fallen guard on the floor, he kicked at Cassidy’s side.
Michael raised his firearm and aimed it at the guard’s head. Leveling a sinister glare to Cassidy, he said, “You want this kid to live, cooperate.”
Lost: Project Xol Page 10
