Chain Reaction

by Rebecca York

  He groaned as her tongue stroked his teeth, then slid along the side of his tongue. He remembered how good she was at kissing. He’d found that out on their first date.

  Now she was reminding him of what he’d been missing all these weeks.

  His hand slid around the back of her head so that his fingers could winnow into the blond mass. Her hair was thick and bouncy, the familiar feel of it adding to the web of sensuality.

  He reached to cup her breast, cradling the soft, supple mound, his fingers stroking the hardened tip.

  But she stopped his hand with shaky fingers. “Lie back. Let me do everything.”

  “Everything?” he asked, feeling his own grin.

  “Oh, yes.”

  It was too dark for him to see her clearly. But every other sense was working overtime. He drank in her wonderful taste. Felt the lines of her body. Wrapped himself in her familiar scent, in the intensity of his desire for her.

  No other woman had satisfied him the way she could. But he’d been so busy with the Cranesbrook job that it had been weeks since they’d made love.

  Now that she was in his arms again, it was heavenly.

  He might have told her to turn on the lamp so he could see her leaning over him, but she was keeping him far too occupied for independent thought.

  Blood pounded hotly through his veins.

  “Lily, please,” he gasped.

  She made a small sound of assent. With her mouth still on his, she began to unbutton his shirt, slipping her hand inside, combing through his chest hair.

  “It’s a little awkward trying to make love like this. I could move around better if you’d unfasten my other hand,” she whispered.

  “Yeah.”

  He hadn’t told her how easy it was to get out of the rope, from his end at least. All he had to do was work the loop down his wrist and over his hand.

  Quickly he freed her. “Okay?”

  “Yes.”

  She spoke only that one syllable. But something about the low tone of her voice and the sudden tension in her body must have warned him, because he suddenly knew he was in big trouble.

  Chapter Six

  Gage’s instincts were good. He jolted to the side, just as something hard came down with a thunk on the spot where his head had been.

  Instead, a crack of agony reverberated through his shoulder.

  His curse of pain echoed his wife’s gasp of fear.

  “What the hell?” he growled.

  In the dark, he could see only shadows. But he spotted Lily jumping up and bolting for the door.

  Ignoring his throbbing shoulder, he pushed himself to his feet and sprinted after her.

  She had reached the hall when his good arm shot out and captured her.

  With one large hand, he caught her two wrists in his. Still holding her captive, he marched her back to the sofa, then fumbled for the lamp on the end table. When he found the shade and not the metal base, he realized what had happened.

  While he’d been sleeping, she’d been plotting how to get away. First she’d wiggled her way over to the lamp. The next part of her plan had been getting him to untie her. After that, she was going to bash him on the head and get the hell out of there.

  His curse made her cringe.

  Afraid to let go of her until he saw the lay of the land, he dragged her back to the doorway and found the wall switch. They both blinked in the sudden brightness.

  “Nice try,” he growled.

  She looked scared, but defiant. “What did you expect me to do?” she demanded.

  “Not pretend you wanted to make love with me, then try to kill me.”

  She raised her chin. “I wasn’t trying to kill you. I just wanted to knock you out. And get away.”

  “You might not have intended to kill me, but it could have worked out that way if you’d left me here, bleeding into the brain.”

  She sucked in a breath, then went on the attack again. “Like you didn’t intend to kill that janitor?”

  “Nothing I did to him would have caused his death,” he said.

  “If you’d let me go, I wouldn’t have had to hit you.”

  “Right,” he answered, working to contain his anger. “You’re stuck with me for the time being. So you might as well get used to it.” He considered the recent incident. “But we have changed the equation. No way am I going to sleep next to you.”

  With a huffing sound, she lay down.

  He attached the free cuff to the sofa arm again, being careful not to make eye contact. He wasn’t feeling too good about the previous episode. He’d thought she wanted him, and all she’d been trying to do was escape.

  That hurt more than the blow to his shoulder. Unfortunately, it also made him wonder again if he really was out of touch with reality. He’d read her so wrong. Of course, that had been her goal all along. She’d wanted him to think they were back together as a couple, so she’d started making love to him.

  Because he was so vulnerable, he’d accepted without question what she’d seemed to be offering. Well, he’d better be on his guard now

  No, stop thinking that way, he silently ordered himself. How about rethinking your stupid decision to hold her captive? But that would mean driving her away from the estate and finding another place to hide out, both of which were too much to tackle at the moment.

  “I’ll let you go in the morning,” he said.

  “Oh, sure.”

  He figured there was no use trying to convince her of his good intentions. Careful not to touch her again, he laid one of the comforters on the table near her head, in case she wanted a cover, then he took one of the pillows and the other comforter to the far side of the room and spread it on the floor.

  Lying down, he wedged the pillow under his head. But now he was thinking that if Lily somehow managed to get loose, she’d tiptoe into the kitchen, get a knife and assault him.

  That was ridiculous, he told himself. She didn’t want to kill him. She only wanted to get away.

  Right?

  In the dim light, he turned his head toward her. She was lying on the sofa. Then, as if she sensed that he was watching her, she rolled to her side and drew her legs up, facing the cushions and effectively shutting him out.

  AS PART of his interviews, Rand had asked the Five Star employees about other jobs the company worked. He’d found out they also installed security systems, and one of the men had given him a list of installation jobs. The information provided a whole new avenue of exploration.

  After taking a quick shower and changing his clothes, he sat down to call Richard, just as his phone rang.

  It was his partner.

  “I was just getting ready to call you,” Rand said.

  “About?”

  “You go first.”

  “I’ve been out to Beech Grove.”

  “You were up early.”

  “Yeah. And I did find fresh bullet holes in a couple of tree trunks.”

  “So Darnell wasn’t lying about that.”

  “Or he saw somebody outside taking target practice.”

  “Unlikely,” Rand muttered.

  “I’ve got a CSI team digging out the slugs. What did you have for me?” Richard asked.

  “I’ve figured out a couple of locations where Darnell could be hiding out.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  Rand explained his theory, then said, “I’ll meet you at the office, and we can plot our strategy from there.”

  AROUND DAWN, Gage gave up the idea of sleeping. And from the way Lily looked, he was pretty sure she hadn’t slept either.

  As he sat in the chair facing the sofa, he clenched and unclenched his hands.

  “Want some breakfast?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “There’s instant coffee.”

  “No thanks.”

  “What, are you on a hunger strike?” he asked.

  “Maybe if I pass out, you’ll be forced to take me to the hospital.”

  “Interesting theory
.” He sighed. He’d started off thinking that telling his wife about his new talent was the wrong approach. Now he was sure that was the only way to get her on his side.

  Unless it went the other way and he convinced her that he was a freak. But since she was already hostile, he figured he didn’t have much to lose.

  “Please just listen. I’m going to let you go. But first I want to tell you what I think happened at Cranesbrook. And after that.”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  He sighed and plowed ahead. “Cranesbrook had a Defense Department contract. Maybe it’s actually something that’s technically illegal.”

  “Oh, sure,” she muttered.

  “Or maybe somebody there was conducting an illegal experiment, and it blew up in my face. At any rate, they’re trying to cover something up, so they stowed me in Beech Grove and wouldn’t let me talk to anyone. Don’t you think it’s a little strange that they wouldn’t even let me see you?”

  She didn’t speak, so he plowed ahead.

  “But I screwed up their plans by escaping, and they went into a panic. Now they’re thinking if the cops kill me, I can’t tell anyone about what happened.”

  “Do you know how insane that sounds?” she asked, then sucked in a sharp breath when she realized what she’d said.

  “I can prove that they were doing something pretty strange. Wait here.”

  She gave a hollow laugh. “I’m handcuffed to the sofa. I’ll be here when you get back.”

  He walked down the hall to the kitchen and picked up a stainless-steel knife and fork from the cutlery drawer.

  She was looking toward the hall when he stepped into the room again. “What’s that?”

  “Some implements for demonstration purposes.”

  He handed her the knife and fork.

  “What am I supposed to do with them?”

  “Make sure they’re solid, sturdy. See if you can bend them in your hands.”

  “What is this—some kind of magic act?”

  “Yeah.”

  She tried to bend the knife and the fork, with no success, then set them down on the coffee table.

  After giving the cutlery a long look, he raised his eyes to Lily again. “I ran into the lab and then there was an explosion. And I woke up in the hospital, strapped to a bed.”

  “You already told me that part.”

  “You asked me how I got loose, and I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d think I was lying. Or worse. But I think giving you some solid evidence might help you understand what’s going on.”

  She tried to project that she wasn’t very interested in what he had to say, but he caught a subtle change in her demeanor.

  “There were leather cuffs around my wrists. They were buckled tight, and I started wishing that they would loosen and they did.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I didn’t know what it meant then. I thought I had just gotten lucky. But I got free of the restraints, and when I made it out of the building, I started running across the grounds. Did I tell you someone was shooting at me?”

  Her head jerked up, but she kept her expression neutral. “So you say.”

  “Ask the police if they found any bullets embedded in the trees.”

  “How can I do that if you’re holding me captive?”

  Ignoring the comment, he continued. “I ran into the woods before the guy with the gun could put a bullet in my back. Only, then I came to a metal fence, and I knew I was too weak to climb over. But I pulled on the bars, and they opened up.”

  She made a snorting sound.

  He picked up the knife and fork, then flattened his hand and held the implements balanced across his palm.

  Seeing he had Lily’s full attention, he focused on the utensils. But he was nervous. This wasn’t like the other tests. This was in front of his wife. At first nothing happened.

  When he heard Lily sigh, he clamped his lower lip between his teeth, then tried harder. Finally, something began to change. The metal started to soften so that he could slowly bend the shafts around each other while they still lay on his flattened palm.

  Raising his gaze, he stared at Lily. Her eyes had gone round. “How…how did you work that trick?” she asked in a shaky voice.

  He kept his own voice low and even. “With my mind.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “Yeah. It should be. But after I came to in the hospital, I found out I could do stuff nobody else can. Like I told you, that’s how I got out of the cuffs.”

  He set the knife and fork down on the table. Feeling more confident now, he reversed the process, using his thoughts to straighten the cutlery out again. The utensils clanked against the wood surface as they assumed their former shape—only neither one of them was quite as straight as it had been before he’d twisted them.

  Gingerly, with her free hand, Lily reached out and picked up the fork, testing its tensile strength and running her fingers over the metal as though she expected it to be made out of rubber.

  “No trick,” he said.

  She put the fork down and looked at him. “And you developed that…after the lab accident?”

  “Yes. I think they’re worried that something strange happened to me. That’s why they were holding me captive where nobody could interview me. That’s why they don’t want me on the loose.” He’d said something similar earlier. A few minutes ago, she’d dismissed his explanation out of hand. Now she was listening.

  But when she pressed against the sofa back, he realized that his demonstration might not have had the desired effect. He’d wanted Lily to believe that he was telling the truth because he’d thought that would justify what he’d done.

  At the moment it looked more like she was afraid of him.

  “I’m the same guy,” he assured her.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I didn’t kill anybody. I just got the hell out of that asylum.”

  He watched her swallow, watched her consider what she’d just seen and what he was saying.

  “I’m sorry I kidnapped you,” he added in a low voice. “That was a mistake.”

  “Yes,” she answered, but she didn’t sound entirely positive. “Maybe you can even consider the situation from my point of view.”

  When she didn’t speak further, he admitted, “I’ve handled this wrong.” He hitched in a breath. “I wanted you with me.”

  “Why?” she whispered.

  “Because…I love you,” he answered.

  She stared at him. “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “What part?” he asked.

  “If you loved me, you would have considered my welfare.”

  “I was too needy for that,” he admitted. “I’m sorry.” It was time for honesty. Way past time. “Before the explosion, I was all wound up with my job. I was a fool to be neglecting you, to neglect what we created together.”

  “You’ve picked a funny time for a heart-to-heart talk.”

  “I finally figured out what a jerk I’ve been. I hope it’s not too late.”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered.

  “Even if you…” He swallowed and started again. “Even if you don’t feel the same about me, I hope you believe that lab accident got me exposed to a chemical that…that gave me weird powers. And I hope you believe I didn’t kill that janitor.”

  Before she could answer, a loud noise from outside made them both jump.

  “Gage Darnell, this is the police. We know you’re in there. We have the house surrounded. Put down your weapons and come out with your hands in the air.”

  Chapter Seven

  Gage went rigid. Muttering a curse, he moved toward the edge of the window, pulled the curtains aside and looked out. Five patrol cars and an unmarked were pulled up in the driveway.

  Apparently the cops had been smarter—and more persistent—than he’d realized. They must have gone back through the records of Five Star looking at the past jobs his company had taken on,
then come upon the Wilson estate. When they’d checked out the place, they’d found a car stolen from a parking lot in the Baltimore Inner Harbor area. And now they were outside with a bullhorn and a SWAT team.

  He threw a look at Lily. Nothing was settled between them, and he had no idea what would happen now.

  “What are you going to do? Use me as a shield again?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because this isn’t two detectives showing up at our house. They have a SWAT team out there, and you could get hurt.” He gave her a regretful look. “I think you were finally starting to believe me. Too bad about the cops.”

  Walking toward her, he held his hand near the handcuff that held her to the sofa arm, and the lock snapped open. She blinked, then pulled her hand free.

  OUTSIDE, Rand and Richard stood behind their unmarked car, watching the SWAT team move into position.

  They’d checked out several locations where Darnell had put in security systems. At the Wilson mansion, they’d hit pay dirt.

  A car stolen from the Inner Harbor was hidden in the woods. Odds were Gage and Lily Darnell were in the house. Hopefully, the fugitive hadn’t hurt his wife. But this was a tricky situation since there was no reason to assume that he was going to come out quietly.

  Richard raised the bullhorn again. “This is the Maryland State Police. Gage Darnell, we have you surrounded. Come out with your hands up.”

  There was no answer.

  “How long do we give him?” Richard asked his partner.

  “I don’t want the wife to get hurt.”

  “Did you just see the curtains move over there?” Richard asked, inclining his head slightly toward the right side of the building.

  “Uh-huh.”

  He signaled to the leader of the SWAT team, and the man came over to confer with them.

  GAGE LET GO of the curtain. The two guys in suits partially blocked by an unmarked car looked a lot like the cops who had come to his house the night before. They must have been up all night digging for information on their murder suspect.