Reclaim: Project Xol

by Amabel Daniels

  I could have sworn I’d heard them say something about a tío when they separated us.

  “They wanted to hang me by my hands.”

  I followed where he pointed to a corner on the wall. A large hook was bolted to a beam of wood.

  “Then when they realized I wasn’t even bound…”

  I swallowed hard. He’d removed his rope to help me. And he sure paid the price.

  He sighed as I dropped to the ground. While he tended to the gashes on his chest, I could check out his leg.

  “They stabbed me in the foot before putting me up there.”

  Pulling back his pants, I could see the thin slit cut into his boot. Blood still streamed from the opening.

  “Goddammit.” I pushed his cuff up but he grunted.

  “No. You have to get her. I’ll…I’ll figure this out.”

  I could at least try to help stop the bleeding first. “I will.”

  “No. Now, Luke.” He shook his head, dabbing at a long, angry slice above his belly button. “I can’t help you anymore. Not like this.” To prove his point, he tried to stand on both feet. I stood and caught his elbow as he stumbled back to the wall. “There’s no point. Just go save her.”

  I licked my lips, hating the truth he spoke. With that foot wound…there was no way he could walk out of here with us. The Jeep and van were out there, but to pull off grand theft auto? We’d be shot down in a heartbeat.

  “Just…” Hell no. Leaving him wasn’t an option. I hefted out a breath, trying to wall up the agony of abandoning him. “Just wrap it up the best you can and we’ll—”

  A gunshot blasted outside. We jerked our heads up in unison. I tensed, waiting for more. Was it a gun-happy, tweaked-out idiot making noise?

  Multiple yells burst out next, men’s voices mixing into a mess I couldn’t understand.

  Tramer gripped my forearm, his fingers deathly tight. “You need to get out of here.”

  “What’d they say?” Donde… Where? Where is what? What were they looking for?

  His gaze was somber. “They said the American is missing.”

  They’d found the man in my hut. “Shit.”

  “Get her. Now. While you can.”

  I nodded at Tramer, pulling the rifle from my shoulder and setting it in his hand before leaving the building.

  Chapter Four

  Cassidy

  I hovered over Hendrick as a man entered the shed. Dressed in the forest gear, he looked no different than the thugs who’d brought us here. Who he was didn’t matter. He was the enemy, plain and simple. Why he was here was the important part.

  Without a look at us in the center of the room, he strode in, lowered at the waist, and dropped items to the floor. A wrapped-up package and a bottle of water. Food?

  Standing, he snorted at me in my protective hunch over the old scientist. Then he straightened and left the room as wordlessly as he’d come.

  I eyed the things on the floor. A burrito or taco of some kind? I smelled meat, for sure, and my stomach rumbled loudly.

  “Take it,” Hendrick said.

  As if I’d deprive him of some strength. I took the bottle and inspected it. If they wanted to drug me, they’d likely just stick a needle in me. If they wanted to kill me, well, why would they? They hadn’t tried to get any answers from me yet. Poisoning us seemed too…sneaky. They were malicious, but obviously so.

  Frowning, I brought the water over. I dabbed some on the end of my shirt and tried to clean off the blood from his face.

  Whether it felt soothing on his skin or he was simply enjoying my company, I couldn’t tell, but I could swear he almost smiled. “Elena Casal. That’s her name.”

  “Okay.” I bit my lip and continued to tend to his face. Easier to focus on doing something than the enormity of leaving him.

  “She was living with her family in Antez, a smaller town near the university. Ask for her at the café on Hondoro.”

  “Honda—Hondoro. Okay. In Xochim…”

  “Xochimilco. Stay away from the campus in the capitol. If the Project…” He paused to breathe deeper. “If the Project is looking for her, that’s where they’d be.”

  “All right.”

  “Her…workspace was broken into recently. Before I could get back to her.”

  And it wasn’t Project Xol’s freaks who did that? “Why do you think someone else stole the vials then?”

  With a shudder, he tried to turn toward me, one eye winking open. “It was a family matter. Elena’s been living with her sister. She…was selling herself. It seems she stole someone’s money while on the…well, the job. Caused trouble on the street.”

  I nodded and sighed. Another direction straight into trouble. Got it.

  “Elena will know what to destroy. If you can—” He coughed again. Blood came onto his lips and I held back a sob. The poor soul was suffering to stay alive. Still, I couldn’t leave him. Not like this.

  He patted my hand. “If you can get her Scott’s part of the code, she will know which one to destroy.”

  Which vial?

  A gunshot came from outside and yells followed. All angry words I couldn’t understand.

  Hendrick stilled in my hands and I watched him. His brow slanted down, as though he was concentrating.

  “Missing. He’s missing,” he whispered.

  I leaned over more to listen to him. “Who?”

  More yells. Orders. All Spanish gibberish. Dammit!

  “The American.”

  Luke? Tramer? The relative calmer state I’d fallen into as I concentrated on what Hendrick could tell me fell away. Fear rushed in, sending my heart pumping fast and my breaths coming shorter. How…why were they missing? Had they escaped somehow? God, I hoped they did. Without me would be better. As long as they were by me, they were threatened as pawns in torture.

  “Are there others here?” More captives they’ve kidnapped from the road or elsewhere?

  He edged his shoulder a tad. “I don’t know.”

  Again, voices outside.

  “They’re coming. They are coming for you.” He hissed in a breath and he shifted away from me.

  I grabbed him easily, holding him up again. Coughing once more, he shook on my lap.

  “No, Cassie. You must go. Now.”

  Please. Don’t make me leave you. Not like this. Never like this. Seeing him in pain, suffering at the hands of decrepit criminals… I couldn’t handle the heartbreak. Even if Hendrick had been someone in the background all my life, I cared for him like I would an uncle, some kind of fatherly role. Regardless, this fate, this punishment, it wasn’t fit for anyone.

  “Give Rosa my love.” He scooted back to the ground and I didn’t reach for him. Instead, I watched him through the veil of tears and clenched my hands into hard fists.

  “Go, be safe.”

  I sniffled and wiped at my face. Dammit. I would, I promised him. And I was no fool. There was no way I could get him out of this building with me. Carrying him wouldn’t be terrible, but it was a risk nonetheless. Besides, who was I to argue what were probably his last wishes?

  “Thank you, Hendrick.” I held back a sob and pressed a kiss to his forehead. For all his intelligence and bravery with his research, for daring to break boundaries and seek an impossible cure for something so good. For continuing to fight the good fight and not let Tami do worse harm with the Project. It was a tragedy to leave him here, but I had my role. I had to carry on his determination and succeed where he couldn’t.

  Be strong, Cass. Goddammit, be strong.

  Glancing around the room, I fought the rising panic as more voices collected outside.

  “They’re coming,” he warned from the floor.

  “How…” I scanned the room in a frantic, dizzying spin. On my feet, I paced to the walls. It was dark, but my eyes had adjusted to the lack of light. Flat wooden walls. No windows. Only one door, which would promise sure death or pain if I chose to exit through it.

  Dig a hole? I checked the surface b
elow my feet. Nope. No trapdoors or…anything. Hardpacked earth.

  I was trapped.

  “Up.”

  I glanced at Hendrick. His skin-and-bones finger tipped toward the left. Surveying the ceiling, I followed the edges of the room. What? What did he see? Long, uneven wooden beams and slats. Nothing like an opening—

  Wait.

  “I felt the air…” he rasped.

  I trotted to the corner.

  Observant old man. All I’d felt was the cloying sticky heat clinging to me. Looking up, I didn’t doubt he’d detected an opening. An even darker inkiness spread in from an oblong slit. A space between boards? Huh. The starless sky, that was what I was staring at. But…how to get up there? Escaping on the roof? Wouldn’t that make me totally exposed to many men with guns?

  Another shot went off in the distance and I flinched. A vehicle revved a thunderous noise.

  “Hurry, Cassidy.”

  I wanted to. I checked the walls, wondering how to do it. Up had to be my only option. And time was running out.

  Dammit.

  “Please.”

  I winced at the plea in Hendrick’s voice. I got it. I did. I had to leave now. But, how? I pushed at the walls, trying to use counterforce to climb up the corner. I fell back to the ground after three failed attempts at scaling the wall. Who was I kidding? I wasn’t any kind of Spidergirl.

  I grunted, trying to focus around the dread of leaving Hendrick to die and the anxiety of trouble coming my way.

  Staring up, I fought the pull of defeat. It was just too damn high. At least four feet above me. If I had something to grab…something to pull me up…

  I looked back at Hendrick. Maybe the burlap thing? The blanket? I could toss it up like a rope? He didn’t move as I approached but he had to have heard my footsteps coming back to him.

  “Can I use this?” I gently tugged at the blanket.

  He peered at me with his one partly open eye. “For cover? Yes, yes.” Rolling back, he grimaced but let me slide the fabric away.

  “As a…rope? I can’t reach.”

  “Hurry.”

  A man yelled just outside the building, his voice commanding about the Americano. Luke? Hell, I needed to move it!

  I scrambled back on my hands and knees. Spreading out the blanket as I stood, I moved as fast as I could. I ran to the corner and flung the coarse material up. It wasn’t a large opening, but the blanket teased through it. And fell back down.

  “Hurry!” Hendrick implored again.

  His voice tore at me. Desperation, not for himself but me. The blanket slipped down to the dirt, my sweaty hands unable to clasp it.

  Come on, Cass! I ducked to pick it up and tried again. And again. And again.

  “Fuck!” I whispered. Noises of men running, yelling, and arguing escalated as I failed.

  I threw it up again, watching it sail through the darkness. Holding my hands out, I waited for it to fall back to me.

  It didn’t.

  Hope speared within me.

  It didn’t drop.

  Did it catch on the rough wood? Something on the edge.

  “Cassidy.” He coughed. “Go!”

  I pulled down on the blanket and it didn’t give. Yanking on it with my hand wasn’t any kind of a test to know if it would hold all of me.

  Not like I have a chance. I reached up as high as my arms allowed. Gripping a hard part of the material, where blood had likely dried, I inhaled a deep breath and jumped.

  I swayed with the momentum of my leap, but I didn’t crash to the ground. Holding my breath, I climbed the remaining feet. My head bumped another wooden slat and I stuck my foot against a notch in the wall to secure my spot.

  The opening wasn’t large. Not large enough for my head, much less my waist, to fit through. I jammed the heel of my hand against the edge of the slit. Wood cracked and moved, but I hadn’t made any true progress. Once, twice, three more times I struck the wood slat. It popped off silently and I squirmed to grab the roof.

  With both hands on the roof, slightly cooler air teased my knuckles. I couldn’t trust my upper body strength, not blindly like this. I’d need to push off with my feet to hoist myself up.

  “Go,” Hendrick whispered again, fainter now. The coughing fit following his plea didn’t stop, carrying on with raspier, gut-wrenching sounds.

  One. I swayed my hips toward the opening, keeping my hands on the edge. Two. Back and forth again. Three. I sucked in a breath and heaved toward the hole I’d busted out. I couldn’t help but kick my feet as I strained to pull myself up. I hadn’t done a pull-up since gym class in freaking high school. And I’d cheated while I was at it.

  Oh, my God. I’d miscalculated. The opening was just barely big enough to get my head through. Holding tight, I struggled upward. My shoulders got caught, and I pushed on, scraping my skin. Once I was high enough to prop my elbows and forearms on the roof, I could move faster.

  If the damn roof will hold me…

  I wiggled and dragged myself up through the hole and plopped to the roughhewn surface. A few branches lay on the roof and dug into my skin. I didn’t care. I gulped in a deep breath of sweeter, fresher muggy air as I lay there. I strapped one arm over my eyes to calm my racing heart.

  Out.

  I was out!

  I rolled my head to peer at the cartel workers and thugs rushing to and fro down below. From building to building. Three men were headed toward us. Or toward Hendrick still inside. His coughing had stopped on a loud gasp and I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t stop to wonder if that was it for him.

  In a way, I prayed he was out of his misery. Saved from more wickedness here.

  The blanket!

  Shit. It was still dangling inside.

  I twisted to my side and groped for the material. It had hooked onto a sharp shard that had broken off of a slat. Reaching past that anchoring spot, I tugged it up, handful after handful until it was all with me.

  Whooshing out a panicky breath, I got to my hands and knees.

  Leaves and branches draped over the building, allowing a semi-private shelter up here. Still, I knew if anyone looked closely, I’d be spotted.

  The structure snapped in a jolt. The vibration spread up from my hands and knees. The door? I froze and heard voices inside. No clue what was being said, but I didn’t want to linger and eavesdrop.

  I crawled backward, opting to descend to the back of the building. It wasn’t much, but there was at least a tree that way. I needed any kind of coverage I could get. At the edge of the roof, I craned my neck, leaning slightly to see what lie below.

  Dirt, a few shrubs, and the forest beyond.

  I waited a beat, checking left and right from my superior position. No one came back here. While the men rushed and clamored all over in the open square space in front of the buildings, no one was checking this mostly cleared walkway lining the building back here.

  Won’t last for long.

  The more I waited and hesitated up here, it became more likely that someone would eventually get back here.

  I spun to sit, swinging my legs to hang over the edge of the wood. My bare skin was dirty, cut, and scraped, but my paleness was still a stark contrast to the darkness of the wood. Of all times to have worn shorts…

  As soon as I dangled most of my lower body off the roof, I twisted to face the surface. With my back to the forest, I slid my stomach further down the wood until I felt I could jump—as quietly as I could.

  One. Two. Thr—

  My grip slipped as a sliver pricked my palm. I sucked in a hiss at the sudden sting, letting go earlier than I intended. I tried to roll into the landing of my fall-slash-jump but my ass got the brunt of the impact. Better that than my legs.

  I scrabbled to stand. As soon as I was on my two feet, someone grabbed me from behind, silencing my instinctive scream with a hand over my mouth.

  Chapter Five

  Luke

  I cinched my arm around her and brought my lips to her ear. “Shh. It�
��s me.”

  She stopped fighting my hold as soon as I whispered. Her slim body went slack against mine and she leaned back to my chest. Falling back to me, she stumbled, but I caught her. Her heart still raced a thunderous tempo under my hand, and hard breaths sawed in and out of her.

  Having her within my arms for even this second…it chased away the worst of my fears.

  Alive. She was alive. Breathing and shaking but alive. Relief nearly knocked me on my ass and I couldn’t help but hold her tighter. As though she’d disappear again.

  We backstepped into the safety of the edge of the forest. Safety. Hardly. We weren’t anywhere near safe as long as we were in this compound, but the darkness and the towering heights of greenery gave the allusion of secrecy.

  Cassidy staggered back with me, and once I felt we were tucked back enough, I loosened my arm around her waist.

  In a swift spin, she pivoted to face me. She clutched at me, her trembling arms snaking around my neck. I gripped her to me just as fiercely, our breaths panting in one hot mess of air.

  “Luke.” She breathed my name against my lips before sliding hers over to kiss me. Hard. Fast. Mine.

  My fingers dug into her skin as I kept her close. From the seal between our mouths to the toes of our shoes, we pressed together for one too-short, perfect reunion.

  Elation slammed into me, nearly bowling me over.

  She was safe.

  With me.

  She was back again.

  But we’re still here.

  I broke our kiss and held her face in my hands. Scanning her, I checked for injuries.

  Bright blue eyes stared back at me, not wide but cautious. Minimal redness showed on her face and I dared to hope she hadn’t been harmed while she was in that hut with Hendrick.

  “Did Hendrick—”

  Instantly, her eyes watered, the glossiness of her raw emotions stabbing me in the heart. She fisted my shirt and shook her head quickly. “He’s…”

  I hauled her in for a hug and tucked her head under my chin. It broke me, watching her so sad. This wasn’t anything like the shell-shock from before. She wasn’t a zombie girl unable to process the harsh changes to her life. Mourning. She was welcome to, but not like this, not yet.