Project Paper Doll (31 page)

“A
RIANE, IF HE’S WILLING
to get us out of here—lesser of two evils, right?” Zane pleaded.

“He wanted me to cooperate with Dr. Jacobs,” I said. “Do you have a truck waiting?” I asked the man who used to be my father. “Or are you just going to trick me into walking into a trap?”

“I told you to cooperate because I wanted you to survive,” he snapped.

Maybe. Maybe not. He couldn’t seriously expect me to trust him again. He was a stranger with a familiar face. That was all.

“We don’t have time for this,” Mark said impatiently. “Listen to my thoughts. You’ll hear what you need to.”

“Yeah, it’s not like you’ve had plenty of practice hiding what you don’t want me to hear,” I responded.

He let out a slow breath as if summoning patience or strength. “Jacobs picked me because I had the training and because my daughter was dying. I didn’t care what happened to me,” he said. “And in the beginning I didn’t care about you, either.”

I stiffened. I’d been expecting it, but that didn’t make it hurt less.

“Jacobs told me to use Ariane’s name for you, that it would be an easier backstory, fewer fraudulent papers.” He hesitated. “But I don’t think he thought about the consequences. The power of a name.”

He met my gaze straight on. “You are not my daughter. She was a sweet and loving child who did not deserve what happened to her.”

“I know that,” I said tightly, breathing through my tears. “Believe me, I know.” I would never have wished that fate on her.

“But you are a strong girl in your own right, and smart. Ten years in your company and I’d prefer to see you survive, one way or another. Is that wrong of me?”

I hesitated, wanting to believe him.

His voice took on a gentler tone. “You are an Ariane, just not mine.”

I blinked, and tears splashed down my cheeks.

“Is that enough?” he asked.

I nodded woodenly, and Zane moved closer, taking my hand. “It’s okay,” he whispered, and I wasn’t sure if it was my blurry vision or if he looked like this might have made him close to tears, too.

“Then let’s move,” my father said.

He led us down the hall, which was far more luxurious than any part of GTX I’d ever seen before, to the opposite end, where another set of elevator doors waited.

My father ran a key card through a small black card reader. “For service,” he explained. “The cleaning crew. Jacobs doesn’t want them soiling his personal elevator.” He smirked.

I tensed when the doors opened, revealing a wide industrial metal lift. But no one was inside.

He pushed the button for the third floor, and I found myself holding my breath as the elevator descended.

But the doors opened onto a darkened office floor. No one waiting to jump out at us.

He led us through darkened cubicles to an emergency exit, glowing white and red, the most welcome beacon I could imagine.

“When the door opens, the alarm will sound,” he said. “I’ll call it in as a glitch, but that won’t hold them off for too long, especially if Jacobs makes his way up here again.” He hesitated. “What did you—”

“Knocked him out,” I said.

He nodded with a tired but knowing smile. “I figured.”

And if I was reading him correctly, he was
proud
that I hadn’t killed him. The corresponding rush of relief made me feel wobbly and weak.

“Take the stairs down and to the left. The forest preserve is that way.” He pointed out the window to an area that looked darker than the surrounding grounds. “Stick to the shadows and away from the edge of the building. The cameras don’t have much range on this side. Too many deer setting off the motion sensors.” He hesitated. “You remember where to go to get what you need?”

I nodded. Maybe there really was a bag duct-taped to the bottom of the Dumpster.

“Good. I’ve been adding to it. You’ll have enough for a while, if you’re careful.” He reached for the push bar on the door, and suddenly it all felt too real. I would not wake up in my bed tomorrow. I would not eat breakfast with my father again (Sunday equals pancakes with bacon
and
sausage). I would, in all likelihood, never see him again. I couldn’t imagine that his betrayal—helping me escape could only be seen as such—would be taken lightly.

“Wait!” I said quickly, and then I didn’t know what else to say.
Thank you? I’m sorry?

But my father seemed to know. He nodded. “Me too, kid. Me too.” He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

And that made me cry.

He shoved open the door, which set off an alarm and flashing lights, and pushed me out. “Go!”

Zane slipped out after me onto the darkened landing, and my father pulled the door closed after us, dulling the alarm only slightly.

We scrambled down the stairs in the dim light, but I stopped when we reached the bottom. “The main road is that way,” I said, pulling my hand free and pointing in the opposite direction of the woods.

“What are you talking about?” he asked. “Come on, we need to move.” He grabbed for my hand again.

I stepped back, shaking my head. “This doesn’t involve you, and it’s dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.” I steeled myself against the hurt of pushing him—the only person I had left—away. “Go home.”

“No,” he said after a moment, fixing me with a defiant look. “I’m not going home. I’m going to find my mom.”

“You can’t,” I protested. “That’s the first place GTX will look for you.” And Dr. Jacobs would not hesitate to use him to get to me, especially now.

“As opposed to my house here in Wingate?” Zane asked dryly.

I gritted my teeth. Was he really going to be this stubborn? “Your dad offers you some protection, Zane. He—”

“—will be the first one to let GTX in, if he thinks it’ll get him what he wants,” he said in disgust. “I’m not going back there. Not right now. He lied to me. He knew where my mom was this whole time. I need to see her, make sure she’s okay.”

I started to argue.

He touched my mouth lightly with his fingertips, and I tried hard not to revel in the feeling. “And if you don’t want GTX to find me while I’m there,” he said, “then maybe you should just come with me.”

“So they can catch both of us? No thanks.”

“Where else are you going to go?” he asked quietly.

That was a good—and very painful—point.

He leaned closer, and I closed my eyes, feeling my resistance weakening. “Come on. After what I’ve seen tonight, I’m thinking you might have some ideas about how to keep GTX off our backs,” he said.

I half laughed, half choked. “I bet.”

“And you’ll like my mom,” he continued. “I’m pretty sure she thinks foosball is an exercise in futility too.”

I opened my eyes, startled. He remembered our silly conversation about eternal questions.

He held his hand out to me with an encouraging nod, and my vision went blurry with tears.

He’d come to GTX for me. If I left him unprotected now, he would pay for it. But if I went with him, I didn’t know what would happen. I had no idea what I was doing. Everything I’d ever known lay in pieces behind me, including the Rules I’d devoted my life to following.

But beneath the fear I could feel the start of something new and thrilling growing, pressing for attention. I’d be running, yes. At least, at first. But with that came a chance to start over. Freedom. Choices. And maybe someday a life without GTX looming in the distance.

I just had to reach for it. And wasn’t that the point of living outside of my GTX cage? So I could make those choices?

“Okay,” I said, taking Zane’s hand and lacing my fingers through his. Palm to palm. “Let’s go.”