Seek and Destroy (48 page)

    "Hands up, please."

    Ignoring the tightening sensation across his chest, he raised his hands. His mouth went dry as he waited for Surreal's next order. His ears ached as he tuned into every noise, every breath. "Next?"

    "Now turn around."

    He did.

    "Look up and smile. You're on
Candid Camera
."

    God
damn
it. He brought his gaze up to the group of trees directly in front of him. There, hidden under some leaves, stood a lone camera.

    He needed to get to Surreal before he detonated anything. He wouldn't be stupid enough to blow himself up when he blew up the rest of them. Charis included.

    God, he hoped he was right.

    Spinning around, he ran forward and kicked the door in, picked up his weapon, and ran inside. The sound of Surreal's laughter echoed in his ear when David stopped in his tracks and did a quick visual scan.

    "Shit!"

    A pair of pants had been folded neatly on a chair in the center of the room. Charis' pants. Other than that...

    The warehouse was empty.

    He'd lost her.

    

    

    It felt like she had lead anvils on her eyelids. She blinked slowly. Ow.
OwOwOw.
Blinking had never hurt before. But then again, she'd never been beaten unconscious.

    Oh God. Her vision blurred and waved as she tried to blink everything into focus. Surreal had beaten her
unconscious
. God only knew what he did to her once she no longer had the strength to fight him off.

    Running her tongue along her dry, cracked lips, she didn't taste blood. Could a person run out of blood?
Of course, dummy. It's called bleeding to death.

    She shuddered. At least he hadn't killed her. Yet. Another shudder washed over her. Ow. Even that hurt.

    Something had her hands bound. And her feet. She wiggled to pull herself loose, but the bindings held tight. The more she struggled, the more they cut into her flesh. Ow again.

    Where was he? Strike that, she didn't care. Where was her Super Spy? Why hadn't he come to save her? How could he let this happen to her?

    Oh, David. Where are you? Her insides hurt, and it had nothing to do with her beating. Why hadn't he come for her?

    Maybe if she chanted his name. David. David.
DavidDavidDavid.

    The fear and dread consumed her heart, invaded her mind. Deep down she knew. Only one thing would stop him from coming for her.

    He was dead. Whether he died in that crash protecting her or died at the hands of Surreal, dead was dead was dead. She prayed she was wrong, but knew she couldn't be. He would have come for her if he could have.

    This meant she was now on her own in every sense of its meaning. She pushed back the enormous sobs aching to break free, her heart hurting, mourning over her lost love. She would give into her grief. Oh, God. How she would.

    But for now, she had to keep her mind focused on escaping. David's death would not be in vain. Everything he did, he did to keep her alive. Well, she'd be damned before she'd let Surreal win.

    For David.

    Working against the bindings, she pulled her arms. She pushed them down. Pull. Push. Pull. Push. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. The bindings dug into her wrists. Her flesh tore, exposing tender and raw muscle. She felt the wet stickiness of the blood as the bindings tore her skin.

    A voice rang out from the darkness. "It's not going to work."

    Damn it. He
was
here. "Surreal!"

    "I told you to never-"

    "I'll call you anything I want, you son-of-a-bitch."

    Come on, you bastard. Show yourself. Where-ah, there. She just made out his shadow off in the corner. From the looks of his shape, he sat in a chair, leaning his elbow on a desk or table. At least she could tell he'd gotten dressed.

    "Oh what tangled webs we do weave."

    Oh, God. Not more clichés. She wanted to scream at him, to get him to come over to her just so she found someway to hit him and hit him hard. She wanted to make him feel every ounce of hurt, wanted him to know how it felt to lose a piece of his heart. Because when he took David from her that was exactly what he did.

    "What now?" she asked into the darkness, her heart numb.

    "It depends."

    "On what?"

    "You."

    She forced herself to stay calm. "What about me?"

    "I can't trust you. It breaks my heart to know you'd rather run back to
him
than stay with me. I don't want to hurt you, my love." He stopped and she heard him take in a sharp breath. "I love you."

    "And beating me up proves that? How?"

    The chuckle he left floating in the air sent chills crawling up her spine. "You see? See what he's done to you? You actually believe I could do something like that."

    "That's because you did."

    "No. I saved you."

    "Saved me?" If she could drop her jaw without it hurting, she would have. "You could have killed me."

    "Do you realize everything I've done for you? When ICE separated us, I know how devastated you were. I took care of them for you. When you didn't come back to me, I sent another message."

    Oh, he'd sent a message all right. She eyed her exposed leg. The roadmap of scars reminded her of the message he'd sent. Would she escape him this time with only scars? Would she escape him at all?

    "I was going to ask you about them, but didn't want to seem rude."

    She bit down hard on her lower lip. If she told him exactly what she thought of that comment, he may lose it again and continue with his beating. Because he'd bound her to a chair, she had no way to defend herself. He'd kill her for sure.

    "You gave them to me."

    "Me?" He sounded dumbfounded. Even sat up. "How?"

    "Remember your parents’ cabin? The landmine that went off outside right before you triggered an explosion inside the cabin?"

    He rose. As he approached her, her breath caught. She didn't want to be scared. But the way he approached her terrified her. As he stepped into the light, he stopped and glared at her, frowning.

    Her lower lip trembled as she returned his look. He looked ready to beat her again. Oh no. She couldn't take it again. Her already tender, swollen body couldn't take any more.

    "You were there?"

    She nodded once. It was all she had the strength to do.

    A look of anguish spread over his face. Laboring his breathing, his shoulders rising and lowering with every intake, she felt the icy fear grip her. He was about to lose it. Again.

    Oh, God. No. He continued toward her. She closed her eyes, her insides already tightening in preparation. When several moments passed, she opened eyes. She felt him behind her. What was he doing?

    His hands wrapped around her midsection. Sucking in a breath, she waited for him to squeeze her. To hurt her again. Something. Instead, he wrapped something around her. A blanket? It felt heavy, heavier than any blanket she'd ever felt. And scratchy. Wires ran through the fabric. An electric blanket?

    "I'm sorry," he offered, too little too late.

    "You almost took off my leg," she pushed. If she worked on his guilt, just maybe he'd feel guilty enough to let her go.

    Yeah, and just maybe she'd develop super powers and vaporize him with her laser beam. Come on, Charis. Let's not lose your mind and join Mr. Crazy as he-just what was he doing?

    "That isn't what I'm apologizing about." He finished behind her and stepped back around, knelt down on his haunches to be eye level with her. Leaning on the arms of the chair, he stopped inches from her face. With him this close, she finally saw him, his eyes. They were dark, cold, full of something she couldn't read. Whatever it was, it sent desperation coursing through her veins.

    "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner. I'm sorry to see what that agency has turned you into. More than that, I'm sorry I went through so much trouble to reach out to you, to save you."

    "Trouble? You killed innocent people."

    "But more than all of that," he continued calmly, ignoring her. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize what I have to do."

    A sensation of intense sickness and desolation swept over her as he ran his knuckles down her cheek. "And that is?"

    "I need to save you from yourself, Charis."

    Her eyes flew open. That didn't sound too promising. "No, you don't."

    "Oh, but I do. Just as I saved all of those people when I ended their pathetic lives. They were lost souls, my love. Don't you see?
You
are a lost soul too."

    Oh shit. The panic started rioting in her when she looked down and realized the blanket he'd wrapped around her had a clay compound of some kind woven all through it. She highly doubted it was
Play-Doh
.

    "What are you doing? What is this?" Struggling, ignoring the pain as it jarred her soul, she fought the bindings.

    "An electric blanket," he answered easily, plugging the two wires extending out of the end of the blanket into a wireless router.

    
No
. Terror unlike she'd never known welled in her throat, cutting off her air. She started to hyperventilate. The room started to spin as she fought to steady her breathing. She had to get loose, damn it. Her restraints started cutting into her already existing wounds, but she barely felt it.

    Life meant dealing with pain. And, right now, she'd deal with the pain if it meant saving her life.

    "I guess that does it. I'll give you five minutes to make your peace. That should give me enough time."

    She yanked at her hands. She didn't care if she ripped them off. She could live without hands. If she stayed tied to this chair, she wouldn't live at all.

    

    

    "You have four minutes and fifty-two seconds. I wouldn't waste them, my love. Accept your fate. Embrace it. Soon, you'll be free." He smiled at her. And, oh dear God, he started to breathe heavily.

    "No, please. Don't do this!" She started to cry, damn it. "Please!"

    He blinked lazily and widened his grin as he watched her struggle against her restraints. Stepping backwards, he disappeared into the darkness of the warehouse. She watched the slight shadow of his figure as he sat back down in the chair off in the corner.

    "Thomas!" Her cries echoed through the warehouse.

    "I love you, Charis. It is my love for you that will set you free. Accept your fate and make your peace. Let me watch you."

    He was going to watch? Did he plan on blowing himself up, too? Sort of a murder-suicide thing?

    "Four minutes, thirty seconds." He hummed in the back of his throat, his breathing becoming more and more labored. She heard the distinct sound of a zipper being lowered.

    He was going to masturbate? Now? Oh, God. He really was insane.

    
DavidDavidDavid.
Now would be a great time to barge in and take off Surreal's head. She'd leave it to him to choose which one.

    She tried to steady her erratic pulse as she continued to fight against her restraints. She kicked. She jerked. Nothing worked!

    "Four." Heavy breath. "Minutes."

    Closing her eyes against the sight of him as he stroked himself, she summoned up every ounce of strength she had. Pull. Kick. Yank.

    "That's it," he moaned. "Keep. Struggling. Oh, yeah."

    
I hope it falls off, you sick bastard.
Twist. Pull.

    "Three." He hissed sharply. "Oh. Baby. Oh, yeah. Just like that."

    This was too much. Bile started to stir in her stomach and she knew it wouldn't be long before she threw up. She tried to close out his voice. With as loud as her heart pounded in her ears, it should have been easy.

    She heard him as he moaned out her name. "
Charis
."

    A spark of hope flickered in her heart when she felt one of the bindings on her wrist come loose. Yes! Now for the other one. Twist. Pull. There! She pursed her lips to keep them shut so no sound would burst out.

    He still breathed erratically. Good. Let him lose himself in his disgusting pleasure while she slowly moved to untie her ankles. She expected him to yell and charge her any minute, just as soon as he realized she'd gotten loose.

    But he didn't. His started moaning louder, his breathing faster. Dear, God. He was close. She had to hurry.

    "Oh, yes! That's it, Charis! Fuck me. Faster. Faster."

    Bile hit the back of her throat. She stole a glance toward his shadow and saw his head roll back. More than likely he had his eyes closed as he acted out his sick little fantasy.

    "Charis!"

    She froze, her heart painfully pounding. When he moaned loudly and caught his breath, she knew her time had come. And so had he. Now or never.

    
Spit or get off the spot.

    With determination and strength she didn't even know she had, she kept her hands steady enough to quickly release her ankles. Careful not to make a sound, she slipped the blanket of clay off her, her gaze darting between Surreal and wires connecting the blanket to the router. Looking back at the connection, then back at Surreal again, she closed one eye and yanked the wires out of the clay, half expecting it to detonate.

    It didn't.

    "Charis?" He no longer moaned, no longer breathing heavily. "What are you doing?"

    
Busted.

    Drawing from her newfound strength, she jumped up and ran behind the chair, into the shelter of the darkness.