Tex's Revenge: Military Discipline, Book Two (20 page)

He left and she reluctantly got to work. Viewing the footage frame by frame didn't so much help as elevate her frustration to whole new levels. The task before her was grueling and seemed almost impossible. In fact, it seemed so impossible she came to the conclusion that it wasn't really a task at all. It was probably just another way to keep her busy. Another way to keep her blind to the slow decay of her independence and resistance. There was no way she was going to go quietly into another night of mindless, pointless grind just to satisfy the despotic machinations of the man who held her prisoner. She was going to do something about it. She was going to tell Tex exactly what she thought about him and his cameras and his pretend bombs.

Burning with rebellion, she marched herself through the halls and into Tex's office. He did not look up when she entered, so she slapped the disk down on his desk and declared. “I'm done with this!”

“Are you also done with living?”

Tex's reaction wasn't what she expected. He was usually patient. He was usually somewhat indulgent, darkly amused even, but she seemed to have caught him on a bad night. He looked up from his work, his eyes dark as they lasered in on her. She knew the moment they made eye contact that she'd made a terrible mistake in approaching him but it was too late.

“I... just... don't see the point of this...” she stammered, twisting her hands together in front of her body. When he looked at her that way he was terrifying. She tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came out besides a very small strangled whimper.

“The point is that you are being trained.” His low gravelly voice was full of danger. “You are being trained in something useful that keeps you out of the field. Away from the places people like you die. Instead of appreciating the opportunities you're being given you spend all your time in wasteful rebellion.” A sneer curled his upper lip as he looked her over with an expression of pure distaste. “You're like a spoiled little schoolgirl incapable of seeing the value of the experience beyond the rules, which you resent merely for existing. You think that you are above the rules. You do not see why you should have to do anything to earn your way in the world. You exist in a realm of shortcuts and tantrums. Fortunately for you, you have one unique skill – but that alone is not enough, not here. You have to be more than a human calculator.”

His scathing words scalded her sensibilities but worse than the words was the sentiment behind them. It sounded as though he was giving up on her. She had been tested and found wanting one too many times. There was no sympathy in his demeanor or voice as he continued the lecture. “I find myself wondering what I can do to make you take your situation with a modicum of seriousness. I wonder if it is worth even trying. You seem to reject every opportunity you are given, you seem to actually want to drive me to terminal action.”

Zora had no reply. She stood there, hoping her silence wouldn't be mistaken for sullen resistance. Her eyes were becoming glassy, which she didn't like but there wasn't much she could do to stop that. Tears were a natural reaction to fear and she was definitely afraid there in Tex's office after dark. One small desk lamp lit the room, throwing dark shadows over the wall and Tex's face. He looked thoroughly ruthless, his eyes gleaming through light and shadow with an intensity she could never hope to match.

There was only one thing for it – backing down and backing down quickly. “Uhm, okay, I'll get back to it.” With a tight smile she reached for the disk she'd thrown, wishing it wasn't quite so far away from her. He watched her, his lips pressed together tightly as she attempted to get the disc back without getting closer to him. She leaned back even as her hand reached forward and gripping the edge of the disc with her fingertips she snaked it into her reach and picked it up. With slow, cautious steps she backed out of Tex's office. His eyes never left hers, his expression cold and still. She couldn't quite read it, but she knew it didn't represent anything good.

Making it to the door after what seemed like several minutes of shuffling, she turned tail and fled back to the relative security of the lab. She sat down at her workstation and loaded the disc. As she did, a solitary tear tracked down her cheek. She brushed it away quickly. What had happened to the almost playful ardor he had displayed yesterday? Was it all just a game to him? Had he grown tired of her so quickly? Why did she care? She should have been afraid of his 'terminal' threat, but for reasons best known to her stupid brain, the idea that he might not like her seemed more painful than the threat of death. In a moment of honesty she admitted to herself that maybe she hadn't really gone to his office to complain about the work, maybe she'd really gone to see if his threats of intimacy would pan out into something pleasurable. Maybe she was lucky he'd been angry rather than amorous. Maybe she really would have given herself to him if he'd lifted a finger to seduce her.

“You're going crazy,” she muttered to herself. “Completely fucking crazy.”

The next few hours passed in a blur of poor quality footage and formulas. She completely lost track of time as she worked. Whenever she was tempted to quit she remembered Tex's expression and his words and bent her head to work once more. She was so exhausted by the end of it all that she didn't even manage to make it away from her workstation before she fell asleep, drooling gently into the keyboard.

* * *

Tex sat at his desk, flicking between security camera images with a tap of a key. He paused at the feed from the lab. Zora Matthews appeared to have finally heeded his warning, though her flesh had not been quite as willing as her spirit. She was still passed out on the keyboard, her shoulder length hair messed around her face so much he could just barely make out the tip of her nose. She could be cute when she shut the heck up and did as she was told for five minutes.

The intercom clicked on, interrupting his train of thought. “Sir. There's a van at the gate. It's him.”

Ordinarily Tex might have been irritated at such a banal intrusion on his time, but he rose quickly from his seat and passed through the sliding doors with a definite spring in his step. He had not slept any more than Zora, but unlike his petulant captive he was accustomed to sleeping little and working a lot.

It was sunny outside, it warmed his head and shoulders as he made his way over to the dark van sitting at the gate. He walked with an unhurried gait, savoring the moment he'd been waiting for ever since his newest field agent had decided to take orders into his own hands.

“Ah Captain Savage. So nice of you to return after abandoning your post.” He rested his suit-clad forearm on the open passenger side window, smiling at the occupant, who did not smile back. Large vehicles often make men look small, but the occupant of this van made the vehicle look positively puny. He was wearing an olive green short sleeved top that left the slabs of his upper arms bare in a way that would have been imposing if Tex had any intention of ever physically confronting the man.

Brett Savage could reasonably have been expected to look slightly sheepish or at least pretend to be apologetic. He did neither. His face was a stony mask of rectitude and fortitude and other masculine attitudes that Tex had always found ever so slightly cliche. “I've been cleaning up the mess,” Savage explained. “And I have something for you.”

“Do you now?” Tex's smile slipped away as his tone slipped into a patronizing drawl. “Well do come in and show me.”

Savage put the vehicle in gear and Tex was forced to stand back sharply as the van crunched forward over the gravel. He sauntered after it unhurriedly as the great gates closed behind them. Before he reached the vehicle, Savage got out and opened the sliding passenger door. Tex arrived just in time to see the black panel sliding back to reveal an interesting sight.

Laying on the van's long seat was an attractive blonde woman. She appeared to have been rendered unconscious by a drug of some kind as she didn't so much as stir when Savage climbed into the van and extracted her gently. She lay in his arms, a heavy dead weight with her head lolling back in a position that couldn't have been at all comfortable.

“This is Anja,” Savage said, hefting her into a better carrying position as if she were a bag of potatoes. “This is the mess.”

Chapter Fourteen

Tex ran his gaze over Anja's insensible form, noting the curves which remained in all the right places in spite of her relative gauntness. She'd clearly missed more than a few meals in the recent past. He looked back into Savage's eyes, a mocking smile on his lips.“So you've captured someone belonging to the US government and bought her here to me. Charming. What else do you have in the vehicle? Cocaine? Heroin?”

Ignoring Tex's cutting sarcasm, Savage attempted an explanation. “Anja went rogue after my departure. She was sanctioned and dishonorably discharged.” He didn't appear to know that what he was saying wasn't precisely an advertisement for the woman in his arms.

“Even better,” Tex replied dryly. “A rogue agent. Keep it up and we'll have half the defense force here. The unstable and dangerous half.”

Savage started to sweat just a little, though Tex couldn't be sure whether it was because he was concerned about the outcome of their conversation or the heat of the sun which was already intense. “She is extremely talented in the field,” he said, leaning Tex's opinion towards the former. Curious. The blonde waif in Savage's arms was clearly important to him.

“She can't be that talented,” Tex said, feigning disinterest. “She missed Zora almost entirely.”

Savage shifted Anja's weight again, the strain showing in his voice. “She didn't mean to hit Zora. She meant to get my attention.”

The slow smirk spread over Tex's lips. “And she succeeded admirably in that aim, didn't she?”

“She did,” Savage agreed, his face going blank as he tried to pretend that he wasn't completely pinning his hopes on Tex accepting Anja into the fold.

Tex wondered idly what would happen if he ordered Anja to be shot.  Savage was a strong man, but like many men before him, his weakness was women. Show the man a damsel in distress and he'd drop everything. Show him two such women and he'd tear himself apart trying to save both. Tex's smirk continued unabated as he went in for the kill, forcing Savage to admit to the favor he was asking for. “And you brought her to me, presumably in the hopes that I would take her under my wing. Does this place look like a refuge for burned out soldiers?”

“This looks like a place that needs people who can shoot straight.” Savage was so proud, so utterly reluctant to admit how weak his position was. But Tex knew he had him ever deeper in his grasp. The man might be strong and talented and yes, even dangerous, but he was right where Tex wanted him. Like an old hound dog at the door with a bird in its mouth, begging to come in.

Tex allowed his gaze to run slowly and quite obviously over the woman once more. Anja really was quite beautiful. Some of the attractiveness would probably be lost when she opened her mouth, but for the moment she looked like sleeping beauty in Savage's arms. “I suppose a trial wouldn't hurt,” he said, pretending to relent. “Take her to one of the containment rooms.” He hid his triumphant expression until Savage lumbered past him, then allowed a broad grin to split his usually serious features. It was all coming together nicely.

* * *

 “There you are.”

“Huh?” Zora came to conciousness looking at a lab that had been turned sideways. All the desks and computers were floating horizontally in a static ballet of defied gravity. Then she lifted her head and everything went right way up again, just like a magic trick. “Ugh,” she said, putting her hand to her temple. “I feel like hell.”

“You're probably dehydrated,” Johnny said. “But you can drink later. Tex wants you.”

“Tex?” A shot of panic trickled through her stomach. “Why?”

“Don't ask me, I'm just the errand boy.”

“Shit,” she tried to think. She didn't want to see Tex again. “Last time I saw him he asked me if I was tired of living.”

Johnny let out a low whistle. “Damn Zora, you have to stop pushing that man. He's capable of being real nasty when he wants to be.”

“I'm not sure he's capable of being anything but nasty,” Zora replied. “Every nice thing he does he does for his own reasons.”

“That's the benefit of being the boss,” Johnny grinned. “Maybe one day you'll be the boss of something and then you can play with your people like pawns.”

“Well now there's something to aspire to,” Zora said dryly, walking towards the door. “Watch out, maniac in training coming through.”

She approached Tex's office with deep trepidation, but she needn't have worried. Tex smiled warmly when he saw her, clearly having forgotten or at the very least, put the events of the night behind them. “Zora,” he said, clasping her hands in his own. He was in a good mood, a very, very good mood. “Did you sleep well?”

“Not really,” she said cautiously. “What did you want me for?”

“I have good news for you,” he smiled. “Your Savage has returned.”

“He's back!?” She couldn't hide the squeal of excitement. “Where is he?”

“He's in the infirmary.”

Her heart sank. “Is he hurt?”

“No, he's just attending to a mutual friend of yours and his.”

Zora frowned. She didn't know what Tex was talking about, but the man's glee was clearly rising by the moment. “Who?”

“Why don't you go see. Surprises are fun I think.”

Not paying enough heed to Tex's near perverse tone she walked, almost ran to the infirmary. When she heard Savage's voice rumbling softly she almost started crying on the spot. Barely able to contain her excitement and relief she yanked the curtain back from the cubicle he was in and saw.... Anja?

She was laying silent and still on the bed. She looked skinny and ragged, but it was definitely her. Savage was next to her, clasping her hand with an intent expression on his face. In solemnity he was handsome, the hard lines of his face making him look like some sculpted avenging angel sworn to protect the weak. Zora had seen that expression on his face before, but the last time she'd seen it he'd been looking at her. Just seeing him look at another woman that way felt like a kick in the stomach.