Page 23 of Heart of Danger
Because the truth was, she was locked up here, with no idea at all of where ‘here’ was. She was this man’s prisoner. There were other people here, she was sure. If there were, they were his people. No one was going to rescue her. No one even knew where she was.Shedidn’t know where she was. Even if she had a working cellphone, which she didn’t, and she had someone to call for help, which she didn’t, she didn’t know where she was.
She was his prisoner and she had to take it on faith, faith in her despised gift, that he wasn’t going to hurt her. Wasn’t going to kill her.
He nodded once, dark eyes on her and stood up abruptly.
“Come,” he said and walked toward the door.
Startled, Catherine rose and followed him. Just when she thought he’d smash his already smashed nose against the door, it whooshed open and she walked out of the room, following those broad shoulders.
And stared.
The change in the air crossing the threshold had been like crossing from night into day. The air became cooler, fresher, with the slight tang of oxygen and the scent of a forest. They were on a corridor a couple of stories high overlooking a huge atrium. She grabbed hold of the top rung of the balcony and leaned forward.
It was such an extraordinary sight she had trouble processing what she was seeing. A huge vault with twinkling lights like stars. It took her a second or two to realize the lights were evenly spaced and artificial. The vault was transparent, like glass, only no glass she knew of could cover such a space and still keep the cold out.
Down below, two stories down, was a richness of glossy green plants threaded by pathways, small lights threaded through the branches of trees and squat cylinders with glowing tops at five foot intervals providing light.
It looked like a fairyland.
A couple of people were walking the paths, otherwise the area—as large as a mall parking lot—was deserted. But then again, it was well past midnight.
One guy two stories down was pushing a hand truck with boxes on it. He happened to look up, gave a two fingered salute off his forehead then disappeared into the greenery.
“It—it’s beautiful,” she breathed, then looked sharply up at Mac.
It was beautiful, but it was also hidden, as he wanted to remain hidden. It was a town, only a town turned inward, not outward. Tucked away, mysterious, remote.
Man, he was so going to zap her memories. This secret community was going to be MIBBED away forever and she was sorry for that, because it was the most interesting space she’d ever seen.
A huge domed space with a lush park along the bottom, plants twining around the balconies ringing the space. Doors opened off the balconies. She had no idea if the rooms behind the doors were occupied or not. So far she’d seen exactly two people here. But what she saw was well-designed, well-tended, pristine.
Someone had to do that.
Two more people walked along a path, a man and a woman. The man looked up, did a little double-take at seeing her, then waved to Mac. He gravely dipped his head. They walked off, heads together, discussing something earnestly.
This was a community. People lived here, worked here. It was gorgeous and hidden and unlike anything she’d ever seen before. The huge, black arching dome with the twinkling lights, the intense greenery, the curving balconies looking a little like the New York Guggenheim.
“So beautiful,” she repeated in a whisper.
To her surprise, he answered her.
“Yeah.” His big hands clutched the railing so hard the knuckles turned white, then lifted. “We want to keep it that way.” He turned his head to her, look penetrating and hostile.
“Where are we? And what is this place?” She lifted her hands, palms out. The universal sign of surrender. No threat. No weapons. “You’re going to MIB me anyway. Why not let me know where I am? There are obviously other people around. It’s so well cared for, so well-planned. Down there it looks like a park. And all these doors…people live here. Work here. Cook here. That meal was, hands down, one of the best I’ve ever had. If that’s the way you feed your prisoners, I’d love to know how you treat your citizens.”
“You’d be surprised who the cook is.”
Her eyes widened. It was the first thing he’d said to her that wasn’t a question or a threat. For a second, she thought she saw astonishment on his face too. That he’d talk to her openly.
But then she wouldn’t remember any of this. She was going to have her brain zapped, poof, gone. She wouldn’t miss the memory of sitting in her freezing dead car, waiting for death. And being scared nearly out of her wits at the huge man with the black ski mask rapping on her window. But the interrogation…she could admit to herself now how much Mac fascinated her. And that huge, gorgeous space under the dome, unlike anything she’d ever seen before. She was sorry that would have to go.
It had all been such a surprise. The name of the talented cook would be nothing in comparison. “Try me.”
“You might have heard of her. Stella Cummings.”
Catherine’s jaw dropped. “Oh my gosh! Stella Cummings, the actress?”
Which was stupid. How many Stella Cummings were there in the world? He’d taken her completely by surprise. Stella Cummings had been a child actor who’d won an Oscar at 12 and another one at 30. Catherine vaguely remembered she’d been attacked by a stalker and had disappeared from view, completely. It was as if the earth had opened up and swallowed her whole. Online tabloids had an entireWhere is Stella Cummingsindustry going.
