Page 56 of Atone in Darkness
She did her best to stand her ground. There was no way to defend what had happened to Chase, but neither would she break and run. She owed him that much. To her surprise, though, it was Tyson who spoke first. He planted himself firmly in front of the other man, making it clear that Jarvis would have to go through him to get to her.
“Back off, Jarvis. Dr. Riggs here had noidea what she was getting into when she took that job. The men who hired her didn’t tell her anything about what they were doing until they had isolated her in that compound. She was one woman alone and surrounded by thugs. Even the management knew what kind of animals those men were. Hell, they blew the bastards up rather than unleash them on the world again.”
He took a half step to the side.“Now, ask her what you need to know, but keep a civil tongue in your head.”
Jarvis made no move to step closer to her. When he spoke again, he had his temper back under control, at least temporarily. “Did they do anything else to him? Drugs, that sort of thing?”
That at least she could answer with some confidence. “They started using a gas of some kind to subdue him after he did some seriousdamage to several of the guards when they tried to drag him out of his cell. It never seemed to have any lasting effects on him. Other than that, I never sawany indications of them drugging him at all. I monitored his vitals on a regular basis along with doing a wide spectrum of bloodwork. There was a gradual deterioration in some of the values, especially in the ones related to trauma. Nothingthat was life threatening, at least not yet.”
“How many times did he die while he was in there?”
“I don’t know. As I said before, right until the day we escaped, I had no idea what was happening or that it was even possible.”
She risked another look in Chase’s direction. “He remained amazingly strong no matter what they did to him. I know he took great pride in protecting the secrets of yourkind. When you get him to a medical facility, I will be glad to tell everything I can remember to his attending physician.”
Jarvis’s temper flared again. “I’ll see that you get a pen and some paper so you can write down anything you think might help him, but there is no way I’m going to let you get anywhere near him after this. Tyson here might trust you. I don’t. I won’t.”
Then he walked away.His rejection hurt, but she could hardly blame him for feeling that way. He had good reason to doubt her. They both knew that if Chase had escaped on his own, he probably would’ve made it farther and faster. Not to mention he wouldn’t have allowed that guard to get a drop on him. He’d been distracted by talking to her.
Tyson and Eli continued to flank her as the medic and Larem kept up theirintense discussion. Apparently the two of them reached a consensus, because they turned as one to present their decision to Lonzo and Jarvis. Then they called another man over and asked him several questions. While heanswered them, he rubbed his chest as if it hurt. Finally, he patted Larem on the shoulder before walking over to stand with Eli and Tyson. Jarvis and Lonzo watched him walk awaybefore turning their attention back to Larem. Neither man looked happy, but they both finally nodded.
The medic immediately switched places with Larem, moving so that he was positioned at Chase’s head. After taking a deep breath, he put his hands on Chase’s shoulders as if preparing to hold him down. Jarvis and Lonzo knelt on the ground near Chase’s feet and gripped his legs in tight holds. Eachman looked more grim than the next. What on earth was going on? That’s when she realized the man she loved was staring straight up into the sun without blinking, without breathing.
“Oh, God, no.” She grasped at Tyson’s arm. “He’s dead again, and it’s my fault.”
The former guard wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “No, it’s not. You didn’t kidnap him, you didn’t torture him, and you sure ashell didn’t pull that trigger. Besides, he won’t stay dead.”
They both also knew that might not be a good thing if the damage done by the guards had pushed him beyond his body’s ability to recuperate.
“What will they do now?”
“I would think there wouldn’t be much more they can do for him here.” Eli kept his eyes riveted on the men surrounding Chase. “Best guess, they’ll call in a helicopterto fly the body... I mean, flyhimback to headquarters. They have a pretty amazing medical facility there and people who know how to deal with... well, all this weird shit.”
But the men surrounding Chase’s body weren’t acting as if there was nothing to be done. Jarvis was in the process of cutting Chase’s shirt open to bare his chest. The gaping wound from the gunshot was still seepingblood, but it had slowed to a trickle. No surprise there, considering his heart had quit pumping.
Everyone stopped whatever they were doing to watch in horrified fascination as Larem raised his knife over his head and began chanting. The words he spoke weren’t English, and she didn’t recognize the language. His voice grew gradually louder until he shouted one last word that echoed down the hillside.At the same time, he slashed his palm open with the knife and coated the blade with his blood. She glanced at Tyson and Eli to see if any of this was what they had expected to happen. Judging by their expressions, she would have to say no. They were clearly as stunned as she was.
Then in an unexpected move, Larem plunged the blade down into the open wound. He chanted as he held it there for severalseconds before finally jerking the knife back out of Chase’s chest. He slumped to the side as if the single blow had taken every bit of strength he had. A second passed, then another, when suddenly Chase’s entire body bowed up off the ground. It took all three men to hold him in place as he collapsed and began thrashing around to break free of their grasp.
And his screams—they were the stuffof nightmares.
