Page 66 of Atone in Darkness
Her sleep-fogged brain was slow to make the connection. “I’d love to.”
Her hands shook as she unlocked the shackles that had held him chained to the table. After releasing the last one, she offered him a hand to help him sit up. “Go slow. You might be dizzy.”
Stubborn man that he was, he immediately turned to dangle his legs over the edge of the table and dragged her into his arms for a celebratory kiss. She was dimly aware of Laurel laughing and the sound of theprivacy curtain being dragged back into place. As she walked away, she murmured, “Make it quick, kiddies. You won’t be alone in there for long.”
Did she mean what she thought she did?
From the way Chase’s hands were wandering right now, he clearly thought so. She slapped them away when he tried to unfasten her slacks. “Chase, we can’t do this here.”
He grinned. “Sure we can if we don’t wastetime arguing about it.”
Unfortunately for him—or maybe her—the sound of the main lab door opening was accompanied by loud voices. No doubt Chase’s fan club had arrived. The curtain was nearly torn off its hooks as Jarvis yanked it out of the way. Gwen was right behind him along with a variety of other familiar faces.
No one said a word to her as they concentrated all their attention on Chase.That was as it should be, but it was surprising how suddenly feeling so alone hurt. As Chase tried to comfort his sister while exchanging good-natured insults with Jarvis and the other men, she slowly backed away, finally breaking free of the crowd. What now?
Then she spotted Tyson, relieved to see one friendly face. She picked up her suitcase and hurried to where he stood by the lab door.
He glanced at the impromptu party going on across the room and then down at her. “Hey, Doc, where do you think you’re going?”
She hated the sympathy in his eyes, but then maybe he knew what it was like to be an outsider around this bunch, especially one who wasn’t quite trusted.
“A hotel, preferably one that isn’t too expensive. I don’t have much cash, and I’m thinking it wouldn’t be smart touse my credit cards right now.”
He stared over her head toward Chase. “He’ll be pissed.”
“He’ll get over it when he’s had time to think things through. I don’t belong here.”
“If you’re sure.”
He took her suitcase and led her out of the lab. The door silently swung shut, a stark barrier between her and the oneman who really mattered. Leaving was the right thing to do, but she just wished she’dhad a chance to really say good-bye.
•••
“FOR THE LASTtime, where the hell is she?”
When no one immediately responded, Chase closed his eyes and counted to ten and then to twenty. It didn’t help. Right now he was so damn angry that he suspected Dr. Young was rethinking her decision to remove his restraints.
He’d been having this same conversation with various people for half an hour now.He clenched his fists and struggled to remain calm. How could he have lost track of Marisol in the first place? Granted, for a while he’d been swamped with a steady stream of well-wishers. Once the furor died down, Dr. Young had pulled him aside to finish the medical assessment required by the Regents, including the dreaded scan to see how close to the edge he was skating. The results weren’tas bad as he feared, but they weren’t good, either.
It wasn’t until that was all over that he realized that Marisol hadn’t just taken a break from all the chaos; she was gone. “I repeat, someone has to know where Marisol went. She was here one second and gone the next.”
“She probably went back to her bosses to report in.”
Chase turned his temper on his brother-in-law and grabbed Jarvis by thefront of his shirt. He yanked him closer until their noses were almost touching. “I’d be really careful about how you talk about her if you want to keep all your teeth.”
Jarvis didn’t fight back, which was a damn shame. It would’ve given him a much-needed target for his anger. Right now, Chase wasn’t even sure who he was really mad at, but there were plenty of possibilities. His family. His friends.And most of all, Marisol for disappearing with no explanation.
He’d even accused Devlin of taking her prisoner once she’d talked Chase back to normal. It spoke to the big man’s ironclad control over his own temper that he hadn’t decked him for it. Hell, even Gwen had hinted that wherever Marisol had gone, maybe it was for the best. Evidently, everyone thought he’d been so traumatized by everythinghe’d been through that he’d formed an unhealthy attachment to her.
Enough was enough.
“All of you leave.”
His sister winced. “Be reasonable, Chase. You need to take things slow. It’s barely been a day since you were... shot.”
Killed. That’s what she really meant. Did she think he’d forgotten that little detail? He glared at her and everyone else. “I’m sorry, sis, but this is one argumentyou won’t win. Go back home. I’ll be fine.”
Then he turned his back to her and everyone else. “Dr. Young, do you have some clothes I can borrow?”
