Page 83 of Taken By the Convicts
“If you feel anything for me at all, Ivan, you’ll trust my instincts in this.”
“I’m sorry, little bird. I have to go with my gut.”
Cold air flooded the stairwell and corridor when the bunker’s door opened. Reece quickly rushed in and pulled the door shut, ensuring it clicked. His eyes moved over her quickly.
“Een,” he said her name, then quickly focused on Ivan and started signing.
“Shit,” Ivan said.
“What?” she asked. She’d only learned a few of Reece’s signs and couldn’t grasp what he was trying to say.
“I don’t know, but given his demeanor, it’s not good. Go get Zev. I need him to translate.”
“You’ll let him stay?” she asked.
“For the moment, I have no choice.”
Melina raced to get Zev, who’d fallen asleep in his room. He tossed on his clothing and met Reece and Ivan in the stairwell. Reece’s hands flew furiously.
“Hawke’s men are outside,” Zev interpreted.
“Damn, I wish we had a scope.”
Reece continued signing.
“Apparently, they didn’t follow Reece,” Zev continued interpreting. “They were already in the area. Several tried their tatts against the access panel.”
“They suspect we’re here,” Ivan added.
“Or they know and haven’t figure out a way to draw us out,” Zev added.
“Fuck!” Ivan said, scrubbing his face.
“What about Jayce?” Melina asked, her stomach twisting at the possibility that Hawke had captured Jayce, maybe even tortured him for information. “Do you think they have him?”
“No. If they had Jayce, they’d cut off his wrist and use his tatt against the panel.”
She winced at the thought. Ivan could be downright insensitive, but that’s what made him such a good leader. He thought strategically, not emotionally.
She glanced at Zev, who tossed her one of his easy-going smiles like he didn’t want her to worry. But she saw something in his eyes, too. Sadness.
No! Zev hadn’t betrayed them! Damn Ivan for making her doubt him and herself.
She pushed her way past Ivan and Zev. She couldn’t breathe down here, and life in the bunker was going to get more confining if Hawke set up camp outside the hatch, waiting for them to emerge. They had extra supplies thanks to Jayce’s deals and the men taking extra shifts when they could, but the food supply wouldn’t last forever.
Chapter Twenty-Two
REECE
Reece couldn’t believe his Melina was standing there at the bottom of the stairs. She’d returned while he was on a hunting trip. He’d only taken a few shifts outside the med-center, waiting for her to emerge, but she never had. Then he’d been assigned two hunting trips, back to back.
The long-range hunt had taken eight days. He’d returned to the bunker to sleep and shower before heading out on this latest hunt, a shorter one of only two days. He hadn’t seen her in nearly two weeks. She was a vision standing there in a shirt and no pants. Long sleeve, dark blue. The shirt wasn’t his. Ivan’s.
“Een,” he called out, as she pushed past Ivan and Zev and raced down the hall toward her room.
She didn’t wait for him to finish reporting in to Ivan about Hawke’s men above. She’d barely made eye contact. He’d been gone too long and done nothing to ensure the strength of this unit for her return, or to convince Ivan to give her what she wanted,needed, so she would return.
Just like with Crimshaw, Reece hadn’t thought ahead to the consequences. He had taken his revenge, shooting Crimshaw, but he’d screwed up by making it a clean kill, a headshot with an ice rifle from a mile away. No one else around had that skill. His expertise and reputation had led security to him.
