Page 51 of Hidden By the Convicts
“I can’t. Can I?”
“Nothing you could say or do will make him think less of you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
What was she worried about?
Losing Gavin. His friendship was too important to her, but she couldn’t imagine not having more of him. She wanted all of Gavin, especially the part he hid from her. Bowen was right. She needed to push herself and Gavin. Because right now, she didn’t feel whole, and she knew why. She needed Gavin in her life as more than just her friend.
Chapter Twelve
TEAGEN
“Will you take me to the waterfall tonight?” Teagen asked Gavin, who ran his plant samples through the tissue analyzer for signs of any viruses.
When he looked up, she could see the surprise on his face. “Would you rather Harlis take you? He knows where it is.”
“It’s not Harlis I want to spend time with. I mean, I do, just not tonight. We can go somewhere else if you’d like.”
“Is this a date, Teagen?”
“It doesn’t have to be, but it would be nice.”
The smile surfaced slowly, changing his entire expression and how he held himself. Gavin stood a little taller, and those gray eyes swirled as if she’d just given him a spaceship to escape Narkos.
“When it gets dark. And after Harlis and Bowen have a chance to scope the area for guards and kuvak.”
‘It’s a date then,” she said excitedly. She almost felt normal again.
“Damn this decontaminant,” someone swore at the front of the greenhouse.
Gavin jumped from his chair and pushed the potted nelim tree aside, giving her room to slide into the hole Harlis had dug. “Close your eyes, you fools,” Gavin shouted. “I’m coming with the neutralizer.”
Shaking, Teagen lowered herself into the hole. Gavin held up his finger to his lips as he slid the pot in place over her. This hole wasn’t as wide as the one in the house, but Harlis had left a blanket and a bottle of water for her. Afraid the guards would hear even the slightest movement, Teagen sat perfectly still.
“There. The neutralizer works as Harlis promised.”
“Remove that fucking spray from the door, or I will,” Mozely threatened.
“Then you can explain to Dresden why all the crops fail. There’s a virus in the soil all over the compound in East Side. Without the decontamination, you’ll infect all the seedlings I’m growing in here and we’ll have nothing to plant for the next season.”
“Get your ass out of the greenhouse, Gavin. We need you in the field. One of the workers found something suspicious growing in the crops.”
“Probably a harmless vine from the jungle. Which prisoner? I’ll have him show me later. I’m right in the middle of a testing for viruses.”
“Last warning, Gavin. Come with us, or I’ll throw you in the hole. I’m tired of your unit always disobeying me.”
“I’m coming. Let me grab my sample bag.” A minute later, Teagen heard the door to the greenhouse click shut. She closed her eyes. This wasn’t the best or easiest place to nap, but she couldn’t move the potted tree off the hole. She was trapped until Gavin returned.
* * *
“T? You down there?”a voice said from above.
“Harlis?”
Bright light flooded the hole, causing Teagen to squint. Harlis pulled her up and started brushing off the dirt from her face. “I saw Gavin heading toward the field with some guards, so I wanted to see if you were okay.”
“She’s perfectly fine,” a new voice said from across the greenhouse. A man with dark hair and striking bright blue eyes leaned against a potted tree. He wore prison-issue trousers and a black t-shirt.
Harlis picked up pruners from the table and swung at the man, but the prisoner grabbed Harlis’s arm and wrenched it behind his back.
