Page 34 of Merciless Protector

When I only got silence, I imagined her bobbing her head until she shakily uttered a less-than-certain “okay.”

For the next several minutes, I only heard the sounds of our rapid breaths, or maybe just mine, as I ground my teeth, determined not to show any signs of weakness.

“Found it.”

I closed my eyes, recalling when this might have happened. Being locked up in a six-by-eight room that you share with one other person you dwarfed in size didn’t mean you were safe, even in the cell where the door was locked.

Trying to stay awake forever wasn’t possible. And the one time sleep claimed me against my will, I’d been overpowered by four other inmates who invaded our cell after lights out.

Terror didn’t cover what I felt as each of my limbs was held down by a person while another held a sickly-sweet damp cloth over my mouth. Eventually, I passed out either from the drug or lack of oxygen, but until blackness claimed me, all my worst fears had me longing for death.

I’d awoken alone on my cot, my cellmate above me. But it was the immense pain in that area that had me curling into a ball, trying not to imagine what had happened. Hope, even the unlikelihood of it, had me thinking they’d only wanted to implant the tracker. But I wasn’t that stupid.

“It’s done,” she said. I could feel the tape on me she’d used to close the wound.

I blinked as my surroundings came into focus. Gone was the memory, banished back into the deep recesses of my mind. Knowing time wasn’t on our side, I snapped back into training.

“We need to go.” I held out my hand to see what she’d found. She put the bloody miniature pill-like object in my palm. “Grab whatever you absolutely need and let’s go.”

Ruin would already know about the missing women. Since we’d left the trackers on each of their beds, he would assume we would put it together that Tayla had one too. The only advantage we had was that we were aware of my tracker.

What I’d need to figure out, and soon, was if the kingpin and Ruin were working together. The trackers were similar enough to draw that conclusion. But I had to get us out of here now. I got to my feet and pulled on my pants. Then I pocketed the tracker she’d found on me, not taking the time to clean it.

My next move was to go into the room I’d claimed. I swept the tracker we’d found on her into my palm. “Are you ready?” I called out. I didn’t yell because I wasn’t sure if anyone was in the hall waiting for us to exit.

Her head popped in the door. A hoodie covered her hair. “I’m ready.”

I nodded and held up her tracker before making my way past her and into the bathroom. I dropped the tracker in the toilet before flushing it. When I turned, her expression was scrunched up in question.

“They know we found it. No reason to hang on to it. And if they didn’t. They would assume you are on the elevator down. Either way, we don’t need to keep it at this point.”

“Yours?” she asked.

I shot a thumb over my shoulder toward the kitchen. She followed me there. I snagged a banana because it was right there. Then I put a finger to my lips. She nodded in understanding. At the door, I took care to open it slowly, keeping part of my body hidden. When no shots rang out, I risked a glance. The hallway was empty.

We were over forty stories high, so I went for the elevator. Hopefully, those after us weren’t on to us yet. A quick departure would give us another advantage. I may have pressed the button a few times too many because Tayla’s hand captured mine.

“I can’t begin to understand what you’re going through, but I’m here to talk if you want,” she said.

In her eyes, I could see the shared misery. She hadn’t exactly had an easy time of things over the last year. I’d only endured three months of hell. I squeezed her hand and opened my mouth to say something when the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

20

TAYLA

His lips closed, and that was the end of the conversation. He took my hand in his and we quickly got into the elevator. He hit the button for the garage floor and down we went. Though we hadn’t encountered anyone, my heart raced like we were being chased. Then again, it could have been because he hadn’t let go of me. I took a small step forward, wishing I could lean into him. Yet, I held myself back, not sure what to label what was between us.

When the elevator stopped, his hand tightened on mine and awareness of our surroundings kicked back in. The doors parted and Shawn used his hand to flatten us against the side wall after pressing another button. It was then I spotted a man dressed in dark clothing standing with his back to us. A snake tattoo peeked out of the collar of his shirt on his neck. People didn’t generally hang out in a garage. It was likely he was there for nefarious reasons.

The man turned in our direction as the doors closed. I couldn’t be sure he hadn’t seen us as we descended farther. Once we reached a lower level, Shawn cautiously led us out into a darkened space filled with floor-to-ceiling metal cages. I guessed it was storage for the residents. He placed a finger to his lips, and we made our way down a narrow corridor between cages until we reached a door.

A ding indicated the elevator was back on this floor. Shawn quickly ushered us inside what appeared to be a tiny maintenance office that held a metal desk and shelves. Once he closed the door as softly as possible, he flicked on the overhead light and moved about the space, inspecting the walls.

Not sure what else to do, I kept an ear to the door to see if I could hear anyone coming. Then, a grunt had me turning my attention back to Shawn. He was lifting a shelf. I moved to help him, and expeditiously, we moved it out of the way, revealing what appeared to be a ship’s hatch door with the wheel handle. No way there was a ship down here. Maybe there was a bunker.

Shawn spun the wheel after a few seconds of trying to get it moving. It was sexy as all hell, watching his biceps flex as he used his strength. As I heard footsteps approach, I chastised myself for not keeping my head in the game. There was possibly a man, or men, who wanted to hurt us.

The bunker door popped open with the screeching sound of metal on unoiled hinges and stale air whooshed in. Beyond that was a dank tunnel. Shawn held his hand out to me and helped me through the hatch and over a puddle of something. I didn’t want to guess what it was.

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