Night Watch (Kendra Michaels #4)(96)

He tensed. “Only thirty minutes?”

Jessie didn’t answer.

“Jessie.”

“We didn’t receive anything after that.” Jessie paused. “The device doesn’t appear to be functioning anymore.”

*

WALDRIDGE WAS SITTING BESIDE Kendra when she opened her eyes.

“Hello,” he said softly. “This is not how I wanted us to meet again.” His hand reached out to gently stroke her hair back from her forehead. “Believe me, I did everything I could to prevent it, Kendra.”

He was alive.

Through the dizziness that was still clouding her mind, that was the only thing that was clear and important. His face looked leaner, there were circles beneath his eyes, his lower lip was split. But she reached up to touch his hand, and it was warm and strong and alive. “Are you okay?”

“Shh.” His lips tightened. “That’s what I should be asking you. You were out longer than you should have been from that shot those gorillas gave you. It was beginning to worry me. It was too much to hope that they knew what they were doing. If they’d overdosed, they could have killed you.”

The truck. The two men running toward her, the smothering black hood. “Well, evidently they didn’t do that.” She tried to sit up, but another wave of dizziness swept over her. “Bathroom,” she gasped. “I have to throw up.” She struggled to get to her feet.

“It’s across the lab.” Charles was beside her, holding her as he hurried her across the room. “Damn, I knew they’d screw up the injection.”

She’d reached the bathroom, and she slammed the door and headed for the toilet. When she’d finished, she splashed water in her face, grabbed the glass on the vanity, and rinsed her mouth.

“Kendra. Open this door. I’m a doctor, for God’s sake. Are you okay?”

She opened the door. “No, but better. Still dizzy.” She was weaving her way back across the lab toward the cot. He slipped his arm around her waist until she reached the cot and he got her settled. She closed her eyes for an instant. “Do you know what they gave me?”

“Yes. Pentobarbital. Ted Dyle gave me a blow-by-blow description of how they intended to take you.” His lips curled bitterly. “He wanted to make sure I knew how helpless I was to stop anything he chose to do. That’s been his latest game plan.” He added harshly, “I was praying that he wouldn’t be able to pull it off. You’re so damn smart, you had to know there would be a threat to you. I knew there wasn’t a chance that you wouldn’t be searching for me. I was just hoping that you’d realize you’d have to watch out for yourself.”

“You’re right, there wasn’t one single chance in the universe I wouldn’t try to find you.” She shook her head to clear it and looked around. She’d been aware they were in a lab of some sort. Now she saw that it was a large laboratory, with long worktables containing test tubes, incubators, instruments, and other equipment. A desk with a computer occupied the far wall. No other furniture except the cot on which she was lying. “And I do watch out for myself.” Her gaze was still scanning her surroundings. “Dyle didn’t give you very luxurious quarters, did he?”

“He considered the cot a luxury. He didn’t want me to do anything but work.”

“Do you know if this room is bugged?”

“It’s not. I checked it when I first got here. No reason. Dyle wanted me to perform, demonstrate, step by step. He wanted to film and document so that it could be repeated.” He grimaced. “And I guarantee he knew that the formulas I’d created were too complicated for me to mutter them in my sleep.”

She nodded. “Okay, then I guess we’re safe to talk here.” She looked at the teak door closest to them. “How long do you think they’ll leave us alone?”

“I have no idea. You’ve been unconscious for hours, much longer than they expected. One of the guards came in ten minutes ago to check on you.” His lips twisted. “And Dyle might want me to sit here for a while and worry a bit about you. A softening process. That’s what this is all about, you know. Nothing else has worked for him, so he thinks that I might cave if he uses some of his charming methods on you.” His hand tightened on hers. “God, I didn’t want you here.”

“But here I am.” She tried to smile. “And Dyle is a fool if he believes that you’d give up all you’ve worked for to keep me safe. You’ve always known what’s important and how to balance that against the risks you had to take.”

“And you’re just another risk?” He shook his head. “I might have a problem with this particular risk. And Dyle knows it. He knew that night I let you slip away from the program in Monterrey. Why do you think that I didn’t contact you for all those years? You were a potential weapon he could use against me. I’ve known for years that Night Watch could become a monster.” His gaze was holding her own. “But, Kendra, the potential. It could also become a God that could save lives. I could see it shining and, with every advance I made, it became stronger, brighter. I couldn’t let it go.”

“I know you couldn’t. No one would want you to give it up.” She smiled. “Miracles, Charles.”

“Which are now being hijacked by the monster. And you may be one of the victims.”