Deadly Game (GhostWalkers, #5)(105)

“Jack says the women took off in different directions. My team had a hell of a time providing covering fire for them, but no one could stop them long enough to get them to the waiting helicopter. They went up and over the fence and scattered into the forest. We stopped most of their pursuers, but there’s one hell of a firefight going on between Violet’s men guarding the senator and Whitney’s supersoldiers. It actually helped get the women out.”

Ken caught her arm, bringing her to an abrupt halt as he yanked open a small maintenance door set into the wall. “The grill, get inside the shaft. Hurry.”

She didn’t waste time asking questions. They only had seconds. When the guards rounded the corner and saw they were gone, they would check the small maintenance room. She yanked the grill free and dove into the shaft, scrambling forward to give Ken plenty of room. He pulled the grill after him and signaled her forward.

Almost immediately bullets cut through the door and walls of the room behind them. Mari hesitated, her heart pounding, but Ken pushed her bottom, urging her to keep moving. Mari crawled as fast as she could, trying to stay quiet. The tube was surprisingly large, and getting wider as she moved down it. Ken tapped her ankle as she came up on another grill.

She pushed it out and like the other one, the grill fell open easily, the screws already removed. Mari slid through headfirst, rolling, gun up and ready, tracking the room. She found herself in another maintenance room, tools scattered everywhere and a bucket of dirty water with a mop stuck in it pulled away from the wall. The bucket seemed out of place to her with all the tools.

She looked around, breathing hard, struggling to control her fear. She’d been on several missions with bullets flying, but nothing had prepared her for this—escaping from Whitney. He had controlled her life for so long she wasn’t certain she could even think for herself.

Ken’s hand brushed the nape of her neck. “You’ve been thinking for yourself for a very long time, honey. Stop worrying.”

“You weren’t touching me and you knew what I was thinking. I hate that. You scare me sometimes.”

He flashed a small grin at her as he pushed past her to crack open the door enough to peer out. “You don’t exactly have a poker face, darlin’,” he drawled.

“I wish I could believe you, but I’m not that transparent. I spent too long fooling Whitney. You’ve got way more psychic talent than you let on.”

The alarm was blaring through the compound now, and chaos had broken out. Lab techs hurried out into the corridor. Ken reached out and snagged a man by his coat, yanking him into the closet and smashing an elbow to his head. The tech slumped to the floor and lay there groaning. “Get his jacket off.”

Mari crouched down to pull the jacket from the tech. Whitney had made it mandatory for all techs on the third level to wear a black lab coat and those on the second level a white one. The man was wearing a white coat, but she’d caught a glimpse of several third-level techs. They were swarming up the stairs along with the security teams sweeping through each of the levels.

“What was the explosion?” She kicked the man as he tried to rise, and he went down a second time. Mari donned the jacket and looked around the room for a hat.

“I set a few timed charges. They’ll keep going off at odd intervals, just enough to keep Whitney and his men rattled. The women are over the fence and presumably away. Jack says unfortunately the senator is almost to the plane. Jack’s waiting for us.”

“They don’t have my sisters?” She winced as Ken grabbed a second white-coated tech and slammed him into the wall. He bounced and Ken dragged him into the small room. “Not a single one?”

“Your sisters aren’t very trusting.” His vivid gaze pinned her. “You knew they wouldn’t be. You all discussed it ahead of time, didn’t you?”

To avoid his glacier-cold eyes, Mari bent down to pull the jacket from the tech. “Yes. I knew you wouldn’t be happy.” And he’d be even less happy knowing she was supposed to get away from him and meet them as soon as possible.

“Just because my men are risking their lives to get the women out? Your sisters knew they were going to be there, with bullets flying and a helicopter waiting, and they went over the fence and scattered into the woods.” He reached down and pulled her to her feet. “Are you planning to do the same thing?”

She avoided his eyes. What was she planning? She was going to see Briony. She was going to try with Ken. “I’m planning on going out with you, fighting for all I’m worth and gaining freedom. You know that word that is supposed to represent the American way? Freedom, Ken. We wanted the freedom to make our own decisions.”

“They’re psychic, most without anchors, the same as you are. How are they—or you-going to survive without aid? And do you really think Whitney is just going to let them go? He’ll send every soldier he has to get them back. We could have protected them.”

“And exchanged one prison for another?”

His heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vise. “Is that what you think you’re doing, Mari?”

Their eyes met. He counted his heartbeats. She had talked with her sisters about taking off on her own. He had handed her his soul, and she was thinking of walking away from him. And why not? Life with him would be a form of prison. He couldn’t deny it—not even to himself. He would want to run her life, wrap her in bubble wrap and keep her hidden from the world and any danger it might present. She desperately wanted, needed—and deserved—freedom.