Remember Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #3)(87)

I wasn’t completely appeased, but there was nothing else to do, so with a defeated nod I left the man in the cell behind. “No!” he shouted. “Wait! Please!”

His voice was more urgent this time. I whirled around and met his gaze again. He stared back at me with sharp, intelligent eyes. I couldn’t leave. “You guys, go. I’m going to stay here and talk to him.”

“It’s useless, Angel,” Abiodun said. “We’ve been trying for days.”

“It won’t hurt for me to try, too. The man obviously wants me to, and you guys don’t need me with you to scan his head.” I pointed at Lorenz. “I’ll stay here with Dr. Haggerty. Call us when you figure something out.”

Major Wilks considered it a moment, and then nodded. “Abiodun and Texas, you stay with the Angel. You’re the most familiar with the man. Perhaps you’ll be able to help her figure something out.”

Once the others left, I looked back into the man’s cell. He was still watching me, and he’d relaxed quite a bit now that I wasn’t leaving. I walked from one end of his cell to the other, and his eyes followed me as I paced.

Dr. Haggerty frowned. “It’s odd. He’s not shown this much interest in anything since being in my care.”

I couldn’t look away from the man, and he stared right back. “Because he’s trying to tell me something,” I murmured.

As I said the words, the man’s gaze narrowed and he sat up. He glared at me again, and again I saw frustration creep over his entire body. I wasn’t wrong. This man wanted to talk.

“He can’t tell you anything, Angel,” Tex said.

I shook my head. “He can’t, but he wants to. He’s trying to.” I met his gaze again. “Aren’t you? You’re trying to tell me something, but the nanobots aren’t letting you.”

The man’s gaze slid to the wall of his cell, and once again his attention drifted. I grinned. “Did you see that? I asked him a question he wasn’t allowed to answer. He’s being controlled.”

I looked at the man again and tried to piece the mystery together. “What’s different about me?”

Tex snorted softly behind me. “Seriously, Angel?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. What’s different now? Why would he want me to stay? What can I do for him that no one else could before besides fry his brain—”

I gasped. “That’s it! He wants me to zap him.”

“Are you sure—”

“I’m sure. Look.” I met the man’s hard stare again. His focus was back. He glared at me, but there was no anger behind it. His jaw was clenched tight, and his hands were balled in white-knuckled fists. “He’s not being defiant. He’s frustrated.”

“You may be right, Angel, but he’s not well enough.”

“No, I know. I can hear how weak his heart is. But what if I concentrated the electricity on just his head? If I kept the energy in his brain, would it stress his heart too much?”

Tex, Abiodun, and Dr. Haggerty all exchanged glances. Dr. Haggerty chewed on her lip and stared at the floor, brow furrowed in concentration. “Could you do that?”

The superthug’s eyes were on me again, waiting as curiously for my answer as Dr. Haggerty. It was him I answered. “I’ve never tried, but I move energy through my own body easily enough. I can send power surges to certain objects, and shoot lightning where I want it. Not just aim where I want it, but I can guide the electricity all the way to its target. She’s right about your heart, though, and I can’t promise success.”

The guy watched me again, unmoving with his jaw strained, until finally his attention faded again. “I don’t get it,” I said, turning to Abiodun and Tex. “Why can’t he talk at all, or even move sometimes? Lorenz had no problems running his mouth without zoning out.”

I jumped when the superthug answered me. “My partner is a sick man. He likes his job.”

“Meaning he doesn’t try to answer questions he’s not supposed to,” Tex translated, coming to the same conclusion I was drawing.

I nodded. “He doesn’t fight the nanobots, so he doesn’t zone out.”

“You’re Jamie Baker,” the superthug said, drawing our attention again. “You’re to be considered extremely dangerous, unpredictable, and very volatile. You have a strong conscience and a weakness for helping people in need. You like football.” He grinned then, a shocking, boyish, friendly grin. “So do I. And my favorite food is BBQ ribs. I’ve heard you like great food. If you haven’t had the chance to try barbecue yet, I definitely recommend it.”

The speech was a little dizzying because it was so out of the blue and random, but I found myself grinning. “I’ll put it on my to-do list.”

“I can talk just fine, too,” the superthug said.

“When you say the right things,” I finished for him.

He smiled again. “I like you, Angel.”

“You’re not so bad yourself. For a superthug who tried to kidnap me for human experimenting.”

The smile left the man’s face and he zoned out again. “I know, I know.” I sighed. I was starting to understand this guy. “You didn’t want to, did you? You were compelled to do it. I’m guessing you’re one of the missing soldiers Major Wilks mentioned.”