"Now what?"
Hart's gaze shifted beyond her, and she looked over her shoulder but there was no one there.
Looked like the cavalry was late.
Simons lifted his head and for the first time since he'd seen Barker, she thought she saw a glimmer of understanding in them.
She took a step toward Hart.
If she did nothing else, she would make him pay for using Simons.
"Were you really with Simons? Before?"
He understood the direction of her question, and narrowed his eyes. "I've been with Simons since day one. And when they decided to set this up, I was the natural choice of companion. He trusts me."
"This has been a set up from the start? For the last four months?" She didn't know why she hadn't understood that immediately, but she shook off her shock, took another step forward. "They already knew what I could do. I don't understand why they had to test it again."
Another step.
"Stay back." Hart raised the gun, steadying his hand, putting his arm out in a stiff line.
She stopped, but she was pretty sure there wasn't a lethal dose in the gun. She was worth a great deal more alive.
Simons took a step to the side, still behind Hart, but the movement made Hart turn his head. "Stay where you are." His voice was sharp.
Nina leapt.
She slammed into Hart, and grabbed hold of Simons as they went down.
Hart screamed once, a high, sharp sound, and Simons rolled away from him and curled up against the wall, shaking.
Nina hauled herself off Hart and walked over to him, crouched down with her hand on his shoulder. “We have to go. Now's our chance, with the doors open.”
“I'm afraid that way won't do you any good.”
Nina twisted around and looked up.
Maintenance Man stood in the doorway, far enough away that she couldn't project, couldn't defend them. She was nearly burned out, anyway.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Four guards are out there, waiting for you. They're not quite Greenway's calibre, but I don't think you want them to get you, nevertheless.”
She gaped at him. “And what do you know about Greenway?”
Maintenance Man gave a wry grin. “I was a guest of his for two years, Nina Calvados. Same as you.”
“And you know about the four gunmen how?”
“I can hear their thoughts.” He frowned. “They know about Barker and they're afraid to approach you directly. They'll shoot as soon as you're in range.”
“What are you doing here?” Her world had tilted today——she was barely hanging on by her fingertips, but since Maintenance Man arrived on the scene, it had flipped over 180 degrees. Everything was upside down.
“Some friends and I escaped from Greenway a couple of weeks ago. Took some files with us, and saw there were others like us tucked out of the way. Thought we'd rescue you.” He quirked a grin at her as he rocked the foundations of her world.
“So. Are you coming?” He retrieved Hart's dart gun, scooping it up in an easy move.
She rose from her crouch. “I can't leave without Simons.”
He sighed, as if he'd expected as much. Took a couple of steps over to her and Simons. “I'm Nina's friend, Dudley. It's safe to come with us.”
“Dudley?” Even she hadn't known Simons first name, and she'd worked with him for four months.
Maintenance Man shrugged, the thick fabric of his overalls straining against the breath of his shoulders. “I know a way out of the dark, Dudley. Come with me.”
Simons lifted his head at that.
“The dark's coming, we need to hurry.” Her rescuer held out a hand and Simons took in, rose to his feet.
Maintenance Man said he knew the guards were there because he read their thoughts. Nina could only assume he was reading Simons' as well to so easily know what to say to him to get him moving.
“What's your name, seeing as you seem to know mine.” She couldn't keep calling him Maintenance Man. Not if he was listening in.
He held up a hand. “Someone's coming. Let's go.”
He pulled the door open and Simons followed him out.
Nina hesitated. She'd been on her own for so long, to throw her lot in with others, people she didn't know and didn't trust, it was a lot to ask.
“Well?” He turned to her, pinning her with the same look he'd given her in the canteen.
She heard the sound of running feet coming toward them down the corridor and gave a sharp nod. “Lead the way, Maintenance Man.”
Chapter Four
“Maintenance Man?” Giles kept his hand on Simons' shoulder, steering him away from the warehouse area and the pounding footsteps and taking them down an empty corridor. “Not Handsome or Stud? Maintenance Man?”
He kept his voice low, knowing it was dangerous to talk at all, but he had a feeling he'd need to coax Nina Calvados into cooperating with him. Joking with her seemed a good first step.
She gave him a sideways look, and he thought he caught the ghost of a smile. “Nope. Maintenance Man is what came to mind.”
“You wound me.”
She snorted.
Actually, what she did was soothe him. Even better than Kelli did. He couldn't hear a thing from her. Not a single stray thought. He could sit in her company all day.
In sharp contrast, Dudley Simons' thoughts ricocheted and bounced around, a frightened, confused mess of darkness and pain. Giles found himself wishing Nina could zap Barker all over again for what had been done to Simons. Which reminded him . . .
“What did you do to Barker? And to Hart, for that matter?”
She hesitated, then shrugged. “I transferred Simons' pain into them.”
“You didn't even touch Barker. I was there.”
“I don't have to touch. I just have to be near. But it takes a lot out of me to do a visual transfer. It's much easier to transfer by touch.”
“And you have to be touching Simons at the same time?”
She nodded. “According to Hart, they were hoping I would try to use Simons to escape so they could see the extent of what I could do. Guess they didn't believe Doc Greenway, wanted to do a few tests of their own. So they deliberately brought Simons in, and waited. When I didn't take the bait, they used Barker to force the issue.” She slowed and then stopped when he did. “Where are we going?”
“Where else would Maintenance Man go, but to the maintenance room?” He pulled out his key card, swiped it, and pushed the heavy door he'd led them to open. He could hear doors slamming behind them, shouting, and he pulled Simons in quickly.
The room smelled of cold concrete, floor polish and burnt plastic. The cleaning equipment for the building was in here, as well as the heating and air conditioning units. A nice, quiet place to hole up for a little bit.
Simons stood where Giles left him, a few steps inside the door. Nina closed it behind her and then went to explore the room.
Her loose pants and white tee hinted at the body beneath. Her neck was almost too slender, as if it shouldn't be able to support the weight of her head, and her cheeks were too prominent.
Her hair was long, falling in thick dark brown waves down her back. When she turned to look at him, he was struck, as he had been the first time he'd seen her in the canteen, at the strange pale green of her eyes.
He'd always agreed with Kelli that they should rescue the other victims of Greenway's house of horrors, but when he'd first laid eyes on Nina, it had become personal for him.
This woman should not be used and locked away for anyone's convenience.
The first time he'd seen her step into the canteen, alone, her back straight, her eyes looking for threats, expecting no welcome or friendliness, he had been struck by her strength.
And struck even deeper by her vulnerability.
There was no one to help her here.
And damned if he was going to let that go on any longer.
“Okay, now can you tell me your name?” She crossed her
arms and he couldn't help but notice how the movement thrust her breasts forward.
“Yes, no need to call me Maintenance Man any longer.” He gave a mock shudder. “My name is Giles.”
“Well, Giles, we can't stay here forever.” There was a husky tremor to her voice when she spoke, and Giles realized he'd been staring.
“No.” He fought an unaccountable blush and pulled out his cell, dialed Nate's number. There was no signal.
“What is it?” Nina took a step closer to him.
“Looks like they're jamming communications.” He bent, lifted the right pant leg of his overalls and drew his ceramic knife from a sheath strapped to his leg. “We're on our own for now.”
* * *
Of all the ways Nina'd dreamed of escaping, and she'd dreamed of plenty, none of them had involved a handsome wisecracker who moved with lethal efficiency.
The way he handled the long, wicked-looking knife he'd taken from the sheath strapped to his calf made her sure beyond a doubt he was ex-military. Or maybe even current military.
Maybe Greenway was doing work for some secret defense program.
That would make sense. More sense than keeping a broken toy like her.
“What exit were you planning to take me out of, if this hadn't gone down tonight?” She hadn't thought any of them were possible options.
“There's one at the side of the building, where the maintenance staff park their cars. It's just as well covered, but we had a plan.” He moved to the door, leaned against it and closed his eyes, as if he were listening to something.
“And now?”
He lifted a hand to stop her talking, tapped the back of his head on the door lightly a few times. “Two of them searching this side of the building, room by room.”
“Why? Surely they've seen the camera footage? They must know where we are.”
Giles opened his eyes. “Kelli had planned to disrupt the cameras tonight while we got you out, and I guess she's done her thing.”
She absorbed that. Absorbed that someone called Kelli was also here, helping her escape. “So. You can hear these guys thinking?”
He nodded and his gaze held hers, the dark chocolate of them somehow . . . nervous?
“Most people don't like that I can do it, and I don't blame them. It's useful at the moment, in this weird-ass life I've fallen into, but regular day-to-day? It's a pain in the butt for everyone, including me.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but he turned, pressed himself against the wall beside the door, and motioned her out of the line of sight of anyone coming through from the corridor.
She grabbed Simons' hand and dragged him with her.
As soon as they were in position, he opened the door and stuck his head out. “What's up?” he asked whoever was in the corridor.
“Nothing to be worried about. You seen anyone around?” The voice that answered was terse.
“Nope.” Giles shrugged. “I've been working on some circuit boards, though, so a troop of circus clowns could have come by and I wouldn't have known it.”
Nina saw the knife was in his left hand, held close to his body, and she saw his grip tighten.
“Well, sorry, but I have to take a look.”
Giles took a step back. “Suit yourself, man. Your time to waste.”
She could hear the other guard run past, his footsteps ringing on the linoleum of the corridor as the guard pushed the door wider and stepped in.
He hadn't even seen them yet, his face turned toward Giles to say something, when Giles closed the door and struck him at the back of the neck in one, seamless move.
The guard crumpled to the ground.
She knew it. Special forces.
Giles dragged him to one side and lay him down.
She could see his muscles flexing, but she still had the impression he'd only recently recovered from an illness. He was thinner than he should be for his height.
“The doc starve you?”
He looked up from his victim, frowning. “No.”
“Looks like he did.”
Giles shrugged. “I was sick while I was at Greenway's. Not sure why, but when Nate and I escaped with Kelli, things started getting better. I don't know if it was getting out of my cell, or being close to Kelli that did it, but I've been on the mend ever since.”
She didn't know why she didn't like that. Him being reliant on another woman to help him feel well. She forced herself to shake it off. “Were they trying to get into your mind?”
She remembered what that was like. The relentless bouts of hypnosis where she knew exactly what they were trying to do, the feeling of having someone try to pry her mind open with all the finesse of a crowbar. She shuddered.
“If they did try, I wasn't aware of it. They tried to get into Kelli's mind. Sort of half succeeded, but not in the way they wanted to. Kelli's a good blocker, I've thought that was why I've managed to make such a good recovery. I can think when she's around, her thoughts aren't crowding into mine. But that was never a problem for me before I was sent to Greenway's.”
“Maybe they stripped a protective layer off you. They tried to strip a layer off me.” It had taken time, but these last four months, she knew she had managed to build up her walls again. Another reason this place had been a respite.
He gave a slow, thoughtful nod. “That could be.” Then he shot her a grin so full of mischief and camaraderie, she couldn't help but smile back. “I guess I'll have to stick with you, then.”
“Why's that?” Her heart was beating faster in her chest, and she tried to pretend to herself she didn't know why.
He took a step toward her. “Because you block even better than Kelli. In fact, I can't read a single thing from you. And I've got to say, I just want to follow you around and wallow in it.”
Chapter Five
The guards would miss their colleague sooner or later.
Giles looked over at the man he'd brought down, thinking things through, and then checked his watch.
It was time to go.
With Nate and Kel running as blind as he was, he knew Nate would stick to the plan, wait for him at the exit they'd chosen. He just needed to get Simons and Nina there in one piece.
He started stripping off his overalls, but a sound from Nina made him pause and raise his head.
She was gaping at him.
He shot her a grin, and chuckled when her eyes widened even more.
“Don't mind me.”
She coughed out a laugh. “And you would be doing what, precisely?”
“Thought I'd put on our friend here's clothes, look a little more official for our escape. Maybe you could help. Take off his pants and shirt for me.”
He was wearing a t-shirt under the overalls and a pair of shorts, but to keep her guessing, he bent and started on the laces of his boots next.
She huffed out a breath. “Suuure.”
He had the tiniest flickering of a thought that he'd love to know what she was thinking, and then felt all hot and prickly that he even had to think it.
From what she'd said about how she'd downed Barker and Hart, she had the ability to take someone's pain and suffering, and project it. Somehow, by some marvelous twist of fate, that seemed to make her mental shields as thick and impregnable as a medieval town wall.
He stopped pulling off his boots and simply watched her as she crouched beside the guard and started untying his laces. She had a very fine ass, and when she pushed her hair behind her ear and angled her body so he could see the profile of her breasts, he couldn't tear his eyes away.
She was all efficient movement and no-nonsense. It made him want to mess her hair and make her blush.
He'd ribbed Nate mercilessly for how he'd behaved when they'd met up with Kelli and broken out of Greenway's facility, but he was starting to have a tiny bit of sympathy for his buddy now.
Nina Calvados was like catnip to him.
“Do you need his boots?” She turned as she asked, caught him looking at her.
“Um,” he cleared his throat, “no. Mine will do.”
She gave a tight nod, went back to her task, and Giles forced himself to toe off his boots and step out of the overalls.
He walked over to help her, crouching down so they could pull the guard's black combat pants off together.
“Ewww.” She stared at their victim's lurid g-string. “No offense if that's your preferred underwear, too, but if it is, I just lost all respect for you.”
Giles chuckled into her ear. “I guess I still have your respect, then.”
“Well, that's a relief.”
“Glad your fantasies of me in my underwear aren't ruined.” Giles stepped into the pants. They were a little short in the leg, a little wide in the waist, but his boots would hide the length and he could tighten the belt.
Nina was unbuttoning the guard's shirt and she shook her head and scoffed at his comment.
He felt himself reaching for her thoughts, only realizing he was doing it at all because of the silent wall of nothing that he came up against.
“God, you are amazing.”
She frowned as she twisted to look up at him.
“Sorry.” He tried to smile, to bring off a casual shrug, but he had the feeling he didn't manage it. “I'll just worship you from afar.” He cleared his throat. “Unless you like being worshipped at more close quarters?”
She bit down on her full lower lip in consternation, and he wondered why he kept playing with her. He was usually this outrageous, especially with Nate and Kel, but he always knew what they were thinking, had relied on what was going on in their heads as much as what they actually said to sustain the banter.
He might be digging a grave for himself, this time. And this time, it actually mattered. But his mouth kept moving without his permission.
She shook her head, dropping her gaze to break their eye contact. “You are certifiable.”
“So they say.”
There was an awkward pause, and Giles saw her expression close off and she shut her eyes, took a deep breath.
Breaking Out: Part II Page 3