Dangerous Games - Gold

by Adele Huxley

  Claire took Charlie’s wrist and yanked him to standing. He didn’t put up a fight at all as they disappeared into the darkness of the bus.

  Phoenix pulled Penny’s wrist. He was instantly overcome with a sense of guilt. Of all the people… and he’d forced Penny to reveal her identity. She hadn’t wanted to, but he’d practically outed her against her will.

  Penny stared at him with an unreadable expression before he wrapped her in a strong embrace. “I could’ve lost you,” he whispered, not even intending for her to hear it.

  The short hug she returned spoke volumes. “You didn’t. Not yet, at least,” she smiled softly.

  Phoenix didn’t know how to sum up the shame swelling in his chest. He felt entirely responsible for putting her in danger. “I’m sorry about—”

  She shook her head once and headed toward the bus. “We have work to do.”

  Chapter 20

  Internally, Penny was on the brink of losing her grip on the situation. Between Charlie revealing himself, the phone breaking, and nearly being shot, she was surprised her legs carried her onto the bus.

  But knowing he was the spy, one of the spies, gave her focus. She could concentrate on that, cling to it, use it as an anchor in an otherwise crazy situation.

  With the pieces of the satellite phone in her hands, she moved to the front and closed the doors.

  “Can you lock this back one?” Claire called out from behind. She stood casually in the aisle, Charlie cornered in the back row of seats.

  Penny acknowledged her with a wave and scanned the dash for the correct button, locking the rear door when Phoenix climbed on.

  Once in the safety of the bus, they collectively dealt with what had just happened in their own ways.

  Phoenix looked at her, then down to the back of the bus, and to her again. “Charlie’s the spy?” he cried incredulously.

  “No shit, Sherlock,” Penny muttered, clambering her way back to the seat where she’d placed the shattered phone.

  Charlie let out a yelp of pain as Claire delivered a swift kick to his shin. “Hurt, doesn’t it? Maybe next time you’ll think twice about betraying your friends and country.”

  Phoenix looked like he was on the edge of losing it as well. The panicky, shocked look on his face made her pull it together. Like two sides of the same sawhorse, when he went down, she went up.

  “We should try to make contact with your team again, right? Plan the extraction or whatever you call it.”

  Penny shook her head, the tips of her wet hair sticking to her face. “It’s busted. Dead.”

  “We can fix it.”

  She stared at the shattered pieces and couldn’t begin to imagine what components attached to each other. “I highly doubt that.”

  He angrily unzipped his jacket and huffed. “Then we use a backup.”

  Her gaze jumped to him, incredulous. She barely tempered her reaction. “Oh, right. The backup. If I had a fucking backup, don’t you think I would’ve fucking gotten it by now?”

  Phoenix held his hands up defensively. “Okay, okay. Fair enough.”

  Claire’s delicate and calm voice broke through their rising argument. “Or, I could shoot him.”

  It wasn't an altogether revolting idea, under the circumstances. The three of them naturally congregated around Charlie at the back of the bus. He blinked up at them one at a time. The way he did it made Penny’s skin crawl. It was as if he was mentally recording their faces for later purposes.

  “I can’t believe he’s the spy,” she said dreamily. “He wasn’t even on my radar.”

  Phoenix rubbed her back, the swish of his hand on her jacket like nails on a chalkboard. “No one could’ve guessed.”

  Claire slammed the top of the seat with both hands as she exclaimed. “God! And I even let you do that thing the other night.” She shook her head and looked to the others. “I should’ve known then. No eighteen-year-old should—”

  “Can we not right now?” Penny snapped. She was on the edge and hearing about Claire’s weird kinks would be the final straw for sure. “We need to get the hell out of here. How far do you think it is to the Lodge?” She ducked low to look up the snow-covered road, running the mental calculations. “No. A town. We need to get to a town.”

  “Whatever we do, maybe we shouldn’t decide where Benedict Arnold can hear us,” Claire suggested as she gave him another kick.

  “Good point,” Phoenix nodded.

  They shifted to the center of the bus and dropped their voices. Even though he was outnumbered and out-armed, his shiftiness left Penny nervous. He’d floated under her nose for the entire time.

  Claire took guard with the rifle. Phoenix hung on the backs of a pair of seats. Penny stalked up and down the aisle as she thought, the walking keeping her brain moving.

  “We need to weigh up the options,” Phoenix offered.

  Penny bit her tongue at the obvious comment. “We run. That’s all there is to it. There must be a map in here somewhere. We search through everyone’s stuff, put it in a pile, sort through what’s valuable.” Her speech came at them in rapid fire. “We go before the sun goes down. Find a house. Find shelter.”

  “Hold up. What about the others? The ones in the barn?” Phoenix asked.

  She shook her head, not even looking at him as she pivoted on her foot once again. “Can’t trust ‘em. Can’t trust anyone. There are probably spies in every team, all mixing. It’s too dangerous.”

  She knew she sounded like she was spinning out of control, but talking was exactly what she needed. This was a plan. This was action. They had to get out.

  “There are dozens of innocent people in there who need our help.”

  Penny snapped, waving her finger fiercely in the direction of the captives. “Those assholes are the ones who tipped Charlie off about who I was!”

  Phoenix and Claire exchanged a look that only further infuriated her. She wasn’t keeping her voice down and honestly, she couldn’t have given a shit if Charlie heard or not. “If you all hadn’t staged that little intervention, he might never have connected it together. You think it was an accident he offered to come with us to get the phone?”

  He held up his hands again, like he was trying to control the situation. He spoke in a low whisper that was difficult to hear. “Okay. So. The phone is broken and we don’t know if they got your message. You say there’s no back-up, so we—”

  Two pieces of one thought clicked together in her brain. Before she gave into the despair the picture created, she had to be sure. Penny spun on her foot again, ignoring the conversation she left in her wake. She dove into her bag and frantically felt around.

  “Please don’t be there. Please, please…” she whispered.

  Phoenix spoke just as her fingers closed around the first battery. “What’s the matter?”

  She closed her eyes and found the second one.

  “Fuck.”

  “What is it?”

  He stepped closer to see what had distracted her so suddenly. Her hopes of escape had been crushed with the destruction of the satellite phone. Holding these two batteries in her hand took those shattered hopes, lit them on fire, and scattered the ashes. But she couldn’t let go. Not yet.

  “I’m thinking…”

  She could hear Phoenix’s throat click as he swallowed impatiently. “What are you thinking?”

  “Just stop,” she snapped. Her fingers balled around the two AA batteries. She sifted through her thoughts, cracking each knuckle on her hand in slow succession.

  “What’s with the batteries?” he asked carefully.

  When her eyes met his, she could suddenly feel them swimming with tears. She’d never physically witnessed hope drain from a person’s face before.

  “When they boarded the bus, I tried to grab the sat phone. I was scared shitless, so I ended up stuffing whatever I could into my pocket before they noticed.”

  Phoenix took a step forward and gripped the back of the seat. His eyes dropped to her ba
lled up fist. “Is that what the batteries are for?”

  She rolled her eyes. “They’re for a kind of… device. I think.” His eyebrow arched at her reluctance. “If these are the ones meant for the button, it explains why we haven’t been rescued yet.” She opened her palm and stared at them. “Why it didn’t work.”

  “Jesus, Penny,” he groaned. “You can see what this looks like, right? You gotta understand why all those assholes didn’t trust you.”

  “I’m sorry! I’m not used to telling people anything, okay? I’m not exactly an open book.”

  “No shit,” he muttered. He took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling of the bus. She hated feeling like she was constantly letting him down. “You’re saying you do have an emergency beacon thingy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Back in the barn.”

  His breath came out in one big whoosh as he rocked forward. His head hung between his muscular arms, fingers flexing and tightening. “Of course it is. And you used it and no one has come yet.”

  Penny gritted her teeth, knowing blowing up at his patronizing tone wouldn’t win her any points. “Yes. I pressed the button and yet I’m still standing here freezing my ass off.”

  “So, this whole time you believed we were moments away from being saved and you didn’t bother to tell me?”

  Penny couldn’t bite her tongue any longer. “I didn’t know who to trust!” The bus rocked as she violently gestured to Charlie.

  “I have a thought.” Claire’s voice made her jump a touch. She’d been quiet for so long, she’d practically forgotten she was there. She waited a beat before continuing. “We could press him for information.” Claire turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder. “We have time.”

  “Stay here tonight?” Phoenix balked.

  “The cold is going to be a problem,” Penny said the thought aloud.

  “We could run the bus for some heat,” he suggested.

  Penny didn’t have time to voice how uncomfortable even the thought of that made her. It’d leave them exposed.

  “Too noisy,” Claire responded. “We couldn’t hear anyone approach.”

  “What about light?” Penny wondered.

  Claire looked around, scanning the things they’d collected from the other’s belongings. “We could make a little fort out of dark clothes. It’ll keep in the warmth and with the tinted windows, might be enough to hide the light.”

  “I seriously doubt anyone will be out wandering around tonight,” said Phoenix.

  Penny nodded absentmindedly. It felt wrong and dangerous to stay anywhere remotely close to the bus, but it was good to at least have a plan. “Still, better than nothing.”

  “We can all take turns questioning him, too,” Claire declared as she picked through bags and suitcases. “As long as I get to go first.”

  * * *

  Hours later, Phoenix nudged Penny awake with a soft hand on her shoulder. She could scarcely make out his features in the blackness. If she hadn’t been so exhausted, she would’ve jumped.

  “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t want to wake you, but I’m afraid of drifting off. I can’t keep my eyes open.”

  “It’s okay,” she said. Her dry scratchy voice made her cough as she replied. “Did he say anything?”

  “He threatened to spit on me again. Implied I enjoyed it.” Phoenix patiently waited for her to sit up. “He’s getting tired though. You might be able to get something out of him.”

  Penny rubbed the heel of her hand against her forehead and tried to wake up. “Yeah. Okay. You can take my spot since it’s still warm.” Using coats and clothes, they’d created fairly comfortable cocoon-like beds. Compared to the barn, it was luxury.

  They hadn’t spoken more than a few words to each other since blowing up earlier. The air was thick and uncomfortable between them. Penny hurriedly got up, thinking, At least with Charlie I know where I stand.

  “Did you manage to get anywhere with the phone?”

  Penny snorted sarcastically. “Surprisingly, no.” She backed up to let him into the seat.

  “Hey, about what I said—”

  “Get some sleep,” she blurted, pushing past him toward the back. As an afterthought, she slipped her laptop under her arm.

  She felt guilty rushing away from him like that, but she didn’t want to hear the disappointment in his voice again. It was just one more thing she’d kept from him, yet another secret in the pile of half-truths.

  Penny pulled the blankets apart and crawled into the makeshift fort in the back. They’d reserved the darkest and thickest material for this space so they could leave the lights on all night. She took her seat on the padded suitcase centered in the aisle. It was the only way they could be comfortable and keep an eye on him at the same time.

  Charlie was stretched out on the seat, his eyes fluttering open with a sleepy laziness as she came in.

  “Sit up,” she commanded. He gave her a bored look. She wasn’t in the mood for playing around. “Do you want me to wake up Claire? Cause I know she’d be more than happy to shoot you.”

  It was a weak threat delivered with little conviction. Like a petulant kid, he rolled his eyes and sat up anyway.

  “So, what’s your tactic gonna be then?” he smirked.

  “No tactic. No nothing.” She had wanted the time to think. She figured if he hadn’t talked to Claire or Phoenix, the chances of him spilling everything to her were nil, especially now he knew her true identity. A couple hours of quiet sounded good.

  But surprisingly, it was the one thing that worked on him.

  Penny lifted the lid of her laptop and got to work. Every couple minutes she’d look up, kick Charlie’s foot if he looked as though he was drifting off, and resume. The clock on her screen read 2 a.m.

  She watched the footage of the painting being flipped over and over. Almost like a Magic Eye image, she allowed herself to look through it. If she relaxed her brain just a little, it had a way of picking up things her consciousness ignored.

  “You’re not going to find anything on there,” Charlie chuckled.

  His voice startled her out of the trance-like state. She glanced over the screen and kept her features calm. He had the same floppy hair, the same boyish face, but there was a hardness there she hadn’t seen before. Was it her imagination? Or was he really that good of an actor?

  “I appreciate your input,” she replied flatly. Her gaze drifted downward.

  Penny struggled to keep every flick of her eye passive and bored. She could feel him watching her.

  Charlie rocked his head left then right, cracking each time. “Unless you’ve got something else hidden on there, I didn’t see much to go off.”

  “Mmhmmm.”

  “Whatever,” he scoffed.

  She desperately wished she’d gotten more rest because she needed to be sharp. This was the closest she’d knowingly been to someone involved in this plot. With a technique she knew to work from her therapy sessions, she manipulated using silence. This was going to be a slow game of chess and for it to be effective, he couldn’t know they were playing.

  Every time she checked to see if he was awake, she found him staring right at her. But she didn’t react. He had to be the first one to break the silence. Then she would know it was working. It took half an hour.

  “Any videos of me on there?”

  Penny shrugged and avoided eye contact. “Maybe. Haven’t been through everything.”

  “I bet there is,” he smiled wistfully. “Do me a favor, yeah? Save me a copy if you have any from the corner of her room.”

  “I’m not sure Claire would be very happy about that.”

  “Ah, she’s a good girl,” he said as if he were twenty years older than her. Penny refused to look up as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “You really have no idea what you’re looking for, do you?”

  Slowly, disdainfully, she rolled her eyes up to him when she was good and ready. She flas
hed him a fake, thin smile. “Let’s just say Rhett’s better with a rifle than a hard drive.”

  “Soon it won’t matter how good he is with a rifle. Some things are bigger than bullets,” he smirked.

  Penny nodded condescendingly. “Yeah. Okay then.”

  “It’s true.”

  “Sure it is,” she replied dully, making it clear she didn’t believe a word he was saying.

  “We were chosen specifically,” he boasted.

  “Does the term ‘useful idiot’ mean anything to you?” she snorted.

  His tone was snotty and teenage. “It’s not like that.”

  Penny tried to twist a little deeper and see what she came up with. She had to give a little to get a little. “I know you’ve been told there’s no hierarchy, but there is. I know you’ve been told you’re anonymous, but you aren’t.” She saw a flicker of worry flash across his expression. “I admit there’s a lot I don’t know, but you need to accept the same to yourself.” She looked down at the screen and shook her head sadly. “At best, you’re a pawn.”

  It was a dance of conversation and she loved every moment. Whether he knew it or not, she was learning a great deal.

  In his sleep-deprived state, he made mistakes. He’d been awake for almost two days without rest, a state that wasn’t unlike being drunk. She allowed him to drift off a little, coaxing him with soft questions he answered without realizing.

  “I know you think you know it all but… what’s their name again? The group?”

  Charlie’s head lolled on his shoulder. His mouth curled into a drunken smile. “You’re so dumb. AA.” The words slurred together, but they were easy enough to hear.

  “Right. Alcoholics Anonymous did all this, huh? What kind of chip do you earn at the end of this?”

  His eyes fluttered open a bit before closing again. “Autonomous Action, stupid.” He snickered to himself and mumbled something she couldn’t quite make out.

  It didn’t matter. She quickly typed down the name and a few minutes later worked it into the conversation again, pulling even more information out of him.

  The darkest morning hours went on much like that. Penny used his arrogance and youthful pride against him. She made him believe he was dancing circles around her, as if he were the one in control of the situation. There were cracks in his mask, making her think at times he was ready to crack and tell her everything due to the weight of it all.