Rough Edges

by Shannon K. Butcher

  Victor rushed toward her and gathered her in his arms. “Let’s get you out of here.”

  The armed guards at the end of the hall were still holding their heads, screaming. Some of them had passed out. Not one of them had the ability to hold a weapon anymore.

  “Mira’s gadgets work,” Payton said.

  A bald man in a lab coat scurried down the hall toward them, hands raised. “Don’t shoot!”

  “There are innocents down here,” Payton said. “People Stynger is using to do her research.”

  “The screamer isn’t working on him,” Victor said, “so either he’s immune, or he’s not implanted.”

  “Not implanted,” the man hurried to say. “I just want out, like all of you. Dr. Stynger is holding my family hostage. All I want is their safe return.”

  Victor kept an eye on him while Payton triggered the elevator doors to open. The second he did, a siren blared and the arrows over the doors began blinking red.

  “She locked us down here,” the man said. “But I know another way out.”

  Victor patted the man down, finding no weapons. He carried nothing bigger than a ballpoint pen in his pocket.

  “This way.”

  Victor motioned for him to lead on. They passed through the now-unconscious mass of guards, moving south through the sterile hallways. Bella was unsteady on her feet, but gathered two weapons and extra ammo as she went. She was shaking so hard, he wasn’t sure how she was going to use them.

  “In here,” said the bald man, holding the door open for them to pass.

  Payton went in first. Victor brought up the rear, watching Bella for signs that she might topple. He took one more glance down the hallway before entering.

  The room was large and empty. It had once been filled with tables and chairs, based on the marks on the tile. Wires hung from conduits overhead to bring power to whatever had once been here. Bright fluorescent lighting made the open, sterile surfaces glow with a yellow cast. There was a bank of file cabinets across the back wall, and behind that was a series of doors that appeared to lead to offices or storage of some kind.

  “What was this room?” Victor asked.

  “One of the labs. I used to work in here before Dr. Stynger started relocating everything. There’s an emergency exit leading to the surface. We’ll have to take about a million stairs, but we’ll be able to get out this way.”

  Payton studied the bald man. “None of the other facilities we found had a secondary exit. Stynger likes to control people. Her MO is to have only one way in or out.”

  The man’s bald head started to sweat. “I don’t know anything about that. I started working for her about a year ago. This is the only place I’ve ever been. I’ve heard the others talk about the other labs, but never seen them myself.” He pointed toward the leftmost door at the back of the room. “That’s the stairway.”

  There was a faint buzz of a camera rotating overhead. Victor couldn’t quite see it through the dark plastic covering, but there was no mistaking the sound. “We’re being watched.”

  “We should go,” Bella said, moving toward the exit. “I don’t like being down here. It’s too open. We need to find a place to hide.”

  Payton frowned. “Something isn’t right.”

  The bald man shifted nervously from one foot to the next. “You guys can stay down here if you want, but I’m leaving.” He headed for the door he’d pointed out, following close on Bella’s heels.

  As soon as he was too far away for Victor to reach, every door at the back of the lab burst open. Half a dozen children filed out, followed closely by several armed men. At least three of them aimed their weapons at Bella.

  She squeaked in fear and froze.

  Victor didn’t dare shoot—not with so many children to serve as accidental targets. He was certain that was exactly what the bad guys had counted on when sending the kids out first.

  Stynger stepped out, holding the hand of a little girl. “Excellent work,” she said to the bald man. “You may have your daughter back. I have what I want.” She looked at Bella. “Set your weapons down and come with me, or I order these men to kill your friends.”

  Chapter Forty-seven

  Bella froze in place. She’d been fighting the growing weight of fear for hours now. Ever since Randolph had gotten his hands on her, every second had been a battle not to curl up into a ball and hide until all the bad stuff went away. She’d stayed strong because Gage had needed her. She’d held it together because now Victor and Payton were trapped down here if they didn’t find a way out. So were all those kids.

  But the pressure was growing within her, pounding at her to just let go. Give up. If she stopped fighting, the fear would recede and she would be able to breathe again.

  She knew it was the drugs talking, but that didn’t make the frantic emotions any less real.

  Bella glanced at Victor. He stood there, so strong and solid, as if nothing could so much as make him sway. He wasn’t worried. He wasn’t afraid. When she looked at him, she could almost remember what that felt like—to be completely confident and certain of victory.

  The little girl Stynger had been holding hostage raced across the space to her father, hugging his leg.

  “Are you okay?” the bald man asked her, stroking her fine blond hair.

  She nodded her head and clung more tightly to him.

  Victor took a step toward the pair. Every gun the bad guys held shifted its aim to him.

  Payton turned up a dial on the screamer, but not a single man was fazed.

  Stynger’s bloodred mouth curled. “You think that technology is the only way I control my men?” she asked Payton. “While that’s quick and easy for the muscle, there are far less invasive ways to keep the scientists in line. I wouldn’t want my toys damaging those valuable brains, now would I?”

  Now that Bella was looking past the weapons, she could see that not one of the men with the rifles seemed comfortable. They were shaking, sweating and swaying on their feet. Several of them kept their eyes on the kids, rather than on their targets.

  Not one of them wanted to hurt anyone. Except, possibly, Stynger.

  “Now, all of you are going to set your weapons down,” Stynger said.

  The compulsion to obey was so strong, Bella’s fingers twitched to let go of her rifle. She had to grit her teeth and remember that she didn’t have to do what this woman said. Did she?

  “If you think we’re going to just roll over,” Payton said, “you’re more of a crazy bitch than I remember.”

  Stynger dragged a tall boy in front of her, pulled a pistol from her lab coat pocket and shot Payton in the arm. He gasped in pain, but refused to lower his weapon.

  “Put down your guns,” she repeated with growing impatience.

  Bella had never wanted to run and hide more in her life than she did right now. But the boy in front of Stynger needed her to stay here. Stay strong.

  When no one did as Stynger ordered, she leveled the pistol at the kid’s head.

  One man let out a whimper of fear. “Please don’t hurt him.”

  Stynger gripped the boy’s neck tighter. “I won’t if our guests here will lay down their weapons.”

  “You don’t have to do this,” Bella told the armed men. “I know what it’s like to be afraid, to stand there shaking and immobile with fear. I know what it’s like to feel helpless. Trapped. Alone.” She caught each man’s eye, praying they’d listen. “You’re not alone. All of you want the same thing: Stynger defeated. Powerless. I can give that to you. Put down your weapons.”

  “She has my son,” said a dark-haired man with trembling hands and tears in his eyes.

  Another man spoke. “My whole family is being held by one of her goons. If she doesn’t call him every day and tell him I’m cooperating, he’ll kill them.”

  “My family, too,” ano
ther man said.

  “We can help,” Victor said. “We have resources. We can find your families and protect them.”

  “We don’t know where they are.”

  “Enough of this talk!” Stynger shouted. “Everyone here is smart enough to know that if I die, lots of other people die with me. Your only option is to do what you’re told. Protect your families.” She swung her furious gaze toward Bella. “You, put your weapons down.”

  Bella took the rifle sling from over her head before she realized she was blindly obeying. “Fuck you.”

  “You were trained to obey. Submit. You know you’ll be happier if you do. It’s so much easier if you simply do as you’re told.”

  Bella panted through the urge to comply with the woman’s command. Those feelings were just the drugs pumping through her system. Nothing more.

  “She’ll never stop,” Bella said. “She tortured me when I was a child. She tried to destroy me. Even now, all these years later, she’s still trying to destroy me. Once she gets her claws into your children, she’ll never let go. None of them will truly be safe until she’s dead.”

  “Kill me, and fifty people die before sunrise,” Stynger warned.

  Bella lifted her rifle, aiming for the small section of Stynger’s head visible behind the kid’s skull. “If you live, a lot more than fifty will die. Countless more will suffer. The world is a better place without you. And I’m going to make it happen.”

  She wanted to end this woman’s life, to snuff it out. She wanted to try to steal back some of the years she’d lost. She wanted to find a way to make up for all those nights spent terrified and suffering.

  “Don’t, Bella.” Victor’s voice. Calm. Certain. “We need her alive.”

  Payton’s warning from years ago rang in her ears. You’re never going to escape the person you were. You’ll carry her with you for the rest of your days. Acceptance is your only option.

  She shook her head. She would not accept her weakness and fear. She would fight it every step of the way. “The world needs her dead. All I need is one clean shot.”

  Her hands trembled so hard, she wasn’t sure she could make it.

  “We need the knowledge that’s in her head,” Victor said. “Once we have her in custody, she’ll tell us what we want to know. She’ll tell us what she did so we can fix the people she hurt.”

  “I’ll never tell you a thing,” Stynger said. “I’ll sit in your prison for the rest of my life, amused by the knowledge that you’re all scrambling to undo a decades-long legacy. The people who work for me will continue their efforts. My work will live on long after I’m gone.”

  Bella looked at the men holding the weapons, surrounded by their kids. “Is that what you want? Is that the legacy you offer your children? Blind service to a heartless bitch?”

  Two of the men wavered. The muzzle of their rifles dropped in indecision.

  The man whose son stood as a human shield in front of Stynger took a half step forward, solidifying his aim on Bella. “I can’t let you take that shot—not while my son’s life is at stake.”

  “She’s right,” another man said. “The only way Stynger will ever stop is if she’s dead.”

  The man on the end spoke up. “You say that because your child is right here. My daughter is locked away somewhere in another state. I won’t let her die just so these people can have their revenge.”

  Stynger looked at Bella. “This is what real power looks like. Not one of these people has as little to lose as you do. They have families, children. All you have is a company filled with people who only pretend to respect you. Now. Drop your weapon.”

  Her hand shook as she fought the urge to obey. It was so much easier to give in. Stop fighting.

  “Steady, Bella,” came Victor’s calm voice, pulling her back from the edge.

  She caught the boy’s gaze. He was crying silently, as terrified as she was. “Tilt your head to the right just a little,” she told him. “This will all be over soon.”

  Stynger grabbed him tighter, locking his body against her spindly one. “Do what she says and I’ll shoot you myself.”

  Victor had been inching across the floor for a while. Bella saw now that he was slowly angling himself for a better shot.

  The idea that he’d be the one to kill Stynger made her furious. This woman had ruined Bella’s life. If anyone got to kill her, she did.

  “On three,” she told the kid.

  “Bella,” Victor said in a warning tone. “You don’t have the shot.”

  “I do.” She had to have it. She had to kill Stynger once and for all. That was the only way to escape all the fear and pain the bitch had caused.

  “Stop him,” Stynger said as soon as she saw that Victor was getting too close.

  The father of the kid was no longer sure where to aim.

  “One,” Bella said, steadying her aim. She could be afraid all she wanted to later, but for right now, she needed to be solid. Strong. Brave.

  “Don’t!” shouted the father, aiming at her.

  “Shoot her,” Stynger ordered as she pressed her gun against the kid’s head.

  If Bella shot now, reflexes might squeeze Stynger’s trigger finger and kill the boy.

  “Bella,” Payton said. “It’s too risky.”

  “If she lives, that kid is as good as dead, anyway. He’ll grow up in places like this, working for her against his will. Helping her do evil. He’ll be afraid all the time, constantly fighting the need to cower.”

  The kid flinched and more tears streamed down his cheeks. She knew her words were cruel, but that didn’t make them any less true. His father needed to understand that. Find another way to free his son rather than giving in.

  “Two,” Bella said.

  Stynger shot the father a hard glare. “I will kill him while you watch.”

  “No, she won’t,” Bella said. “She’s bluffing.”

  “I can’t take that chance,” the father said.

  Bella made eye contact with the kid. “Move your head. I won’t miss.”

  “I can’t,” the kid sobbed.

  “You can. You will,” Bella said. “The only choice Stynger has now is to shoot me or die.”

  Stynger did exactly what Bella was hoping she’d do: She moved the weapon from the boy’s temple back to Bella, freeing her to fire.

  Bella pulled in a deep breath and let it out. Her hands were completely steady. There was no more fear. No more question.

  She’d won. Beaten whatever drug Stynger had put in her system. She was herself again, strong and fearless the way she’d been born.

  That’s when she knew that she couldn’t kill Stynger. If she did, she’d destroy every chance they had at learning the woman’s secrets to undoing the damage she’d done.

  Bella lowered her weapon.

  Everything happened at once. Stynger aimed the gun at Bella and began to squeeze the trigger. The kid screamed and shoved himself away from Stynger windmilling his scrawny arms in an effort to catch himself.

  Victor charged in, plowing into Bella just as Stynger’s gun went off. A series of bullets sprayed out from the weapon as she fired repeatedly. One grazed Bella’s arm, but the rest hit Victor square in the back.

  A wave of panic crashed against Bella, sucking her under the surface of it. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Victor was hurt. Maybe dead.

  All she could do was scream and cling to him.

  Stynger kept firing as people everywhere ducked and cowered. Payton charged and grabbed her by the throat. More shots were fired, but Bella couldn’t figure out where they’d gone.

  There were more armed men in the room, but none of that mattered. She heard kids crying, men sobbing, but it was all irrelevant. The focus of her whole world was Victor and his breath wheezing in her ear.

  She rolled him over in he
r arms, cradling him in her lap. His arm was bleeding badly. He was gasping for air. His clear eyes were wide, and she could see pain burning in them.

  “You’re okay,” she chanted, over and over. “You have to be okay.”

  Blood began to slicken her hold on him. So much blood.

  One of the men who’d been present came over. “I’m a doctor. Let me look at him.”

  She didn’t want to let him go, but she didn’t know what else to do.

  The man stripped open Victor’s vest. There was blood everywhere, but she couldn’t tell if it was from his arm or something else. He felt around his back just as Victor sucked in a shallow, pained breath.

  “His armor took the worst of it, but at least two of the shots got through.”

  “You okay?” Victor asked in a pained whisper.

  “Save your breath,” she told him. “I’m fine. So are you.”

  He had to be. She couldn’t stand the idea of losing the man she loved.

  As that thought settled in, driving away some of her panic, all hell broke loose. The doors to the lab opened, and about fifty armed soldiers poured in.

  Norwood’s men.

  Things went fast after that. Bella sat back and let them take over. It was the quickest way to get Victor the medical care he needed.

  She tried to go with him, but they said there were more serious casualties that needed transport first. She’d have to wait her turn.

  She thought they were talking about Gage’s condition until she realized that there was a congregation of men around the place she’d last seen Payton.

  She shoved her way through the crowd to see several medics working on him. He was pale and bleeding profusely from a hit to his thigh and another to his shoulder. Stynger was lying beside him, her spindly neck bruised and obviously broken. Her head lay on her own shoulder, leaving her grotesquely deformed.

  Behind an oxygen mask, Payton said, “You were right. The world is better off now. I should have done that years ago. I’m sorry.”

  Bella looked at the man she’d once thought of as a father. He seemed different now in his weakness.