Chapter Twenty
Michelle
“What the hell?” She looked at the metal restraints holding her tight. Where was she?
The last thing she remembered was the truck slamming back down onto four wheels. There had been a sickening thud from outside, followed by something collapsing to the pavement. Then someone had entered the truck before everything faded to black. She’d been knocked out. Drugged, perhaps?
Her brain was rapidly returning to full function, and with it came a host of questions. Where was she? The room wasn’t overly well lit, but she could move her head around. Unfortunately that didn’t give her any major hints. There was no giant map on the wall that said ‘you are here’. The walls. She frowned. The walls weren’t made of metal—they were cut straight from rock. Okay, she was likely underground. It still didn’t help, but it was a start. She also appeared to be locked in a cell of sorts. The one non-rock wall had bars and a door built into it.
Had the government come for her? That’s silly. I haven’t done anything wrong! But who else would have gone to all this effort to kidnap her? Nobody even knew she existed! Not on a ‘power’ scale of influential people. She was a nobody.
“Okay. Let’s see. Where does that leave me? I don’t know where I am, except underground, and I don’t know who has me, which also means I don’t know why they have me. Well, this is certainly proving to be a real informative session.”
The relative calmness given her predicament was surprising, but really, what else was she supposed to do? She was chained to a table with solid steel restraints. Escape wasn’t going to happen, though she tested them again just to make sure. There was no give.
Booted footsteps scraping against the rock floor interrupted the silence. Michelle went still, closing her eyes and pretending like she was still passed out. The person came closer, stopping in front of the bars. After a moment, during which she could hear nothing but heavy breathing, someone started to tap against the metal. It was a slow, metronomic pace. Measured. Heavy.
“I’m aware you’re awake. Your breathing pattern isn’t that of a sleeping human.”
“Let me go!” she snapped, trying to sit up before remembering she was pinned down. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I want a lawyer!”
The person at the door chuckled, a deep, ominous sound. “A lawyer. How quaint. Tell me, why would I get you one of those filthy excuses for people?”
“Because I don’t belong here, and you’re violating my rights.”
“So I am. Tell me again what your point is?”
“That according to the law, you can’t just kidnap me.”
“Heh. Heh heh heh. I don’t think you quite understand, Michelle Barden.”
Prickles of fear stabbed her core. An inkling of understanding made its way into her brain. “You aren’t the government, are you?”
“Very good, Miss Barden. Very good. Which is why there won’t be a lawyer.”
She frowned. The voice sounded vaguely familiar to her. “Do I know you?”
“Yes. We met most recently, actually.”
Lifting her head to get a view of the door, she focused on the person within. All at once her brain clued in to where she’d met him. “You!” she howled in rage. “I should’ve known you would be trouble, you creep! What the hell do you want? Where’s Jerrik? Why are you doing all of this?”
The man laughed. “A quirk in timing, Miss Barden. I was one day too late, you see. One day too late. If I’d acted earlier, none of this would have happened. But now that it is, I have to go to all these lengths. Trust me, I’m no happier about it than you are. It’s such a drag.”
“You can’t seriously think that this is going to convince me to come work for you, do you?” She shook her head, resting it back on the wooden platform. “Knock me out, kidnap me, and not only put me in a cell, but chain me down? Then what were you planning to do? Oh, yes, Miss Barden. Here is the contract. Just sign it, and we’ll pretend like none of this ever happened, of course.’”
The man—she still had no idea what his name was—just laughed. “You had your chance to do this properly. Had it, and you rejected it. Now we’re going to do it my way.”
“That…doesn’t sound very nice,” she said nervously. “What did I ever do to you?”
He laughed. “The same thing you did for your father, Michelle. Nothing! Absolutely nothing at all. Don’t you see, that’s the beauty of it!”
“Fuck you!” she screamed, pulling violently on the restraints. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
The man from the park just laughed. And laughed. He was mocking her, and she knew it, but he’d brought her father into it. Michelle finally fell back onto the table, breathing hard, trying not to cry. It wasn’t her fault! She’d tried her hardest, worked tirelessly to find a cure for him. Night after night she dreamed of finally one day finding success and being able to stand in front of her father, proudly telling him that he was going to live.
But she hadn’t. She’d failed. No matter the formula or the permutation they’d tried, it never worked. Every day her father slipped further and further from her grasp, and there was nothing she could do about it.
“All that time and money,” he mocked. “And you couldn’t do anything with it.”
“We were close,” she ground out. “Another few months, and we would’ve had it.”
“Less, I think, judging from what I saw. Weeks, most likely.” He laughed. “Oh so close. Now it’s all gone. Or will be once he gets here.”
“What? Who?” She was confused. “And what do you want with all of this?”
He rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious? If you found a cure, companies like mine, well, we would stand to lose billions. You don’t honestly think that we would just stand by and let that happen, now, do you?”
Horrified understanding flooded her brain. “You’re a monster,” she whispered. “Do you have any idea how many people will die if you prevent us from finishing what we were working on? These drugs are necessary! My father needs the result of what I’m working on!” Her voice worked its way up until she was screaming at him once more, raw fury at his arrogance taking over.
“They’re all going to die eventually,” he sighed. “We’re just doing what’s in our best interest.”
“Unbelievable.” She sagged back onto the table. “You can’t win, you know. It won’t work. People will stop you. Once I’m out of here, I’ll start again. I remember enough; it won’t take me long. A few years, maybe, then you’ll be toast.”
The monster at her cell door laughed again. “What makes you think you’re getting out of here? I can’t have you get a chance to finish this, or anyone who works for you that knew how close you were. No, there will be some accidents.”
She glared at him. “People will stop you.”
“Who?” he scoffed. “Kase? That idiot is on his way here with exactly what I need, and he’s not leaving either.”
“You’re despicable.”
“No, I’m efficient. There’s a difference. You’ll see in the end. Your end.”
Laughing to himself, the mysterious man wandered away down the hall, his laughter eventually trailing off.
Michelle lay back, thinking furiously. Kase was on his way there, he’d said. Which had to mean he thought he was coming to rescue her. But what had that asshole meant by Kase having what he needed? What could he possibly be bringing?
Struggling at her restraints was useless. She was trapped, with nowhere to go.
And soon Kase would be too.