CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Dressed in a black skirt and crème silk blouse, Cassandra sat in her office near lunchtime, a nervous wreck over both her father’s and Brock’s absence. Neither was answering calls, and she had a general feeling of unease—a feeling that turned into outright shock when two military officers appeared at her door.
“You need to come with us, Ms. Powell,” one of them said.
Heart hammering in her chest, Cassandra thanked God she had her phone in her hand, punching Michael’s number and tucking it in her blazer pocket, praying he could hear what was going on. “What’s going on? Is my father okay?”
“Your father is fine,” the same officer said. “You need to come with us now.”
She reached for her purse.
“We’ll take your personal items for you,” one of the soldiers said.
She froze. “Am I under arrest?”
“Yes ma’am, you are,” he confirmed. They advanced on her and confiscated her purse.
Cassandra gently slipped the phone into her trash can and pushed to her feet noisily to hide any sound it might make. “At whose orders?”
“General Powell, ma’am,” the lead officer stated.
She was shaking. She knew she was shaking. “On what charge?”
“Conspiracy against the United States of America.”
He reached for her arm, and Cassandra yanked out of reach. “I walk of my own free will.”
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And stop calling me ma’am!” She drew in a breath and straightened her spine with a regal snap as she composed herself. Her father would not hurt her. She was not in danger. If she went to jail, she’d get an attorney and fight. And she was wired. The Renegades would find her.
She walked down the long corridor and stepped onto an elevator, but the two officers did not get on. Instead they punched a code on the door, and the doors closed, trapping her inside.
Above the door, the numbers displaying the floors disappeared at ground level, but the elevator kept moving, downward, into an underground area that she hadn’t known existed.
Suddenly, a smoky substance floated into the car from the ceiling. Cassandra covered her mouth and tried to block out the fumes, but the effect was almost instantaneous. Her head floated with confusion a moment before her legs buckled.
Cassandra blinked awake with no concept of time, her chin touching her chest, her neck aching. Presence of mind came with a jolt, and she jerked her head up and yanked at her arms only to find she was sitting in a chair, her arms tied behind her back.
Her father stood in front of her. To his right stood a dark-haired woman she did not know, and Dr. Chin, whom she remembered from Groom Lake. Behind them was a giant cage. She had a horrible feeling she didn’t want to know what that cage was for.
Suddenly, she realized her jacket was gone, her shirt disheveled. She could no longer feel the wire taped between her breasts. She was on her own with a man she barely recognized as her own father.
“Hi angel,” her father said, his words jerking her gaze back to him. “How’s that migraine?”
“Why are you doing this?” she hissed, hardly able to believe this was happening, but she had the presence of mind to scan for a door—one to the far left—and a phone, none to be found. Her purse was sitting on the lab table by her father; it was open, as if it had been grabbed and searched.
“I, my dearest, am trying to secure our great nation,” he said dryly. “It saddens me in ways you cannot comprehend that you, my little girl, have chosen to aid our enemies.”
“You mean the Renegades?” she asked. “Is it true, Father? Are you planning to use Red Dart against the Renegades? The men who have been risking their lives to protect us from Adam?”
“They are all GTECHs, Cassandra,” he said. “All lethal to humanity. I am doing what you wanted me to do. I am fixing what I created. I am limiting our damage.”
“My God,” she said. “Do you not see you are creating another nightmare? Adam has men inside the government. If he can’t get to Red Dart before you unveil it, they will take it when you do. You are handing him the ability to destroy the Renegades, and they are all that stands between us and the Zodius.”
“Adam will get nothing from me, Cassandra,” he growled, showing a rare moment of anger, his face reddening. “When have I ever been foolish enough to show my hand?” He glared at her, his face distorted, before he drew back and straightened. He dumped her purse and searched through her things. “Where is your phone?”
“I left it at home,” she said and added sarcastically, “The ringer made my headache worse.”
“Where is your phone, Cassandra?” he shouted.
She knew what he wanted—a way to contact Michael. “At home,” she sniped back, her gaze slicing to the woman who’d remained silent to this point, her dark hair and facial structure reminding her of Michael. “I know who you are. Jocelyn Taylor. I know you’re his mother.” The woman’s lips thinned, while her eyes flickered with a mixture of guilt and anger. “How could you betray Michael like this?”
“Michael has never been loyal to anyone but himself,” she said, her voice lacking the conviction Cassandra would have expected, considering her actions.
“Do you even know your own son?” Cassandra asked. “Michael chooses everyone over himself. Time and time again, he risks his life to save others.”
“Have you forgotten the blade he held to my neck?” her father demanded.
Cassandra glared at him. “If he had wanted you dead, you would be dead,” she said. “He saved you from Adam, and I think you know that. You just don’t want to be the one who needs to be saved. You are out of control, Father. You’re going to crash and burn, and take us all with you.”
“Enough,” Powell bit out. “What is the number to reach Michael, Cassandra?”
“I don’t know how to reach Michael,” she said. “And even if I did, why in the world would I tell you?”
He motioned to Chin. “Hook her up to the electrical pads, and shock her.”
Cassandra and Jocelyn gasped in unison. “You wouldn’t,” Cassandra declared.
“Tell me the number,” her father demanded.
Cassandra was terrified, but she was not giving up Michael. Her chin lifted defiantly. “I don’t know how to reach Michael.”
Her father glared at her and then motioned to Chin. “Do it.”
“She’s your daughter,” Jocelyn said, grabbing his arm.
He shook her off. “And Michael is your son,” he said. “We make sacrifices for the greater good, Jocelyn.” He walked to the monitors on the wall and yanked out a drawer, removing a walkie-talkie. “Get an electronic trace on Cassandra’s phone, or get me her phone records. I need one or the other now.”
Chin began sticking electronic pads on her arm. He reached under her hair to attach a device to her neck, and it was all she could do not to jump for fear he would see her mark. The mark.
Suddenly, she thought about her lifebond connection to Michael. Could she be shocked? Would they know when they tried that she was GTECH. Was she stronger now? Could she break that rope?
“We’re ready to go,” Dr. Chin announced.
The walkie-talkie went off. “Phone records coming to your email now.”
Michael paced the computer room inside Neonopolis as Sterling worked the keyboard, Caleb leaning over his shoulder. “I never should have let her do this,” Michael said. “What the hell was I thinking letting her go to the base alone?”
He stopped, eyed Sterling impatiently. “Anything?” The wire signal had disappeared fifteen minutes before. “Either you find her exact location, or I’m going in after her without it.”
“I’ve triangulated her cell phone ping.” He leaned back in his chair. “It’s still in her office. She must have taken the wire off, afraid she’d be discovered. She knows you can get a basic read on her from your bond.”
Michael shook his head. “She wouldn’t leave her phone and the wire.”
Caleb straightened. “She’s still in the building. If she’s with her father, she’s safe.”
“You weren’t on that phone with her like I was,” Michael said, “I could tell from her tone, she was distressed.” He paced some more, stared at the ceiling, and ran his hand over his face. “I should never have agreed to this. I’m going after her.”
His cell phone rang, and Michael grabbed it from his belt, answering quickly.
“Hello, Michael.” Michael went cold inside. It was Powell. He glanced at Caleb and Sterling and mouthed Powell’s name. “Cassandra is here with me. You and I need to have a conversation—alone. You should know that not only do I have the ability to use Red Dart, but Red Dart has the ability to create excruciating pain in the infected GTECH. Anyone who comes with you will find out firsthand.”
Michael turned away from Caleb and Sterling, aware that Powell had won. “Put Cassandra on the phone.”
A second passed. “Stay away, Michael!” she yelled into the phone. Michael leaned against the wall, pressed his arm over his head, and shut his eyes. What had he done by allowing her involvement?
Powell came back on the line. “I have a little extra incentive,” Powell said. “Every fifteen minutes that you are not here, Cassandra will receive an electric jolt.” He spoke in the background. “Shock her.”
Cassandra screamed in pain.
“No!” Michael yelled, feeling the electrical charge down his spine, a dull, shared pain with his Lifebond that confirmed her torture. “Damn you, Powell!”
Powell came back on the line. “You have fourteen minutes until the next jolt.” He recited an address that Michael recognized as near his mother’s house. The line went dead.
Michael turned to the other two men, already attaching his phone to his belt and preparing to leave.
“What just happened, Michael?” Caleb demanded.
“He has Cassandra,” he said. “I have to go.”
“Let’s go kick that sorry bastard’s ass,” Sterling said, pushing to his feet.
“I’m going alone,” Michael said. “At best, he wants me. At worst, this is a trap to use Red Dart on all of us. We can’t risk that.”
“You’re not going alone,” Caleb said.
“He’s shocking Cassandra every fifteen minutes until I get there,” he said. “I don’t have a choice.”
Caleb cursed. “Let’s think about this—”
“I have about twelve minutes until he shocks her again,” Michael said. “I’m leaving. You stay here and lead the Renegades. Just make sure that if Cassandra and I don’t make it through this, you make it worthwhile.” Vehemently, he added, “You make Powell and Adam pay, Caleb.”
“Is she still on base? Or is he moving her?” Caleb asked.
“I’m not telling you that,” Michael said. “I won’t allow you to risk your safety.”
“If he moved her, it can’t be far,” Sterling said. “We’ll use the satellite and find her. You might as well just tell us.”
Michael’s attention snapped to Sterling. “Caleb needs someone to do the dirty work if I’m gone. To cover his back. You be that someone if I’m gone.” He took off out the door before they could stop him.