But she was also a vulnerable and broken woman. And alone. He could not forget how the doubtful look on her lovely face changed into hesitant belief at his condo. Belief in him. He’d asked her to trust him and she had. In return, he’d brought her to this hellacious place. He’d had to once he’d seen what she could do. Even if his instincts screamed otherwise.
It was the worst damn no-win situation he’d ever been in. There was no good choice for him. No lesser of two evils because both choices were equally nasty in their own hideous ways.
Yet he couldn’t stay away for another minute. He needed to see her. To be sure he’d done the right thing.
“Can I observe?” Rome added a detached note of interest to his voice.
That got Jeff’s attention. His boss didn’t look up, but he stopped reading. Rome knew it was unusual that he was even here, let alone wanting to take a peek, but he had to make sure Harper was okay. She brought out his protective instinct. She touched something deep inside him and he needed to find out what it was and why.
“No.” Jeff’s reply was definite. No room for negotiation. But that had never stopped Rome before.
“C’mon, Jeff.” Rome chuckled, adding a smirk for good measure. “It’s been a while.” True. He hadn’t been down there for some time, with the exception of the order to find Harper a few days ago.
“We’re taking care of her,” Jeff repeated with a stern and direct stare, leaning back in his chair, his full concentration on Rome now. Finally.
“Fine.” Rome returned the chilled stare with one of his own, treading carefully, not wanting to give Jeff any reason to be suspicious. He wasn’t sure at all that Jeff was being straight with him, either. Something in the way he was responding was prickling Rome’s instincts. And not in a good way. “Any more jobs?”
“No,” Jeff replied, giving Rome a narrowed look and straightening his navy striped tie before turning his attention back to his all-important papers, ending their brief discussion.
Brief but informative. Jeff fully believed in letting you know only what he thought you needed to know. Working with him over the years had taught Rome a great deal about learning to figure out what wasn’t being said by what little was said.
The repeated “we’re taking care of her” meant she was still in the facility. The adamant refusal to let him observe meant they were still working on her. And the firm disinclination to even discuss it with Rome meant Jeff was having a hard time getting what he wanted from her.
So Harper was out-toughing Jeff. Rome had to fight to keep a smile off his face, thinking about her gumption and strength. He could count on one hand the number of people who were able to outlast Jeff’s “care.” Being aware of Jeff’s methods, Rome knew that was an extraordinarily impressive feat. And the same knowledge also made him cringe deep down.
But now he could do something about it. Now, through Jeff’s noninformation, Rome knew the level of security he’d have to go through to get to her.
And he would get to her. Otherwise he’d go crazy. Well, crazier than he’d been without her.
“Later, boss,” Rome said with a wave, halfway out the door. Jeff grunted without looking up from his reading. Yes, the man was definitely on edge. Rome shook his head and ambled down the hallway that looked like every other drab hallway in the place.
His destination was the bottom floor, which housed the idiotically dubbed “romper rooms.” Also known as the rooms decorated wall to wall with torture and experimental equipment. Rome quickened his steps at the thought of Harper down there.
And he’d put her there.
The cool halls were empty, as were the rough stairwells. There were no elevators and very little electronics. Basically it was a cross between a crude basement and a rustic cave. No surveillance, either. No one could get in or out of the facility unless you knew how, so once inside you were trapped. Besides, they didn’t want any superfluous accounts of what went on inside.
Finally reaching the last step, Rome took a right turn and faced a solid gray door. He stuck his master key in the dead bolt, turned the knob, and walked in. The lighting was very sparse and very synthetic. He couldn’t understand the handful of folks who worked here every day and night. He’d go crazy without fresh air and sunlight, even if it was watery northwest sunlight.
After a few long steps down the corridor, he stopped at a good-sized room. The light was brighter here, and he easily found the person he needed peering at the screen attached to a bulky machine. The display cast a bluish tint to Dr. Andy’s face.
Dr. Andy-a doctor of what, Rome wasn’t sure-managed everything in the romper room. Read all the data that was extracted. Processed any samples taken. Administered who knew what. Made decisions about methods. Jeff was the boss and directed everything that happened. But down there, Dr. Andy saw that the orders were carried out.
“Hey, Doc.” Rome’s voice boomed across the open space, and he held back a smile when the startled Dr. Andy jolted forward face-first into the monitor.
“Agent Lucian,” she murmured, pushing up the thick-rimmed glasses that had fallen down her diminutive nose. Dr. Andrea “Andy” O’Brien pulled herself to her full height, which was still a good foot shorter than his, as he sidled up next to her, trying to look at anything that would clue him in about Harper. “What can I do for you?”
“Just checking in.” Rome glanced around, but didn’t see anything except Dr. Andy’s myriad of scattered Diet Dr Pepper cans and a bag of Oreos, half of which were gone, the crumbs left everywhere. “How’s my favorite gal?”
Blushing and mumbling something, she swung away from him and grabbed one of the aluminum cans. She took a long swallow, refusing to meet his eyes. She was always a little nervous around him, which surprised him, considering her chilling job. He rarely visited and even more rarely stopped to chat with the doctor when he did. Truth be told, she creeped him out a little, but he’d never let on.
“So, what’s with the woman I brought in the other day?” He turned on the charm, but knew not to underestimate her. Dr. Andy appeared as a shy mouse, but underneath she was a cunning predator. Her intelligence was limitless and she knew how to get what Jeff wanted, one way or another, no matter how long it took.
She gave him an inquiring look, raising her reddish eyebrows. He knew it was unlike him to ask, but not unheard of. He had followed up a time or two.
“She has something inside her,” Dr. Andy answered vaguely. “Something giving her an unusual power.”
He already knew that. He also knew that she wasn’t telling him the whole story. “Really.” Rome feigned casualness. “Any idea what it is or how she got it?”
“Not yet,” she answered, and stacked some papers mechanically. Then she smiled that eerie smile she got when she encountered a particularly difficult challenge. One she loved to conquer. “But soon.”
“Well, you mind if I take a peek?” He gestured to the row of small flat-screen monitors that showed video of each holding cell for observation.
“Go ahead.” She waved her hand and then brushed it through her short red curls, bouncing them around like a nine-year-old.
“Thanks, doll.” Rome winked and gave her a sexy grin as he sauntered over to the monitor bank. He watched her return to the big machine she’d been viewing when he’d first walked in, her face reddening even more.
The screens were on, yet all completely dark. No shadows or anything. Adjusting them to infrared, the pictures revealed two ethereal red-hued figures. Two captives today.
“She’s in B, monitor two,” Dr. Andy supplied from across the room. Giving her a sideways glance, he saw she wasn’t even looking at him. Creepy.
Rome peered at monitor two, disregarding the larger figure on monitor six who was lying flat on the floor. The specter of Harper was hunched, unmoving, in the far right corner of the square room. She couldn’t have looked more alone. He tweaked the monitor controls a tad, morphing the shimmering infrared visual to a sharper night-vision display. Ghostly green and gray instead of red, but now he was able to focus in on her closely.