“Kyle?” Brian asked, and I realized he didn’t know Kyle had been taken. Before I could explain I heard a frantic scuffling sound on the other end of the line, then Dr. Nikas’s breathless voice.
“Angel. Repeat what you said.”
Mildly perplexed I did so.
“Oh, dear,” Dr. Nikas murmured. “What is his condition now?”
My confusion increased. “Out cold,” I told him. “We have him secured, though. Ziptied wrists and ankles.”
“Is his skin icy and pale?” he asked with a strange urgency. “Check the inside of his eyelids. Are they pale as well? As if there’s barely enough blood to make them pink?”
“Um, hang on, and I’ll check.” I jogged back up the tunnel to Gentry and checked his skin and eyelids. Philip gave me a questioning look, but I could only give him an I-have-no-fucking-idea shrug in response. “Yes, to all of that,” I told Dr. Nikas. “What’s going on?”
“Oh. Oh my goodness,” he breathed. “Bring him. Bring him with you when you come here.”
“Sure, but how—” I stopped at the sound of more scuffling, and then Brian came back on the line.
“Angel, tell me where you are.”
“Right by Lincoln Center.” I quickly explained where the hatch was, then brought him up to speed on Kyle’s capture, Naomi’s injury, and Andrew as hostage.
“Get everyone ready to move,” Brian said. “I’ll call you when I’m five minutes out.” And with that he hung up.
Sighing, I pocketed the phone. “Time to say goodbye to the roaches and rats, everyone.”
Chapter 29
When the call came, we hustled everyone up the tunnel and to the surface. Or rather, Philip carried Naomi to the ladder and followed her up as she did an awkward one-footed climb, then Brian came down and hoisted Andrew—ziptied, gagged, and blindfolded—over his shoulder and carried him up the ladder, repeated the process with Gentry, and finally I brought up the rear. Fortunately, Brian had strategically parked the big-ass SUV right by the hatch, and we managed to get everyone in without any witnesses to the fact that two members of our party were having fun with zipties.
Still out cold, Gentry took up the floor by the middle row of seats, while Andrew got the floor of the back row.
Brian drove in silence, no doubt because of Andrew’s presence. Philip and I sat in the middle row while Naomi took the back in order to put her leg up on the seat. Unsettled, I kept looking down at Gentry. Why had Dr. Nikas sounded so agitated and yet so protective of the asshole? I looked up to see Brian watching me in the rearview mirror. I gave him a worried What the fuck? look, which he returned.
As soon as we were certain no one was following, I pulled out my phone and texted Jane an update on our status, along with a promise to call her as soon as I knew more. After I sent it, I sighed, wishing I had good news about Pietro for her. Instead we were back to square one. Hell, square zero.
On the floor behind me, Andrew made muffled noises behind the gag. “Shut up, Andrew,” I said quietly but oh-so-firmly, hoping he heard the unspoken, or I will help you shut up.
“Yeah, what she said,” Naomi added in a similar tone.
I rubbed the place on my arm where Philip had cut the bug out. Even though it was all healed up, the idea of it still festered. How much had they heard? The thing had been in there for months, which meant they’d been able to spy on all sorts of shit. Every phone call, every personal conversation, even stuff I did at work. Did they get a sick thrill when they listened to Marcus and me having sex? Did they laugh when we broke up? How hard did they snicker when I poured my heart out to Naomi . . . ?
Shock jerked me upright. I spun in my seat to look at Naomi, then gestured wildly at the spot on my arm and to her. Clearly baffled, she opened her mouth to speak, but I frantically waved her quiet while pointing to Andrew. I didn’t want him to hear any of this. She frowned but closed her mouth, and I pointed to my arm then her again.
The bug, I mouthed. They know about you!
Her bafflement increased. Go pout too?
I rolled my eyes and tried again, and this time Naomi’s eyes flew open wide as it hit her. My mother! she mouthed in reply as horror crawled over her face. She knows I’m alive!
I scowled and nodded, then pointed at Andrew again. But I don’t think he knows. If he did, then he’d have also known Naomi was Julia, and he’d given no hint of recognition. None. Zip. Zero. The dude was clever, but no way was he that good an actor.
Her brow furrowed as she looked down at the bound, gagged, and blindfolded form of her brother, and I had a feeling her thoughts were echoing mine. An instant later her horror shifted to rage. She held back intel and let him think I was dead? That fucking bitch!
Couldn’t argue with her there. She slumped back and let her gaze drift out the window as she tried to process this revelation. Suddenly exhausted, I shut my eyes and leaned my head back. Right now all I wanted was to get settled someplace that wasn’t a grimy underground tunnel, where I could have a few minutes of not-worrying. Yeah, that would rock.
The overhead light woke me, and I opened my eyes to see we were in a garage with the door closing behind us.
“Where are we?” I asked, rubbing grit out of my eyes.
“Queens,” Brian said. He got out, came around and opened my door. “Let’s get him inside.” He gestured to the still unconscious Gentry at my feet. “We’ll leave Saber in here for a moment.”
“Maybe you should leave the car running,” Naomi grumbled as Philip helped her out.
I grinned at her comment then had to focus all my attention on helping Brian get the heavy Gentry out of the SUV, through the utility room, and into the house. It was a two story deal, and at first glance appeared to be at least four bedrooms. An older house, I figured, judging by the mild wear and tear on corners and floors and walls. Nicely furnished with nothing extravagant. Comfy.
Dr. Nikas stood in the kitchen, eyes widening at the sight of Gentry. “Oh. Oh, my. Bedroom.” He gestured to a hallway. “Please bring him to the master bedroom.”
“Sure thing,” I wheezed. Good grief, were there any steroids this asshole hadn’t used? By the time we muscled Gentry down the hall and into the indicated bedroom, I was more than ready to drop his ass on the floor. The only reason I didn’t was because Brian gave me a look as if he knew exactly what I had in mind—probably because he felt the same way. In the end it was only because it was Dr. Nikas who asked that we went ahead and flopped the brute onto the bed.
“I hate this fucker more and more,” I muttered as I caught my breath, then straightened and tried to look cool as Dr. Nikas entered behind us.
“Remove the restraints,” he said. He didn’t look at either one of us. He was focused fully on Gentry the Giant Heavy Deadweight.
I gave him a dubious look. “What if he wakes up?” From the other side of the bed, Brian looked equally doubtful.
“It will be all right,” Dr. Nikas replied, utterly calm as he moved up to Gentry’s head. He laid a hand on the man’s forehead, then wiped his fingers down and over his cheek. He touched them to his tongue, using his weird zombie-taste diagnostics, then exhaled softly. “He won’t hurt any of us.”
“How can you be sure?” I asked. I noticed that Brian wasn’t moving to cut the zip ties. Nice to know he and I were totally on the same page here.