Get Lucky (25 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Marc spent the rest of the afternoon in a gym. It amazed the crap out of him how elaborate of a facility Claude and Evelyn had underground. And under a ghost town that was once known as one of the most ruthless and lawless towns in the U.S. How was that for warped irony?

Jake and his parents were nowhere to be seen. Something told Marc that was intentional. The King family had proved that the moment they were together they could plan an escape with minimal discussion. He was also acutely aware of how compelled he was to obey Claude’s orders. Although all Claude told Marc and the other men to do, once they entered the gym, was run. If he did another lap around this godforsaken gym he would collapse.

Claude’s words to Blondie, or Evelyn, before they were escorted out of the office to this gym bothered Marc. “War games” was an oxymoron in itself. When men like Claude, who showed signs of an unstable personality, started boasting about such activities, Marc got scared.

By “war games” did Claude mean they would practice attacking before they participated as part of the game? And if so, what, or whom, was their target during practice? Marc would kill Claude before killing an innocent person. But they hadn’t ended the game when Marty Byrd was killed a year ago. Marc needed to keep Claude alive long enough to learn who the other players in the game were. His father wasn’t going to blow the whole damn place up this time.

Marc had his work cut out for him. He hoped London would give him a chance once all of this was over with.

Blondie entered the gym, pausing just inside the door and letting it close behind her with a bang that echoed throughout the gym. She crossed her arms across her chest and smiled. Marc had been determined at first to not let the other three men show him up. None of them wanted to talk to him. He’d tried several times to start conversations with each of them and been ignored. Blondie smiled at each man as he passed her and didn’t seem bothered when they continued running without acknowledging her.

Marc had never considered himself much of a conformist. He’d had enough of running around in circles anyway. Slowing, Marc stopped in front of Blondie. He rested his hands against his thighs, leaned forward, and caught his breath.

“Are you trying to kill me?” he asked, remaining bent over but cocking his head and looking at her.

She’d changed clothes and wore a business suit, with a skirt cut straight and ending just above her knees. Her suit jacket matched her skirt and was unbuttoned to reveal a silky-looking blouse, tailored to show off her decent-sized breasts. Her bleached-blonde hair was down and fell in soft curls just past her shoulders. The makeup she’d put on seemed to highlight the lines at the edges of her eyes, though, instead of hide them. Blondie was older than she wanted the world to know.

“Do you realize these men will run laps until I tell them to stop?” Her soft voice was full of awe as she watched the three men run alongside one another as they came around once again. “They will run until their hearts quit beating.”

“How nice for them,” Marc grumbled, feeling his own heart pound in his chest.

“Nice?” Her tone hardened as she stared at him with cold eyes. Flirtatious Blondie was nowhere in sight. “Try more like Pulitzer Prize, darling. And do you think I’ll get any credit for it?” Already she was shaking her head.

Marc straightened slowly. He’d kill for a bottle of water but had a feeling changing the subject would piss her off. Instead he studied her aggravated expression, trying to piece together what she’d just said to him. That damnable headache got in the way any time he tried focusing on anything other than what he was told to do.

“That sucks,” he said slowly, watching her expression. Blondie, or Evelyn as Claude had called her, might give him more information if he worked her right. Say the wrong thing, though, and she would clam up on him in a second.

“I’ve been conducting experiments for years.” She dropped her arms to her sides and looked at him, her eyes narrowing. “My results have been published time and time again. I’m going to get credit for this. Mark my words. I’ll see to it.”

She turned to storm out of the gym before he could think of what to say next, but then she spun back around. “Take five, gentlemen!” she yelled, her voice echoing off the gym walls. “You’re all doing fabulous. Cool off and we’ll get you some refreshments.”

Marc didn’t doubt the refreshments would contain more of whatever drug it was she and Claude were using to turn them all into spineless, submissive robots. He watched the men stop running, all of them breathing so hard they looked ready to collapse. He’d dodged two doses of whatever drug Blondie was using to make them submissive. But apparently that was all it took to wipe out the part of their brains where common sense would tell them to stop before hurting themselves. They responded only to orders.

“You should get credit for this.” Marc decided to pick up the conversation again when Evelyn led the four of them out of the gym.

“Not right now,” she said under her breath, and pushed open double doors, which brought them into the laboratory with the cement cells around it.

It took Marc a moment to notice this wasn’t the same lab and they weren’t the same cement cells where he’d been since arriving. Not only was this place a fucking maze, but it was a lot larger than he first thought.

“There you are!” Claude came in through another door, barely giving Marc and the other men around him a second glance. He focused on Evelyn. “I’ve exhausted all names off all of the cell phones,” he began.

She held up a hand, and he snapped his mouth shut, looking more than a little annoyed that she would silence him.

“Gentlemen, please head to the showers.”

When Marc didn’t move along with the others, she took his arm and guided him into one of the cells, then closed the door behind him. He heard the lock click and turned to watch her secure the locks on the other cell doors, too.

“Is he still not cooperating?” Claude demanded.

“Actually, he’s improved immensely. They are all working above my expectations. Now, you were saying?” she asked, leaning against the large lab table so she faced Marc. Claude faced her with his back to Marc.

Marc took in his cement prison, everything looking identical to the one he’d been in earlier. That’s when he noticed the narrow door in the corner. When he opened it, there was a full bathroom, complete with toilet, sink, and shower stall. He’d just moved up in the world.

“I went through everyone’s cell phone,” Claude said.

Marc entered the bathroom and stood just inside the door, not closing it but listening.

“I needed to know who some of these names are.”

“I’m sure a lot of them are friends.”

“You know as well as I do they’re going to have access to some prominent names in California. Hell, he was a goddamn cop for years before becoming a bounty hunter.”

Marc didn’t dare move as he strained to listen and ignore the dull headache that throbbed at his temples.

“While I was trying to go through their phones, suddenly all of them went blank. Everything on them erased as if there was nothing ever loaded on them,” he continued, growing excited and raising his voice loud enough that Marc probably could have heard him if he’d gotten in the shower.

“All of the phones cleared at the same time?” Evelyn asked. “They’ve got them booby-trapped. Damn it. I should have known or at least thought through that they’d have some kind of setup like that.”

Marc peered around the door. Evelyn began pacing and tapping her lips with her finger. Claude scowled, not watching her but staring at the ground in front of him.

“You might be right,” he said, but then glanced around them. “We had some visitors up above last night.”

“Who? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t answer to you,” Claude informed her, his tone turning cruel.

Marc dared move enough to see out the bathroom door better. Evelyn came into his view, her back now to him as she stood in front of Claude.

“Maybe not. But if you want these men to be submissive and do whatever the hell you say, then you better keep me informed. I won’t risk all my work here falling into the wrong hands.”

“This isn’t just about your work.”

“Of course not. The game. It’s all about the game,” Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

“You still don’t get it, Evelyn. It’s not about your work. It’s not about the game. It is about winning. Winning, damn it! Once we blow everyone else off the map the entire world will respect us. You’ll have people begging to kiss your feet, do whatever you say. It’s all about winning,” he emphasized.

“So who were our visitors?” she asked, not commenting on what he’d just said.

“Two women.”

“Two women? Were they up there to see the ruins?”

“I don’t think so.” Claude moved around her to the door.

“What do you mean, you don’t think so?” Evelyn followed him.

Marc worried they’d take their conversation out of earshot and really needed to know who those two women were.

“They took off after I sent a couple of the men up there to investigate. But we found something.”

“What?”

“Some kind of device. I didn’t want to bother you with it until our meeting was over today.”

“Show it to me.”

The door slammed closed behind them and Marc was left alone with the drugged men nearby as his only companions.

*   *   *

London could barely hold on to the steering wheel. Her palms were soaked as her nerves twisted in a frenzy.

“Slow down. We’re almost there.” Natasha was focused on the screen in front of her, as always. The woman had some kind of contraption in her hands at all times.

London could appreciate a good computer geek as well as the next person, but Natasha was in a class all by herself. There didn’t seem to be anything she couldn’t figure out.

“I see the ruins.” London hit the brake, slowing on the dark highway. There weren’t any stars out tonight. It was as overcast as it had been all day. The headlights offered a narrow view of everything in front of them. “Tell me again what we’re going to do?”

“We’re going to get our families out of there.” Natasha flashed her a grin before focusing again at the screen on the small laptop. “Okay. It’s at those rocks.”

“An entrance.” London refused to feel foolish for asking the same questions over and over again. None of this made any sense. “You’re sure there is an entrance that goes underground at those rocks?”

“Positive.” Natasha finally looked out the front windshield. “Pull off the road here. The only thing I’m not positive about is how to open it, but I have a hunch.”

“Hunches are always good,” London mumbled, praying they wouldn’t end up dead tonight, or worse.

Marc’s Mustang wasn’t designed to drive off-road. Fortunately, the ground was frozen and there wasn’t too much ice. She cranked the wheel, watching until the rocks came into view, then straightened and drove forward.

“What do I do now?” she asked, glancing up and down the highway, nervous someone would come along and stop, thinking they were in trouble. She didn’t have a clue what they would say if someone confronted them.

“Pull forward slowly.” Natasha wasn’t watching her screen any longer. She stared ahead, her eyes wide and her mouth pressed into a thin line. She looked as terrified as London felt.

It occurred to London that Natasha might work in this business and was a master at gadgets and anything computer-related, but that didn’t mean she’d willingly walked into what had to be a deadly situation before.

Natasha was as terrified as she was. When Natasha looked at London it showed in her eyes. London reached for her hand, oddly enough finding strength in Natasha’s fear.

“We can do this,” London whispered.

Natasha’s laughter was strained and she sobered quickly. “We’re going to do this,” she said with determination.

London nodded, focusing ahead as they pulled up alongside the wall of rocks and stared at a field of nothing ahead of them. They hadn’t driven off the road when they’d come here the night before. Instead they’d walked around the rocks. There wasn’t anything to see and there was no one for miles. Natasha had spent all day poring over her laptop and jotting down notes. London wished Natasha had brainstormed out loud, but as it was, Natasha was positive she’d figured out where Marc, Jake and her parents were and was incredibly excited about driving back out to the ruins.

The car jerked. London wasn’t the only one who screamed.

“What the hell was that?” she whispered, looking around them frantically before staring at Natasha.

Natasha looked at London wild-eyed, damn near panting as she fingered her hair, making a show of trying to make sure it was in place. London instinctively patted her head, having twisted her hair into a bun before they’d left to drive to the ghost town. Her hair was suddenly no longer a concern when the car jerked again.

“We’re sinking!” London grabbed the gearshift, shooting panicked looks at the mirrors and over her shoulder as she tried to figure out what to do.

“Wait!” Natasha grabbed London’s shoulder.

“What do you mean?” She held on to the steering wheel hard enough to hurt her hand yet still felt it turn against her grip. Dirt flooded the beam from the headlights. “Natasha!” she yelled, unable to see a thing outside and panicking as the car was being moved by some force other than her. “What’s happening? The car is driving itself.”

“I’m not sure.” Natasha was breathing hard when she stared ahead of her while gripping the dash. “I think we’ve found the entrance.”

“The entrance?” London did her best to see through the cloud of dirt flooding her headlights. “Oh my God!” she whispered when the dirt started clearing.

“Drive,” Natasha ordered, gripping London’s arm but letting go of her just as quickly. Natasha grabbed her laptop before it slid to the floor. “Okay. This is it. We’re going to get them out.”

London tried blocking Natasha out as she spoke to herself under her breath. “It’s okay. You can do this.”

She could barely see when the headlights beamed on a dark entrance into some kind of underground tunnel. The car was on a steep incline and her seat belt dug into her chest painfully.

“We can do this. The guns are loaded. Where are the guns?” The laptop fell to the floor at Natasha’s feet when she twisted to reach for the weapons they’d loaded and packed in the backseat under blankets and every emergency supply they could think of. “Oh shit!” she cried out, flinging to the floor of the front seat to save her computer. The seat belt prevented her from grabbing it. “We need the guns. We’ve got to do this!”

“Natasha!” London cried out, no longer able to maintain her cool as they descended into the darkness. And it
was
dark, too. She could barely see the cement walls that loomed up on either side of the car. “God. Please!” she wailed.

“Sorry. Shit.” Natasha managed to grab her laptop and slapped it closed as she blew out a loud breath. Letting it slide again to her feet, she rubbed her face with her hands. “I’m sorry,” she said again.

This wasn’t the time for either of them to fall apart. There wasn’t any turning back. London doubted she could make the car back up the steep decline onto the ground if she tried.

“Get the guns.” London strained to see ahead of her, riding the brake as they continued descending into darkness. Marc, her parents, and his family were down there somewhere. It couldn’t all be pitch-black in this underground hideout. “We need to be armed now.”

“Right.” Natasha managed to grab the handguns from the backseat and checked each one before handing one to London. “Have we hit bottom?”

London strained to see when the car leveled and suddenly moved on a flat surface. She hit the brake and stared at what looked like a warehouse. From what she could see through the headlight beams, they were in a very large garage with another car parked ahead of them. It was some kind of SUV.

“Well, we’re here.” Her heart hurt in her chest and claustrophobia kicked in as the darkness seemed to close in around them. “I don’t think I can handle sitting here waiting for whoever to come find us.”

“Okay.” Natasha took off her seat belt. “We’re getting out. There’s a door over there. If my equipment will work down here I can figure out what kind of security system they have.”

London sucked in a breath, nodding, and shut off the car. “I don’t know how long we can leave the headlights on without draining the battery.”

“Turn them off. We have a flashlight and we need the car to get out of here.”

“I’ll leave them on long enough for you to search for any kind of alarm.” London held her gun up in her hand, checking the safety. “I’ll watch your back.”

Natasha nodded and blew out a breath. It was a nervous release of energy. “Scared?” she whispered.

“Terrified,” London admitted.

“Me, too.” Natasha reached between her legs, putting her laptop on the floor and picking up a small black box that looked like a walkie-talkie. “We’ve got to do this,” she muttered under her breath.

“There’s no turning back,” London said, trying to look everywhere at once. “Let’s get our families.”

She held her gun in her free hand like a lifeline. And in truth that was exactly what it was. There wasn’t any doubt she and Natasha would need to shoot to kill. London hadn’t had time before to consider how she would aim her gun when the men showed up at the motel and took Marc and Jake. Everything had happened so quickly. Now, though, time seemed to move at a snail’s pace. Natasha was taking forever getting out of the car and holding up the black gadget in her hand that scanned their surroundings and told her what kind of alarm system was being used. She’d explained how it worked earlier when they had prepared to leave, but London only understood half of what Natasha told her. The small box picked up on different types of signals being used within a certain parameter and would tell Natasha what type of security system or any other type of machinery was activated around them.

Natasha moved around the SUV and London stepped out of the car when she lost sight of her. “I can’t see you,” London whispered. “Should I turn off the headlights and join you?”

“There’s a panel on the wall over here.” Natasha didn’t answer her but instead was quiet for a moment. “I think this button pad needs a code to open this door. The rest is a security system. They’ve got to know we’re here. I don’t see any cameras in here, though, do you?”

London turned, staring at the walls and ceilings. There weren’t any obvious cameras fixed to the walls like someone would find in grocery or department stores. The ceiling was high and the entrance was a deep incline. The ceiling angled into the entrance and London was surprised to see the steep road disappearing into the ceiling. She hadn’t heard it close.

“You might want to learn how to open the door so we can get out of here when we want to,” London said, daring to speak a bit louder, although looking around again nervously when she finished talking, especially when there was a slight echo.

“This is the only panel I see in this garage. Anything that can be controlled in here has to be done from here.”

“I’m shutting off the headlights and joining you.” London reached into the car, gripping her gun as she shut off the headlights.

The darkness quickly closed in around her, increasing her claustrophobia and making it hard to breathe. London straightened, jumping at the sound of her car door closing when she pushed it shut gently. Her nerves were so shot she’d be lucky if they made it out of here alive, let alone rescued anyone else.

“Hurry up,” Natasha ordered, waving the beam of the flashlight.

London moved around the cars, coming up behind Natasha.

“How do we get out of here?” she whispered.

Natasha put her hand on the doorknob. It clicked when she turned it, confirming they were locked in the garage. “Hopefully this won’t take too long. Be quiet.” She didn’t elaborate as she held up the black box in front of the panel and began pushing each button on the panel.

Something sounded on the other side of the door and both women stared at it, wide-eyed.

“I don’t think I need to figure out how to open the door,” Natasha whispered, putting her arm out in front of London as she backed away from the door.

London backed up with Natasha, moving her finger closer to the trigger as she gripped her gun. Sweat broke out over her body, making her itch, and her eyes burned as it seemed to take forever for whoever was on other side of the door to open it.

The doorknob turned. The moment had arrived. London stepped to the side suddenly, trying to figure out whether the door would open toward them or not. Natasha followed her lead, also moving so she stood alongside the wall and out of view from whoever would step into the garage. When the door opened, the flashlight turned off.

London was momentarily confused when light flooded the garage from the other side of the door. More than one man entered the garage and gunshots burned her ears as they echoed off the walls and high ceiling. She jumped when the first man crashed to the floor.

“Son of a bitch!” the man behind him howled, almost falling over the first guy.

London raised her gun, fighting not to close her eyes as she fired. She and Natasha had more bullets on them, but London wasn’t sure she fired repeatedly with that in mind. Her body and mind went on auto-drive, the only thought in her head being that if she continued firing the men wouldn’t be able to capture her.

“Come on.” Natasha stepped over a man lying on the ground, the metallic smell of blood growing thick in the air. “Let’s go.”

“We need to reload,” London argued, but ran into the hallway behind Natasha.

They didn’t have a clue where they were going and she couldn’t run into more trouble without knowing her gun was loaded.

“Get the bullets out.” Natasha looked over her shoulder at London for only a moment before focusing ahead of them.

Following Natasha and struggling with the box of bullets in her pocket, London looked behind them. The bodies in the doorway, just inside the garage, lay lifeless and tangled over one another. It was a sickening view and one London was positive she’d never get out of her head.

“This is insane,” she muttered, unable to accept how many deaths she’d caused in the past couple days. Everything she’d vowed never to be involved in she was now in so deep it was overwhelming.

“Dealing with criminals often is,” Natasha agreed. “Okay. Next door. Something tells me they won’t come barging in after us this time.”

“They’re going to wait until we enter and start shooting at us?” London froze, feeling trapped in the hallway with dead bodies at one end and a closed door at the other.