Seconds to Live (Scarlet Falls) (28 page)

Horner’s gaze landed on the flyer. “But why?”

“It has to be connected to his brother.” Stella turned away from the bulletin board. Everything in her gut said she was right. But Randolph wasn’t holding Gianna and Mac prisoner at the center, so where were they? “Reilly, where is Randolph’s house?”

“Across the lake.” Reilly said. “The access road is just past the driveway for the center. You can’t miss it.”

“You two stay here and keep an eye on him, just in case.” Stella pointed to two officers. “Everyone else, let’s go.”

Racing for her car, she said a quick and silent prayer.

Please let them be alive.

Panic slammed inside Mac’s throat, a blind, feral animal seeking to escape. He moved his fingers, but his muscle control hadn’t returned quickly enough. He was immobilized. He yanked at the handcuffs that attached his wrists to the rails on either side of the gurney. His ankles were tied down with leather straps that looked like they’d come out of a horror movie set in a psychiatric hospital.

That wasn’t too far off.

“How are you feeling?”

Mac turned his head and shock numbed him for a few seconds.

Josh Randolph walked around a growing puddle to stand a few feet from the gurney, as if he was afraid to come closer.

Smart man.

Mac let anger kill his shock and fear. His rage roiled, wild and snapping as a caged beast. He was going to kill Josh. He didn’t know how, but it was going to happen. If necessary, he’d rip the man’s throat out with his teeth.

“I think we’d better work on your attitude.” Josh raised the Taser and fired.

The prongs hit Mac dead center in the chest. Electricity ripped through him and tore him apart. His body seized, the muscles simultaneously frozen and on fire. It eased off, and Mac’s muscles were left twitching.

He gritted his teeth and forced words through his shaking lips. “Fuck you.”

Josh’s frown was uncertain. “You
are
resilient.”

He squeezed the trigger again. The current made Mac’s body jump to artificial life, as if Dr. Frankenstein had thrown the switch. Mac’s body jolted on the gurney. When Josh lowered the Taser, Mac’s body convulsed with the remnants of its charge.

A minute passed before he unclenched his molars. “I’m going to kill you.”

Josh smiled. “I knew you were The One.”

What. The. Hell?

Mac swallowed. It felt like broken glass moved down the inside of his throat. “What are you talking about?”

“You are The One. Truly redeemed.” He set down the Taser and clasped his hands together. “We have a few more tests, but I knew you were special.”

“You’re crazy.”

Josh grabbed his tray and rolled it toward the gurney. Water splashed around the wheels. The puddle had grown, covering most of the floor several inches deep.

“Your basement is flooding.” Mac lifted his head. His neck muscles protested. “The lake is rising.”

But Josh’s eyes were glazed, as if he were lost in his own imagination.

He lifted a scalpel from the tray, his eyes hyper-focused on Mac. “We’ll start with the physical test. It’s redundant based on the fact that you’ve been walking around with a bullet wound, but I have to keep my experiments consistent. The physical pain test is first. I’ve designed each subject’s test for their specific background. Missy cut herself, so I used a knife on her. Dena let her husband break her bones, so breaking her fingers seemed appropriate. You are a bit more complicated. I’ll have to try both.”

Mac tried to slide away from the blade, but the restraints held him fast.

Josh drew the blade over the skin on Mac’s arm. With his adrenaline running on high, Mac barely felt the slice. A quick burn, then nothing. Blood flowed over his skin in a thin river.

“No screaming?” Josh all but clapped with glee as he picked up a hammer.

Knowing what was coming, Mac clenched his fist, but Josh hit him with another short Taser jolt. Mac’s hands tightened until his fingers dug into his palms. The electricity abandoned him, and his muscles went involuntarily lax.

Josh stretched out his fingers and brought the hammer down. This was no clean sharp blade, and pain exploded through Mac’s hand. His jaw clamped, his molars coming together with a brain-rattling
snap
of teeth that caught his tongue. Blood flooded his mouth.

Josh held up a syringe. “I can end all that pain right now.”

“What is that?”

“Heroin.” Josh said it like he was offering candy to a child. “No more pain, Mac.”

Real terror spread like a brushfire through Mac’s body. Injuries to his body would heal. But addiction never ended. He couldn’t go down that road again. He’d rather die.

“Fuck you.” Blood flew from his mouth as he spat out the words.

A crazy-ass grin spread across Josh’s face. “I knew it. I can’t believe it took me this long to figure out what I was doing wrong.”

“What are you talking about? Is this about your brother?”

“I’ve been studying addiction for years, and every single person I’ve treated has had a relapse at some point. Take Gary Simmons. We talked about him, remember?”

“The news anchor?”

Josh smiled as if he was a teacher and Mac his star pupil. “Yes. My brother only killed himself, but Gary killed a whole family of innocents. Addiction is a time bomb. Eventually every addict is going to blow up. I’ve been looking for The One person who has truly beaten addiction. So far, every subject I’ve tested has failed.”

He set the syringe on the tray. Relief spread through Mac at an embarrassing rate. His hand throbbed, every beat of his heart slamming him with a bolt of pain. Relaxing, he breathed and let the pain flow, accepting it. The heat spread up his arm and invaded his shoulder.

“But there’s one more test.” Josh swiped his fingers across an electronic tablet. He held it out so Mac could see the screen.

Gianna.

And Mac knew exactly what Josh was planning: a no-win situation for Mac. Josh didn’t want to find The One person who had beaten addiction. He wanted to kill.

Josh shook his head. “She’s not doing very well. I expect the toxins are building up in her bloodstream.”

The girl’s body was tinted green with a night vision light. She stood in front of the door, her fists raised as she beat on the wood. Water lapped around her knees. The part of the basement in which she was being held prisoner must be lower than the room Mac was in. As he watched, the water rose past her knees. God, it was pouring in. How quickly would the room fill?

“Let her go,” Mac tried. “She hasn’t done anything. She’s sick.”

“Maybe we can come to an agreement.” Josh raised the syringe. “You take this, and I’ll leave her outside the ER. She hasn’t seen my face. She doesn’t know who I am.”

Mac felt defeat flowing over him. The pain in his hand slipped away. “How do I know you’ll actually do it?”

Josh looked offended. “I
always
keep my word. Why would you even question my offer?”

“Because you’re a psycho killer?”

“I assure you,” Josh gave him a condescending,
fuck you
smile, “There’s a method to what seems like madness.”

“Let me guess. That’s a fatal dose of heroin.”

“It is,” Josh said as if the conclusion was inevitable.

“Why go to all this trouble?”

“The fallen have to be punished,” Josh said simply. “They have to be stopped. We both know there’s no such thing as a recovered addict. Sobriety is a temporary status. I used to be optimistic. I thought I could save people from themselves. But Gary’s relapse made me realize how dangerous addicts are. Anyone who fails my test needs to be culled from society like a diseased animal. Sooner or later, you’ll all relapse, and when you do, you’ll hurt someone else. The decision is yours.”

“But you’re not giving me a choice.” Mac argued in an attempt to stall for time.

“There’s always a choice.” Josh’s attitude turned pissy, as if he was tired of explaining himself to an intellectual inferior.

“My choice is to sacrifice an innocent girl to save myself. Hardly heroic,” Mac pointed out.

“Your integrity should trump all.” Josh lifted both hands. “She isn’t worth your life. She’s one of the fallen. Her life is misery, hardly worth sacrificing yours to preserve.”

“Says you.” Mac turned the discussion around. “Is this about your brother?”

Josh’s eyes went icicle. “My brother was perfect until she cast him in her spell. Sex and drugs were his end. She was supposed to be recovered, but obviously she wasn’t. There’s no such thing.”

“She?” Mac slipped his first two fingers into his front pants’ pocket. Did he have one of Stella’s hairpins? Please. Please.
Please
.

“Lucas’s girlfriend.” Josh spit out the words like venom. “She dragged him into her sordid life. She ruined him. My brother was weak, and he followed that whore right into hell.” Josh reached for the needle again. Victory shone like insanity in his eyes.

Mac’s fingers closed on a thin slip of metal. He drew it out slowly, holding it between the pads of his fingertips. Carefully he drew it onto the gurney at his side.

Josh was focused on the tablet. “Just like this piece of trash.”

Mac knew Josh wasn’t seeing Gianna. He was envisioning his brother’s girlfriend standing thigh-deep in the flooded cell. Josh was beyond reason. Mac inserted the hairpin into the handcuff lock. The angle was tricky, and he had to pick the lock blind and one-handed. If he moved his gaze, Josh might notice.

This was Mac’s sole chance of escape.

His only hope to save Gianna.

The lock gave with a thin click.

Josh froze. His head cocked and turned slowly toward Mac.

Oh shit.

Mac yanked his hand free. He snatched the knife from the rolling table and cut the leather straps around his ankles, but the blade was useless on the handcuffs. Josh dropped the tablet and lunged toward him. Grabbing Josh’s shirtfront with his freed hand, Mac slammed his forehead against the bridge of Josh’s nose. Bone crunched and blood flowed. Josh stumbled back, both hands covering his face.

The remaining cuff rattled on his wrist. He’d dropped the hairpin. Mac searched the bedding, but it was gone.

Josh staggered across the room and reached for the Taser.

He was going to kill Mac and let Gianna drown.

Mac yanked on the handcuffs. He searched the gurney but couldn’t find the hairpin.

Shit. Shit.
Shit
.

Josh had the Taser. Mac stretched out an arm, snatched the knife from the rolling tray, and threw it at Josh. The point struck him in the bicep. The Taser fell from his hand and hit the water with a splash.

Mac grabbed the handrail of the gurney. Dragging it behind him, he plowed toward Josh. The doctor turned and fled toward a rear doorway.

The water rose above Mac’s knees. How deep was the flood in Gianna’s cell? He didn’t have much time. He couldn’t let her drown, trapped. He pictured her tilting her head to the ceiling for a last breath of air, imagined the panic whirling in her chest as water closed over her head, her eyes shining with terror.

No!

He plunged his free hand into the water, the futility of finding a hairpin in two feet of water sent fear surging cold into his throat.

Leaning on the door, Gianna shivered. Her hands ached from banging on the wood, and she could feel the bruises forming all over her body. He hadn’t touched her since bringing her here and locking her in. He hadn’t had to. Zapping her with that Taser had pretty much tapped her strength.

“Let me out of here you sick son-of-a-bitch.” She pounded on the door, her face turned toward the ceiling-mounted camera.

He was watching.

Watching the water rise.

Letting her drown.

Nausea rose in her throat. Dena and Missy had both been murdered, and she was the next victim. If the water kept rising at this rate, her cell would be full in minutes.

Frustration burned in her chest. It wasn’t fair. Not after all she’d been through. Two years ago she hadn’t cared if she lived or died. Now that she actually had a will to live, some bastard wanted to kill her.

She drew her hands back and threw them at the door again, then collapsed against the rough, wet wood. It was no use. No one was coming to save her.