Hard to Kill (6 page)

He brought her downstairs to the room adjacent to where she
'd been held earlier. Not much different than the other one in terms of dampness, but at least there was a cot. As soon as her butt hit the thin mattress, she slumped to a prone position. He slid her legs under the thin cover and eased the hair from her eyes.

"
Liz?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if the effort cost her more than she could endure. Cracked and bleeding, her lips were so swollen that the inside was exposed and stretched dry and taunt over her teeth.

"
She's safe. The Swiss police brought her to the American Embassy." He whispered into her ear rather than take the chance Marco was listening. Offering that little bit of good news was easy. It was staring into those eyes filled with pain that was the hard part.

She looked like
crap. Her wavy red hair was a mass of tangles, with clumps of dirt and drying blood adding to the disarray. The white blouse she wore earlier was in tatters and spattered with blood. Kane couldn't tell if it was hers, Arte's, or maybe even Marco's.

Her right bicep had deep bruises circling it
, and her forearm sported a large red welt. There were scrapes and scratches over almost all of her exposed skin.

A bruise marred her right cheek as the beginnings of a black eye formed on her left. A deep red scratch from Marco
's ring cut through her right eyebrow. She had drying blood below her nose and fresh blood oozing from her bottom lip.

All of which wo
uld be good. It would give him a couple of days to figure out how to get her out.

Kane went into the bathroom, rinsed out a towel, and set about the task of cleaning her up. Determined to figure out a plan
and get her out of this death trap.

"
Where did you come from?" He whispered the question into the air, thinking she was too out of it to respond.

Seconds later he was surprised when her eyes slid open. She smiled while her voice croaked from strain.
"Haven't you learned about the birds and bees yet?" Her eyes slid closed seconds later.

He stifled a chuckle. But first things first.

As bad as she looked, he snapped off a picture and sent it to the FBI. Sooner or later they'd match it up with facial-recognition software and he'd get the lowdown on her story and how she got hooked up with The Alliance.

Sabrina readjusted her position on the cot while pain radiated from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Everything ached, but especially her head.
With every beat of her heart, her pulse baboomed inside her skull. The drugs Marco had used this time on her were a powerful concoction that had instantaneous results and a kickass lingering effect of dizziness every time she moved.

She licked at her parched lips and cracked open one eye
, hoping for solitude. Instead, she saw him. The guy they called Evan.

His long legs stretched out in front of him, his hands behind his head while he tipped the chair against the wall. His eyelids were closed
, masking those deep brown, calculating eyes—the ones that seemed to take everything in and then file that information inside his brain in a folder labeled "for future use."

Memories of him ministering to her needs floated about her head. Cold towels placed upon her face, tepid water cleansing her hair
, his soft hands massaging away the clumps of dirt and blood as he whispered assurances that Liz had made it out safe and sound.

Was it a dream
?

Vaguely she recalled his interference with Marco yesterday, or maybe the day before. She wasn
't all that certain how long she'd been out of it.

D
on't expect and you won't be disappointed
. But she still had to wonder why.

In her experience
, nobody did anything without an angle, so what was his? Was he a soft touch? Did he intend to take her up on her offer? Or did he have an agenda of his own?

She couldn
't remember how long it had been since she'd eaten. Her stomach had stopped growling several days ago.

Shifting first to her elbow, then to an upright position, she closed her eyes and waited a few moments until the room stopped spinning. When she opened them
again, he stood in front of her, his hand inches away.

She had to admit, the guy was good. He moved like a cat.

"You need to use the bathroom?" he asked.

She nodded, although the effort cost her.
"Alone," she managed to croak.

Something resembling a chuckle escaped his lips before he helped her to her feet. In a different room than
the last time she'd been in this dungeon of a basement, the rudimentary bathroom was identical. Dirt covered the floor and cobwebs littered the corner. There was a mirror over a sink stained with rust. After attending to necessities, she examined her reflection.

Sabrina touched her cheekbone and
poked at the large red welt covering the right side of her face. When she did so, she once again experienced Marco's slap.

Don
't get mad. Get even
. Petrovich's mantra tumbled through her brain.

But find
Caitlyn first.

S
haky, she held on to the sink for support,while she searched the waistband of her skirt for the paperclip she'd managed to grab from Marco's desk. She allowed a satisfied smile to cross her face before burying the clip once again. After inserting her hand into the hole in the door where the doorknob should be, she hobbled toward the cot.

"
You hungry?" Evan asked.

"
Starved." There was something in the way he looked at her that was different from the others, even if she couldn't quite quantify the difference.

"
I've got coffee, and some bread." He shrugged, offering up no further explanation.

"
I'll take it." She needed nourishment if she expected to last. As it was, the nauseous roll in her stomach signaled she was a hair's breadth away from passing out again. "But you take a sip first to make sure."

A smile eased up the corner of his lips before he brought the edges of the cup to his lip
and took a sip. He winced.

"
Strong. A shot of caffeine mainlined right to the bloodstream," he responded, a grin spreading across his face.

He handed her a tin plate
filled with chunks of bread and an apple, which she promptly wolfed down. Although she kept her eyes averted, she sensed his watchful presence.

"
What happens next?" she asked.

He shrugged.
"Marco's in charge. You'll have to ask him."

"
Really?" She let that one word hang in the air for a few minutes to see how he might respond.

"
What do you mean?" His eyebrows rose, conveying a façade of innocence.

"
Somebody else is pulling Marco's strings." She was poking around to see if he'd bite.

"
I don't know what you're talking about."

"
We'll forget that for now." She bit out a cynical laugh. "Answer me one question then: why?"

"
Hmmm?" While he said that one word as a question, his eyes seemed more cautious than normal. 

"
Don't play dumb. Why didn't you go after me when you had the chance? Were you going to let me go?"

"
I don't know what you're talking about." His face remained impassive.

"
You were a block away from me and stood there. What's your angle?"

He shook his head.
"Whoever you saw, it wasn't me." The only sign he was the least bit uncomfortable was his refusal to look her in the eye before he clamped the handcuffs onto her wrists.

"
So that's how you're going to play it?" She drew in a deep breath while her mind raced with possibilities. Maybe Marco had a camera hidden in the room. She searched the corners of the room. "You were there right before Marco grabbed me. For some reason, you didn't make a move. I want to know why."

"
I didn't come around until after Marco subdued you."

"
Whatever." Doubt rattled around inside as she questioned her memories. With the drugs she'd been given, anything was possible. "You did stop Marco from killing me."

S
he needed that bit of reassurance she hadn't lost her mind. Sabrina needed to know she was right about at least one thing, and it wasn't her imagination or some drug-induced hallucination.

H
e nodded in affirmation. "We need you healthy. It's all about business."

"
Bull." She let her denial hang in the air even while he eyed her without saying a word. This guy had such a great poker face he could make millions playing cards in Vegas.

"
I'll let Marco know you've come around." Rubbing his thumb across his bottom lip, he left, closing then locking the door behind him.

Despite what he might say,
Evan had interfered on her behalf with Marco the other day. Now she needed to know why.

*  *  *

"What was that about?" An enraged Marco confronted Kane as soon as he got upstairs.

Given the depths of Marco
's paranoia, Kane knew most rooms were wired for sound. Instead of denying the accusation, which would only increase Marco's insistence, he avoided his question for the time being. "She's awake."

"
What did she mean by you let her get away?" He grasped Kane by the shirt and tugged.

With Marco
's normal paranoia, what went down in Langford, and his suspiciousness about Kane's behavior, Kane's days here were numbered. He'd willingly oblige and get out of Dodge once he figured how to get Grace out at the same time.

"
The girl's been on heavy-duty drugs for a couple of days. You know that stuff makes people hallucinate." Kane threw out a pat answer but knew it wouldn't suffice.

"
But you went missing for a long time." Still flush from anger, Marco folded his arms across his chest.

"
I got a car to go looking for them. Nothing sinister involved."

"
Maybe you thought about letting her go so you could keep her for yourself."

Kane shook his head.
"I told you before, I want nothing to do with this woman. If you don't trust me, you should let me go, because I'm not going to be scrutinized for every step I make." He let his voice go louder with each word he spoke and hoped Marco didn't call him on his bluff. At least not until he could figure out a way to get Grace out of there without jeopardizing his investigation.

It might be time for him to investigate those underground tunnels beneath the house he
'd heard about a couple of days ago. Rumor had it they were installed prior to WWII and used as a means of escape on many occasions. He knew there was an entrance behind the bookcase in Marco's office.

Marco eyed him with a suspicious glare.
"I changed my mind and called the local police and told them Grace had gone crazy on our ride home. That she'd killed Arte and escaped before I could deliver her back to the gypsy camp." He smirked. "I figured I should cover my bases in case she gets away from us with or without help. I even put up a substantial reward for her capture. Brilliant, if I do say so myself. No doubt every person within a hundred miles is scouring the countryside trying to find her. One thing you'll learn about me, Evan, is to never cross me. I have a lot of power on my own without Trinity."

Kane figured the situation had just gone from bad to worse.

*  *  *

As her brain started to focus, the
bumps and bruises were still a constant reminder of how close she'd come to getting killed by Marco. Sabrina pushed back the aches and retrieved the paperclip from her waistband. Even though she couldn't see a thing due to the darkness, she'd learned to pick a lock blindfolded, so it shouldn't be too difficult.  Right now, sneaking upstairs and getting a look at Marco's computer was her goal. Nobody kept paper files anymore, so if she wanted to find out whom he'd sold Caitlyn to, it had to be stored electronically.

While she didn
't know much about the layout of the house, it couldn't be all that difficult to find his office. After ten minutes of working on the lock, she'd made some progress but it was taking longer than usual.

Patience, along with skill, was crucial in getting the tiny tumblers to cooperate, even if the tip of the clip was too large for her purposes. The first satisfying clink made her pulse speed up. The urgency factor tripled within her chest. Time was of the essence.  

Once she got free, securing a weapon was her number one priority. The kitchen had the display of knives that would come in handy, but a couple of guys with guns would mow her down in record time. Knives were silent killers, which made them more lethal if the opportunity presented itself. She'd choose a knife over a holstered gun any day of the week.

Given the awkward constraints, her arm felt numb, while her fingers focused on the process. As another tumbler clinked into place, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It was the middle of the night; couldn
't their never-ending policing tactics wait?

She sucked in a breath to settle her nerves and thought about ways to utilize this impromptu visit to her advantage. Maybe if the guard got close enough she could wrap the chain around his neck and secure the key. She slumped to the mattress, pretended she was asleep, and hoped the opportunity would present itself. This might very well be the break she was looking for. 

His knees creaked when he bent closer to the bed. The wash of fresh soap assaulted her nose as he got closer.

Evan. He was the only one of the guards who showered on a regular basis.

Shame. She kind of liked him. Well, as much as she could considering the circumstances. She drew in a calming breath and fisted her hands in preparation.

One. Two. Three.

She struck, hoping luck would be on her side and she'd be able to get the length of chain around his neck. Instead he brought her hands up over her head and whispered in her ear, "Don't say a word. Listening device."

With one hand tethering her two, he reached beneath the mattress and gave a yank. Then stood and crushed the receiver with the heel of his boot. While he was distracted, s
he clenched her hands and took a swing in his direction.

He stopped her hand and held tight.
"I'm here to help you, not hurt you." Without another word, he handed her a pair of camouflage pants and matching long-sleeve t-shirt. "It was the smallest size I could find."

Despite the lack of light, with his face so close, she
spotted fear in Evan's eyes, combined with a sense of urgency reflected in his furtive movements. Her scalp prickled. Something had happened or was about to happen. And it wasn't good.

Sabrina pulled at the handcuff
while he worked the lock with his key. If he'd noticed any of her tampering, he didn't mention it.

"
Who are you?" If things were going south, why would his first stop be her?