Hunted (32 page)

I nodded, my heart pounding wildly.

She sighed. “As you wish.” Then she left the room and the door locked with a click.

An overwhelming feeling of foreboding washed over me and I suddenly found it hard to breathe. My mind screamed,
Now what? Now what? Now what?

My worst fears were realized moments later when Holly came back with two Enforcers by her side, including Mills. They were large men, tall and muscular, and I knew I didn’t have a chance against them. They strode directly to me and while Mills held my arms behind my back, the other Enforcer put zip ties around my wrists, tightening them uncomfortably. Then they each grabbed an upper arm and led me out of the room.

A few minutes later I found myself back in the interrogation room where I’d been on the day I’d arrived. That was nearly a week before, but the moment I entered the room it felt like it had just happened. Mills and his partner sat me in a chair, leaving my hands bound, then left the room. I was alone, although I knew there must be people on the other side of the mirrored wall. I wondered who was there, then forced myself to not care. I had to stay focused on the task at hand—keeping any information I had to myself.

They left me there for a long time—it felt like hours though it was more likely less than that. Finally Holly and the man who’d called himself Fred came into the room, with Mills behind them. Holly set a small case on the table as the two of them sat across from me. Mills stood against one wall.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to talk to you again, Morgan,” Fred said.

So was I, but I kept silent. My shoulders were sore from being pulled behind my back and my wrists ached from the too-tight restraints.
 

He sighed, like this meeting was an inconvenience for him. “Well, I suppose we ought to get started.” He looked at Holly. “Are you ready?”

She opened the case and pulled out a device that looked like a smart phone. She set it on the table. “Yes.”

“Morgan,” Fred began. “We know you’ve been involved with at least one resistance group. We are very interested to know where they are.” He paused, letting that sink in.

I met his gaze, determined not to tell them anything—not that I knew that much—but I was afraid of saying anything for fear they could use it to find Jack and Dani’s group.

“We know about the man who invited you into his home when you were being chased by Enforcers. I believe his name was Tyler.”

I flashed back to the night Billy and I had been on the motorcycle, being chased by several Enforcers, then seeing Tyler waving us into his garage into what we thought was safety, but turned out to be a ploy to get the reward money.
 

“We believe it was after that,” Fred continued, “that you met up with Jack and Dani’s group.”

He was correct, but I tried to put on my poker face so I wouldn’t even acknowledge what they obviously already knew.

He stared at me. “Is that correct?”

I just stared back, keeping my mouth closed tightly.

He sighed, then looked at Holly and nodded once. She picked up the small device in front of her and tapped the screen. Excruciating pain shot down my back and into my head and I knew the object they’d inserted into the base of my skull was the cause of it.
 

I screamed in pain and writhed in my chair, slipping out of it and falling to the floor. A moment later the pain vanished and I struggled to catch my breath. My glasses had fallen off of my face but I couldn’t pick them up with my hands bound. Strong hands pulled me up from the floor and set me back in the chair. I looked up and saw Mills standing over me, expressionless. He reached down and picked up my glasses and placed them back on my face, then he stood against the wall.

My eyes were wet with tears and I looked at Holly and Fred, wondering how they could live with themselves. They were monsters and didn’t even realize it.

“Now, let’s try again,” Fred calmly said. “Did you meet up with Jack and Dani’s group after you got away from Tyler?”

I’d finally gotten my breathing under control, but I was so furious at these people for what they were doing that I couldn’t bring myself to speak. But when I saw Holly pick up her device and bring her finger close to the screen I shouted, “Yes.”

Both of them smiled and I felt ashamed.

“How did you know to call them?” Fred asked.

I thought about Mrs. Duncan, the woman who had so generously given Billy and me her son’s motorcycle. She’d just met us and had trusted us completely. She’d been the one to give us the phone numbers for Jack and Dani. My eyes were wide as they ricocheted between Holly’s finger poised above her small device, and Fred. He looked at me expectantly. As I hesitated, Holly’s finger dropped ever closer to the screen. When she nearly touched it I called out, “Wait!” Her finger stopped, but was way too close to the screen for comfort.

“Yes?” Fred asked.

“A woman we met.” Shame dripped over me like acid and I hated myself for being so weak. “She gave us the number to call.”

“Who is this woman? Where did you meet her?” Fred asked.

I couldn’t,
couldn’t
give them Mrs. Duncan’s name. She was just a sweet old lady. Perhaps I could tell them enough to get them to move on without having to give her up. “It was just this old lady Billy and I came across when we were on the run.”

“And she just,” he waved his hands in the air. “Randomly handed you a phone number?”

“She recognized us and knew we had escaped Camp Willowmoss, and she just wanted to help.”

Fred glanced at Holly, then looked back at me. “So this woman not only is part of the resistance groups, but she harbored fugitives?”

Oh crap
. I hadn’t thought of it like that.

“What is her name?” Fred asked.

“I don’t know. She didn’t tell us.”

Fred’s eyes cut to Holly, who tapped the screen.

I screamed in agony and slid to the floor. “I don’t know! I don’t know! I don’t know!” The pain abruptly ended. When Mills put his hands on my arms to help me up, I recoiled at his touch.
How can he stand to watch this?
He ignored my reaction and effortlessly lifted me from the floor and set me back in the chair. I ignored him and focused on breathing.

Fred stared at me a moment. “What happened when you called the number?”

They believed me
. They believed that I didn’t know Mrs. Duncan’s name. A small victory, but it buoyed me up. I thought about the answer to his next question. Brynn had picked us up and driven us to Jack’s house. This was the dangerous part of the questioning—the part that could lead them right to Jack and Dani. “I didn’t actually call. Billy did.”

Fred sighed. “And what happened after
Billy
called the number?”

“We were told to go outside and walk down the street.”

“Where did you call from?”

I glanced at Holly and her finger, then looked at Fred. “A high school.”

“What high school?”
 

“I don’t know the name of it. It was just the first one we saw.”

He seemed to accept that. “Did you use the phone in the office?”

I felt really uncomfortable with how specific his questions were getting. Eventually he’d ask one that I would be extremely reluctant to answer. “No, Billy used some random girl’s cell phone.”

“What happened after you left the high school and started walking down the street?”

I hesitated, but saw Holly’s finger descending toward the device, and quickly spoke up. “A few minutes later a girl picked us up in her car.”

A small smile lifted Fred’s lips, but then he wiped it away. “Where did this girl take you?”

My heart pounded as I tried to think of a good answer, but only the truth came to mind.

“Morgan?” Fred said, warning clear in his voice.

I closed my eyes. “She took us to Jack’s house.” When I opened my eyes, Fred was smiling and this time he didn’t try to hide it. Holly was smiling too.

“Very good,” Fred said.

I felt the opposite of very good. I felt horrible for giving them as much information as I had.

“Now,” he said, obviously pleased with the way things were going. “Where, exactly, does Jack live?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I fell asleep while she drove and when I woke up we were in the garage.”

His smile faded. “Surely you spent time outdoors while you were there?”

I was so happy that I couldn’t tell them where Jack lived. “No, they didn’t let us go outside.”

“What is the name of the girl who brought you there?”

Oh no
. Maybe they’d believe me if I claimed ignorance. “I don’t know. Just some girl who picked us up and dropped us off.”

“Are you sure about that, Morgan?”

“Yes.”

He sneered. “I don’t believe you.”

Searing pain blew threw my head and down my spine and I thought I was going to explode from the inside. I screamed in agony, and arched my back, but as I began sliding to the floor, strong hands held me in place on the chair. I squeezed my eyes closed, and used every ounce of my will to endure the pain. Finally it stopped and I gasped for breath.

“Let’s try this again,” Fred said. “Who was the girl who picked you up?”

I couldn’t take it any longer. “Her name is Brynn. She’s a student at the high school.” Their torture had broken me. I couldn’t fight them any longer.

“What’s her last name?”

“I don’t know.” I watched Holly’s finger move closer to the device and I began to sob and scream. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I would tell you if I knew.”

Holly’s finger moved away from the device.

“What is Jack’s last name?”

Tears streamed down my face and snot dripped from my nose. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything else. I swear!”

Fred abruptly stood and motioned for Holly to follow him. She slipped the device back in its case, and followed him out of the room, taking the device with her.

Now that I knew what the object in my head could do, I felt extremely vulnerable. Someone could press that button at any moment, sending me into throes of agony, maybe even killing me. I stared at the table and tried not to think about what information I’d just given them. I just wanted to blank it all out.

I sat there, waiting to see what fresh hell was in store for me. A short time later Holly came back in the room. Just the sight of her sent tremors of fear coursing through me. The woman was evil, pure and simple.

“You did okay, Morgan.” She sat across from me.

I noticed she didn’t have the device with her and relief cascaded over me. They must be done with their questions.

“We still need your help though.”

A wave of dread rippled over me.
 

“Tomorrow you’re going on a little field trip. You’re going to help us find Brynn.” She smiled. “I know you’ll be eager to cooperate. We’ll leave first thing in the morning, so make sure you’re ready.”

I was too frightened to speak.

She looked at the Enforcer who stood against the wall. “Mills, undo her hands.”

He did as asked and I rubbed my wrists and rolled my shoulders, then wiped the tears from my eyes.

“Time to go back to your room, Morgan,” Holly said as she stood.

As we went back to my room, I didn’t speak. I felt so defeated by Holly and the people in this world. All hope had been crushed. We reached my room/jail cell and Holly led me inside.

“Be ready in the morning, Morgan.” Then she left, locking me in.

I went to the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. My face was pale and my eyes were dull with despair. I remembered the camera was running and I spoke into the mirror. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t stronger.” Tears of shame filled my eyes and I reached up and turned off the camera. I set the glasses on the counter and washed my face, then lay on my bed and closed my eyes.

I had the world’s worst headache, obviously due to the object at the base of my skull. I reached back and felt the bean-shaped object, wanting to dig it out with my bare hands, but knowing I wouldn’t be able to without the proper tools. Even if I did somehow get it out, they’d just put another in.

Instead, I imagined how the next day would go. We’d go into the high school and walk among the kids. Holly would most certainly be next to me with her finger over the torture device, ready to press it if I so much as looked in the wrong direction.

Chapter Thirty-Three

The next morning I woke early. I hadn’t slept well—tossing and turning all night in anticipation of what the day would bring. In the middle of the night, when it was darkest, I couldn’t stop the thought that this was it. I was stuck in this world forever. There would be no way for me to reach the tunnel in time. Today was Friday and the deadline was on Sunday. The only time I’d been out of my room was when Holly had accompanied me, and now that I knew about the torture device, she had complete control over me.

As promised, Holly appeared at my door first thing that morning. I’d had time to shower and eat one of the power bars that had been left for me—but only one. I was so stressed that I’d hardly been able to eat that, but I managed to keep it down. I wore my glasses as I’d done every day, never knowing when I might need to record something, although it all seemed pointless now.

“Good morning, Morgan.” Holly seemed extra cheerful.

I, on the other hand, felt lifeless and dull. Hope is what had kept me going and now it was gone. Crushed, snuffed out. I would do what I could to protect Brynn, but now I knew my breaking point. So did Holly.

“Let’s get going,” she said. “We have a lot to do today.”

I followed her out of the room and she took me to the first floor. Mills was waiting for us. I glanced at him and felt physically sick. He was as much of a monster as Fred and Holly. He’d stood by and done nothing to help me when I was being tortured. Not only that, he’d held me in the chair
during
the torture. He didn’t even acknowledge me as he held a door open for us.

An empty car sat just outside the door. Mills held the back door open and Holly motioned for me to get in. I did and Holly got in next to me. Mills climbed behind the wheel and we set off.