Mind Slide (37 page)

Lisa knelt next to Mason and looped her handcuffed wrists over the agent's head. The chain found his neck, and Lisa pulled for all she was worth. Mason kept his weight on the agent's back while Lisa choked him into unconsciousness.

They were both breathing hard as they climbed to their feet. Another man entered the room, shining a light on both of them. They covered their eyes with their hands.

“Get down on the ground!” he shouted.

“We're not with them,” Mason said. “Is Brian Lowdry outside?”

They heard a voice outside in the hallway.

“Mason? Lisa?”

Brian forced his way into the office. He had his gun in his right hand. His left arm was in a sling. His entire left side was wrapped and taped up. He looked pale and sickly. He wore dress pants, but also a hospital gown.

“Brian!”

Lisa ran forward and threw her arms over Brian's head, handcuffs and all. He winced in pain and nearly fell against the wall. The policeman helped hold him up.

“It's okay, baby, I'm here.” He looked at the officer next to him. “This floor is secure. Check the third.”

The officer handed him a flashlight and left the office. More cops ran down the hall.

Brian held his wife, then noticed the unconscious man on the floor.

“Shit, what did you guys do to him?”

Mason waited for Lisa to answer. She was crying so hard she couldn't speak. He took a step forward and put a hand on Brian's good shoulder.

“We hit him with an ax. It's on the floor over there. That guy in the corner, we choked him out.”

“Damn. Maybe you didn't need me after all.”

“No, we definitely needed you. How did you get here?”

“I left the hospital. There was no way they were keeping me there after I woke up. I called your phone, but I think it was off. So, I called Kelly. She filled me in. Speaking of Kelly, we'd better go see her, and let my boys here finish their job.”

“Kell? She's here?”

Brian led them out of the building. There were police everywhere, with their knees in agents' backs, putting them in handcuffs. The police were arresting government agents. Mason imagined that would be a fun police report.

There was chaos all around them. More police cars were pulling up. Paramedics were jumping out of ambulances. All of that faded away when Mason saw Kelly in the back of a police car. She looked up, and their eyes met.

She jumped out of the car and ran to Mason. She nearly knocked him over when she jumped in his arms. He held her around the waist. She kissed him as he lowered her to the ground.

“I had the cops wait around the corner,” she said. “Just in case you needed us. Next time, put your phone on vibrate.”

He smiled. “Yeah. Next time.”

Mason, Kelly, and Lisa leaned against a squad car as the smoke slowly settled around them. Brian was still in charge. He gave orders and made sure things went smoothly. He was weak, and looked like he'd pass out at any second. A few other officers tried to take him away several times, but Brian refused. Men were arrested and loaded into the back of police vans. Paramedics checked for random injuries.

Mason saw no sign of Suit or Gabriel.

Brian hugged Lisa tight while looking at Mason and Kelly.

“You sure you didn't see either one?” Brian asked.

“No. We may never see Suit again, for all I know. But I owe Gabriel the flash drive. I'm sure I'll see him again.”

“Mason, that flash drive could be evidence against Suit in a court, if it ever gets that far. You sure you want to just give it away?”

“Yeah. I made a deal.”

Brian leaned forward so no other police could hear. “We'll play this however you want to play it. But sleep on it. I'm not sure giving something that big to a convicted killer is a good idea.”

Mason nodded. “Speaking of sleep, I think that sounds like a good idea.”

“Yeah. I'm gonna pick up Dani, then go have a nice good night's sleep at the hospital with my family. You need a lift to your Jeep?”

“Nah. You get going.”

Lisa hugged Mason tightly. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” he said, smiling. “I'll see you both tomorrow.”

Mason grabbed Kelly's hand as they left the parking lot. They walked in silence before Kelly squeezed his hand and put her head on his shoulder.

“See? I knew you couldn't do it without me.”

He looked back over the craziest day of his life. Kelly was next to him every step of the way, keeping him safe and sane.

He leaned over and kissed her cheek as they left the industrial park. They were in a neighborhood. Only the streetlights kept them company. Every house was dark.

She stopped and faced him.

“If you're gonna kiss me, do it right.”

She gave him a long, lingering kiss, in the middle of the sidewalk.

“If I wasn't so tired,” she said. “I'd pick up where we left off earlier.”

He laughed. “Yeah. I'll probably sleep for a day or two.”

“Want some company?”

He wrapped his arm around her. Her purse swung from her free shoulder.

“Definitely.”

“Where the hell did you park?”

“Just a little further. I parked next to the woods and hiked through to get to Lisa. It wasn't like I could walk up to the front door.”

“I should have had you come pick me up.”

“I can carry you, if you want.”

They could see his Jeep ahead, parked in between two cars along the street. The woods where Mason started his rescue were a few feet away.

Mason was opening the passenger's door for Kelly when he heard a voice.

“Mason.”

He looked to the woods. Kelly clutched his arm. He didn't expect to hear from Gabriel so soon. He thought he'd run into him at his apartment.

“It's okay,” he told Kelly, then looked to the woods. “We're here.”

Gabriel emerged from the darkness. He smiled at Kelly and gave her a salute.

“Everything work out?” he asked.

Mason nodded. “We can't find Suit. But my family is safe. How the hell did you get out of there?”

Gabriel ignored the question. “Where's the flash drive?”

Mason walked to the rear of the Jeep. He pulled down the license plate that covered the gas cap. The flash drive was still there, sitting under the cap. He pulled it from its hiding place.

Gabriel laughed. “Clever.”

Mason tossed it to Gabriel. He caught it and rolled it through his fingers.

“So, we're done then,” Mason said.

Gabriel sighed. “I wish we were.”

He pulled a gun out from behind him. He shot Mason in the shoulder. Mason slumped against the Jeep in pain. He looked at the syringe hanging out of his arm, very similar to the one he was shot earlier in the day with.

Kelly almost let out a scream before Gabriel turned his weapon on her. His aim was off, as he shot her in the bicep. She reached for Mason as he fell to the ground. She was only a few seconds behind him. The last thing she saw before falling unconscious was Gabriel standing over her.

*****

The first thing Mason heard was a familiar voice. Everything was blurry as he opened his eyes.

“Mason's ability to mind slide is superseded only by his attitude. We've put the kid through Hell with these ridiculous tests, and he can still manage to smile.”

Mason was bound to a chair. His arms and legs were both duct-taped in place. He looked to his right to see Suit, blood running down his face, bound to a chair in a similar way. His head was slumped forward, his eyes closed. To his left was Kelly, in the exact same position. Only Mason was conscious.

The voice continued.

“I, uh, have reservations about the underwater test. But Mason passed with flying colors. We suspended him upside down in a glass case, and slowly filled it with water. Mason had a breathing apparatus, and was able to hold a solid projection for nearly six minutes before panic set in.”

Mason looked around him. Terror gripped him as he was realized where they were.

They were in the lab.
His
lab.

The place looked like it hadn't been used in years. The desks and chairs were still there, but the computers and whiteboards were all gone. The corner office where Doc recorded their sessions was empty. The double doors that led deeper into Yingling Behavioral Health were closed. A desk with a layer of dust was only a few feet away. Kelly's purse sat on top of it.

Gabriel sat at a desk near the wall with his back to them. He stared at a laptop with his feet propped up on another chair. Mason saw the flash drive sticking out of the USB port.

Gabriel was watching the lab sessions.

He turned to see Mason staring at him.

“Ah, you're awake,” he said. He gestured to the laptop. “Doctor Albert really took a liking to you. Maybe that's why he left you so much money.”

“What the hell is going on? We had a deal.”

“Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, Mason. Really, I am. But I lied.”

“Someone help!” Mason shouted.

Gabriel laughed. “This place has been empty for years. I would have thought you'd known that. Yelling won't do any good. I was gonna take you all to
my
lab, but this feels more fitting. It's like the birthplace for both of us.”

Kelly started to stir next to Mason. She moaned in pain.

“Kell, are you alright?”

“Are you two linked or something? One wakes up, the other wakes up? She's fine. I just shot you both with some of that knockout juice I found in his office there.” He pointed at Suit.

“Mason?” Kelly said weakly. She heard the voice, and looked at the video playing of her father, one of many she saw earlier in the day.

“So, everything was a lie,” Mason said.

“No. I was telling the truth. There was just a few things I kept to myself.”

“Such as?”

Gabriel grabbed a bottle of water. He walked to Suit and threw it in his face. Suit woke up and let out a frightened shout.

Mason no longer knew which was the Devil or the demon between Gabriel and Suit.

“I didn't kill Doctor Albert,” Gabriel said, then looked at Kelly. “Did you hear me? I really didn't kill your father.”

Suit struggled against his restraints. “That doesn't make you any less of a monster.”

Gabriel leaned his head back and laughed heartily. “Did you hear that? The man responsible for those videos back there is calling
me
a monster.”

Suit pulled against the duct-tape and cursed in anger when his arms didn't budge.

“Now, listen to me.
All
of you,” he said. “Mason, I know you're smart enough to get this. I didn't pluck you out of foster care because I enjoy torturing children. I did it because you are the most unique person on the planet, and we needed to know if we could duplicate what that freak accident did. I didn't do it because I want to take over the world or make a lot of money. Kelly, you're the first life Mason ever saved. And he's saved so many people since then, reunited so many families. Imagine a world where people simply don't go missing anymore.”

Gabriel laughed. Mason noticed he held a gun, and it didn't look like the dart-shooting kind.

“You say all these nice things, but all I can imagine is a world where privacy doesn't exist. I don't trust
any
government with something as powerful as mind sliding.”

Suit locked eyes with Gabriel. “I should have never pulled you out of that prison cell.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Probably not. But you did, and here we are.”

“So what are we doing here, Gabriel?” Mason asked.

Gabriel sat in a chair across from the three of them. “I have to kill the project, Mason. I think I told you that. I have to destroy the flash drive, but that's not all. We all have to go, too. With us dead, and the flash drive gone, the world will be safe.”

“Are you insane?” Suit shouted.

“And how will you do that? Put a bullet in our heads?”

Gabriel smiled. “You're gonna love this.”

He walked to the desk with the laptop, still playing videos. He paused the laptop and grab a suitcase from under the desk. He set it on the floor in front of them and cracked the lid.

It was full of vials of Cocktail. It wasn't the typical red-orange color Mason was used to seeing. It had an greenish tint to it.

There was an egg timer on the side of the case, along with a car battery. Wires ran from the timer and battery to various vials of Cocktail.

“Did you know, that with some tweaks, that crap they used to feed us is explosive?”

“You're gonna blow us all up?” Kelly asked.

“It's funny, I think. The shit that used to make mind sliding work, is gonna end the project. What do you think? Is five minutes enough time?”

Gabriel spun the dial. Kelly gasped as the ticking noise filled the air.