Jekyll, an Urban Fantasy (12 page)

“Yeah, she did.” But Eden didn’t believe it. How much more dangerous could he be after only two weeks? He’d always been dangerous, and if he
did
try anything, it would only be because he felt like he had no other option.

She wondered if he knew that she’d been missing. If he even cared. Or how hard he tried to
convince
himself that he didn’t care. He’d be angry, that was a given. But would his anger be because The Clinic had taken her, or just because of what they’d done to him?

She took a deep breath before climbing into the backseat. “Are we going or not?”

Fields held something out towards her.

She looked at him quizzically. “What’s that?”

“You can’t know where the facility is located, Eden. Believe me, it’s for your own security.”

“Why am I having a hard time believing that?” She tore the black fabric out of his hand and held it up—a blindfold. “Jeez, you people. I’m not even getting out of the car.”

“We’ll see,” he said.

What did that mean? Did he know? Did he know that she planned on getting out of this car as soon as it slowed down? As soon as she saw Mitch? Damn it. Was she
that
bad a liar? The
one
time she actually wants Chastity’s influence, and it’s not there.
Great
.

He waited until she put the blindfold over her eyes. “Take it off, and we turn around immediately.” He adjusted it on her face, until the last ray of light was gone. “Touch it before I say you can, and we turn around immediately. Do you understand?”

“You’re so overly-dramatic, Fields. Of
course
I understand. Wanna cuff me too?”

“Is that necessary?” He slammed her door.

“No, I just thought it might turn you on,” she said dryly. She heard the men get into the car and shut their doors. “If I’m a good girl, can we stop for ice cream?”

“Quit it with the jokes unless you want me to duct tape your mouth shut.”

“Yikes, Fields. Lighten up.”

Only a few moments of silent darkness proved too much for her. She wanted him to speak, say anything. Any kind of sound to connect her to reality. Or as much of reality as there was. And truth be told, she was afraid of being alone. Because then she’d have to think about what was wrong with her. “Can you turn on the radio or something?”

There was a pause before Fields mumbled agreement and loud heavy metal pounded through the car.

Eden threw her hands over her ears at the violation. “Is this the kind of crap you people listen to normally? No wonder you’re so pissed off.”

The volume lowered, and the metal changed into little snippets of latin, rock, and chatter as the channels were changed. When what could only be referred to as ‘happy music’—bouncy and frivolous—came on, Eden told him to stop. She imagined how much the men would enjoy the trip
now
, listening to the latest pop princess complain about how her ex-boyfriend needed to
stay
an ex. She smiled, knowing she had nothing else to smile about.

As they left The Clinic, she tried counting the turns they made, remembering when they’d turned right or left, how many times they stopped, but couldn’t keep track. After about twenty minutes or so, she had no idea where they might be.

Spy skills still suck.

When Fields mumbled something like, “Turner’s still there?” and then something about the cameras being down, she regretted asking them to turn on the radio—she couldn’t quite understand what he was saying. What cameras? Where the hell were they taking her?

A few minutes later, after it seemed like they were driving in circles, they stopped, and she felt the car shift into park.

When the music stopped, she heard Fields adjust in his seat and say, “You can take the blindfold off now.”

Her eyes stung at the sudden change in light, even though they didn’t seem to be outside. Through slitted eyes, she looked out the window and saw a concrete wall. “Nice view. Where are we?”

“Parking garage,” Fields said.

She turned, glancing through each window, seeing a few other cars, but mostly empty parking spaces and a pillar with a huge number ‘1’ on it. First floor. “What parking garage? I thought you were going to let me see Mitch.”

“We are. He went into his office earlier. This garage is next to his office’s.”

“Do you watch him all the time?” Because they’d lost the informant Jolie used to act as,
this
was their alternative?

Fields shook his head. “He’d figure it out. We keep our distance but, obviously, we need to know if he becomes dangerous…to anyone other than himself.”

“Of course,” she mumbled. “So what happens now?”

“We wait here until we have word he’s coming out. Then we drive by and you get to see him.”

“No. That’s not good enough. Alex said I could see him, not just drive by when he’s getting into his car. That’s not enough. I’m supposed to be free to go. I need to make sure he’s okay.”

“Take it or leave it.”

“I get it,” she said through gritted teeth. “So there’s
free
to go outside just long enough to get into the car, and then there’s
free
to actually live my own life. And Alex only meant the former. Is that it?”

“Something like that.” He turned to the other guard and said, “Go and look around, make sure Landon doesn’t show up.”

“But Fullerton said—” he started.

“I don’t care what Fullerton said. Go check again. Look for anyone on the street who seems out of place. Landon was a cop, and he probably still has friends on the force. I want to know there’s no possibility of an ambush.”

The guard was still for a moment before begrudgingly opening his door and getting out of the car. With one more glance backwards, he took out his weapon and started walking down the slopping garage ramp, staying close to the wall.

“This is bullshit.” And she would’ve been far
more
pissed-off if she had any intention of going along with it.

Fields shifted so that he faced her, holding out a phone. “Here.”

She took it, confused. “Who am I supposed to call?”

“Me. When you’re ready to come back, you call me. I’ll come and get you. There’s a bridge on the top floor of this garage. It leads to the one Turner parks in. Go through it and find him. But don’t come out through the 2
^nd
Avenue exit. Take 3
^rd
because we won’t be watching it. Do you understand?”

Well, hallelujah and happy day. She didn’t even have to try her potentially-deadly escape plan. “You’re letting me go?”

“I’m trusting you. I’m
praying
you’ll do the right thing and call me once you’ve convinced that bastard to come in with you. Peacefully.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“You have to, Eden. I’ve seen what they turn into. And it’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Bringing him in is the
only
way to save him. To save
all
of you.”

As she saw the moisture pool in his eyes, she knew he was thinking of his daughter. “I can’t promise anything, Fields. But I’ll try.”

“Yeah,” he said gruffly, blinking and putting on his tough-guy mask again, as if he were angry at himself for allowing her to see his humanity. “Try hard. And if he gets out-of-hand, use this.” He handed her a large syringe filled with a cloudy, whitish liquid.

“What is it?”

“It’s the same serum he was getting from Jolie, but in a much higher dose. Its affect is almost immediate, and it, hopefully, will stop him from transforming. But it’s not guaranteed.”

“What is?” She shoved the syringe into the pocket of her jacket.

“If he won’t agree to coming, you still call me and I’ll pick you up. Understand?” He waited until she nodded. “My number’s preprogrammed in the phone.”

She looked down it, recognizing the case. “This is Jolie’s phone, isn’t it?”

“Yep.”

It struck her as very odd. Cell phones were like goldfish nowadays—totally disposable. You buy one, it dies, and you buy another. “Same unlocking code?”

A small grimace drifted over his face. “No, they had to hack into it to wipe the contents, but it was the only one I could get on short notice. It’s not locked.”

“Well, I guess Jolie won’t mind. And I bet Alex was
thrilled
you didn’t have to sign a new two-year plan.” She tucked it into the other pocket of her jacket. “Does she know you’re letting me go?”

“Yes. But no one else does.” He glanced out the window toward where the guard had gone. “Because if they did, they might tell our boss. And he’s
not
the kind of man you want to piss off.”

“I think I’d enjoy pissing him off.”

“Well, I don’t,” he said, turning to face front. Then he took a deep breath and slammed his head into the dashboard.

“What the hell!” she shouted, flinching backwards. “Why’d you do that?”

He straightened, shaking his head slightly, trying to balance. “You attacked me.”

“Oh. Well, in that case, you should’ve let
me
do it.”

He turned to the side, and she saw blood running down his forehead into his eyebrow. “Be my guest. It needs to look good. Because my men know I’m not an easy target.”

Her hand came up in a fist before she’d even thought of it, her arm pulled back, ready to strike. As if the invitation was too enticing to resist. She willed it to relax, concentrating on her bicep first, then her fingers, forcing each muscle to release.

“No, thanks. I think it looks good enough.”

He nodded without looking at her. “Then go. Go talk to him. I’ll pick up Connor and tell him you headed outside after you attacked me.”

Her hand shook as she opened the door. “Thanks, Fields. Thanks a lot.”

“I wish I could tell you that I’m doing this just because it’s the right thing to do. But I’d be lying, and you and I don’t lie to each other. You go help your man, and then you come back. Do you hear me? You’re the only one who can give Alicia a chance at a normal life.”

“I understand.” She flinched as she saw him pound his head into the dashboard again, like he was punishing himself for something that had
nothing
to do with her.

Without looking back, she started to run. In the opposite direction the other guard had gone. She ran as fast and as far as she could. Vaulting over concrete dividers and sprinting up the ramp. When she reached the last floor of the garage, she stopped, barely out of breath.

Damn it, there was nowhere left to go. She put her back to a wall and waited. What if Fields was lying? What if this was just a trick, and he’d hunt her down, claiming her death was necessary? But The Clinic only killed monsters, not people. Supposedly. And the emotion she’d seen on his face when he told her about his daughter…that wasn’t fake.

Someone was shouting, the sound echoing through the garage. She couldn’t tell who it was. Until she heard a second yell. The two voices started arguing with each other. About her. How she’d escaped. Then she heard the thunder of footsteps, not completely sure which way they were headed.

She pushed away from the wall and, peeking around a corner, saw a narrow passageway, a covered bridge, just like Fields had said. With one last glance, she bolted across the open space and ran into darkness.

There were no overhead lights on, the only illumination coming through glass walls from the street below, but it didn’t seem to matter. Eden saw what she needed to. Her steps slowed as she tried to develop a plan. But all she could think of was one thing: Get to Mitch. So much adrenaline was pumping through her veins, it was a miracle she could even formulate
that
complicated of an idea. Along with it came a feeling of strength, of power, of fearlessness. As if the hormone was letting something—or some
one
—else inside. Chastity’s recklessness better not get her into more trouble. Eden could barely deal with the amount she was in right now.

Get to Mitch. Get to Mitch
. But how? Just in case the guards were looking up, she stayed low and crept into the adjoining garage. Was it Mitch’s? Who the hell knew? It looked exactly the same.

His office was on the fourth floor, so she headed down the ramp, keeping her steps slow and light, not wanting to disrupt the silence and alert anyone she was there.

She had to figure out what to tell him, find a way to make him believe the unbelievable. Explain to him that he needed The Clinic’s drugs. To say it would be a tough-sell would be a
huge
understatement. She needed to tell him she’d changed, that she was different now.

A thought slipped into her consciousness, stopping her in her tracks. Why was he
here
? Why wasn’t he out looking for her? Maybe he’d gone back to work—just another day at the office. Like she’d never been anything to him. By the time he closed that door on her, maybe he’d already forgotten everything that had happened between them.

She looked back at the way she’d come, knowing she couldn’t trust them. But was the road ahead any different? Mitch had constantly told her that she should never count on him. But, then again, he was a liar. And had done everything he could to push her away.

No
. She couldn’t go back there without seeing him, touching him. She just couldn’t.

The light grew dimmer on the fourth floor, countless overhead fluorescents having fizzled out at some point. She had to squint to see
anything
. Something shimmered up ahead. A car. A silver sportscar like his. She stopped breathing on an inhalation when she heard steady footsteps coming closer, from the lit hallway on the other side of the garage.

When she saw him, she sighed, the nervousness disappearing from her clenched muscles. Replaced by an overwhelming desire to be with him. Any way she could.

He walked with his head lowered, his shoulders slumped. His t-shirt pulled across his chest, moving with him as he slowly made his way to his car, never looking up. The darkness overtaking him with each step he took towards her.

She wanted to see his face, wanted to know what expression he wore, selfishly hoping the sluggishness of his steps were because of losing her. She called out to him, unable to stop herself. “Mitch.”