Pandora's Box (39 page)

Madison
resisted the urge to open it.
 
Her mind returned to
Tyler
again and again.
 
She wanted him with her for moral support when she opened it.
 
He’d earned the right.
 
Hadn’t he traveled the country with her searching for answers?
 
Hadn’t he tried to clear her father’s name?

Bolting upright, she opened her pack of tools and removed the pick she thought would best fit the lock.
 
Humming to herself, she entered the lock with the pick and used it to feel around.
 
Finding the catch, she pushed it to the left, releasing it.
 
An audible snap met her ears.
 

Holding her breath, she flipped the lid open.
 
There was a stack of papers in a variety of sizes.
 
On the top was the DNA test her father had taken to prove he wasn’t Roxie’s father.
 
Roxie and Rico had told the truth on that one.
 
Madison
’s fingers shook as she set the paper aside and moved onto the next.
 
So many secrets.
 
So many lies.

Madison
’s heart tripled in tempo.
 
Panic set in.
 
For a moment she couldn’t breathe.
 
Still she pressed on, needing the truth more than wanting it.

In a short time she learned her father had always suspected his wife had been murdered.
 
Apparently her mother had been against his association with the other three power hungry men and had threatened
Duncan
with a divorce several times.
 
Madison
also discovered her paternal grandparents were still among the living, and her father had been accused of treason once before she was born.
 

Too much information hit her in quick succession like well-aimed bullets.

She felt like her head might explode.

She couldn’t handle another dark secret.

Madison
slammed the box shut again.
 
She crumpled the pieces of paper in her hands before throwing them to the floor.
 
Jumping up from the couch, she made a beeline for the bathroom.
 
She went to her knees in front of the toilet and dry-heaved.
 
Her head pounded harder.
 
She gripped the toilet seat with both hands and prayed her stomach would settle.

She heard the front door open and close.
 
Footsteps traveled down the hallway in her direction.
 
Although she knew it could be
Tyler
, her gut told her it wasn’t.
 
Roxie wouldn’t let him get away at this stage of the game.
 
Madison
reached for her gun before realizing she didn’t have it on her.
 
Outside of panties and
Tyler
’s shirt, she was completely naked.
 

She squeezed her eyes shut and smacked herself in the forehead.
 
“Stupid.”
 
Another wave of pain shot from temple to temple.
 
She stifled a groan.
 
Her eyes quickly scanned the bathroom, looking for a weapon.
 
Unless she wanted to scrub the guy clean, there wasn’t anything she could use in the tiny space.

The doorknob slowly began to turn.
 
She pressed into the tight corner behind the door as it opened.
 
She held her breath, hands ready to attack.
 
But no one stepped inside.
 
Everything outside the bathroom had gone deathly quiet.
 
What were they waiting for?

Finally a familiar voice spoke.

“I know you’re in there,” said Roxie.
 
“Come out here.
 
Now!
 
And put your hands in the air.”

Madison
lifted her hands and stepped into
Tyler
’s bedroom.
 
“Where is he, you bitch?
 
What did you do with him?”

“Nice outfit.”
 
Roxie ignored the questions.
 
She smiled like a cat, wielding the remote as if she had the greatest toy in the world.
 
“It occurred to me that I didn’t show you firsthand what this little baby can do.”
 
She pressed a button while pointing it at
Madison
’s head.
 
She spoke into it.
 
“Go to the living room and sit down.”

After seeing the way
Tyler
had behaved under the thing’s command,
Madison
knew exactly what to do.
 
She stood straight, hardened expression, and she walked stiffly to the doorway.
 
Walking past Roxie without slapping her smug face was the hardest thing
Madison
had ever done.
 
She went straight to the living room and almost blew her cover.

Tyler
was sitting on the corner of the sofa, head bent down, one arm flung to the side and the other lying in his lap.
 
She took an awkward step in his direction, desperate to touch him.
 
Then she remembered.
 
They were both supposed to be under Roxie’s control.
 
So she continued to walk like a robot.

Madison
sat next to
Tyler
.
 
Her eyes focused on the opposite wall.
 
Every muscle in her body remained rigid, ready to strike.
 
Roxie knelt on the other side of the coffee table.
 
She lifted the metal lid of Duncan Grey’s secret box and smiled.
 
Her blue eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas Day.

“I knew it!” Roxie squealed.
 
“I always knew Duncan Grey had the truth hidden somewhere.
 
Grainger told me your father kept a box of secrets.
 
You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.”
 
Her gaze dropped to the pieces
Madison
had crushed earlier.
 
“Looks like someone had a tantrum.”
 
Roxie glared at
Madison
.
 
She spoke into the remote again.
 
“I’m parched.
 
Go into the kitchen and make me some ice tea.”

Make it yourself, you maniacal bitch!

Madison
sprang to her feet.
 
She went into the kitchen and fixed the tea out of Roxie’s line of sight.
 
Fortunately
Madison
had had trouble sleeping last year.
 
A small bottle of sleeping pills, half already used, were in the top drawer along with
Tyler
’s flatware.
 
With a tight smile
Madison
dropped a few into the glass.
 
She stirred and stirred until they dissolved.
 

In the meantime Roxie’s patience was running out.

“Where is that damn tea?” Roxie yelled.
 
“I swear, you’re useless even as a robot.”

Madison
carried the glass into the living room and set it in front of the Blonde Assassin.

“Here it is!”
 
Roxie folded the paper and slipped it into her pocket before downing half the glass of ice tea.
 
Madison
tried but didn’t get a good look at the paper.
 
“Well, I hate to steal and run, but we need to be going.”
 
Roxie shook her blonde head at
Madison
.
 
“This wasn’t as much fun as I’d hoped.”
 
Using the remote, she ordered, “Snap out of it!”

Madison
pretended to break out of the trance.
 
She blinked her eyes several times and looked around the room as if she was surprised to find herself there.
 
“What?
 
What happened?”

“Bored now,” Roxie said, point blank.
 
She turned to
Tyler
, aiming the remote carefully.
 
“I want you to strangle the life out of her.”

Before
Madison
could do more than gasp,
Tyler
was on top of her.
 
He pushed her down on the sofa, his strong hands around her throat, effectively cutting off her air supply.
 
She had no choice.
 
It was fight or die.
 
Madison
slammed her open palm into his face, knocking his head back.
 
His hands lost their grip.
 
She kicked him off her using both feet.
 
He stumbled backwards.
 

Determination reigned in his eyes.
 
He lunged for her again.

Madison
leaped away from him.
 
“At least clue me in before you kill me.”
 
She had to stall for time.
 
She suspected a person like Roxie would love to boast about her accomplishments.
 
“I have no idea how you managed all this—or why.”

Roxie called the attack off, and
Tyler
immediately took his seat on the edge of the sofa, no expression.
 
Blood dripped from the side of his mouth where she’d hit him, but he didn’t seem to notice.
 

“What do you want to know?” asked Roxie.

Everything.

“To begin with, how do the chips work?
 
DeMarco had me completely fooled.
 
Why was he behaving so natural while
Tyler
is like a robot?”

“There are two different ways to use Dr. Grainger’s brilliant invention.
 
The first is to load the microchip with the person’s assignment before placing it in their brain.
 
After it’s inside you can use the remote, work them like a puppet.”
 
She made a face at
Tyler
.
 
“But then they’re robotic and boring.
 
I like the first way much better.”
 
Roxie circled the room, but
Madison
noticed how the other woman stayed out of
Madison
’s reach.
 
Smart girl.
 
“DeMarco was my scapegoat.
 
He was programmed to try to kill you, make it seem like you were getting close to the truth.
 
But, he wasn’t supposed to succeed.
 
You can thank Rico for that.
 
Mobster-daddy wanted you alive for some stupid reason.”

Madison
’s entire body shook with rage.
 
“You’re going to pay.”

“Not at your hands.”
 
Roxie sat in the corner chair, looking suddenly tired.
 
She rubbed her forehead.
 
Roxie stifled a yawn with her empty hand.
 
“Anyway, I decided to make you the decoy.
 
Rico loved the idea.
 
I made you blank out and do stupid things like drink at a bar for two hours, just little things to make you wonder if you were programmed to kill the president.”

“But how did you send me to that bar?
 
I was working on the computer at CIA headquarters and the screen started to pulsate.”

“No.”
 
Roxie rolled her eyes.
 
“I was there, right behind you.
 
I was in the room when you entered it, and I used the remote to make you think the computer was pulsating.
 
I told you to go to the bar, get drunk, and hurt somebody.
 
I only wish I could have been there to watch.”

Madison
looked at
Tyler
.
 
“What’s his part in all of this?”

“He’s the assassin.
 
Were you not listening before?”
 
Roxie’s voice cracked as it hit a high note.
 
“I gave him the chip and got him to join the CIA.
 
They were supposed to investigate the president.
 
Instead he married you and wasted a lot of valuable time.
 
It would have been nice if they’d found something and smeared mud all over the president’s good name.
 
But
Tyler
, of course, is programmed to kill the bastard anyway.
 
So either way, I win.”

Keep her talking, just a little more.

“That brings me to my next question,”
Madison
said.
 
“Why kill the president?
 
I know you told me that you think he’s your father, but that still doesn’t make any sense.
 
Why would you want to kill your own father?”