Cutting Edge

37

Lund heard a door open, then footsteps across the concrete floor. She tensed unavoidably, and startled when the hood was pulled off her head. The first thing she saw was Trey DeBolt’s eyes. She looked past him and saw no one else. The room’s only door was ajar.

She opened her mouth to speak, but it was cut short when he pulled her in and held her. After so many hours of isolation and, she had to admit, fear, the warmth of his gesture brought a wave of relief.

“It’s okay,” he said quietly, keeping her close. “It’s going to be okay.” When DeBolt finally backed away, she saw that he was holding a pair of wire cutters. He reached down and cut the flex cuffs from her wrists and ankles.

“You’re all right,” she said breathlessly. “I was so worried about … what they might have done to you.”

“I’m fine. We’re going to get you out of here.”

Lund heard footsteps outside the door. For the first time she studied her surroundings. The floor was broomed concrete, the walls painted cement. The door led to a set of stairs that disappeared upward, and one of the walls was topped by three transom windows. The windows were water-spotted and opaque, almost no light filtering in. A basement, obviously, probably beneath a house. She could see no one at the door but sensed a presence outside.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“They say it’s a safe house.”

“They?”

“The guys who brought us here — I’ve been talking to them.”

“Okay, that’s good. But you said there was a group of men who’d been trying to kill you, and I thought—”

“Yeah, it’s them. But we’re good now.”

Her eyes narrowed, suspicion pleating her face. “A gang of killers abduct us off a sidewalk, hold us hostage? But we’re good now?”

“Things have changed, Shannon. It’s a long story, one that none of us completely understands. I’m convinced these guys are not a threat anymore. At least not to me or you.”

“Do you know who they are?”

“I was right to a point. They’re soldiers, a special unit.”

“Like a SEAL team?”

“Yes, something like that. But I promised not to say too much. You have to understand that this may not be over. The people who created the META Project are fast becoming an endangered species. Truth is, they may all be dead. Right now, my only concern is to get you safe. These men are going to let you go.”

“What about you?”

“I have to find out what’s been done to me, Shannon. Can you understand that?”

She nodded.

“The only way I’ll get my life back is to learn what’s happened, to understand META and how it affects me. These men can help me do that.”

“And if you figure it out … then you’ll come back to Alaska?”

“Yes.”

She looked right into him, past the blueness in his eyes and whatever hardware was in them. Lund broke away and shook her head. “No, Trey. That’s the first time you’ve lied to me. You won’t ever go back to Kodiak.”

He lowered his head, perhaps realizing it for the first time himself. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I can’t go back.”

“Trey,” she pleaded, “you can’t let this control you! Whatever they’ve done, don’t let it make you something less than you were.”

He nodded resolutely. “I promise you this — once I’ve found the truth behind META, I will find you, Shannon. Do you believe me when I say that?”

To Lund’s surprise, she rocked forward and kissed him.

DeBolt didn’t seem surprised at all. He responded readily and they ended grasping one another, their bodies locked together in the basement’s faint light.

He said, “When you called me two days ago … you said I had to trust someone. Now I’m saying it to you.”

He reached into his pocket and removed two cell phones. One was hers, the other one of the prepaid devices he’d bought, both obviously returned by their captors. He reached around with his hand and slid hers into her back pocket, then theatrically put the other in his own. “They’re going to take you away now. They’ll drop you in a public place and turn you loose. When that happens, when you’re certain you’re safe, call me. The number is already loaded.”

She nodded to say she would.

“There’s one catch, though — they insisted on it.” He held up the black hood.

Again she nodded, understanding. Lund had so far seen none of these men, and it made sense they would want to keep it that way. It also reinforced the prospect that they would hold up their end of the bargain — a no-strings-attached release.

DeBolt lifted the hood, and in the moment before sliding it over her head he paused and beamed a confident smile at her. Lund did her best to mirror it. Then her world again went black.