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"I’d rather stealy clear thought "He’s Revived, right? He’s chipped They’re tracking hiiven ave it to Reynolds before I stuck hi inhibitors He’s off their radar, for noay"
"You’re sure you got rid of anything that ed?"
"Stripped hiave him the hikers’ clothes to put on," he confirmed "This isn’t new to me, Bryn Relax We’re okay"
She didn’t think so
She didn’t think she’d ever feel okay again, honestly But thetires, and the beauty of the mountain scenery lulled her into as probably a false sense of peace Soet to Manny, if Manny and Pansy still held their bunker secure So about how hard she was going to torture theot her hands on the of Reynolds’ disappearance, ht fell, and he kept driving, taking roads that seehly lost her sense of direction; navigating by the stars was a skill she’d developed back in Iraq, but you could actually see stars in the desert Here, smothered by the trees, she could see only thin strips of inky sky, with hard chips of stars shih to place herself
"We’re here," he said, and slowed the sedan to a crawl as hein the trees, and a fence that wouldn’t have been out of place in a prison--fifteen foot walls topped by razor wire, turreted guard posts, and blazing security lights that popped on when they caht the car to a stop and put it in gear
"Get out and keep your hands up," he said "Do what they say"
"Where the hell did you bring me?"
"Just don’t talk if you can help it"
She had to settle for that, because an a her to do exactly what he’d just instructed--out of the car, hands up Patrick coood about it The road was sharp gravel, and it dug into her knees as she followed instructions to kneel, hands on head
Moving figures eh she could have reacted--violently--she didn’t, because Patrick didn’t The shapes resolved into armed, burly men, none of them too clean, who pushed the two of them facedown and handcuffed their wrists behind their backs Bryn’s tender new skin protested at the harsh handling, but she didn’t complain Ten seconds later, she was on her feet and shoved shoulder to shoulder with Patrick
"We safe?" she asked softly He nodded, but his slitted eyes were searching the glare for so
She saw hi toward theens turned off, leaving only general illumination, which see of her eyeballs When she blinked away the afteri at Patrick He had a narrow face, narrow dark eyes, lank shoulder-length brown hair, and he looked hardened and sunbaked, like the rest of them
"Son of a bitch," he said "Look who’s co bowie knife and held it point-up under Patrick’s chin The point dented the flesh, and blood welled and ran down the steel
"Walt," Patrick said "Been a while You ives you that idea?" The knife stayed where it was Walt’s mouth stretched in a smile, but it wasn’t much of a reassurance "Who’s the bitch?"
"Mine," Patrick said "Hands off"
"We’ll see"
"You going to slit my throat or kissthat first thing, but if you want kissing I’ll see if I can find a couple of volunteers You left sos behind in here Why coot heat onit to the ain, a dark, angry sort of thing that made a shiver run up Bryn’s back "Get the Don’t want no federal ears in here"
"Fair warning," Patrick said "I have a man tied up in the trunk He could be dead Or not"
That broughtutter silence And then Walt laughed, and took the knife away frohn You are utterly fucked up" He turned and waved at his men One slid behind the wheel of the sedan, and the others crowded around Patrick and Bryn and hustled theates It was an efficient operation, , and then they were inside the compound--she couldn’t think of it any other hich was a tidily n Barracks surrounded by neatly raked gravel Their sedan was driven to an area that served as a motor pool, mostly populated by old, solid Hupole--empty at the moment--stood tall sentry in the center Toward the center of the place there was soround equips, teeter-totters, and slides, all in cae colors