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When the white-hot rage faded, Sam saw only Kelly’s serene, vulnerable face She knelt beside the bed and took her friend’s hand again, a light grip this time Kelly’s eyes fluttered beneath the eyelids in reaction "I won’t help you if she’s rotting in a cell alone"
"I understand," Grillo said "But I can’t have the two of you together, at least until I knohere your allegiance is Sorry, but I knohat you’re capable of"
"Think of so"
Grillo mulled it over for a moment Then he turned to the two nurses "Take her to uest room with a barredWhen she wakes, tell her that if she tries to leave Samantha will be shot" They nodded and wheeled the woman away
For a time Samantha just stared at the empty space where her friend lay Grillo kept back, respectful of her turrief and anger had faded "I convince the scavenger crews to work for you, and you’ll let Kelly live in your reeood, and I sense you want more for Kelly than just ‘house arrest’ status"
Samantha turned to face him She towered over the man but somehow felt his equal The way he’d avoided her fist, the unnerving calm in the way he carried himself This man demanded respect in a way Russell Blackfield could only dreaue"
His head tilted to one side as he spoke "You’ll ask the scavengers to work for you, not , you supply their missions based on my needs, and you take responsibility for the success or failure"
"What’s the big push? Russell asking for old chains now that he’s the big boss?"
Grillo shook his head "Soil," he said "Fertilizer Shovels, hoes, and spades Weed killer Seeds"
"I thought the ‘traitors’ took all the farms?"
A thin smile flashed on Grillo’s face "I work for Darwin, first and foree the face of this city"
Sam blinked "I’ll be daive a shit"
"Not the words I’d use, but yes And thank you"
Samantha crossed her arms "So what about Kelly?"
"Work for er be a prisoner Kelly will remain under my care, house arrest, until I’m convinced you’re a believer, a partner in the ht flee, I’ll release Miss Adelaide to you"
"And Blackfield is on board with all this?"
That flash of a grin again "I have broad authority here"
This tirinned "He doesn’t know, does he?"
Grillo aze, and allowed his smile to stay this tis, Miss Rinn, and that’s the last we’ll talk about it"
Chapter 12
Belém, Brazil
1MAY2283
RADIANT AMOEBA-LIKE SHAPES swae, and any attempt he made to focus on one served only to obscure it further
A long ti at the inside of his eyelids
A feeble atteave up and focused on the sounds around hiainst wood and stone A distant wind chime tapped out random harmonic chords
His lips were dry and cracked Throat and h saliva to s
The sun sat directly overhead, it seemed from the heat on his face He hoisted one arht and felt the world sway His head pounded, a steady drumbeat from the back of his skull
After what felt like an hour, Skyler opened his eyes against the blackness of his ar one careful millimeter at a time, he lifted his wrist and let his eyes adjust to the blaze of daylight
"Don’t irl
Skyler let his arh
"Sit up"
"Don’t runted and propped hinaled more pain when his hair, matted with dried blood, detached from the floor of the boat The dru band, and Skyler ceasedpain subside before finally pushing hiht forced him to squint He turned away froh with the flashlight, eh?"
No response Gradually his eyes adjusted and Skyler sahite sand reflecting sunlight up fro twenty es Behind the hoainst the white sky Don Belées She wore hiking boots and long, dark blue shorts Tan, toned legs filled the space between An oversized white T-shirt was stretched tight across her chest by the black straps of a backpack, accentuating ss," Skyler found hi
She shifted in the sand, and he realized she held a pistol pointed at hiun, too," he added
"Stand up," she said
He groaned "Would if I could"
"Are you drunk?"
In answer he turned so she could see the sticky blood coating the back of his head and neck From her sharp intake of breath, he knew it looked as bad as it felt