Hatcher slowly shook his head. “Then why not stay?” He turned to her, his face a mask of confusion. “If she’s still alive, why take off?”
Missy gave him a long, slow shrug. “Maybe she went to find you?”
Hatcher sighed and leaned against the wall. “You’d think I’d run into her on the road.”
Missy scoffed. “Right, because all roads lead to Rome.”
Hatcher felt his guts tighten. “You think she’s alive and…out there?”
Missy shrugged again. “I’m just pointing out the facts. You’re the one who has to try to figure out what’s what.”
Broussard flipped the penlight across the subject’s eyes and jotted down his results. “Normal reaction.”
Carol squeezed his shoulder. “You need rest. You haven’t slept since we got here.”
“We can sleep when we’re dead,” he muttered. He glanced around the lab then met her eyes. “You go. I’ve got this.”
“You’d be the only one left.” She gave him a defeated smile. “The others called it and went to sleep. So should you.”
He shook his head. “We need to observe him.”
“I’m good, doc.” The new test subject crossed his arms over his bare chest and gave him a weak grin. “I could use some sleep myself.”
Carol tugged at his arm, pulling him away. “Go and rest. I’ll secure him to the exam table and set him up with bedding so he can rest as well. We can pick this up after—”
“You heard Captain Hilliard. We haven’t the time to waste.”
She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Worst case scenario, we slip the Veep some LSD and let him walk around and pretend he’s okay. Once the president leaves, we secure him and give him the complete go over.”
Broussard shook his head. “And if the president wants to take them all back to Washington?”
“Then we cross that bridge when we get to it.” She put her foot down and pointed to the door.
Broussard let a long, low sigh out. “I can rest here.”
“Go. Before I call a guard to drag you to bed.”
He hung his head and nodded. “Have them come for me in five hours. That’s all I need.”
“Six,” she replied.
He opened his mouth to argue then quickly closed it. He stood and squared his shoulders. “Will you be joining me?”
She gave him a seductive smile and patted his arm. “Rest first.” She gave him a wink and lowered her voice. “We’ll start the morning off right.”
He nodded quickly then turned for the door. “Be careful.”
She held the leather cuff up. “I got this.” She watched him pull the lab door shut before she turned to the subject. “You and I have work to do.”
The man looked at her with surprise in his eyes. “We do?”
She nodded as she placed the cuff on his wrist. “You can lie on the exam table if you want, but neither of us are getting any sleep until you answer a few questions.”
Simon scrubbed the thick coating of blood from his body in a small stream. He was actually thankful that it was night and he couldn’t see the water turn color.
Lana stood behind him in the chilly flow and scrubbed the spots he couldn’t reach. “You know we’ll probably miss some.”
He gave a slight shrug as he worked the bristle brush over his skin. “You mean blood or my hide?” He grunted as she scrubbed his back harder. “I think there’s still some skin left on the soles of my feet. Just in case you want to be thorough.”
“You have to make a good example in the daylight once the others are all gathered.”
Simon slowly shook his head. “I took no pleasure in what I did tonight.”
Lana paused and glared at the back of his head. “You took the first step. You killed Trent and his goons.” She stepped around to face him and barely recognized the man before her. “You told me the steps we’d have to take for them to accept us and then love us. Then we can rule.”
He nodded slowly, his mind still replaying the events of the night. “Yes, I did.”
“And you took those steps.” She moved closer and narrowed her gaze at him. “They’ll realize they need us to do their dirty work.”
Simon nodded again. “They will.”
“What else will it take?” she demanded, lowering the scrub brush. “What will it take for them to realize that you need to lead them?”
He slowly shook his head. “I can’t say.” He lowered his eyes and sighed. “People are finicky creatures. Not unlike cats.”
“What the hell are you saying?”
He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I’m saying that subconsciously they’ll know that they need us. But they won’t like what happened… and especially the ‘how’ it happened.”
“I don’t follow.”
He turned slowly to face her. “I gutted him. Like a fish.” He drew a line from his chest to his crotch. “I literally bathed in his blood.”
A slow smile formed across her features and he watched as her nipples hardened under the thin material of her shirt. “Tell me more.”
He simultaneously felt lust and disgust at her reaction. He bent towards her and lowered his voice. “I felt his intestines slide across my middle as he bled out.”
She shuddered and he watched as goosebumps broke out on her skin. “More.”
He leaned even closer and whispered, “I felt the warmth of his blood soak into my skin as I stared into his face.” He leaned so close that his breath tickled her ear. “I watched his life slip away until that little spark died in his eyes.”
She moaned slightly and slid her hand down into her shorts. “More,” she whispered breathily.
“I felt his body go completely limp as his spirit departed this earthly plane.” He brought his hand up
