Chapter 96—Nera

From inside the room, loud snores drifted out.

Rain had been right. It wasn’t a trap, at least this part of the bunker. I allowed myself a sliver of relief and crept blindly toward the other side of the room. The air was thick with sweat and ass. This was surely the male barracks, if my nose was anything to go by.

Vague shapes floated in the darkness, side-lit from a few officers’ solar-powered watches strapped to their wrists. That was my only source of light, and when one of them twitched or moved to scratch, I froze, my heart sinking into the ground. For some reason, this reminded me of wading through a vat of hibernating zombies.

No idea where that thought came from, but I’d prefer no more like it, thank you very much.

Ahead, I spotted the door, and I nearly peed in relief. On tiptoe, I slipped through it and quietly closed it behind me. Now, instead of a vat, I stood inside a well of emptiness.

“Conserve your flashlight battery for when you need it and so you’re not spotted. I’ll guide you. Feel your way to the right,” Rain instructed in my ear, her voice steady and calm. “Slowly in case you need to duck into somewhere for cover.”

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me, and followed along the wall. My breath came in shallow gasps, adrenaline pumping through my veins and coating my tongue with a bitter taste.

“Remember to breathe, Nera,” Rain reminded me gently. “I haven’t heard you breathe in a while.”

“Hush,” I managed, forcing air into my lungs. “Just help me find them.”

“We’ll make sure that happens,” she reassured me.

“Tell Maxx and the others I’m okay,” I said, my voice barely audible.

“Will do.” A pause. “They seem a little busy at the moment.”

“With what?”

“Well, they’re not exactly in a position to answer my questions… Yes, understood… Darc just told me to fuck myself right off a cliff.”

“So it’s going well, then?”

“It would seem that way, yes,” Rain said. “They’re resourceful. They’ll find their way back to you.”

What was happening to them? The question haunted me, even as I pushed it aside to focus on the task at hand.

“Turn left here,” Rain instructed. “Pete’s just ahead through the door with the square window in it.”

“Alone?”

“Yes, for now. No heat sources detected,” Rain whispered, her tone laced with anticipation. “But be prepared for anything.”

I reached the door that separated me from Pete and forced a breath before I pushed my way in.

Sweat pooled in my palms, making it difficult to maintain a firm grip on my flashlight. Tension built in my chest, the nagging sense of vulnerability that came from being separated from Maxx. I hated being away from him almost as much as I loved him.

I closed the door gently behind me and fiddled with my flashlight to turn it on. “Pete?”

My voice came out as a choppy whisper.

No answer.

“Nera,” Rain suddenly warned, urgency sharpening her tone. “There’s an officer coming your way fast. Hide behind those crates to your left.”

My pulse spiked as I quickly ducked behind the stack of metal containers, pressing my back against their cold surface. I held my breath, praying that the guard wouldn’t come in here.

But the door I’d just come through squeaked open because of course it fucking did. The officer had followed me inside. A flashlight swept over the crates I crouched behind and then swiveled in the other direction as his clipped footsteps traversed the room.

“Stay still,” Rain whispered. “He’s almost past you. Wait, he’s slowing. Nera, don’t. Move.”

Wasn’t planning on it. Dread clawed at my insides, threatening to consume me. Who was in here with me? Was it Mike? Could he sense me somehow, smell the ink from our divorce papers that I’d printed out ten years ago for the sole purpose of rolling around on them? Or had he put trackers on his daggers I’d stolen yet again from him when he attacked me before my wedding? What would he do if he saw me here after he’d just about killed me?

My lungs burned with the need to take a breath, but I didn’t dare make even the slightest sound. My ears roared with the sound of approaching footsteps and my own stuttering heartbeat.

Something scraped off the crate I hid behind, like some kind of item the officer had grabbed. Then the footsteps retreated. The door squeaked open and closed, and I was alone in here with Pete once again.

“Okay,” Rain breathed. “The coast is clear. You can move now.”

I exhaled slowly, forcing my stiff limbs into motion as I stood. The taste of panic lingered on my tongue, but I swallowed it down, forcing myself to focus on getting us all out of this shithole.

My hands trembling slightly, I turned my flashlight on and aimed it around the brig. The shadows seemed to dance and flicker, playing nasty tricks on my fear of the dark.

Then, I spotted him—Pete, bound to a chair and gagged in the center of a glass cage. Rivulets of matted blood stained his bleached hair, and his once-vibrant blue eyes were now dull and unfocused.

At the state of him, white-hot rage boiled up inside me, but I shoved it down as I crossed toward the control panel that would lift the cage. Except the bunker had no power.

“Rain.” I heaved a breath, my voice coming out too shallow. “Any chance you can direct a little bit of power to the brig control panel so I can free Pete?”

“Let me see what I can do.” A pause while a few lights blinked to life on the panel. “Try it now.”

I hit the correct button and waited for what seemed like forever for the cage to lift upward. “It worked. Thanks.”

My whole body jolted at the realization I’d just thanked my child’s murderer, but I squashed those roiling emotions down. She was helping me. More importantly, she was helping Pete. For now, that was what mattered.

I rushed toward him.

A long, long pause later, Rain said softly, “You’re welcome, Nera.”

“Hey, Pete,” I whispered, trying to sound as reassuring as possible even though my voice shook at seeing him like this. “I’m here to get you out of this mess.”

His eyes widened in recognition, and he tried to speak through the gag, but all that came out was an unintelligible mumble. Carefully so I wouldn’t brush the ugly cuts on his face, I removed the gag from his mouth.

He breathed in deeply, relief flooding his face. “Guess what?”

“What?” I bent to untie him.

“I planted the scale and got the entire torture scene on film,” he rasped.

Torture? My insides wilted. Tears scorched the back of my throat.

“Even better is that I didn’t tell them shit.”

I couldn’t find my voice, and even if I could, there were no words to convey to him how sorry I was about sending him in here, so I just hauled him to his feet and hugged him.

Unsteady as he was, he hugged me right back. “Thank you, Nera. I knew you’d come for me.”

Still at a loss for words, I wiped the tears from my face and then guided him toward the door. He winced as he put weight on his bloody leg, but he didn’t complain.

“I’m so sorry, Pete,” I managed to get out.

He leaned on me for support. “I’m not. You know what I told them while they were peeling off my fingernails?”

Oh. My. Lord. I would forever be making this up to him.

“I told them, ‘I don’t sweat under pressure; I make pressure sweat.’ God, I’m good at this! This video will be my audition tape for the movies. Universal Hollywood, here I come.”

I stopped in front of the door, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps while basically carrying him. “That’s awesome, Pete, but we still need to get you out of here. Do you think you can make it?”

“I can make it…anywhere.” He sounded like he was either about to pass out or was still imagining Universal Hollywood.

“All clear, Rain?”

“All clear,” she confirmed. “The others are straight down the hall, third door to your left. They may be a tad jumpy, so I would suggest you knock first.”

I opened the door, my heartbeat rioting with each step out of the brig, aware that danger lurked around every corner. Half dragging, half carrying Pete straight ahead, we finally made it to the third door on my left. I knocked lightly, and it immediately opened to a pair of eyes I’d never been so relieved to see.

“Maxx!” I said, practically falling through the door with Pete into his arms.

He caught us both and sighed heavily into my hair. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Pete isn’t.”

“I’ve got a black belt in justice and a PhD in kicking butt,” Pete muttered and then promptly passed out.

Maxx moved his hulking body out of the way to take Pete from me, and that’s when I saw the state of the room. Three officers lay passed out on the floor while Darc relieved them of all their weapons. One I recognized as Lieutenant Avery and not just because of her tight blonde bun. She was ogling my chest.

Always my chest, even though right now my girls were good and covered.

Noticing she was starting to come to, Darc knelt over her and delivered a swift punch to her face.

“Guess how long I’ve wanted to do that?” she asked, shaking out her fist.

“Since she first scowled at you?” I guessed.

Mosely stood and waved the decrypted in the air. “Everything’s been decrypted and emailed.”

“And copies?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” Mosely assured me.

“Captain, I hate to interrupt,” Rain said in my ear, interrupting anyway, “but several officers are returning to the bunker from their e-cig break. You’ll need to find another way out.”

“Where?” Maxx demanded into his mic, carrying Pete like a baby.

Rain’s mic crackled in response. “There’s a secret exit not far from your location. Follow my directions, but you’ll have to be quick.”

Together, we exited the room and turned and twisted through the dark passages, each step bringing us closer to freedom. My heart raced with every hushed footstep, adrenaline coursing through my veins like quicksilver.

“Turn right here,” Rain instructed.

We rounded the next corner to find a narrow passage concealed behind a row of crates and a ladder beyond.

“Officer incoming from the left,” Rain hissed.

Somehow juggling Pete, Maxx grabbed my arm and pulled me back behind the crates. Darc and Mosely quickly joined us. My heart galloped into my throat as faint footsteps approached our hiding spot.

The seconds dragged on like hours, each one a tense struggle as we waited in silence.

“Clear,” Rain finally whispered.

I climbed up the ladder first to make sure the coast was clear and pushed the trapdoor open to reveal a starlit night with a calming sea breeze. This trapdoor led to the other side of the jungle, closer to the beach house. The moon cast a silvery glow over the serene beach, revealing the shadows of our small group huddled together as we crept toward safety.

Even though Maxx carried Pete gently, he groaned.

“It’s okay, Pete. We’re almost there.” I reached out for his hand but pulled away when my fingers slicked blood. I didn’t want to hurt him any more than he was.

Somehow, he cracked a grin. “I’ve got ninety-nine problems, and solving them all involves explosions.”

Maybe it was Pete. Maybe it was the relief of finally having won a battle over Earth Space Fleet, but we all erupted into quiet laughter.