Untouched The Girl in the Box - By Robert J. Crane Page 0,54
I think I could have put him down.”
He looked from the road to my hands, now back in their black leather sheaths. “You really would have done it?”
“I would have knocked him out.” I looked at Zack’s earnest eyes. “I think I can do that without killing someone. I mean, I don’t really want to...you know.”
“Yeah.” He turned back to the road. “I know.”
I looked to Kurt in the back seat. He still wore the collar but seemed to be unconscious and presumably no longer electrified. Zack pulled out his cell phone and made a call to Ariadne, filling her in on the encounter at the mall.
When we returned to the campus, we did not head to the garage but instead to the small underground parking area under Headquarters. When we pulled up in front of the door, Dr. Perugini was waiting along with Ariadne and Kat Forrest. When she saw me, the doctor began wagging her finger before the vehicle had even stopped. “You! I knew it was you!”
“I didn’t do it,” I said, shutting the door behind me and opening the one to the backseat.
Perugini’s eyes narrowed. “Why is it that I do not believe you?”
“Isabella,” Ariadne said with excess gentleness. “Perhaps you could make sure Hannegan is all right?”
“I will treat him,” she snapped. “What is this?” She leaned down and pointed at the collar around his neck.
“Some sort of electricity-based capture collar,” Zack said. “It was meant for her,” he inclined his head toward me, “so it’s probably pretty damned strong.”
She poked at it, and Hannegan jerked and screamed, electricity running through his body. I jumped back from the door, leaving him plenty of space to writhe about. He fell out of the backseat, landing on his shoulder and coming to rest in a heap on the curb. Everyone else kept their distance except Dr. Perugini, who stood only a few inches away. “I need to get this off of him.” She whirled to Ariadne. “I need the lab rat.
Ariadne looked taken aback. “Dr. Sessions? Perhaps you remember he was flambéed last night? He’s on leave.”
“Unless you want Hannegan to leave the planet, get me the lab rat so he can get this maledetto collar off of him!” She spun back to me. “You! Make yourself useful and pick him up!”
I did. Zack stared at me as I set Kurt down on the gurney and Dr. Perugini strapped him in across the midsection and legs. She jerked her head toward Kat, who had been watching the whole exchange so far without saying a word, looking like someone in far, far over her head. “Can you tell me how hurt he is?”
Kat blinked a few times then stepped forward, laying her hands on his face. She didn’t look quite as tanned as she usually did; in fact, her face had a kind of pallor about it and she looked almost gray. I started to ask if she was okay but I remembered that when last I had seen her she was trying to undo my handiwork on Scott, so I shut up. Her hands hovered over his face. When she withdrew them she appeared to be unsteady on her feet. “He’s hurt, but not too bad,” she said. “Some nerve damage, I think. Maybe some tissue damage to the heart, I can’t tell.” She looked up at us, weary sadness filling her face. “I’m sorry. I can’t do anything to help him, I’m too exhausted.”
“That’s all right, sweetie,” Perugini said, soothing. “That tells me most of what I need to know.” She looked back to Ariadne. “Sessions. I need him now.”
Ariadne nodded and pulled out her phone. “I’ll have him meet you at the medical unit.” We watched as Perugini pushed Kurt inside on the gurney, Kat trailing behind her. Ariadne was on the phone for less than thirty seconds and when she got off, she gave Zack and I a wan smile. “So, it was a trap?”
“I think so.” I answered before Zack did, causing him to blink in surprise. “This guy wanted to stir up enough meta trouble to get the Directorate involved and tail your agents back here so he could find me.”
“How did you know who he was?” Zack stared me down, drawing Ariadne’s attention to me as well.
I almost panicked, then realized that there was an easy answer. “Reed told me this guy was looking for me but he didn’t know when he was gonna show up.”