DC. There, we’ll get our hands on your brain cells. Once we implant them in our soldiers, our product will be complete.”
He wasn’t leaving much room for error. Could we really get to DC that quickly? My bomb could detonate on the way.
I looked at him incredulously. “So you’re willing to die for this? Just to get my brain cells?” If there was one thing I’d never pegged Holland as, it was a martyr. He thought too highly of himself.
At that, he laughed. “Hell no. If we cut it too close, I’ll ditch you in a heartbeat.”
So starting the bomb. It was just an extravagant, overdone way to bring me to heel.
I navigated the van through traffic, making sure to keep both hands on the steering wheel. Memories accosted me. Driving my mom, while Holland’s men shot at us. Her blood, pooling on asphalt.
My breath hitched in my chest; my vision narrowed, until all I could see was the road ahead. One step at a time. I would find a way.
I could hear the bomb ticking.
The traffic thinned as the cityscape melted into grass and trees.
“I’d say I was disappointed that you were involved, Lucas, but I knew better than to expect much after your brother was such a waste of space. It’s all about the genes. Joanna, the mouse who’s petrified of her own shadow, and your father. You’ve got brains, but you’re too damn soft, and your loyalty’s all in the wrong place. A pity.”
Lucas made a sound, like he wanted to talk.
“You want to tell me why? Go ahead.” With a flick of his wrist, Holland ripped off the duct tape.
Lucas inhaled a few times before speaking. “My loyalty’s not in the wrong place. Yours is. Instead of defending your country, you look out for number one. You.” I don’t know why it surprised me that Lucas’s voice was calm and clear. My heart swelled with pride but my lungs filled with fear at what Holland would do now.
A hiss, followed by a ragged gasp. In desperation, I glanced over my shoulder. Holland still held the gun to Lucas’s head, but now his other hand was around his throat. Squeezing.
“Drive,” he barked.
The image of Lucas’s red face and clawing fingers burned into my eyes. I felt trapped, desperate. Every cell in my body wanted to yank the steering wheel to the shoulder, throw the van into park, fly into the backseat, and turn the barrel on Holland. But he had me tied up as much as if I’d been chained.
He knew I wouldn’t risk Lucas’s life, or the lives of the kids back at Montford. They were under Tim’s hateful watch now, and they were counting on me.
All I could do was bide my time.
The gasps had receded, spiking my panic to a fever pitch. “He can’t breathe,” I screamed, keeping my eyes on the road. Was he going to murder his own nephew?
Holland laughed, enjoying my panic.
“If you kill him, you’ll be dead within five seconds,” I said. This time, my tone was as conversational as his. I glanced into the rearview, triumphant gray eyes clashing with brown. My expression matched my voice. Calm. Pleasant.
Resolved.
Lucas’s eyes rolled when Holland released him. For a terrifying moment, his head flopped forward and no sound emerged.
My foot went for the brake, but before I could slam it, a terrible, rasping wheeze filled the van.
Lucas, sucking air down his swollen throat.
Holland tracked my concern with curiosity. “This is an interesting development. I hadn’t realized you had feelings for him.”
“Don’t tell me you feel the same way,” he said to Lucas.
When Lucas refused to look at him or answer, Holland’s hand shot out and grabbed his chin, jerking it in his direction. “I asked you a question,” he said.
Lie, I urged Lucas. If you do have feelings for me, lie.
Even as I pleaded with him in my mind, I knew it was a lost cause. Lucas never lied. In the rearview, I saw him smile. “I do. It’s logic defying, really. How on earth did someone as horrible as you manage to create something as amazing as her?”
Lucas twisted his face away. In the mirror, his eyes met mine, shining and fierce.
Holland’s punch cracked through the interior. Lucas’s head whipped back hard. “And I always thought you were the smart one. Idiot.”
The drive seemed interminably long, up until the point where Holland told me to stop. Then, it seemed entirely too short. As we drove around a large building in the