Clutching his car keys, she climbed to her feet and hurried into the laboratory.
"Micah!"
"Lainey?" He turned toward the sound of her voice. "What's happened?"
"I knocked Red out. Do you know where he keeps the keys to that cage and the shackles?"
"No."
With the baby pressed to her shoulder, Lainey searched the lab, her frustration growing by the moment. Damn, where had Red put those keys?
A cry of mingled triumph and revulsion escaped her lips when she finally spied what she was looking for dangling from one of the skeleton's bony fingers. With a shudder, she plucked the keys from the skeleton's hand and crossed the floor to the cage.
It took several tries before she found the key that unlocked the door. Placing the baby on the floor beside her, she knelt down beside Micah and removed the mask from his face.
He stared up at her, blinking against the light.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
Micah nodded, his gaze moving to the blanket-wrapped bundle on the floor beside Lainey.
It took another few precious moments to free Micah's hands. "Come on," Lainey urged, "we've got to get out of here before he wakes up."
But Micah was reaching for the baby, drawing the blanket away from the infant's face.My son , he thought.
Lainey's heart swelled with love as she looked at the two men in her life, but there was no time for father and son to get acquainted now.
"Please, Micah, we've got to go." Rising, her legs still weak and wobbly from the birth, she took the baby from Micah so he could stand up.
Using the wall for support, Micah climbed to his feet. He could feel the physical effects of the drug that limited his power wearing off and he took several deep breaths, hoping it would help clear his head.
"Ready?" Lainey asked anxiously. "We'll have to take his car."
Micah moved away from the wall and took another deep breath. Caught up in the excitement of the birth, Red had forgotten about the sedative he usually administered in the afternoon. "Let's go."
"Not so fast."
Lainey whirled around, felt the color drain from her face when she saw Red standing in the doorway, one hand pressed over the gash in his forehead, his other hand fisted around a snub-nosed revolver whose barrel looked as large and deadly as that of a cannon.
"Attempted murder and grand theft auto," Red mused. "Not a very nice way to repay the man who helped bring your baby into the world." He wagged the gun back and forth. "Step away from him."
"No."
"It would be a shame if I missed the alien and hit the child."
"You wouldn't!" Lainey exclaimed.
Red's eyes were as cold as winter frost. "Are you willing to take that chance?"
Lainey glanced at Micah. At his nod, she moved away from him.
Red was going to kill Micah. The knowledge of what was going to happen, and her inability to stop it, filled her with such excruciating pain she was certain her soul was being torn to shreds.
A slow smile of satisfaction was spreading over Red's face as his finger curled around the trigger.
Lainey stared at Micah, imprinting his face on her heart as she waited for the gunshot that would end Micah's life and destroy all her hopes for the future.
But the gunshot never came. Instead, a high-pitched whine filled the room, ringing in her ears, sending icy shivers down her spine.
The baby began to cry and she cradled him against her breast, wishing she could shut out the awful sound of Red's anguished scream, a heart-wrenching shriek that seemed to have no beginning and no end.
And then, abruptly, there was only silence.
She started to turn around when Micah's voice stopped her.
"No, Lainey," he said, his voice flat. "Don't look."
For a moment, Micah stood there with his head down, feeling the hatred, the power, recede.
He drew a deep, calming breath, and then he crossed the room and placed his arm around Lainey's waist. He could feel her whole body trembling as he pried Red's car keys from her fist. "Let's go."
Outside, Micah unlocked Red's car, helped Lainey inside, and closed the door. Going around to the driver's side, he slid behind the wheel, took a deep breath, and turned the key in the ignition.
Lainey looked at him dubiously. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"I've watched you often enough," he replied with a shrug, and put the car in gear.
They ditched the car two blocks away from home. Lainey stood in the shadows, unable to stop shivering, while