Brain(25)
I looked at Ice…Grace. “Will you promise not to do anything to draw attention to yourself while we move you? We’ll have to blindfold you for the last thirty minutes of the drive. If you’re prone to being carsick, you’ll want us to knock you out for that part, anyway, so we may as well knock you out for the entire trip.”
She shook her head. “As long as it isn’t a super-curvy mountain road, I should be okay. Since you won’t let me go for a run, I still feel sluggish from the last time you drugged me, and I’d just as soon you not do it again.”
I looked at her a few seconds, assessing, and told Duke, “Let’s rent a storage locker for my bike, and send a prospect up sometime this week with a trailer to bring it home. I’ll pay gas for the trip to get it, out of my pocket. That way I can ride in the back with her.”
“No,” she said. “You know how much cash I have in my backpack. I’ll pay the gas, and whatever other expenses you incur to make me comfortable while I’m your captive.”
Chapter Thirteen
Ice
Brain and Duke exchanged a look I couldn’t decipher, and Brain went to the kitchen, saying, “There’s a waffle iron in here. I’m making waffles, sausage, and scrambled eggs.”
“I brought Brain some work to do, and it might be good if we clear out and give him some quiet after breakfast. If you have appropriate footwear and aren’t opposed to running in the woods, I’ll run with you, let you stretch your legs.”
“You trust me enough to take me out unrestrained, and yet you have my feet zip-tied together while sitting on the sofa?”
He shook his head. “Brought a shock collar. You take off running, you’ll find yourself on the ground in a world of hurt.”
I wanted to call him a fucking asshole and suggest he put the shock collar up his ass, but the memory of Brain’s grim face as he repeatedly told me I needed to get Duke on my side held my tongue, so instead I said, “I don’t want to wear a shock collar. Perhaps you can just let me do push-ups and sit-ups here, and maybe let me run in place?”
I was starting to detest the way he looked at me, as if he could see inside my head, inside my fucking soul. Brain did the same thing, and it was disconcerting coming from him, but Duke was creeping me out. I stayed quiet, though, and let him think.
“Brain tells me you were the only daughter, with five brothers, and when your mother died, your father sent you to boarding school so you could grow up like a proper young lady. You only went home for Christmas, and a few weeks of the summer, when you weren’t at one camp or another, learning a skill.”
He hadn’t asked a question, and I was aware of my own history. He looked as if he expected a response, though, so I gave him one. “Yeah, poor little rich girl, having to live at boarding school. I’ve heard it all before, so let’s not go through it again. Did you have a point? Or a question?”
“I know your dad died a year after you went on the run. Have you been in contact with any of your brothers, or any other family? Is there anyone you intend to keep in contact with?”
“One of my brothers is the mayor, another is the DA, and another is situating himself for a run at congress. They’d all prefer to forget their sister is wanted by Homeland Security. Of the other two, one’s a doctor and is wrapped up in his own life, but Danny’s an artist and has no aspirations to lead or take care of people. He sees the world through different eyes than… yeah, I’ve been in contact with him. Not enough anyone’ll notice, and I had to wait a few years to be sure the NSA wasn’t monitoring my family to try to catch me, but it’s been nice, having a few conversations a year with him. I haven’t told him any of my aliases, and he has no way to contact me. I keep tabs on him and show up when I know he’s alone. He lives in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, so he can work without being disturbed. I get to find out what’s going on in his life, hear how my other brothers are doing, and assure him I’m fine, but I don’t tell him anything about my life, really. He just wants me to assure him I’m safe, and I’m happy, and he doesn’t ask questions beyond that.”
“You’re gonna keep doing that? Once your face changes? The more people who know you’ve undergone plastic surgery, the less chance this has of working.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, Mr. Duke. I haven’t had a chance to think everything through, yet. I wore a wig when I went to him before, so he wouldn’t know I had short hair, just in case he told someone he’d seen me. I wore make-up and a cute outfit, so he’d think I was the same as before. I monitored his correspondence those first years, and he never told anyone via electronic means. I don’t know if he’s told my other brothers privately and in person, and I never asked him.”