Slow Burn(42)

    I trudged after him. “Can we take a break soon?”

    He looked over his shoulder. “Oh come on, doll. Keep up.”

    I rolled my eyes.

    “You know,” he said. “If we were suddenly being chased by Op Wraith, then you—”

    “Would get shot whether I was in shape or not,” I interrupted. “Besides, I have no problem with running while I’m being chased. It’s just the exercising for fun that I don’t really understand.”

    He laughed.

    “So, Dewhurst-McFarland,” I said. “They did other stuff besides guns.”

    “Yeah,” he said. “Crazy stuff. All of which they used on the people who they tried the serum out on to make sure that it works. Those poor sods got shot and cut and gassed—”

    “Gassed? Like Hitler?”

    “Yeah,” he said. “They had this room where they would gas people. And they still use it for people who have the serum. It’s an easy way to subdue them and make it easier to cut their spinal cords.”

    “They gas people?” I was feeling sick. “And my dad worked for these guys? Did he know about this stuff?”

    “Know about it?” said Griffin. “Of course he did. When we were breaking out of Op Wraith together, he told me that the gas room wouldn’t work on him. He said he knew the password to get out.”

    “Wait,” I said. “My dad worked for Dewhurst-McFarland. Not Op Wraith.”

    “No, he worked for both,” said Griffin. “He brought one of his Dewhurst-McFarland projects into Op Wraith. It was this injection that caused memory loss.”

    “What?” I said. “My dad made things to make people lose their memory?” I sighed. “You know, the more I know, the more I think I was right about him all along. He was not the world’s greatest guy.”

    Griffin considered. “He did some shady things, I guess. But in the end, he did the right thing. He saved you, and he opposed Dewhurst-McFarland.”

    “Maybe it was the right thing.”

    “You’d rather be dead?”

    “No, of course not.” I took a deep breath. “Anyway, that still doesn’t make any sense. Why were the two of you escaping Op Wraith together?”

    “Well,” said Griffin, “I was on my way out. Your father had to get some of the serum, so he came into headquarters. We were both on our way through to the exit when we saw each other. At first, we thought the other one was going to turn us in, but then we realized we were both running. We decided to help each other out.”

    “Oh,” I said. “Well, I guess that makes sense.”

    “Your dad saved my ass,” said Griffin. “More than once. I owe him.”

    Right. The part about owing my dad again. “Is that why you stopped things last night?”

    Oh my God, had I just said that out loud? From the way he’d just halted in his tracks, I must have. I felt my face grow hot. I picked my way around him on the trail. “Never mind,” I mumbled. “Forget I said anything.”

    I kept walking.

    Was that the noise of rushing water up ahead? I quickened my pace. Maybe we were close to the waterfall. I rounded a bend. Yup! There it was. I turned. “Griffin, the waterfall!”

    He was several feet behind me, walking slowly.

    I grinned, forgetting all about asking embarrassing questions. “Hurry up!”

    I turned and skipped down the trail, getting closer to the waterfall.

    It wasn’t a tall or majestic thing like Niagra Falls or anything big. But it was very regal, in its own way. I stood staring at it, close enough to feel the spray on my face.

    Griffin’s hand settled on my shoulder. “Listen, doll, I guess we should talk.”

    I turned to him. “Yeah?”

    He shifted on his feet. “See, the thing is, I haven’t been with a girl since I was a teenager. And that was... you know, a really long time ago.”

    I remembered that he’d seemed overly worried about not doing things properly last night. “You stopped because you were afraid you weren’t good in bed? Because that’s silly. You’re amazing.”