Deadly Games Part 23

Rocco turned as Harry and Gena approached. She had a fur coat wrapped tightly around her as if she was freezing.

"Hey, buddy! Weather screwed up your flight schedule too, eh?" Harry thrust out his hand.

Rocco shook it and then greeted Gena.

"Nice to see you, again," she murmured.

She was dressed up and looked more like her old self except for the lack of a smile. And though she appeared sober, no recognition lit her eyes. Had she been too drunk this morning to even remember their conversation?

"Gena told me you helped her out this morning. I appreciate it, buddy. She said she was pretty shaken up."

"It had been raining and her car hydroplaned."

"Yeah, well, come in and let me buy you a drink," Harry said. "This is our new favorite place. Gena loves to come here."

Rocco shook his head. "Thanks, but I've got another meeting."

"That's code for a hot date," Harry said to Gena. He stepped back. "And you don't want to keep a hottie waiting. See you tomorrow. Come on, honey."

Gena nodded a farewell and fell in beside Harry.

As Rocco watched them leave, he realized he had the answer he'd been seeking.

Gena would never be his. Period.

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

Morgantown, West Virginia October 5, 9:45 P.M.

Taz watched Erin sleep. They were still in the car but hidden behind a couple trailers in the back lot of an all-night truck station.

After leaving Springfield last night, they had driven a few hours, but stopped before sunrise. Erin had wanted to continue, denying that she needed rest.

Taz had refused to go farther, not wanting to be on the road during daylight hours when the police were more alert. His will prevailed, of course, and once they were settled, he'd induced her to sleep, which allowed him to rest too.

Now, however, he needed her awake. He wanted to be on the road again. He nudged her shoulder and waited.

Taz knew the moment Erin awakened. Her dreams stopped. Their connection allowed him to voyeuristi-cally watch her dreams.

One moment she was thinking of Hades, imagining herself in his arms, the next she was confused. Taz let the disorientation begin to seep into her consciousness. He felt the lingering kiss Erin's dream self gave Hades as she reluctantly released her imagined grasp on Hades' body.

The bond between Hades and this woman amazed Taz. Hades should be dead for daring to risk true love, but instead, he seemed ... more alive.

The deep emotional healing Hades experienced with Erin defied logic. And yet Taz felt its truth. How amazing that while Taz's own memories of love could cripple him, observing another's didn't.

Taz's head started to ache. He urged Erin to open her eyes.

The heat of Hades' disdain blasted through.

In order to establish an independent bond of his own with Erin, Taz had been forced to temporarily deepen his connection with Hades, the host. Hades wasn't pleased. If you harm her, I'll kill you, If you harm her, I'll kill you, Hades threatened. Hades threatened.The mission will never be complete then.

To keep her safe, stay out of my head, Taz shot back before cutting the connection completely. Taz shot back before cutting the connection completely.

From here on, Taz's skills were going to be tested as he juggled the task of maintaining a link to Erin while simultaneously blocking Hades.

Erin was fully awake now, no more pleased than Hades. She met Taz's gaze, her recall perfect. "How do you do that? Get inside my head?"

He straightened. Beneath her anger over feeling mentally violated-her term, not his-she was curious both personally and professionally. She wondered how he could read thoughts. If she knew he could manipulate her as well, she'd really be p.i.s.sed.

"What you're really asking is how to block it," Taz said. "Which I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?"

"Take your pick."

"Where are we?"

Taz realized that Erin changed the subject to mask her frustration. While Hades was ready to kill him, she had no wish to see Taz harmed even though he'd abducted her.

Intrigued, Taz probed her sense of compa.s.sion. Part of it was her nature, but another part was born of her conviction that she understood Taz. She had talked with Dr. Rufin about him and Hades. About what had been done- His headache spiked.

Erin leaned forward, concerned. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Peachy. Do you need to use the facilities?"

"Yes."

Taz climbed out and came around to her door. The restrooms by the truck wash were deserted since it was closed.

"Two minutes, then I'm coming in." He'd given her the same warning before and she had honored it.

Two minutes later, they headed back to the car. Taz's headache had worsened and just as he opened her door, a blinding pain took him down to his knees.

Erin knelt beside him, her warm fingers sliding to his wrist. For a moment he remembered another woman's touch. Somewhere beneath the stars. Somewhere beneath the stars. Whom was he thinking of? Whom was he thinking of?

Taz struggled to maintain an awareness of Erin. If she tried to run right now, he could do little to stop her.

As she checked his pulse, he caught her thoughts. She was concerned by the way his heart thundered. He had an image of her helping Hades in a similar situation. Seizure. Seizure.

"Relax, breathe. I'm here." Sympathy laced her words.

The pain subsided so that he was able to stand.

Erin held his arm. "You need to see a doctor."

No one can help me. "I've got you." "I've got you."

Taz shrugged away her excuse that she wasn't a medical doctor. Rufin wasn't either, but he'd helped Taz before.

Or had he?

A vision of being shocked and put in a dark chamber flashed in Taz's mind. "Don't fight the pain!" Rufin had shouted. "Surrender to me or die."

He cut off the thought as the pain threatened to rob his vision. Taz wanted to jam the ice pick into his knee, but he knew it would upset her. And for some reason that bothered him. Great! Her b.l.o.o.d.y compa.s.sion was contagious.

"Get me inside the car," he croaked. "You drive."

He leaned heavily on Erin as she helped him into the car. Then she hurried around and climbed behind the wheel.

He knew only a portion of her acquiescence was due to his influence right now. A larger part was her naive belief that she would talk sense into him before they arrived in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. She hoped to convince him to surrender, because another part of her was certain that if Hades forcibly tried to rescue her, Taz might be injured.

Only in a female mind!

Erin started the car and swung onto the highway. "How long do I stay on this road?"

"Until I tell you to turn." Taz didn't want her to know too much about their route, just in case Hades did get glimpses of her thoughts.

"You remind me of someone else," Erin said. "Too stubborn to ask for help."Until it kills you.

It surprised Taz to realize her unspoken thought was about her father, not Hades.

"Tell me why you worry about your father's connection to all this," he said.

"How do you know about my father? By reading my thoughts?"

Taz nodded, wanting her to talk while they drove. For some reason, the sound of her voice helped. "I know your father is dead, but in your dreams, you weep that you didn't do enough."

Erin's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "My father died ten months ago. His official cause of death is listed as a suicide. I believe he was murdered, but I haven't been able to find proof. I am a psychologist. If my father had been depressed to the point of contemplating taking his own life-" She paused, drawing on her inner calm. "I should have seen it."

"Who would have benefited from your father's death?"

Erin looked at him. "It appears his former research partner, my former boss, may have been involved with a corrupt drug company that was funding unethical research."

"Your boss was the man I killed in San Diego. Dr. Winchette." Taz could sense Erin's grief over Winchette's death. "Do not grieve for him. He was as corrupt as the people he dealt with. And the things he planned for me and Hades were atrocious."

"More atrocious than what Dr. Rufin did to you?"

Taz's head started to pound with a familiar precursory warning. If he pursued this subject, he'd be punished.

But Erin knew something about Rufin that Taz didn't. Something that Taz needed to remember. "Tell me everything you know of Dr. Rufin."

"Everything?" Erin cleared her throat, thinking she didn't know enough. "Dr. Rufin originally worked with another scientist named Viktor Zadovsky."

Taz jerked forward as the pain in his skull escalated. "I will kill Zadovsky for what he did!"

"Zadovsky is already dead," she said. "He can't harm you."

Does not compute. Rechecking program. Taz rubbed his temples. "What type of work did Zadovsky and Rufin collaborate on? And how did it involve me?" Taz rubbed his temples. "What type of work did Zadovsky and Rufin collaborate on? And how did it involve me?"

"Dr. Rufin was continuing Dr. Zadovsky's experiments in mind control. You, Hades, and some others were subjected to these experiments," Erin said.

"In a chamber, right? I remember I hated going in." Taz started panting now. "But coming out felt glorious. Until later, when we remembered what we'd done."The past is forbidden.

Erin's voice softened. "We believe some of those memories were implanted. They didn't really happen."

"I will look up at the stars...."

"Which ones? Which memories?" he demanded.

"I'm not sure. It's what Max-Hades-is trying to unravel now. That's why it's important you come in for treatment, too."

"No treatments!"

"It's not like what Dr. Rufin did," Erin rushed to explain. "You remain in control at all times. And it can help you reclaim your old life. Your real life."

His old life. The words. .h.i.t Taz like a freight train.

Remember who you are.

I am Logan.

I am Logan Treyhorn.

"I love you, Logan. Come back to me."

Unable to take the escalating pain, Taz jammed the ice pick into his thigh and twisted it. Kill agony with agony.

Erin pulled off the road. "No, please. There is another way."

Gritting his teeth, Taz twisted the pick again. "Didn't Max, Hades, explain? It's the only thing that keeps ... it at bay."

"Yes, he told me."

As Taz's control returned, he caught glimmers of her thoughts once more. He didn't like what he felt: pity.

Her compa.s.sion had melted into sympathy- because she felt that what had been done to Taz was far worse than what the others had suffered. He probed deeper, loathing what he found next.

"Tell me the truth, Erin," Taz said. "What are these microchips you keep thinking about? And why does everyone want what's on them?"