That done, they stared at each other.
“Are you going to give Caspar what he wants?” she asked quietly.
Ash came to stand beside her. He stared at the frozen image of Hope in the hospital bed. “I don’t want to. I hate the idea of Caspar getting what he wants.”
“Can you warn them?”
He bumped his shoulder against hers. “I could. But I don’t think I should.” He blew out an exasperated breath. “I know Tremaine’s weaknesses. I can probably get in with no one noticing. The question is, do I let Caspar in and try to trap him? Or ignore his request.”
She slipped her arm around his waist. “I think you have to plan to let him in. At least until I can get to Hope.”
“We have less than a day,” he reminded her. Taryn had proven herself to be extremely capable, but could she work miracles?
“The sooner I know she’s safe, the sooner I can get on with making Caspar pay for taking her.”
“We’ll figure it out, Ash.”
“I hope so.” He rested his forehead against her temple. “I should have focused on getting us out of there sooner. Instead, I took the easy route and let the company hold on to her instead.”
She placed her hand on his arm. “No one blames you for that. Taking care of a comatose patient is difficult. I’ve never done it, but the list of supplies we’ll need is astounding.”
“There might be a cure.” He still had a hard time saying the words out loud.
“For brain burn?”
Ash nodded. “It’s in one of the files I hacked.”
“Why doesn’t anyone know about it?” Brown eyes wide, she stared up at him.
“Because the Tremaine Corporation hasn’t released it.”
Her jaw dropped. He knew the feeling.
“How did you find it?”
“I’ve learned as much about the company—and its secrets—as I could. I wanted to find something I could use as leverage to free us.”
“Did you?”
He laughed. It wasn’t a cheerful sound. “Never the right thing. I thought I had it last month, but that went... badly.”
“Dizzie and the bombing.” It wasn’t a question.
He nodded.
“Why didn’t you use the cure on your sister?”
“I’m not a doctor. I didn’t want to cause her any more harm.” He smiled ruefully. “Plus, I couldn’t understand most of the information.”
Her answering smile was gentle. “What are you going to do about the cure once we’ve got Hope?”
He liked the sound ofwe. “Find someone who can help?” He really didn’t know. For so long, his plans never extended past getting free of the Tremaine Corporation.
“And then?”
Ash’s shoulders sagged. He didn’t know if he’d even survive the next couple days. “If I beat Caspar, there’s still the Tremaine Corporation to worry about.” Portia would never forgive him for what he was about to do. “I have no idea. Stay away from any whiff of the corporations, I guess.”
“There are opportunities outside the corporations.” She may have been trying for neutral, but there was something in her voice that sounded an awful lot like hope.
