Bette stopped talking when Hilary charged up to us.
“Let’s clear the hall, ladies,” she snapped. “We don’t want to cause any more trouble than we already have, now, do we, Miss Murphy?”
Speak for yourself, was what I wanted to say. I also had about a dozen questions pop into my head, the most pressing revolving around what kind of trouble a person could actually get into.
Instead, I said, “We were just saying goodnight.”
“Say it faster,” Hilary said through gritted teeth.
I turned back to Bette, rolled my eyes, and said, “See you in the morning.”
“Yeah,” she mumbled.
As I headed for my room, I heard Hilary say, “You might want to choose your company more wisely in the future, Mrs. Billings.”
Was this woman serious?
I rolled my eyes yet again as I unlocked my door. I had a feeling I was going to be doing that a lot now that I was going to be seeing Hilary on a daily basis.
I stepped into my room to find my suitcase at the foot of the bed as promised. It was a relief to have my things, but the sight of it also made me shiver because it meant someone had beeninsidemy room.
I looked around as if expecting to find a soldier or one of the minders lurking in a corner. There wasn’t one, and everything appeared untouched, but that didn’t stop me from checking the bathroom and pulling open a few drawers. Not that I knew what I was looking for.
When I was sure nothing had been disturbed, I locked the door and threw the deadbolt. If these people really wanted in myroom, they would make it happen, but I wasn’t going to make it easy on them.
That taken care of, I hefted my suitcase onto the bed so I could put my meager belongings away but swore at the disheveled sight I was met with when I opened it. I’d packed in a hurry and had been in a daze, but I knew I’d folded my things more neatly than this. What was more, the pictures and photo album I’d packed had been on top when I zipped up my suitcase but were now buried under balled up shirts and pants. The soldiers hadn’t even tried to hide that they’d searched the bag, which was perhaps the most disturbing part of this whole thing.
“Assholes,” I said, then got to work refolding my clothes.
I put them in the dresser, then set the picture of Trevor and me on the nightstand. Staring at our smiling faces made me tear up, though, so I turned my back on it when I undressed. Hopefully, I’d be able to call him tomorrow because Ireallyneeded to hear his voice.
After putting my toiletries away and washing my face, I climbed into bed and turned off the lights. It wasn’t exactly early since we’d traveled all day and dinner had been late, and I should have been able to fall asleep easily. I was tired enough. Unfortunately, the craziness of the day made it difficult to get my brain to turn off, and for what felt like hours, I stared into the darkness, alternating between trying to fall asleep and picking up my phone to see if it had miraculously connected to a cell tower.
It hadn’t, and since I wasn’t a fool, I never really believed it would. There was no cell tower for it to connect to, and even if there had been, the government would have made certain it didn’t work for those of us in the program. Maybe not even the soldiers and minders since that would risk our secret location being revealed. No, the Department of Fertility wanted to keep us as secluded as possible. And they’d chosen the perfect place for it.
I had no clue what to expect the following day, but knew it was going to be shocking. And that it was going to royally piss me off.
After a fitful nightof little rest, I stumbled from my room just after seven in the morning, then headed downstairs alone when my knock on Bette’s door went unanswered.
The dining room was already packed when I joined the line of women waiting to eat, and like the night before, I reached the buffet table to find a less than stellar offering. Sticky looking oatmeal, runny scrambled eggs that might or might not have been imitation, flimsy bacon, and toast that was either half burnt or only half toasted. I took a little bit of everything then carried my plate outside in hopes of avoiding the dozens of minders in the dining room.
The mountain air was cool, causing goose bumps to pop up on my skin despite the light sweatshirt I’d put on, but the sun was warm and the day clear and bright. Birds chirped out songs and leaves rustled in the breeze, and the quiet chatter of voices filled the air. The scene almost would have seemed like something from a posh resort had it not been for the armed soldiers.
I scanned their faces as I ate, trying a bite of everything before settling on the eggs that thankfully tasted real and, with the aid of a little salt and pepper, weren’t too bad. Since we were outside, none of the soldiers wore masks, allowing me to see their faces. Most watched us with uninterested expressions, seeming to barely register what they were looking at. They held their guns lazily at their sides and shifted from foot to foot like they were having a difficult time standing still. Others, though, appeared on edge, almost like this assignment was at a prison rather than an old hotel full of fertile women. They viewed us with hard or suspicious eyes, their backs straight and their weapons at the ready like they were waiting for an attack.
What had they been told to put them on edge like that? Not that we were a threat, certainly. That was crazy. But that was howthey were acting, which made zero sense.
I was halfway through my eggs when I spotted Ramirez on the other side of the courtyard. Unsurprisingly, he was watching me, and when our eyes met, I lifted my brows questioningly. He mimicked the gesture while his mouth pulled up into the smirk I was now more than familiar with, and I rolled my eyes. Was he seriously flirting with me? No way that was allowed. Not that he seemed to care since he continued to stare with that irritatingly attractive smirk on his lips.
When Bette set her plate next to mine and murmured a quiet greeting, I finally pulled my attention from Ramirez.
“I went to your room,” I said through a bite of very chewy bacon, “but you didn’t answer.”
“Sorry.” She lowered herself into the chair. “I was up early and didn’t want to disturb you, so I went for a walk. I didn’t get much sleep.”
“You need to make sure you get plenty of rest, Mrs. Billings,” I said, waving to her round stomach.
She rolled her eyes. “Like that’s even possible when everything is so up in the air. Seriously, how do they expect us to relax when we have no idea what’s going on?”
