Why did it have to be him?
She felt something cold in her hand. She wasn’t tied down. AsHuisman had said, he didn’t need things like ropes and cuffs to hold a woman down. He could do it with the power of his mind, or rather his research. He’d done the same to Kala and laughed when the paralytic wore off while she was still under influence of the drug. Kala had dislocated joints and nearly broken bones when that happened.
So at least she wouldn’t do that.
Milena put a hand over hers, the warmth feeling odd. When Kenzie looked up, Milena’s eyes were serious on her. She squeezed Kenzie’s hand, and that was the moment Kenz realized she’d place something small in her palm. Like a pencil.
Or a scalpel.
“These numbers are intriguing,” Huisman was saying.
Kenzie was able to move her head slightly so she could see the hypodermic needle in the nurse’s hand as she prepared to push the medication. Milena looked down and winked.
Fuck. Something was happening.
Milena pushed the needle in, her eyes darting over to Huisman. She leaned down and whispered. “Sosa says take him out.”
It hadn’t been a paralytic. She didn’t feel the wash of ice in her veins that accompanied her losing the ability to move. No, this was something that countered it. Suddenly Kenzie could close her hand around the scalpel.
Sosa. They’d underestimated her. Gabby might have broken the sisterhood Sosa tried to form, but it was obvious this one wouldn’t. Sosa had been trying to save them all for years. She hadn’t given up. She’d quietly built family from nothing.
This Bratz doll wasn’t about to let her down.
But she had to wait for the right time.
The door came open, and Kenzie forced herself to stay still and not turn her head to see what was coming her way.
“I want to see her,” Lou was saying as the door opened again.
If she tilted her head slightly, she could see what was happening through the mirror on top of one of his torture machines. Lou was carrying what looked like a remote control or something. There were two guards with her.
She liked those odds much better.
“She’s fine,” Huisman said with a deep frown. “According to these reports it’s almost as though we never spent any time together at all. Doyou know something I don’t?”
She needed a couple more minutes. She could wiggle her toes, but she would be unsteady. Deep breath. See it in her head. Visualize the fight. Don’t panic.
“I know you’ve nearly killed her before. I’m sorry she recovered too much for you.” Lou sounded annoyed, playing her role perfectly.
Just a few more minutes.
While Huisman was concentrating on Lou, Milena eased the IV out of her arm.
“What is that?” Huisman asked.
“It’s done,” Lou said. “At least the prototype is.”
She had to lay there looking at the stupid concrete ceiling, keeping her breath steady, her body still. It was hard because she wasn’t known for stillness. She was the one in constant motion, touching on everything and everyone, while Kala sat back and took in the whole picture. It was how they worked, but she could do this. She wasn’t alone.
Sosa had sent her a lifeline and Lou was here, and her parents wouldn’t let her down.
“This is the detonator?” Huisman was asking. “I thought you would use an app or something. This seems old school.”
Lou always used her phone if she could.
“These bombs are unique and require a handheld system,” Lou explained. “Now obviously they haven’t been tested, but I’m sure it will work. I put together a…”
Lou said a bunch of technical things. It didn’t even sound like English. Then Huisman said technical words, and then Lou said something about the trigger mechanism.
