The commanding tone had Darren suppress a smile as he wondered whether Aiden would be just as bossy in bed. It was unlikely he’d ever find out, but his imagination didn’t seem to care either way, bullheaded and stubborn just like his interest in the man.
After he retrieved the first aid kit, he applied anesthetic to the shoulder area and used the scalpel to make a small incision. He pulled out the tiny device, placing it on a piece of tissue. “Any idea when this happened?”
Aiden made a dejected face. “I don’t know. Sometime yesterday? I went straight home after work and then… I drank. I must’ve had more than I thought because I don’t really remember much other than collapsing on the bed.” He paused, frowning. “With my clothes still on, I’m pretty sure. But they were off when I woke up and... I had this strange taste in my mouth.”
“That explains the when then,” Darren concluded, just about able to guess how it had happened. A break in, then paralyzing gas and a quick but shitty job of implanting the chip. No wonder the swelling was so bad.
After cleaning the cut and applying after-care gel, he did the same to the gunshot wound, then wiped the blood off the chip and inspected it for damage. A tiny crack ranalong one of the traces connecting its sound receptor to the offloader. Only the tracking indicator light was flashing.
“The listening interface is busted. Only the tracking works,” he said, placing the chip back on the tissue. Relief washed over him that Nyle’s assumption had been mostly correct, but the moment of victory was quickly replaced by anxiety and the need to get away from Horizons as soon as possible.“We need to go. Marcus probably already knows something is wrong.”
“Great. I hope you have a way to get us to the docking level, warden.” Nyle clapped his hands and jumped to his feet. “Our ride will be here in twenty minutes, and trust me, we don’t want to miss it.”
Aiden pushed off the desk, face contorted in thought. “The emergency elevator at the Zone D storage area. We can use that.”
“Wouldn’t that flag the system? They’ll know we are on the move the moment you use your access card,” Darren pointed out, worry filling his stomach.
Aiden nodded. He circled the desk and produced a blue access card from the top drawer. It was the same as the one he’d given Darren on the night of their confrontation. “I have a spare maintenance card for the contractors.”
Good enough.It would buy them some time.
Darren helped Aiden button his shirt, ignoring the glare which didn’t leave the man’s face. Nyle checked that there were no guards in the corridor and the three of them slipped out of the office, leaving Aiden’s phone behind. They made their way to the storage zone, Darren belatedly realizing it was the same one where he and Aiden had been sorting out inventory in what felt like ages ago. He couldn’t help but remember how close to the man he’d gotten then, how clueless he had been of where it would all lead.
For two years, Darren had been a prisoner. At first, he’d hoped he would figure a way out, but the more time had passed, the more he’d wondered if an opportunity would ever present itself. He’d been powerless to make it happen himself, shackled and chained and stuck in the same torturing loop of despair until he’d simply given up. Accepted that his life would end here however and whenever Marcus deemed he didn’t need him anymore. Some days, he’d wished that time would come soon, but other days, he hoped it wouldn’t, because as long as Marcus kept him alive, Sara’s hideout would be safe.
And today, granted they made it out of here, everything was going to change.
“Howe?” Aiden’s voice ripped Darren out of his thoughts. “Come on, we don’t have much time,” he urged, holding the access card at the sensor to keep the elevator’s doors open.
Darren blinked, realizing he’d stopped and the two men were waiting for him. He jogged over and got on, answering Nyle’s raised eyebrow with an awkward shrug. “Sorry.”
The storage door opened, the voices of two of the guards ringing through the cavernous space.
“Barry just got lucky, man. I can’t believe he snatche—Warden Kesley? Wha—”
Darren didn’t think it through. He just acted, charging at both of them before they had the chance to realize what they’d stumbled upon.
“Shit!” the closer one yelped, bolting to the left as Darren collided with his companion.
The zap of a taser bracelet made Darren grit his teeth. This was going to hurt. He squeezed the first guard’s throattighter, and stood up, intending to use him as a shield against the current of electricity.
Aiden crashed into the second guard, knocking him to the floor.
“Use the taser!” Nyle yelled from the elevator, keeping the doors open with the maintenance card.
“It’s not working!” Aiden grunted, trying to immobilize the thrashing man.
Darren made quick work of his opponent, tossing his limp body to the side the moment he passed out. He tore the bracelet off the guard’s wrist and shocked the second one just as Aiden pinned him down.
“Guys, we need to go!” Nyle urged, his gaze trained on the door.
Darren helped Aiden up, and they sprinted over. Aiden keyed in the right floor, then scanned the card on the inside. The elevator took them to Zone D-3, where they picked up a hidden gun from one of the restrooms. After that, Aiden led them to an emergency staircase, and they descended half a floor to a narrow corridor that took them directly to the docks. A civilian shuttle was already parked there and a woman in a blue tracksuit was leaning against it with an electric cigar in her hand. She was short and her gray hair was laced with white, though her face had barely any wrinkles, hiding her actual age.
The woman didn’t notice them until they were walking down the platform where she’d parked. The moment she did, she extinguished the cigar, tossed it inside her trousers’ pocket and flashed them a beaming smile. “Nyle!”
Nyle smiled fondly and let her sweep him up in a hug. “Hi, Nan.”
She placed a kiss on each of his cheeks and his forehead. “What’s my most favorite grandson in the world been up to?”
