Page 92 of Tough Justice

Bile rose in her throat as Wil turned to her, dangling a silver Thermos from his fingers. Even after finding the vial, her heart had refused to truly accept the possibility that Wil—her friend and confidante, a man she trusted implicitly—could have been the bad guy.

As he casually strolled toward her, as if her world hadn’t been thoroughly rocked, she forced herself to see it. To see him—a man she thought she knew but didn’t. A man who’d consoled her during the darkest losses and celebrated her biggest saves. A man with whom she’d shared meals and laughs and stories as one of her closest friends.

But he wasn’t her friend. No, the man approaching was the devil—the blood of all his victims on his hands, who’d killed Aidan, tried to kill Deck, and nearly killed her.

How could I have been so fooled?

She gripped the bars tighter, the cold metal digging into her palms and grounding Tori in her roiling anger. Sonofabitch. A few steps closer and she could wrap her hands around the bastard’s neck.

“I’m glad you’re awake.”

When he smiled at her, she held back a slew of unholy words. “Don’t you dare smile at me.”

“We need to talk,” he said, ignoring her outburst and holding out the Thermos. “I brought you some water. The air is pretty dusty down here. You probably want to rinse your mouth out. It’s something we’ve all gotten used to.”

“Water? You’re holding me prisoner in an underground drug lab. Do you think I give a shit about water right now?”

He watched her a moment longer, as if he didn’t know what to say. “I was hoping this moment would never come. Now that it has, you need to calm down and give me a chance to explain.”

She let out an acidic laugh. “There’s nothing to explain. You’re a criminal who’s killed God knows how many people—some of whom you and I tried to save—and you’re holding me against my will. Let. Me. Go.” She tried shaking the bars, but she could no sooner have moved a tractor trailer.

He shook his head. “Not until you hear me out.”

“How can you possibly talk your way out of this?” Tori bit back the insults she wanted to hurl at him. Now that she knew who and what he was, how could he possibly let her go? Her only means of escape was through him. Inside, she was seething with enough molten rage to fuel a volcano, but she managed a measured, “Fine. Tell me.”

“Back up, please,” he said, “and sit on the cot.”

When she did as he ordered, he pulled a large antique-looking key from the pocket of his overalls and inserted it into the lock. He opened the gate, then came in, keeping an eye on her over his shoulder as he relocked it. To keep from lunging at him, she sat on her hands.

He stopped a few feet from her, close enough so that she had to look up at him yet not quite close enough for her to kick him in the family jewels. Too bad. She was itching to give him exactly what he deserved.

Wil let out a heavy sigh then dragged the metal chair farther away from her. He swung it around, straddling it and resting his forearms on the top of the backrest.

“Where am I? What is this place?” She darted her eyes around the cave.

“My family used to own a big agricultural and mining co-op outside Fort Collins. We used to sell everything. Tools, fertilizer, seed, mining supplies. Explosives. After the big supply warehouses took over and the bunny-hugging environmentalists enacted so many restrictions on mining and farming, my family had to shut down the business. They couldn’t even find a buyer for the place, and now most of the buildings above ground are falling down. We’re in what’s left of the underground explosives bunker. We used to lock everything up in this cave.” He gave a quick nod to the gate.

The one she’d have to get through to escape.

“Now,” he continued, brightening and proudly waving his hand in the air, “it’s my personal laboratory.”

“But why, Wil? Why are you doing this?” No matter which angle she considered any of this from, there was no justification he could come up with. “You’re a doctor, but instead of helping people, you’re hurting them. The drugs you’re making in this lab are killing people.”

Instead of answering her question directly, he looked around the cave as if he were searching for something that wasn’t there. “I used to work here after school. I hated every second of it. My family was hoping I’d take it over one day, but this wasn’t the life I was made for. Filling orders for farmers. Hauling sacks of manure.” His lips twisted with disgust. “I wanted to make something of myself, make some real money, and have people look up to me, revere me. That’s what I was born for.”

“Revere you?” Tori snorted, having a hard time believing what she was hearing. “You’re the head of emergency medicine at a respected hospital. How much more revered do you need to be?”

“It’s not enough. Never was, never could be.” He leveled her with an understanding gaze so familiar, it hurt. “We’re more alike than you think, Tori.”

Her eyes went wide. “We’re nothing alike. How could you even say that?”

“Because like you, I had to work my way through college and med school. While all the other kids were out partying, I was bussing tables at a cheesesteak restaurant every night until midnight. Eventually, I hit a wall, started falling asleep in class. My grades started slipping, and I nearly flunked out. Then a miracle happened.” He smiled broadly. “I met another student going through the same thing. He turned me on to speed to keep me awake, then pot so I could get to sleep. I realized there was a huge college market to be tapped, so I started a business. I could work a fraction of the time and make tons more money selling drugs than I ever could have bussing tables.

“After med school and finishing my residency,” he continued, “I applied to all the major hospitals, but it seemed there was a glut of new doctors at the time. The only job I could get was at a prison, looking down inmates’ throats and handing out aspirin.” He made a derisive sound. “For years, I watched other people far less qualified than I was zoom up the ranks in all the prestigious hospitals around the country. Do you know how hard that was?”

Feeling as if he expected it, she shook her head.

“But,” he added, raising his hand to point a finger in the air, “I had something they didn’t. An affinity for chemistry and an inherent understanding of how drugs affect the human body.”