I grit my teeth, steadfastly ignoring the way my gut squirms. “Do you?”
He chuckles low. “Cute.” The senator runs his hand over the sleek white surface of the MRI machine. “I wonder how far you’ll go to protect him?”
My gaze darts to Flynn, begging him in my mind to wake the fuck up because I don’t think I can do this alone.
I feel the senator watching me and look back at him.
He smiles. “All I want is one simple thing, Hazel. You give me the video and tell me where to find Ana and I’ll let you go.”
Maybe it’s the concussion stopping me from thinking clearly, or maybe I’ve been spending too much time with Flynn, but the words slip from my lips before I can think better of them. “Not to be technical, but that’s two things.”
Derek’s boot hits my bad leg and I stumble, his grip the only thing holding me up as fresh pain stabs through my body.
Claren drums his fingers against the machine, his smile gone and his eyes tight. “You know, I learned a lot setting up this clinic, and the funny thing about MRI machines is once they’re turned on, they don’t ever get turned off.”
I find my footing, my brow furrowing because I don’t know where he’s going with this but I’m pretty sure it’s nowhere good. He smiles a vicious thing before walking over to a medical cart in the far corner of the room. He picks up a scalpel and turns back around.
“That powerful magnet at their core is always working. That’s why you can’t wear any metal when you get a scan.” Claren keeps talking as he strolls back to Flynn’s side and unease tumbles in my gut.
“It really is a very powerful magnet. If I were, for example, to let go of this scalpel…” Claren uncurls his fingers and the blade shoots towards the center of the machine, grazing Flynn’s face.
“No!” I lunge forward but Derek’s arm bands around my waist, holding me back.
The senator reaches out and wipes his thumb over the tiny fresh cut on Flynn’s cheek. “Oops.”
My nostrils flare, anger vibrating in my bones.
Claren wipes his thumb on his handkerchief and goes to pick up another scalpel. He holds it up in the air above Flynn’s waist and pins his gaze on me.
“Ana, Hazel. Where is she?”
I bite my tongue. I feel sick but there’s not a chance in hell I’m telling this man how to find Ana.
Claren opens his palm and this time the scalpel lodges in Flynn’s shoulder.
Flynn’s eyes flick open and I whimper.
“Ah, good of you to join us Mr. Fletcher. Perhaps you’ll be more willing to share the information Miss Halloway won’t.”
Flynn’s nostrils flare. His gaze tracks over the senator before landing on me. Tears slip down my cheeks, and I press my lips together to stop from crying.
I get lost in Flynn’s eyes, a steady calmness in his pale blue irises that almost has my heart settling until another blade skims past his neck. “No!” The blade trembles where it’s embedded in the bed, barely a centimeter from Flynn’s carotid artery.
The senator lets out a low whistle. “That one was close. Let’s try again, shall we?” He walks back over to the cart with the scalpels, and I slump forward in Derek’s hold, all the adrenaline crashing inside of me. Bone deep pain radiates from my leg, and the back of my head is throbbing.
Fuck Claren. Fuck Derek.Every breath makes me feel sick and I just want to get out of here.
I try to look at Flynn but his face blurs behind the tears clouding my eyes. I’m so out of it I almost miss the way his gaze fixes on the door.
“Drop,” he mouths. It’s the only warning I get before the door is kicked open and Wright bursts into the room in full vigilante mode.
The crash fills the space and I go limp, dropping all my weight onto Derek until he’s forced to let go.
“Room for one more, boys?” Wright asks, baton in one hand, her knife in the other.
Derek lunges for her and I scramble out of the way as they fight. Wright slams her baton down on Derek’s knee, and his cry pierces my ears. I crouch down beside the MRI platform Flynn is lying on. My leg burns in this position but I glance up. The senator is busy watching the fight and I use his distraction to undo the restraint around Flynn’s wrist.
Flynn flexes his fingers. I can’t reach to free his other wrist but with one hand free he should be able to?—
