What the hell did that mean?
“Who’s she?” he demanded, kicking at the man’s ruined crotch and making him moan weakly.
“She started this, it was all her. I did what she wanted, I’ll always do what she tells me to,” Dr. Gardner mumbled, his good eye fluttering closed, his life almost gone.
“His mother,” Maya whispered, drawing their attention.
As far as they were aware, Rose included, Mrs. Gardner was deceased since Rose was four years old. It was why she’d been raised by her brother. An explosion at the family cabin had wiped out everyone but the siblings.
“Mother would be proud of me, I did everything she told me to,” Dr. Gardner whispered before going limp.
What did that mean for them? Was that just the delusional rambling of a dying man, or was it true? Was Ridge and Rose’s mother still alive out there somewhere? Had she beenthe driving force behind this whole experimental drug program? Was she a threat that was going to come after them?
Was this not really over after all?
March 12th
9:39 P.M.
“I’m sorry,” Maya whispered for probably the hundredth time in the last thirty-six hours, as Thunder guided her up the stairs.
Had there always been so many?
She might not have stayed at Delta Team’s mansion for long, but she thought she’d been up and down the staircase enough times to know it had never been this long before. Or maybe it was just that she’d never been this exhausted before.
It was a bone-deep weariness she couldn’t put into words if asked to explain it. It was over, Master was dead, she’d helped kill him herself, and she’d never forget what it felt like sliding that knife through the man’s penis, the spray of hot, sticky blood against her skin, everything was supposed to be better now.
Yet she didn't feel any different.
Still the same Maya. Confused and uncertain. The lure of escaping into her mind hadn't disappeared, and even though she knew she’d fought back, set into motion the events leading to the scientist’s death, she felt weak, shaky, unworthy, pathetic, and dirty.
Why did she still feel this way?
Was it because she’d messed up by not telling them that Rose and Dr. Gardner’s mother was still alive?
That had never occurred to her, even though it sounded stupid now. She’d been told that Rose had been raised by Dr.Gardner, but no one had specifically mentioned that it was because they believed the rest of her family to be dead, and she’d been too preoccupied with everything she was dealing with to ask.
But if she had, if she’d known they believed Mrs. Gardner was dead, she would have corrected them. If she’d done that, they would have come up with a different plan, one that would have gotten them both Dr. Gardner and Mrs. Gardner. But now the woman was still out there, and no one knew if she was a threat to them. No one knew the extent of her involvement.
Not even she knew. Just because she’d seen the woman before she was Master’s sex slave didn’t mean she knew his business goals. She’d never even been introduced to his mother, although she knew the woman was aware of her existence and that she wasn't there by choice.
“You're not listening,” Thunder grumbled as he swept her off her feet.
“Sorry.”
“And you’ve apologized unnecessarily a thousand times already.”
“I would have thought closer to a hundred,” she joked lamely. It felt weird, wrong almost, to make jokes, but Thunder was upset, and she didn't like that. It wasn't that she was afraid of him, if nothing else, she truly believed that he would never hurt her, and would do anything for her, so she felt compelled to return that a little bit.
Rewarded with a chuckle, Maya snuggled closer as Thunder carried her up the stairs. When he bypassed the floor where her bedroom was, she tilted her head to look up at him. Was he taking her to the art studio? She was really too tired to paint right now.
Even though thirty-six or so hours had passed since Dr. Gardner had bled out in front of them, there had been no timeto rest. Prey had been called in to help clean up the mess. They’d learned that Dr. Gardner had bought the house because it was in the area where he believed Delta Team lived, based on where they'd tried to lure him into a trap when Rose played bait. They’d informed the others that while Dr. Gardner was dead, the threat might not be eliminated, and then travelled home.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he kept going up the stairs. “I thought we were going to bed.”
“We are.”
“My room is back down there.”
