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THIRTEEN
Tempest was gone. Rookstood under the shower as exhaustion beat at him. They’d searched all night and over the last two days to no avail. She’d escaped. The question was how?
Kyele was on a tear and demanding answers they didn’t have. Due to the secrecy of their unit, the building they ate, slept and breathed in wasn’t manned by a large staff. There were automated units to clean after them, meals prepared from a processor and security was strictly handled by comps which Tempest had fucked to beyond with her little stunt.
It was pure chance she’d managed to disrupt the frequency of the fencing by blowing one of the power cell arrays located in that section. It had taken hours for an approved team with the necessary clearance to arrive onsite and conduct the repairs. In the meantime, their comps had been down, leaving them without technological assistance to track her.
They knew where she’d gone through the fence. They knew she’d headed into the woods. Then her trail had gone cold.
All the while, a protective urge rose in Rook which was completely unusual for him. The longer she stayed missing, the more agitated he grew. She was out there somewhere alone. No credits, no shoes and no means of assistance.
Enotia’s temps didn’t fluctuate much but her dress had been found in one of the cleansing rooms. Unwilling to believe she’d left naked, they assumed she’d taken a set of training clothes located in the bins but it was speculation at this point.
He blamed himself. He should have addressed her accusations or pulled Kyele back during the interrogation. The last time she’d eaten would have been at the Ice Ball. She’d asked for water but his Unit Leader had denied the request. Sure, he’d stalled but the intent was to put her in duress and forced her to comply with their demands.
What if the sedative left her drowsy and someone attacked her for nefarious reasons? As the home of Jutak warriors central command, there was little to no reported criminal activity on planet but...
The door to the cleansing room opened. Keeping his head beneath the stream of water, Rook turned his gaze to see who’d entered. Hahn stood in the doorway to the row of showers. “Kyele says systems are back up as well as video.”
Rook jerked upright and slammed the panel to shut off the water. He swiped a hand down his dripping face. Hope surged. “We have footage?”
This meant they’d be able to see exactly how Tempest managed to flee from a secured room while being restrained in a chair.
“Yes. We’re all needed in the conference room, stat,” Hahn said.
“On it.” Rook grabbed a towel and looped it around his waist as he stepped from the stall. “As soon as I’m dressed, I’ll be there.”
Hahn nodded and left. Rook rushed to his room and dressed in the customary black uniform with no insignias. He jammed his feet in his boots and strode down the hall to the conference room. The others were there and seated. He dropped into a chair next to Dorian, leaned forward and braced his arms on the table.
Kyele eyed him before bringing up the holoscreen. “We don’t have all the video due to some of the files corrupting after the explosion but it’s enough to give us a start.”
The holo rotated with the view of the interrogation room. Tempest sat where they’d left her, staring at the door for all of five seconds. She glanced up at the cameras.
“She knows she’s being watched or recorded,” Dorian muttered.
Head down, she struggled in her chair and twisted about.
“What’s she doing?” Kjar asked.
Kyele used his hands to enlarge the holo. It gave them a close up of Tempest’s arms strapped to the chair. Rook winced at the red marks left on her wrists from the pressure of the plastic-cuffs. He’d applied them too tight for her delicate skin.
Success flashed over her features and her left arm lifted. As they watched, a small laser beam shot from the bracelet she wore and cut the cuff on her right wrist.
“Fuck! That explains this.” Kyele tossed a mangled bit of metal on the table. “She was to be searched before being brought to the premises. This is what’s left of the bracelet. It also acted as a mini-explosive device.”
Growls and grumbles flowed around the room. Only Dorian appeared impressed. “I never thought to—”
“Wait, look,” Hahn interrupted.
Tempest faced one of the cameras and raised both hands and extended her middle fingers.
Kjar wore a puzzled frown. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s an ancient Earth hand gesture that’s been trending lately,” Kyele filled in with a wry twist of his lips. “In essence, she’s telling us to go fuck ourselves.”
Rook clamped down on his teeth to hold back an unexpected grin. On the holo, Tempest blasted the handle off the locked door with her laser and took off down the hall. She shot out the cameras there. The holo faded to white and gray stripes
“Where’d she go next?” Dorian asked, straining in his seat as if the fuzzy holo would answer the question for him.
