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“I know.” She walked toward him and grabbed his hand. Her eyes were huge with sorrow. “It’s the only way I can make sure he doesn’t hurt you.”
“But what about you? Do not sacrifice yourself for me.” She was doing this for him, trying to save him. How could he go back without her? How could he look in the mirror each day knowing he’d left her here? It would kill him.
“I have to,” she insisted. “He’s released the tapes, Cameron. The whole world knows what the CTA did to us, what our father did to us and the others. All our lives are ruined. The CTA can no longer function.”
“But we were trying to fix what they did! People will see that.”
“Will they? Or will the government try and cover its involvement by throwing us under the bus?”
He knew she was right and had already gotten a sense from the director that their time was nearing its end. “We can fight this.”
She bit her lip. “I know we can. That’s why you have to go back, to try and salvage your reputation and the work we’ve all been doing. I’ll be okay here.”
“Come with me,” he begged.
She shook her head. “I can’t leave yet. Not for a while. I told him I would stay.”
“For how long?”
“He wants me to work with him and the other subjects. To take his drug cocktails and continue the work we were doing before.”
“He wants you to take his drugs? He’s the animal. The villain here. He’s the one who wants to continue the experiments.”
“I know.” She stepped into his arms and hugged him. “I made the deal so he would let you go. It’s our best chance of stopping him. Me from the inside, you from out there. You need to let people know what’s happening here.”
“I hate it.”
“I know.”
“I’ll come back for you,” he promised. “I’ll get the others and we’ll do a full-blown rescue Marsters’ style.”
She smiled. “I’ll hold you to that.”
He kissed her then, not caring what it looked like. He wasn’t leaving without tasting her lips once more. She pulled him close and kissed him back, her tongue sweeping into his mouth and kissing him as if she’d never let him go.
He wished she wouldn’t.
“Be careful out there,” she said as she pulled back, tears flooding her eyes. “He says he’s letting you go, but he’s holding something back. He’s trying to block me, but I can feel it is some kind of deception. I don’t know what, but he’s not to be trusted. Try and get to Kyle as fast as you can.”
“I understand. I’ll be okay. Eagle Scout, remember?” He smiled at her, trying not to let her see his concern. Without his pack, his compass, his SAT phone, not to mention his weapons, he’d be hard-pressed to make it back to Kyle, especially before nightfall.
She smiled up at him. “I do remember. Best dinner I’ve ever had.” She looked around them. “Did they not bring you your backpack?”
He shook his head. “No.”
She looked up at the guards. “Where is his backpack?”
The stared ahead, looking at some space beyond her and not saying a word.
“Will you be able to find Kyle again without your compass?” she asked, doubt and concern crinkling her brow.
“Absolutely,” he assured her and squeezed her waist.
“By the way, Marcie was the mole,” she said, her voice hardening. “That little traitor was working against us all along. She was the one sending me those gifts and feeding intel back to Emerich. I never had a clue.”
“What?” He couldn’t believe it. “I’m so sorry.” He knew how much her friendship meant to Becca. “That must be…”devastating.
“All this…” She flung her arms out wide. “Coming to rescue her, almost getting eaten by a bear, it was all for nothing. I hopeshegets eaten by a bear.”
