Gena Showalter - Playing With Fire (tales of an extra ordinary girl)

As Tanner strode to the front door, I grabbed an overturned chair from the kitchen and dragged it to the center of the living room. Rome plopped the man in it and strapped him down with strips from his torn clothes.

“Should I turn on the lights now?” I asked.

“No. I don’t want anyone outside to be able to see in or to know there’s activity in here.”

“The neighbor is awake. He was surprised by the snow.”

“Did he seem suspicious?”

“Not at all. He just thought I was one of Dr. Roberts’s regular hookers, and that the two of us were having one hell of a party.”

Rome pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just… ” he waved a hand through the air “… get me a glass of water. Please,” he added after a moment’s hesitation. “And hurry.”

Okay, so I was no longer Wonder Girl. I was Errand Girl. That was fine. I didn’t want to torture the guy, anyway. “You don’t want me to put poison in it, do you?”

“Just water. Cold water.”

“Why not just have Belle conjure some raindrops?” Tanner wondered aloud from his post at the door.

“We don’t want to emotionally exhaust her,” Rome said. “We should only use her powers when absolutely necessary.”

Amen to that. I quickly found a glass in one of the kitchen cabinets, filled it at the sink and rushed back to Rome. “Here.”

He tossed the contents in the man’s face. Sputtering, our victim began to stir, blinking open his eyes. Rome and I leaned toward him expectantly. Seeing us hover around him must have shocked and frightened him, because he belted out a little-girl scream.

I winced. Rome grabbed a pillow to stuff over his face, and Tanner ran into the room and slapped him. “You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“Don’t hurt me,” the man cried. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“I locked the front door,” Tanner told Rome. “Can I stay?”

Rome rolled his eyes. “Why not. Why stick to plan now?”

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” the terrified guy said.

I’d never been to a torturing session before. I’d seen several on TV, of course, so I had kind of expected resistance. Maybe threats, maybe cussing. Instead our guy blubbered like a baby. “Is he faking?” I asked, confused.

“No,” Tanner said with disgust. “He really is this much of a pussy. No offense,” he added wickedly, looking at Rome. Then, exasperated, he threw up his hands. “How are we going to work in these conditions?”

Rome looked like he wanted to flip Tanner off, but instead crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you doing here?” he asked our victim.

“Waiting for Dr. Roberts,” was the hasty reply.

Rome gave Tanner a pointed look.

“What?” Tanner said.

“Is he telling the truth?”

“How the hell should-oh, wait.” Tanner hopped to the man-who screamed again-and placed a hand on his shoulder. He closed his eyes. “Yes. Truth.” His lips stretched into a full grin. “This is so cool. I’m a human lie detector, just like Lexis said. I mean, once I opened the gate to my superpowers-”

“You’re an empath, not the Hulk,” I said. Jeez. “And we need to get on with this.” I admit, I was nervous and wanted to leave ASAP.

Tanner splayed his arms, an action that said, Look at me and look your fill. “Don’t pretend you don’t like the Tanner flavor. Like I was saying, once I opened the gates to my powers, it’s been a constant stream of emotions and new abilities. The guy spoke and I could totally feel his fear recede.”

“Good,” Rome said. “Now, if you two don’t mind, I’d like to resume my questioning. That is why we’re here.” He frowned at each of us before turning his attention back to the man. “Does Vincent know where Dr. Roberts is now?”

“No, no. I swear he doesn’t.”

Tanner nodded. “Truth.”

Finally taking up my post, I walked to the nearest curtained window. I sank to the floor and crossed my legs, propping my elbows on my knees. There was a slight crack in the brown material, and I was able to see outside. The men had the interrogation under control, and we needed a lookout. Thankfully, everything appeared calm.

“What are Vincent’s plans for Belle?”

“He-he wants to test her. See what she can do, then use her in the field.”

“Truth.”

“Does he have an antidote for her?” Rome asked.

“No.”

“Truth.” Tanner glanced at me. “Sorry, Belle.”

Was I sorry? Part of me was, I think. Part of me… wasn’t.

Rome pushed out a frustrated breath. “Let’s try this from a different angle. Does Vincent have any leads on the doctor’s whereabouts?”

The man shook his head, his dark hair slapping his forehead. “Dr. Roberts tried to break into Vincent’s lab yesterday, but he was spotted before he got inside. He was chased, but managed to escape again.”

“Truth.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Rome planted his hands on the chair arms and leaned down. “Why did Dr. Roberts want back inside the lab?”

I suspected the answer was that he’d been leaving me that “present” he mentioned in his note.

Inching backward, the man babbled, “I don’t know. No one knew.”

“Lie,” Tanner said triumphantly.

“Do I really need to torture you?” Rome asked quietly, leaving no doubt he would do whatever was necessary. “The animal inside me-allow me to introduce you to him.” For a split second, Rome ’s mouth and chin stretched forward, his teeth gleaming long, sharp and menacing. “The animal inside me is hungry. Very, very hungry.”

The guy squealed. “We think he left a written copy of the formula in his office,” he babbled. “But we haven’t been able to find it.”

“Truth.”

The formula-that’s what he was giving me! What better present, in his mind, than the one thing that could possibly make me, well, me again?

Rome ran his tongue over his teeth. “How many men does Vincent have chasing Belle?”

“I don’t know the exact number, I swear, I just know he wants her. Bad. Every day he sends more men searching. If he studies her blood, he can make more like her and his agents can begin killing off everyone who opposes him. He’ll run the most powerful para-agency in the world. He’ll decide which countries win wars. He’ll decide who to help, who to destroy. Please, just let me go. I want to go home.”

“Truth,” Tanner taunted. “He just wants to run home to Mommy.”

The man risked a glare in Tanner’s direction, but cringed again when Rome snarled. “He’ll never stop searching,” the man added pitifully. “Like you, he’ll do whatever it takes.”

Great. What a fan-freaking-tastic thing to hear. My shoulders slumped. “Has Vincent given the formula to anyone else?” I asked. “Who survived,” I added, remembering Rome had once told me others had died.

The man shook his head. “You’re the only one,” he said. “That makes you all the more valuable to him.”

“Truth.”

I rested my head against the wall and stared out the window, groaning inwardly. Thanks to the doctor’s note, I now knew I’d survived ingesting the formula because he had finally perfected it, not because I was some sort of mutant freak with unusual blood. Would Vincent believe that, though? Probably not. That man was all about experiments. “I wouldn’t work for him even if he captured me.”

“If he caught you, you’d work for him,” Rome said, his tone bleak. “He’d make sure of it, even if he had to destroy everything you love.”

My dad, I thought, panicking.

Lexis is with him, I reminded myself, and calmed. He’s protected.

“What about the formula’s ingredients?” Rome asked. “Do you know them?”