Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Other than to scream threats into his brain, control his cyborg leg that thank-Christ wasn’t loaded, and send stabbing pain that was probably a modified form of data upload to his CPU, the voice in Gage’s head was pretty harmless.
The black muscle Mustang from before drove past as he swallowed another mouthful of slushie frozenness.
His head throbbed as he nodded in greeting to the driver who stared at him.
Had the man noticed his crazy antics earlier?
The driver looked pointedly at his Slurpee cup and gave him a thumbs-up from the hand gripping the steering wheel.
There was a red-head in the passenger seat, but those was the only details he gleaned before the car was down the street and speeding up the highway entrance ramp.
If he’d been a sharpshooter in the Army, he might have instinctively gathered more intel with one glance. But he’d been EOD. His targets didn’t move. Yes, they exploded, but until that point, they were usually stationary which allowed for more leisurely observations.
The voice was muffled beyond the pain of his head freeze. He waited several more seconds before addressing it.
“What was that you said?” He put his lips around the straw but thought better of it. Best to let his body recover before another sip. Wouldn’t want a good head freeze to go to waste.
“She’s getting away!”
Honestly, the voice was unhinged, acting like Audra had kidnapped his child or something.
Gage couldn’t find the energy to care about why the voice was so desperate to get whatever it assumed Audra had.
Guess that’s what happened with the voice constantly threatened misery, pain, and Audra’s safety.
He shrugged, even though the voice couldn’t see it. “Come again?”
“She’s leaving.”
Back in D.C., he’d hit a wall in his efforts to track where Audra might be.
No one had known where she was, her background check by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency had been embarrassingly incomplete, and she’d left no trace to hint at a direction or destination.
Then a digital map with a moving red dot had overlayed atop the vision of his cybernetic eye and the voice had groaned, “Allow me to do your job for you.”
That was how Gage had followed her to Indiana, even though she’d taken a circuitous route back and forth across the country.
It was how he’d known which motel she’d end up at, almost within minutes of her arrival.
The voice never explained how it could track her, but the glowing red dot had brought him to her.
Just like in D.C., that same map overlayed in his vision with a glowing red dot that was apparently Audra speeding away from the area, possibly along the same highway the Mustang had entered.
Had Audra begged a ride in the ‘Stang? Good for her. Hopefully, she’d find a place far, far from here and safe from him.
“She’s on the move. You’re losing her.”
“She… who?”
The voice screamed and Gage’s head exploded with pain.
He bent over, a hand on a knee for support, sucking in deep breaths to work through it.
He’d asked for it, really. But honestly, poking this particular bear was kinda fun.
More fun than he’d had in a long while, not including any time he’d spent with Audra’s.
It sure beat the hell out of the tedium of his normal workday.
“You know who, you stupid fuck.”
“Why the panic? However you’re tracking her, we know where she’s going. I can just follow the red dot.”
“By the time you get your lazy ass in gear, she might have already handed over the information she stole.”
“Lazy? I’ll have you know my work record is spotless and during my last employee review, my boss said I was an asset to the team.”
“Well, then failing this mission will be a big black mark on your spotless record.”
“What do I care? I’m already in a dead-end job.
I’m just doing this for shits and giggles.
” A lie. He’d accepted the mission to find Audra and make sure she was safe.
Having learned she’d been treated for cancer, he was concerned for her health and recovery.
And he still wanted to ensure her safety, but from a source he couldn’t have anticipated: himself.
Fortunately, the voice didn’t seem able to read his emotional state, so had to take his words at face value. “Then I’ll make sure you’re fired and your pension is denied.”
“Well, guess I could be a greeter at Walmart. Wouldn’t be much more tedious than what I do at the Pentagon.”
Another stab of pain in his head. “I’ll make it known far and wide that you are a cyborg. You will be unable to get a job. You’ll have no friends. People will stare at you with fear in their eyes. Everywhere you go, you’ll risk life and limb from terrified mobs.”
Not all that different than his current existence. He shouldn’t, but he could help the urge to taunt the voice. “Promise?”
“GO. GET. THE. GIRL!”
Gage smiled. The voice practically seethed with impotent rage. “Fine. Fine. Let me confirm that she’s not in the room. Then I’ll track her down again.”
He never changed his laidback stride. The shooting pain in his head remained constant.
He ground his teeth. Fucker must be laying on whatever button that was.
Gage hoped the voice broke a knuckle doing it.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs, his leg shot out, sending his body careening into the corner of the building.
It’s coarse exterior scraped his arm and cheek.
Gage had to bite his tongue not to laugh. “What are you, twelve?” Seriously, the voice had the maturity level of a middle-school boy.
The voice didn’t respond, the pain ebbed, and his leg stayed in his control.
He stepped into the room and knew immediately that Audra had left.
Other than the food containers on the window ledge, the room was empty of personal belongings.
Good for her. Hopefully she was safe and with people she could trust.
Bad for him. That meant he was stuck with some capricious, borderline-murderous-rampage fucker who thought he could berate, abuse, and threaten Gage into doing his bidding.
Gage strolled back out of the room and down the stairs.
He’d parked his rental car in front of the main office for the little bit of security it offered, but saw as soon as he turned the corner that his tires had been slashed.
With no other activity in the area, it was likely the guy with the ’Stang had done it.
Which meant Audra was probably with him.
Gage wasn’t a bit angry about the tires.
Actually, the thwart to his mission was humorous.
As was how mad it made the voice, which howled in his head like some crazed werewolf going through a painful transition.
Funny how, just when Gage thought the voice had hit its max level of anger, something simple like slashed tires could ratchet its hysterical rage even higher.
The pain spearing through his skull was unwarranted.
The tires weren’t his fault. But he braced a hand against the car’s hood and breathed through the hissy fit happening in his head.
Then his leg kicked the car. Repeatedly.
That hurt. He wore boots, which helped protect his toes, but the leg kicked with more speed and power than accuracy.
The bent edges of the wheel well scraped his leg through his pants and his cybernetic ankle joints were jarred.
He felt like a Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots game.
Nearly as old and definitely as out of control.
After several minutes, during which he’d kicked the side of the car into an unrecognizable twist of metal, the leg and stabbing stopped.
Once the pain subsided and he caught his breath, Gage glanced toward the motel lobby.
The older gentleman stared in horror from behind the counter, phone in hand as if ready to call the cops. Or had he already called?
Sorry. Gage mouthed the word. Then pushed back from the car. “I’m going to need a taxi. Unless you want to call a tow truck, a repair shop, the rental agency, and the police to assure them I’m not a threat to anyone here at the hotel.”
“Go fuck yourself.” The voice snarled.
Despite the retort, Gage had faith the voice was calling a cab. He turned and leaned against the pile of rubble that used to be his rental car. “Yeah. Right back at ya.”