Ghostwalker 05 - Deadly Game

face, darlin'," he drawled.
    "I wish I could believe you, but I'm not that transparent. I spent too long fooling Whitney. You've got way more psychic talent than you let on."
    The alarm was blaring through the compound now, and chaos had broken out. Lab techs hurried out into the corridor. Ken reached out and snagged a man by his coat, yanking him into the closet and smashing an elbow to his head. The tech slumped to the floor and lay there groaning. "Get his jacket off."
    Mari crouched down to pull the jacket from the tech. Whitney had made it mandatory for all techs on the third level to wear a black lab coat and those on the second level a white one. The man was wearing a white coat, but she'd caught a glimpse of several third-level techs. They were swarming up the stairs along with the security teams sweeping through each of the levels.
    "What was the explosion?" She kicked the man as he tried to rise, and he went down a second time. Mari donned the jacket and looked around the room for a hat.
    "I set a few timed charges. They'll keep going off at odd intervals, just enough to keep Whitney and his men rattled. The women are over the fence and presumably away. Jack says unfortunately the senator is almost to the plane. Jack's waiting for us."
    "They don't have my sisters?" She winced as Ken grabbed a second white-coated tech and slammed him into the wall. He bounced and Ken dragged him into the small room.
    "Not a single one?"
    "Your sisters aren't very trusting." His vivid gaze pinned her. "You knew they wouldn't be. You all discussed it ahead of time, didn't you?"
    To avoid his glacier-cold eyes, Mari bent down to pull the jacket from the tech. "Yes. I knew you wouldn't be happy." And he'd be even less happy knowing she was supposed to get away from him and meet them as soon as possible.
    "Just because my men are risking their lives to get the women out? Your sisters knew they were going to be there, with bullets flying and a helicopter waiting, and they went over the fence and scattered into the woods." He reached down and pulled her to her feet. "Are you planning to do the same thing?"
    She avoided his eyes. What was she planning? She was going to see Briony. She was going to try with Ken. "I'm planning on going out with you, fighting for all I'm worth and gaining freedom. You know that word that is supposed to represent the American way?
    Freedom , Ken. We wanted the freedom to make our own decisions."
    "They're psychic, most without anchors, the same as you are. How are they – or you–
    going to survive without aid? And do you really think Whitney is just going to let them go?
    He'll send every soldier he has to get them back. We could have protected them."
    "And exchanged one prison for another?"
    His heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vise. "Is that what you think you're doing, Mari?"

    Their eyes met. He counted his heartbeats. She had talked with her sisters about taking off on her own. He had handed her his soul, and she was thinking of walking away from him. And why not? Life with him would be a form of prison. He couldn't deny it – not even to himself. He would want to run her life, wrap her in bubble wrap and keep her hidden from the world and any danger it might present. She desperately wanted, needed – and deserved – freedom.
    Ken swallowed everything he wanted to say and took the jacket from her, shrugging into it. The coat was too small, and pulled across his arms and back, but it would do getting down the corridor. With explosives going off every few minutes, he doubted Whitney was staring into the security cameras. Ken had taken a great deal of time setting the charges for maximum chaotic effect.
    Mari caught his arm before he opened the tool room door again. "I don't think I'm exchanging prisons, Ken. I'm just afraid. Terrified, in fact. I don't have a clue what to expect outside this facility. I feel as if I'm going AWOL. I need to find out who and what I am and if I can even live with the rest of the world."
    She didn't add before I can be in a relationship , but he heard the echo of the words in his heart. Maybe he heard them in her head. And a relationship with him would not be of her choosing, once she was out in the real world where normal men, with maybe a penchant for romance and gentleness, were available to her.
    Ken. Jack's voice intruded, sharp with command. All hell is breaking loose up here. Can you get to the first level? Logan and Neil are making their way to