Forbidden Touch

Chapter Seventeen

The monitor by Sandrine Beck's bed beeped steadily, red numbers showing heart rate, oxygen saturation and blood pressure. Maddox was no doctor, but from what he could tell, her vitals were in the normal range.

Was she just sleeping? Or was she unconscious?

"We should not be in here!" Piet grabbed Maddox's arm.

Maddox looked over his shoulder at the other man. "What do you suppose is wrong with her?"

"If you stay here much longer, you will have a chance to ask the doctor himself." Piet grimaced. "Come, before we both lose our jobs."

Maddox reluctantly followed Piet out of the infirmary, slipping through the door even as he heard the latch engage on the door at the back of the sick bay. He glanced back through the narrow space between the curtains on the infirmary door and spotted a white-clad female-a nurse?- approach Sandrine's bed.

He turned to look at Piet. "Why don't we split up? It'll speed up the process."

"I am supposed to stay with you and train you."

"How much training does it take to empty a trash can? You take the rest of this section and I'll go on around the corner and work my way back up from there. We make it back out to the truck first and the boss man loves us. Maybe he'll even toss us a few extra bucks for the effort. What do you say?"

Piet frowned as he considered Maddox's proposal. He finally nodded, "We will meet at the end of the hall."

Maddox nodded. "Sure, Piet."

Not that he had any intention of meeting back up with Piet. He had to warn Iris about the second murder and coax her out of this place before she was the next victim.

"A little help here!" Tom Stanton grated.

Sweat beaded his broad forehead and the veins in his neck bulged. Iris tightened her grip on Tom's arm, trying to clear her mind of everything but the feel of Tom's sweat-dampened skin beneath her fingers. She listened to the sound of his breathing and concentrated on matching her pulse to his.

Suddenly, energy began to build in her fingertips and spread up her arm. It sizzled through her bloodstream, blooming in her chest. Her vision dimmed, her head spun, but she tightened her hold on Tom's arm and rode the sensations, more relieved by the return of her gift than pained by the darkness of the energy coursing through her.

"Excellent!" Grinkov laughed with delight. "Release!"

Iris waited until the others released hands before taking her hand from Tom's arm. He slumped forward and laid his head on his arms. While the flutter of sensations coming from him ebbed, a new, erratic buzz of energy stuttered through her.

"Let me show you what you did." Grinkov turned the monitor toward them. A grainy color picture flickered to life, a static shot of an electrical panel.

"That's the power plant." Hildi said.'That's what I saw."

"Indeed." Grinkov said, beaming at her, "Now watch this."

In the middle of a still image, a small red lever suddenly moved from On to Off. Hildi gasped.

Next to Iris, Bailey uttered a soft, "Oo-rah!"

Grinkov ejected the disk and slipped it into a jewel case. "I need to take this to the archives to back it up, I will send Halloran to escort you to your rooms to rest for the afternoon session."

He left the room, his steps light and fast. The fluttering energy Iris had been feeling began to fade, and she realized it had been coming from Grinkov.

"Escort us to our rooms?" Iris asked as his words sank in.

"We don't go anywhere without an escort." Bailey frowned.

"An afternoon session?" Tom lifted his head from the table. Dark circles shadowed his bloodshot eyes. Iris felt his pain like a headache throbbing between her temples. She moved closer and laid her hand on his arm drawing his pain into her.

"How do you do that, anyway?" Bailey asked.

"I don't know." Iris admitted.

She felt a sudden rush of anticipation and realized it wasn't coming from herself or anyone inside the room. A second later, the door to the conference room opened behind her and a low drawling voice asked.

"I'm looking for the dorms. Can anybody point me in the right direction?"

Iris twisted in her seat, recognizing the voice.

Maddox Heller stood in the doorway, his hand on the doorknob and a grin slashing dimples into his tinned cheeks. His gaze slid past hers, satisfaction glimmering in his eyes.

She rose to her feet. "I can show you."

"We're supposed to wait for Halloran." Hildi said.

Iris shrugged. "Big deal. He was going to take us to our rooms anyway. I'm just getting a head start."

Bailey stood up, "I'll come with."

Iris exchanged another look with Maddox as she and Bailey caught up with him at the door. He held the door politely for them, putting his hand briefly against the small of her back as he followed them out. In that touch, she felt a chaos of emotions, ranging from anxiety to relief.

"Here are the dormitory rooms." Bailey said as they reached the sleeping quarters, "These four rooms." She opened the first door.

"Do me a favor and clean mine first? I'd like to take a nap and I don't want to be disturbed later."

Maddox slanted a look at Iris but entered the room with Bailey. Iris surreptitiously showed him four fingers to let him know which room she was in, then went to her own quarters.

Three minutes later, a knock sounded on her door. She felt the now-familiar buzz of electric energy she'd come to recognize as Boris Grinkov. Taking comfort in knowing that Maddox was within shouting distance, she opened the door. "Dr.Grinkov."

"I told you and the others that you were to wait for Halloran to bring you back to your quarters."

She lifted her chin, "Why an escort? Are we prisoners?"

"Of course not." Grinkov said. "But we conduct experiments for private groups who do not wish their business to be known before they're ready to reveal their findings. We take our security and confidentiality seriously." Iris felt a sense of calm steal over her as Grinkov's anxiety ebbed. "I am sorry. You think our guidelines restrictive."

"No." she said with a smile. "I understand. I'll behave."

Grinkov smiled at her choice of words, "Halloran will be by later to escort you and the others to the cafeteria. Cook is preparing seared tuna steaks today. I'm sure you will find them delicious." He gave a curt nod and left the room.

Iris slumped on the edge of the bed, her head still throbbing from the residue of Tom Stanton's distress and her own moment of tension with Grinkov. How was she ever going to find Sandrine if her every move was controlled and choreographed?

She felt a sudden flood of warmth, laced with liberal bits of pure adrenaline, a second before the door opened and Maddox slipped inside. She jumped from the bed and met him halfway, wrapping her arm tightly around his waist and pressing her face against the front of his gray coveralls.

He stroked her hair. "Well, hello to you, too, sugar."

"What are you doing here?"

"Getting you out."

"I can't leave, l haven't found Sandrine yet."

He grinned at her, triumph in his eyes. "But I have."

She grabbed his arms. "Where?"

"In the infirmary."

Her heart dropped, "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know." he admitted. "She's unconscious but her vitals look stable, and she's breathing on her own."

She bit back her panic. "We have to get her out of here."

"And we're gonna do that, sugar, but I have to tell you something first." The sensations coming from him darkened. "Another body washed up. Amanda Marquez."

"The other empath on the list?" Iris's knees wobbled. She found the edge of her bed and sat.

Maddox sat beside her. "You didn't feel my knee this morning, did you? Something's happened to your… what ever it is."

"It's back." she said, surprised by the deluge of relief that flowed from him at her words. "I think it was a temporal thing caused by…overexertion " She looked at him.

He arched one eyebrow. "Yeah?"

She flushed and forced her mind away from her memories of the previous night's pleasures."I've got to get to Sandrine."

"I can show you where the infirmary is. But there are cameras all along the hallways. We'll never escape notice."

"How did you get here unnoticed?"

"I'm on the cleaning crew. We're crawling all over this place. I'm practically invisible."

"Then we need to shut down the surveillance."

"I'd be happy to go all Mission: Impossible for you, maybe swoop down from the ceiling and knock out the security to this place, but I don't have time to set things up."

"Do you know where the security center is?"

He arched an eyebrow "Yeah, Quinn gave me a schematic."

"That may be all we need." She reached up and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. "Wait here."

She headed for the door.

Iris returned to her room five minutes later with three other people, a man and two women. The tallest of the women, a raw boned redhead, stopped in the doorway, her hands on her hips, and asked, "What the hell is going on here?"

Iris closed the door carefully behind them. "Bailey, this is Maddox Heller. He's not really a cleaning guy. Maddox, this is Bailey, Hildi and Tom. They're in my test group."

Maddox stood and nodded toward the others. "What the hell is going on here, Iris?"

"We need to disable security, right? And you know where the security center is located, you said "

He nodded warily. "But-"

"Show us the schematic "

"Oh, my God, you want us to shutdown security." Bailey said, moving farther into the room. Her eyes lit up. "Well, it's about damned time! This place is a freaking prison!"

Maddox looked at Iris, the hair on the back of his neck prickling. Who were these people, really? How did she know they could be trusted? Iris met his gaze with calm assurance, her eyes asking him to trust her. He forced himself to relax.

"Maddox Heller." the man named Tom said suddenly, "You're that Marine, the one in Kaziristan."

Maddox felt Iris's eyes on him, but he didn't look away from Tom's narrowed gaze. "I was "

Tom's face creased with a sudden smile. "Was, hell. Once a Marine, always a Marine, man. Second Battalion, Second Marines myself. Saw time in Haiti. Semper fi."

Maddox couldn't help but return the grin. "Semper fi."

"Heard you got the shaft, man. That's rough. So this place-I take it it's not on the up-and-up?"

Maddox glanced at Iris, who was gazing at him with so much pride it made his head spin. He looked back at Tom. "I think it's a cover for something very dangerous. And I think it just may take all of us to get out of here safely."

Unfolding the schematic, he showed Hildi the location of the security center, while Iris caught them up on what they knew about Boris Grinkov, Tahir Mahmoud and the Telarana laboratory.

"I see it." Hildi said suddenly, her voice rising with excitement. "It's a black cord, plugged into a panel at the back. Not detachable. It'll have to be ripped out."

Bailey closed her eyes a moment, "I see it, too!" She looked up, a huge grin on her face.

Iris gripped Tom's arm more tightly as his breathing started to speed up and grow a little ragged. Pain hammered into her skull but she held on.

"Let me give it a try." Bailey closed her eyes again.

A sharp, blinding pain slammed into Iris's head. Her grip on Tom's arm started to loosen.

"Don't let go!" he barked at her.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the onslaught of agony and clutched his arm. She felt arms wrap around her from behind, holding her upright. Maddox. Warmth stole over her, built a wall between her and the pain, providing blessed relief,

"Got it!" Bailey and Hildi cried at the same moment.

Tom let go of the women, and Iris let go of Tom's arm, slumping back against Maddox's chest. He stroked her hair back from her forehead and pressed a quick kiss against her temple.

"We have about ten minutes, best guess, before they figure out what's up and either find a backup for the system or call for a security crackdown. Tom, you take this." Maddox pulled a compact 9 mm semi automatic from an ankle holster. "Fifteen rounds, one in the chamber. Make it count."

Tom took the weapon and gave a firm nod.

"Get the women out through this side entrance to that hiding spot I told you about." Maddox showed Tom the building schematic.

"I'm going with you, Maddox." Iris protested.

He touched her shoulder. "I have to do this one alone, baby. Go with Tom. I'll bring Sandrine out to you and you can do your magic once we're safe. I promise."

Tom opened the door and scanned the hallway. "All clear."

"Go on, Iris. I'll be out before you know it." Maddox kissed her forehead and slipped into the hallway past Torn.

Tension hummed through Iris's skin as they crept toward the exit Maddox had shown them, the anxiety of her companions mingling with her own. They found the exit and started to head outside when Iris felt something slam into her, as strong and tangible as a body blow. She staggered into the wall.

Tom caught her arm. "What is it?"

"I don't know." she admitted. Energy coursed through her, unbridled and fierce. She leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. "Something strong-out of control-"

"Oh, my God." Hildi breathed. Her gaze was distant and her face had gone pale. 'The building…"

A new pulse wave shot through Iris. A familiar tingling sensation set in like her limbs were going numb. Grinkov. But this sensation was stronger than she'd felt from him before, and much more unbridled.

"We have to get out of here." Hildi said with a gasp, 'The support columns are starting to buckle. I see cracks forming-"

"I have to warn Maddox!" As Iris pushed away from the wall, a faint tremor made the world tilt under her feet.

For a moment she thought it was more of the same sensations she'd been feeling, but she heard Bailey utter a low profanity and growl, "Earthquake?"

The building was giving way, Iris realized. Whatever was happening with Grinkov, was threatening the integrity of the lab. She turned to Tom. "Get them out of here. I think I know what's causing this. And I have to slow it down until Maddox and Sandririe can get out."

"What are you talking about?" Tom asked.

"Grinkov has latent telekinetic abilities. I've felt it when I'm around him. It's like electricity pushing through me. It's kind of what I feel from Bailey, only with Grinkov, it's unleashed. It's emotion-based, and he can't control it."

"What about the others?" Bailey asked.

Iris wasn't sure there were any others, but she promised to send them out if she ran across anyone, Tom gave her an uncertain look but finally nodded and led Hildi and Bailey out.

Iris closed her eyes a moment, trying to get a direction on the energy slamming its way down the laboratory corridors. It seemed to be focused in the direction from which she and the others had just come. She took a bracing breath and headed down the hallway.

Maddox slipped through the infirmary door, weapon drawn, and quickly scanned the room. Sandrine Beck was where he'd last seen her, but this time, she wasn't alone. A caramel-skinned nurse with wavy black hair tied in a ponytail low on her neck stood at her bedside, changing the IV bag. She turned at the sound of the door opening.

"You're not authorized to be here-" she began, then stopped quickly as her gaze fell on the gun in Maddox's hand.

"I believe I am." Maddox stayed alert as he crossed to the bed. "Is there anyone else here?"

"There's someone in the back." the nurse said quickly. Too quickly. Maddox knew a lie when he heard one,

"No, there's not." He glanced at Sandrine's pale, still face. "What's wrong with her?"

"We're not sure " the nurse admitted. "She fell ill after the first session."

"Why didn't you transfer her to the hospital in Sebastian?"

The nurse laughed mirthlessly, eyeing Maddox's weapon. "Believe me, our facilities, staff and equipment are closer to what you'll find in the States than anything the Sebastian hospital can provide. This was the best place for her."

"The best place for her was with people who gave a damn about her in the first place " Maddox growled. "Can she be unhooked from this stuff? Is any of it life-sustaining?"

The ground under their feet shifted suddenly. Maddox grabbed the cold metal headboard with his free hand to steady himself. It felt like an earthquake. Almost.

"What was that?" The nurse's eyes widened.

Nearby, a ceiling tile fell to the floor with a loud smack. The nurse whirled around at the sound.

A low vibration buzzed through the floor beneath Maddox"s feet, feeding his urgency. "Can we unhook her and get her out of here?" he asked the nurse.

"You want us to wheel her out of here on a gurney? To where?" The nurse found her backbone suddenly, apparently alarmed at the thought of hauling her patient around.

Maddox found her concern encouraging, "Something's happening here, I don't think this building is safe."

The nurse eyed the gun. "What do you want me to do?"

"Can we strap her in a wheelchair instead of a gurney?"

The nurse gave him a worried look, but she nodded and headed into the back room to retrieve a chair. As they headed down the hallway, the nurse pushing the chair and Maddox bringing up the rear, the vibrations rumbling beneath his feet grew stronger. Along the walls of the building, the floor buckled and threw off chunks that littered the tile floors underfoot. Maddox pushed the nurse to move faster, building their pace to a slow jog as they navigated through the falling debris toward the side exit.

They ran across several alarmed members of the cleaning crew but oddly, no security guards. Maddox directed the cleaning crew to the exit. One of the men held the door for the nurse and Sandrine while Maddox kept an eye out for security teams. He heard a crashing noise from somewhere behind them, but there was no sign of any pursuers.

He followed the others into the sheeting rain, shrugging out of his coveralls to make a makeshift umbrella for Sandrine. He'd given Tom directions to a place to hide the others until he arrived. It was slow going for the wheelchair, the wheels sinking into the rain soaked ground underfoot. But with the help of Piet and the other maintenance crew, they made it before the rain soaked through the coveralls,

"Thank God you're here!" Tom greeted him with a smile and hearty handshake. He waved the plastic-covered satellite phone at Maddox. "The cavalry should be here in fifteen minutes."

"Where's Iris?" Maddox asked.

Tom looked surprised. "I thought she'd be with you."

Maddox"s stomach knotted "What?"

"She went back in to warn you about what was happening. She thought she knew what was causing it, and she said she could hold it long enough for you and her friend to set out safety. You didn't run into her?"

Before Maddox could answer, a muted crack came from the direction of the laboratory, so faint that most of the others seemed not to notice. But Maddox did. So did Tom. They exchanged looks of alarm.

It had been a gunshot.