Page 128 of Death is Familiar

Now, there was proof, physical proof, out there that I was not at fault for Lawrence’s death. Proof that could set me well and truly free. I just needed to find it. Get my hands on it. Turn the proof over so the FBI could no longer hold their leash above my head, and I would no longer be walking the razor thin blade of losing everything that wasn’t already taken.

For the first time, in a long time, I felt an almost unfamiliar warmth in my chest.

Hope.

It was this hope, fueled by my ever-present anger, that kept me pulling at the shock collar. It was hope that made me stock up on granola bars hidden under the far corner of my mattress—unwrapped but covered by the hospital gown I squirreled away after my last ‘shower’. It was hope that kept me moving, doing squats, lunges, and increasingly awkward push-ups to keep up my strength. It was hope that kept me poking holes in Warden White’s resolve and stoking Three’s curiosity. It was hope that kept me from throwing something to smash the ever-present flickering humming light in the corner.

I didn’t want to give Madame an excuse to put me under, so I behaved.

Even if every fiber of my being screamed at me to rebel. To cause chaos. To break things.

But I was only still captive because my escape involved taking Three with me, and I needed to be confident that all the pieces were in place. That the stars were going to align.

I wasn’t going to logic anything out of Three. No, I had to do what I’d done with Remy, and make it a game. One that Three would want to play.

The hardest part of my escape plan wouldn’t be the amount of physical endurance required, it was ensuring that White and Three were prepared to take the next steps with me, otherwise it would be all for naught. They both had to want Three’s and my freedom as much as I did.

Fortunately, I was very convincing.

From Three’s first venture outside with Madame, I had a general idea of where we were. Once we were alone, I’d asked Three questions about what she could see, hear, feel, smell—like a verbal game of Geoguessr—and her descriptions weren’t short on excitement, nor words. From what I heard of the terrain, foliage, and smell of salted mud on the air, my money was on North Carolina, maybe Virginia.

Which was a very very good thing. Either of those states were manageable. The landscapes and territories familiar enough, I’d be able to get us through large swathes of wilderness relatively unharmed.

It didn’t hurt, if I was right about our location, we were at max a six-hour drive from D.C. If I got us to a location secure enough, out of the way enough, the agents could get us the hell out of Dodge.

But first we needed to get out of the basement. And for that, the timing needed to be perfect. The moods needed to be right. And I needed to be willing to take the shock of a lifetime.

†

“Why aren’t you touching your food, love?” White eyed me and my untouched stew.

“Not hungry.”

Three, watching a cartoon snuggled in blankets, paid little attention, as White pulled up a seat next to my cell.

“You need to eat, Two.” I shot White a glare from my place on the mattress, then he corrected himself, “Delilah.”

See? I’d made some progress over the last two months.

It was reassuring. It was, I just didn’t like what I had to do next. It was going to take everything in me.

“You know,” I said as I got to my feet, stretching my shoulders in wide circles, “this has been fun. But I’ve learned three things in my time in this cage, Warden. Do you know what they are?”

“No, what?”

“One.” I rolled my neck as much as the godforsaken collar would allow. “Is that you care for us both.”

White scowled. “That is no secret.”

“Two.” Stretching my fingers, I prepared myself, running them through the motions. “If you get what you want from me, these four walls are all Three and I will ever see. Our days are numbered.”

“That’s not true, Madame has⁠—"

“—And three.” I reached for the back of the shock collar, darting my attention to the corner of my vision, where Imaginary Todd gave me an encouraging nod.

“No, no, no!”

I pulled at the shock collar.