The Animal Inside

Chapter Thirty-One: Reunion with a Side of Scheming

Adrian looked up and down the hall, and then he tapped on the screen beside my cell. The door opened and he ran in, sweeping me up into his arms.

“Thank God you’re ok,” he muttered into my ear. He released me and we sat on my bed.

“Don’t they have cameras?” I asked with worry.

“They don’t need cameras. The glass is unbreakable. What happened to you? I thought you ran off... and then work called and I had to come in... I need to call Kody. He’s still looking for you.”

“You two made up then?”

“Yep. Fights between bros don’t tend to last too long. What happened?”

“Are you sure you won’t get in trouble for being in here? Won’t another guard come past... or...?”

“Don’t worry. I’m the only one on duty until about five.”

“What about the guards that transport us to the labs?”

“Lunch break. They won’t be back till about one, which is in about an hour’s time.”

I explained to Adrian what happened after our conversation at the house.

“How did they find you?” Adrian asked.

“I have no idea. What if we all had been home? They could have taken us all in. Your cover could have been blown.”

“But it isn’t. At least, not yet.” He looked at me, his eyes full of concern. He reached out, touching the side of my face. “What did they do to you?”

I flinched away from him. As much as I was happy to see him, and as much as I wanted to be close to him, I knew I needed to keep my distance from him; physically and emotionally.

“I had to answer some questions while I was hooked up to a lie detector. When I lied, or didn’t answer quickly enough, a guard would hit me.”

Adrian shook his head, smiling

“Why are you smiling?” I asked.

“No. I find it... amusing that you lied while hooked up to a lie detector. Are you insane?”

“Not certifiably. I thought that if I denied that I stole the diamond, or had abilities that they would let me go.”

“They would never let anyone go. Once they catch you, the only way you leave here is in a body bag. Hold on, did you just say they asked you whether you stole the diamond?”

“Yeah, Mr Brice asked me about it. It was one of the first things he asked me. Why?”

“Mr Brice questioned you?” Adrian looked worried.

“Yes, I just said that. Adrian, what’s wrong?”

“First, Mr Brice never attends questioning sessions. He just reads the reports. Secondly, there is no way that he could know you stole the diamond. We were so careful.”

“Maybe they tracked me from the museum?”

“Impossible. They couldn’t know it would get burgled.”

“What if they tracked it later, once they knew about the crimes?”

“Glaston doesn’t have cameras on every street corner Kefira.”

“There’s no other way that they could have tracked me. Maybe they were following you?”

“No. I’m very paranoid about that kind of thing. It comes with being a Super Villain.”