Painless

Chapter Twenty-Three

I watched, partially in shock, as Hoodie guided Carson, who was very much awake now, over to an empty chair just a few feet away from me. He was forced down into the seat, and within seconds, was tied up just like I was. When Hoodie was satisfied with his work, he stood back up, pulled out the piece of material that had been forced into Carson’s mouth, and joined Dr. Jackson over near the door.

I locked eyes with Carson just long enough to see that he was more pissed off than I’d ever seen him. How was he even here? I’d given him enough sleeping pills to knock him out for at least a day or so. But here he was. Wide awake. And strapped to a chair in front of me.

“Ah, a guest! Splendid!” Dr. Jackson exclaimed. “So nice of you to join us. I was just telling Bliss how much her cooperation in this matter means to me.”

We both ignored the doctor and despite my better judgment, I took a few seconds to study Carson. He’d been roughed-up a bit; probably hadn’t bothered to take his time getting the lay of the land like I had, which had obviously resulted in more than a few run-ins with Dr. Jackson’s minions. Now Carson had a puffy-looking left eye and a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. Fresh cuts covered his hands and arms, and a rip in the thigh of his pants was glowing bright red. I had to wonder how many injuries he had that I couldn’t see.

I shook my head and forced myself to focus on getting us out of there, instead of what might happen once we left. Turning my attention back to Dr. Jackson, I snorted. “Cooperate? With you? Over my dead body.”

            Dr. Jackson shoved his hands into his white labcoat. “I really hope it doesn’t come to that,” he said, sadly. “Because if you can’t find a way to work with us on this, well, things could go dreadfully wrong for your friends.”

            With a nod to Hoodie, Dr. Jackson walked toward the door. “We’ll give you some time to think over my offer.”

Carson and I remained silent as the doctor and his apprentice disappeared through the glass and made their way down the long hallway. Once they were finally out of sight, I turned back to Carson angrily.

 “What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed at him.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he growled.

He had me there.

I couldn’t exactly blame him for being pissed at me for pulling a drug and ditch, but this wasn’t the time to get into it. Besides, I was too annoyed by the fact that he’d messed up my plans, to really let the guilt hit me full force. But he was looking at me like his being captured was all my fault and I couldn’t stand the silence anymore.

“You do realize that you just made my job that much harder, right?” I asked him, unable to stop myself. “Now, not only am I going to have to get Benji, Joanie and Glenn out of here, but I’m gonna have to save your ass, too. Way to go, Super Agent, have any other plans you want to…”

“Shut up!” Carson roared. The outburst was so sudden and unexpected, that I flinched as if I’d been slapped. Hearing him yell at me was just as jarring, and for a moment I sat there, frozen in my seat. I tried to think of something to say, but my better judgment told me to listen to him and keep my mouth shut.

“Would you please just lose the attitude long enough to recognize that we’re in this situation because of you,” he said angrily.

I instantly disliked this gutsier version of him. In fact, he was sort of being nasty. And bossy. And a jerk.

And it was kind of hot.

God help you Carson, if I ever got out of these restraints…

“I’ve let you have your run of this investigation because your mom requested I just observe, unless you got yourself into serious trouble. And then there’s this thing with us—which I don’t fully understand—but no more! This officially became serious when that crazy-haired scientist tried to blow us up. You need to stop thinking only of yourself for a change, Bliss, and start thinking of the people you’re going to get killed because you’re too busy not dealing with your issues.”