Tina Donahue - Deep Within Me

“Coffee’s ready,” Diaz said. He stood in the doorway between the rooms. “You want it now or with the other stuff?”

She kept her focus on the screen, deleting what she’d brought up. “There’s a thermos in the lower cabinet on the right and a plastic container in the upper left cabinet. As soon as the rolls are finished you can put them in the container so we can take them with us.” She looked at him. “Once you do, we’ll leave.”

With any luck, everything would go according to plan. For Diaz, that meant his cousin would finally be in safe hands, travelling back here to be healed.

For Kele, it meant the end of Carreon and hopefully the beginning of her redemption. She would settle for nothing less.

You have so little time, Isabel’s voice whispered in Zeke’s thoughts, less than twelve hours.

He had to make the prisoners talk; it was the only way for him to get to Carreon and stop this madness. Zeke tried to move his mouth but it wouldn’t work. His limbs were weighted, the muscles in his neck and shoulders tense with pain. Exhaustion continued to grip him, refusing to let go.

So little time, so little—

He sank back into darkness—on some level understanding that he was asleep—and saw Liz. She smiled at him as though everything were all right. They were safe finally. Taking his hand, she placed it on her swollen belly.

“Did you feel the baby’s kick?” she whispered.

Indecent joy rolled through Zeke at the thought of their child. A son…or a little girl? He saw himself holding Gabrielle who then turned into a different baby, one that belonged to him and Liz. A sister Gabrielle would have loved and protected had she been here. Had Carreon not—

Even in his dream, Zeke couldn’t bring himself to relive her death. His sadness turned to happiness as he watched this new child growing up in a real home, not the clan’s stronghold, but a house in one of the area’s countless suburbs with grass in the front yard, a play area in the back that boasted a sand box and a swing set and—

Carreon’s office. The image intruded so quickly, Zeke flinched. He gaped at a woman’s legs, her moccasin half on her foot. Fire licking it.

Noooo.

He struggled to wake up. His nightmare—or was it a vision?—wouldn’t allow it. Like a camera, it honed in on a mark near the woman’s foot. A mole? No. A scar on the ankle that Zeke hadn’t noticed before. Couldn’t be Liz. He’d been intimate with every inch of her flesh. The only imperfection on it was the reddish stain on her palm that proved she could heal.

Wasn’t it?

Uncertainty screamed through him. Instantly, Zeke awoke. He was slumped over the desk in the prisoners’ room. The two men were still in their chairs, their heads hanging down with sleep.

“You okay?” Jacob asked from the doorway.

No. “How long have I been out?”

“Just a few minutes.”

“How many?”

“Only an hour and a half.”

Zeke stood so quickly, his chair fell over and smacked into the floor. The prisoners jerked awake at the noise. “How could you have let me sleep that long?” he snapped. “Why did you let me sleep at all?”

“You’re exhausted. We thought…” Rather than finish, Jacob looked at Paul.

“It wasn’t all that long,” the man said.

It was time he no longer had. Carreon wasn’t about to back down at the end of the twelve hours. Neither would Isabel. Zeke had to get Liz, her father and Jacob away from here before he no longer had the chance.

“Come with me,” Zeke said to his brother, then hurried down the hall.

“Hey,” Jacob said, catching up. “Where are you going?”

Zeke ran to his room. He opened the door so hurriedly it crashed against the limestone, causing the walls to glow, then flicker like a nightclub’s strobe light. The bed was empty.

His skin crawled. “Liz!”

She wasn’t in the bath. Zeke ran back into the bedroom. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” Jacob said, “but she can’t have gone far. One of our men is guarding the stronghold’s entrance.”

“That didn’t stop her from leaving the last time.” Zeke bolted from the room.

Jacob followed at a run. “Only because Carreon’s men had already gotten inside and shot Samuel.” He paused to gulp air. “She’s still here.”

“Where, dammit?”

“Her father’s room?”

He checked. Dr. Munez lay on his side, asleep. Zeke closed the door as quietly as he could, deciding that they’d come back for him later. Given his age, Munez’s pace would only slow them down now. “She must be in the dining room.”

At this hour, it was empty, the area dark. Shafts of light poured from the walls in the kitchen area, creating shadows on the long tables, the numerous chairs. Brief noises interrupted the quiet. The sounds of metal cookware tapping against burners. Cabinets being opened, then closed.

Several women looked over as Zeke and Jacob hurried inside, Isabel among them.

Zeke kept himself from shuddering at the sight of her. She didn’t look any different than she always did—always had through the centuries. However, he knew what she was.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

You have so little time, her thoughts had whispered to him as he slept. The beginning of her mind control, her wiping Liz from him forever?

He lied quickly, “Nothing. Jacob and I are just checking to make certain everything’s all right.”

She stepped toward them. It took all of Zeke’s will not to flinch or move back, which would only alarm Jacob and cause him to ask too many inconvenient questions.

“Why wouldn’t everything be all right?” Isabel asked.

One of the other women huffed. She was in her early fifties, her husband, son and grandchildren living in this stronghold. “He let Kele and Carreon’s brother leave. No telling who Kele will bring back with her this time.”

“Pedro,” Jacob said, his tone as hard as hers. “A kid who needs our help.”

“You should worry about your own,” the woman shot back.

“Kele can’t get inside unless we allow it,” Zeke cut in, his attention on Isabel, not the other woman. “What happened before won’t happen again.”

“It’s getting late,” Isabel said. “You know that, don’t you, Zeke?”

You have so little time.

He backed up, then hurried from the room.

Jacob was at his side in an instant. “What’s with Isabel? What did she mean about it being late?”

“I don’t know.”

“What did you two talk about before?”

“Could Liz be in your room?”

Jacob lifted his shoulders. “Maybe.”

She wasn’t. Zeke’s belly twisted.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Jacob said, “where in the fuck did she—hey, where are you going?”

Zeke spoke over his shoulder as he raced down the hall. “Meeting room.” It was the only place left that made sense.

He found her in front of the large computer screen, focused on the image of Carreon’s lieutenant strangling the stripper.

Zeke pulled Liz into his arms and held her tightly. He swallowed at how she shivered. “We’ll fix this,” he promised, even though he couldn’t. Not from here. Not at this time. The fucking prisoners weren’t simply refusing to speak, they really didn’t know where Carreon was.

Liz gripped Zeke’s tee in her hands and shuddered. “Carreon’s probably already sent some of his men to the stronghold so someone will be there when I—”

“You’re not going back.”

“We don’t have much time left.”

Zeke tightened his embrace, not wanting to hear the defeat in her words. He had to protect her. They had to have a future no matter what Carreon or Isabel wanted. He was this clan’s fucking leader. There had to be a way to fix this.

How? With what?

Think, dammit.

Liz moved against him as though she ached to stay, but couldn’t.

“I won’t let you go,” Zeke whispered to her. “I’ll find a way to make this right. I’ll…” He didn’t continue, not knowing what else to say.

Jacob watched them for a moment, then went around the table to the computer Kele had been using. “Maybe the answer’s right in front of us and we didn’t see it.”

Zeke shook his head. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s look at what we have and go through it again. It couldn’t hurt.” He brought up the screen and frowned.

“What is it?” Zeke asked.

Jacob sank into the chair. His fingers flew over the keyboard, then stopped. He shook his head. “This isn’t right.”

Zeke stopped hugging Liz. With his arms still around her, he turned to Jacob. “What isn’t?”

“The most recent downloads were deleted. Why would she do that?”

Who? Isabel? “What are you talking about?”

“Kele. She erased the history, or thought she had.” Jacob stared at the screen as he continued, “Nothing’s ever really gone from a computer. I’m bringing it back up.”

“Why would she delete anything as important as this?” Liz asked.

Zeke hadn’t a clue. What purpose would it serve? It wasn’t as if she was going to try to win Jacob over again. That was over. Zeke had seen it in Kele’s expression, the depth of sorrow and shame in her eyes. She hadn’t been acting. He knew she—

His thoughts paused as remnants of his earlier vision returned. Again, he saw a woman’s legs. A fire. An unpleasant taste filled his mouth. His voice didn’t sound like his own. “Does Kele have a scar on her ankle?”

Jacob studied the screen. “Maybe.”

“Does she?” Zeke snapped.

His brother and Liz stared at him. “I don’t know,” Jacob said.