Page 70 of Red Marked

He thinks I’m beautiful. It makes me feel a little better, even though it shouldn’t.

“If you bend over like that, you’ll draw a whole lot of unwanted attention. You can’t stand out any more than you do already.”

“I won’t!” I shake my head. “Thank you for making me aware. I get it.” Then I start nodding.

“I’ll help you prepare. It’ll be an adjustment, that’s all.”

“Okay. I apologize. I’m…I…I wasn’t thinking, but I will be more careful. I can’t believe I made such a stupid mistake.”

“Stop apologizing. It wasn’t stupid. It’s done. You’re intelligent and think on your feet. You’ll adjust quickly. I’m sorry if I overreacted. I was just…um…surprised…that’s all.”

“You didn’t overreact. It’s on me.” I smile. “I was going to make you breakfast.” I spin around, checking on the bacon, which I start flipping over. “Do you like bacon and eggs? I’m assuming you do, since they’re in your refrigerator.”

“I do.” He smiles. “That bacon smells good. How can I help?”

“Sit…you’ve got a whole day ahead. It’s the least I can do. You didn’t get much sleep.”

“It’s fine. I can crack a few eggs.” He lifts his brows.

“Okay…yeah…sure.” I pick up the milk, careful not to show anything.

I can’t believe that happened.

Shit!

“Thanks,” he tells me as he takes the milk. “I have three days off soon. We will sneak you out of here, across the jungle boundary, and into Mistveil City. I have an idea that might work. It’s a better plan than the one you have.”

“Oh yeah?” I lift my brows. “What kind of a plan?”

Flint starts cracking eggs into a bowl. “I want you to give me a rundown of what happened and how you ended up on that mountain. Once I look into your story and confirm all the facts, we’ll talk some more.”

I feel disappointed that he doesn’t trust me, but I understand. I know it isn’t personal. I’m asking a lot of him.

“Just over five years ago, I worked at the Mistveil vaccination center. I was the PA to the head of the clinic. It was a good job. A bit boring but good.” I shrug, moving a piece of bacon, and it sizzles.

He nods, opening the milk and pouring some into the eggs.

“I was thinking about applying for another position. In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t dragged my feet, or I wouldn’t be in my current position. Anyway, one morning, I received an email.” I pause, lifting my eyes for a moment as I remember that day. “I opened it. I knew it had to do with the vaccinations, but it was so filled with medical jargon that I immediately forwarded it to my boss, who was a doctor. I assumed it was meant for him.” I clear my throat. “Unfortunately, my boss read it and forwarded it to another doctor at the clinic, asking her opinion on the contents. Fenn didn’t open the email. He then tried to send it to his direct supervisor, but it bounced. By then, the Wi-Fi was down.” I chew on my lip. The bacon fat spits, and I start taking out the done pieces. “At this point, the lines were dead. None of our cell phones worked either. We had no signal whatsoever.”

“The memo was about the vaccinations not being what we thought?” Flint whisks the eggs.

“Exactly right.” My jaw tightens.

He pours the eggs into a pan and takes a spatula out of a nearby drawer.

I take the rest of the bacon out of the pan and switch off the heat.

“To think that all these years we thought they were for hemorrhagic fever.” My voice sounds hollow. “The clinic was there to administer the drug but also to help females struggling with infertility. Can you believe the irony?”

“Oh shit! Really?”

“That’s why there were so many Red females in the building when the whole thing went down. Most were patients there for fertility treatments.”

“That’s crazy.” Flint stirs the eggs. They look nearly done. He takes some plates and silverware out of the cabinet. “What happened next?” he asks.

“It couldn’t have been ten or fifteen minutes later when we were raided by males with guns. I thought we were dead. They came through every door of that clinic at once, and they took all of us, loading us into the back of a truck. It all happened so fast that my head was spinning. It was in the back of that truck that my boss told us what the memo had said; that’s how we knew why we had been taken. Someone accidentally sent that email, and I opened the damned thing.”

“It’s not your fault.” He dishes the eggs onto the plates. “You were doing your job.”