“We brought in her mother,” he continued for Merritt. “Gracey flipped out. It seemed—like she maybe grounded through the table or something?” If grounding included a concussive thunderclap that destroyed walls and ceilings, sure. He slowly nodded his head, filling his voice with disbelief. “She used her ground as a weapon?”
Merritt grunted. “I’m surprised no one’s thought of it before, actually. You’d have to be pretty desperate. What did you get out of her?”
Alex growled his frustration. “Not a damn thing yet. Where is she? Let me have her for a few minutes, and I’ll get it out of her.”
Merritt shook his head. “She’s gone.”
“What? How?” He kept his stare locked on Merritt’s.
The man shook his head again. “She blew up the damn place. Room upstairs came down on it. Exterior wall is blown to Dust. Looks like she climbed right out. She should have been restrained.”
“She was,” he answered. He shook his arm in a small movement meant to show his displeasure at being strapped to the board. “Let me up. This is my case. I can find her.”
The nurse above him shook her head. “You’re not going anywhere until we can get a doctor down here to make sure you haven’t broken anything.”
“Then get me a damn doctor,” he snapped.
“I can’t,” she snapped back.
“She can’t,” Merritt said simultaneously. “Gracey blew the whole building. Every area behind a security door is locked down. We’re trying to figure out the extent of the damage. We can’t get anything back up yet. Right now, the Council building is dead, and almost all of our people are trapped.”
Alex stared at him, his mouth hanging open. The entire building?
She was a hell of a woman. He wanted that trick. He had to get her to teach him all of the fun things she could do.
He recovered a moment later. “Unstrap me,” he commanded the nurse above him. “I’m fine.”
She pushed on his left side. Alex roared, tears springing to his eyes. When she released, the sound faded to an angry hiss.
“Fine, huh? And what about your ear?”
He glowered at her. “I’m a Spark. My ear’s already healing. My ribs will be fine in a week. My back’s fine. My legs and arms are fine. Wrap my chest. Give me something for the pain. It’s not the first time I’ve had broken ribs.”
Merritt looked at him appraisingly.
“Wrap me up and let me go. This is my case. She may be long gone, but if anyone can find her, I can.”
Merritt nodded at the nurse. She sighed and shook her head, but she unstrapped Alex from the back board. He braced himself before pushing up, gritting his teeth against the pain. He kept his breathing as shallow as possible while she wrapped his ribcage with tight bandages.
“Who’s out there, and where are they?” Alex asked Merritt.
“We’ve got four teams out at a ten-block radius, sweeping in. She can’t have gotten that far.”
“Four teams?”
“Everyone else is on recovery or locked down. Even our strongest Sparks can’t get those shorted doors to respond. We can hear them working on them from the other side, too, but they’re not coming open.”
Alex shook his head. “Shut down the city gates.”
“She’s not getting past—”
“She’ll get past. She might already have. She’s got resources. She’s slipped us twice now. Twice. Shut down the city gates. Nobody in or out. Give me forty-eight hours.” Alex needed that time. He needed them focused on the commotion that shutting down the gates would cause, allowing him to get her out via the tunnels.
“I can’t shut down the gates for two days. There’s no way. We have people out there—”
“She killed the Councilor’s Director of Security.”
“I worked with the man every day. I damn well know what the situation is.”
“Twenty-four hours.” Alex stared at Merritt. He had to get something from the man.
Merritt chewed his mustache. “Twenty-four. Who do you want with you?”
“My junior.”
“He’s down. Maybe permanently.”
Alex shook his head. “I don’t want anybody. My case.”
“That’s not happening. You’re not in any shape to be out there alone. If you can’t think of anyone you want then I’ll—”
“Fernie Salas, if he’s not locked upstairs.” He straightened and rocked gingerly. The pain stabbed through him.
The nurse gave him a look.
He had to be sure he could move.
Merritt nodded. “Fine. You should know before you head out—Councilor wants her alive.” Merritt raised a brow and made a small shrugging movement with his broad shoulders.
***