Rick left the general’s office with more questions on his mind than he had answers. He had a bit of nervous energy that he needed to work off before he exploded. After changing into his workout clothes, he went in search of a gym. He found Marlaina inside the gym on one of the treadmills. Her blonde hair was slick against her head from sweating. Her face was red from exertion. It was apparent that she’d been on the machine for a while. Rick hadn’t wanted company while he was working out, so he ignored her. There were too many variables about being in a place where you didn’t know who to trust. As of right now, his trust was limited to those who had saved his and Lydia’s lives, and only a few had their hands in that.
Rick watched as Marlaina’s gaze ran the full length of his body and back up. She narrowed her eyes and licked her lips. He didn’t know if she was interested or pissed off. Talk about mixed signals. Regardless, she wasn’t acting like her usual self. Rick shook his head and ignored the blonde’s looks and walked over to the punching bag. He dropped his towel on a nearby bench, ran tape around both of his hands, shoved in his ear buds, and hit play on his iPod. He let the loud music soak into his soul and drown out his overactive thoughts as he started to pound out his frustrations into the hanging bag.
He was lost in rhythm he’d created with the combination punch. Sweat dripped down his nose, and he hit the bag harder, imagining he was fighting with Floyd. The vision he’d seen of Lydia lying unconscious when he was rescued flashed in his mind. Rick gritted his teeth and nailed the bag, not holding back. The seventy-pound bag was torn from the brackets in the ceiling, went flying across the room, and crashed into the drywall.
He’d been in the zone while hitting the bag. He hadn’t even seen Brody walk in, but he was standing next to him now.
“Easy, tiger.” Brody pointed toward the gaping dent in the wall. “Have you always been able to do that?”
Rick shook his head. He stood there in disbelief that it was even possible he’d had the strength. “I must have had an adrenaline rush. You know those kinds that let average men lift cars off little old ladies.”
Brody patted him on the back. “Adrenaline. Maybe.”
Rick turned toward Brody. “What are you doing here? Have you checked in on Lydia? Is she okay?”
Brody laughed. “Calm down, Romeo. I’ve already looked in on her, and she’s sleeping. I think almost dying might have been too much for her.”
Rick ran his hand through his hair. “I meant to thank you for what you did, but the Bennetts took Lydia, and I didn’t get the chance.”
Brody waved his hand in the air. “It’s nothing you wouldn’t have done for me.”
Rick shook his head. “I’m not talking about saving me. I’m talking about the jolt you gave Lydia. Briggs said having a human defibrillator probably saved her life.
Brody’s smile fell. His lips thinned. “Man, I couldn’t let anything happen to her.” Brody turned around and walked to the door, pulling it open. He turned back to Rick. “It’s my fault we had to go get you in the first place. I failed her. You have my word that I won’t let it happen again.”
Brody went through the door, leaving Rick standing in the middle of the wrecked training room. He grabbed his towel and double-timed it out of the room to catch up with Brody. Rick caught up with him and patted him on the back. “You do realize that it’s going to take a lot more than I’m capable of to keep that asshole from getting his hands on her.”
“He won’t touch her as long as there’s a breath left in me.”
Rick felt some of the weight in his chest dissipate as he pulled the door open to the training room with the padded walls. He’d been in the room before when Lydia and Brody had been training. “How does the general expect you to train me because I can tell you…” Rick glanced around the room. “I’m not okay with you throwing crap at my head. I’m not like Lydia. I can’t deflect it.”
Brody walked to the middle of the room and turned toward Rick. “How do you know unless you try? I bet you’ve never unhinged a punching bag either.”
Brody levitated a plastic ball by the wall. “If I had to guess, Floyd already knew about Lydia and her gifts. It only stands to reason that he was trying to work on a serum to do one of two things. Either something that could disarm her gift of telekinesis…” The ball moved to the middle of the room. “Or something to give him the same ability.” The ball danced in the space between them. “How I see it is, either way, you’ll be able to stop this ball if you concentrate. You’ll either be able to stop my ability to use my gift or use your own and throw it back.”
Brody gave a slight nod. “Are you ready to try?”
Rick lifted a brow. “How in the hell am I supposed to do that?”
“Concentrate. Imagine Lydia is standing behind you and this ball is a knife that I’m going to use to kill her.”
Rick narrowed his eyes and glared at the ball. There was no way in hell that the ball was getting past him. The first three tries, he caught the ball in his hands as Brody moved the ball to hit him.
“Damn it, Rick, you can do better than that. What’s going to happen to Lydia if she’s drained of her gift and helpless? How are you going to stop this asshole, or aren’t you man enough to try?”