CHAIN REACTION

Crossing her arms, Mia fought to contain a shiver. Now she knew what Alice had felt like at the bottom of the rabbit hole. Only she didn’t have a little bottle to help her get out of the door.

As if on cue, said door swung open sending her scrambling for the bed.

“You’re up.” The man in the doorway was a stranger. And unlike the rest of the staff attending her, not dressed in scrubs. It was almost absurd the relief she felt at the sight of someone so seemingly normal.

“I was just testing my legs.” She sat down on the bed, her feet swinging above the floor making her feel all of about two. Resisting the urge to stand up again, she tucked her legs underneath her instead, careful to keep the blue cotton gown covering all the strategic places.

The man smiled, the expression easing the harsh cast of his features. Not handsome by any kind of standards, his face was still interesting, and her fingers itched for pencil and paper. The sharp angle of his jaw was bisected by the faint white line of a scar. Dark hair curled around his ears and temples, a silky wash of blue on black. His mouth hinted at a sensuous side. The sardonic twist of his lips almost making her want to reach out and touch them.

Touch him.

She fisted her hands. This was a dangerous man, his stance predatory, his veiled gaze cautious and knowing all at the same time. Whoever this was – he was not her friend.

“So how’d it go?”

For a moment she had no idea what he was talking about, then realized he was looking pointedly at her legs. “Better than yesterday. I think all the drugs are playing havoc with my coordination.” Of course she wasn’t actually taking all of them, but he didn’t know that.

“They have a way of doing that,” he shrugged, his eyes still probing hers as he held out his hand. “My name is Nicholas Price.”

Mia hesitated, not sure exactly why she still had reservations about touching him. Maybe just because he was the first person who’d been anything but perfunctory with her since she’d woken up to find reality altered. “Mia Kearney,” she said, shaking his hand for only the briefest of moments, and then retreating back farther onto the bed. “But then I suspect you already know that.”

“Yes, I do.” His voice was mild almost soothing, the sound puzzling. Nicholas Price didn’t look like a gentle man. “I understand you’ve been through quite an ordeal.”

“So I’ve been told. But I don’t remember anything traumatic. Except maybe being in here.” She hadn’t meant for the last to slip out. And an ugly idea occurred to her. “Are you a shrink?”

Nicholas laughed, the sound genuine, buoying her heart even as she questioned his sincerity. “If you only knew how ridiculous the idea is. No. I’m not even a doctor. I work for the government.”

Her mother had always made that word seem dirty, but Nicholas Price used it as though it would explain everything. “Who exactly is it you work for, Mr. Price?”

“Most people call me Nick.” There was a false note of congeniality in his voice. As if he wanted her to believe he was her friend.

But he wasn’t.

“I’m not most people.” She pitched her voice to match his tone, and offered a smile.

Amusement crested in his eyes. “I can see that. Mind if I sit down?” He tilted his head toward the lone chair in the room. A dilapidated ladder back that looked as though it had seen better days.

“It’s your prison.”

“Now why would you say that?” His expression was back to guarded, and she wondered what she’d said to put him on alert.

“Because the door’s locked?” She waved at the door as if just looking at it would prove the point.

“Maybe they just want to be sure you stay put.”

“Now there’s a blinding glimpse of the obvious. Look, why don’t we just skip the social niceties. I’m a captive audience, Mr. Price. So just get on with it.”

She might have been mistaken but she thought she saw the slightest hint of admiration in his face. Not that she gave a damn.

“I want to know what happened out there, Mia.” His use of her first name grated on her nerves. She wasn’t a kid and she didn’t know him from Adam. But she held her tongue, there wasn’t much point in arguing.

“I already told you, I don’t remember anything.”

“Well, I’m not sure I believe you. Your doctors say there isn’t any physical reason why you can’t remember.”

“So maybe I wasn’t conscious when it happened.”

“It?”

“The nuclear meltdown or whatever it was. They haven’t really been all that forthcoming.”

“It was an explosion. At least that’s what the briefing papers call it.”

“Papers?” She couldn’t help the question.

“That’s all we’ve got to work with at the moment. The site’s too hot. No one’s going in there right now.”

“The site. You mean Cedar Branch?” She frowned, trying to assimilate the information. “So is everyone else here too?”

“As far as I know you’re the only survivor.”

“I’m sorry?” Panic rose, bitter in throat, threatening to cut off her air supply.

“I said you’re the only one who survived.”

“People were killed?” The surprise in her voice must have alarmed him, and he looked away, clearly realizing he’d said too much. “Come on, Mr. Price – Nick – you can’t just drop something like that on me and then clam up.” The back of her eyes tightened with tears. “How many people are dead?”

He paused, still staring down at his hands, then looked up. “Everyone was killed, Mia. Everyone living in Cedar Branch is dead.”

Excerpt from CHAIN REACTION by Dee Davis, Copyright ©2007 by Dee Davis. All rights reserved. Reprint only with permission from author. Please contact dee@deedavis.com.