Subject Seven

Chapter Twenty-One
Hunter Harrison

The hotel room was different this time. Much nicer. Also, there were clothes, real clothes, the sort he could wear without having to hold the jeans up. They were in his size, or close enough that it didn’t matter.

Hunter looked around the room warily. If there was one thing he’d gotten used to, it was being played by the man who was keeping him enslaved. He wanted to be angry, but it was hard. He couldn’t keep the fury going. Instead he was tired, and much as he hated it, he was getting used to his life in hotel rooms.

Someone knocked at the door and he realized that the sound was exactly what had awakened him. “Room service!” The voice was friendly enough. He walked over to the door and looked through the tiny lens that allowed him to see a distorted version of what was on the other side. A man was there, young, dark haired, with a uniform that spoke volumes for the sort of place he was staying in.

The man had a cart covered with dishes.

Close enough, he thought, and opened the door.

“Hey. Um, come on in.”

The man wheeled his cart into the room. Hunter caught the odor of the food under the sterling covers and his stomach made a rude noise. He was ravenous. He was almost always hungry these days.

A five-dollar bill in his pants pocket went to the guy who brought the food. He couldn’t remember if he’d ever had room service before, but the odds were he was supposed to tip and so he did. He signed for the meal, wondering who would be paying the bill.

There was a steak, medium rare and nearly perfect. There was a salad that he thought about ignoring and then ate anyway. There were vegetables and there was a thick soup in a bowl made of bread. He looked under the last lid and found a slice of chocolate cake that looked like it had been carved from heaven itself. He took his time and savored every last bite and patted his belly when he was done. After what seemed like months of little more than canned food and water, the food was amazing.

When he was done eating, he reached under the bed and pulled out the laptop. It was in the same spot as always. The difference was, this time when he opened the case and pulled out the computer itself, there was an envelope. Inside the envelope was a CD-ROM disc. Written on the disc was PLAY ME.

Despite the temptation to break the disc in half, he slipped it into the player and watched as it activated. The media player opened and showed him the darkly shadowed shape of a teenage boy. The form was bulky, with longish hair and a dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves.

The voice that came from the silhouette was as hated as it was familiar.

“Well, thought you might like a decent meal for a change of pace, Hunter. Thought you could enjoy some real food. You’ve earned it.” He sounded amused, condescending and self-satisfied. The tone of his voice was almost enough to ruin the meal.

The shape leaned back in a chair that was also lost in shadows.

“Here’s the thing. It’s time for me to keep my part of the bargain. I have information for you. Not just for you, but for a few others who have the same sort of questions. They’ll be meeting you at this room very soon. When all of you are together, there’ll be a limousine waiting to take the lot of you to one final destination. The answers to most of your questions are there.”

The shadow shape leaned forward again, close enough that Hunter could see the strong jawline and the sneer on the expressive mouth.

“See? This is what happens when you play by my rules, Hunter. Dinner and answers. We’ll talk again soon.”

The screen went dead.

He played the message a dozen more times, looking for any hint of the face that was hidden in the shadows. Whoever he was, the man made sure he couldn’t be seen clearly. Hunter hated him a little more for that.

He was thinking about watching the disc again when someone knocked on the door. This time it wasn’t room service. It was a thin, dark-haired girl dressed in tight jeans and a baby tee that said she was spoiled in glittering letters. She would have been cute if it wasn’t for the sour expression on her face.

She jabbed a finger in his direction like a dagger. “You got answers about my money and everything else, you better start talking. I’m tired and I’m having a really bad day, so you don’t want to make it any worse.”

That was how Hunter Harrison met Tina Carlotti. He did a great deal of fast talking to convince her to calm down.