“I brought you some clothes.”
Rush was lying on his back on the cot, tossing his makeshift ball into the air and catching it over and over. Lord knew how long he’d been doing this. He’d made the ball out of several pages from the Playboy magazine to entertain himself. It was certainly an improvement over staring at the ridiculously endowed women in the magazine, and he’d long since read every article between the covers.
He caught the ball and turned his head toward Storm. “That was kind of you,” he commented snarkily.
“Lunch too.”
“Is that what time it is? Lunchtime?” More snark in his voice. If it weren’t for the arrival of meals every few hours during the day and the long silence at night, he wouldn’t have the first clue if it were day or night. This damn basement didn’t even have small windows.
Storm leaned a hip against the metal bars and stared at Rush.
Enough snark, Rush thought. The guy looked like he might be interested in conversation this time. That was golden.
The only two people Rush had seen since arriving here were Storm and the woman he now knew was named Marian. She’d finally told him her name.
He’d been here eight days now. “How long do they plan on keeping me?” he asked solemnly, his gaze trained on Storm.
“Not sure.” Storm had softened. Rush knew this guy was undoubtedly a servant in this house, hardly better off than Rush. “Depends.”
Rush chuckled. “On if the woman gets pregnant.” It wasn’t a question.
Storm shrugged. He drew in a breath. His lips parted, but then he closed them.
“What?” Rush asked spinning to sit on the cot. “Go ahead.”
“How will we know and when?”
Rush blinked, trying to read between the lines. Finally, he understood. “Definitively? With a pregnancy test or a blood test. I assume she has a doctor who inseminated her?”
Storm nodded. “Yes.”
Rush nodded. At least these people didn’t do it themselves. “Are her periods regular?”
“Yes.”
Rush stared at this man for several seconds. He sure knew a lot about the woman who’d been inseminated. Intimate details. “You can assume when she misses her period. An over-the-counter test might give you results a few days before that if you want to know before anyone else. Some women know sooner because their bodies change.”
“How?” Storm swallowed hard.
Shit. Storm was in love with this woman. Rush suddenly felt bad for him. The guy was fidgeting with nerves, and he didn’t look like he’d slept much.
Rush drew in a breath. “Some women’s breasts get tender within days. Maybe a week. They realize their bodies are changing before a test will show a positive result.”
“Okay.” Storm ran a hand over his head. Frustration was wafting off of him.
“I’m sorry, man,” Rush murmured. “I can see this is hard on you. Imagine how I feel.” That’s my fucking baby we’re talking about.
Storm nodded. “Right. Of course.”
Rush stood and took a few steps toward Storm. He didn’t want the man to panic and flee the basement, but he wanted to do everything in his power to get this man on his side so he could help him get the fuck out of here.
He suddenly had an idea. “Look. I know you don’t belong here. I assume whoever else is on your side upstairs doesn’t either. Not just the woman but whoever she’s married to. These people are your friends. Your family.” He was guessing, but he felt confident in his assessment.
Storm lowered his gaze but didn’t deny anything. Good.
“If you can find a way to get me out of here, I can take you somewhere safe. I have people. Good people. I was with them when I was kidnapped three months ago. I assumed I was taken for my medical skills, but that obviously isn’t the case.”
Rush shuffled the rest of the way and wrapped his hand around one of the bars a few feet from Storm. “I come from a large community of people whose mission is to provide safety. A group who believes in free will.” Rush was taking a risk, but he didn’t have much to lose. It wasn’t like he was sharing state secrets. The Republic was well aware of the existence of groups like The Wanderers.
It was quite possible Storm had no idea though. He was young enough that he might have spent most of his life in isolation, cut off from the real world.
“Can you tell me where we are?”
Storm lifted his gaze and swallowed. “I shouldn’t.”
Rush shrugged. “Okay. But think about it. I was drugged when I was abducted. I don’t have the first clue what direction I was taken or how long we traveled. If I knew where I was, I could help figure out how to get back to my people.”
Rush needed to shut up. He couldn’t be sure he could trust this guy. He was gambling with his life. If Storm turned around and alerted anyone that Rush knew the location of an illegal community, Rush could end up being tortured for information.
Storm ran a hand over his face and met Rush’s gaze. “Let me talk to my friends.”
Rush nodded. “Okay.”
Storm stared at him. “You’re not dicking me around? You really do know a place?”
“Swear to it. I will get you there. And, Storm…” Rush drew in another deep breath. “If the woman really is pregnant, I’ll move mountains to help you. She’ll be carrying my baby. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to either of them or anyone else who is important to her.”
Storm nodded. “I’ll get back to you. If I find out you’re lying to me and you breathe a word of this to anyone in this house…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but his warning was clear.
“We’re in the same boat, Storm. If you tell anyone what I’ve shared, I could be tortured to death.” He lifted a brow.
Storm nodded again, hesitated, and then turned to head back up the stairs.
Rush watched him disappear, gripping the bars of his cell. For the first time in months, he had hope. A possibility that someone might help him get out of this godforsaken mess.
He wasn’t kidding about the woman. He’d bet money she was young. Perhaps even purchased. Most likely actually. She was probably scared out of her mind. And if she was pregnant with Rush’s child…
He shuddered. He would indeed move mountains to help her.
He needed to know where the hell he was first. He assumed he was east of The Wanderers. The majority of The Republic’s citizens lived outside the D.C. area. Perhaps Virginia.
It would take a lot of organizing to get back to the Midwest, but hopefully, Storm and his friends had resources.
He was getting ahead of himself. He didn’t even know definitively Storm hadn’t gone right up those stairs and turned Rush in to the authorities.
He refused to believe that though. Now, all he could do was wait. Again.
This time he wasn’t simply waiting for food or clothes or conversation. He was also waiting to find out if the woman upstairs was pregnant with his child.