Veil of Justice, Shadows of Justice Book 3 by Regan Black

long time
ago," she lied.
    "It's short," he said. He straightened and
took a step, absorbed with the discussion. "You'd have to get in
very close."
    His eager, breathless tone spooked her. She
swallowed her fear and spoke carefully, "Sometimes a disadvantage
becomes the advantage."
    His gaze lifted from the knife to her, his
head tipped in a sweet sort of confusion. The effect was
unsettling.
    "So, what brings you out tonight?" she
asked.
    "Dr. Leo said I could hunt." Something in his
eyes told her time was up. He wouldn't be distracted any longer.
"He said I could hunt...you."
    "We could make it a game," she said. "More
fun for you that way. What's your name?"
    "Simon."
    "Well it's good to meet you, Simon." She had
to finish this fast, or lose Nathan and the ambulance entirely.
    Before Simon could back up, or attack, she
gave the dirk a spin. His eyes, locked onto the blade's movement,
missed the incoming kick to his groin. She put everything she had
behind the move, envisioning his balls lodging somewhere up around
his stomach. He collapsed in a heap at her feet.
    Kelly fished another packet of sleeping
powder from her pocket. Using more than was strictly required, she
blew it into his nose. Then, tucking that terrible blade into the
front of his scuffed boot, she said a prayer. If God, or even her
father, was listening, Simon might sever a tendon when he woke
up.
    "Sweet dreams." Tossing him a salute, she
jogged after the ambulance.
     
    * * *
     
    Feeling the ambulance rock beneath him,
Nathan willed his muscles to respond, to act, but failed to
accomplish anything. The exertion was pointless. If he couldn’t
force his heart and lungs to engage beyond the absolute minimum, he
certainly wasn't going to regain voluntary muscle control.
    An insistent, arrhythmic banging continued
near his feet, making it impossible to pick out other sounds around
him. It had to be the door. If Simon was still here, he'd close the
damn thing so Nathan had to assume Simon gone, happy to obey
Kristoff's order.
    If he could only see he could work with his
telekinetic skills. No drug was foolproof – especially when no
chemist in all of recorded history had found a way to factor in a
patient's willpower.
    Willpower. Well, duh. His time in the hole
had dulled him more than he realized. Let's hope it's not
permanent . The abuse had reduced him to thinking like a
cornered animal. Something Kristoff was surely counting on.
    Nathan relaxed completely as a plan formed in
his mind. This wasn’t his first time in an ambulance. Most of them
followed the same basic design and layout. Carefully, he brought a
memory into focus. He used it to visualize the placement of
equipment. Getting comfortable with the image, he pictured the
equipment moving.
    Hearing a clatter, followed by a curse,
Nathan gave himself a mental high five. He’d found the weak spot in
the drug and learned he wasn't alone back here. Next, he thought of
the doors, the handle configuration, and the way the latches moved
and interacted.
    More cursing, a swerve, and then fresh air
tickled his nose as he managed to unzip the body bag just a little.
He celebrated the minor victory.
    "What the hell’s going on?" Kristoff shouted
through the cab window.
    Nathan pictured the window sliding closed and
it slammed obediently. If any of his facial muscles could move,
he’d be smiling ear to ear.
    His paralyzed body sloshed within the bag as
the ambulance dipped and heaved. Nathan wondered at the cause, but
stuck to his plan. He flipped latches that held cabinets closed and
sent items sailing about, slapping them against the window he'd
closed on Kristoff.
    He imagined letting the air out of a tire and
soon the ambulance was fishtailing. When the ambulance rumbled to a
stop, several raised voices told him it wasn't nearly enough.
    "Come on back here and play!" He willed the
thought to reach someone, but no one seemed affected.
    Damn. He couldn't let Kelly deal with this
alone. He focused on the