It had taken Lawrence a few minutes to realize something was happening to Shane. Lawrence had been trying to ignore the pain in his broken wrist while ignoring Shane's jibes, so he had not recognized the signs at first. Shane seemed to have recovered from the toxin just like Lawrence and Steve. But after Steve left, the signs began to appear. At first, it was the way he squinted. Then he blinked and his eyes did not reopen all the way. When Shane did not respond to Lawrence's question, but only managed to awkwardly shake his head, Lawrence knew the toxin was still having an effect on Shane.
Shane must have known he was in trouble. He tried to raise his gun, but it dropped harmlessly to the ground. Lawrence kicked it away as Shane fell to his side.
For a moment, Lawrence stared down at his adversary, who was sprawled helplessly on the ground. Then, chuckling to himself, the momentary triumph suppressing any pain, he walked over to the gun and picked it off the floor. It felt heavy in his uninjured hand, the weight unusual for Lawrence. Usually, he left things like shooting to the Alamainia guards. Still, Lawrence turned the gun over in his hand and smiled.
This really does change everything.
He turned back to Shane, who remained where he had fallen. His eyes were half-closed and he was breathing fast.
"This. . . ." Lawrence said. "This, it would seem, changes everything."
"It . . . It changes nothing," Shane gasped. His words were slightly slurred, but Lawrence could make them out. A tremor ran through Shane's shoulder. His eyes closed and he seemed to grit his teeth in response.
Lawrence chuckled. "Still defiant, are we? And it looks so painful." He paused, remembering the jarring muscle spasms that had felt like fire tearing through his body. "Why am I talking about how it looks? We both know what you are feeling now, Captain. It really is too bad that Mr. Johnson isn't here to bail you out this time. How ironic. While he is off trying to stop Ivan from releasing the toxin at the school, you'll be dying. It's almost like he revisited my earlier options, but this time he's stuck with the ones I gave him."
Shane started to respond, but his words were cut off as he reacted to another spasm. Again, Shane's jaw clenched tight in an attempt to ward off the pain.
"Quite painful," Lawrence said with a chuckle.
Lawrence fell silent as he watched Shane shudder. Lawrence knew he needed to leave soon. If Johnson had escaped the compound, it was likely that he would call the police.
But not before I see Donovan die.
He told himself it wasn't just that he wanted his revenge. He also needed the video recording that showed Shane take his last breath. As Shane shook from another tremor, Lawrence told himself the end would come soon.
Soon the spasms would stop and he would stop moving altogether as the toxin ate away at the nervous system. First, the voluntary muscles would stop responding. Then, the entire system would shut down.
Soon.
He waited, but nothing seemed to change. The spasms continued to rack Shane's body, yet continued unabated. Lawrence began to feel a familiar frustration.
Why isn't he dying? Lawrence asked himself. He glanced at his watch and saw that time had passed. It had to be more than five minutes since he had detected the effects on Shane.
After a few more minutes of waiting impatiently, the tremors finally seemed to slow. Shane, his eyes barely opened, lay virtually motionless on his side. He stayed there, gasping for breath.
Yet even that seemed wrong to Lawrence. By this time, Shane's body should have been failing. The way his chest rose and fell with each gasp was not how the toxin was supposed to work.
And Shane definitely should not have been able to laugh.
But he did. From the ground, Lawrence heard the sound of weak laughter. Then, somehow, Shane turned his head and forced his eyes open a little so he was staring up at Lawrence.
"Still think your buyers will be impressed?" Shane said, his words barely audible, but the mocking tone quite clear.
Lawrence scowled. "This isn't how it's supposed to work," he snapped, his anger rising. "You're supposed-"
"To die," Shane said. "I heard that already." He seemed to laugh again, but the weak sounds came out in a bit of a choking cough. "Sorry to disappoint you. . . ." He finished out of breath and appeared to struggle to get air.
Maybe it's working now. Lawrence watched hopefully. He glanced at his watch again. More than ten minutes had passed.
But the insufferable man seemed to recover. Shane swallowed and gave Lawrence a look approximating a smile. "After all this time, you still can't even kill one man, not even one who isn't in top shape." Shane shook his head.
Silently, Lawrence screamed in frustration. He shouldn't be able to do that.
"You're finished," Shane said. "When you're so-called buyers see this, they won't go near your toxin. If-" He broke off with a pained grimace, then looked back up. "If you can't kill one man close up, it won't matter what happens anywhere else."
"Be quiet," Lawrence growled. "You're supposed to be dead." Not talking. Not mocking me.
But Shane would not stay silent. Still mocking, he said, "Leopold must be proud. This is what you planned. All this time. . . ." His words trailed off again.
"Stop it!" Lawrence yelled. This can't be happening. He paced back and forth, watching Shane, waiting for the next stage to take effect. Time ticked away. Lawrence knew he had to escape, but he couldn't leave. Not while his enemy was breathing. His anger rising, Lawrence snapped, "Why won't you die?"
Shane laughed. "You've failed, Lawrence. Just admit it."
Never. I can't fail. I'm an Alamain.
"You're a failure," Shane said, his voice seeming to grow even stronger.
Lawrence flushed, a combination of embarrassment and fury. "You're wrong," he snarled.
He was physically shaking from the sheer force of the anger within him. Something hit his leg and it dawned on him that he was still holding the gun. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths and steadied himself. Then he raised the gun and pointed it at Shane.
"If nothing else, Donovan, I can still kill you."