by Janie Crouch
Molly was now hooked up to an IV and had been seen by two different doctors. Derek hadn’t left her side the entire time. He’d told the doctors as much as he could without giving away any important details of the case. The cover story was that she’d been carjacked.
“Overall, I’d say you’re very lucky. Neither your nose nor your jaw is broken. I imagine the swelling will go down in the next twenty-four hours and there shouldn’t be any lasting effects from the blows to your face,” Dr. Martin, a kind woman in her midfifties had told Molly.
She flipped through some charts. “The drug in your system is Ketamine. That’s a medication mainly used when someone is having surgery, for starting and maintaining anesthesia, although it is used recreationally, also.”
“Will she have any lasting effects from that?” Derek asked.
“No.” Dr. Martin put the chart down and turned to Molly. “But honestly, given the amount still in your system after nearly thirty-six hours and your size and weight, you’re very fortunate that you didn’t go into cardiac arrest.”
“Well, I’ve been pretty out of it since they gave it to me. Hard to stay awake,” Molly told her.
“I’m sure. It’s almost out of your system now, and the IV will help flush out the rest.”
“How long will she need to stay here?” Derek asked.
“I’d like to keep her overnight, just for observation.”
“Do I have to?” Molly sounded like a child, even to herself. But she didn’t want to stay in the hospital.
Of course, Belisario’s men had taken her from her home, so going back there wasn’t safe. Molly didn’t know where she would go after the hospital. Maybe to a hotel.
“Just for one night.” The doctor had shaken hands with both Molly and Derek, then left.
Derek sat down on the chair across from her bed. “Don’t worry, I or someone I trust will be here with you the entire time.”
“I don’t think I said thank-you for coming to get me. Belisario...” She paused then restarted. “I would’ve been in real trouble if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”
Molly shuddered. She didn’t even want to think about what would’ve been happening to her right now if she was still back in Colombia. “I thought it might be days before anyone even realized I was gone.”
“I started looking for you as soon as I realized you weren’t at your condo when I came to pick you up yesterday morning.”
“Well, I wasn’t counting on that.”
Derek’s eyes narrowed just the slightest bit and he tilted his head to the side as if the thought of not picking her up had never even occurred to him. “Why? I told you I would come get you.”
Molly shrugged. “It’s just, we kissed the night before. Then you left pretty abruptly.”
“And because we kissed you thought I wouldn’t pick you up the next morning like I said I would.”
He was offended, she could tell.
Molly struggled with what to say. She wasn’t trying to insult him. But he had a pattern when it came to the two of them and their interactions.
“I’m not trying to say you wouldn’t keep your word, Derek.” Molly tried to look him in the eye, but it was hard. She looked at the top of his forehead instead, at his thick dark hair. “It’s just that after...something happens between the two of us physically, you tend to withdraw. Completely. You don’t really talk to me, definitely don’t touch me. You just withdraw. For months, even years.”
She cleared her throat. “You’re still friendly, nothing overt, mind you. But I always felt your total withdrawal from me. Maybe to protect yourself. Or maybe I just wasn’t what you wanted.”
She glanced down at his eyes and saw surprise. “Not that I’ve ever expected any commitment from you,” she was quick to continue. “You never made any promises, so I’m not trying to say you did anything wrong. I’m just saying that I figured you’d send someone else to get me yesterday morning or something, because of our kiss. Because you wouldn’t really want to see me. I figured I wouldn’t really talk to you again until sometime next year. If the pattern held.”
Derek was completely still in the chair across from her hospital bed, staring at her. Molly began to get uncomfortable. What if he didn’t even know what she was talking about? He had never once brought up the things that had happened between them in the past. What if he really didn’t remember?
She looked away toward the door, hoping some doctor or nurse or even one of Belisario’s men would come bursting through. Oh, to go back to the good old days where she couldn’t get a complete sentence out around Derek. Stuttering and stammering was much better than the hole she was digging for herself.
She glanced back at him to find him still in that frozen position. “You know what? Forget I even said anything. I must still have more of the drug in my system than they thought.”
Then Molly did what any adult scientist with a PhD and two advanced master’s degrees would do under the same situation: pulled the blanket up over her head.
Chapter Fourteen
Derek was pretty sure this sort of situation had never come up in his Omega tactical team training. It probably would’ve been in the How to Diffuse a Bomb Using Acupuncture and Other Impossible Situations You’ll Never Get Out of Unscathed class. Derek had obviously missed that one.
The damnedest thing was, Molly was right. He did withdraw. But he thought he had been all slick about it. That she hadn’t really noticed.
Evidently, not only had she noticed, but she’d recognized a pattern, he did it so often. But even worse, she thought it was for his own good that he tried to stay away from her. That he didn’t want her.
The exact opposite from the truth.
And now she was hiding under a blanket, which Derek found adorable but also proved his point. Molly was soft, gentle, kind.
Entrenching himself in her life would be the most selfish move he could make. Derek could almost live with himself despite some of the choices he’d made in the past, lives he’d taken, darkness he’d embraced. But choosing to surround someone like Molly with his darkness?
Unforgivable.
Still, the thought that she wasn’t what he wanted? That she somehow wasn’t good enough for him? It burned like acid in his gut.
He stood and reached for Molly where she hid under the covers, but then stopped. Maybe it was better this way. Derek honestly didn’t know.
His phone buzzed. It was Jon.
Derek turned and walked to the other side of the room, answering it. “What’s up?”
“Derek, you’ve got to get Molly out of there immediately.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Evidently some new ‘evidence’ has come to light that makes it seem like Molly was the one who purposely caused the explosion in the lab.”
“What?”
“There’s a warrant out for her arrest.”
Derek muttered a curse.
“What?” Molly had pulled her head out from under the covers. “What’s going on?”
“Jon, I’m putting you on Speaker so Molly can hear.”
He put the phone on the bedside tray and went to get Molly’s clothes out of the drawer of the small dresser in the hospital room. No matter what Jon explained, they were still going to need to get Molly out of there.
“Evidently someone went over Drackett’s head with the warrant. Steve is pretty furious.”
“What evidence, Jon?” Molly asked. “I know I didn’t do it, so I’d like to know what evidence it is someone could have against me.”
“No one seems to actually know, Molls, that’s the thing. All I’m sure of is that they were waiting for us when we got back here,” Jon told her.
“Like someone knew we had gotten her out and was making sure they could catch her on this
side?” Derek asked, bringing Molly’s clothes over and setting them on the bed.
“Exactly like that, I’d say. If she’d been with us, she’d already be in custody.”
Derek shook his head. “But whose custody, is what I want to know. Not local law enforcement’s, I bet.”
“Is Molly checked in to the hospital under her real name?”
“Yeah.” A misstep on Derek’s part, thinking that they were too far for Belisario to reach. But they weren’t too far for his partner to reach.
“If this goes as high as we think it might, it won’t be long before they’ve got men at the hospital,” Jon said. “Liam is running interference as much as he can, but that will only stall for so long.”
Molly had already sat completely up. Derek winced as she pulled the IV out of her arm and pressed down on the bleeding spot with a tissue. She reached for her clothes and Derek turned his back to give her privacy. He picked up the phone.
“I’m getting her out right now. We’re going to ground. I will call you in exactly twenty-four hours at a pay phone.” Derek gave Jon an address of a gas station not far from Omega HQ that he knew had a pay phone. He’d used it before. “We need to get burner phones. I’ll be dumping this one.”
“On it. Be safe.”
“You, too, brother. And thanks for the warning.”
Molly was reaching down to tie her shoes as Derek disconnected the call. He reached down to help her.
“I’m sorry that you don’t get to rest yet,” he told her as he tied first one shoe, then the other.
“I’ll be okay. At least we’re not running through the jungle.”
She stood and Derek took his phone and jammed it down into the cushion of the chair he’d been sitting in.
“They may be trying to track us through that. Might as well make it as difficult as possible for them to find it,” he explained. “Are you ready?”
She nodded. He offered her his hand and she took it. “I’m going to go out to the nurses’ station to distract them so you can get out without them realizing you’re gone. I’ll meet you down at the end of the hall.”
“Okay.”
“As soon as they’re looking the other way, you go.”
He waited for her nod, then walked out of her room and down to the nurses. Distracting them wasn’t that hard, Derek did know how to use his smile when he wanted to. And he only needed them to look away for a few seconds.
He met back up with Molly at the hallway right where she was supposed to be.
“Any problems?”
“Nope. Just had to be friendly.”
“I’m sure.” Her look was decidedly sour. Derek chuckled.
“Nobody else around here should know you or question why we’re leaving. But your bruised face makes you pretty memorable, so I’m going to keep you tucked next to me as much as possible.”
He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her body close to his. Molly kept her head down and let him guide her every time they passed any people. Most would just think she was grieving.
They were coming out the front doors when Derek saw them pull up. Two nondescript sedans, each carrying two men in suits. Derek wrapped Molly more tightly to his side and swung them in a sharp left.
“Head down,” he whispered. He hunched his own shoulders so they both would just look like exhausted family members. He forced himself not to speed up the pace to draw any attention to themselves. But he did reach for the Glock in the side holster he wore. When Jon had slipped it to him before they left for the hospital, neither of them had thought it might need to be pointed at federal agents.
Derek hoped there wouldn’t be a showdown with people who were just doing their jobs. They probably had no idea they were being used for nefarious purposes.
If Derek and Molly had been fifteen seconds later they would’ve been caught. But since the agents obviously thought they were arresting people sitting up in a hospital room, they weren’t carefully watching the people who were leaving.
As soon as possible, Derek cut them into the shadows. It was a careful balance between not doing anything that would draw attention and getting them out of there as soon as possible. He felt Molly slip her arm around his waist and huddle closer.
“Did they see us?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
“I don’t think so. They continued on their path inside the building. They probably saw us, but it didn’t register who we were.”
They stayed in the shadows just a few more moments. Once the agents made it to Molly’s hospital room and discovered them missing, the first place they would start looking would be the exits and the parking lot.
They kept a tight hold of each other as they went into the parking lot. Derek ushered her into the car as soon as they found it.
“Stay as low as you can.”
He didn’t speed out of the parking lot or draw any attention to their vehicle—a black SUV. But as soon as they were clear of the main red light, Derek sped up, keeping his speed just over the limit. When he glanced in the rearview mirror he saw the blue of flashing police lights.
That was fast. Someone had made sure there was backup pretty close by in case those agents needed help. Derek smiled wryly to himself.
“I think you’re safe to sit up,” he told her.
“Is anybody following us?”
Derek shook his head and glanced at the police lights in the rearview mirror again, now getting farther away. “No, but it was much closer than I would’ve liked.”
“None of this really makes sense. Why would anyone think I started the fire in the lab? And I find it very hard to believe that they had enough evidence to arrest me.”
“Trust me, this has nothing to do with the lab fire and everything to do with getting you isolated. Away from the people in Omega who can protect you. Once you were alone, you’d be in trouble.”
“But police officers wouldn’t hurt me, would they?”
He shook his head, glancing at her for a moment before looking back at the road. “I’m sure it wouldn’t be long until whatever real officers arrested you were given paperwork to ‘transfer’ you somewhere. And that would be it, you’d never be seen again.”
“Why would Belisario send someone to kill me here? I already told him that I didn’t know anything.”
“Not Belisario, whoever his partner is stateside. A partner who is high enough in the US Government to get things done. As evidenced by us almost getting caught in the hospital.”
“Someone in our government is responsible for all this? Had a part in the Chicago bombing?” Dismay colored her tone.
Derek explained about the Secret Service vehicle that had been spotted at the house in West Philadelphia.
“International terrorists attacking us is bad enough. But the thought that some high-ranking official in the government, someone people trust, having a hand in it? That just makes me sick to my stomach. Why would someone do that?” She turned and looked out the window.
Derek reached over and took her hand gently before he could help himself. “Why? Because some people are just terrible human beings who do terrible things. If you’re racking your brain trying to understand it, it just means you’re not one of those terrible people.”
“It’s still pretty inconceivable.”
For her he was sure it was.
“Don’t you think it’s horrible?” she asked.
“Yes, absolutely. I’m just not surprised by anything anybody does anymore. Betrayal, dishonesty, greed, killing, happens everywhere.”
Derek was sure she’d be just as horrified by things he’d done, choices he’d made, if she knew. He let go of her hand and put it back on the steering wheel. Right now he needed to focus on getting them to the safe house.
“We need to purchase a temporary
cell phone that can’t be traced. I’ll use that to contact Jon tomorrow.”
“Where are we going?”
“To a cabin an old friend of mine owned that he’s given to me, near a lake about an hour and a half from here. Nothing about it is in my name and I haven’t ever told anyone, at Omega or otherwise, about it.” It was from one of the ranch hands who had worked for his uncle. Gary had been more of a father figure to Derek than his uncle had ever been.
Molly nodded and gave a tired sigh.
She needed rest. She needed nourishment. She needed a chance for her body to heal, or at least stop running off pure adrenaline. Hell, twenty minutes ago she’d still been on an IV. The fact that she was even halfway functional was amazing.
“At the very least the cabin will be somewhere that you can rest and be safe for however long you need. To catch your breath.”
“And for us to come up with a plan,” she responded, resting her head back against the seat.
“Yes, come up with a plan.” He smiled at her, glad for the cover of darkness, so she couldn’t see that the smile wasn’t anywhere near real.
Because damned if Derek, the tactical team specialist, had any earthly idea what their next move would be.
Chapter Fifteen
After stopping at a local supercenter to get food, the burner phone and some other supplies they needed, including clothes for both of them, they’d made it to Derek’s cabin. He mostly came out here when he wanted to be alone, needed to get away from people, or the city, or both. The next nearest building was over five miles away. He’d never even considered bringing someone else here, especially a woman.
The cabin was sparse: two bedrooms, one bath, a living room and a kitchen. No real decorations, everything was built for function. Derek hadn’t ever given the lack of coziness any thought, but it occurred to him now that Molly was here.
He didn’t know what he expected from her as they’d walked through the door, both of them holding bags from the store. Not complaints about the house, Molly wasn’t a complainer. Maybe just a nose turned up or a forehead creased in distaste.