“A friend,” he said and sat on the edge of the bed. Rora tried to scoot away. He must have sensed her misgivings because he raised his hands in surrender and stood up again. “I’m not a threat to you. What do you remember?”
What did she remember? So much and so little. Picking her hand out from beneath the blanket, she was about to touch her forehead when she noticed the bandages on her wrists.
“I treated your wounds,” he said. “You had cuts and bruising on your wrists and some chafing on your ankles… The marks on your back are fierce, but not infected as far as I can tell… I think after a couple of hot meals and a few decent nights of sleep, you’ll be ok… The Black Jewel was kinder to you than she has been to others.”
“The Black Jewel,” she said and tried to sit up. The shot of pain hit her skull again, making her grab for it. “Damnit.”
“You’re ok, Aurora,” this friend said, moving backward to sit at the bottom corner of the bed, facing her. “I promise, you’re safe now.”
Something in his next expression piqued her memory. “Wait,” she said, shifting higher on her pillows. “I know you.”
He cleared his throat and rubbed his palms on his thighs. Was that a sign of nerves? What did he have to be nervous about? She was half his size. Even at her best, she was no fancy fighter, and right now she wasn’t even close to her best.
“Yeah, we’ve met.”
“But I don’t know who…” Inhaling, she got a flash of his face in another place. “You were… the guy at the bus station. The death or heartbreak guy!”
“That’s not a great nickname,” he said.
Feelings of disgust and violation poisoned her throat. “You’re following me?”
“Looking out for you,” he said. “I had to make contact. I didn’t know that… The Black Jewel got to you so fast… I couldn’t believe it when you went missing.”
No, she refused to accept this. She didn’t want this to be a part of her life anymore. The Black Jewel, Strike, this guy, it didn’t matter, Rora just wanted to go back to her normal life. It might not be possible to go back in time, but she could decide what she would and wouldn’t accept as her present, and this death or heartbreak guy wasn’t going to be a part of it.
“Ok,” she said and tossed back the blanket to see she was wearing a man’s tee-shirt. Even though it wasn’t hers, she’d take wearing it over being naked. Pre-empting the pain in her head, she knew to brace and breathe through it, so succeeded in sitting up this time. “Where are we?”
“In a motel.”
The city didn’t matter, the state didn’t matter either. What mattered was Bella’s anger over losing her captive and Strike who would’ve figured out her deception by now. Both of those things meant one grave thing to Rora: she wasn’t safe.
“I appreciate you getting me out of there,” Rora said, forcing herself onto her feet.
A rush of adrenaline helped her to go toward the door.
“Whoa, wait, where are you going?” he asked and was suddenly in front of her, blocking her path to the door. “I can’t let you leave.”
So the truth was coming out, he wasn’t being altruistic after all. This guy had his own agenda. “One prison for another?” she asked and tried to side-step. “No thanks.”
“I need your help, Aurora.”
Funny that she’d once been the one in need of another’s help. Maybe if she’d listened to Strike’s refusal, none of them would be where they were now.
“I don’t care,” she said, trying to go the other way, but he was quicker than her. His persistence at blocking her made her growl. “Kill me or get the hell out of my way. This isn’t a game.”
The desperation in his eyes did little to sway her, though Rora did wonder if she’d worn that same look when she begged for Strike’s help in Last Resort.
“You don’t understand,” he said. “I don’t mean you any harm. I’ll protect you.”
Oh, that was enough to break through some of her cynicism, though not in a way that worked in his favor. Rora smiled and actually whispered out a laugh. “I guess you’re a comedian? Rescue and protect is a bit outside your wheelhouse then, isn’t it?”
Again, when she tried to swoop around him, he got in her way. There was nowhere else for them to go now his back was against the door. “I got you out of there. You should hear me out.”
Maybe if he’d told her there would be a price for her rescue, she’d have had a chance to tell him to go to hell. Rora tried her best to hold onto her patience, but it was slipping fast.
“You don’t understand what you’ve got yourself involved in,” she said, recalling how her old friend, Buddy, once said something similar to her. “I don’t know who you are. But I know you have no idea what I’ve been through or what’s coming for me. The Black Jewel? She’s the least of my worries. I screwed over a guy who won’t rest until he’s drained every drop of blood from my body. A man who won’t stop. A man who has nothing to lose. A man who doesn’t take kindly to being double-crossed.”
“Exile.”
Taken aback, some of the gusto left her sails and she blinked at him. “Oh my God,” she whispered, trying to re-sort what she thought she knew. “Did he send you?”
Shaking his head, a proud smile crept to his lips. “No. I came for you, Aurora.”
If he wanted a pat on the head, he’d be waiting some time. Rora couldn’t shake her suspicion. “But… why?”
“Want a gym membership? Fresh supply of Viagra? Vitamin supplements? Free slots?”
What was he… It only took a moment for her confusion to clear. Shock took its place. He hadn’t lost his mind, he was identifying himself. She did know him, and it wasn’t only from the bus station, she’d been in communication with this guy for months.
Her lips parted, and she took a step backward. “Junker,” she exhaled.
His smile widened. “Hey.”
Until now, this guy had been nothing more than a digital pen pal; a man who she’d exchanged emails with a few times a week. Strike had once said she never got anything but Junk, except he didn’t know the innocuous subject lines of her emails with Junker were an inside joke.
This man was her friend. Her suspicion dwindled, though she was proud of herself for recognizing there was more to who he was than a kindly stranger.
“Oh my God,” she said, swatting his chest. “What the hell are you doing here? How are you involved in this? Why didn’t you tell me—”
“I wasn’t involved in it. I kept my distance until you went missing,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her to the couch under the window. “Benjamin told me if something happened to him that I should be around to help you.”
And he had. After Benjamin messaged her from his captivity to tell her he needed Exile, Junker had been the online contact who’d helped locate him. “You told me where to find Exile,” she said, needing to know if he was aware of what they were facing. “Have you met him?”
“No,” he said. “Even my sources weren’t sure you’d find him in that bar. But I guess you did. Why does he want to hurt you?”
“It’s a long story.”
Driving her fingers into her matted hair, Rora winced when they got caught. But it wasn’t memories of Bella’s basement that smacked into her, she was assaulted by the memory of the first morning she’d awoken in Strike’s bed. Starting to feel sick, she probably swayed.
Junker grabbed her. “Aurora!”
Shaken from her daze, she focused on him. Mouthing no words for a few seconds, she tried to catch up. “I… How did you find me?”
“I was lucky enough to get an anonymous tip,” he said. “You were off my radar for a while after I told you about Last Resort. Finding you at the bus station was a fluke. I did my best to track you, but I guess I fell behind after you found Exile.”
Yeah, because Strike knew when he was being followed whether he told her or not. Habit made him take evasive routes and his tech prevented him from being captured on cameras o
r tracked, so for a while, she’d have been under that protection… Except now she was figuring out that maybe he’d been shielding her from the good guys while tempting her to the dark side.
“Guess you did,” she whispered.
“I got an anonymous tip that the Black Jewel had you. The message told me to retrieve you at a specific time and place… so I did.” He’d saved her life. She couldn’t deny that. But an anonymous tip suggested she had a benefactor, maybe one of Bella’s posse wasn’t so scared after all. “Aurora? Do you need to get more sleep?”
Why? Because she was sitting here going into these mini dazes every few seconds? “No,” she said, drawing her legs up inside the tee-shirt. Hugging her knees to her chest, she dipped to rub her forehead against them. “It was about… what? Nine months ago you first contacted me?”
Finding the spam message in her junk folder that wasn’t actually spam was accidental. For a while their communications were nothing more than small talk, jokes and flirtation. She’d taken it as kind of striking up a conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number by mistake… except in email.
She’d had no idea that Junker was in the same line of work as Benjamin or that the two men knew each other, not until after Benjamin disappeared and Junker’s questions got more invasive. That’s when he’d admitted knowing Benjamin and worrying for his safety.
Rora had been too busy following the police investigation to think about giving him specifics, and then Benjamin had sent his clandestine message to tell her that Exile was their only hope and she’d started her own investigation.
She hadn’t immediately thought to ask Junker for his help. Even when she did, he didn’t have an answer for her right away. It had taken him some time to come up with anything, and he’d led her down a few dead ends before they got it right.
Never in a million years had Rora expected to meet him in the flesh or to have him come and save her from Bella.
“Benjamin and I hadn’t known each other long when he asked me to look out for you. I guess he knew he was into something that might turn bad. I thought I was placating him when he told me to help you if something happened to him… I didn’t know it would turn into… this.”
“What changed? You got me away from the Black Jewel, great, thanks. But… why aren’t we just going our separate ways? Why do you need my help?”
Sitting straighter, his shoulders squared. “While I was trying to track you, I learned that there’s a piece of tech in play. It’s… top secret beyond top secret.” Squirming, Rora got a nasty taste in her mouth when the word DARPA crept into her mind. “What?” he asked, reaching over to touch her arm. “Do you know what it is? Where I can find it?”
With her teeth together, her eyes rose to his and she paused before responding. “No… no, I don’t know what it is.”
“I decided that I have to locate and retrieve it. To be honest,” he said, rising to pace away. “I’m still catching up with it all myself, it’s a bit… high octane for me.”
“High octane?”
Turning to face her, he opened one hand and then the other. “There’s something else… I don’t know if you know, but Benjamin was worked up about some project of his getting out,” he said. “He didn’t give me specifics, but I heard on the grapevine that it might be out there. With this device in the open and Benjamin’s program… Now that the two of them are loose, the shit is on… And word is… Exile has them both.”
So that was it? Junker had some self-appointed mission to save the world from Exile who he believed had the DARPA device and the Point. Except, Rora knew the Point wasn’t out.
Strike might have thought it was for a while, but he’d know different by now. Though he probably wouldn’t be advertising that his once-upon-a-time lover had conned him.
Chewing on her lower lip, Rora wondered if she looked as guilty as she felt. She not only knew about the device and the project, but she might have been the one responsible for handing the device and the apparent project over to her former lover.
“Sounds like you have a lot on your plate,” she said and got up, pulling the tee-shirt down. “You don’t need me slowing you down.”
Rushing to her, Junker put both hands on her shoulders. “You’re the key to this,” he said. “I don’t understand all of it, but there’s chatter about you. Maybe the Black Jewel didn’t know it or maybe she didn’t care, but she’s done you a favor keeping you off the radar for the last ten days.”
Shoving his hands from her shoulders, she felt a rush of anger. “I wouldn’t call what I just went through a ‘favor’ of any kind.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” he said. “I am. I just… this is serious, Aurora. I need you to help me figure it out.”
There was so much he didn’t know about her involvement. But given the culpability she had, Rora couldn’t deny that it was sort of her responsibility to help put this back in the box. Except, it wasn’t as simple as that.
“Exile will kill me if he sees me.”
“Then we’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Junker said and smiled.
But there was nothing in this scenario to smile about. “You don’t understand him. You don’t know what he’s like… You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
Curiosity replaced his optimism. “But you do,” he said. “What do you know? You did meet him, right?”
And then some. “I know that saying we’ll stay off his radar is easier than it sounds. He sees you everywhere.”
Saying the words made her realize how complacent she’d been. Looking left and right, Rora assessed the space. The first thing she did was rush over to close the curtains, keeping her face turned down as she did.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Junker asked.
“Do you have a phone?”
“A phone? Yes, I—”
“Turn it off,” she said. He just gaped at her. Searching the room, she saw a matchbook on the table by the TV and went to retrieve it. “Give me your phone and your wallet.”
Snatching them from him the moment they were free of his pocket, Rora hurried into the bathroom. Sealing the bath with its metal plug, she removed the cash from his wallet and tossed it to the vanity, knowing the bills could be useful. After wrapping the wallet and phone in towels and tissues, she threw the bundle into the tub and struck a match to set her parcel alight.
She opened the window just above to let the smoke out and watched the pile burn.
“What the hell is that smell?” Junker asked, coming into the room behind her. “Oh my god, what are you doing? Aurora!”
He tried to get by, but she sidestepped to block him. Only when she was satisfied that everything was beyond salvation did she turn on the water to kill the fire.
“No more cards,” she said. “Everything has to be cash.”
“Cash? Where will—”
“I’ll get us cash,” she said, forced confidence bolstered her. “Don’t ever carry ID. If we get arrested, either of us, for anything, do not give your name or address. Don’t give your date of birth, place of birth, nothing. Definitely not your social security number. Have you been arrested before?” He shook his head. “Good. Do you have family?”
“A sister.”
“Ask her to liquidate her assets into cash and remove it from any financial institution. As for your assets? Well, if you’ve been on my trail or his, chances are, he’s already siphoning from you.”
“You… Exile? No, Exile doesn’t know anything about me.”
It was sweet that he thought so and she smiled. “First thing, I need a change of clothes… Do you have a plan?”
“Uh, yeah, kinda,” he said. “But it doesn’t involve being penniless.”
Yeah, she maybe should’ve explained her actions before destroying his phone and wallet, but there was no time to be nice. They were already behind the curve.
Rora wasn’t sure how long she’d been away from Bella’s clutches, but there was every chance that the Black Jewel had been in touch with he
r prince when she found her prisoner gone.
If Strike knew she was free, he’d be mobilizing, meaning he had a head start. “We need money?” she asked. He nodded. “Ok, I’ll get it. Do you have a car?”
“Yes, my truck.”
Not ideal if it was registered to him, but their options were limited until they had funds because Rora didn’t have Strike’s ad-hocing skills. “It’ll do for the ride back, then we’ll need to ditch it,” she said and tried to pass him, but he snagged her arm.
“Ride back? What are you—”
“We need money,” she said. “When I need money, I get it from one person.”
“Who?”
Widening her smile, her eyes drifted toward the mirror. “My banker.”
THREE
“Are you sure you’re strong enough for this?” Junker asked her.
There were so many ways that she could answer that question. Physically, Rora wasn’t at her best. Emotionally, she was a mess. But there was no time to fall apart. It irked her that Strike’s advice was echoing in her head. Never let them see fear, that’s what he’d told her.
Her chin rose.
Junker had gone out to get clothes for her while she used his comb and the motel conditioner to tug the knots from her hair.
Once she was done, Junker had asked her to eat and rest, proving how little he understood the disadvantage they were at. There was no time for weakness; they had to get in the game. The chase was on, except she wasn’t sure if she was the pursuer or the pursued… it was probably both.
They’d reached a compromise that balanced Junker’s concern for her welfare and her need to get moving: they’d stopped at a fast-food place. Junker was insistent that she should eat, but all she wanted to do was get to where they were going. Eventually, she’d given in and agreed to the junk food.
Rora hadn’t let him use the drive thru. Instead, she’d insisted that he park far away and walk in with his ball cap on and hood up. Cameras were everywhere, and unlike Strike, Junker didn’t travel with his laptop, so he couldn’t erase or corrupt images. He’d told her he’d stashed his computer in a safe place before coming to get her, just in case anything went wrong. Smart.
Kiss Chase Page 2