Oracle's Hunt

by A. Claire Everward

  Donovan pressed on.

  Lara ran. She had used the explosion, knowing she was the only one who would not be surprised by it, and began moving a brief second before the countdown in her head ended. The powerful blast threw her a distance, and she’d been hit by shards. But she got up and continued running toward the woods. Something from the car hit her on her left side, her lower ribs, it felt like, and the searing pain made her lose her balance again, but she quickly regained it and pressed on, running as fast as she could. She was in good shape, swimming kept her muscles toned and endurance was not a problem, but her pursuers were relentless and the explosion had hit her hard, and that pain wasn’t helping either. For a while she couldn’t hear anyone behind her and thought she’d lost them, but then she heard a shout not far enough away. And then another. She was being hunted. They were surrounding her, getting closer. She picked up speed, ran through the trees, ran for her life, hers and so many others’. Focused on one thing, one hope—

  And gasped in surprise as strong arms caught her, clamping around her, and only the hand that reached up to cover her mouth stifled her startled scream. She struggled, but the arms gripping her didn’t budge.

  “It’s me,” he said near her ear, and she stopped struggling, almost falling down with relief.

  “Shhh,” Donovan whispered and pulled her with him back into heavy brush. “Stay down.”

  He kept one arm around her and took his gun out again with the other. Her pursuers were now coming from two directions, to their west just outside the woods and to their north, the direction she had come from. He calculated, considered continuing toward them and sending her southeast, to a path that cut through the woods and rounded back west to the main road a safe enough distance away.

  And then he heard it, the smooth whisper of rotors swooping low in the air, saw in the distance to the west the searchlight beam the stealth helicopter sent down, heard the shouts, rapid gunfire, then the sounds of heavy vehicles. Subconsciously he moved, shielded Lara, as a swarm of people swept the woods from multiple directions, and as the sounds of gunfire came closer.

  Branches crunched under heavy shoes as black shadows ran toward them. Recognizing their gear as they approached, he stood up slowly, keeping Lara behind him, his gun in the air, knowing they were on a mission of their own and would shoot first any man they saw, ask later. Five of them came to a halt before him, assault rifles drawn, while those behind them continued around him, to the south.

  “You Pierce?” The first figure took him in, the fact that this man was obviously shielding the woman behind him already prompting him to lower his weapon, although those behind him kept theirs aimed at Donovan. He peered behind Donovan and stepped forward. “You okay? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Her voice was steady, but the shocked undertone he recognized in it made Donovan turn his back on the soldiers and put an arm around her again. “We need to get her out of here,” he said, turning his eyes to the soldier who’d spoken.

  The man nodded and motioned to the others. “We’ve secured most of the area, got helos and a hell of a lot of our guys clearing the place. It’s safe out there now,” he said and fell to beside Lara and Donovan as his people surrounded them.

  As they came out of the woods, Donovan saw that the three SUVs and the smoldering wreckage of Lara’s car were surrounded by a mix of IDSD and US military vehicles and uniforms. Above them, a helicopter swooped down, its searchlight focused on them for a moment, then moved on.

  More soldiers ran toward them, assault rifles at the ready, behind them medics. Lara stopped and looked on in astonishment. There were so many of them, she could see different uniforms, designations. So many.

  Donovan saw the astonishment in her eyes and mused, “Looks like you’re as important to them as they are to you.”

  Beside them, the soldier, a lieutenant colonel who introduced himself as US Marine Raider Battalion commanding officer Gabriel Martinez, said, “Hell, yeah. You save us, you think we don’t know that? You think we don’t know who you are? Damn if we’re going to let anyone get to you.”

  Lara looked at him.

  “Yes ma’am, all of us here, we’ve all been out there at one time or another with Oracle on the other end of the comms, probably will again,” he said to her in a low voice. “We’ll do what it takes to protect you.”

  “There’s a small military here,” Donovan noted and urged Lara forward. His arm was still around her, and he was holding her close to him. He could feel how cold her body was, and now that they were surrounded by more light he saw that her fist was clenched. She was in pain.

  “We were at the IDSD simulation training range in a joint exercise, us marine raiders and our IDSD counterparts. IDSD called their people out, and everyone else tagged along. Good thing, too,” Martinez said. “We got eleven so far, still chasing a few, and we intercepted another SUV on the way here, they gave one hell of a fight. They really wanted you gone.” He laughed. “You keeping us alive bugs them, does it?”

  One of the medics approached, pushed his way through the circle of soldiers, and held his hand out for Lara. She looked at Donovan.

  Reluctant to let her go, he let his arm drop. “Go with them,” he said gently. “I’ll be there in a bit.”

  He stayed with Martinez, watching Lara walk away with the medic, surrounded by a ring of soldiers so thick he could barely see her. He needed to know more about her attackers, and the man beside him had just the kind of training that could give him that—he could judge the capabilities of those he and his people had just fought against. And the lieutenant colonel did just that. And he also told Donovan that the attackers did not let themselves get caught alive, which was worrying in itself, the zealousness that would take.

  Worse, Martinez couldn’t be sure that no one had gotten away.

  Donovan approached the medevac ambulance, breaking into a run when he saw Lara clearly in its harsh light. She had cuts on her forehead and the left side of her face, and the medic had raised the left side of her torn shirt and was checking her lower ribs, which was obviously causing her pain.

  Donovan indicated it and the medic said, “Doesn’t look like anything is broken. Nasty hit, but it’ll heal. The rest is the explosion of the car, she was too close. Some scratches from shards and branches, I think.” He took a step back while his friend wiped the blood off Lara’s face and cleaned the cuts. “This will do until we get to the IDSD medical center, they’ll need to run an internal scan. There will be some bruising, I expect, and shock to her body from the explosion.”

  Lara shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to go to a hospital. What she wanted was to go home. Now that this was over, she just wanted to go home. She couldn’t think clearly, needed to get a handle on things. She had refused both a painkiller and a sedative to keep alert, and this was difficult. Painful too, the adrenaline was down and she was really feeling the pain.

  Her eyes were lowered, looking behind Donovan, and he turned around to see what she was looking at, then moved to block her line of sight. Her pursuers’ bodies lay not far away, guarded. She raised her eyes to his, and he held them.

  “She’ll go with you,” he said with finality, his eyes still on hers. He crouched before her and took her hand, not caring who was there to see.

  “Please go with them. You’ll be well guarded.” He indicated the stern combat soldiers surrounding the ambulance. The rest of them were still securing the area all the way to IDSD. They already had a lead on another car that had been on its way there with Elijahn’s people, and had made a run for it. Donovan wanted to stay with them for a while longer, to understand what the situation was, where her safety stood.

  Lara’s eyes remained on his, and he felt his chest tighten. He could have lost her that night. “I’ll be there soon, I promise,” he said.

  Elijahn wanted to turn back. He wanted to take his gun and go back and shoot all those soldiers in his way, every one of them, then walk up to the
woman and strangle her with his bare hands. Wanted to stand there with his hands around her neck and watch the life seep out of her.

  He fisted his hand, his fingernails digging into his palm, drawing blood. Rage controlled him, would not let go. He could not believe it.

  He could not believe she had done it to him again.

  Chapter Twenty

  Lara didn’t move as the car slowed down before her house, pulled into the driveway, and stopped outside the garage her own car would normally be in. Beside her, Donovan turned off his car and turned to look at her. She was pale. There was a dark bruise down her jawline, a bandaged cut on her forehead, and several shallower cuts and scratches on her face and neck. There were others, too, cuts and bruises on her body, and her right arm hugged her left side where she’d been hit during the explosion.

  She had stubbornly refused to stay at the IDSD medical center. The internal scans had come back clear and even the already apparent bruise on her lower ribs presented no danger, but they had wanted her to stay overnight. For observation, they said, because of her proximity to the explosion. The shock of what had happened, being attacked, chased that way, was another reason they had argued. Donovan remembered how cold she had been when he held her, and had agreed with them.

  But she wanted to go home, and the head physician had finally relented, gave Donovan her personal phone number, and told him to call if Lara needed anything. And perhaps, Dr. Mallory had said, it was better this way. Lara would be more comfortable in her home, and was more likely to recuperate faster there.

  So Donovan had taken her home. He would have liked her to stay inside the protected IDSD complex for safety reasons, too, but he could keep a close eye on her here. And it wasn’t as if he would do so alone. Wherever he turned to in the medical center or on the way to Lara’s home, there was security presence. And the house was now substantially more protected, too. In addition to the usual stationary drone watching from high above, another surveillance drone was now scouring the area, and somber IDSD protective agents were guarding the house. Donovan had opened his own house to them, for their use. He wanted Lara’s place to remain quiet, wanted her to have a chance to rest. As it was, an IDSD specialist team would be coming in later in the morning to overhaul the entire security system, which for Lara would be an intrusion.

  Lara’s status, her life, Donovan knew, would now change in many ways. Recent events, and this latest incident in particular, had shown to everyone just how much impact Oracle was having and the extent to which this had the potential to expose her to attacks. It also showed them how far those Oracle was standing in the way of would be willing to go to destroy her. Oracle could have died that night. No one was about to let danger come this close to her again. And there was, of course, the more immediate issue.

  Elijahn had escaped.

  Donovan got out of the car and looked around him. The vehicles that had flanked them on the way were now positioned up and down the street. The security threat level would not be lowered until Elijahn was caught and until they had a clearer picture of how many of his men were still out there. Donovan was glad Lara was hazy from the meds she had finally agreed to take at the medical center, which would dull the pain and, in the state she was in, would also jumble things somewhat in her mind. She didn’t seem to realize what was happening around her, the extent of the security surrounding her. She hadn’t been told that Elijahn was not among the dead militants. Donovan didn’t want her to know yet, he wanted her to recuperate a little first.

  He walked around the car, opened the passenger side door, and helped her out, carefully. She had his jacket on her shoulders. Her clothes had been ruined, and she was wearing maroon medical scrubs. She looked dazed and exhausted. It had been a long night, and the sun had yet to have come up.

  “What day is it?” she asked, glancing at the silent street, at the darkness beyond the lights that surrounded her home.

  “It’s still tonight, the same night,” Donovan said, gently putting his arm around her. He expected her to be confused. It was hard to believe it all happened that same night—Elijahn’s attack, the rescue, the commotion around her at the medical center.

  “Home,” she said. “We’re home.”

  “Yes, we’re home,” he said, and guided her to the front door. She didn’t seem to notice the agents on her front lawn.

  The agent standing before the door opened it for them and let them through. “Sir, we’ve taken control of the house’s security system, but you’ll still be able to follow security from the consoles inside,” he said to Donovan as he and Lara entered the house. “I’ll lock down the place after you go in.”

  Donovan acknowledged him and guided Lara in as the door closed behind them. The house was quiet, undisturbed. Lara came to a stop in the middle of the living room and looked at her couch, at the patio doors she would normally have open. She took a step toward them, then stopped, hesitating, her brow furrowed. “It’s not day yet.”

  “You need to sleep,” Donovan said softly. He left her there, walked to the kitchen and brought her a half a glass of water.

  She shook her head.

  “Drink,” he prodded gently. “You’re still in shock.” And he wanted her to have the sedative he’d put inside, given to him by Dr. Mallory when she had released Lara to his care.

  Holding the glass with both hands, she drank slowly, in concentration, as if this was a difficult task she had to put her mind to. Donovan took the empty glass from her and put it down on the coffee table nearby, not leaving her side this time. And he was right not to. Her knees buckled, but she didn’t have a chance to even begin to fall before he caught her. He picked her up and carried her upstairs, holding her close, keeping her safe.

  “You keep doing that,” she said in hazy wonder.

  “I guess I do,” he murmured against her head, which was comfortably cradled on his shoulder.

  He entered her bedroom and sat her gently on the bed. He took his jacket off her shoulders and put it aside, then removed the hospital slippers and lay her down gently, careful not to hurt her. Tucked her in. Sat on the bed beside her.

  “I was actually hunted,” she said with a blurry thoughtfulness that made him smile. It was easy to smile now, with her safe here, in her own bedroom.

  “Yes, you were,” he said, and dimmed the bedroom lights.

  “My car blew up,” she observed groggily.

  “Yes, it most certainly did,” he agreed, making sure the blanket was tucked warmly around her.

  “And my phone too.” She noted, barely coherent.

  “Well, it was in the car,” he said.

  “You came for me.” She made an effort to look at him but failed, her head heavy on the soft pillow. The sedative was meant to work quickly.

  “Always,” he said and kissed her temple, lingering.

  “You kissed me,” she mumbled and fell asleep.

  “Yes, I did,” he said softly, still close to her, and touched his lips to her temple again.

  He sat up, and watched her until her body relaxed and her breathing calmed. Then he waited a while longer, until he was sure the meds took over and she would not wake up to find herself alone. Only then did he get up and, leaving the door open behind him, left the room.

  As soon as he did, ice crept into his eyes and he allowed the anger he kept controlled inside him to surge. How the hell could this happen? She could’ve died.

  I could have lost her, the thought tore through him viciously.

  IDSD’s head of security answered the call immediately, fidgeting nervously on-screen. When he saw the eyes of the man who stood before the screen in Lara’s living room he cringed visibly. The fact that Donovan was saying nothing only seemed to disconcert him more.

  “The drones above you and satellite feed show that all is quiet. Until we’re sure there isn’t anyone left who is after Lara, the agents I’ve got covering the house will remain there, in shifts.”

  Donovan remained silent, and Ericsson continu
ed hurriedly. “The new security measures I’m having installed in the house later in the morning are the best there are. My techs will walk you through them, and you can do the same for Lara as soon as she is able to—”

  “What the hell happened? Why wasn’t she able to reach you?”

  “He jammed all outgoing signals at a radius around her, at all frequencies. Debilitated all communications from her phone and her car in a way that prevented us from locating her and her from sending her emergency distress signal to us or calling anyone.”

  “You knew Elijahn’s capabilities. He broke into the data center, he got into the IDSD administrative system just a couple of days ago, for Christ’s sake. How could he get through your defenses again? How did he get to her? To her ability to get help? To your ability to track her? And while we’re at it, how the hell did Lara leave IDSD without her protective detail? Without any of you knowing?”

  The other man looked tired. Frustration was evident in his voice when he answered. “This shouldn’t have happened. Couldn’t have happened. But it did.” He collected himself, and the eyes that looked back at Donovan were focused again. “We haven’t finished implementing all our new security measures. Some things, like technological capabilities, take longer. And yes, we still should have implemented some sort of contingency defenses, certainly for Lara, you don’t have to tell me that. I should have expected this. As for how Lara left here without us knowing, well, apparently she sent her protective detail away and told them she would call them when she left to go home. Simple as that. You know who she is. They did what she told them to do. Hell, she even told them she would update me herself.” He sighed. “At least that one I could solve immediately. I’ve moved her to level five security, that’s our narrowest need to know circle and our highest security and tracking level. It cannot be interfered with. Hopefully not even by her.”