by Zoe Forward
Becca caught her reflection in the glass. No wonder Quan thought her not doing well. Her ponytail wasn’t centered, and she’d neglected to pull a few larger clumps into the binding. She pulled it out and redid it.
“She say anything?” There was a terseness to Quan’s tone as if he was warning the FBI agent rather than asking out of curiosity.
The agent whose name badge read Smithson shook his head. His gaze darted to Becca for an instant. “She’s been pretty tight-lipped. Not sure she’ll be any better for you.”
Smithson held open the door for her to enter. “You can go on in, if you want. Don’t get too close to her. Stay standing. You joining her, Quan?”
“No. I’ll stay out here for now.”
The moment Becca stepped into the room, Lisi glanced up. “You’re looking good for a dead woman.”
She’d said it without surprise, as if she didn’t expect her to be dead. Becca asked, “Why’d you drug me if you thought you killed me with the shot?”
Lisi’s gaze shifted to the window and back to her, but she didn’t answer.
“Are you really Symphis?” Becca asked.
For a moment, the arrogance Lisi kept in place dropped. She leaned forward as if about to reveal an important truth.
The door opened and shut. A side glance revealed Quan had stepped into the room. Unexpected. She thought she’d be alone for this. A part of her felt relieved not to be alone with this viper.
Lisi’s face blanched, as if she’d recognized Quan. But he’d said he hadn’t spoken with her. Lisi covered the show of emotion to throw them an exasperated smirk.
Lisi glanced between Quan and Becca. “I could be Symphis, but then again, so could so many people.” Her gaze fixated on Quan. “I’m not playing any more games.”
“There are no more games to play,” Quan said. “You are done with games.”
Were they talking in some sort of weird code? Her mind wouldn’t kick into its normal gear to figure out if she’d missed something.
Seconds later, Lisi began seizing, her body jerking with such strength it knocked her out of the chair. Her head whacked against the table in a cringe-worthy thwap. The spasms finally stopped, leaving her lower body limp and hanging over the edge of the desk, held upright by the cuffs. Blood-tinged spittle dribbled from her lips.
Becca backed up until the wall stopped her. Someone should do something for Lisi. Why wasn’t anyone moving?
Quan’s face remained devoid of expression. He didn’t move to help.
Smithson brushed Becca out of his way. He felt Lisi’s neck. “Call an ambulance. Still has a pulse.” He paused. “Shit, I can’t feel it anymore. How the hell did she get poison?”
“I’m dialing.” Quan whipped out his phone. “No signal. Becca, will you please step outside?” He picked up the phone on the wall but didn’t immediately dial. Instead, he glanced back at Lisi as if waiting for something. Her body tensed with one final gasp, and then she fell lifeless again. Quan shook his head as if coming out of a daze and dialed.
Becca stepped out and retraced her steps out of the building without another word to Quan. The entire exchange spooked her. Something non-kosher just went down.
Was Quan on the other side? Against them?
No. He’d helped them out more than once in this investigation against Symphis. He’d saved Tori’s life, and arguably Becca’s as well. Tori had known him for years on the Dynasty gaming team, and she trusted him, which was good enough for Becca.
Her mind couldn’t function clear enough to sort through.
She rounded out of the building and jaywalked across six lanes of traffic to the coffeehouse across the street. Seconds later, Quan and Smithson exited the NSA building, searching. For her?
They might be waiting for the ambulance. No sirens screeched nearby.
Her knees buckled. She slid to a sit into a stiff, wooden chair, trembling.
Help. Needed help.
The burner phone Quan had given her was her only method of communication. Crap. Quan or someone else from the NSA could track her with it. She excavated the cell phone from her pocket and dumped it into the trashcan.
A dash through to the kitchen at the back of the restaurant and out the back door amid several protesting workers landed her in an alley. She ran. And ran. For as long as she could until her lungs burned and the dizziness in her head was so bad the world blurred. She’d woven a random pattern until she recognized her location close to Grand Central Station. She could get a new phone there. She still had a bit of cash left over from her time of being off the grid, which surprisingly made it through hospitalization without disappearing.
She slowed to a walk to fit in with the crush of people inside the station.
Her “bad feeling” could be sedative-induced paranoia. Quan had never given any indication to be anything other than an ally in the quest to find Symphis. Maybe it was the other guy, Smithson, who’d given her the willies.
Once she’d purchased a pay-as-you-go phone from a vendor, her fingers dialed without her even thinking.
Jake answered on the second ring.
He actually answered. Thank God.
“I don’t know what to do, Jake. I’m scared,” she rushed out.
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you in the hospital? This sedative is a motherfucker.” The low tone of his voice soothed her. She heard Noah talking in the background.
“I’m sorry. This is probably all my imagination or psychosis from the drug, but I freaked, and now I’m here. I’m not sure what to do or where to go.”
“Slow down. Where are you?”
“Quan invited me to confront her. Lisi. He’d arranged an interview at the NSA headquarters, but it was off the record and had to happen now because she’s getting moved to Virginia later today. When I got there, it wasn’t what I expected, and then she killed herself with some sort of poison right in front of me. Or maybe someone else killed her. She had a seizure and passed out but looked pretty dead. I got a bad feeling, freaked out, and ran. What should I do?”
“Are you somewhere safe?” His tone came out tight.
“Yeah…I don’t know. Sorry. Not sure why I’m crying, but I feel overwhelmed and confused. Probably because of the drug.” She wiped her nose and rubbed her eyes while trying to breathe through the hiccup sobs. “I don’t know who to trust. I can’t imagine Quan intended anything bad and only wanted to help, but something wasn’t right. Maybe it was the other agent who did something. I don’t know what to do. Do I try to go talk to Quan, or go home? But which home?”
“First, I need you to get somewhere safe. I’ll come and get you. Then we can figure out what’s going on. Where are you?”
“Grand Central. Now that I’m saying all this out loud, I think I overreacted. This has to be me making this up in my head.”
“Get on the Green Line headed toward Union Square. Get off at Union Square. Go to the Flatiron Building. It’s a gate guarded office building so once inside you can’t go up unless you have permission. I’ve got a friend who works on the third floor that’ll make sure you get in. He’s an investment broker named Heath Evans. Dark hair, about five-eleven, and wears black rimmed glasses that make him look like Clark Kent. I’ll see if he can meet you in the lobby. If you don’t see him, ask the attendant for him. Stay in Heath’s office until I get there.”
“I could go to NJ Legacy.”
“If you’re being pursued and this isn’t paranoia, then that’d be what they expect. Stay away from the office and don’t go to your parents’ house or Noah’s.” Jake’s tone changed. He ordered, “Go. Get on the Green Line. Move now.”
“Okay. On my way.” She moved down a set of stairs to the subway entry with the phone still to her ear. The smell of stale air mixed with fuel and body odor assaulted her as she descended.
“Are you there yet?” he demanded.
“I have to figure out how much to put on the subway card.”
“Buy the card, Becca. Put fifteen buck
s on it. Get on the Green Line. Move.”
“I think I was being dramatic. This seems like overkill.”
“We don’t know what the hell’s going on right now. I’m on my way. It might take me a half hour to get there. Heath is a good guy. We used to do triathlons together before I became injury prone. Do not leave Heath’s office. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Call me or text if you run into Quan or any other NSA agent.”
She hung up and inserted the last of her cash to buy a subway card. No one else was at the ticket machines, which made her feel exposed. The few passersby didn’t seem to be looking at her weird. They did the standard avoid-eye-contact pass like good New Yorkers. A glance up to the cameras…NSA could see her. Monitor her.
Hurry, Jake.
27
Jake’s hands shook at the thought of Becca running through the city, scared and crying. He could barely breathe as his mind calculated the fastest route to the Flatiron Building.
“What’s going on?” Noah asked.
Jake jumped. He’d forgotten Noah was still in his hospital room. “That was Becca. She’s scared and in the city.”
“No, she’s down the hall. I just saw her an hour ago.”
“She left. Now, she’s running from someone in the city.” Jake peeled off monitoring devices. When the machine initiated a shrill alert, he yanked the power cord out of the wall. It didn’t even pause its ear-deafening scream. He pushed buttons until it turned off. Surprisingly, or maybe not so much, no nurse showed up. Once he woke up, they’d left him alone.
“She checked herself out? I planned to give her a ride to my parents’ place in a few minutes.” Noah stared at the door as if expecting a nurse to burst into the room announcing Becca left.
“Quan agreed to allow her to speak with Lisi before she got moved to Virginia. Becca got spooked and ran. She doesn’t know if her instinct to run was legit or based on side effects of this drug. I tell you, the drug’s a bitch.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To rescue your sister.”
“You think she’s hurt?”
“I don’t know. She sounded shaken up, but I don’t think she’s hurt. Hell, I don’t know. She was a mess on the phone.”
Noah put a hand on his shoulder when Jake sat up and worked to get the IV catheter out of his wrist and all the tape off. “You’re not in any condition to be a knight in shining armor right now. I’ll go get Becca.”
“I’m doing this. I’ll take her to my place, which you know is locked down tight despite what happened in the lobby earlier. Once inside my apartment, no one else can get in.” He pressed his thumb to the bleeding hole where the catheter had been. No obvious bandage material in sight. “I need you to call Quan. Try to figure out what the hell happened, at least get his take on things.”
“Sit down, Jake. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
“I’m fine. Little headache.” Woozy as shit, but not enough to stop him from getting to Becca. He found his clothes across the room. Without modesty, he chucked the hospital gown and dressed. “I’m going to get her. This is something I need to do.”
“I’m going with you.” Noah put one finger on Jake’s shoulder and pushed.
Jake grabbed at the counter to steady himself. “Maybe you better come along.”
Jake’s watch indicated thirty-five minutes since she’d called. Too long. His heart pumped a breath-robbing dread through his veins until he arrived at Heath’s office. Even though Heath had texted she was safe over fifteen minutes ago, he wouldn’t feel assured until he saw her.
Christ, let her be okay.
He knocked on Heath’s office door. “Becca. You in there?”
He panted to catch his breath.
The door opened. In the few seconds before she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face into his chest, he saw no obvious injuries. His alarm ramped down.
“You’re here.” A sob ripped out of her. “I’m sorry about everything. Thank you for answering your phone.”
He wrapped his arms around her and fought the urge to look over every inch of her skin to prove she was all right. After a bit, he lost the fight and pulled her away. Long strands of her brown hair hung loose around her face where they had broken free of her ponytail. He brushed it off her face and snagged a few tears from her red puffy eyes. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m a bit dinged up from earlier, but I’m fine. I’m sorry to worry you. I didn’t know what to do. I still don’t know if I was being paranoid or what.”
“You did the right thing to call me.” You’re everything to me.
“Quan called in a favor, and since they were moving her later today, it had to happen. I just got scared.” Her eyes glassed up.
“You’re not in a state to be interviewing the person who attacked us. Even without the drug on board, I wouldn’t recommend you face her. That was bad judgment on his part.” His gaze met Heath, who sat at his desk, observing. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
“Glad I could help.” Heath waved. “Take care of your girl.”
His girl.
She strolled out of the office ahead of him. “I’m fine. I’m glad you’re here.”
Her words wrapped around Jake’s heart and made his chest hurt. In front of the elevator, he wrapped her in his arms again. He leaned his forehead against hers. “If he’d hurt you…if anyone hurt you…”
He swallowed, unable to voice the scenarios his mind created during the drive here. And, unable to tell her how terrified he’d been of finding her seriously hurt.
Her hands fisted in his shirt, dragging him closer. She leaned into him, and it felt so right. All the complicated feelings between them faded in the shadow of what had happened.
She released a hiccupping sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I thought if I faced her, I could get the truth.”
“Always fierce.” He rubbed her back and just held her.
“I should’ve stayed in the hospital. But, like an idiot, I charged off to face Lisi. I didn’t know what to do. I fell apart. There was so much going on. And that drug, which I don’t understand. Why would she inject both of us if she thought she killed me with the gun and was trying to frame you? Then she died right in front of me in the interrogation room.”
As relief crested and the horror of what could’ve been receded, he blinked against accumulated moisture in his eyes. His brain was a muddled mess of dizzy and emotional. All he could formulate to reply was, “It’s odd.”
She hugged him tighter.
“Come home with me.” He needed her close for the rest of the night.
“I shouldn’t,” she answered. “We’re so messed up.”
He pulled back, but not away. “I want you to come back to my place. It’s not safe for you to stay with your parents or Noah. Emma’s place doesn’t have a good security system.” This is about me needing to know you’re somewhere safe tonight and tomorrow.
She stared up at him. “I can crash with Noah or my parents.”
“I forgot. Noah’s waiting downstairs. Hope he didn’t get a parking ticket.” He texted Noah they were on their way. “Come with me for tonight.” He released a shaky breath. I thought I’d lost you today. The words wouldn’t come out to vocalize it out loud.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what was going on this morning. It didn’t feel like it’d be life or death until it was.”
“It never does until it’s too late,” he mumbled.
The elevator dinged its arrival. She caught his arm before he stepped inside the car. “That didn’t feel like it was about this morning. That sounded like… Did something happen to you or someone else before this?” She pulled his head away from her to meet her gaze.
The elevator doors shut without them inside. Her wide-eyed worry for him tempted him to release this demon. No. It had to remain in the locked vault of memories. “It’s nothing.”
She rearr
anged the hair around his face and smoothed her hands along his cheeks. “This isn’t nothing. There’s some sort of big something here. Tell me what happened to you.”
He dropped his head. The words tumbled out. “My father… He came home many nights drunk and angry, sometimes high. Always angry.”
This had to be the drug. He didn’t talk about this shit. This was in the past. Over. Done. And buried. Not something he thought about. Not something that impacted his life anymore.
“No kid should have to live through that.” She hugged him, squeezing so tight he suspected if she could crawl inside him, she would’ve. Moisture from her tears wet his shirt. “Why didn’t he go to jail?”
“Mom was too scared to ever press charges, and in her twisted way, she loved him.” He whispered, “If I ever became like that…when it happens…”
She pulled back. “It’ll never happen. Never. Look at me.” She tugged his face to meet her tear-streaked gaze. “You’re a protector. A protector. You don’t hurt people. You defend them. Like you’re trying to do for me right now. You’ll be so overprotective as a parent that you’ll make the term helicopter parent seem pathetic. Stop being afraid you’ll turn into the monster in your past. That’s not you.” She stood on tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his in a soft kiss. Then she placed her hand over his chest. “Give yourself permission to love. It doesn’t have to be with me, because we’re complicated as hell, but with someone. You aren’t dangerous.”
“I was such a coward. I could’ve stood up to my father earlier than I did…high school.”
“You were a kid. You didn’t cause him to be that way or to hurt you. Your mom should’ve been the one to leave or do something to get you out of that situation.” She gazed deep into his eyes.
Years of weight lifted from his shoulders. Her words were more magical, more healing, than thousands of dollars in therapy. She might be right. “How’d you get to be so smart?”