Abbie accepted the clothes as their eyes met. It was one of the few times Abbie saw his face without being threatened, shot at, or pushed around. Abbie felt an attraction she never noticed before. Don’t be silly. The guy saved your life. Of course, you’re attracted to him. But was it really that?
An awkward moment passed before both Josh and Abbie realized they were staring into each other's eyes while still holding onto Abbie’s new clothes. Josh broke the pleasant but uncomfortable eye contact and followed by releasing his grip.
“Thank you,” said Abbie. Her voiced cracked at first but then turned normal.
“I got the size you told me,” followed Josh, trying to turn the moment normal for him.
“Thanks.”
Josh pointed to the plastic bag. “I also got two pay-as-you-go phones. I’m not sure why… that’s what the people do on TV when they don’t want to be found.” He then held up the bag of take-out. “You hungry? I got some Thai and a couple of Cokes—hope that was okay?”
Abbie tossed her new clothes on the bed and reached for the food. “Starving—Thai is perfect.” She smiled and gave him an inquisitive look. “Chopsticks?”
Chapter 39
The university campus was locked down tighter than Fort Knox with all the gold in the world. FBI Agents had the entire school surrounded and worked diligently to widen their perimeter.
Walker exited the swimming complex. Her morale was dejected, her physical strength depleted, and her empathy deep into the negative. The body count was double digits and rising. The only silver lining, if there could be one, was the civilian body count, amazingly, was below ten. Seven fatally injured and two in serious condition at the local hospital. The remaining were either law enforcement or Sayid’s men with the bad guys losing big.
Walker adjusted the band that pulled her long hair into a ponytail to make it tighter. She leaned against the black SUV parked close to the scene. She sucked in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, trying her best to breathe out some of the day’s impurities.
“Agent Walker,” said the approaching female agent.
“Whatcha got, Kendra?”
“Update on the Talbot girl. Since the shooting, there’s been multiple hits on her credit card and bank accounts.”
Walker looked up as the agent stopped. Kendra was waiting for a sign that Walker wanted to hear more. Walker nodded.
Kendra continued. Three ATM transactions. The report shows she withdrew one thousand dollars three times in ten square blocks—her bank account and two credit cards.
“Okay, increase the perimeter,” said Walker. “Let’s pull all ATM footage within the perimeter.
The agent countered. “There’s one more thing, ma’am.”
The agent had Walker’s undivided attention.
“A Lyft pick-up within the last fifteen minutes,” said the agent.
This news rocked Walker. She stood up straight. “I want the destination address for that fare ten minutes ago.
Thirty minutes later, Walker had the address to a University sorority house. Alpha Delta Pi, which also happened to be the sorority Abbie Talbot pledged a few years back.
“Kendra, if you just pulled out three grand in cash, why would you use a credit card to pay for a ride-share to a known location from your past?”
“I wouldn’t. Not when I can pay cash with a taxi.”
“Right,” agreed Walker. “So then, why would you do something so blatant?”
The agent thought for a moment. “To further widen our perimeter to include the location, thinning out our manpower. Also, it’s a known address. Talbot and Richards know we are aware of her past. It’s a logical, safe-haven… a place we would have to check, regardless of the probability.”
Walker gave Kendra a weak smile. “So, return—”
Kendra finished her sentence, “—return our perimeter to ten blocks?”
“Honestly, Kendra.” Walker said, “I don’t know why I’m here anymore.”
Kendra smiled, “And the house?”
“Two, two-men teams. Survey only for now. Report activity hourly.” Walker stared at the horizon as she watched the last few rays of sunlight disappear behind it.
“She has cash so she could be anywhere, but I doubt she’s at the house. Have a team knock on the door at Oh-nine-hundred for a voluntarily search.”
Walker studied the twilight sky as if it would give her the answers she sought.
“Give me everything we have on Richards. With Talbot out of options—let’s build a profile on him.”
Kendra accepted the orders with a nod and went to work while Walker continued to study the dusky skyline.
Chapter 40
Abbie dug into her food like she had not eaten all day…because she had not. She was too busy being chased, shot at, and running for her life to notice the hunger. All bets were off now. She was shoveling food in her mouth as quickly as the chopsticks would let her. On occasion, she would chew.
Josh found the obsessed eating habits funny, but it did seem out of character for the woman Agent Walker described. “You probably know better, but is eating that fast good for you?”
Abbie smiled with a mouthful of food. She calmed her aggressive eating behavior, and thoughtfully chewed the remaining food in her mouth. It took her two swallows before she could speak.
“No, it's not.” She said as a hiss rang out when she popped the top of her can of Coke. “You actually swallow a lot of air when you eat fast. The good is that it makes you feel full quicker, the bad,” she paused to down two large gulps of Coke.
However, Abbie did not speak after drinking. She wrinkled her face, her lips parted, and she delivered a belch that came deep from within her insides and boomed around the room.
“The bad is you burp like a world champion,” said Josh, admiringly. “Nice rip.”
“Oh my Gosh,” said Abbie as she covered her mouth. She squinted the left side of her face as she waved her hand in front of her nose. “Oh God, that stings.”
“Nose burn, too. She shoots. She scores.” Josh laughed.
Abbie shook her head, hoping it would help alleviate the stinging sensation in her nose. Once it dissipated, she decided to slow down her eating and not chug the carbonated beverage.
When she resumed eating at a slower pace, she gestured her chopsticks to the laptop sitting on the table, with its keyboard exposed to the oncoming air of the hotel hair dryer on low.
“How long before we can turn it on?” She asked.
“Not sure,” said Josh as he dropped a few cooked vegetables in his mouth. “The keyboard area is dry enough to where I trust it, but the LED area is risky. I’ll let it dry for a couple more hours, then put it back together and seal it in the bag of rice.” Josh pointed to the large zip-lock bag and the five-pound bag of white rice.
“Rice?”
“Yeah, it draws out and absorbs the moisture.” Josh reached inside one of the plastic bags. “I also got this just in case.” He pulled out a small USB flash drive.”
“For what?”
“I figure whatever is on it must be pretty important. Always good to have a spare copy. Also, it's not like we can charge this thing whenever we want. Honestly, I doubt it will turn on, but one can hope.”
They continued to eat, but the ambient noise of the hairdryer slowly blowing air unnerved Abbie. She changed the subject.
“Bet you didn’t see your day ending like this, did ya?”
Josh smiled. He assessed his current situation. “Alone in a trashy hotel, eating Thai with an attractive woman wearing a towel?” He paused in thought and then dug his chopsticks into his box of rice. “Yea, not the first thing to cross my mind during the morning bowl of Lucky Charms.”
Abbie sat up. “You still eat Lucky Charms?”
“You don’t?” Josh’s look toward her clearly communicated you’re the one with the problem.
Abbie relaxed her posture. “I was partial to Fruity Pebbles, but my dad didn’t allow me to eat cereal loaded with sugar.”
Abbie reminiscing about her father darkened her mood as they continued to eat.
Josh noticed Abbie was no longer eating and just picking at her food. He felt like he needed to fix something he knew he could not. He tried the next best thing.
“I’m sorry your dad died.” He offered.
Abbie responded thoughtfully. “Thank you.”
Josh brushed off Abbie as being polite and returned to his Thai. He raised his chopstick to take a bite when Abbie held his arm.
“No. Really, thank you.” Her beautiful green eyes sparkled with the sincerity that matched her voice. “Considering the circumstances—I’m not sure I would have done what you did.”
It was Josh’s turn to brush off the conversation. He felt his cheeks warm with Abbie’s kind words. She was embarrassing him. The truth was, Josh was a protector, and he was doing what he thought was right—what his instincts told him he should do. He was just glad they did not get him, or Abbie, killed yet.
Josh smiled, placed his chopsticks in his empty box of Thai. He put the box on the table and stood. “Oh, it's not that bad.” He smiled. “Can’t remember that last time I had a dinner date.”
Abbie smirked with a tinge of embarrassment showing on her cheeks. “Is that what this is?”
Josh answered quickly and ambiguously. “No clue.” He pulled his shirt over his massive frame and off. His shirt obfuscated his well-built physique. Josh was tall and wide, but his body sculpted and defined.
His biceps and arms were pleasantly sizable and contoured well with the rest of his torso. His skin had a natural tan appearance that blended well with the tribal tattoos that tastefully decorated his massive left forearm. His chest was clean and naturally stout. And the rock-hard hills and valleys that decorated his abdomen rippled with precise distinction.
He turned his shirt right-side out and draped it over the chair where he previously sat.
“Any hot water left?” He asked with his typical charming smile.
Chapter 41
Abbie found herself dazed by the sight of Josh’s physique. She nodded and said softly, “Mm-hmm.”
Abbie felt uneasy… a release of ‘something’ ran through her body and caused tingling in her womanhood—something she had not felt in a long time, even when she dated Brian.
She cleared her throat, “just don’t turn on the cold, and the fan doesn’t work, so it gets really steamy if you don’t crack the door.”
Josh nodded. “Good to know.” He grabbed a plastic bag and disappeared behind the cracked bathroom door.
The sound of the shower mixing with the constant hum of the hairdryer was more white-noise than Abbie could take. She reached for the remote and turned on the television as she finished her food.
Abbie untucked the towel wedged from her cleavage, ready to change into her clothes. She stopped, held her towel to her chest as she peeked through the crack of the door to avoid another wardrobe mishap from earlier.
She saw Josh, his back to the door, stepping into the shower and extending the curtain. She saw that his physique was complete. Muscular legs, a firm backside, and ripping back muscles—not the gross, road map-of-veins bodybuilder look—smooth-contoured skin of well-defined muscle.
Again, Abbie felt the sharp tingle inside her that followed with involuntary muscle contraction. She sat on the bed to decipher the strange reaction in her body when the news report on the television caught her attention.
Chapter 42
Abbie turned the volume up as she kept her eyes glued to the news anchorman with big teeth.
“A gunfight broke out today at the local university between the FBI and an unnamed terrorist organization.”
The screen showed the same photo that Agent Walker showed Abbie earlier that day.
The anchorman continued. “The reported leader of the organization, Sayid Sumesh and members of his group were killed in the exchange of gunfire along with seven college students. We’ll report more on this story as it develops. Over to you, Nancy.”
The screen changed to a woman with an equally big smile, pearly white teeth, and hair that failed to move no matter what direction she moved her head.
“Thanks, Jim. In other news today, two well-respected doctors at County Regional Medical Center were murdered in their apartment. Dr. David Hoffman was shot early this morning in his bedroom while his wife, Dr. Emma Hoffman, was shot on the street hours later outside of their apartment.”
Television showed an artist sketch of Petrov’s goon, Sasha.
“The police released the following sketch based on witness accounts of the street shooting. Authorities stress this man is armed, dangerous, and should not be approached. Please call the number on the screen with any information. Switching stories, across town, a young man reportedly committed suicide when he jumped from his apartment balcony. Police are still investigating.
The TV went silent, and the screen went dark, revealing the reflection of Josh, pointing the remote at the television. He returned the remote to the table while water beaded dry on his damp chest. With a towel tucked around his waist, and his long, wet hair dripping on his chest, Josh quietly approached Abbie, who had fallen asleep at the end of the bed…in her towel.
The world finally slowed down enough for Josh to take a long look at Abbie. He watched her sleep. She looked peaceful, which was vastly different from the last twenty-four hours. She's cute for a nerd, he thought. I can’t imagine what she must be feeling.
Josh was afraid to wake her but thought it best for her to get under the covers. He pulled the blankets back on the king-size bed. He carefully cradled Abbie’s limp body in his arms. His size made Abbie look like a child. He gently placed her in the bed and covered her with the blanket.
Chapter 43
The early morning sunlight peeked through the sides of the cheap blackout curtains that did not fit the window. The brightness warmed Abbie’s face for several seconds before she rolled over, putting her back to the sun.
A few seconds passed when Abbie opened her eyes. Still dazed from a good night’s sleep, she tilted up her head and looked around her unfamiliar surroundings. I was watching TV there. She mentally pointed to the end of the bed, where her feet were. How did I get in bed… under the covers? Abbie felt an uncomfortable bump under her hip and her butt. She reached for it. That’s my towel. But something more significant caught her attention when she reached for her towel. Where’s my clothes? She peeked under the covers to confirm her suspicions— she was naked. She felt something leaning against her back. Oh my God, is that Josh?
Abbie sat up quick—like a spring-loaded kitchen door in a busy restaurant. She was ready to berate the living hell out of Josh for getting into the bed with her… while she was naked. She was so ready that she forgot to hold the blanket to her chest. When she recovered from her quasi-wardrobe malfunction, she returned to her agenda of yelling at Josh. She faced what was pushing against her with a bunch of attitude loaded and aimed at… the additional pillows from the king-sized bed tucked against her back.
Abbie pivoted her head almost like an owl. Her eyes searched. She saw the nightstand. There’s my new clothes. She saw the top of the dresser. There’s the laptop. But there was no sign of Josh.
She held the blankets close to her chest as she leaned over the pillows to get a glance of the floor on the other side of the bed. She found Josh. Him on his back with a single pillow, shirtless, wearing sweatpants, and no blanket.
Abbie felt terrible that she jumped to a conclusion. She was glad that she did not start yelling at the pillow, waking Josh, needing to explain, and potentially apologize to him. She then saw his firm, defined physique. Abbie then argued with herself that maybe it would have been better if he and she did do what she thought. Considering the events of the previous day—the notion of getting laid before she died from some bullet sounded really good—especially since she could not remember how long it had been. Her entire internal monologue was pointless because Abbie did not remember anything after tu
rning on the TV from the night before.
Abbie scooted herself to her side of the bed. She quietly got dressed, ensuring she did not wake Josh.
She looked at the laptop that sat in the sealed gallon bag of white rice. As Josh promised, what little bit he was able to disassemble to help it dry out was back together. What the hell.
Abbie removed the laptop from the bag. She blew and wiped off the small layer of rice dust that gathered on it while it was in the bag. Abbie said a short prayer and then mashed her index finger on the power button. The green power LED came on, and the backlit screen brightened. The computer was on.
Abbie watched the lights on the laptop. The hard drive light flickered a familiar way that instilled confidence in Abbie that the operating system was booting. Several seconds later, Abbie stared at a sign-in screen where her father’s name was prepopulated.
She thought back to hers and Josh’s discovery from the library. She typed the footnote from the biblical passage as she remembered it from the web page—Rev 16:16. The mouse cursor changed to an hourglass. The screen did not change. The sign-in dialog had a staring contest with Abbie, and it was winning. She thought for sure the laptop locked up. She placed her finger on the power button to shut off the computer when the screen changed.
The sign-in screen disappeared for several seconds, revealing a black screen with the hypnotizing hourglass. A flash of bright light filled the otherwise dim hotel room as Dr. Talbot’s desktop loaded. His background showed of him, Abbie and Abbie’s mother, Miranda.
“Hot damn,” yelled Abbie.
Something stirred on the floor behind Abbie. It was Josh. He was awake.
Abbie rushed to Josh and tried to hasten his wake-up process by yelling at him more.
“It’s working. You did it. It’s working, and the password worked. We’re in!”
Chapter 44
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