by Jo Davis
“I’ll get you a wet cloth,” Lily said.
“Don’t bother,” he replied. Cold as the Arctic.
Liam shot her a concerned look.
Fear crept in, forming a chunk of ice in her gut. “You’re bleeding.”
His laugh was scary. Sarcastic and angry. When he lifted his chin, she swore he could see into her soul.
“I don’t have a high tolerance for toxins, Agent Vale. But then, you know that already, don’t you?”
The bottom dropped out, the earth tilting on its axis.
“You-you remember,” she said hoarsely.
“Fat lot of good it does me, huh? Give me the third dose and I’ll be dead before Dietz whisks you out of the country.” His expression twisted into a snarl. “Are you fucking him, too? What are you getting out of helping a traitor?”
“What in the holy freaking hell is going on?” Liam was starting to appear frightened. “All of a sudden you guys are talking a different language.”
For the moment, they were too wrapped up to answer him.
Lily laid a hand on Jude’s chest, desperate to make him understand. “I’m not a traitor.”
“Save it, honey. Tell me you didn’t slip me poison.” His face was hard.
“Once! But that was before I knew you were innocent!”
“Of what?” he asked in disbelief.
“Of the theft of the weapon. Dietz took advantage of Michael’s absence and pinned the whole thing on you,” she said quietly. “My mission was to-”
“Worm your way into my life, fuck me if necessary, locate the files, then watch me die slowly.” He gave a sad, bitter laugh, the sound strangled. “Yeah, I get it.”
“When I figured out what Dietz had done, and after Liam was attacked to blackmail me into complying with him, I forced Michael to listen,” she insisted.
Liam stared at her, rocked back on his heels and brought his fingers to his still-healing throat. “I was attacked to teach you a lesson.”
She grabbed Liam’s hand and squeezed. “I’m so sorry. I know this doesn’t make much sense right now, but it will soon.”
“I’m starting to get some of the picture. This has to do with all of Jude’s trips, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, in part.” Addressing Jude again, she said, “I told Michael everything and he suggested we leave the country and lay low for a while. I never gave you a second dose, Jude. I swear it.”
“Then the guy who delivered my breakfast wasn’t working with you?”
“No. You got sick right after you ate?”
“As a damned dog. A lot worse than before.”
Liam clutched her arm. “Lily, on our walk, you were looking at that big guy in the resort uniform. You said he looked familiar.”
The pieces fell into place, and her fear grew. “Oh, God, I should have recognized him! He’s one of Dietz’s men. And if his men are here, we’ve got to get the hell out. Now, before they realize we’re escaping.”
“And after we get gone, someone’s going to fill in the gaps for me,” Liam said. “Jude, can you walk?”
“I don’t know. I’ll try.”
It took both of them to get Jude into the bedroom and lower him to sit on the bed. His face was white, beaded with sweat. His breathing was too fast, and he was clearly in agony.
“Liam and I will pack only what we absolutely need into one bag. A couple of changes of clothes, and leave the rest here. Clothes can be replaced.”
Lily grabbed a duffel and stuffed in some clothes for herself and Jude. Liam hurried back in, face pinched in anxiety.
“Is this too much?” he asked.
“No, that’s fine. Anything else we need, we’ll have where we’re going.”
Liam paused. “We’re not going home?”
“No. I’m phoning Michael, our boss, and giving him the heads-up that things here are FUBAR and we’re taking off for the safe house in Tennessee. Michael and some of our trusted men-the ones not working around Dietz-will meet us there for reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements,” Liam repeated, in a daze. “Groovy. Shit.”
“They’ll have our doctor come with them to take care of you,” she said to Jude.
He nodded. “How are we getting to our ride?”
“Rental. I’m going to the front to secure a car, and while I’m there, I’ll make a point to say Liam and I are going sightseeing since you’re not feeling well. Then we all make tracks. Michael will give us the rendezvous point.”
Liam, bless his heart, was trying so hard to keep calm. “I take it we’re not flying commercial.”
“No. Helicopter. Fast, efficient, and totally under the radar.”
“Fantastic. I’ve never escaped a foreign country with a posse of arch villains on my ass.”
Jude managed a sideways smile at his friend. “And you thought your life was boring.”
He snorted. “I just want it on record with the Powers That Be that I never once complained about that.”
While Liam distracted Jude, Lily used her secured, SHADO-ISSUED cell phone to dial Michael’s house. On the third ring, Simon answered.
“Ross residence.”
“Simon, this is Lily Vale.”
He sighed dramatically. “Miss Vale, I’m sure-”
“Pass a message to Michael, and I guarantee he’ll want to speak with me. It’s urgent.”
“Carry on,” he said, reluctant.
“Tell Michael that Lily Vale said Granny’s apple pies make big thighs.”
“I say! What a lot of nonsense,” he huffed.
“Just do it or you’ll be job hunting tomorrow.”
“No need to be rude. One moment.”
Michael came on the line within seconds. “Lily?”
“Dietz’s men are here. One of them posed as a resort employee and slipped Jude a second dose of the toxin. Probably meant to pin it on me. He’s in trouble, boss. We’re all in deep shit.”
“All right. I’ll send Kelly along with the copter-he and one of our pilots are in south Texas and they’ll be able to reach you within the hour. He’ll back you up until I can get to the safe house with the team.”
Blaze Kelly was a damned fine agent, and a good man to have at your back. Lily knew Michael might be slightly delayed getting the others mobilized, and she’d feel safer with Blaze there.
“All right. We’ll be rolling in fifteen. Where do we meet them?”
He gave her a location not too many miles from the resort, which was both good and bad. Good that they didn’t have to travel long to get there-bad because neither would Dietz’s men, if they pursued. While they waited on the copter, there wasn’t really anyplace to hide.
“Be careful, Lily, and tell Jude… tell him I’m so damned sorry for fucking up his life.”
“It’s not your fault.” But it was, a little. “You can tell him when you arrive at the safe house.”
“I will.”
Lily hung up, pocketed the phone, and zipped the duffel. “Ready. You guys stay here. I’ll get the car and bring it as close to-”
She turned to see Jude leaning against Liam, eyes closed. He was coughing into a tissue, the sound rattling ominously.
“Just hurry,” Liam said, voice raw with emotion. “He’s really sick.”
She nodded and hurried out, heading for the check- in building and the front desk when what she really wanted to do was throw herself in their arms and beg for forgiveness. Even if Jude believed her involvement to be what she claimed-that of an agent following a superior’s orders-he’d never forgive her for endangering Liam.
His dearest friend had nearly been killed. Because of her.
No, because of Dietz, the bastard!
But to Jude, there would be no difference.
Renting the car went smoothly and while she took care of the paperwork, she discreetly scanned the lobby. She didn’t see the big man or anyone who appeared to take too much of an interest, but then, agents were trained to blend into their surroundings.
/> After making sure most in the vicinity heard she and Liam were going “sightseeing,” since their lover was ill today, she grabbed the keys and moved the car to the lot closest to their suite. Then she walked back, twirling them and humming a little. As though she hadn’t a single care.
In the bedroom, Lily paused, considering how to do this. Jude was barely hanging on to consciousness, Liam’s arms around him. The tissue in his hand was flecked with blood. He was bleeding internally, the drug breaking his system down.
A wet washcloth lay on the bed, telling her Liam had tried to clean him up. At least the blood was gone from his face.
Blinking back the tears, she steeled herself mentally. If she lost it now, they’d never get out of here alive.
“We’re going to have to just support him between us,” she said. “There’s no way to finesse this. If they see us, we’re screwed.”
“I’m ready.” Liam slung the duffel bag over his back, then draped one of Jude’s arms around his shoulders. Lily got the other.
“Jude, try to help us a little. On three.”
At the count of three, they stood, hauling him to his feet. God, he was heavy. They half carried him out into the sunshine, the beautiful scenery that had seemed so perfect now surreal. Even sinister.
On the way to the car, they met a couple, who did a double take as the strange trio passed them.
“Too much to drink, huh?” the man said with a knowing chuckle.
Jerk. Why did some people feel they had to comment on things that weren’t their business? Liam said, “Yep,” and they kept going.
“Tryin’ to help,” Jude mumbled.
“You’re doing fine. Almost there.”
“Goin’ for a ride, buddy,” Liam said. “Hang on.”
“Wanna go home.”
The plaintive note in his voice got to her. She wouldn’t tell him that wasn’t an option anytime soon, for treatment of the poison alone. As an agent, he already knew.
But he would go home one day, if it was the last thing she did.
***
Tio approached the front desk in his “borrowed” uniform, striding straight up to the young guy behind the counter as though he had good cause to be there.
“Hey, man,” Tio said. “The lady Janet Booth, who’s in the big suite with two guys? She asked me to take her a tray from the kitchen and I can’t find her anywhere,” he said. Learning Lily’s alias had been a cinch.
“You new? I haven’t seen you around here,” the guy said, eyeing him.
“Yeah, just started. Look, I’ve got food getting cold and that means an unhappy customer. I was just wondering if she’d been through here. I need this job, you know?”
The other man’s hesitance was put by the wayside. “Yeah, I hear you. These rich snobs can be a handful.” He waved a hand toward the parking lot. “Miss Booth rented a car for some sightseeing with one of her friends.”
“Not both?”
“Seems one is ill. Too bad.”
“Sure is. Thanks.” He turned and strode for the suite, disliking the unease this news caused. The closer he got, the more the dread increased.
Using the stolen master card key, he let himself in and stalked down the hallway, noting the droplets of blood. Good, the shit was working. So he ought to find St. Laurent in bed, slowly dying and not even knowing.
But the room was empty.
Quickly, he checked the closets, the bathrooms, and the other bedroom, finding them almost empty, save for a few clothes and toiletries. Two rolling suitcases were still there. By all appearances, they might have just stepped out.
If Tio hadn’t given St. Laurent enough of the toxin to kill a lesser man.
The trio had definitely not gone sightseeing. He phoned Dietz, who answered right away.
“Yes?”
“They’re gone,” he said by way of a greeting. “ St. Laurent is sick, so they haven’t gotten far.”
“Dammit!” Dietz’s anger vibrated through the airwaves. “I have an idea Michael is sending someone to pick them up. I’ll find out where the rendezvous is, which safe house, and get back to you.”
“You think he’s going to tell you any of that shit now?”
“I have a mole who will. Stand by.”
In less than ten minutes, Tio was on his way to shoot three fish in a barrel.
***
Lily drove, forcing herself to go at a normal pace. Being stopped by the Mexican police would be a disaster. Besides, if she got there too fast, they’d look suspicious parked in a car in a rural area for too long.
“Do you have a gun?” Liam asked from the backseat. Jude’s head was in his lap, big body folded uncomfortably.
“Not with me.”
“Why the hell not? If you’re some sort of ninja woman, shouldn’t you take one everywhere?” Liam sounded close to panic.
“Covert agent,” she corrected. “And I don’t have one now because we flew commercial. They don’t like finding weapons on a person these days. Makes them cranky.”
“The bad guys will have one!”
“If so, they bought it once they arrived.”
“That was not reassuring.”
“I’m sorry. But the helicopter will be here soon. They’re on our side and they will be armed.”
“Thank God.”
As she reached the pickup spot, she slowed and turned off the road, driving a good ways down it before shutting off the ignition. The only sounds were the tick of the cooling engine and Jude’s harsh breaths.
“Lily? Is Jude going to…?”
She turned in her seat, gazed into his worried, handsome face. He’d never looked younger than he had at this moment, terrified for his friend’s life.
“No. He’s going to be fine. Our doctor is on his way with Michael, and he has the antidote. It’s not a magical cure,” she cautioned, “but it does help neutralize the effects of the poison so the body can begin recovery.”
He looked forlorn. “So it’s not a sure thing.”
In the distance, Lily thought she heard something. “Listen.”
“I don’t hear anything.”
But as the noise grew closer, the whump-whump of rotor blades was unmistakable. “They’re coming. Be ready to haul Jude out of there and book it.”
The noise grew deafening and the craft burst into view. It was the most beautiful thing she’d seen.
“Jesus, they fly that piece of crap? It looks like something out of the Vietnam era,” Liam said in dismay.
“It is. You won’t care how pretty it’s not when it saves your bacon.” The copter set down about forty yards away, the blades kicking up a dust storm because the pilot hovered, ready to take off again. “Let’s go.”
As she got out of the car, Lily recognized Blaze Kelly leaping from the open side door of the copter. The tall, muscular man had an M16 slung across his back, his dark, wavy hair blowing around his face.
She got their duffel, put the strap over her shoulder, and helped Liam get Jude out of the car. By the time they got Jude upright, Blaze was there.
“I’ve got him,” he shouted above the noise.
With that, he hoisted Jude in a fireman’s carry over one shoulder, as though he weighed nothing. The man was damned strong.
They took off, Liam jogging beside Blaze, Lily a couple of steps behind.
Just as they reached the belly of the copter, a popping noise came from behind them. A sting in Lily’s arm made her cry out and she whirled to see the big man from the resort standing by his own vehicle, firing at them.
“Get in!” She pushed Liam in the back, forward and down, sending him sprawling onto the floor of the copter. She scrambled in after him, shielding him with her body.
“Fuck! He’s shooting at us!” Liam yelled.
“Stay down!”
Blaze spun and yanked the M16 into position one-handed, never losing his grip on his fallen comrade. In a move that would’ve done Sylvester Stallone proud, he opened fire on the enemy, sending h
im diving for cover.
Satisfied, Blaze climbed into the craft. They were lifting into the air, spinning away, by the time he laid Jude carefully on the floor, on his back.
“Michael said he’s been poisoned?” Blaze called out above the racket.
Lily nodded, feeling nauseated.
“Sorry, we’re not equipped to treat poisoning, just a few things for wounds.”
Inspecting the stinging arm, she held it up. “Like this?”
“You’ve been shot?” Liam exclaimed. “Shit!”
Yes, indeed. In the fleshy part of her arm above the elbow. Though it bled profusely, it technically wasn’t too bad. Amazing how wounds so small could cause such pain and make her stomach flip.
“That I can take care of, temporarily,” Blaze said.
Grabbing some alcohol, swabs, and bandages, he cleaned and bandaged her arm-both the entrance and exit wounds. She supposed she should be thankful it wasn’t worse, but right now she was too wiped too care.
She wanted to get the man she loved to the safe house. The man she loved who’d never love her in return after this.
But now was not the time to give in to the black hole waiting at her feet. They weren’t out of the woods, but when this was over, she’d crawl off and hide. Cry herself dry.
After that, she had no idea.
Michael would probably fire her when all was said and done. So she’d quit before he had the chance.
The flight took forever, the trip made longer because of a stop to refuel, and she was convinced they’d all be deaf before they arrived in Tennessee. Talking was too difficult, so they did it only when necessary. Liam sat by Jude, clutching his shoulder, giving him what comfort he could.
Lily no longer had the right.
The copter finally descended, coming to rest in a valley surrounded by rolling hills. A pretty log cabin sat in the middle of the picture like a postcard, inviting.
They landed and jumped out one by one, Blaze carefully gathering Jude and carrying him inside. She and Liam trailed the big man through the house to a bedroom, where he laid Jude down and stepped back. Outside, the copter took off again.
“I heard he’s been through motherfucking hell,” Blaze said, turning questioning golden eyes on hers. Not accusing, but cautious. Like the jury was out for him.