No Place to Hide

by Lynette Eason

  Jackie grabbed the legs of the person who’d shot Ian and yanked. The shooter gave a startled cry and rolled. Lifted the weapon. With a fast kick, Jackie disarmed the man, then balled her fist and struck the mask-covered chin. The person went limp. Jackie kicked the weapon away and stared down, making sure he wasn’t planning on moving again. Fiery pain shot through her knuckles, up into her wrist and arm. She didn’t care. It was finally over. She leaned over and yanked off the mask.

  And gasped.

  A gray-haired woman lay unconscious. Jackie blinked as she and the shooter were surrounded by law enforcement once again.

  38

  11:30 A.M.

  On the sixth floor of the hospital, Jackie leaned against the wall and fought the desire to simply pass out. Her head pounded and every muscle in her body ached. But she’d been determined to hang on to consciousness until she knew if Ian would be all right.

  He had required surgery to remove the bullet and repair the damage to his shoulder. He’d just been rolled in from post-op and had fallen asleep as soon as the nurses left.

  But he would live. Relief—and staggering fatigue—combined with the adrenaline crash nearly made her knees buckle, but she couldn’t give in yet. She had one more person to check on. She kissed Ian on the cheek and moved toward the door.

  On the elevator, she pressed the button for Holly’s floor and fought to keep her eyes from closing. The elevator’s smooth ride didn’t help. The doors opened and she stepped off, moving down the hall to Holly’s room. The door was closed.

  Jackie rapped her knuckles on the wood.

  “Come in.”

  She pushed the door open and slipped inside. Holly sat on the bed, looking pale and sick and very tired. But at least she was awake. Jackie’s adrenaline surged and she felt life return. Lucy sat next to her mother, her fingers wrapped around Holly’s. “Hey,” Jackie said. She went to her friend and hugged her, then Lucy. The little girl’s red eyes said she’d been crying. She sniffed. “My mommy’s sick, Jackie.”

  Jackie bumped noses with Lucy and nodded. “I know.”

  “She said she might even have to go to heaven.”

  Jackie swallowed. “Yeah, I know that too.”

  “But I don’t want her to because then I can’t go see her.”

  Jackie’s eyes met Holly’s. Tears streamed down her friend’s face and Jackie cleared her throat to try to loosen the sudden tightness. “Well, not immediately, no, that’s true. But you would see her again one day.”

  “That’s what she said.”

  “Well, that’s good, then. Right?” Oh Lord, help me, I don’t know what to say to this child.

  “No. It’s not good. It’s not good at all.” She turned wet eyes back to her mother. “Why do you want to leave me?”

  Holly cried out and grabbed Lucy in a fierce hug. “I don’t want to leave you. I would stay if I had a choice. I would, I promise.”

  “Promise pinky swear?”

  Holly nodded and hooked her pinky around Lucy’s small one. “Promise pinky swear.”

  “Okay then. I believe you.” She looked at Jackie. “Is Uncle Ian okay?”

  Jackie swiped tears from her cheeks and sniffed. “Yeah, honey, he’s going to be just fine.”

  “Well, that’s a relief.”

  Holly gave a weak chuckle. “Yes, it’s definitely a relief.”

  Her gaze met Jackie’s. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For everything you’ve done.” She drew in a shaky breath. “And everything you’re going to do.”

  Jackie could only nod. Oh God, this hurts.

  “He’ll be there for you,” Holly whispered, then closed her eyes and sighed. “I think I need a little nap.”

  Lucy snuggled down beside Holly. “I’ll take one too.”

  Jackie kissed both of them on the forehead, then stepped out of the room to find the bathroom. Once inside, she gave in to the pain. A sharp cry escaped her lips and she slid to the floor, arms wrapped around her knees. She sobbed until her jeans were soaked, then drew in a deep breath, washed her face, and vowed to be strong. She would be strong for Holly and Lucy. And she knew now where her strength was going to come from. “Okay, God, I’m trusting you to be there for me,” she whispered. “I will get through this only by leaning on you, I get it. Now help me live it.”

  Ian woke to find Ron, David, Adam, and Jackie sitting in his room. His parents and brother had left two hours ago when the pain meds had taken him back under. He blinked and sat up. Jackie handed him the plastic cup of ice water and he drank deeply. With a sigh, he put the cup on the tray and eyed his visitors. “Please tell me I didn’t drool.”

  Jackie smirked, but Ian saw shadows in her eyes. “How’s Holly?”

  “Hanging in there. She’s going to do chemo and radiation and whatever else it takes to fight for as much time with Lucy as possible.”

  Ian swallowed and nodded. “Where’s Lucy?”

  “With Holly. I think she’s afraid to leave her.”

  “Oh boy.”

  “Yeah.”

  Ron cleared his throat. “We were just discussing the latest. You want to hear it?”

  “Sure.”

  “For the record, when you leave here, you better don disguises again. The media is camped out all over this hospital.”

  “Great.” Ian rolled his eyes and took another sip of the water.

  “The woman who shot you was Maria’s mother, Polina Bashmakov,” Ron said. “Wife to Vasily Bashmakov. She’s in custody—with a broken jaw—” He shot a look of pride at Jackie, then continued. “But it didn’t stop her from vigorously writing out her story. In detail. Apparently, she vowed revenge for her husband’s and children’s deaths fifteen years ago. She hates Americans. All Americans.”

  “She must have been planning this for years.”

  David nodded. “She had the connections because of her husband. All she had to do was make a few phone calls, present her idea. One of the top terrorist groups with ties to al-Qaida funded it. Millions of dollars were on the line yesterday. If the virus wasn’t released, there was no money transferred.”

  “Which was why she was so determined to shoot up the float when she realized her son-in-law, Leo, had failed,” Adam said. “She had to get that virus released into the air or she was one very poor dead woman.”

  “Thank God she failed,” Jackie said.

  “But to risk her daughter and grandson …” Adam shook his head.

  “She had them vaccinated the minute the call went out. She had the plan so detailed, we found that she actually arranged for her daughter’s marriage to the ATF agent Leo. Apparently the man was in love with Maria, and Polina pushed that relationship. She even proudly explained how she hired Leo without him knowing she was the mastermind behind the plan. She knew the lure of the money would be too much for him to resist.”

  Jackie shook her head. She just couldn’t fathom it.

  Adam leaned forward. “We showed her the video of what really happened with that mission. Her husband had already killed his two children by the time the team breached the inside, but they got him pulling the trigger on himself.”

  “What did she say?”

  “Nothing. She just wiped tears from her face, but her expression never changed.”

  “So it’s over?” Ian asked.

  “Yes.”

  “The feds even picked up Wainwright before he could get on the plane to some private island he has in the Caribbean,” Ron said. “More feds raided the homes of all the people involved in that email—which the FBI’s computer forensics expert managed to pull off of Wainwright’s tablet. The remaining smallpox virus has been returned to the CDC, and your names have been completely cleared and you two are being hailed as heroes.”

  “So it’s over,” he whispered. Jackie walked over and gripped his hand. “It’s over.”

  “And Gus is complaining about your neglect,” Ron said. “He’s ready for you to get home and for th
ings to get back to normal.”

  Ian was quiet for a moment. “I guess this means I’m unemployed.” He glanced at Jackie. “How do you feel about being the breadwinner?”

  She flushed and Ron coughed. David and Adam laughed as they backed toward the door.

  “We’ll just leave you two alone,” David said. “He might want you to kiss his boo-boo.”

  Jackie picked up one of Ian’s shoes and threw it at David’s departing back. It bounced off the door. Adam picked it up and turned, mouth opened. Jackie held up the other shoe and lifted a brow. Adam shut his mouth, dropped the shoe he held, and slipped out the door.

  Ron snickered. “I’ll just keep my comments to myself too.”

  “Wise choice,” Jackie muttered.

  But that didn’t stop him from laughing all the way out the door.

  When everyone had left, Ian looked at Jackie.

  She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “The breadwinner?”

  He flushed. “Sorry, it just came out. Don’t throw any shoes at me, please, I’m wounded.”

  She tried to hold back the giggle but failed. A guffaw slipped out. Then they both laughed until tears ran down her cheeks. “How did they guess?”

  “My love-struck expression probably gave me away,” he whispered.

  She leaned closer. “Love-struck?”

  “Mmhm, yes. I’ve loved you forever, Jackie.” He swallowed, his eyes unveiled, holding nothing back from her. “I know you might need some time, but—”

  She sighed, then leaned over and kissed him, leaving no doubt in his mind that she didn’t need a bit of time. Elation filled him and he wrapped his good arm around her. When she pulled back, he kissed her nose. “So does that mean you love me and you’ll support me until I get a job?”

  She gave a small laugh and straightened. “Yes, I love you, Ian. I love you very much. I always have, and even though I moved on and married someone I cared about very much, I never forgot about you. My first love.”

  “But?”

  “But I need to tell you something. Something that might change the way you feel about me.” Jackie pulled at the hem of her shirt and glanced around the room. Her eyes landed on the door, but leaving wasn’t an option.

  “Lucy’s yours, isn’t she?”

  Jackie gasped and felt the blood drain from her face. She swallowed hard. “How did you know?”

  “I simply took a second look. She has all of your features. The only thing different is her hair color.”

  Jackie covered her mouth with her hand and walked to the window. “She got that from her father.”

  “But her eyes, her nose, her bow-shaped mouth. All of that is you. Even some of her expressions are yours.”

  Jackie nodded. “Yes.”

  “Why did you give her to Holly?”

  Jackie blew out a long sigh. “I was in such a low place back then, Ian. I had lost my husband and blamed myself for his death. If I had just kept quiet about my stupid ice cream craving, he wouldn’t have been killed. It was just too simple. I mean, he wasn’t on duty or anything, it was just some random stupid, stupid thing. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t function. Couldn’t do anything but grieve. After my husband’s funeral, I went to stay with my uncle Ron.”

  “Uncle?”

  She smiled. “Yeah. I guess I haven’t told you that, huh?”

  “No, that’s one fact you left out. No wonder he was so intent on helping us.”

  “Yes, that was one reason.” She shrugged. “He made some pretty heavy-duty enemies during his years in the service with Special Ops that we keep our relationship secret. Just in case.”

  Ian shook his head and shifted on the bed. She could almost see his brain processing everything. “When did Holly come into the picture?”

  “When I was about seven months pregnant, I made the decision to give the baby up for adoption. I just couldn’t pull myself out of my depression. God didn’t seem to care about me and I just saw no hope for my future. I didn’t want my baby growing up in that kind of atmosphere,” she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. She sniffed and brushed it away. She cleared her throat. “So, I called Holly and told her I wanted her to take the baby. At first she tried to talk me out of it, but I was adamant. She flew down to see me, and when she couldn’t change my mind, she cried and said she and Brant would take her. We did it all legally, of course.”

  “Of course,” he murmured.

  “And she sent me pictures and videos of Lucy, posting them on Facebook and sending by email.” She drew in a shuddering breath. “I’ve watched her grow up. I know it’s not the same thing as being there and being her mom, but it was the next best thing.”

  “Did you ever regret it?”

  “Second-guess myself? Yes. Regret that Holly and her husband loved my child like she was their own? No. Never. They gave her much more than I ever could have.”

  He pulled her down beside him. “Will you give me a chance, Jackie? I know it’s fast, I know it’s been crazy, and we probably need some time to decompress and get to know each other without worrying about looking over our shoulders because someone is trying to kill us, but I don’t want to let you go again.”

  “I’ll give you a chance, Ian, if you don’t mind putting up with my crazy hours and all the traveling I do for my job.”

  “I’ll put up with it. I may even go with you when I can.” He kissed her again.

  She smiled and stroked his cheek. “You did a fabulous job taking down some Russian terrorists. We may recruit you to work for Operation Refuge.”

  He grimaced and leaned back against the pillow. “I’ll pass, thanks. I’m going to find me a nice, safe lab job and discover a cure for cancer.”

  “Or a vaccine for malaria.”

  “Or that.”

  “I love you, Ian.”

  She watched tears gather in his eyes and it was a few seconds before he could speak. He cleared his throat. “I love you too, Jackie.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and lay her head on his good shoulder. “Let’s build a future together.”

  He kissed the top of her head and gave a contented sigh. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”

  39

  SIX MONTHS LATER

  SOUTH CAROLINA

  SPRINGWOOD CEMETERY

  Holly Marie Jacobson Kent

  Beloved wife to Brant and loving mother to Lucy

  Gone too soon at thirty-two years of age.

  –John 3:16–

  “For God so loved the world

  that he gave his one and only Son,

  that whoever believes in him shall not perish

  but have eternal life.”

  Jackie swiped a tear and sniffed. “I’m amazed she hung on this long.”

  Ian wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Lucy clung to her left hand. “She was finally ready and she wasn’t afraid.”

  “I know. That’s why I can have peace about it.” She hugged Lucy to her side.

  “You love me, don’t you, Jackie?”

  Jackie looked down at Lucy, a little startled by the question. “Of course I do. I love you more than anything. I tell you that every day, don’t I?”

  “Yes.” Lucy looked up and squinted against the bright summer sun. “So why does God take away the people I love and who love me back?” she whispered. “Is he going to take you and Uncle Ian away from me too?”

  Jackie dropped to her knees, her tears almost out of control once more. “God didn’t take her away, honey. It was just her time to go. I don’t really know why you had to lose both your dad and your mom at such a young age, but God loves you more than anything—even more than your uncle Ian and I do, even though I don’t understand how that’s possible.”

  Lucy shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  Jackie sighed. “I know. I used to blame God for letting my husband get killed, but that wasn’t his fault either. It was the fault of the person who pulled the trigger.”

  “But no one killed my mo
m, so whose fault is it that she died?”

  Goodness, this child thought a lot. Every day, Jackie saw more and more of herself in her daughter. It thrilled and scared her all at the same time. She was so scared she wouldn’t have the right answers. Could she tell Lucy she just didn’t know about some things and still have the child trust her?

  She looked at Ian for help. He squatted next to them. “Lucy, Holly was a spectacular mom. She loved you and she loved God, which means we’ll all see her again someday. And while sometimes God allows bad things to happen, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love us.”

  “Then what does it mean?”

  “I think it means he wants us to learn from those things and trust that he loves us enough to take care of us even when bad things happen.”

  “Then why doesn’t he just make the bad things not happen?”

  Ian cleared his throat and met Jackie’s eyes. She shrugged and bit her lip. How did one explain free will, the fall of man, and the introduction of sin to a six-year-old in terms she would understand? Studying Lucy’s inquisitive eyes, she knew she had to try. “You know the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible?”

  “Of course. Mommy told it to me.”

  “And you know what sin is?”

  “Uh huh. It’s when you do something wrong and make God sad.”

  Sin makes God sad. Yes, it sure did. “Well, when Adam and Eve chose to sin, all kinds of bad stuff entered the world, including the disease that your mom died from. And as awful as that is, maybe we can look for God and still find him, find something good that’s happening around us. Good that God allows in our lives in spite of the bad that sometimes happens.”

  Lucy fell silent and looked away from them. Jackie wondered what the little girl was thinking now. After several moments, she looked from the headstone to Jackie then to her uncle. “I know something good that he let happen.”

  “What?” Jackie asked.

  A small smile played across Lucy’s lips. “He let me have people who still love me more than anything and will take care of me. My mom and dad might not be able to be here, but God let me stay with you.”