by Hinze, Vicki
She smiled, though it was droopy. “What do we do now?”
“We wait,” the doctor said. “And we pray.”
Chapter Nineteen
Tuesday, December 18th
0628 (6:58 AM)
“Well, she survived the injection,” Mason said, his fisted hands buried deep in his lab jacket pockets.
“That’s a good sign.” Emma backed away from the monitor. “Now if it just works.” She looked up at Mason, seeking reassurance. They’d taken a big leap of faith on Cramer, and Mason seemed comfortable with it. For Olivia’s sake, Emma hoped that hadn’t been a mistake. “How long until we know?”
Uncertainty flickered across Mason’s face, mingled with the worry. “These are uncharted waters, Emma.”
“You know Dr. Cramer or you’d never have agreed to this,” she said. “I need to know how, who he is, and—”
“That can wait,” Mason said, firmly shutting that door. At least, for now. “Did you find the invaders?”
“One is loose in the facility. John Taylor and his team are searching.” She looked over at the inner hub, grateful there were no alarms. The system lights were all blissfully green. “Four of them escaped in a black van with diplomatic plates on it.”
“You saw that?”
“John Taylor picked it up off of the facility security cameras,” she said. “Liz has alerted the authorities. The storm makes it harder for those trying to flee.”
“And for those trying to pursue them,” Mason said. “It’s not good news that they’ve got diplomatic status.”
“No, it isn’t. But we created a workaround on that and it’s in place.” Emma reached for a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. They burned like fire due to all the irritants in the tunnels.
“Thanks to the storm, they’ve got nowhere to go, and no way to get there,” he said, then wiggled a fingertip. “What’s going on with your eyes?”
His concern touched her. She tilted her head, hoping he wouldn’t notice. “They’ve been open too long.”
“You’re welcome to rest in my quarters.”
The temptation to take him up on that was great, but unwise. “Maybe later. John Taylor might need an extra set of hands.”
“His staff is efficient, or they wouldn’t work for him.”
“He is skilled. I’m surprised he hasn’t been recruited by an urban facility.”
“Many have tried. He won’t leave Portal. He used to work in Miami. But then his daughter was kidnapped while waiting for the school bus. That changed everything,” Mason said.
“I’m sure it did.” A parent’s worst nightmare. “What happened to her?”
“John Taylor found her before she could be trafficked and moved the family here.”
“Thank goodness for that.” How relieved he must have been. “Why come here?”
Mason nodded. “John Taylor was raised in Portal.”
“So he came home, where he felt his family would be safe.”
“I think that was it exactly.” Mason sighed. “I can’t see him leaving here until his daughter is an adult and on her own.”
Emma’s skin crawled. “Horrific event, but what a blessing that he found her and got her back.”
“It was,” Mason agreed. “He doesn’t like to talk about it, but every once in a while, he’ll hear about a case. He takes a couple days off and joins the search.”
“Tell me he enjoys some success.”
“He does. He has a keen insight on it. Takes calls and offers opinions even when he can’t physically be there. To be honest, after his daughter leaves home, I expect he’ll devote himself full-time to recovering trafficked victims. He’s said as much half a dozen times.”
“Takes a lot of resolve and nerves of steel to do that kind of work.” Emma gazed again at the green lights. “I hope he’s incredibly successful.”
“So do I. People that traffic kids…” Mason’s mouth flattened and he didn’t finish his statement. “Anyway, he demands a lot from his staff, and they deliver, or he weeds them out. They’re familiar with every inch of this facility. It’s probably best for you to rest a while and leave them to it. They’ll know if something has changed or is out of place.”
“I can’t do that. Two backup teams got in,” she reminded Mason. “They nearly blew us all to kingdom come.”
“Ten people in a flood of five thousand.”
“True. But it only takes one to set off a blast that could create a pandemic.” She visibly shuddered. “The thought of that scares me awake.”
“It does me, too.” He clasped her shoulder. “Occupational hazard. The ones dealing with Holly think it’s the most pressing and dangerous thing going. And it is pressing and dangerous. But those of us who know about the risks for a pandemic… Well, there’s no peace to be had until the threat is eliminated.” Mason extended a hand to her. “So, we can’t sleep, but let’s at least go sit down for a few minutes.”
Emma clasped his hand, took comfort in his fingers closing around hers, in the pressing together of their palms. They walked down the hallway to the far end of the kitchen. Two sofas and a smattering of chairs were arranged around a television set. It was on and tuned into the local weather, but the sound was muted.
Leaving it muted, Emma sat down on the sofa and sank into its cushions.
Mason sat beside her. He had that look. The one that warned her something was on his mind and he wanted to talk about it. She was content to not prod him. Just to sit and wait and let him get around to it. He would, after he’d sorted it all out in his mind and knew what he wanted to say.
Minutes passed with him staring blankly at the TV screen. Then a few more minutes went by and finally he looked over at her. “I think I’ve been wrong about you, Emma.”
Was that a good or a bad thing? She didn’t have a clue. “How so?”
“For a long time, I thought you were flighty. You know, that you had no idea what you wanted or needed, and that’s why you went through so many guys. But you’re not flighty at all. You’re a very deliberate person, and capable of a lot of things. I had this whole image of you that was wrong. No way around that. I’m sorry I misjudged you.”
“Thank you for telling me.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Normally, I don’t pay much attention to what other people think. I care intensely what I think, and I know my motivations. But with you, even for me…it’s different.”
“Why is that?”
She considered sidestepping his question. But isn’t that what got them into the world of misunderstandings they lived in now? How she managed, she wasn’t sure, but she met his eyes. “Because what you think matters, Mason. You matter. You always have.”
“So do you.” He sighed, as if relieved to finally say that aloud. “We’ve known each other a long time, but I’ve learned more about you since you’ve been here than I ever knew about you before.”
“You saw what you expected to see.” She sniffed. “I get that.”
“The buffet line obscured my view?”
There was no missing the self-recrimination in his tone. “Something like that.”
He frowned. “I really am sorry, Emma. I should have asked you about something before, but I thought I already knew the answer. I didn’t. I see that clearly now.”
“Go ahead and ask me.” The sooner they ended the misunderstandings and misconceptions, the better. “But know that you might not like the answer.” She hoped that wouldn’t be the case. They were making progress. Still, it might. Her mouth went dry. She swallowed hard, steeled herself, hoping neither of them would be disappointed.
“In school, you went through a lot of guys. Since then, you’ve been engaged several times, but you didn’t marry any of them.”
“I’ve been engaged twice,” she corrected him. “And I didn’t marry either of them.”
He dipped his chin and didn’t look directly at her. “May I ask why not?”
She didn’t hedge, and hoped that wouldn’t be a regret she had to lug around, too
. “Everyone thought it was poor judgment. That I’d jump into dating or getting engaged, and then realize I’d jumped prematurely.”
He did look at her then. “Honestly, before the last couple days, that’s exactly what I thought.”
She frowned at him. “It wasn’t that.”
“I’ve already said I was wrong and apologized.”
He had. “My judgment is sound,” she assured Mason. “To a man, I thought I could care about each one of them. So, I invested. But then I didn’t. Care, I mean.” She sighed and draped a hand on her thigh. “Don’t get me wrong. Many of them were really good men.”
“Not all of them.”
“True, there were a couple of losers in the bunch, but for the most part, they were decent guys. Just not guys I could care about. You know what I mean.”
“Actually, I don’t.” Mason puzzling over this in his mind played out in his expression. “It doesn’t make sense.”
She hiked a shoulder. “It makes perfect sense to me.”
“Sorry, I’m trying but I’m not tracking you.”
She sat up straight, curled her fingers and fisted her hand on her thigh. “Imagine knowing exactly what you want and searching for it. You think you find it, and so you invest. Of course, it isn’t exactly what you wanted, and so you think, that’s okay. It’s close. Close is enough. Nothing is ever exactly perfect, you know? But close can be good. So, you deal with it.”
He rubbed at his chin. “And that works for a while, only you can’t keep dealing with it.”
“Exactly.” She lifted a hand, relived that he was following along. “You start seeing the differences and they become more and more defined and clear and sharp, and pretty soon you wonder what you were thinking to even imagine that this guy or that one was close enough to what you wanted for anything to ever work between you.”
Mason nodded. “That’s when you’d end it.”
“Yes.” He really was getting it. “I didn’t want to settle, so I’d end it.”
“Okay, I get that. Really, I do. But over and over again?”
“I’m afraid so,” she said without apology. “If the differences had all been in one way, it wouldn’t have taken so many times. But they weren’t what I wanted in different ways. Men aren’t like a salad, Mason, where you can pick and choose what goes in. It takes time to figure out what all is in the bowl. Sometimes, you can figure out fast, and other times, well, it takes a while.”
“The engagements took the longest to figure out.”
“They did. But I don’t regret them.” She looked over at him. “Better to break an engagement than to marry and divorce. Though, after my own experience, I have a lot of empathy for those on that front, too.”
He digested all that for a long minute. “So, who did you want?”
That unexpected question rattled her. “Excuse me?”
“You said you knew exactly what you wanted.” He tilted his head. “I’m assuming you had a man in mind that was the model for that. Who was he?”
Too fast. He wasn’t ready to hear it, and she wasn’t ready to reveal it. She was maxed out on vulnerabilities right now. “Someone else.” Finally, after all this time of not understanding what she’d been doing herself, on seeing Mason again and talking with him now in such earnest, she understood perfectly. “And you? Why aren’t you married—or are you?”
“No, I’m not.”
Her heart dropped from her throat back into her chest where it belonged. “Have you ever been married?”
He avoided looking at her. “No.”
“No desire, fear of commitment, or what?”
“No fear. I came close once, but it didn’t work out.”
“You were engaged?” Emma pressed him.
“Not that close. But I did consider it.”
“Why didn’t it work out?”
He grunted. “She wasn’t who I thought she was.”
“That sounds familiar.” Emma actually smiled. “I totally understand that.”
“I guess you would.” He smiled back at her and a lovely little twinkle lit in his eyes. “I definitely misjudged you, Emma.”
“All these years?”
“Maybe. Definitely for most of them.”
She worried her lower lip with her teeth. “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He flushed. “I’m sorry about that, too.” He scooted closer and turned toward her. “I’ve wanted to do something for a long, long time. I was advised against it, but a proper apology requires a forgiveness kiss. Don’t you agree?”
Her heart beat hard and fast. “It does in my world.” Emma leaned into him and they kissed, gently, tenderly exploring…and Mason’s radio blared.
“Dr. M.? Dr. Martin? Are you reading me?”
He fished the radio from his waist and responded. “David? What’s up?”
“You need to get in here. Dr. Cramer says Olivia is in dangerous territory.”
“What can I do?”
“She’s been vaccinated.”
“I know. Emma and I watched on the monitor.” Mason frowned his confusion, stood up, and cut to the chase. “What’s Cramer saying on time? How long until we know whether or not the antidote is going to work?”
“An hour,” David said. “Maybe a little longer, but not much.” David hesitated. “We need a little miracle, Dr. M.”
Emma wished she had one to give him.
“Hang on and stay calm so you don’t upset Sophia and the kids. I’ll be right there.” Mason’s tone softened and he held Emma’s gaze. “And, David, remember that miracles happen every day.”
Emma loved that. Her weariness faded and her spirits soared. His words inspired her.
And then the power went out.
Chapter Twenty
Tuesday, December 18th
0712 (7:12 AM)
“Don’t panic,” Mason told Emma. “Power’s down, but the auxiliary backup generators will come online any moment.”
Thirty seconds later, the power came up, and the lights came on.
“Okay, then.” Brushing a hand across her forehead, Emma smiled, deeply relieved. “That wasn’t fun. But we can work with this.”
Mason remained tense. “Not fun at all.” He headed toward the hallway. “I need to get to Olivia.”
Emma followed. She needed to check in with John Taylor, and make sure the blackout hadn’t resulted in pandemonium above or on the rear wall. She pulled out her radio. “Security Chief. Miller paging Security Chief.”
“Go ahead, Emma.”
Loud crackling noises sounded in the background, and a steady hum of chatter. “Where are you?”
“Rear wall. Upstairs is lit. Janette and staff are calming people down.”
On alert, Emma strained to identify the sounds, but couldn’t peg them. “What’s the crackling noise I’m hearing?”
“I’m having the construction crew cover the rear wall with tarps and duct tape.” He grunted. “It isn’t ideal, but it seems prudent since we’re on auxiliary power.”
It did. “Good call,” she said. “I’m on my way down there.”
“Emma, right before the power went down,” John Taylor said, “I took out our loose cannon.”
The invader. She paused her steps to fully focus. “What happened?”
John Taylor said, “Just a second.”
Mason overheard the conversation and stopped. She waved him to go on. “I’ve got this,” she mouthed.
He nodded and then took the turn to the gear station set up outside Olivia’s room. He’d suit up and shield before entering her room.
Emma walked on toward the outer door, snagging the rifle on her way. Two steps from the outer door, the power went off, plunging them into pitch black darkness.
“Emma!” Mason’s voice echoed down the hallway to her.
“I’m fine, Mason. I’ve got to go to the rear wall.” She needed to gather info and evidence on the invader fatality and file a report with Liz.
“Okay.”
Sliding her fingers along the wall, she came to the door frame and stopped. “Can I get out of here with the power out?”
“The door has a battery backup,” Mason called back. “Punch in one and then the code.”
She felt for the pad and tapped what she hoped was the one key. The keypad lit up, piercing the darkness. Relieved, she yelled to Mason. “Going.”
“Be careful.”
Satisfaction swam through her. He cared. He might not care in the way she wished he would, but he wasn’t immune to her. The deep freeze was starting to thaw. She spoke into the radio. “John Taylor, is all power down now?”
“Yes, ma’am. Facility wide.”
“Is the suspect dead?”
“Yeah, he is. I had no choice, Emma. He drew down on me.”
That knocked out a lot of potential problems. “Where did it happen?”
“In the tunnel, about ten yards from the back wall. I was on foot staked out in there. I tracked him, to get a fix on if there were more of them and how they were getting in. He stopped in the tunnel and started rifling through his gear, putting something together. I surprised him.”
“What was he putting together?” Had to be a charge. Had to be. He’d do the prep work protected by the tunnel. Set the charge in place and finish up at the rear wall. Less time out in the open, vulnerable. Aided by her flashlight, she made her way to the cart.
“Getting ready to set off another charge. I interrupted him.”
“He wasn’t successful.” Speculating, but any blast would have been heard and likely felt in the lab.
“No, he wasn’t. But I’ll feel better once you take a look and undo what he was doing.”
Emma took off down the tunnel. “What about the guys? None of them interacted with him?”
“I radioed for them to stand down and stay out of sight.”
So that he could maybe learn how they were coming in and how many of them were here. John Taylor was very good. Very good. “Did you or any of them see anyone else?”
“No, ma’am. Not a soul.”
“And none of our guys were hurt?”
