Chasing the Cure

by Brooke Shelby

  “Get down,” hissed Mason. They all crouched lower.

  Dale could just see the car doors opening slowly. About ten men in black got out, fanning around the alley. And then Thompson emerged slowly, like a spider leaving its web. He was spruced up in a green suit and one of his famous garish ties. In his hand he carried a large black briefcase. With the back of one hand, he smoothed down his thinning hair, his gray eyes sharp and alert, like a shark scanning the water for prey.

  “The money,” whispered Mason.

  And then, another car pulled up. Dale’s heart started hammering harder. It was her. Carlotta. She stepped out confidently, staring around with almost insolent eyes. She wasn’t glammed up tonight—she was dressed in black, as if she wanted to blend into the shadows. She had her own posse of men. Dale saw the large blond man step out of the car and whisper something in her ear. And then he got the briefcase from the back of the car, handing it to her.

  Thompson stepped forward. “Carlotta. We meet at long last. It is a pleasure, my dear.”

  Carlotta smiled, almost seductively. “The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Thompson.” She paused. “I take it you have the exact amount specified?”

  Thompson smiled slowly. “But of course. All present and accounted for, down to the last dollar.” He paused. “And in exchange, I expect everything. All of Michaels’ research notes as well as the nanites.”

  Carlotta stared at him. “I am afraid that the nanites will be an extra charge, Mr. Thompson. However, I have brought all the research notes which outline the development of the technology and how to replicate it.”

  Thompson blinked rapidly. His face started turning a startling shade of puce. “What?”

  Carlotta’s smile wavered a little. “The price agreed is too little for all of it. You will get the nanites … but it will cost a little more.” Her smile widened as she spoke. “The main thing are the notes anyway, Mr. Thompson. If you have the notes, you can destroy them, ensuring that the nanites will never be made again.”

  Thompson stared at her coldly. “Do you take me for a fool? What’s to stop you from selling the nanites to someone else?”

  “You have my word.” Carlotta stared at him hard.

  Thompson started laughing slowly. “You are a shrewd businesswoman, my dear! I accept your terms. Hand over the briefcase and we will make our exchange.”

  Carlotta hesitated, then walked towards him. He held out his briefcase, and she gave him hers. Their eyes met briefly.

  “It’s been good doing business with you,” she said crisply. “I will be in touch about the price of the nanites.”

  Thompson nodded, starting to walk away. But then Dale watched in astonishment as he suddenly turned back towards her, drawing a gun.

  “Nobody plays me for a fool, Miss Di Lorenzo,” he said in a deceptively mild voice. “Nobody.”

  And then he fired, straight into her chest.

  She reeled backwards from the force of it, staggering. Dale watched in horror as she slowly placed a hand over where the bullet had entered, disbelief etched on her face. Blood started spreading outwards, away from her hand. So much blood. She keeled over like a felled tree. And then she didn’t move again.

  It seemed to Dale that all hell broke loose at that moment. Men were running everywhere. Gunshots sounded in the night air. Mason’s face looked grim.

  “Stay here,” he said curtly, running down to aid his men.

  Robin looked at Dale, her eyes wide. She was pale. “Jesus,” she said slowly. “Shit’s going down, big- time.”

  “Stay down,” he barked at both her and Audra. “You don’t want to get in the line of fire.”

  Audra looked like she was about to get sick but did as she was told. Dale turned back quickly to the melee. Mason was running into the middle of it, shooting wildly, his men backing him up. Thompson ran, diving into his car, but in the confusion managed to drop the briefcase. Mason swooped down on it, picking it up swiftly, without barely drawing a breath.

  But things weren’t going well. Dale could see that at least five of Mason’s team were down, either injured or killed. Mason was firing wildly, but suddenly he took a hit in his arm. And then another in his leg. He staggered, groaning, still clinging to the briefcase.

  Audra jumped up. “Mason!” she screamed wildly.

  “Audra, get down!” shouted Dale desperately.

  But it was too late. A gunman had spotted her and let fire. Audra crumpled backwards, and then was still.

  “Jesus Christ.” Dale ran over to her. “Audra! Can you hear me?”

  She opened her eyes dazedly, nodding. Dale quickly scanned her to see where she had been hit. He breathed out audibly when he saw that it was her shoulder and not her chest or abdomen. But she was bleeding profusely and seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness.

  Suddenly, Mason staggered to them. Dale stared at him in horror. He was limping badly, clutching his arm, but had still managed to secure the briefcase. Robin rushed to his aid, supporting him.

  “Dale,” she shouted. “We need to get out of here. Now!”

  He turned to her. It was true. Mason and Audra needed medical aid immediately. Briefly, he looked over the rooftop, ascertaining if it was safe. Thompson and his men had already fled the scene. There were dead and injured people everywhere. And in the midst of the chaos, he could see the still body of Carlotta. She hadn’t moved an inch since Thompson had suddenly gunned her down.

  He stopped breathing for a second. She was dead. He could see her glassy, still-open eyes, and her arms and legs were spread out in contorted positions. She looked like a broken doll.

  He breathed in again. He didn’t have time to process it. They had to get out of here. Already he could hear the wail of approaching sirens in the distance. Soon, this place would be crawling with police.

  “Where’s the nearest hospital?” cried Robin, still supporting Mason.

  Dale turned back to Audra. Quickly, he ripped his shirt, making a tourniquet for her wounded shoulder. She opened her eyes and managed a brief smile, but he could see the agony in them.

  “We can’t go to a hospital,” he said quickly.

  “What?” She stared at him as if he had suddenly gone crazy. “They’ve been shot, for Christ’s sake! Why can’t we take them to hospital?”

  Dale looked grim. “Because they will ask questions about what happened here. Questions we can’t answer. We’ve broken the law, Robin! Probably a million of them. And none of us are ending up in a Moroccan prison because of this.” He paused. “I swear it.”

  Robin paled. “Then what do we do?”

  Dale sighed. “We get them back to the Medina. And then we’ll get onto Sayid and Rami. They’ll know what to do.” As he hauled Audra up, he prayed to God that he was right. Because if Sayid and Rami couldn’t come through for them, Mason and Audra would die.

  “Let’s get to the car,” he said, between gritted teeth. “Now.”

  * * *

  They staggered into the riad just past midnight. Dale had driven while Robin attended the injured pair in the back. He had stopped briefly at an all-night pharmacy and grabbed the strongest over-the-counter painkillers he could find, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough. It wouldn’t even touch the sides of their pain.

  Now, they laid them on their beds, trying to make them comfortable. There was a trail of blood throughout the house. Dale stared down at Audra, shaking his head. How had it all gone so wrong?

  They had the briefcase. It was lying on the ground in the living room. But he didn’t even make a move to look in it. None of it was worth this—and besides, Carlotta had claimed that the nanites weren’t in there anyway. That was the reason Thompson had suddenly shot her. She had tried to dupe him to get more money. That was all that mattered to Carlotta, obviously. And she had paid the ultimate price for her greed.

  Robin walked in the room. “Mason’s passed out. I hope to hell he isn’t dead.”

  Dale ran a hand over his face. “Call Sayid.
Tell him what’s happened. Tell him we’ll need the strongest drugs he can find on the street, and alcohol to disinfect. That’s the first priority.” He took a deep breath. “The second is to find a doctor who can deal with these bullets. Hopefully Sayid or Rami will know someone who isn’t scared to operate and can be discreet.”

  Robin blanched. “And what if he doesn’t? The drugs and alcohol shouldn’t be an issue, but a street doctor …”

  He spun around and faced her. “Just do it, Robin! We have to get them help right now.”

  Robin didn’t argue. She took out her cell and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

  Audra stirred on the bed, opening her eyes. “Water,” she whispered. “I need water.”

  Dale quickly grabbed a water bottle beside her bed, unscrewing the top. He gently placed a hand behind her head, supporting her. Then he held the bottle to her mouth. She drank greedily, almost choking on it, before she collapsed back onto the bed in a fit of coughing. She turned her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.

  Dale sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall as his hands balled into fists. They couldn’t die. They mustn’t die! He was the one who had led them into this. His good friends, who would do anything for him. He had known Mason for so long he was almost like the brother he had never had. And Audra was beyond loyal. He knew how she felt about him. And while he could never look on her as anything other than a little sister, he cared for her too. Deeply.

  His fists tightened. Thompson. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t lashed out in anger against Carlotta, his friends would still be all right. But then guilt assailed him. Mason had had to be there, but Audra and Robin didn’t. He was the one who had allowed them to come. Something he deeply regretted.

  He gazed up as Robin walked back into the room. She looked pale and weary. She could have been injured or killed too. His heart seized wildly at the very thought. He knew that if it was her lying on a bed, injured, he would feel as strongly as he did for the others. Maybe more.

  He brushed that thought aside. There wasn’t time for it.

  “Sayid’s on his way,” she whispered. “He’s getting the drugs and alcohol.” She paused. “But Dale, he’s not sure about a doctor. He said he’ll try. He’s sent Rami out already, but it doesn’t look good.”

  23

  Robin gritted her teeth, grunting as she helped Dale move Mason into the new bed. The security expert and bodyguard was heavy—heavier than he looked. She gazed down at the injured man, noticing that his red hair was slick with sweat, and that he was almost deathly pale.

  She stared at Dale. “Next time we have to move either of them, we need to do a one, two, three count.”

  Dale stared at her distractedly. “Sorry?”

  Robin sighed dramatically. “You know. Like they do in hospitals when they move someone. If we are going to be nurses, we need to act like them.” She rubbed the small of her back ruefully. “It will save us from getting slipped discs.”

  “If you say so.” Dale had moved to the window, staring out anxiously at the street below. “Where are Sayid and Rami? They need stronger painkillers. They need them now.”

  Robin shrugged, feeling a tight band of panic tighten across her forehead. It had been over an hour since she had made the call to Sayid. In the meantime, they had made the decision to move Mason into the same room as Audra to make nursing them both a little easier. But there wasn’t much more they could do for either of them until Sayid came with the drugs and alcohol. And hopefully a street doctor as well.

  Suddenly, they heard footsteps on the stairs. Dale bolted, ripping open the door. Sayid stood there, clutching a large paper bag in his hands. His dark eyes drifted from Dale to Robin.

  “What did you manage to get?” Dale stared at him, his face pale.

  Sayid grinned, marching into the room and dumping the bag on a table. “I have everything you need, Mr. Dale.” He extracted the contents of the bag, handing them to Dale. “Morphine tablets. A very large bottle of fine rum. Bandages.”

  Dale stared at the bounty as it was handed to him. “Good. This is good. What about the street doctor?”

  Sayid sighed. “I have found one, sir. It was difficult. An English man who lives in the Medina. He is rumored to have been a doctor in the British army before he fled military service. He does work discreetly, but for a price. He cannot get here for a few hours.” His eyes drifted towards Audra and Mason in the beds. “They are very bad?”

  Dale nodded grimly. “They are very bad. But this stuff will tide them over until the doc gets here.” He stared at the young Moroccan. “Thank you, Sayid. And thank Rami too. I don’t know what we would have done without you.” His eyes drifted back to the injured pair in the beds, tears filling his eyes.

  * * *

  Dale sat at the table, watching Robin patiently pour water down Mason’s throat. She had just given him two of the high-dosage morphine tablets. He groaned but swallowed the water. Audra had already had hers, and they had cleaned all their wounds, sterilizing them with alcohol, and re-bandaged them. Now all that they could do was wait for the doctor to get here.

  Suddenly, the reality of it all hit him like a plank of wood across the head, and he put his head in his hands, leaning into the table.

  “Are you okay?” Robin walked across the room and was standing above him, watching him keenly.

  He took a deep breath. “No, I’m not okay. We’ve just broken a million laws tonight in a foreign country. People are dead. And Mason and Audra might die as well.”

  She reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. We all knew the risks. Mason and Audra accepted them, just like I did.”

  He smiled slightly, staring up at her. And then they heard a small voice from the bed.

  “I knew it,” hissed Audra, staring at them. “There’s something going on between the two of you, isn’t there? Have you slept with her yet, Dale?”

  They both turned, astonished. Audra was sitting up in the bed. Her eyes were dilated. The drugs were obviously starting to work, but not in the way that Dale had anticipated. He’d thought both of them would have been out for the count by now.

  “I knew it.” Audra’s voice grew louder. “Dale, how could you? She’ll play you, just like Carlotta did! And I’ve been here all along.” She sobbed a little.

  “Audra …” Dale couldn’t believe it. What was she saying?

  “I’m not playing anybody,” said Robin loudly. “I’m not like Carlotta!”

  Audra laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “The great Robin Stowe, black hat hacker extraordinaire! But I know what you really are. I did a background check.” Her voice quivered. “You used to be a street kid, didn’t you? Living out of trash cans, I wouldn’t wonder.”

  Robin gasped, taking a step forward. “How dare you! You had no right to do that!” She swung around to Dale, her green eyes glittering dangerously. “Tell her, Dale. Tell her that she had no right!”

  Dale felt his heart hammering, hard. What on earth was going on here?

  “I authorized it, Robin.” He stared at her evenly. “I had to. I needed to know who you are.”

  “How dare you?” She was yelling now, and shaking with rage. “How do you think that makes me feel? All of you knowing what happened to me?” She shook her head disbelievingly. “You want to know everything about me, Dale, and yet you can’t even tell the truth to yourself!”

  His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “Screw and run, is that your motto?” she yelled, glaring at him. “You are so busy mourning that bitch Carlotta who screwed you over that you lie to yourself.”

  “I’m not a liar,” Dale yelled back at her, his chest heaving. “I’ve never promised you one goddamn thing, except to pay you for your work!”

  “You’re a prick,” she screamed.

  “Leave him alone!” yelled Audra, almost rearing up from the bed. “I swear to God, I will throttle you myself, Robin!�
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  “All of you shut the fuck up,” bellowed Mason. They all turned to him. “For Christ’s sake, I’m lying here, wounded, and all I can hear is your bullshit!”

  “She started it,” yelled Robin, pointing at Audra. “I always knew she had it in for me.” She swiveled around to Audra. “Don’t take your frustration out on me. Just because you want him for yourself doesn’t mean that I am the freaking enemy here!”

  “Leave Audra alone,” yelled Dale, his eyes narrowing. “She’s been more loyal to me than any other woman I’ve ever known.”

  “And that’s your problem, isn’t it, Dale?” Robin yelled. “You think all of us women are out to screw you over just because one bitch did a number on you!”

  “Go to hell, Robin,” yelled Dale, stepping towards her. “You think you can walk into my life and tell me how it is? We’ve known each other for about three seconds.”

  They faced each other, their eyes glittering and chests heaving. Dale could see a muscle twitching in her face, and her eyes were darting back and forth, like she was cornered.

  “Fuck you all!” she screamed, staring from one to the other. “You’re all the same! Thinking you are so good, in your fancy houses and fancy clothes. You’re just like the lowlifes on the streets who’ll stab you in the back as quick as look at you.”

  Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the front door. They all turned and stared. Then Dale swept out of the room, running down the stairs. He felt slightly sick as the adrenaline from the fighting coursed out of his system. What the hell had just gone on in there?

  24

  Dale ripped open the door. A small Moroccan man was standing on the step. He wore a skull cap and had a short, pointy goatee. Behind him stood two women in black head scarves, glaring at him as if he were the devil incarnate.

  “Inshallah,” the man said, his eyes steely. “I am from the house next door.” He pointed to the left. “And these are my neighbors.” He gestured towards the two women.