by April Zyon
“Thank you for thinking about me.” She took the pill and swallowed it with the water he offered her. “Okay, more food.” She watched him, then winked.
“I’ll always think of you,” he told her. “You’re my other half, my heart, the reason to continue forward with the seemingly never-ending days. You give me hope. You give me happiness, and you give me peace. If you’re not happy, then I’m doing something seriously wrong, and that’s unacceptable.”
Riley did the only thing she could think of in that moment. She reached out and pulled him closer to her. She laid a kiss on him that held all of the emotion she couldn’t express. When she parted from him, she licked her lips.
He smiled, slow and with heat in his eyes. “What was that for?” he asked, his voice deeper and showing the emotion he felt for her. “Not that I’m complaining. But damn, woman, what did I do to earn that?”
“You just reminded me how much I love you, and more than that, you showed me how much you loved me,” she said simply.
Nodding, he leaned in and gave her a light kiss in return. “I love you, Riley. And I hope to show you how much every day of our lives together.” Hector gave her another quick kiss before withdrawing to his seat. He went back to eating, as did she, and when they were done he tidied up while she finished off her water. When he’d put the basket of dishes into the wheelchair for later, he helped her to the hammock.
Which was when a small complication arose. How the hell am I going to get into it without hurting myself?
She frowned as she looked at the hammock, then at him. “Well, hell,” she grumbled. “Even though I’m kind of floating right now because this pain pill kicked in, I have a feeling I’ll regret it if I climb in there, won’t I?” She frowned.
Hector was looking from her to the hammock and back again. She could practically hear the wheels turning as he worked through the problem.
Finally he walked off, returning with the blanket. He proceeded to wrap her in it, lift her into his arms, and ease her down onto the hammock. “Don’t move,” he warned. Walking around, he eased onto the far side and, in a quick move, was soon horizontal, just as she began to roll toward him due to his greater mass. He stopped her, then rearranged the cover so she was a little less like a piggy in a blanket.
Riley grinned and snuggled in closer to him. “You’re good,” she praised. “Okay. Nap and then we’ll go back downstairs.”
“You never did say where your attorney is located, Riley. So I know how long we can stay up here. It’s just after noon now, local time.”
“They’re in Seattle. So, depending on what state we are in? There’s also an office in New York, but I can’t stand large cities. I can barely tolerate small ones because of being able to see all that I see.”
“We’re in Washington State,” he told her quietly. “We can rest for a couple of hours. Then you can make your call. We’ll do it from the control room, so we can guarantee the call is untraceable. No reason to allow anyone to figure out where we are, after we’ve gone to so much trouble to keep our home a secret all these years.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Thank you.” She yawned and rubbed her cheek to his chest. “I love being in your arms. I know I’ve told you that before, but I wanted to remind you. I especially love when you stroke your hand over my back.” Another yawn had her eyes closing. “I think I might fall asleep on you, though. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, Riley. You’re still healing. Besides, it’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, and we have no immediately pressing matters to attend to.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Sleep, Riley. I will be right here, holding you the entire time.”
“I couldn’t ask for anything better than that,” she told him and yawned again. “I truly do love you with all my soul,” she murmured before drifting off.
Chapter Nine
Four hours later, she was tucked into the communications hub of the Mountain. Mercury was in there, as was Hector and one other who wasn’t introduced to her. The woman was busy working away on a computer as Mercury leaned in. Apparently, the two of them were on some project or other.
Hector handed her the phone. “Dial out as you normally would. It’s a secured line, routed all around the world to guarantee anonymity. Do you want me to give you some privacy?”
“No.” She reached out for him and took his hand. “Stay with me, please?” She needed the comfort of his presence.
“All right, I’ll stay.” He pulled a chair close to her side and settled in. Taking her hand in his again, he squeezed gently before pressing a kiss to her fingers.
Riley leaned in and dialed the number for the attorney’s office. As soon as the switchboard operator answered, she asked to be put through to Wilson Honeycutt. When she gave her name she was promptly connected.
When Wilson picked up, she sported an honest smile of affection. “Hello, Wil. It’s Riley. And before you start, I want to let you know that I’m well. I left on my own, and I’m happy. I’ve actually found someone that I love and who loves and takes care of me. Now, as to why I called. I need to make sure that my mother can never touch my trust fund. Ever. Can you help me with that? The company too,” she added, as almost an afterthought.
“Riley! So good to hear from you. Your mother’s been in here nearly every damn hour of the day trying to claim some horrid things. I’m sure I don’t need to expand on that. You know her only too well after all. Uh, yes, my dear. I’ll need you to actually come into the office, though. I apologize. I realize this is likely putting you out, but we’ll need you to sign a few things with witnesses and the notary on site, all in the same room at the same time.”
Riley frowned and looked at Hector. “How about if we did a video conference instead? I can sign the paperwork and fax it to your offices, so that you know it’s me. I only ask this because my life is in danger. Hector and his friends are bodyguards and are protecting me.” She winced at what felt like a punch in the gut. Lying literally made her hurt. “It’s safer for me to remain where I can’t be found. Is that possible?”
“I’ll have to confirm with the partners, but I think that could be managed. It would be all in real time. Is there a number where I can reach you?” Wilson asked.
Hector leaned over the desk, and when he sat back, he handed her a card with a single line on it. He gave a nod before pressing a kiss to her temple.
Riley gave Wilson the number. She then smiled and leaned into Hector again. “Wilson, can you also contact my R&D manager and ask him to call me? I have a project I want him to work on, and I can’t think of his direct line at this time. If I know my mother, she’s watching the company lines, anyway. The switchboard operator is on Mom’s payroll and has been for a while.”
Riley had known for a long time, but she hadn’t cared. The woman was good at her job and needed the extra money. It wasn’t like there had been anything she’d needed to hide when it came to business. Until now.
“Of course. I’ll get in touch with him after we hang up. I have a meeting with the partners in a couple of hours, so I’ll discuss the video conference with them then.”
Wilson paused before continuing, “Riley, I hate to have to ask this, but I must since I have known you so long. Plus, your mother has been driving me insane for the last couple of days. Are you positive that you’re safe where you are? I trust in your word, but I need to know that you’re not under any sort of duress. If you are, you can just say yes, and I’ll figure out a way to get you out of there.”
Hector shifted in his seat and rolled his eyes when she looked his way. He was close enough to her that he could hear both ends of the conversation. He looked mildly amused by Wil’s protective streak.
Riley just smiled. “I’m perfectly fine, Wilson. I promise you. I’m happy. I’m well cared for, and I’m safe. That’s all that matters. Thank you for handling things for me. I do appreciate that. Just give a call when you have everything arranged, and I’ll be ready on this side. Thank you, really. You h
ave no idea how much you mean to me, Wilson.”
Considering that he was her pseudo-godfather, she was sure that he did, but sometimes people just needed to hear it. “Now, give your wife a hug from me and take her on that vacation once we get everything sorted. I insist. Call it my bonus to you. I mean it this time, bub. You don’t want me to come and track you down.” She laughed and hung up after she got his acceptance.
Turning, she looked at Hector and nodded once. “Okay, that’s done. Now what?”
He leaned in to kiss her cheek. “I think we should get you a snack so you can take your next pill. We also need to get the lunch dishes cleaned up and tell the doctors you’ll be sleeping in our suite from now on. You’ll need the energy for that.
“If a call comes through on that line, one of the two operators will pick up. It’s for a security firm that—should your lawyers check—exists and has an excellent reputation. One of our members founded it, so we use it as a cover now and again. We’re all on the payroll. In a manner of speaking, of course.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Riley was ready for a pain pill, truth be told. She placed her hand on his. “Now, how about you roll us where we need to go?”
With a nod, he was on his feet and rolling her out of the room back through the halls. “The halls are all labeled,” he said. “I’ll get you the map, so you can learn it while you’re resting and recuperating. It’s actually a pretty simple system, for the most part. Plus there are emergency phones at all major junctions. A few of the staff have gotten turned around in the past, so we put them in as soon as it was a viable and cheap option.”
“That’s a brilliant idea.” Riley was pretty good at getting where she needed to go most times, but sometimes she would get turned around. Especially if she ran into someone that wasn’t exactly who they were supposed to be.
“After we had to send out the third search party, we had to do something. Which was when we instituted the coding system. Then we put up the large maps in key spots near the doors, stairwells, and elevators. And, when we were able, the phones were put in as well.”
“I would imagine that you older guys helped carve out some of the space. Or am I wrong?”
“We did a lot of the work ourselves. We did have servants at the time, who assisted until they were no longer able. They then retired—wealthy men and women, I should mention—to enjoy the last years of their lives as they wished. Their children were brought up to know just who we were and then step into their places when they came of age and were able. Some had dreams of doing more, so they did.
“Anyone that has ever worked with or for us has been a volunteer. Just because they weren’t born of the parents we were doesn’t make them any less. Sometimes it makes them more,” Hector added quietly. “It took us nearly sixty years to get a livable space cut out. After that, we continued to expand carefully—always very aware of just what sits above our heads.”
“You guys were ahead of your time in a number of ways, weren’t you? The math and science that went into creating this place is incredible. You amaze me.”
“Shouldn’t really amaze you, sweetheart. The Romans did it. Troy did it. Several other cultures were ahead of their time at one point. If you look at history, it’s all been done before. It’s just that folks in this time frame like to think they’re all that and then some.” Hector cringed at his wording. “Yes, I actually just said that, and I’m not proud of myself in the least.”
Riley began to laugh. “Oh God, seriously? You’re too much. I so can’t believe you said that. I really can’t. I mean … you’re too much.” But he was hers. All hers.
“I know. I know,” he muttered in clear disgust. “I really need to stop listening to the younger people we have around here. They’re starting to infect me with their oddities and strange terminology. I don’t mind learning the new nuances to the language as times change, but even that is too far for me.”
Then, leaning over, he pressed a kiss to her lips. “We’re here,” he said against her mouth with a smile. Straightening, he turned her chair around and backed them into the dining hall. “Something smells good in here,” he commented while wheeling her toward the buffet already laid out.
“Oh God, it does smell good. Food.” Her stomach growled. “I’m starving again already.”
He stopped at the beginning of the buffet and took the basket from where he’d hooked it. “Give me a minute,” he said. With a kiss to her temple, he left her for a moment but was never out of sight. He passed the basket off to a woman. When he returned, he handed Riley a plate and pushed her along the line of food to choose her meal.
When he stopped before the cheesecake, she took two slices—one with chocolate and one covered in strawberries. “I have a bit of a weakness for cheesecake. Don’t ask me why, but there’s just something about the yummy goodness and smooth richness that makes me happy.”
“Whatever you want or need,” he promised softly. Once she had utensils, he took her to an intimate table in the corner. He helped her into a padded chair. “Do you need anything else while I’m up there?”
“Drinks would be nice.”
He dug out the pill bottle and set it in front of her plate. “Behave yourself, Riley.” He brushed his fingers to her cheek, then left her sitting there. Once he’d walked off, she noted that he’d put her back to a wall and they were in a spot to see the entire room.
Riley just smiled, shook her head, and pulled her plate closer.
Epilogue
Jason nodded to Hector as he entered the “war room”—as Mercury liked to call it—the next morning. Gaius was already sitting in a chair, tapping his fingers on the table in a near-frantic beat. He looked as bent out of shape about Emily not being there as Hector felt with leaving Riley out of the meeting.
Unfortunately, she still needed a lot of rest, and since they’d barely managed to twist the doctor’s arm into letting her stay in the suite, they weren’t going to push the issue of her roaming around the base more than necessary.
After filling a mug with the good coffee that Mercury ensured they always had, Hector dropped into a seat next to Gaius. Jason was lounging in a third chair, staring up at the ceiling with an air of sheer boredom. Mercury was nowhere to be seen.
“Any word?” he asked Gaius.
“They’re supposed to be reporting in this morning. Part of why we’re doing it in here is that Mercury doesn’t want anyone outside the inner circle to hear what they might say,” Gaius told him.
Grunting at that, Hector sipped at his coffee as the screens on the wall across from the table lit up. No signal yet, but it was a good sign that things might actually get moving sooner rather than later. He hated leaving Riley alone when she could barely move on her own.
He shot a look to Gaius and sighed. He was really starting to understand where the other man had been coming from over the last weeks. Damn it all to hell and back again, I might actually owe the cocky bastard an apology. Doesn’t mean I have to give him one.
The door opened, and Mercury came in with another guardian. Someone they hadn’t seen in a while.
“Alex,” Hector greeted the man.
“H, Gaius, Jase. Good to see you.” He went to the coffee pot.
“Hey, big guy. Long time no see. Where you been?” Jason asked the question they all wanted to know the answer to.
“Here and there,” Alexander remarked with a small smirk.
Mercury cleared his throat. Alexander moved to a chair and sank into it with a distinctive sigh. He looked exhausted, Hector noted. Whatever he’d been up to, he hadn’t been sleeping all that well.
“All right. A few things first. Jason, I’m sending you out to Seattle. We’ve had some reports from there that seem a little off. James is going to meet you there for backup. Try not to kill him, if you would, please?” Mercury asked in a pleading tone.
“No promises,” Jason said with a grin. “But if he gets going with those damn ya’ll’s of his, all bets are off. Kindly
remind him that the English language doesn’t need to be mired by terminology that only survived for a few decades in the Wild West, hmm?”
“I’ll pass that along,” Mercury grumbled. He tossed a folder on the table, and it slid under Jason’s waiting hand. “All the details we currently have, as of twenty minutes ago, are in there. We’ll call you with any updates we have, but this may be a wild goose chase.”
“Given our current run of luck, doubtful,” Gaius muttered.
“True enough,” Mercury agreed. He turned and flicked a button at the screens to bring up the feed. It showed a close-up view of someone’s nostrils.
“Is it working?” a muffled voice asked.
“Hell if I know,” a clearer one said. “Damn technology is a pain in my ass.”
“If you’d drag your ass into the present, you wouldn’t have such issues, you know.”
“Says the moron that still believes that shootouts at high noon are an effective method of dealing with scum.”
“They are!”
Hector watched as Mercury rolled his eyes and rubbed at a temple in amusement. Then their leader cleared his throat to gain some attention.
“I think it’s working.” The camera wobbled out away from the nostrils to show a redhead and a blond. “Oh, hello,” the redhead greeted with a smile.
“James, Eric,” Mercury addressed both men. “Report, if you would, sometime today.”
“Right, apologies,” the redhead, aka Eric, said. “We tracked our traitor as far as Miami and then he disappeared. He’s getting outside help for sure, Mercury.”
James pulled up a chair on screen and joined the conversation. “He went to a fancy hotel downtown—the sort where they eye you up and down like they expect you to steal the gold right off the fancy bits while they’re watching. But he didn’t stay all that long. He came back with a couple other fellas, got in one of them fancy long cars and took off. We followed them to an airport, but only the fellas got out. No sign of our traitor.”
