She drew a deep breath and pulled the waistband of her pants down to her knees. Looking down, she patted the muscled area below her hip, near her buttocks. “Son of a bitch. Here.” She grabbed his fingertip and pressed it against her flesh where a tiny raised area could be felt but not seen.
He nodded, breaking into a sweat. Was he really going to do this? He was. He washed his hands with antibacterial soap, then doused the small blade in alcohol.
“Why don’t you sit?” That way, if it hurt, she wouldn’t pass out from a standing position.
Nausea filled him, but he knew the faster he worked, the better off they’d both be.
She sat, her side facing him, her hands in tight fists.
“Keep breathing,” he told her.
She managed a short nod. “Just do it.”
He drew a steadying breath. With the blade, he made a tiny cut, pressing down hard enough to break skin.
She sucked in a breath. Let out a squeak of pain, her real noises being held back, he knew. He swallowed a wave of nausea and kept working.
Going on and methodically following Jonah’s instructions, Shane parted the skin and, using sterilized tweezers, dug in. He wasn’t a surgeon, and he had to dig around more than he’d have liked, the soft noises coming from the back of her throat piercing his heart.
“Got it.” Finally he pulled out the rice-sized chip, holding it up for her to see before dropping it into the towel he’d placed on the counter.
“Thank God,” she muttered, tears in her eyes.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d worked or how much time had passed. He’d only been aware of the task in front of him and the sounds of her heavy breathing mixed with his own.
“Okay?” he asked her.
She gave a short nod.
He did his best to close the wound with butterfly strips, determined to get her to a doctor, and probably a tetanus shot and antibiotics, as soon as they were safe.
She ducked her head, pulling in deep breaths, as he turned back to the sink and washed off the blood. He had a hunch he’d see that nightmare in his sleep often in the coming days. He cleaned up after himself, leaving no trace behind, except what he tossed in the trash. Let the bastards dig through the garbage to find their tracker.
Shane placed a hand on her shaking back. “Hey. Are you really okay?”
She met his gaze, her eyes glassy and her cheeks flushed, but she managed a nod.
Damn, she was brave. They had to get the hell out of here, but he took a minute to lift her up and pull her into his arms. He needed the embrace as much as she did. He’d never done anything like that on someone he cared about, and his stomach was roiling.
“You did good,” he said, not wanting to let her go but knowing they needed to leave.
She tipped her head back. “You did better.” She grinned.
Unable to resist, he kissed her lips. Not for long—they had no time to spare—but he needed a taste.
“Take the ibuprofen and we’ll get on the road.” He pressed another kiss, this one to her forehead.
She tore open the pain killer they’d bought and swallowed it with water. “Ready.” She took a step on her foot, wincing as she walked.
He grabbed his bag, which carried everything, including the formula, wrapped an arm around her, and rushed out to the car.
They followed Jonah to the cabin in a beat-up Jeep in silence. Talia wasn’t in a chatty mood, and Shane wasn’t about to push her to talk after what she’d been through.
He didn’t mention it to her, but they had a tail a far distance away. He wasn’t surprised; they’d obviously had someone on her, and with or without the tracker, they were on to them.
Shane had known he’d have to deal with whomever was after her at some point. Better to be aware than wondering.
But no matter how you sliced it, his team was four hours away by private jet, then they’d have to take a helicopter to reach the cabin.
They were talking hours before they could possibly feel safe, and though they might all reach the cabin at the same time, there was more of a likelihood Shane would have to take on at least the guy in the car and whatever backup he’d called on his own.
Chapter Nine
Talia’s hip hurt like a son of a bitch, the ibuprofen not even touching the pain, but she gritted her teeth and didn’t complain. There’d be plenty of time to get medical attention once they survived this mess.
They reached the cabin four hours later, just as rain came pouring down. They rushed inside, locked the doors, and set the alarm, Jonah re-securing the trap he had set along the path to the cabin. Although the man was paranoid, in this case, his suspicious nature would help buy time, because according to Shane, Ian and his team were still fifteen minutes out.
“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we had a tail on the way here,” he said as Jonah settled in front of his state-of-the-art security system. “He didn’t follow us once we turned off the main road to the cabin. My hunch is he’s waiting for backup.”
“Oh God.” Nausea lodged in her throat. “Did you reach Sheila yet?” she asked Jonah. She had to get the formula to someone she could trust.
“Negative.” He kept an eye on the screens for the intruder. Or intruders. Who knew what they were in for?
She sighed. “We need to get it into her hands. And in a way that can’t be intercepted. Can’t you just send the formula itself via email?”
“Not until I’m sure nobody else checks her account. She’s never been as safety conscious as me, no matter how hard I tried to teach her the benefits of being extra careful.”
Shane, meanwhile, muttered under his breath, pacing as he ran a hand along the back of his neck. She didn’t have to ask him what was wrong. Her stomach was jumping with nerves, as well.
She called her brother, checking in and explaining their current situation. Tate was worried but glad she was still with Shane, and he trusted Ian Taggart and his team, and Talia took comfort in that. Still, at this point, it was a race to see if the helicopter arrived with reinforcements before the guy who’d followed her decided to make his move, demanding the formula.
The plan was for Shane and Ian to take Talia to Sheila so Talia could turn over the formula in person. Of course, that assumed they could reach her and set up a meeting place.
Shane walked over and placed a hand on her shoulders. “How are you?” he asked, his breath warm in her ear.
“Good.”
“Liar,” he whispered, his fingers massaging the tight knots in her muscles.
“Okay, in pain.” She didn’t want him to feel guilty. “It had to be done. I wasn’t going to walk around knowing my every movement was being tracked like I’m some animal.”
He nodded. “I know. Look, when we get out of this mess—”
She didn’t know what he planned to say, and Jonah interrupted them anyway.
“We’ve got company.”
Shane pulled out his gun and stalked to where Jonah watched the screen. A black sedan had turned onto the unpaved path.
“That’s the car,” Shane said.
Jonah hit a button and reset the spikes he’d turned off for their approach, so they would spring up as a car passed, ripping apart any tires that dared to pass.
“What is he working on that he needs this kind of protection?” Shane asked, not for the first time. But Jonah hadn’t answered him the first go-round.
He wouldn’t reply now.
And he didn’t.
The car slowed before hitting the blades, coming to a stop. A solo man in the sedan appeared to be talking into a cell phone before he climbed out of the car and began to approach by foot in the pouring rain.
“He probably called for backup,” Shane muttered. He hit a button on his own cell and checked in with Ian. “How far out?” he asked.
“Patience, grasshopper,” Ian said. “Ten and counting.”
Shane headed to his bag and returned with the Taser Talia had grown too comfortable with. “Here.�
��
“But—”
“I’m going to head him off outside. I don’t want him getting anywhere near you, the doc, or the formula.”
“Stay here until Ian arrives.” She grabbed his arm, not wanting him in any extra danger because of her.
“I can’t do that.” He pulled her into a quick kiss, one that didn’t last nearly long enough, before handing her the Taser gun. “Best case, I neutralize him and Ian arrives before his buddies get here.”
She didn’t want to ask about the worst-case scenario.
Shane headed out into the rain.
Her heart in her throat, Talia ran back to the monitors, where Jonah was watching. Shane stealthily worked his way from tree to tree, moving toward the entrance to the property. In another screen, she viewed the man coming toward him. They were destined to meet up, and Talia was so nervous she had to lower herself into a chair, her hand on the Taser gun.
Just in case.
“Your man’s got the right moves,” Jonah said.
“I just wish backup would get here.” Her hand went to the locket that wasn’t there, an old habit she’d have to break. But she didn’t have time to dwell on it, because as she watched, Shane barreled into the intruder, dragging him to the ground.
Talia braced her hands on the desktop and leaned closer, panic filling her as the two men grappled for purchase in the damp earth. Shane was bigger, broader, and got more than his share of hits in, eventually able to knock the man down.
Shane pulled his gun just as Jonah spoke. “Problem. We’ve got penetration on the western quadrant of the property.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Men coming in on foot from the side. A lot of them.”
“What? No!” She glanced at the screen.
Shane had hauled the man to his feet and was slowly marching him toward the house, gun trained on his back as they moved. She didn’t know where the other men would intercept him, and there was nothing she could do to prevent it.
Nausea and worry for Shane filled her, as did complete panic for her work if the team they’d sent in breached the house. “They can’t get their hands on the formula.”
For the last half-dozen years, she’d been singularly focused on this cure. To lose it now, have a big pharmaceutical company, if that was who really was behind this, bury her findings… She couldn’t let that happen. Although she was tempted to run into danger herself to warn Shane, her intellectual instincts won out. There was nothing she could do to help him. She had to trust in his ability to take care of himself.
“I need your piece of the formula and access to your computer,” she said to Jonah. One part was in Shane’s duffel bag, and the last part was recent enough that she could recreate it from memory. At least enough to upload.
“What’s your plan?” her mentor asked.
“I’m going to cut the enemy off at the knees by uploading the cure to MedFree, an open source software site.” A reputable site owned by a cadre of scientists who could not be bought by big pharmaceuticals. Any reputable researcher knew the name.
Jonah didn’t argue. He obviously saw the wisdom of her plan. Expose the formula so the company after her couldn’t profit and remove the need to come after the cure.
He swiveled his chair toward yet another screen and typed in a password. “Here you go. Do your worst.” He glanced at the monitors. “But do it fast.”
She swallowed hard as Shane found himself surrounded. He dropped his gun and raised his hands in the air, outnumbered by the incoming men.
“Oh my God,” she said, scrambling for the computer just as Jonah handed her two separate notebooks, each opened to the right set of information.
She pulled up the site and logged in. And then she frantically but carefully began to type.
She was still inputting the information when the door burst open wide, followed by a gust of wind. Just as she pressed the final entry and hit upload, Shane, wet and muddy, stepped inside, hands in the air, followed by what looked like an army of men in black.
“Hands in the air,” one of the men said.
Fear pulsed through her, but she complied, as did Jonah.
“I want the formula,” the first man through the door said, his voice deep and formidable.
“You’re too late,” she said, facing them. “I uploaded all the pertinent information necessary to recreate the cure onto freeware. The world has access to the formula.” She raised her chin. If she was going down, she was going down having done the right thing.
Before the man in charge could reply, the sound of windows shattering echoed through the room.
“Get down!” Shane shouted.
Everything happened in a blur. A large body slammed her to the floor, knocking her breath out of her lungs. Shots rang out around her, and she heard screams—before realizing the sounds were coming from her.
* * * *
“Clear!”
At the sound of Ian’s voice, Shane eased himself off Talia and helped her to a sitting position. Her face was pale, her eyes wide, her teeth chattering.
Gunshots could do that to a civilian, and he pulled her close as she recovered from the shock of Ian and the team coming in through the windows. They now had the men surrounded at gunpoint.
Jonah climbed out from beneath the desk. “Who’s going to pay for this mess?” he asked, grumbling.
Ian met Shane’s gaze. “All good?”
“You took long enough,” Shane muttered. He’d been outnumbered and had seen them walk in and train a gun on Talia.
“You try flying in this God-awful weather. Your girl okay?”
Before he could answer, Talia struggled to a standing position. “I’m fine. Thank you for getting here,” she said, ignoring her still-trembling limbs.
“The formula’s safe?” Ian asked.
She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “It’s available to whomever can get it to the FDA the fastest. I uploaded it to a freeware site to prevent anyone who could profit from its destruction from accessing it first.”
She sounded shocked by her actions, and Shane understood. The cure wouldn’t be sold in a traditional sale from her employer to a big pharmaceutical company. “You killed your company’s chance at a big sale.”
“And I won’t be able to guide a team of scientists into testing and see my product helping people firsthand.” She sucked in her bottom lip. “On the other hand, now scientists and even hobbyists will have the chance to work with my research,” she said, sounding more hopeful. “They could possibly even expand on it.”
“And there will be competition to market—competition that might take your discoveries to a higher level,” Ian offered.
“Regardless, what you did was selfless and brave,” Shane said, completely in awe. He slid his hand into hers. “I’m proud of you.” For more than just outsmarting the people after her. She’d faced down the men with guns like the brave woman she was.
She managed a shaky smile. “Thank you.”
“Okay, kids,” Ian said. “The local cops are coming in to clean up this mess. With any luck, they’ll find out who was behind this. We’re out.” He glanced at Shane. “You know how much I hate dealing with bureaucratic shit.”
Shane rolled his eyes. They’d all be tied up late answering questions, but Talia was safe. Which meant this particular job was complete.
Chapter Ten
Talia and Shane were separated as soon as the local sheriff and his men arrived wanting answers, considering they had bullet holes everywhere and a few non-life-threatening injuries to the men after her. Shane had refused to leave her, but the sheriff demanded their individual stories, so they’d separated. Talia was more than happy to provide her version of events.
The sheriff planned to get in contact with Dallas authorities so they could compare notes and tie up loose ends on both sides. Talia knew it would take more time and investigation before the truth of what happened finally came out.
After an hour of questioning, the me
n who weren’t sent off with police escorts by ambulance were rounded up and taken into custody. The end of her short nightmare had finally come, and Talia couldn’t be more relieved.
Shane and Talia were allowed to leave with Ian by helicopter to the nearest airport, at which point they’d fly to Dallas. The rest of his men had dispersed using Shane’s car. Weight limits prohibited adding more people on the helicopter, and Shane wanted Talia back in Dallas at a local hospital near home. She wasn’t about to argue. The pain in her hip had only gotten worse, especially after she’d been thrown to the floor to avoid flying bullets.
She took her first helicopter ride and was mesmerized by the feel and sights around her. With Ian around, she and Shane had no time to talk—not that she knew what to say beyond thanks for saving me and good-bye. She had no illusions about any kind of future for them. No sooner had her situation been wrapped up than Ian engaged Shane in conversation about an emergency case that had just come their way. Soon he’d be busy with his bodyguard business…as it should be.
She wondered how her company played into people wanting to steal her work. No doubt, there was big money involved and high stakes for either developing her formula or burying it for good. Her goal was and always would be to be back in a lab, doing her work. She didn’t know or want any other way of life.
And if Sheila and her company could somehow get involved in the cure Talia had uploaded today, she was hoping Jonah’s ex-wife would let her be involved in bringing the drug to market. Talia had sacrificed too much of her life to the cause, and she desperately wanted to be a part of its future.
An exhausting number of hours later, she arrived at the hospital, where a doctor cleaned out Talia’s wound while lecturing Shane on the dangers of a civilian playing surgeon.
The poor man didn’t need the reprimand. She knew he felt bad enough already. And she’d have the scar to remember him by even when he was gone from her life. The scar would be even larger because the doctor needed to go in and clean out the wound before closing it up again.
At least this time she’d had a local anesthetic to dull the pain. Not that the needles on the local had been fun, but she’d survived the ordeal. It helped that she had Shane by her side, holding her hand while the doctor worked.
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