by Fiona Quinn
Chapter Ten
Zoe
The better the fruit the more wasps to eat it
~ German proverb
Zoe squinted as she took in the industrial efficiency of the hospital room. Lying there, she worked to understand her surroundings. She remembered being brought in on a stretcher, but everything seemed fuzzy—her memory of why, and the things around her.
“Here you go, Zoe.” Gage stood at the side of her bed, placing something in her hands.
She sighed with relief as she realized they were her glasses. “Thank you.” She sounded a little tipsy to her own ears. Whatever they gave her last night had done the job. Zoe remembered talking to the nurse in a darkened room, and now she was awake again with the sun streaming through her window. Time had moved forward without her. She glanced over at Gage, who wore a bemused look on his face. His eyes, which could magically change from blue to green to black as coal, were locked on her. Right now, she could easily read affection and concern in their depths, and also a little bit of that look he got just before they… Zoe felt her cheeks turn pink.
Gage chuckled. “I’d pay good money to know what you’re thinking.”
“Have you been here for a long time?” She glanced at the wall clock, then over to Gage. He wore the same clothes as last night, along with the rough shadow of an unshaven face.
“In and out since last night. Mostly in. I wanted to keep an eye on you.”
Zoe pushed the button on her bed, so she could sit upright. She crossed her legs under the cotton blanket. “All right, Captain America, what happens now?”
Gage sent her a curious look. “Why did you call me that?”
“What?”
“Captain America.”
“Oh.” She tilted her head and examined him. “Must be the body language.”
“Body language?”
“Do you have to repeat what I say? It’s irritating.”
Gage raised a brow.
Zoe scrubbed a hand over her face. “Okay, body language - In one of my robotics classes the professor was really into discussing body posture and facial displays so that we could help humans connect with the robots.”
“Why would he care about humans connecting with a machine?”
“We were working on a prototype for domestic help. A robot to interface with families. I got into the habit of watching bodies and faces for my research.”
Gage shook his head, and Zoe read that as “you still haven’t answered my question.”
“Your body language, especially right now, reads as trustworthy, intelligent, courageous, and having deep affection for me. You know, a total Captain America.” That last word caught in her throat.
Gage chuckled. “You don’t think those are good things?” When she didn’t answer, he added, “This is an odd conversation. Zoe, you don’t flatter people as a rule.”
The corners of her mouth tugged down and pressure built behind her eyes.
He cleared his throat and wrapped his hands around her guard rail. “You’re obviously not trying to stroke my ego.” The statement sounded like a question, like he’d found some puzzle that needed solving. “You’re usually not sarcastic either. I don’t know why the look on your face is throwing me so hard. I hate that you’re frowning at me, you’ve never done that before.”
Zoe blinked back tears. “I’ve never felt this way before.” She reached behind her and pulled her pillow around so she could hug it. “I am so deeply, profoundly grateful.” She sniffed hard. “Beyond words. It’s actually kind of like a tsunami rolling through me right now.” She attempted a quivering smile and something that sounded like she wanted it to be a laugh. “Yeah, I feel like I could be swept away and probably drown in all of these emotions.”
Gage waited silently as she fought for some semblance of control. When her breathing came a little steadier, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Something happened with that kiss. Some kind of promise was made. He pulled her head to his chest where she could hear his heart beating. He was so steady.
After a long moment, she got hold of herself. She sat up and pushed her hair back over her shoulders as she asked, “Has anything happened since last night? Did they find out what those guys wanted?”
Gage’s face shifted to stoic. He cleared his throat. “Zoe, I have something I need to tell you.”
She raised a brow. Then a quick knock on her door and the entrance of a nurse stalled any further exchange.
“Good, you’re awake. I’m doing a last round before I go off duty, and you get a new nurse. The doctor is right behind me.” She pushed her rolling computer system beside Zoe’s bed. “Unless there’s an issue, it looks like you’ll be discharged this morning.” The nurse glanced over at Gage and smiled. “Good morning.”
Zoe considered the way the nurse’s tired countenance brightened like her happy pill suddenly kicked in, and realized that Gage had caught this woman’s attention. While the nurse documented numbers on her computer, Zoe considered Gage. He was cute. She could see why the nurse would perk up at the sugar rush of some unexpected eye candy. Cute was probably the wrong word. Cute really didn’t belong to a man with Gage’s hardened warrior’s body. His face was ruggedly handsome, more so now that he was sporting stubble on his normally clean-shaven face. She guessed the cute description came from his smile, and how his eyes crinkled at the corners when he was amused. Gage’s eyes were his best feature, she thought. Well, no. He had some other features that sat at the top of her list too. As that thought came to mind, Zoe caught Gage’s gaze, and he winked. Her pink flush turned to bright red, and he started laughing. The nurse glanced up with a question in her expression, and Zoe looked away quickly, fiddling with her fake wedding ring.
“Can I ask you to wait outside for a moment, please?” the nurse asked Gage.
Gage crossed his arms over his chest. He took on the feel of a boulder that couldn’t be moved. Entrenched. This must be one of his war faces. Gage had used a different war face last night, and it was intimidating as all get out. Zoe had grown up in the defense world. She knew that Gage belonged in the sphere of the elite soldiers, but it had been a concept rather than a reality for her until last night. To meet Gage, well, he was an easygoing guy. Her old roommate, Lily, had called him affable. Zoe could get on board with that adjective. But now she also saw him as deadly. He had killed to save her. Tears prickled the corners of her eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. How did you thank someone for something like that?
“I think Dr. Kealoha would like some privacy while I remove her catheter.”
“Oh, yeah, right.” Gage rose to his feet, towering over the petite woman.
The nurse smoothed her hands down the front of her blue scrubs and titled her head back, so she could smile up at him. “Thank you, this won’t take long.”
The nurse was efficient, perhaps a little brisk. Zoe could understand that. They were on duty for twelve hours at a time. If Zoe had just finished a twelve-hour shift, she’d want to get off her feet too. Zoe definitely understood the toll that long hours at work could take. She had been pushing hard to get her project in place. She wanted to be done, done, done with her contract and move on. She needed a project outside the world of military research that was more life-affirming, like what she’d done in biomedical engineering. She would do anything to go back to when she signed those darned DARPA contracts. She’d rip them to shreds and march right out of the office. Now she was hospitalized for exhaustion and, call a spade a spade, hysteria. “Shock” was prettying things up a bit. What she was was a big, fat mess. But not for long. Soon she’d have her prototype in the field. Then she could hand things back to DARPA. She planned to take a long vacation to somewhere where she could be alone with nature, and alone in her head where she was happiest. Then she could make some decisions about what her future looked like.
As the nurse exited, Gage came back through the door with a doctor Zoe hadn’t met.
“Dr. Dithers,” he said. “I’m the
hospitalist on duty.” The doctor stood at the end of the bed and talked to the clipboard he was scribbling on. “Are you ready to head home? You’re feeling okay?”
“I am, thank you.”
“All righty then. If you’ll sign this, you’re good to go.” He held out a plastic clipboard and pen for Zoe. “You’ll want to follow up with your physician about your sleep issues, and consider seeing a mental health professional if you notice any adverse effects following the break in. It’s best if a counselor works with you earlier rather than later. It leads to a better outcome.”
Zoe offered him a tightlipped smile and signed her name without reading the document. She watched the doctor move out of her room, then threw the covers off. Last night, she had been wearing Gage’s black sweats with no shoes or coat. Maybe Gage could pull the car up to the exit, and she could run out. She hated hospitals, and the sooner she was out of there the better. But she also didn’t know where she would go. Home didn’t feel safe.
Gage lifted her overnight bag from beside the chair and placed it on the bed. “I brought you some things. I hope that’s all right.”
Zoe opened the bag, chewing on her bottom lip as she flipped through the neat piles that he had placed inside. Wow, he brought a lot of outfits. It looked like he’d packed for the week and not just a twenty-minute trip across town. “There are a lot of clothes here.”
“Special Agent Prescott said you might be moved from the hospital to an FBI safe house. I wanted to make sure you had what you needed.”
Zoe’s mind galloped at a rate that made it hard for her to pin down any thoughts. Finally, she landed on, “You make it sound like there was a change of plans.”
“Not a big change, but Iniquus will be putting you up in one of their places instead of the FBI.”
“Iniquus is the security group you were interviewing for, right?”
“Right. A friend of mine, Titus Kane, is a unit commander there.” Gage pointed toward her door. “He’s in the hall, waiting for us.”
Zoe lifted her favorite plum-colored hoodie and hugged it to her chest like a teddy bear. “I’m confused.”
Gage put his hands on his hips and sent her an appraising look. “We’re all confused. But we’ll figure it out. The first step is to get you somewhere safe so we can all share information and come up with a plan. I need you to get dressed, okay?”
She reached behind her to yank the ties and release her hospital gown. It slid to the floor at her feet. She stood there naked, with goose flesh rising across her skin. There was a tingling in her scalp and her mouth had gone dry. The full burden of why she was sedated last night was coming back to her. Two massive goons had broken into her apartment, and Gage had killed them to protect her. Tears prickled the corners of her eyes. He needs me to get dressed so he can get me somewhere safe.
She searched the bag until she found the stack of bras and underwear. She saw that he’d brought her what she considered her “date night” panties and not the comfy cotton hipsters she wore for every day. She pulled out a pair and sent an “Oh, really?” look over to Gage. It was her way of trying to normalize a situation that was everything but normal. “You don’t want to give me a few minutes of privacy so I can get dressed?”
Gage let his eyes slide slowly over her naked body. He frowned and shook his head, though his eyes were bright with merriment. “No can do, ma’am. I’ve been tasked with guarding your body.”
He was teasing, but a new vulnerability raked over her.
“I put your toiletries bag in the outside pocket—it’s got your toothbrush and stuff.”
Quick as she could, Zoe dressed. A hasty brush of her teeth and hair, a zip of the case, and she was almost ready. “You picked all of my favorite outfits.” Zoe crouched to pull on her boots.
“Well, I picked the things I see you in most. I wanted you to be comfortable.”
She stood and flipped her hair back out of her face. “You pay attention to my clothes?”
“It’s my job to be observant.” He raised his brows in silent question.
Zoe nodded. “I’m comfortable, thank you.” That was only partly true. Her clothes felt comfortable, but she herself was not. She had no idea what to think about a move to a safe house.
Gage picked up her case and reached for her hand. Zoe grabbed it like it was a life line.
Chapter Eleven
Zoe
He puts his hand into a wasp’s nest.
~ Hungarian Proverb
Zoe felt conspicuous walking out the door, flanked by two powerhouse men. She wasn’t exactly diminutive. She stood five-foot-ten, but the heels of her boots put her over six feet, nearly eye to eye with the guys, but while they embodied latent force and solidity, she was stumbling along, twitching at every movement and sound.
Titus was a little overwhelming. He had a shaved head and a square jaw. A scar wrapped around one side of his neck and stood out as a pink and white slash against his coffee-colored skin. Zoe wondered how someone got close enough to slice him. His single facial expression seemed to be a glower. But maybe it was the circumstances. Maybe he’d soften around the edges when she was tucked into his safe house. He made Zoe nervous.
Sandwiched between the men, they all moved as a single unit, taking up space on the sidewalk, then in the garage.
Titus had brought a gunmetal grey Hummer that looked like it was going to war. At the sight of it, Zoe started to shake. As she climbed into the back seat of the vehicle, she wondered about the choice of cars. They wouldn’t exactly blend. It would be hard to lose someone in this thing if they were being chased. Zoe couldn’t imagine that it could go very fast. Of course, if the worry wasn’t about blending and outracing, and was more about providing cover and protecting them against being rammed off the street, this might be good. Or maybe this was simply what Titus drove every day, and there was no thought process at all.
Zoe settled in next to the heavily tinted windows that gave the passengers in the back some concealment. No one would know she was there unless they were already being followed. Gage tipped her overnight bag into the cargo section, then shifted in beside her. Titus would do the driving. Before they took off, Titus handed a pistol to Gage and a couple of extended magazines. “There’s an MP5 under my seat if you need it. Mags are in the seat pocket.”
So this is what people mean when they say quaking in your boots. Zoe yanked her seatbelt hard across her hips to help hold her in place.
Titus spun the wheel, and they moved onto the street. As if synchronized, Gage looked right while Titus scanned left. Then Gage scanned left and Titus looked right. Zoe focused on her white-knuckled grip on the seat belt.
When they finally reached the highway, the men seemed to ease a bit, even if the shift was microscopic. Titus adjusted his rearview mirror and used it to stare at her. “You can settle in. I’m going to take you on a little tour to make sure we didn’t pick up a tail.”
“A tail?” She threw her body around to look out the back window.
“Normal operating procedure. Hotel Iniquus is in Maryland, outside of town, and we don’t want to lead anyone to your safe house.”
“Of course, thank you,” she whispered.
Gage had reached into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of business cards. He laid them out on the seat between them. “Here are some players with a big interest in you. Do you know them?”
Zoe read them over. A detective. The colonel. Prescott, well she had sent him an SOS. Parker and Grossman, the CIA shitheads. Topher Birch. He had spoken with Gage? And why was Senator Billings’s card here? A frown pulled between her brows.
“Do you trust these people?”
“I’m not sure.” Zoe’s voice trailed off as she sunk deeper into her head, trying to figure out the connections. How did Gage get all of these cards?
“Do you think it’s possible that the intruders were sent by someone you know?”
Zoe shot Gage a look of dismay. She had no idea. Her eye caught Titus’s in th
e rearview mirror.
“Are you still fuzzy from the meds?” he called back over his shoulder.
“I can’t feel my lips.” Zoe wasn’t sure if that was the meds still at work in her system or her anxiety.
“Coffee?” He moved to the far right-hand lane.
“Bless you.” Zoe turned to look out the window and rested her forehead on the cool pane.
“Zoe?” Gage called to her quietly. He unraveled her hands from the seatbelt and laced his fingers through hers. She closed her eyes. “Zoe. I have something I need to tell you.” His voice was as gentle and smooth as lake water on a summer night. She could float on it in perfect peace, staring up at the wide expanse of stars. That’s where she imagined herself to be. Willed her mind to go. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. She knew whatever it was was bad. Fog coated her thoughts like it had last night when she couldn’t even remember how to dial 9-1-1.
She didn’t respond. Gage didn’t push. Yet.
They went through the Starbucks drive-thru. Titus ordered her some food as well as coffees all around. She took the food bag gratefully and ate. After a while, when she felt she’d worn the cowardice mantle a little too long, Zoe looked over at Gage. She forced the corners of her mouth into the semblance of a smile. “Okay, I’m ready. What do you need to tell me?”
Once again, Gage reached for her hand and placed it between both of his and rubbed. “Zoe, you’re as cold as ice.”
“I’m all right. Can you just spit it out? My imagination is creating some pretty demonic monsters in my head.”
“It’s about Lily.”
Zoe blinked. “Lily Winters?”
He nodded. “I’m so sorry, Zoe, but Lily died last night.”
Zoe opened her mouth but nothing came out. None of the questions that pushed themselves forward demanding to be answered found a voice. Are you kidding? How could this happen? Are you sure? Did she suffer? How did you find out? Where was she? All Zoe could do is jerk her head back and forth in some kind of denial. As if to say Gage was lying to her. But Gage never lied to her. Ever.
