Jonathan waited a moment.
Barry still didn’t move.
Slowly, Jonathan rose to his feet and lifted the bottom of the bag. Barry was most definitely unconscious.
The sound of quick footsteps made him turn around just as Jake slid into the doorway. He looked at Jonathan and then down at Barry.
“It was either that or you would have been caught,” Jonathan said, answering the unasked question. “Plus, you were right. He did get physical.”
Jake let out a quick breath but nodded. In his hand was a small black bag.
“We need to leave.”
Jonathan followed the man into the lab and paused. Workstations covered in machines, vials, papers and things Jonathan didn’t recognize littered the room. He pictured Kate among them all, head bent over a microscope before going to one of the walls that was nothing but a whiteboard, concentrated yet just as excited. Imagining her working made him smile, but at the same time soured in his stomach. This was her element. Her life.
One he just didn’t understand.
“Fast thinking, taking him down. I accidentally knocked over an empty vial,” Jake said, running over to a small office in the corner next to the hall they had originally come down. “I’m going to reboot the security cameras. It should give us enough time to make it back to the car.”
“Are there cameras in here?” Jonathan asked, following. Jake still had the bag in his hand.
“No, lab work isn’t supposed to be monitored, just the exits.”
“What about when Barry wakes up? Won’t he realize you helped me?”
Jake’s hands flew across the computer’s keyboard.
“I wouldn’t be leaving here with you if I didn’t have a plan,” he said when he had finished. “Now, run!”
Jonathan followed as Jake ran into the hallway. Unlike the lab it was narrow and cold, its walls a crumbling white that barely reflected the lights. They ran until they took a sharp right to the elevator. It wasn’t as old or as high-tech as Jonathan had envisioned. It looked like a normal elevator with only two floors as options, disappointing his inner James Bond fan.
They didn’t speak as Jake punched the two buttons in a quick five-figure sequence and the elevator began to ascend. Seconds later it dinged, opening up to the first floor of the parking garage. In the distance Jonathan could see the SUV.
“Your secret lab is under a parking garage,” Jonathan said, sarcasm lacing his voice, as soon as they got into the vehicle. Jake started the engine and handed Jonathan the bag.
“Hey, until just now you didn’t know it was here, so mission accomplished.”
Jonathan had to agree with that.
“We should have brought Kate with us,” Jonathan said. “We could have given this to her now.”
Jake shook his head.
“I wasn’t sure how this would shake out,” he admitted. “Things could have gotten much more intense. I would have hated for Kate to get hurt while we’re trying to save her.”
Jake was right, but that didn’t mean that Jonathan didn’t feel the pressure of time against them. Kate had been unconscious for far too long for his liking. He looked down at the bag in his hands. It was small and not at all heavy.
“Are you sure this will save her?” he asked, back to serious.
Jake matched his tone.
“I sure hope so.”
Chapter Fifteen
A fist broke through the coffin’s lid just as Kate’s body floated to the bottom. She focused on it, inches from her face, as cracks from the new hole spiderwebbed through the rest of the lid. Slowly, and then with startling speed, the water began to drain upward and out of the coffin.
Kate kept her focus on the fist, still balled, even as she coughed, gasping for air.
“Who are you?” she asked once she could breathe again.
The fist finally opened into a hand that reached out for her, beckoning her to take it. So she did.
It pulled her from the coffin with ease, shattering the lid and leaving the horrors behind. Its warmth guided her through a moment of darkness before she was standing, naked and wet, in a warehouse.
The warehouse.
Kate wanted to turn to see if her savior was behind her but couldn’t move. All of her attention was at the end of a room in the distance. People were standing, backs to her, all looking at the person in the center.
The person hunched over in a chair.
Kate’s feet slapped against the cold concrete, but didn’t make a sound as she walked toward them. That room. That person. She couldn’t remember what they had to do with her. Why she was there.
She needed to finally find out.
She needed to remember.
Kate stopped among the people gathered around the person in the middle. Even though she was so close, she couldn’t make out who it was. However, the faces around her she had little trouble recognizing.
Jake, tall and in his FBI uniform, stood closest to her, eyes never leaving the person in the chair. Next to him was Greg, smiling like he always did, a silver case in his hand. Her father was there farther back. He was young and upset. She couldn’t remember why.
“Kate, we shouldn’t be here.”
Able to finally turn around, she saw a little girl holding a little boy’s hand. The girl didn’t care about his warning. She looked through Kate at the woman in the chair.
The woman.
Terror and anguish collided in her chest as she remembered where she was.
When she was.
And who the woman was.
Kate turned and was suddenly kneeling in front of her.
“Mom?”
The rope around Cassandra was tied so tightly to the chair that at first it appeared as if she was sitting up on her own. Her hair that she’d always worn back in a ponytail for work had fallen out of its holder and covered half of her face. The other half was covered in blood, still dripping. Her eye was swollen shut and there was duct tape across her mouth.
Kate stumbled backward just as the little girl walked forward. Her eyes were wide, glazed over. With shaking little hands, she reached for the tape and took it off.
“Mom?” she whispered.
The little boy started to put his arms around her when his focus caught on something in the corner.
“Dad?” he yelled, dropping her hand and running out of view.
Kate didn’t watch—instead she looked back at the girl.
But she was gone and so was everyone else except for Cassandra.
“I found you,” Kate whispered. “Dad thought the call was a fake, but we didn’t listen and we found you first.” Kate took an uncertain step forward. “You weren’t breathing. I heard them tell Dad you’d been gone for hours. I tried to untie you,” Kate continued, voice shaking, “but it was too hard. I wasn’t strong enough.”
She looked down at the ropes again, angry at them like she had been all those years ago. Suddenly, she felt the need to try again. Kate moved to the back of the chair and found the three knots. She tried to undo them, a feeling of defeat already rising, but the first one came undone. She paused, surprised, but then moved to the next one. It too came undone in her hands. She moved to the last one and, with a cry of joy, it unknotted.
Kate squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop her tears.
“I did it,” she said, voice wavering. “I finally untied them.”
“Good job.”
Her eyes flashed open and she was no longer standing. She was back in the coffin. However, this time, the lid was gone, open to a white ceiling. Panic started to seize her once more when the feeling of running water moved across her bare skin again. She began to flail around.
“Don’t worry, I’m here,” said a voice next to her. “Kate, I’m here.”<
br />
It was Jonathan.
He held her against his chest while the water moved higher and higher.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” he said.
And Kate decided that was all she needed to hear.
* * *
KATE STOPPED STRUGGLING against him.
“I think she heard you,” Jake said from next to the tub. “That means it’s working.”
Jonathan stroked Kate’s hair away from her face as the cold water rained down on them both from the showerhead. He had her body cradled against his chest, trying to keep her as calm as he could.
“Kate, it’s Jonathan,” he said. “Can you hear me?”
At first he thought he imagined it, but then, slowly, Kate’s eyelids rose.
“Kate?” Jake asked, bending slightly to try to level his gaze and grab her attention. It worked.
“I untied her,” she whispered. Jonathan’s eyebrow rose on reflex. He didn’t understand, but apparently Jake did. The agent’s entire face fell, but then he gave the smallest of smiles. She tilted her head up to look at Jonathan next.
“I’m glad this isn’t a coffin,” she said, voice tired.
Jonathan couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“Me, too,” he said. “How are you feeling?”
Kate quieted a moment, making Jonathan fear that she’d lost consciousness again.
“I feel like I’m the only naked one in here,” she finally said, voice notably stronger. Jake laughed this time and retreated into the hotel room. Seconds later he was back with a floor-length robe. Jonathan reached back and turned the water off while the agent held the robe out and closed his eyes.
Kate started to stand, but her legs shook and she couldn’t seem to get the hang of it.
“Looks like I need your help still, Mr. Bodyguard,” she whispered. Jonathan didn’t realize how good it was to hear the sarcastic nickname again. Slowly he stood, bringing Kate with him. Keeping his eyes averted to above her chest so she’d know he wasn’t taking advantage of the situation, he helped maneuver her arms into the robe and even tied it once it was closed.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Almost three,” Jonathan answered, still unhappy with how long it had taken to get her the antidote. The two men guided her back to the bed. Jake piled the pillows behind her so she was sitting up straight. He turned to Jonathan after.
“She needs to stay awake for at least a few more hours,” he said. “Just in case.”
Jonathan nodded.
The agent turned back to his friend.
“How are you feeling, Kate?” he asked, voice kind.
“My body feels tired and my head hurts a little,” she admitted. “There’s a slight throbbing in my arm, but I suspect that’s from the injection.”
Jake nodded.
“We were rushed for time. Sorry if I was a little sloppy with it.”
Kate shrugged. “I’m not complaining.”
She gave the two men a passing smile of gratitude. Jonathan was once again happy to see another sign that Kate was better. The smile didn’t last long.
“The EMT,” she started, brow creasing. “I think he was the one who injected me.”
Jake nodded.
“Jonathan suspected that much. I’m already looking into it.”
Kate cast a quick look of surprise at Jonathan before asking the million-dollar question.
“The fact that I’m alive and functioning means that what he pumped into me was my failed drug from years ago, but how did he get it?”
“I’m about to leave to go find that out,” Jake said. “But first there are some things I need to tell you that I should have told you sooner.”
He turned to Jonathan and he took the hint.
“I’m going to go change while you two talk,” he said. “I’ll be right next door.”
Kate held his gaze with her own dark, mesmerizing eyes before nodding.
Jonathan walked to the adjoining door as Jake began the story about Greg and the FBI’s involvement with her research. He wondered how she would take the news.
Jonathan shucked his wet clothes back in his bathroom. He toweled off and took a long, long breath. He’d been a bodyguard for years. He’d taken on clients where nothing out of the ordinary had happened and he’d taken on clients where things had gotten interesting. However, two days with Kathryn Spears and he’d never forget what had happened for the rest of his life. The FBI, secret labs and experimental drugs. He was no longer in his comfort zone as a bodyguard.
But hadn’t he already decided that he’d see this contract through? Hadn’t he already made a deal with himself that he’d stop at nothing to keep Kate safe?
Jonathan looked at his reflection and nodded to it.
Yes, he had.
He went back to his room and changed into a pair of green khakis and a shirt that was white with a gray trim and went down to his elbows. He ruffled his wet hair and even touched up his goatee with a razor. By the time he stepped into his backup pair of boots, a knock sounded against the adjoining door.
It was Jake. He stepped aside.
“I told her everything,” he greeted. “And now that she knows all of the same players as we do, maybe it might help the two of you keep safe. Whoever is behind this, I’m sure they’re trying to take what she has before the convention, so I can’t stress enough how important it is that that doesn’t happen.”
“Then why don’t we go into some kind of protective custody or, since she’s already going to be offered the job, skip the convention altogether?” Jonathan asked.
“Normally that’s exactly what I’d do, but we still have no idea who is behind this. Someone had access to the lab and I’m not confident that they wouldn’t find out about her protection detail, too. The best I can do is this.” Jake went over to the desk and used the complimentary pen and pad to write down an address and number. “On the way over here earlier, after you first called me, I called in a favor to one of the few people I know I can trust. If someone within the Bureau tries to track Kate’s or Greg’s cell phone, I’ll be the first to know. That being said, I can’t promise this hotel is safe anymore. I’ve already told Kate and she turned me down, but this is my apartment. Kate knows where the spare key is.” Jonathan took the paper.
“Will she be okay now?”
“I think so.” Jake turned for the hotel door, but paused before he opened it. “And Jonathan, what Kate said when she first spoke in the tub...you should ask her what she meant.” Jonathan raised his eyebrow at that. “One of the drug’s side effects that she experienced when she took it once before was a form of lucid dreaming. I feel like it might do her some good to talk about it.” Jake’s lips turned up into a small smile. “And you obviously seem to care about her enough to risk some serious jail time. Why else would you, as you said, break into a secret lab for her?”
* * *
THE TWO MEN in the other room were undoubtedly smart. Kate knew that much with certainty. However, as she turned her head to try to hear their conversation through the adjoining door, she questioned their intelligence just a bit. Did they really think she couldn’t hear them?
“Will she be okay now?” Jonathan asked, sounding as if he was trying to be quiet.
Jake responded with an indecisive, “I think so.” But Kate knew that if he thought the injection hadn’t counteracted the drug, he wouldn’t be leaving. Even though he had some quick explaining to do about the man they’d left unconscious in Greg’s lab.
Greg’s lab.
Kate closed her eyes. Among everything she’d just learned, that was a revelation she hadn’t even suspected existed.
“And you obviously seem to care about her enough to risk some serious jail time. Why else would you, as you said, break into a
secret lab for her?”
Kate’s eyes flashed open. A fluttering actually moved across her stomach at Jake’s words. It was such a foreign feeling of excitement that she tilted her chin down to look at her stomach, as if she could spot a physical object that explained the feeling. But even someone as emotionally stunted as Kate had an inkling of the emotion that made her cheeks heat.
She took a deep breath and slowly let it stream out. The door to Jonathan’s room opened and shut. She heard the bodyguard throw the top latch and the dead bolt. For one wild moment Kate became self-conscious of how she looked. With hands that still shook slightly, she felt her hair and sighed again. Without looking at her reflection, she knew the frizz was out of control. It was a nice distraction from the fact that Jonathan had seen and had to touch her naked body. Fleetingly she cursed her past self for canceling her gym membership the year before.
“Can I come in?”
Kate tore herself out of her scattering thoughts and nodded at the man in the doorway. He took the desk chair and rolled it to the side of the bed.
“To be honest, I assumed you wouldn’t give me the option of being alone,” she admitted. “Considering everything that’s happened.”
“To be honest, I don’t think you want to be alone anymore,” he responded. The simple statement made the earlier heat in her cheeks reignite. She held his gaze despite the powerful urge to avert her eyes.
“I’m not afraid to be alone. In fact, I enjoy being alone,” she said after a moment. The bodyguard sat up straighter, as if he was ready to highlight all the bad that had happened to point out that she was in fact in life-threatening danger and his protection was needed. Kate didn’t want to argue. That wasn’t the point she was trying to make.
She reached out and took the bodyguard’s hand in hers. His skin was warm against her. “But I’m finding that being with you is the exception.”
Chapter Sixteen
Jonathan’s training throughout the years had helped his reaction time considerably when it came to surprises. Case in point, he’d been able to get Kate out of the way when the car had barreled across the intersection. But as he looked into her eyes while she admitted she wanted to be with him instead of alone, he had no idea how to proceed.
Be on the Lookout Page 11
