Chapter 22
Getting shot fucking hurts. I thought I’d be fine when I first woke up because it wasn’t that bad.
But a nurse explained it was because the general anesthesia hadn’t completely worn off yet.
The bullet tore through an area that is dense in nerves, and the pain radiates through my entire arm at times.
Again, I’m supposedly lucky because none of the major branches were touched, which means I won’t lose any mobility.
Hurts like a bitch, though. But the morphine pump helps make it tolerable, and then, the pills. I can never be awake for more than a couple of hours at a time, during which I often have visitors.
As soon as I was cleared from the ICU, Lex had them move me into a single room, one of those expensive ones reserved for the elite.
He also took precautions and has two men guarding the door at all times.
Someone is after Nammota, after all. After us.
He spends most of his days here, working on his computer with a grave expression.
And at night, he sleeps on a folding bed.
The nurses seem to have fallen head over heels for him, and they constantly tell me I’m lucky to have found myself such a devoted “fiancé.” And every time, my answer is the same: “Don’t I fucking know it. ”
My parents stay the weekend, so do Kate and Rafa, and leave right after I’ve been moved to this room.
Kev and Shelly visit on Saturday afternoon with their baby girl.
The nerds from work come on Monday evening, with flowers, a teddy bear with a T-shirt that says “Get Well Soon,” and a box of assorted chocolates.
Brian was in charge of the balloon, and the guys profusely apologize on his behalf when he arrives with a Spider-Man one.
That earns him a smack upside the head from Mason, even though I tell them I love it more than a pity hospital balloon.
On Tuesday morning, Lex and I get a visitor I never thought I’d see again.
Special Agent Lewis. Upon seeing her, I’m reminded of how serious and badass she looks, with her shortly trimmed hair and spotless pantsuit.
Then, I’m reminded that the last time I saw her, I was remotely conducting a billion-dollar heist, right under her nose.
She flashes her FBI card to the man posted there and comes in.
“Good morning, Miss Walker. Mr. Coleman, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” she says, nodding at Lex.
He stares at her with a mix of confusion and wariness, so I explain, “This is Special Agent Lewis. She worked on the Nammota case.”
“Ah, I’ve heard about you. You were interrogating Andrea when the whole thing blew up, right?”
“Yes, I was. And I must say … I’m still not over that timing.” She gives us a look that tells us she’s too clever to be so easily fooled.
“What brings you here?” I ask, holding back a grimace as I straighten up on the bed.
“Well, I’m still working on the Nammota case. Because Mr. Coleman was acquitted doesn’t mean we’ll stop looking altogether.”
“Are the suspicions back on me?” Lex questions.
“Not for now. I was doing a routine check on the two of you when I saw the police report on what happened to you, miss. We’ve recently found out there’s a million-dollar bounty on Nammota.
My intuition tells me the attack, which was aimed at Mr. Coleman, if I understand correctly, is directly linked to that bounty. ”
Lex and I remain silent, acting as if this piece of information surprises us. But what surprises me the most is that she’d be here, warning us about it.
“I thought I should inform you, so you can take the appropriate measures,” she continues before motioning at the door where the guards are. “But it looks like you already did that.”
“Is there a way to get some form of help?” I ask. “If people come after Lex for this, shouldn’t we get into some sort of protection program or something?”
“We could take measures, yes. But the kill order is on Nammota, so that’s who we would protect.” She turns to Lex, an eyebrow cocked up. “Are you the cyber hacker known as Nammota?”
He holds her gaze for a moment, and it’s clear she suspects him more than she lets on. With a neutral and grave tone, he replies, “No.”
“That’s what I thought. There’s nothing I can do, then.”
“So what? He’s collateral damage?” I huff, appalled. “You know he’ll be targeted because you, your colleagues, and the media accused him. For a million-dollar price, people will come after him.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Miss Walker. We would set measures for Nammota if we had a confirmed identity. But we can’t start protecting everyone we ever suspected. It would be a waste of our resources.”
I want to hate her for this, but she’s only doing her job. And she’s being clever about it. If she suspects us, she has every right to press where it hurts, to use the situation to her advantage.
“Thank you for taking the time to inform us of this,” Lex diplomatically says. “We’ll take care of ourselves.”
“Yes, you seem to have the means to. If it ever becomes too much, here’s where you can contact me,” she says, setting down a card on my nightstand. After wishing me a speedy recovery, she salutes us with a nod and exits the room.
A long silence follows her departure, and Lex and I stare at the closed door, unsure what to make of this. I don’t think either of us realized he was still a suspect, and me with him. Especially not by someone in a position such as hers. This means we can’t slip or she’ll be right on our asses.
Lex returns to his computer, to whatever he’s been working on lately, and I return to my episode of Futurama on the TV. When Lex’s phone rings, I pause it again.
“Yes?” he says as he picks up. There’s a moment of silence where Lex listens attentively. “Alright. Yes. I’ll be there to pick them up in …” He checks his watch, does some rapid calculations, and focuses on his call again. “I’ll be there in an hour and forty minutes.”
He hangs up and focuses back on his computer.
I should probably return to my show, but that call has piqued my interest. Whenever I ask him what he’s doing on his computer, he’s dismissive and vague.
I haven’t pressed because I’ve been too preoccupied to really care.
However, that call, and the fact that he’ll leave to be somewhere in an hour and forty minutes when he’s barely been away since we got to the hospital, are enough to push me to ask.
“What was that about?” I ask, doing my best to sound casual.
“Nothing important.”
“What are you picking up? Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry about it, freckles.”
“I’m not worried about it. I just want to know what you’ve been doing, Lex.”
After a few moments of pondering, he closes his laptop and comes to the bed to sit on it, one of his big hands resting on my thigh.
“Before I met you, back when I was still Nammota, I prepared a contingency plan. Something that would allow me to escape if need be. I maintained it through the years, knowing I was never entirely safe from my past catching up with me.”
“Why didn’t you use it when they came for you?”
“It all went too fast. I didn’t have time to see it coming. But I’ll be going through the plan with you. We’re going into hiding, Andrea, my own version of witness protection.”
I stare at the paused frame on the TV for several seconds, allowing my brain enough time to process Lex’s words and their implications.
It feels like a lot. Like too much. But there is a bounty on us, a million fucking dollars, and that will attract all sorts of psychopaths right to our doorstep. It already happened, and I almost died.
“How long?” I ask, still a little shaken by the drastic measures Lex wants us to take.
“I don’t know. However long it’ll take.”
“Will we get to come back, even if the bounty is still out there?”
“Not if I can help it, no.”
My heart tightens at the thought. What if it takes years to get rid of the danger looming over us? I can’t abandon my whole life like this. It would crush me and my family.
“What if it never goes away?” I then ask, my heart heavy at the possibility.
“Then it’s as it has always been. You and me against the world, freckles.”
I distractedly nod, eyes still on the screen.
Going into hiding is our best option for now, yes.
I’ll heal without the worry of another hitman coming after us, which isn’t a bad idea.
Being safe would also give us time to strategize and find out who wants Nammota dead.
Maybe we could find a way to have them cancel the bounty.
Someone willing to spend that much money on such a matter has to be influential, big.
Probably one of the people Nammota went after, someone who was targeted in the last hit.
Then, we can show them just how much worse we can make it for them. Ruin their fucking life like they’re trying to ruin ours.
“When are we leaving?” I ask, not quite resigned, but almost.
“Soon.”
“And where are we going?”
“You’ll know in time, Andrea.”
“What if I need to make arrangements?”
“You can’t. No one can know we’re going. Not until we’ve disappeared. But once we have, I’ll set up a safe way to communicate with anyone who matters. You’ll still get to talk to your family and friends, as long as no one knows where we are.”
I’m silent again for a while, trying to imagine what the next few months will look like.
Or is it the rest of our lives? On the run, hiding from danger until the day we die?
Is such a life worth living? One with names that aren’t ours, invented pasts, and uncertain futures.
One without children, because who would bring a life into such a dangerous existence?
“Do you trust me?” Lex softly asks.
His eyes harbor vulnerability and doubt, but I don’t hesitate to say, “With my life.”
“And I’ll guard it with mine, my love.” He picks up my hand and lays a long and adamant kiss on its back.