Chapter Nine
Talia
My hip hurts like a son of a bitch, the ibuprofen not even touching the pain, but I grit my teeth and don’t complain. There’ll be plenty of time to get medical attention once we survive this mess.
We reach the cabin four hours later, just as rain comes pouring down.
We rush inside, lock the doors, and set the alarm, Jonah re-securing the trap he set along the path to the cabin.
Although the man is paranoid, in this case, his suspicious nature will help buy time, because according to Shane, Ian and his team are still fifteen minutes out.
“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we had a tail on the way here,” he says as Jonah settles 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 lodges in my throat. “Did you reach Sheila yet?” I ask Jonah. I have to get the formula to someone I can trust.
“Negative.” He keeps an eye on the screens for the intruder. Or intruders. Who knows what we are in for?
I sigh. “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, mutters under his breath, pacing as he runs a hand along the back of his neck. I don’t have to ask him what is wrong. My stomach is jumping with nerves, as well.
I call my brother, checking in and explaining our current situation.
Tate is worried but glad I am still with Shane.
He trusts Ian Taggart and his team, and I take comfort in that.
Still, at this point, it is a race to see if the helicopter arrives with reinforcements before the guy who followed me decides to make his move, demanding the formula.
The plan is for Shane and Ian to take me to Sheila so I can turn over the formula in person. Of course, that assumes we can reach her and set up a meeting place.
Shane walks over and places a hand on my shoulders. “How are you?” he asks, his breath warm in my ear.
“Good.”
“Liar,” he whispers, his fingers massaging the tight knots in my muscles.
“Okay, in pain.” I don’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.”
I nod. “I know. Look, when we get out of this mess—”
I don’t know what he plans to say, and Jonah interrupts us anyway.
“We’ve got company.”
Shane pulls out his gun and stalks to where Jonah watches the screen. A black sedan turns onto the unpaved path.
“That’s the car,” Shane says.
Jonah hits a button and resets the spikes he turned off for our approach, so they will spring up as a car passes, ripping apart any tires that dare to pass.
“What is he working on that he needs this kind of protection?” Shane asks, not for the first time. But Jonah didn’t answer him the first go-round.
He won’t reply now.
And he doesn’t.
The car slows before hitting the blades, coming to a stop. A solo man in the sedan appears to be talking into a cell phone before he climbs out of the car and begins to approach by foot in the pouring rain.
“He probably called for backup,” Shane mutters. He hits a button on his own cell and checks in with Ian. “How far out?” he asks.
“Patience, grasshopper,” Ian says. “Ten and counting.”
Shane heads to his bag and returns with the Taser I have 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.” I grab his arm, not wanting him in any extra danger because of me.
“I can’t do that.” He pulls me into a quick kiss, one that doesn’t last nearly long enough, before handing me the Taser gun. “Best case, I neutralize him and Ian arrives before his buddies get here.”
I don’t want to ask about the worst-case scenario.
Shane heads out into the rain.
My heart in my throat, I run back to the monitors, where Jonah is watching.
Shane stealthily works his way from tree to tree, moving toward the entrance to the property.
In another screen, I view the man coming toward him.
They are destined to meet up, and I am so nervous I have to lower myself into a chair, my hand on the Taser gun.
Just in case.
“Your man’s got the right moves,” Jonah says.
“I just wish backup would get here.” My hand goes to the locket that isn’t there, an old habit I’ll have to break. But I don’t have time to dwell on it, because as I watch, Shane barrels into the intruder, dragging him to the ground.
I brace my hands on the desktop and lean closer, panic filling me as the two men grapple for purchase in the damp earth. Shane is bigger, broader, and gets more than his share of hits in, eventually able to knock the man down.
Shane pulls his gun just as Jonah speaks. “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!” I glance at the screen.
Shane hauls the man to his feet and slowly marches him toward the house, gun trained on his back as they move. I don’t know where the other men will intercept him, and there is nothing I can do to prevent it.
Nausea and worry for Shane fills me, as does complete panic for my work if the team they sent in breaches the house. “They can’t get their hands on the formula.”
For the last half-dozen years, I’ve been singularly focused on this cure.
To lose it now, have a big pharmaceutical company, if that is who really is behind this, bury my findings…
I can’t let that happen. Although I am tempted to run into danger myself to warn Shane, my intellectual instincts win out.
There is nothing I can 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,” I say to Jonah. One part is in Shane’s duffel bag, and the last part is recent enough that I can recreate it from memory. At least enough to upload.
“What’s your plan?” my mentor asks.
“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 cannot be bought by big pharmaceuticals. Any reputable researcher knows the name.
Jonah doesn’t argue. He obviously sees the wisdom of my plan. Expose the formula so the company after me can’t profit and remove the need to come after the cure.
He swivels his chair toward yet another screen and types in a password. “Here you go. Do your worst.” He glances at the monitors. “But do it fast.”
I swallow hard as Shane finds himself surrounded. He drops his gun and raises his hands in the air, outnumbered by the incoming men.
“Oh my God,” I say, scrambling for the computer just as Jonah hands me two separate notebooks, each opened to the right set of information.
I pull up the site and log in. And then I frantically but carefully begin to type.
I am still inputting the information when the door bursts open wide, followed by a gust of wind. Just as I press the final entry and hit upload, Shane, wet and muddy, steps inside, hands in the air, followed by what looks like an army of men in black.
“Hands in the air,” one of the men says.
Fear pulses through me, but I comply, as does Jonah.
“I want the formula,” the first man through the door says, his voice deep and formidable.
“You’re too late,” I say, facing them. “I uploaded all the pertinent information necessary to recreate the cure onto freeware. The world has access to the formula.” I raise my chin. If I am going down, I am going down having done the right thing.
Before the man in charge can reply, the sound of windows shattering echoes through the room.
“Get down!” Shane shouts.
Everything happens in a blur. A large body slams me to the floor, knocking my breath out of my lungs. Shots ring out around me, and I hear screams—before realizing the sounds are coming from me.
* * *
Shane
“Clear!”
At the sound of Ian’s voice, I ease myself off Talia and help her to a sitting position. Her face is pale, her eyes wide, her teeth chattering.
Gunshots can do that to a civilian, and I pull her close as she recovers from the shock of Ian and the team coming in through the windows. They now have the men surrounded at gunpoint.
Jonah climbs out from beneath the desk. “Who’s going to pay for this mess?” he asks, grumbling.
Ian meets my gaze. “All good?”
“You took long enough,” I mutter. I was outnumbered and saw them walk in and train a gun on Talia.
“You try flying in this God-awful weather. Your girl okay?”
Before I can answer, Talia struggles to a standing position. “I’m fine. Thank you for getting here,” she says, ignoring her still-trembling limbs.
“The formula’s safe?” Ian asks.
She rubs 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 sounds shocked by her actions, and I understand. The cure won’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 sucks in her bottom lip. “On the other hand, now scientists and even hobbyists will have the chance to work with my research,” she says, 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 offers.
“Regardless, what you did was selfless and brave,” I say, completely in awe. I slide my hand into hers. “I’m proud of you.” For more than just outsmarting the people after her. She faced down the men with guns like the brave woman she is.
She manages a shaky smile. “Thank you.”
“Okay, kids,” Ian says. “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 glances at Shane. “You know how much I hate dealing with bureaucratic shit.”
I roll my eyes. We’ll all be tied up late answering questions, but Talia is safe. Which means this particular job is complete.