Chapter 20 Krista
KRISTA
“This one is really good,” Claire said, shuffling through the pictures from the wedding.
Getting up, I looked at it, grimacing at the goofy grin on my face. “I look like an idiot.”
“No, you look like a woman who’s really happy.”
“How could I be happy? I was on drugs! None of this is real!”
Tossing my arms in the air, I walked away from her, but there was nowhere to really go. We had stopped at a motel, but it wouldn’t last. Every time we were in one place for too long, the bad guys caught up with us. I didn’t relish the thought of being caught up in another firefight.
At least they had picked up some clothes for us. One more minute in that dress and I would have torn it from my body. Not to mention the blisters I had on the back of my feet from the damn heels.
“Maybe it was real to you. Maybe it’s what you want deep down, but you don’t know it because you were on drugs and can’t really remember that feeling. But if you could remember that feeling, you’d know you were feeling that way because you were genuinely happy!”
I stopped pacing and stared at her. That crazy optimism was almost an easy trap to fall into. Almost. But I wasn’t an idiot.
“None of this is real,” I said, marching forward to point at the pictures. “That woman in the pictures is happy because she’s hopped up on drugs. Not because she met the love of her life or because it’s her wedding day. This is all some illegal substance forcing that woman to be happy.”
She nodded. “That woman being you.”
“Yes!”
She flipped a picture around and shoved it in my face. “That woman right there, smiling like she’s at the prom and just won the title of queen with her boyfriend.”
Rolling my eyes, I snatched the photo out of her hands. “It’s all fake feelings.”
“But how do you know?”
“Because I don’t feel that way now!”
“Well, of course you don’t feel that way now. The drugs are wearing off, you’re on the run, and you just found out your only wedding happened in a Vegas chapel by a man pretending to be Elvis.”
“If the drugs were truly wearing off, I wouldn’t have a splitting headache.”
She winced. “Well, you probably wouldn’t have a splitting headache if you weren’t yelling so much.”
Grabbing a water, she shoved it at me. “Here, have some. You need electrolytes.”
“What I need is a stiff drink,” I muttered, unscrewing the cap and chugging the contents. “God, I feel awful. How long can it possibly take for this shit to work its way out of my system?”
Claire’s eyes brightened immediately, and then she was grabbing my hand, dragging me into the other room where the guys were all standing around a table, studying a map as they argued about the best route to take.
“It’s in her blood!” Claire announced, beaming at the guys.
Derek turned and shot her an odd look. “Claire, this isn’t a book.”
“Well, obviously. This is so much better. I mean, I’m a little disappointed it’s not happening to us.
The whole secret wedding that neither of us remembers.
The amazing sex that neither of us wants to admit is a sign that we’re meant to be together.
Ooh, and my favorite, the bad guys trying to kill everyone. It really is a great story.”
Derek sighed in frustration. “Claire, we’re already married. We had our own adventure. Remember the bank? And what’s wrong with our sex life? We’re the most adventurous couple I know!”
Claire sighed, dragging the tip of her toe across the dingy, brown carpet. “I know, but…this story’s really cool.”
“I’m sorry the way we got together wasn’t good enough for you,” Derek snapped. “Maybe you’d like a divorce and then you can find another guy to have some made-up adventure with!”
“No!” Claire shouted, rushing forward as she flung her arms around his neck. “I was just rambling. You know me, it’s this amazing story, and I got caught up in it. It’s just sad it’s not about us. That’s all I meant.”
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s fine. I know you didn’t mean it like that. It’s just the lack of sleep and the guns, and I cut myself last night on a piece of paper. Paper cuts really suck.”
“I know, baby. I can—”
“Hey!” Rob shouted, interrupting their little reunion. “Not that a paper cut isn’t fascinating, but maybe we could get back to the fact that we have real problems? Like how the hell we’re going to continue to outrun these guys when we don’t even know how they’re finding us.”
Claire tore herself from Derek’s arms, beaming proudly at Rob. “I figured that out! I mean, I think I figured it out. Obviously, we’ll need to run some tests to be sure, but I think I’ve found the answer, and it’s gonna blow your mind!”
“What is it?” Derek asked.
“Sure,” Sinner chuckled. “Trust the librarian.”
“Hey, I’ll have you know that there are amazing ideas in books!”
“Yes, but this is real life. Not a book,” he retorted.
She scowled at Sinner, but turned her attention back to Derek. “It’s in the drugs. They didn’t implant anything in their bodies, but they could have had some kind of tracer in the drugs!”
“Is that even possible?” Derek asked, turning to face Sinner.
“Of course it’s possible!” Claire exclaimed.
“I’m telling you, I read about it in this book where this super secret agent needed a way to track someone without the other guy knowing.
Of course, in that book, the drugs altered his brain chemistry and his whole personality was thrown off.
I mean, he was doing all kinds of weird things like jumping off buildings and proposing to a woman he didn’t know, but—”
I glanced at Rob just as Sinner interrupted her. And he was looking right back at me with the same mystified expression. Could that be all the wedding was? Not some underlying form of affection, but the drugs altering our brains enough that we somehow decided getting married was a brilliant idea?
“It’s possible,” Derek said to Sinner, continuing whatever conversation they had started.
“We need to test their blood, but not in a hospital. We need to get back to Reed Security.”
“Pennsylvania is too far away. And we can’t fly,” Rob interrupted. “We need something closer.”
“Knight’s compound,” Sinner suggested. “Colorado is a hell of a lot closer, and then Kate can treat us at the house.”
“Right,” Derek snorted. “We’ll just invite the bad guys right to Knight’s lair.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Than committing suicide by Knight’s anger?” Derek asked.
Frustrated, Rob snapped at both of them. “We need to get someplace safe, and there’s no way anyone will get past Knight’s sensors or his guns. I say we head to Colorado.”
“Fine,” Derek huffed. “But you get to be the one to tell him.”
Rob snatched the phone out of Derek’s hands and made the call.
I, on the other hand, wondered what it would be like when the drugs were out of my system. Would I still be attracted to Rob? Would the sex still be amazing? At the ranch, I had found Rob annoying—the way he was following me around.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back to any of that.
After the last few days, even as crazy as they were, I found myself excited for the first time in a long time.
I was happy to be part of something other than the mundane state of my life.
Obviously, I could do without people trying to kill me.
That was not something I ever wanted to experience again. But the friendship and romance?
Was it really going to all go away?
Claire smiled at me sympathetically, as if she could read my thoughts. “You still have these.”
I stared down at the pictures in my hand, saddened that that could be all I had left of this amazing feeling.
The sprawling landscape had nothing on the mansion in front of us. Sure, it was a nice view, but whoever got to live in this house must be in seventh heaven. I couldn’t imagine having that much space that I would need to hire a housekeeper.
Not that I didn’t need one now.
I would have been embarrassed when Rob looked around my house, except that I was in a funk and really didn’t care about how anything looked.
“Who is this again?” I asked, turning to face Rob.
“Knight. He’s…just someone who works at Reed Security.”
I snorted at his answer. “Yeah, that was a loaded statement.”
“His wife is going to check us out and hopefully, give us some answers.”
The SUV pulled to a stop right in front of the house where a couple was waiting. With a house like this, I would expect to see a woman in a prim dress and heels, and a man on her arm who looked like he belonged at a golf club.
The image in front of me was nothing like that.
She was beautiful, but prim wasn’t the word I would use to describe her. In fact, she looked just like me on a good day.
Like, a day when I wasn’t on the run.
But the man…motorcycle boots, all black, leather jacket…
“He lives here?” I asked, sure we had the wrong place.
Derek turned and grinned at me. “Don’t let the house fool you. He’s a cold-blooded killer.”
“I will do my best not to judge.”
Shoving the door open, I stepped out and stretched my legs, thrusting my arms overhead to work out the kinks from the drive. I normally liked going on road trips, but since we had to keep moving, it wasn’t exactly the fun kind where you stopped for popcorn and explored historic sites.
My ass ached, along with every other muscle in my body, and I had a feeling it wasn’t just from the trip. Whatever they injected us with was still wreaking havoc on my body.
Surprise shot through me when Rob placed his hand on my waist and guided me toward the steps. It was such an innocent gesture, but to me, it felt like a lifeline.
Storm raced past us, barking as he ran off in the distance. “Hey!”
“Just let him be. He was cooped up in that hotel for way too long.”
I nodded, but it felt odd to let him go when he’d been with us for so long.
The woman stepped forward, hand outstretched. “I’m Kate.”
“Krista,” I smiled, then moved to her husband. “Thanks for having us.”