Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Audra tugged her jacket closer and angled her head away from the street security camera and pretended to scratch her hair as she walked away from the downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, Greyhound bus depot.
She was so close to her destination, she could taste it.
Unfortunately, that flavor of success was sprinkled liberally with fear.
Fear she’d be caught. Fear she’d fail. Fear she’d succeed and it still wouldn’t matter…
The week she’d spent crisscrossing the country to lose whoever—if anyone—might be trying to find her had allowed many lonely hours for doubt to seep in.
All she could do was stay the course and have faith her time and effort would be worth it.
Faith that had been shaken to the core with her breast cancer diagnosis.
Proof of her own mortality had been a gut punch to her mission; none of her time and effort would matter if she died before she delivered the intel.
Plus, she had a better chance of securing a cab with a human driver here.
A mech-cab could take her farther for cheaper, but those rides wouldn’t accept the kind of under-the-table cash payment she needed. Plus, they were recorded. That meant anyone could easily track her through the payment as well as face and voice recognition.
At least with a human cabbie, her cover as an abused girlfriend might work to her advantage.
If she chose well, she’d get a driver who could be convinced to cover for her should anyone trace her to that cab.
If she chose poorly, she’d get someone who could care less about her plight…
and also not care about helping anyone trying to find her.
A win-win for her, in a convoluted sort of way.
Wouldn’t she feel silly if she learned she’d gone through all this effort and no one had even missed her?
“Where to, Miss?” One of a Crowne Plaza bell hops opened a cab door for her as if she didn’t look like a vagrant about to beg for money.
“Airport, please.” She slid into the backseat, addressing both the bell hop and the young cab driver who looked to be of Asian descent, although she wasn’t savvy enough to know which culture.
His displayed cabbie license declared his name was John Lian, which didn’t help much except to give her a name she wouldn’t risk mispronouncing.
She needed as many strangers on her side as possible.
“Do you have any luggage I can put in the trunk for you?” The bellhop still held the door open.
“No, I’m just picking up my boyfriend there.” She patted her large shoulder bag and waved away his offer without even glancing at him. If her years working with Higgenbotham had taught her anything, it was how the self-important could simultaneously order and ignore subordinates.
The bellhop closed the door, and as the cabbie turned onto the busy downtown street, Audra leaned forward and cleared her throat.
“Actually, John—did I read that right?—I lied. I’m running away from my extremely possessive and abusive boyfriend.
If I paid you double the fare, where would you recommend I go for a cash-basis hotel room? ”
John’s gaze volleyed between the road and Audra’s reflection in his rearview mirror as if ascertaining the truth of her statement.
Or deciding how much he wanted to help her.
Panic clawed its way up her spine, her brain skittering around the thousands of reasons why John might decline to help her or even take it upon himself to notify the authorities.
By the time he finally sighed and turned the car off the highway to head in a different direction, Audra was ready to jump out of the moving vehicle. But his voice, thick with an accent, stopped her. “I know a lot of places that are cash-only hotels. But they’re not safe for a woman like you.”
“A woman like me?” What did he mean by that?
He glanced up at her reflection. “You in a gang? Charge by the hour? Hook up with drugs? Carry a gun?”
“No.” She shook her head, unsure if that was the answer he expected her to give.
“Then the hotels I know might not be safe for you.”
“Oh.” Her voice as flat as her options. She stared out the window at the passing scenery, so much like all the passing scenery she’d stared at these past several days.
“Look, the places you know might not be safe. But being found by my boyfriend is definitely not safe. I need a place to lay low for a few days, no questions asked, until I figure out my next steps.”
John sighed again, but continued driving. Audra didn’t push for clarification, nor did she glance at the passing road signs to determine where John was driving. They’d either end up at a hotel, or at the airport where she could hopefully find a more amenable cabbie.
She leaned against the worn back seat and tried to ignore the constant worry in her heart.
Years spent in the quiet comfort of her cubicle, making herself indispensable to the inept Higgenbotham while gleaning secrets about cyborgs had done little to prepare her for this part of her mission.
Her nerves were stretched taut. Time, safety, and the United States government were against her, and even the most well-meaning stranger could ruin it for her.
Her best bet was if no one had noticed her absence.
Which was unlikely, knowing her workload—the defense contracts requiring review and signatures—was piling up.
She kicked herself for keeping her breast cancer a secret.
If she’d said something, she could have used her FMLA without question and her boss would have been forced to reroute her workload.
But if people knew about her unique condition, they might want to pry into her private life for juicy details.
They’d definitely want to support her. Visit her.
Send flowers or get-well cards or meals.
Her absence would have been noted just as quickly, and concern for her health might have spurred a frantic search.
Suffering in silence was still the best course of action, unfortunately.
Fortunately, her chest was no longer inflamed and sore.
So, her suffering was now limited to completing her mission without getting caught and worrying about when and where she’d get cancer next.
Because her genetic makeup didn’t stop at breast cancer.
She’d likely get all the cancers at some point. Soooo lucky.
John pulled into a run-down motel parking lot.
She’d been too caught up in her own thoughts, she’d lost track of time.
How far from downtown Indy had they traveled?
She glanced around and noted the area was similarly run down as the hotel, but sparse of cars and homes.
A couple blocks down the street were some older restaurants and a small convenience store.
Whatever side of town this was, it was a throwback to a previous century, which would be beneficial to her need to lay low.
John turned off the car and walked her into a small lobby that smelled like a boys’ locker room with a faint whiff of cleaning products. He spoke in a foreign language to the elderly gentleman at the desk, who glanced at her then nodded and tapped at the ancient computer.
“It’s a hundred a day if you only take a ten-minute shower and don’t complain about the crappy television reception.
” John explained to her as the elderly man handed her a coded plastic keycard.
“No one delivers here and there’s no fridge.
But you can walk down the street during the daytime for something to eat. ”
He leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Just don’t go out after dark.”
Audra nodded her understanding. “It gets a little dicey when the sun goes down, huh? Thank you for your help.”
She wanted to hug John. He’d been the most helpful person she’d encountered so far. Instead, she dug out her wallet and paid him triple his fare. Then turned to the elderly man and paid him for two nights, her relief no doubt apparent in her smile.
But her relief faltered as she watched John drive away. The little bit of safety net he’d represented for even that brief time left with him, and its absence was a gaping hole.
Tears burned in the corner of her eyes as she entered her home for the next few days.
Her mission to save the cyborgs had lent her strength and purpose all these years.
All these lonely years she’d had to keep friends and coworkers at arms-length so they wouldn’t learn what she was doing.
Wouldn’t be at risk should she be discovered.
All those years she’d ostracized herself to keep others safe while she was working subterfuge to help make cyborgs safe…
other than her one wonderful tryst with Gage, and now this brief interlude with a kind stranger which served to spotlight just how out of her depth she truly was.
She was drowning. Drowning in fear and isolation, gasping for air as the waves of a heartless world buffeted her.
She dropped her bag to the floor and sat on the corner of the bed, blind to the rest of the room because tears spilled down her face.
Her heart ached, her chest burned with phantom pain, her hands trembled, her brain buffered.
She was alone—had been so alone all these years—burdened with an undertaking for which she had no training.
How she’d come this far was certainly sheer luck.
But how she’d continue toward success… well, that was a hasty assumption she might actually succeed.
The truth was she was more likely to fail.
She’d be caught, tried for treason, and executed.
And all the information she’d pilfered would die with her. Useless. An utter waste.
“Get ahold of yourself.” She muttered through her sobs. “You just need a shower, some food, and sleep.” With every swipe of her forearm across her face, more tears poured forth. “Just don’t give up. You can’t give up. People are counting on you, even if they don’t know it.”
Despair was a black hole sucking her in.
But she had to fight it. Had to find the emotional strength to keep moving forward.
But she had none. All her emotional reserves were empty.
Maybe that’s why John’s little bit of help had seemed so enormous.
She couldn’t do this by herself anymore.
Was soul-weary of being alone. She desperately needed someone she could lean against. Someone she could cling to for strength when all these doubts and worries knocked her down.
Someone who would help pick her back up.
A soft ray of light swept over her, it’s late afternoon warmth a welcome intrusion.
She glanced up to see its source. A shadowed figure stood in her hotel room doorway.
Tall, broad shoulders, powerful stance. Not John or the elderly owner.
She should be terrified at the intrusion.
But she knew this form, backlit with sunlight like an avenging angel.
Had watched it for years at the Pentagon.
Gage Austin.
“Audra.” His soft, deep voice was a balm to her swirling emotions. “Who made you cry, beautiful?”