Retribution (Secrets & Lies #3)(53)
Peter looks into the rearview mirror, and I can see the dramatic, distinctive blue of his eyes, the same shade as Jackson and Andrea, as he looks back at me. Peter DeLaCoeur. “Hello, honey.”
Before I can say anything, something jabs me in the shoulder, and I look stupidly at the syringe in Isis' hand, my eyelids drooping quickly. The darkness rushes up on me, but before I do, I hear a whisper in my mind. Nathan's voice, telling me that he'll come for me. I just need to stay strong.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Nathan
My eyes are still burning slightly, although I know it could have been worse. Isis' mist wasn't pepper spray or Mace, she probably couldn't have trusted the wind wouldn't blow it right back in her face. Instead, I think she hit me with alcohol, maybe some sort of oil, something that made me cough once or twice but didn't last long, just long enough for her to kidnap Melissa. Sniffing, I realize it's water infused with peppermint oil, strong enough to make the eyes water but overall relatively safe.
I can't stick around, the cops are going to be here in moments. Scooping up my pistol, I holster it quickly and take off running, knowing the worst thing I can do is panic and run blind. I reach the corner and turn down an alley, pulling out my phone as the cops pull up. Carson should still have his with him, he hadn't been injured.
I force myself to walk casually, even though every fiber inside me is telling me to run, to try and catch up to the car that Isis shoved Melissa into. I know it's impossible, I'm not Superman, but still I want to do something. Instead, I open my phone and dial Carson.
“Nathan?”
“Isis got Melissa. I need you to pick me up. Where are you?” I ask, keeping my voice as even as I can. I know that if Carson did exactly what I told him, he and Andrea could be almost all the way back to the interstate and hauling ass for the compound right now. If that's the case, I'm going to need to hotwire a car.
“We're on Tunnel Road, about a mile from the doctor's office,” Carson says, his voice edged in tension and panic. “What happened?”
“Come get me, we'll meet up at the Carmike,” I tell him instead of answering. “If I'm not there in ten minutes, you haul ass back to the compound, get Katrina, Jackson and BA, and you get yourself somewhere safe. Katrina knows people, she knows how to protect you. Get the f*ck outta there, and get out of the country by any means you can.”
“Bullshit,” Carson replies, but I can hear the van turn. “That bitch has Melissa. We'll get you at the theater.”
It's only a half-mile walk to the parking lot of the movie theater, and at this time of day the first of the morning movies and kiddie cartoons are being shown. It's busy enough that I can blend in, while not so crowded I can't see Carson and Andrea coming.
I take my time, sticking to the relative edge of the parking lot until I see the van coming, and I get my first real look at the damage Isis inflicted. There's a bullet hole in the side, not too bad considering the location is near the bottom edge where people won't look or might mistake it for a rock ding or something like that. There's another scrape where Isis' round glanced off the upper curve of the sheet metal above the windshield, but it doesn't look like it penetrated. The missing glass in the back window is a bigger problem, but it's the smallest of my worries right now.
The van pulls up, and I jump in, slamming the door behind me. “Drive normally, but get us back to the compound,” I tell him. “Don't speed up until we are out of the city and on the road back into the mountains. We can’t get pulled over by the cops.”
“What happened?” Andrea finally asks. “How did she find us?”
“I don't know,” I say, pulling out my phone again. “But we need to call Katrina, get her in on this. Somehow, Isis found us, but more importantly, now we need to find her.”
“She has Melissa?” Carson asks, his voice trembling with anger. “How?”
“I'll explain when we get back. For now, I need you to drive, Carson. I won’t rest until we will get her back.”
“She came out from behind a bush,” I tell Katrina and Jackson as we sit in the main room. Well, they're sitting, I'm pacing back and forth, unable to contain my nervous energy any longer. I kept it together for the whole hour back to the compound, I didn't want to scare Andrea, but now, I can't help it. “Her first shot barely missed, I think because I stopped to turn back to see how Melissa was doing.”
“Why was she behind you guys?” Jackson asks.
“She said she had to ask the doctor something, and she touched her stomach. She said she had a feeling, and she asked if I could let her be... she asked if I could let her be silly about it,” I answer, running my right hand through my hair. “She was so excited, and after what we had seen, I... I f*cked up. I should have told Carson and Andrea to wait, had all four of us move together out to the van. I should have...”
“No time for that right now, Nathan,” Katrina says, looking up. “I see how she tracked you guys.”
“How?” I ask. Katrina, even after all this, continues to amaze me. I'm falling apart, on the edge of going into bellowing hysterics, and she's a total professional. I promise, if the world does go to hell and I have to go to war again, I want Katrina by my side.