Encrypted (74 page)

The CIA liaison’s head jerked up. “What was that?”

She had no idea
.
Just then,
the door burst open. A man with a gun rushed in. “Hands up!”

Only Devlin didn’t comply. Instead
,
he pulled
out
his own weapon. “Who the hell are you?”

“The cavalry. Now
,
drop it.”

Devlin’s jaw tensed. “Not before you do.”

The two men aimed at one another as a woman edged into the room.

“Guys, we are on the same side,” she said surveying the scene. “Right?”

The men
,
however
,
did not lower their weapons. Another, skinnier
,
man burst in. “Or for goodness
’
sake! We have lives to save.”

The skinny man strode right over to Amanda as Devlin pointed to the armed man.

“Dr.
Rolph
, I presume?”

“Quirk?” Amanda asked tentatively.

“Um,” the man said
,
twirling around. “In the middle of the Black Death
,
a man
this
well dressed? Who else would it be than Quirk?”

For some reason
,
Amanda jumped up. Pustules and all, she hugged him.

“Let’s watch the wool,” Quirk said gently
,
moving her back. He handed her a small
,
plastic box holding dozens of small vials.

Amanda
was afraid
to let herself believe
that
it was true. Could the vaccine
—
and even more importantly
,
the antisera
—
really be at her fingertips? She turned to ask Quirk if it really could be happening, but the slight man sat down hard next to Jennifer.

“Is she even…
?
”

Then Jennifer took in a rattled breath.

“Yes, but not for long,” Amanda commented as she opened a syringe and pulled out an aliquot of the antisera. In theory
,
she should run multiple tests to check for the purity of the sample, its biochemical composition, and run several animal tests to be certain of the serum’s efficacy. However
,
in this world ravaged by the Black Death
,
none of that mattered.

For Jennifer, for everyone, the Hidden Hand’s immunological concoction
had
better work.

“What are you doing?” Devlin asked from across the room. “You can’t just
–
”

“Watch me,” Amanda answered as she pushed the needle into Jennifer’s vein and slowly injected the antisera.

“Wait. Don’t you have to give it to her in her belly?” Quirk asked.

“No, but I do have to go slow. I can’t risk an allergic reaction.”

Quirk glanced over his shoulder
,
giving the other woman quite the glare. The woman just shrugged.

Amanda finish
ed
pushing the antisera. “Now, we are just going to have to wait and see.”

* * *

Ronnie stepped between the two men. “See? Logical
and
reasonable behavior by the doctor. Let’s take notes.”

She really did not want to end up getting shot by some upstart agent of the CIA,
HHS, D
H
S, or whatever branch of government he worked for. Zach moved to the side, keeping his gun aimed. He really wasn’t exactly helping to defuse the tension in the room.

“Devlin,” the doctor pleaded
,
“
t
his is Special Agent Hunt and…”

“The
Robin Hood hacker
,” Ronnie finished for Amanda.

The man’s eyes flickered from Zach
,
to her
, and
then back
again
. “You are both wanted fugitives
,
then.”

“Only because my ex-partner jumped over to the dark side,” Zach growled.

“Yeah,” Ronnie added. “He’s still a little bitter about that, so Devlin
,
why don’t you lower your weapon so we can discuss how we are going to manufacture and distribute the cure to the weaponized Black Death.”

Devlin scoffed
,
which seemed odd
,
given the fact
that
the guy was outnumbered three to one. Well, Quirk was a little preoccupied
,
so more like two to one. If only she had her magnetic disc.

“I don’t know what world you and your
boyfriend
live in…” Ronnie knew that Devlin meant that as insult, but she kind of liked the ring to it. “But I’m not going to drop anything until I have proof.”

“Her pulse is getting stronger,” Amanda said from the sick woman’s bedside. “The serum is stabilizing her.”

“I said
proof
,
” Devlin emphasized, tightening his finger around the trigger. Then he swatted his neck. “What the
—?
” he said
,
and
then listed sideways.

Ronnie turned to find Quirk holding a tiny blow
dart.

* * *

“Ugh,” Quirk sighed as Zach took the gun from Devlin and helped him to a chair.
Heteros
.”

“I’d totally forgotten about the micro-dart tube,” Ronnie admitted.

“Yep,” Quirk beamed. “Small enough to fit in your pocket
,
yet powerful enough to knock out an elephant, or a
douche
, whichever comes first.”

The Fentanyl and Valium combination seemed to do the trick as Devlin swayed.

“She’s opening her eyes,” Amanda said.

Slipping the patent
-
pending blow
dart into his pocket, Quirk sat next to Jennifer. Her eyelids were beyond puffy
,
and
forget
about dark circles
.
T
here were dark lakes under her eyes. But she was alive, proving
that
the Hidden Hand could get something right. The antidote.

“Slacker,” he teased Jennifer. The tiniest grin answered him. “What
,
cat got your tongue? Or
,
you know, submandibular lymph nodes
?
”

“No,” Amanda said next to him. “Don’t you know?”

“Know what?” Quirk asked as Jennifer tried to bring her hand up.

“Jennifer’s mute.”

Quirk shook his head. “Um, darling
,
I have never seen a woman talk more.”

“Text more,” Amanda corrected. “If she has to communicate
,
she normally signs.”

Weak, Jennifer brought her hand up and made a series of figures.

“What did she say?” Quirk asked.

Amanda
chuckled
. “Jennifer said, ‘
L
eave it to the assistants to save the day.’
”

“Um, yeah, duh,” Quirk answered.

Okay, there was tangible proof the world would be right again.

* * *

Zach tucked Devlin’s gun into the back of his belt. Even loopy, Zach didn’t trust the guy. Turning
,
he found Ronnie watching Quirk, Jennifer
,
and Amanda. Tears glistened in her eyes.

“It’s really working?” he asked.

Looking like she was trying to shrug off the moisture in her eyes
,
Ronnie nodded. “We should have enough to get as many of the scientists as possible healed to start wide-spread production.”

“
You
did it, Ronnie,” Zach took her hand. “You saved the world.”

She swung her head to the side, kicking at the floor. “I think I preferred it when my contributions were anonymous.”

“Really?” Zach questioned
,
pulling her closer. “You liked it better when we were just two voices on the line?”

“Okay, maybe
that
is an upside,” she grinned that grin he had always imagine when they were on the phone. Now to see it? To experience it? Yes, all of the hell of the past few days became completely and utterly worth it.

He wrapped his arms around the low
er part
of her back. Zach searched her face looking for signs of whether Ronnie was ready. How long had they both waited for this moment? They had both risked everything for it. Zach leaned in but she put a hand on his chest.

“I know,” he said. “Not the right time.”

* * *

“Oh
,
no,” Ronnie said, grabbing his shirt, bringing them only inches apart. “I think it’s the perfect time.”

She closed her eyes as their lips met. Searing heat burned, warming her body through and through. Zach
’s
kiss somehow managed to be gentle
,
and
yet commanded her to give herself to him. And she did. Like no other man, Ronnie gave him every ounce of her love packed into this one kiss.

It was the most perfect moment in her life, until…

She felt a cold, hard metal handcuff snap onto her wrist.

Zach backed a step. “I am so sorry.”

It truly looked like he meant it. Just like she did.

“No, I’m the one who is sorry,” Ronnie said as she pulled out a little black box from her pocket and aimed it at the man she loved more than life itself.

The fibrillator did its job only too effectively. Zach dropped the other cuff and clutched his chest.

“Okay, that’s our cue to leave,” Quirk announced
,
rushing to her side
and
urging her to the door. “Exit stage left.”

How could she leave Zach as he fell to the floor, twitching
and
gasping for air?

“Amanda, would you mind terribly defibrillating him for us?” Quirk
requested
. “It would be spectacular.” Quirk
was
no longer content to just urge her to the door
. He
shoved her through it and into the hallway.

Ronnie balked
,
though. Could she go through with this?

Quirk jangled the metal bracelet on her arm. “You see this? This was Zach doing what he does best. What
he
thought was best. Now we’ve got to do
our
thing.”

How come their thing was running
—
always running away?

“This is who we are,” Quirk reminded her.

Ronnie heard the whine of the defibrillator paddles
and
then the loud
zap
of the discharge. Then the paddles whined again. What if they didn’t work? What if she killed Zach?

“Don’t be afraid to go to 300 on that thing,” Quirk yelled over his shoulder to Amanda as he pushed Ronnie down the hall. The paddles zapped again. “Move it!”

With a sad realization, Ronnie knew that Quirk was right. What was done was done. They were international fugitives. If they were caught, there would be no escape.

She had just saved the world
;
now it was time to save herself.

With a silent prayer to the angels
who
had been watching over them, Ronnie hauled ass for the exit.

EPILOGUE

El Paso FBI Field Office

Two W
eeks
L
ater

Zach rubbed his sternum. His heart still hurt. Whether
it was
from the fibrillation or watching Ronnie run away
,
he wasn’t sure.

He looked back
at
his desk
—s
omething else he was going to have to say good
-
bye to. It was weird to think
that
he’d been halfway around the world
and
back, hunting down the Hidden Hand’s leadership
,
only to
return to
El Paso.