Rules of Deception

88

Jonathan found Emma slumped in the passenger seat. She was conscious, but barely.

“I tried to stop him,” he said. “But he wouldn’t listen.”

She nodded, and motioned for him to come closer. “He never listened to anyone,” she whispered.

Jonathan peered into the abandoned woods. “Where did they go?”

“They’re ghosts. They don’t exist.”

He took her hand. Her grip was weak and cold. “I need to get you to a hospital.”

“The world thinks I’m dead. I can’t go to a hospital.”

“You need surgery to take out that bullet.”

“You’re a doctor. You can look after me.”

Jonathan eased the seat back and examined her wound. The bullet had passed through her upper arm and lodged itself in the flesh below her shoulder blade. “You stopped the attack. You can come in now.”

Emma shook her head, a forlorn smile tracing her lips. “I broke ranks. There’s only one punishment for that.”

“But Austen was acting on his own…”

“I’m not so sure.” Emma shifted in the seat. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Division’s like the Hydra. Cut off its head and ten more grow in its place. They’ll need to make an example.”

Jonathan grasped her hand more tightly.

“They’ll be watching you,” she said, her voice stronger. She was an agent again. She’d been trained for this. “They’ll suspect you had help. There’s no way you could have found the drone on your own. Sooner or later, they’ll find out what really happened. Someone will go into the mountains and discover that I didn’t really have an accident. I made mistakes. I left tracks.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

Jonathan stared at her, unable to bring himself to speak.

Emma reached up and touched his cheek. “We have a few days until they start looking.”

The seesaw whine of sirens sounded from down the hill. Jonathan turned and saw the blue lights flashing in the forest as they neared the house. A police car pulled up in front of the driveway. Marcus von Daniken climbed out, his right arm in a sling. He walked over to them. “Did you stop it?”

“Yes,” said Jonathan.

“Thank God.”

Jonathan gestured toward the house. “There are two men inside.”

“Dead?”

Jonathan nodded. Von Daniken considered this. He looked at Emma. “Who are you?”

“You’ll know soon enough,” she said.

“I’ll call an ambulance,” said the policeman.

“I can take care of her,” said Jonathan.

Von Daniken ran a hand over the bullet holes puncturing the hood. He tossed a set of car keys to Jonathan. “It’s a blue VW. I left it in back of the command house. Take it and get out of here.”

“Thank you,” said Emma.

“You owe me.” The Swiss turned and walked haltingly toward the house.

More police cars were arriving by the second. A helicopter swooped low and hovered overhead, its spotlight trained on the scene.

Jonathan reached into the car and lifted his wife into his arms.

“My name’s Jonathan,” he said.

“My name’s Cary. Nice to meet you.”

He turned and carried her down the hill.