The Blue Zone

CHAPTER THIRTY

They attached a protective agent to watch over her.

The short, mustached guy in the baseball cap who had followed her off the bus turned out to be an FBI agent named Ruiz.

Maybe this was for the best, Kate told herself. With everything that was going on, with what had happened to Tina. Greg was back at work and wouldn’t be home until later. Truth was, Kate would sleep a little easier knowing that someone was there.

But she couldn’t sleep. Not knowing what had happened to her father. Whether he was dead or alive. She thought of her mom and Em and Justin. Wherever the hell they were. If they were even all right. How panicked they must be. God, I’d give anything to hear their voices. One thing Kate knew-whatever her father had done, whoever he was, he would never just leave them.

Her mouth felt like cotton. She needed something to drink. She felt a tingling sensation in her fingers and toes. This kind of stress, it wasn’t good for her. Kate pulled the Accu-Chek out of her purse and took a blood reading: 315. Goddamn it, she had spiked. That was bad.

She knew she’d been slacking off lately. She hadn’t run or rowed since last week. All she’d had to eat today was a few bites of a salad she’d picked up in the hospital cafeteria.

She pulled out a syringe from the kitchen cabinet, took the vial of Humulin from the fridge, and gave herself her shot.

C’mon, Kate, you have to take care of yourself, or it won’t matter who the hell finds you.

She brought her dog close and petted his floppy ears. “Right, Fergus?”

Kate made herself something to eat, a little tuna out of the can, mayo, ketchup, sweet relish, a chopped-up egg. Dad’s famous recipe. She took the bowl over to the computer on the desk by the window. She clicked on Yahoo! She knew that it was futile, but she’d give anything just to see a message from Em or Mom.

Nothing.

Kate punched up Sharon ’s e-mail ID. Yogagirl123. It didn’t go to her directly. Her messages were forwarded through some sort of clearing Web site at WITSEC, so she always had to be a little careful about what she said. This time she just started to write, copying Em and Justin.

Mom…guys. I’m worried about you. I don’t even know if you will ever get this. I know Dad is missing. I’m so scared that something terrible has happened. There’s something I need to tell you, something that happened here, but most of all I just want to hear your voices. They said you are in protective custody. If you get this, please get the okay to call me. I love you all. I pray that Daddy is all right and that you are, too. My heart is with you guys. Write me, call me, just let me know. I can’t tell you how much I want to hear your voices. K.

Kate clicked “send” and watched the message disappear. She realized she was sending an e-mail to no one. She called Greg and got his recording and hung up without leaving a message. She had never felt this alone in her life. She curled up with Fergus on the bed with the TV on.

Around 2:00 A.M., Greg woke her from a light sleep. A rerun of ER was on.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Kate murmured, feeling for his hand.

“I stopped in on Tina,” he said. “They had to do a procedure. To relieve pressure in the brain. They drained some fluid and scraped away a little of the dead tissue.”

Kate raised up, alarmed. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fighting, Kate.” Greg climbed in next to her, still in his clothes. “You know Tina-she’ll string this out forever just to make us sweat,” he said, trying to sound upbeat. “I’m really sorry, baby. About Ben. About your family. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here for you.”

Kate nodded, anguish on her face. “I saw the pictures, Greg. Of what happened to that woman agent in Chicago. It was horrible. They have no idea where he is. I was thinking, if they did that to her to get to him, what if…”

“Don’t think if, Kate.” He pulled her toward him, nestling in beside her. “Don’t go there. You don’t know.”

“He wouldn’t just leave, Greg. Not like that. Whatever you might want to say about him, he wouldn’t just disappear.”

“I know…” Greg said, gently stroking her hair. They lay there for a while, Kate pressed against him tightly. Then he chuckled. “So I met Ruiz.”

Kate did her best to smile. “You’re the one who always said you wanted a doorman building.”

He stroked her cheek. “I know you’re scared, Kate. I wish I could just take us away somewhere. I wish I could just shield you from all this. Protect you.”

“Like Superman,” Kate said and squeezed him. “Superhombre…”

Greg lifted her chin with his finger. “I know you’re going through a lot. All this. Tina. But here’s one thing you can count on, pooch: I won’t leave. I’m here, Kate. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

She rested her head against him and closed her eyes. For the moment she felt safe. Far away from it all. That feeling was the one thing she was able to cling to right now.

She nodded softly against him. “I know.”