“Yeah. I’m pretty sure I found something. I just haven’t had a chance to go back and take a look.”

  “At the center?”

  “Yes. I saw one of the doctors coming out of one of the locker rooms with something in his arms, and he quickly booked it out the front door. I saw it on the security camera when I was there.”

  “Any idea what time it was?”

  He gave him the details and added, “You should see it yourself.”

  “Good, I’ll go take a look at that,” Grant stated, “because, if I’ve got a reason to shut it down, believe me. We’ll have it shut down in no time.”

  “Find it then, because, if nothing else, I’m pretty sure that whoever attacked her will attack her again. As far as I’m concerned, whoever it is has something to do with that clinic. It’s the only thing that makes sense, … particularly since it’s happened twice.”

  “You also have to consider that somebody else might be trying to make it look like she’s unstable, trying to make it look like the hospital itself is to blame, and making the opportunity to push her in a direction that she had no intention of going. Or pushing somebody else to do something ahead of schedule.”

  “So she slashed her own tires? So she hit herself on the back of her head? No way. None of those scenarios sound decent, so I’ll ignore what you just said.”

  Grant laughed. “If holding your head in the clouds works for you, fly at it.”

  “No, it doesn’t, but I’m heading to her hospital room right now. I’m hoping she’s got something more to say about what happened, but, even if she doesn’t, she needs somebody to keep an eye on her.”

  “Do you think she’ll be at risk there?” Grant asked, his voice hard. “Because that’s a completely different story too.”

  “I don’t know,” Gray admitted. “I’ll check it out and let you know in a few minutes.”

  “How close are you right now?”

  “I’m just coming up on her room.” He knocked on the door and pushed it open, and, stepping inside, he froze. “I don’t know where the hell she is, but she sure as hell isn’t here.” He did one rapid but thorough search of the room, then cried out, “Grant, she’s gone. She’s not here anymore.”

  With that, he hung up. And raced out of the hospital.

  Chapter 15

  It was hard to explain the sense of urgency that had Cressy bolting from bed, snagging her clothes from the closet, sliding out into the hallway, all of that on a mere whim. She had to keep checking to confirm nobody was close by. Then she ran down to the opposite end of the hall, where, opening a door, she found a broom closet. Locking the door behind her, she felt some relief.

  Quickly she dressed in her clothes, even as she searched the linen closet for something that would help to hide her presence. A doctor’s white coat was here, which she quickly put on. Then, with a quick glance outside, she stepped out into the hallway and proceeded to the exit as fast as she could, without raising any alarms. Nobody said anything or tried to stop her from leaving the building.

  She stood outside of the back entrance, shaky yet with that sense that she’d made it just in the nick of time, but she had made it. She had absolutely no idea what it was that she had escaped from, where she was going, or what was after her, but she knew, without a doubt, she couldn’t stay here.

  Now, as she stood in the back parking lot of the hospital, without a cell phone or any means to contact anyone, even asking for help at this point would make her look like an idiot. She closed her eyes, then gathering up the last of her waning strength, she called out to Stefan. Any chance I can ask you to contact Gray?

  In progress, Stefan said, his voice calm. Where are you?

  In the rear parking lot.

  He hesitated, then asked, Why?

  Yeah, if I knew that, I would have answers to solve this headache. I suddenly got that instinctive feeling that I needed to run. I didn’t question the urge, I just got up and bolted.

  His breath exhaled noisily in her mind.

  She smiled at that. Sorry to be a bother. Apparently I’m quite a trial at the moment.

  No, not at all, but if you felt that strongly about it—

  I did.

  Then of course you had to leave. I do believe Gray is at the hospital or at least nearby, Stefan told her. I’m calling him now.

  And, with that, he exited her mind, and she realized just how nice it was to have an emergency system such as this. It wasn’t fair to call in her friends like that all the time, but considering the headache she had right now, it was actually one of the best answers she could hope for. Knowing that Dr. Maddy would be listening in on the ethers to a certain extent, Cressy sent a message, saying she was fine but had bolted from her room because something was off.

  Dr. Maddy came in through her mind and asked, Off in what way?

  Yeah, I don’t know, Cressy replied, with a heavy groan. I’m pretty sure that will be the question everybody wants me to answer.

  Dr. Maddy laughed. And you’ll do the best you can to answer it. Don’t ever feel guilty because you did what you had to do for survival.

  That’s the thing I can’t understand. What if I’m just being paranoid?

  Then we will all understand it, she replied calmly. Remember who you’re talking to here. You must know that we’ve all been through something similar, and not one of us would do anything other than run when our instincts say to run. Now, make sure you’re staying in a very public area so you can be found, yet not so public that you’re in everybody’s view.

  Yeah, you make that sound as if it’s an easy thing to separate, she muttered. I’m just in the parking lot, walking back and forth, hoping that Gray is nearby.

  I believe he is, I just don’t know exactly where and what he’s doing there.

  If he’s at the hospital, he probably just arrived, which means he’s probably in my room and about to raise Cain.

  At that, Dr. Maddy sucked in her breath. Yeah, that’s exactly what’s happening right now, she confirmed, with a note of humor in her voice. It would be nice if he could modulate that though.

  He doesn’t believe he can do anything along those lines, Cressy relayed. Will you tell him? Cressy asked.

  No, I sure won’t, Dr. Maddy stated, with a half a laugh. You know perfectly well that’s not an easy thing to understand.

  It might not be easy to understand, but, after everything he’s been through, I think he might appreciate some explanation.

  Maybe. We’ll see how far along this pathway he gets before I feel the need to try and explain how much of it is him.

  You know he won’t accept it.

  Maybe not, but he might surprise you. Drew doesn’t like to have anything to do with this, but there’s no doubt that he’s my ground, and, with him, I can do so much more.

  And he’s okay with that?

  Certainly, she declared. That’s what love is all about.

  I’m not there yet, Cressy murmured. Anytime I get close to anyone, they usually end up running like hell or go screaming into the night.

  Maybe you should dance in their mind to confirm everything is okay in there, before you go out with someone new, Dr. Maddy suggested in a mockingly scolding tone.

  It’s not even that I’m trying to do it, she said. It’s just that, when people are having nightmares, I think I can help, so I go in and soothe them. Sometimes they don’t appear to take that in a very good way.

  Most people are very upset to find out that you can go through their mind. Period.

  Yeah, I was a little slow to come to that kind of realization. Unfortunately.

  At that, Dr. Maddy laughed. Hold tight. Gray’s on his way to you.

  Great, she said, then disconnected from Dr. Maddy so she could go off and do her own thing. It was one thing to connect, but another to take too much of anybody’s time. Cressy watched the exit, until suddenly it burst open, and Gray raced out.

  He turned, looking around, even as he kept going in a forward motion. He spun in such a smooth, controlled way that she was in awe. He spun all the way around, his gaze sliding past her, only to come back around and land on her. He raced toward her.

  “Are you all right?” He grabbed her by the shoulders, then pulled her close and hung on tight. A moment later he stopped, held her by the shoulders, and stared intently at her.

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  He frowned. “If you were fine, you wouldn’t be out here.”

  She grabbed his hands and said, “Don’t shake me.”

  Immediately he winced and stopped the unconscious motion. “Sorry.” He took a deep breath. “I really didn’t handle it well when I hit your room and realized you were gone.”

  “And, once again, it’s as if we’re just passing in the night. I just left a couple minutes ago.”

  “You want to tell me why?”

  She pondered that and nodded. “I don’t really have a great explanation, except my instincts told me to run.”

  His breath sucked back, and he stared at her in shock.

  She nodded. “As I said, I don’t really have a great explanation.”

  “So, this instinct of yours, … it didn’t tell you why?”

  “No, it didn’t. Just to run.”

  He frowned. “Are you keeping something from me?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not trying to. At the moment, I haven’t even had a chance to discern just what’s going on,” she told him. “All I can tell you is, when that happened, I bolted and grabbed my clothes, then raced down the hallway. I actually got dressed in a closet. I grabbed a doctor’s jacket and headed out,” she explained. “I must have just missed you.”

  He scrubbed his face, before running his hands through his hair, all the while staring at her wildly. “Just missed me again? It’s as if you’re sliding out just ahead of me.”

  She glared at him. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

  “Actually you did leave on purpose. Both times.”

  “Sure, and, if you’d been given the nudge I was, you would have left too.”

  His breath let out slowly, and he nodded. “Fine, I’ll give you that. I don’t know what that nudge felt like, but I’ve been in situations where my instincts had me flat-out taking off in the opposite direction, even though everybody told me to stop,” he muttered.

  “Was it the best choice?”

  “Absolutely,” he confirmed. “The spot where I’d been standing just blew up. I think a rocket landed just seconds afterward.” Her jaw dropped, and she stared at him. “Hey, not everything is sunshine and roses in my world either.”

  “Is that why you’re off on medical leave?” He gave her a look. She shrugged. “I mean, obviously something happened.”

  “Yes, something happened, but this time it wasn’t a rocket so much as bullets.”

  “This time?” She continued staring at him in shock.

  “So, yes, I understand. When instincts tell you to run, it’s time to run,” he agreed. “It would have been nice if you would have told me though.”

  “I would have,” she admitted, giving him a hard smile, “if I hadn’t been knocked out and had my phone.”

  “Ah, shit. You lost it when they got you?”

  “Unless it’s been found. It could very well be somewhere at the clinic.”

  He shook his head. “I haven’t heard from anybody that it was found.”

  “Of course not, which means I need another phone, and I need it fast.”

  Then he frowned and asked, “You called Stefan, didn’t you?”

  She grinned. “Yeah, sometimes it helps to have somebody on the ethers, somebody who’s always there, always available. I know it’s not how he wants to be looked at, but there are times when calling out to him is all I can do.”

  Gray nodded. “You are very blessed. You know that, right?”

  “I do know that,” she said in all seriousness. “I also spoke to Dr. Maddy already.”

  “Good, so I presume there’s no long-term damage from that latest attack?”

  “I don’t think so, but I really would like to go home.” He shook his head, and she glared at that. “What’s wrong with going home?”

  “If somebody is after you, where would they go?”

  She winced. “They’d go to my home of course. Damn. Can we at least go get some clothes and my backup tablet, then maybe find a hotel? Unless you can give me my laptop from my case files boxes?”

  He pondered it for a moment, then nodded. “I can do that. I’ll have one of the agents meet us and drop it off for you. And a hotel’s probably the best idea.”

  “Unless you have a safe house or something I can go to,” she said bitterly. “I don’t want to go to any friends and bring something like this onto their shoulders.”

  “No, of course not,” he agreed, as he made a sudden decision, while she watched determination dawn on his expression. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  And, with him walking at a rapid clip, she came up behind him as fast as she could go, but, even then, he was moving so fast that her legs were already starting to tire. He must have sensed something because he came to a stop, then turned and looked at her. “Jesus, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you run.”

  She shrugged. “Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem, but today I’m still playing catch-up.”

  “I could carry you.”

  “No, no, no.” She backed up, her hands out in front of her. “Not needed. I can walk, just don’t race maybe, not for the rest of today.”

  He smiled, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tucked her up close, and suggested, “We’ll walk together.”

  “I’m not sure whether that’ll be a good idea or bad. I mean, there’s a good chance that you’ll be targeted because of me.”

  “In that case, good,” he declared. “If that’s the way these guys want to play, then that’s the way we’ll play.”

  She frowned at him. “Haven’t you been shot and targeted enough in your life?” He just ignored her question and didn’t answer. She smiled, trying to ease all the tension. “Have to be a tough guy, huh?” Again he didn’t say anything, he just kept on walking, and she shrugged. “Fine, but it’s your choice.”

  “It usually is, but at least I know the score.”

  She winced at that. “No, that’s true. I’m sorry. I’m also very grateful that you’re here helping me.”

  “Yet I wasn’t here at the time,” he repeated. “So what I’m wondering is, does somebody know that? Could somebody be setting this up, so that I’m coming in just at the last second and don’t have any way to get to you?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I wouldn’t have thought that was possible, but, in my world, everything is possible, especially the things that you haven’t had a chance to even ask about. The more that we do in this field, the more we realize that so much more has yet to be explored, with the potential to do even better. More and more, we come up against people, finding things that shouldn’t be possible, yet somehow are. So we can’t really know for sure.”

  He just nodded, couldn’t say much about all that, as they got to his vehicle. He quickly unlocked and opened the door for her. When he came around to the other side, she looked at him.

  “Can we also get a cell phone?”

  He leaned forward, opened the glove box, and pulled out a brand-new cell, still in its original packaging, and handed it to her.

  “What’s that?”

  “A burner phone. It can’t be traced. Probably the best answer right now. You can make the calls you need to, and nobody will know.”

  She stared at it, as if it were a lifeline. “That would be lovely.”

  His lips quirked. “I do understand what it’s like to be cut off from all communication,” he said. “Okay, so, it’ll be a quick trip to your home, and then I want you out of there.”

  “Do we really think somebody will try and get me there?” she asked.

  “You tell me. What do you think is likely to happen at this point?”

  She thought about it, pondering long and hard. “If they’re seriously after me to silence me, whether by locking me up in a sanatorium as a patient or … otherwise, that would make the most sense.”

  “Yeah, that would be my take on it,” he agreed, with a sigh. “I get that it’s not something you want to consider, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t.”

  “In which case, we’re back to that whole scenario of what happened in the hospital.”

  He pulled up outside her apartment. “Now, we’ll go in there fast, you hear me? Just focus on what you need for at least a few days.”

  She nodded slowly. “And this will go away after that, right?”

  “No, it won’t,” he declared. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but you can expect this to be something that we have to deal with for several more days potentially. You’ve been attacked at your place of work, and you left the hospital because you were afraid of another attack or some quack deeming you insane, and now you are again in a position where we don’t know what’s going on, but we don’t want a repeat.”

  He watched as she shuddered at the thought.

  “No, I definitely do not,” she agreed, her voice getting stronger. “I rebuilt my life after that mess last year, and I thought I was coming back to a supportive and healthy environment,” she explained, trying to keep the bitterness out of her tone. “Instead it appears as if everybody just wants me gone.”

  “You can’t say everybody,” he noted. “I get that it seems that everybody right now, but I don’t think the patients wanted you gone. I don’t think the families of the patients wanted you gone. I think the board and at least some of your colleagues did, but it remains to be seen who did what in this deal. It could be that some were being intimidated and pressured.”

  “Right, and we still don’t know even that any of them had anything to do with the attack at all.”

  “Nope, we sure don’t,” he replied, as he continued to check their surroundings.

  “It could be that I’m just doubly screwed.”

  He chuckled at that, then got out, came around to her side, and reminded her, “Stay with me at all times, please.”