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Eli
Wiping the surveillance recordings at the store had been almost too easy. I knew that we should have destroyed the physical evidence, but there was no time. I wanted nothing more than to go back there and blow the place up. How had someone gotten past the three of us to drug Delilah? Why had the drug made her attack the store employee who’d been helping us?
“I thought you said she’d already fed before we left,” I growled at Declan, almost overwhelmed by jealousy that he was the one holding our girl. If we hadn’t been in the car, I probably would have attacked him. I could feel my control slipping. I wanted to be the one to take care of her. I knew that wasn’t possible right now, though. I was the only one who could handle the tech issues that needed to be dealt with. We needed money and a place to hide.
“She had three bags. That was more than enough for anyone. I guess I should have let her have more. I just didn’t want to get her dependent on that much blood. This is my fault.” So much for beating him up over it. Declan had already decided to do that himself.
“Look, Dec, it’s not your fault. You had no idea that this was going to happen. None of us did. It’s probably better that it happened outside of our zones. It’ll be harder for someone to pin it on us.” I was trying to think logically about the situation. “Everyone needs to turn their phones off or put it in airplane mode. We need to disappear.”
My phone rang before I could get a response from the guys, and I had to answer. “Scott.” I listened as he questioned me about my cryptic text. “I know. I’ll explain it all later. Just get the money, burner phones, and other stuff I asked for together, and I’ll let you know where to deliver it.” Once he agreed, I disconnected the call. We would probably have to send our phones back with Scott so they couldn’t be used to trace us. The burners would have to suffice for communication.
I turned to Vik. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe.” He refused to give me anything more than that. I would have to trust him. I settled in and watched the city turn to fields as Dec held an unconscious Delilah, and Vik drove us toward the sunrise.
“How long will we be out? I don’t think Delilah has an implant.” I turned around in my seat. “Dec, do you have an implant?”
He looked at me and nodded. “Yeah, I have one. I hadn’t been able to get one for her yet, though. The SUV’s windows in the back are safe. As long as she stays back here, she won’t get hurt if the sun comes up before we get there. I don’t know how that will work with getting her out, but in here, she’s good.”
I shot another message to Scott, letting him know to pick up five of the UV blocking implants to bring with him once I let him know where. That way, Delilah would have one, and we’d each have a spare. “I’ll take care of it. I won’t be able to get it before we get to the safe house, but she’ll need it in the future.”
We drove for almost an hour before Vik slowed down and turned onto a dirt road. Then we were headed back toward the city by way of the woods. I wasn’t sure what his brilliant plan was, but I was getting more irritated at him by the moment. “Vik, seriously, where are we going?”
He looked in the rearview mirror at Dec and Delilah sleeping, then answered quietly. “I have an underground bunker out here in the woods. It’s fully stocked. Nobody knows about it. I didn’t even tell Jones. So, there’s no chance of any problems. We’re almost there.” His eyes never left the road, but I could tell that he still carried guilt over Jones’ betrayal. I knew that if it were me, I would too. There was no good way to convince him that it wasn’t his fault.
“Does your bunker have internet access?” It was a long shot, but if I was going to keep working remotely while we were hiding out, I needed to be able to get online.
Vik’s laugh was all the answer I needed. Oh, well. It was probably better that way. One of the items I’d asked Scott to grab was a mobile network. It was utterly incognito and could drop a network anywhere I needed, even underground. I’d worked for a decade on that technology before I’d perfected it. My company, much like Vik’s, could pretty much run itself while I was gone. I needed internet access to research the Powder operation we’d been looking into. I felt like I was getting close to finding out who was behind it.
Now that we’d found Delilah, I could focus on that mystery without Vik guilting me about giving up. Although, now that we had her, all I wanted to do was protect her and keep her safe. I hoped that doing so would provide for some alone time as well. Since I had no idea what Vik’s bunker looked like, I didn’t know our privacy situation. We might all have to get really cool with a lot of stuff really fast if we wanted to keep our girl happy. I was confident that there was no way she’d be locked in a confined space with us and not want to be intimate. Hell, we were all in this car and I wanted to climb over the seat and pound her. I didn’t care if the other two watched.
Vik pulled the car up to a rock formation in the middle of the forest and put it in park. “Stay in the car,” he ordered before he climbed out and walked over to a tree beside the rocks. I watched as he located a panel, and the rocks started to move. He closed the panel and stepped back, climbing back into the driver’s seat. “Now we go inside. The doors will automatically close behind us. I’ve been making sure we weren’t followed.”
As he parked the car, I turned around to wake Dec. We’d carry Delilah. She needed more time to make sure the drug had worn off. I hoped there were no severe after-effects. I knew how guilty she would feel when she was back to herself, and it broke my heart. Dec climbed from the car and handed Delilah to me. We followed Vik down a hallway to a metal door. He pressed some buttons on a panel and the door creaked open.
“This way,” he said, flipping a switch that lit up the other side of the door. “I had hoped to keep this place a secret, but I’m more interested in keeping Delilah safe.”
The inside of the bunker was terrific. Everything was up to date but simple. There wasn’t a lot of furniture, but there was a large living area, and it appeared to have rooms that branched out in four directions. The kitchen area was attached to the living space. The whole thing looked to be about twice the size of my condo.
Chapter 26
Viktor
The bunker was precisely as I had left it a month ago. Everything was stocked and clean. I had taken great pains to do all the work myself so no one besides myself would have access. I hated bringing Eli and Declan here. I wanted this to be a secret place where Delilah and I could be alone. Of course, the best-laid plans and all that.
“There are four suites off this area. This one is the largest. Put Delilah on the bed so she can rest.” I had hoped to take the biggest room myself, but it seemed more logical to let Delilah have it since one of us would most likely be with her at all times. We had to make sure she was okay. I didn’t know if there were lasting effects from whatever drug she’d been given. I watched as Eli tucked her into the bed. Once she was comfortable, the three of us walked back into the living area, leaving her door open.
“We should set some ground rules.” I had expected to say the words myself, so it surprised me that Declan had taken the initiative.
I nodded. “What did you have in mind?” I would humor him and see if he had a good plan or not.
Eli spoke up, “I think that Delilah should be allowed to have some time to herself if she wants it. And she should be able to decide who she spends time with and when.”
Declan nodded, then added, “I agree with that once she’s recovered. Until then, I think we should take turns staying with her. We don’t know what she’ll feel like when she wakes up. I’d rather one of us was there to calm her down if she’s upset.”
“I agree with him.” I pointed at Dec, and Eli had no choice but to agree. The new guy had a solid plan. If our girl wanted privacy after she woke up, we’d give it to her. Right now, we’d keep a close watch on her. “Do either of you know anything about how to find out what drug was used on her?” I stared at them both expectantly.
Both shook their heads. “Do you have food down here?” Declan asked at the same time Eli spoke.
