Page 129 of Rescuing You

“The men, in your car. Who were they?”

Men. Not men. Women.

In disguise, but not very good disguises, obviously. They’d been seen. Recognized.

“They’re gone?”

“Yeah. Alive, I think. The first for sure. The other one looked… I don’t know.”

The wail of sirens seeped into his consciousness.

“Help me up.”

“Dude.” Derrick shifted in front of him, and Michael got a better look. The jacket he’d worn was gone, his button-down smeared with blood.

Blood?

Who was…?

Oh.

He reached toward the wound on his head. Now that he thought of it, it pulsed with pain. He felt…nylon. His brother’s jacket.

Derrick grabbed his hand. “Don’t. You were shot. I wrapped my jacket around it, but it’s gonna need stitches.”

Shot.

In the head?

The sirens got louder.

He didn’t have time for cops or paramedics.

“Get me out of here.” He grabbed his brother’s wrist. “Take me inside, now. Grab my pack from the backseat.”

Derrick didn’t argue, just helped him up and reached into the car while Michael fought dizziness. His brother supported Michael into the warm building, straight to the men’s room.

It was a three-staller, bright and clean. Michael said, “Lock that door.”

Derrick did, then dropped the pack on the counter. “What are we doing? This is nuts. You need a hospital.”

“You’re just a bystander. A stranger who helped me to the bathroom. That’s what you’re going to tell them. I’m an old man, sixty-five or seventy. Got it?” Michael unwrapped the jacket from his head and looked at the wound.

The bullet had cut a gash starting a half inch from his eyebrow and forging a gully a centimeter wide that disappeared beneath the wig.

If the shooter had had a better angle…

Nausea rose so fast he didn’t have a second to think before the contents of his stomach came out, landing in the sink.

“What can I do?” Derrick’s voice was pitched high, but he wasn’t panicked. Just worried.

Michael turned on the water, washing the sick down the drain, then cupped some water into his lips. “Go to the plane and wait.”

“Yeah, that's gonna happen.”

“I have to disappear. I have to find them.” He yanked off the wig, wet a paper towel, and scrubbed off the makeup.

Derrick wasn’t leaving.