Episode 2:
"The Hideout"
Part 1
Jay was standing on the front porch when the stolen silver sedan Will was driving pulled up to the house. Before the car had come to a full stop, Kim was bounding out of the passenger's seat toward him. Jay took the porch steps in a single leap and met her halfway to the house, catching her up and swinging her feet off the ground in an exultant hug.
"I thought I'd never see you again," she sobbed into his shoulder. "When you ran out of the club…"
"God, I'm sorry I couldn't get to you." Jay set Kim back on her feet and peppered her face with kisses until she laughed. "I thought you'd be safe. I didn't know the FBI was involved, I swear."
Will was driving on toward the barn where the stolen pick-up was already hidden. Turning to watch him go, Kim wiped tears off her cheeks. Jay noted with relief that while she looked tired she was, as Will had promised on the phone, unharmed.
"It's okay. I was the one who wanted you to go to the feds, remember? It's as much my fault as anyone's that things ended up so badly."
She stepped back and gazed at the house. "So, where the hell are we, anyway?"
Jay took her hand. "Will's summer house," he joked. "Also known as the hideout of America's Most Wanted Fugitives."
They grinned at one another. Jay knew they were thinking the same thing: If we can't laugh, we'll go crazy.
Just then, Tyler came out the front door, yawning and stretching. The sun had risen hours ago; Tyler had finally fallen asleep on the couch just before dawn, while Jay had combed through dozens of web pages, seeking out connections between the names Will's informants had provided and the Fourth Branch. What he had learned would probably have kept him awake even if he hadn't been waiting desperately for the call telling him Kim was safe, which had finally come around four in the morning.
"Everybody okay?" Tyler asked, hugging Kim quickly.
Jay noted the frostiness with which Kim regarded Tyler and knew why: the girl, Liz. Sure enough, Kim returned testily, "Yes, Tyler, everybody is okay."
Tyler arched a quizzical eyebrow at Jay. "I should have woken you," Jay apologized, regretting that he hadn't given his friend a head's-up. While he didn't agree with Tyler's behavior any more than Kim did, he also hated to see his best friend be steamrolled on the heels of so many successive shocks – Will's betrayal, Carlton Fog's, the FBI's.
"Listen, uh, did you sort of…hook up with some girl while we were separated this week?"
A tell-tale flush crept over Tyler's cheeks. "Yeah. What's that got – "
At that moment, the barn door open and Will came out, carrying a slender brunette. Tyler's jaw dropped. "But how… How could they… I didn't tell anyone about her!" he blustered.
Kim glared fiercely at him. Jay placed a restraining hand on her arm, not wanting to deal with another one of Tyler and Kim's famous rows on top of everything else.
"Gee, I don't know, Tyler," she observed sarcastically. "Maybe they're the FBI, and they have their ways of getting information."
"Is she okay?" Tyler was calling to Will, ignoring Kim as he stepped off the porch. "Is she hurt?"
Will, who looked even worse than the semi-conscious form in his arms, gladly handed the girl over to Tyler, who scooped her up with a protectiveness that startled Jay.
"She's all right," Will assured them wearily. "She's got a burn on her arm that needs tending, but mostly, she's just unconscious from Valium.
"Let's get inside," he suggested, glancing back toward the woods. Jay knew Will was anxious to look at the monitors in the living room, to ensure that no one was watching them; he experienced a pang of annoyance that Will wouldn't trust him, Jay, to keep an eye on such things.
Leave it. He's trying to take care of all of you, and he just saved Kim's life.
Of course, she wouldn't have needed saving if it weren't for him…
Tyler carried the girl, Liz, upstairs, presumably to one of the bedrooms where she could rest more comfortably. Jay and Kim trailed Will into the living room where, as Jay had predicted, he made a beeline for the monitors.
"Good Christ, Will," Kim muttered, looking around with the same bewildered amazement Jay had experienced upon entering the house. "Expecting an invasion?"
"Let's hope not." Will grimaced slightly as he leaned over the desk, reading the notes Jay had left. In spite of himself, Jay was worried for his friend; that gunshot wound had looked nasty, no matter how nonchalant Will acted about it.
"This is good," Will commented to Jay, tapping the notepad with his forefinger. "This is really good, Jay. Exactly what we need."
Kim peered over Jay's shoulder. "That looks complicated," she observed. Jay was proud of the detailed diagram of names, businesses, and affiliations he had begun to draw, but he understood how it could be confusing to someone who had no clue what it referred to. "I take it this has something to do with those answers you owe me, Will?"
But Will was sinking down onto the couch, pale from fatigue. "Maybe Jay can take over from here," he suggested, closing his eyes. "I'm so tired."
Jay's worry threatened to become an all-out panic. Will's color was poor; whether from exhaustion, blood loss, infection, or something else, Jay had no idea. He tried to reassure himself that Will would tell them if he was really injured, if he needed a doctor, because he had to realize that without him, they were sitting ducks.
This helped allay Jay's fears until he suddenly recalled that Will had walked six blocks without mentioning a gunshot wound in his belly.
Seating himself on the coffee table so that he was facing Will, Jay demanded sternly, "No bullshit, Will. How bad are you hurt?"
Without opening his eyes, Will answered, "Not bad. But I'm touched that you care, Jay, I really am," he added with a wry smile.
"Hurt?" Kim plopped down beside Jay, perplexed. "When did you get hurt, Will?"
Jay was somehow unsurprised that tough-guy, super-spy Will had neglected to inform Kim of his injury. "He got shot," Jay began.
With a shriek, Kim jumped to her feet. "You got shot?" she demanded of Will, who opened his eyes and bestowed a thank-you-so-much glower on Jay. "And you didn't think this was something I needed to know?"
"Not really."
Jay hid a grin behind his hand. Will and Kim had never butted heads before; Will had always let her have her way.
She looked mutinous. Hands on hips, she glared down at Will. "I see. And you didn't think that maybe if I'd known, I could have done some of the driving while you rested?"
"No offense, Kim, but I've seen you drive. I think we were safer with me at the wheel, gunshot and all."
At that, Jay couldn't help but laugh. Will smirked.
Kim immediately rounded on Jay. "Glad this is funny to you both," she snapped. To Will, she ordered, "Let's see, then."
"I'm fine – "
"Will, we can do this easy or we can do this hard. I am not above having Jay hold you down," she warned.
"Just do it," Jay advised. He had encountered enough of Kim's stubbornness to know arguing was pointless. Besides, Will's wound did need to be checked; he really looked unwell, despite his ability to crack jokes through pain.
Reluctantly, Will unfastened the buttons on his shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders. The gauze he had taped over his wound was stained with rust-colored blood. Kim sat on the couch beside him, easing him forward so she could check the exit wound in his back– or was it the entrance wound, Jay wondered, seeing as how they'd been running away when Marlow fired at them?
Not that it matters, a bullet is a bullet.
"The bleeding looks worse back here," Kim noted.
"Yeah, I had a little more trouble closing that one up," Will admitted.
"My God, Will, you have to be in pain."
Something in Kim's voice brought Jay's eyes from Will's wound to her face. He was taken aback by what he saw here: an odd mix of tenderness, concern, affection and annoyance, a depth of emotion he hadn't known she felt toward Will. Of his two roommates, Kim had always been more impassioned about Tyler and his antics. But seeing her expression, Jay couldn't help also noticing how gently she rested her hand on Will's side and how protectively she hovered over him.
He suddenly recalled an exchange between Kim and her then-roommate, a giggly red-head named Chloe, at a house party Tyler had thrown two years ago, in celebration of surviving their first year as Yale graduate students….
The house had been packed, as always, because Tyler didn't know how to do anything small, limited budget or not. Jay had seen Kim as soon as she came through the door; she looked drop-dead gorgeous in a sleeveless black dress cut to show off her curves to full effect. Beside her, he thought Chloe looked skinny and childlike in a slinky red number.
"Hey, gorgeous," he greeted Kim, proud as always to be the guy in the room her eyes sought out first. How could he ever have imagined someone so beautiful, so smart, so vivacious would be interested in him, a poor kid from nowhere? He kissed her on the mouth and knew every man in the place wanted to be him.
"Hey, yourself." Kim glanced around with a faint air of disapproval. "Another intimate get-together courtesy of Tyler, I see."
"Ladies!" Tyler chose that moment to materialize out of the crowd. Already half-lit, he swayed over to Chloe, catching her in a hug that was more like a grope. She giggled madly; Jay suspected Chloe had attached herself so firmly to Kim not because they had anything in common – they were both photographers, but Kim was definitely the more serious and talented student – but because she thought the friendship might land her in bed with Tyler Fog. And his money.
Too bad she doesn't know he's as poor as a church mouse so long as Carlton keeps the purse strings tied off…
Kim allowed Tyler a quick peck on her cheek. "Damn, you are just the most beautiful thing," he pronounced, stepping back from her. "Jay, your girlfriend is truly hot."
Knowing how Kim disliked being treated as a piece of meat, Jay said quickly, "Thanks. Have you seen Will?"
"Right behind you, my friend, and bearing refreshments." Will appeared behind Tyler, carrying a glass of red wine for Kim – her favorite – and a fruity cocktail for Chloe, who would basically drink anything with alcohol.
"Thanks, Will." Kim offered him a genuine smile quite unlike the polite grimace she always managed for Tyler. "Such a gentleman."
"Thanks," Chloe giggled, batting her eyelashes at Will, who (unlike Tyler) kept his hands decidedly to himself. Jay fought down a grin. He knew Will's opinion of Chloe, and it ran somewhere along the lines of how Kim viewed Tyler.
The five of them moved into the living room of The Castle and cleared off a spot on the couch. Kim sat beside Jay, fingers linked with his; Tyler pulled a fiercely-giggling Chloe onto his lap. Will perched on the arm of the recliner and rolled his eyes at Jay when Tyler and Chloe weren't looking. Jay knew what his friend was thinking: If Tyler knew what was good for him, he would keep it in his pants. Chloe looked to be a difficult girl to shake without the encouragement of a one-night stand to egg her on.
"So, Kim, big plans for the summer?" Will asked.
Kim nodded eagerly. "Yes, actually, I'm going to Rome for a month in July – "
"Rome's fantastic," Tyler put in, sliding a hand up and down Chloe's back. "I went there for my seventeenth birthday. Best nightclubs in Europe, man, I swear."
Stiffly, Kim rejoined, "Well, I'm going with my photography class, so I don't know how many clubs we'll be hitting…"
Will chuckled. Kim smiled back at him. "I'm sure you'll have a great time without clubbing," he assured her. "And I'm sure you'll take some fabulous pictures."
"Oh, Jesus Christ, not this shit again." Tyler was suddenly dumping Chloe rather unceremoniously off his lap; she made a noise somewhere between a growl and a squeak, slopping half her drink down her dress. "I paid these guys off already, what more do they want?"
Jay turned to see campus security standing in the foyer. Will hurriedly stood, waving Jay off. "I'll take care of it," he assured him. To Tyler, he said, "And you, come with me, so we can discuss again why bribing police officers is always a bad idea."
"He's got his hands full," Kim remarked, watching Will saunter over to the officers and begin chatting in his infallibly polite and engaging way. "Keeping Tyler in line is like a full-time job."
Chloe was mopping her spilled drink off her mostly-bare chest with a napkin. "I'll tell you where I'd like to keep him," she piped up.
Kim made a retching noise. "Honestly, Chloe, Tyler Fog is such a player – "
"Oh, c'mon, Kim, Tyler's mostly just talk," Jay defended his friend. Truthfully, Jay disapproved of the casual way Tyler picked up and dropped girls, yet he felt compelled to defend him somewhat against Kim's constant onslaught of criticism. "He's a huge flirt, everybody knows that."
"No, he's really and truly a player." Chloe seemed perfectly accepting of this fact.
"But you still want him?" Kim marveled. She squeezed Jay's hand tightly, as if reassuring herself that she was lucky enough to have captured a good guy.
"Why not? He's good-looking, everybody who knows says he's absolutely amazing in bed, and he's rich. But honestly," she leaned forward as if she were revealing a state secret and said, sotto voice, "if I had my pick – given that Jay's already spoken for, of course – I'd take Will Traveler over Tyler Fog in a heartbeat."
Chloe nodded sagely, like she had just made a profound declaration. "I mean, no offense to Tyler, but that boy is hot."
Kim laughed. "Yeah, Jay's always worried about Tyler making a move on me, but I keep telling him, Will's the one the girls can't keep their eyes off of."
Jay pulled her around into a passionate kiss. "I don't care which one of my roommates you think is hotter," he said against her mouth, "so long as I'm the one you can't keep your eyes off of."
She snuggled against him, murmuring into his ear, "As if I could ever want anybody but you, silly…"
Coming back to the present with a jolt, Jay was disgusted with himself for feeling a wave of white-hot jealousy wash over him as Kim, who was now armed with a pan of hot, soapy water and a clean wash clothes, gently dabbed at Will's exposed wound.
"I'm sorry if this hurts," she said, biting her lower lip worriedly.
"It doesn't." Will appeared supremely unconcerned. Then, suddenly, he cried, "Ouch!"
"I'm sorry!" Kim jumped a mile, slopping water all over the floor.
But Will was smirking. "Just kidding."
Looking torn between laughter and tears, Kim playfully smacked Will's shoulder. "Do that again," she threatened, "and this bullet hole will be the least of your worries."
Ten minutes ago, Jay knew their little exchange would have made him laugh, too, just like Will's dig about Kim's driving had. Now, however, the entire scene seemed imbued with subtext as Kim's long-ago words echoed in his mind: "Will's the one the girls can't keep their eyes off of…"
Or did she really mean, "Will's the one I can't keep my eyes off of"?
Rationally, Jay knew he was being a complete and total idiot. For one thing, they were on the run for their lives – hardly the best time to be starting up an illicit affair. For another, Kim had more than proven her love for him over the last week – not that it had ever been in any doubt.
How many women would endure hours of interrogation by the FBI, risk arrest and imprisonment, for a man they didn't really love?
Yet he couldn't deny that his suspicions had been aroused. He suddenly wished he had insisted on accompanying Will to rescue Kim. Could something have happened between them then, some kind of Guinevere/Lancelot thing brought on by such a dangerous situation?
Yeah, Burchell, that's really likely. They probably got it on right there in the car, with that poor girl passed out in the backseat…
Jay ordered himself to snap out of it. No matter what, he would not risk losing Kim because of his tendency toward insane jealousy. And anyway, they all had bigger problems than romance for the time being.
Focusing on the issue at hand, Jay asked Will, "Are you really all right? You don't need a doctor?"
"I just need to sleep," Will answered, sounding bone-weary.
"Lie back." Having finished her ministrations, Kim had left the room momentarily and returned with a blanket and a pillow.
"I can walk upstairs."
"Don't argue with me," Kim commanded. Softening her tone, she added, "Just sleep here for a couple of hours, Will, and then we'll help you upstairs, okay?"
Will gratefully stretched out on the sofa. Kim covered him gently, tucking the blanket around his sides.
Like any friend would do…
Will sleepily opened his eyes and caught Jay's gaze. "You'll look after everybody for a little while, right?"
For some reason, it made up for a lot of Jay's earlier jealousy that Will was so ready to count on him to step up while he was out of commission. Jay couldn't imagine Will putting Tyler in charge – and he doubted his two years' ROTC experience was the only factor involved in gaining Will's confidence.
"Rest, Will," Jay instructed, trying to imbue his voice with a confidence he didn't entirely feel. "I'll get us through for now."
Will nodded and shut his eyes, drifting off almost immediately. Kim sank down into Jay's lap and rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you," she murmured into his ear.
"I love you back." Jay held her tightly, deciding that from now on, whenever Kim needed a knight in shining armor, he would just have to be sure that it was him and no one else who came through for her.
Part 2
Swimming up out of a thick gray mist, Liz tried futilely to remember where she was and how she had gotten there. Her limbs were so heavy, it was like having lead weights attached to her hands and feet; her brain was so sluggish, she wondered fleetingly if she had been slipped a mickey by one of her patrons.
But no, she hadn't been at work. She had been…
"No!" The memory of a strange, sneering man coming toward her with a raised fist jolted her into wakefulness. Liz sat up so quickly her vision swam, and she collapsed again onto soft pillows.
Was I dreaming? But then…where the hell am I?
"Hey, hey, hush, hush, it's okay." A kind male voice spoke from nearby. Liz summoned all of her strength to turn toward it. "You're safe now."
As the stranger's face came into focus, Liz experienced another wave of panic. She knew him – from the television, his face was everywhere, how could she have been so stupid…?
The realization that she was not in her apartment brought the events of the previous night crashing through the drug-induced fog surrounding Liz's brain. She scrambled into a sitting position, drawing her knees protectively to her chest and trying to make herself as small as possible underneath the sheets. What the hell did these people want with her?
"It's okay," Tyler Fog was saying. He looked both alarmed and ashamed by her reaction. "Liz, it's all right, no one is going to hurt you here, I promise."
She ordered herself not to be a weak, shaking coward. "What do you want?" she demanded, infusing her voice with as much vitriol as she could manage. "Who were those guys, from before? They said they were FBI, but…"
Perched on the edge of her bed, Tyler self-consciously toyed with the edge of the sheet. "Technically, they were FBI," he replied. "But they also work for this other organization…Look, it's really complicated, and I'm not sure how involved you want to get in all of this."
"Oh, that's rich," Liz snarled. She really was feeling angry now. "Didn't bother to think about that before you let me take you home, did you?"
Tyler avoided her eyes. "I'm really, really sorry, if that means anything."
"Yeah, well, it doesn't." Liz glared at him until he finally looked at her. "Where's the other girl who was there? And the guy who rescued us?"
"They're here. Uh, Kim's downstairs, and we just carried Will up to bed."
"Are they all right?"
"Yeah, they're both fine."
Relieved, Liz pressed, "And 'here' is where, exactly?"
"Maine. Springstown, Maine." Tyler gestured toward her right arm, which was wrapped in gauze. "I cleaned your burn," he said, as if hoping this would earn him points.
The memory of being tortured broke over Liz like a bucket of cold water. She began trembling again despite her best efforts not to. "I don't understand," she said, her eyes searching Tyler's. "Why would they think I knew where you went?"
"I don't know, Liz. If I'd thought you were in danger, I never would've…" He sighed, his voice trailing off helplessly. "Okay, look, I guess this'll be easier if I just start at the beginning."
Close to an hour later, as late afternoon sunlight slanted through the thin curtains, the last of Liz's drug-induced stupor had given way to shocked horror at Tyler's story. Incredible as it was, she found herself believing it; for one of the richest men in America, Tyler was so surprisingly unprepossessing and sincere it was difficult to doubt his truthfulness.
They sat in silence for a few minutes after Liz ran out of questions and Tyler out of narrative. Her anger had evaporated. In its place rose a mixture of indignation that she had been treated so by the FBI and compassion for the predicament Tyler's "friend" Will had landed him in.
"I can't imagine my whole life just going up in smoke like that," she mused aloud. "You must feel like you're in hell."
"Well, I've definitely had better weeks." Tyler managed a weak grin. "Listen, Will says you need to stay with us for now, for your safety. I'm sure that's not what you wanted to hear, but I promise, we'll look after you until this is all over."
Liz considered Tyler, surprised by how much trust he still seemed to put in this Will Traveler. "My safety, huh?" she parroted. "Not because I know where your hideout is?"
The flush that crept up Tyler's cheeks told her he honestly hadn't thought of it that way. "I don't pretend to understand all of Will's motives," he admitted, tentatively reaching out to cover her fingers with his. Liz found herself simultaneously comforted and excited by his touch; try as she might not to, she couldn't help remembering the feel of his warm, muscular body stretched atop hers. "But my motive is this: to not let anybody hurt you again."
Her heart fluttered, and Liz kicked herself for being, as her friends always chided her, a hopeless romantic. But hey, if a girl was ever going to encounter one Harlequin experience in her life, surely this one qualified?
"All right, I'll stay," she agreed, pleased that Tyler allowed her the fiction of a choice. What was she going to do, run off into the woods? This Will certainly looked to have the skills to keep one simple little bartender under wraps if need be. "Any possibility of a shower and some food for your guest?"
Tyler showed her to a small bathroom across the hall and offered to dredge up clean clothes for her while she bathed. She did a double-take when she glimpsed her reflection: Her nose didn't look broken, in spite of how tender it was, but both of her eyes were ringed in purple-black bruises from the punch she had taken fully to the face.
Alone under the spray, Liz experienced another attack of whole-body shivers, although she was able to regain control of herself much more quickly than before.
How could anybody do that to another human being? And why? Why would they think I knew where Tyler went?
Those questions were still circling in her mind when she stepped out into the steamy bathroom to a knock on the door. "Liz? Found you some clothes," Tyler called from the hall.
Liz knotted the towel around her small form and opened the door a crack. Steam billowed into the hallway. She saw Tyler's eyes rake over her, and another thrill of excitement skated down her spine.
Down girl. This is not the guy to go ga-ga over, no matter how good he is in bed.
And he was, she recalled quite vividly, very good in bed.
"Here you go." He handed over a pair of women's jeans that looked fairly close to Liz's size and a button-down shirt that was obviously his own. "Kim had an extra pair of pants, but the shirt's the best I could do. It's clean," he added hastily.
Liz accepted the garments rather shyly for the fact that Tyler had seen her naked before. "Thanks," she murmured. "I'll be out in a sec, okay?"
With the cloth belt from an old flannel robe to hold the jeans on her slender hips and Tyler's shirt engulfing her – she had to roll the sleeves up six times, and the hem fell below her knees – Liz felt a little bit like a child playing dress-up when she emerged from the bathroom. Tyler looked her up and down appreciatively from the bedroom doorway, though, and playfully tugged at a dark tendril that had escaped her hasty ponytail. "You look cute," he noted. "How's the nose and the arm?"
"Sore and more sore. But mostly I'm starving," Liz answered, holding her stomach, which felt as if small animals were gnawing away at it. "Please tell me there's food?"
"Only the finest cuisine," he assured her, gently placing a hand in the small of her back and guiding her down the stairs. "I think we even have wine to go with our Spaghetti-O's."
Liz giggled. How strange, she reflected, that less than two hours ago this ordeal had seemed so terrifying, and now, she was laughing with an accused terrorist and feeling more at home in his hideout by the minute.
Kim, whom Liz immediately recognized from the previous night, was standing by the sink with a tall, strikingly handsome dark-haired man. Without hesitation, Kim crossed the room and embraced Liz tightly. Tears immediately sprang to Liz's eyes as she hugged back; it was like encountering a long-lost sister.
You can't go through what we did, even for ten minutes, and not be bonded for life, I suppose…
"Thank God you're okay," Kim said, releasing her. She turned to the dark-haired man and insisted, "See? I told you, she's this teeny-tiny little thing, and this asshole was twice your size."
"Sounds like Will gave him what he had coming." The man stepped forward and extended his hand to Liz. "I'm Jay," he told her. "Jay Burchell."
"Liz Schultz." She studied him for a moment. "You don't look anything like your picture."
"Yeah, well, he's not very photogenic," Tyler piped up, eliciting a playful punch from Jay. "So what's for supper, Kimmy?"
Half an hour later, Liz was full to bursting of penne paste with tomato basil sauce and two glasses of merlot. Jay, Tyler and Kim were seated with her around the kitchen table, all equally full and, she sensed, perhaps a little buzzed, except for Jay who had only sipped ice water with his meal. Their conversation had wandered wildly, from Liz's aspirations to be a fashion designer – she was enrolled at NYU, paying the bills by tending bar – to Jay's take as a lawyer on the Patriot Act to Tyler's ill-fated plan to use his father's connections to escape the country.
"I just can't believe your own father would sell you out," Liz said, placing a consoling hand on Tyler's arm. "That's so… I don't even have a word for what that is."
"How about your family, Liz?" Jay asked, frowning with concern. "They must be going crazy with worry right now."
Toying with a strand of hair, Liz decided nothing she could reveal to her fellow fugitives would lower her too much in their estimation, given the mess they were all in together. "I doubt it. My mom died when I was really little – cancer – and my dad's been in prison for, like, ever. Armed robbery," she explained, seeing Kim's quizzical expression. "I barely remember him. My grandmother raised me, but she has Alzheimer's now, so she won't know I'm not coming to visit like always on Sunday."
Tyler linked his fingers with hers under the table and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "You want to talk about colorful family trees, you should see mine," he commiserated.
"Or mine," Jay confessed.
"My family's spotless," Kim joked, and they all laughed.
Laughter accompanied them throughout cleaning up the dishes, playing a game of Uno with an ancient deck of cards Jay scrounged out of a kitchen drawer, and polishing off the bottle of wine around ten o'clock. At last, Jay – who, Liz noted, had still accepted no wine or beer, while Tyler was three sheets to the wind before sunset – stood, stretched, and announced, "I'm going up to check on Will. He hasn't moved in almost twelve hours."
Kim jumped up. "Oh my God, you don't think…?"
Liz's heart constricted in fear, and she didn't even know Will. But Jay planted a loving kiss on Kim's forehead and assured her, "I think it'd take more than one little gunshot to bring Will Traveler down, Kim. He's had less sleep than all of us this week, and even though I hate to admit it, I think he's been through more. He just needs the rest."
"I'll come with you," Kim said, as if she needed to see for herself that their friend was alive and well. To Liz, she inquired, "Do you need anything? We can double-up if you'd be more comfortable."
Tyler cleared his throat. "We'll manage," he told her pointedly.
Liz blushed but didn't argue. She couldn't say at what point in the evening it had been decided that she and Tyler would share bed, but even though neither of them had mentioned it, she knew that was the case.
Kim hugged Liz good-night and kissed Tyler chastely on the cheek. Watching her and Jay ascend the staircase arm-in-arm, Liz couldn't help being slightly envious of how much in love they were. "She's lucky," she commented to Tyler, lying back on the couch and plopping her bare feet into his lap. "He dotes on her."
"It's mutual." Tyler slipped his thumb under the cuff of her jeans and rubbed a slow circle above her ankle.
Liz shivered – this time, not from fear. The look in Tyler's eyes told her plainly what he wanted. "So," she began, feeling (and sounding) shaky, "is there some doting girlfriend waiting on you somewhere?"
"There was." Tyler's honesty surprised her. "I was involved for over a year with a girl named Nell. But it ended before all of this."
"Oh." Liz admitted to herself that she was quite happy that Nell, whoever she was, was no longer in the picture. "Why?"
"Well, see, I have this habit of being a complete asshole and thinking that everyone around me is only interested in my family's money and power."
Again with the brutal honesty. I kind of like that, actually…
Liz didn't know why she had assumed Tyler Fog would be deceitful. After all, his first act upon meeting her had been to try to tell her who he was: "Yeah, I'm him," he had said, only putting in the "man of your dreams" line after she, clueless because she had been too busy all week to do more than glance at the news, hadn't gotten his reference to the Drexler bombing. Apparently, he believed in truthfulness, even to a fault.
"Liz." Tyler gently slipped out from underneath her feet and came to kneel beside the couch, tracing her jaw with his fingertip. She shivered again. "Look, I'm not exactly in a position here to be getting involved with someone, so if you want to tell me to fuck off, I completely understand."
"You know, sixteen hours ago, I would have done just that," Liz replied. "But you know what? I believe you, Tyler. I don't think you or Jay had anything to do with the Drexler blowing up, and I don't think you deserve any of these awful things that have happened to you."
She sat up, caught his chin in her hand and kissed him firmly, passionately, on the mouth, loving how his body instantly responded to her touch. "I'm with you," she whispered against his mouth, "from here on out, mmkay?"
Tyler's response was to kiss her so deeply she lost her breath. Head spinning, she allowed him to sweep her into his arms and carry her up the steps to the bedroom, just like a hero in a novel.
Part 3
"Will! He's got a gun, Will!"
Maya was screaming, hands reaching out to him in the dark, palms sliding across his chest. He reached for her but slipped away, down down down into a bottomless abyss, unable to pull her after him.
"Will! He's got a gun, Will!"
He could see nothing, hear nothing, except her panicked cry, echoing over and over a gun before the final, terrible gunshot…
"Maya!"
Will sat bolt up-right in bed, sweat pouring down his sides, heart stumbling painfully behind his ribs. It took him nearly a minute to remember where he was – not in Kate's hotel room listening to Maya being murdered, but in Springstown, at a safe-house he had prepared six months ago out of an abundance of caution.
Because deep down, I knew our plan would never work – I knew Maya and I would never just get on that boat and sail away. I just wouldn't let myself believe it…
Moonlight bathed the grass outside his window. Will pulled the curtain back a hair and peered into the silvery darkness: Nothing stirred. Still, he needed to be certain; he couldn't risk letting all of his friends be captured because he was too tired to contemplate descending the steps.
The house was silent. Will quietly checked the bedroom to the left of his – not surprisingly, Tyler and the girl, Liz, were curled up together like cats – and the one across the hall, where Kim slept with her head on Jay's chest, tawny-colored curls splayed over his bare skin. Will experienced a momentary annoyance that Jay had gone to bed after promising to look after everyone, though he swept the feeling aside instantly. None of them were any good exhausted, and really, it was his responsibility, not Jay's, to keep them safe.
You make the mess, you clean it up.
Sleep had improved Will's physical and mental condition immeasurably. His wound was still sore; he could feel the skin pulling and stretching beneath his bandages, and if he moved too suddenly, a stabbing pain shot through the tissue that had been torn apart by Marlow's bullet. But he was better, clearer, sharper, he sensed at once.
The monitors in the living room showed nothing more sinister than a doe and her fawn prowling the edge of the barn. Will warmed a can of vegetable soup on the stove and popped the lid off a Heineken. Technically, he should have eschewed alcohol for the duration of this mission, but he decided what the hell – if one beer put him off his game, he deserved to be killed.
Returning to the living room, he sat down at the computer and logged onto the Internet, checking the various and sundry email addresses and bogus websites through which his informants often contacted him. He hit pay-dirt almost immediately: The in-box for his kerouacroad screenname contained two messages, one encrypted.
Going the easy route first, Will opened the unencrypted message, sent by an informant (an ex-con whose family Will, under the name Daniel Taft, had protected from mob bosses when the man gave evidence against them) who had always proven reliable. His stomach dropped as he read the message:
Daniel – You asked for info on Fog. Thought you should know he was shot while being taken into federal custody today. Still alive but critical. – Joe
Cursing under his breath, Will wondered when the universe was going to cut them a break. Carlton Fog's death would only serve to complicate matters; not only would it add to Tyler's burden, but it would also deprive them of a potentially rich source of information about the Fourth Branch, to which Will knew Carlton's ties ran deep. At least the old bastard was still fighting. If Will's former employers wanted him dead, though, Will knew Carlton's days were numbered.
And how do I tell Tyler that his father may be dying but he can't go to him?
Finding no easy answer to this quandary, Will decided to focus on questions he could answer for the moment. He didn't recognize the sender's address on the second, encrypted message, a fact that gave him significant pause. If his luck continued as it had been, the file would probably turn out to be some sort of tracer program that would lead the feds directly to their hideout. It was a testament to how desperately he needed information that he chose to open the file anyway.
Once the decryption sequence finished, a video file popped up. Will slipped on a pair of headphones so as not to broadcast the message to the entire household – he was still monitoring his companions' access to information, for their own safety – and pressed 'play.'
He nearly fell off his seat as Agent Jan Marlow's face came into focus on a grainy video that had obviously been filmed by a low-res webcam. Her voice, however, came through loud and clear:
"Will Traveler, my name is Jan Marlow. I'm a Special Agent with the FBI field office in New York City."
Yeah, Will wanted to say to her image, I remember you. Got the hole in my side as a souvenir.
"You're probably wondering how I got this email address. I'm told that this recording equipment has some sort of polygraph sensor, something about a retinal scan or how many times I blink or something, so you should be able to tell that I'm being honest with you."
Will's eyes flicked to the bottom of the video file. Sure enough, a retinal sensor that correlated eye movement with brain function, targeting centers of the brain dedicated to the mental work of lying, scrolled across the bottom. Without overlooking that the file could have been tampered with, Will noted that Marlow's scan gave every indication that she was telling the truth.
"I've been approached by someone who claims to have been investigating Jack Freed for the past decade. This person doesn't want me to reveal much about them on tape, but so far, everything they have told me about the Fourth Branch and Hometown and the Drexler has proven to be true."
Mind swimming with possibilities, Will tried to pinpoint who might have been a mole inside Freed's organization – not to mention who the mole might have been spying for. He couldn't come up with a single name; Freed's people were all insanely loyal.
Unless somebody had a secret agenda, like me…After all, how well do we ever really know people?
"Mr. Traveler, I think you and I need to meet. I have reason to believe that my boss, Special Agent in Charge Fred Chambers, is involved with the Fourth Branch. I know he ordered a man named Joseph Campbell to kill me, and I think he may have either killed or ordered the killing of my partner, Guillermo Borjes."
On the tape, Marlow paused, and Will could see her struggling with tears. He felt for her, knowing how closely FBI agents worked together. Losing a partner was like losing family.
Mastering her emotions, Marlow went on, "It's not safe for any of you, not you or Jay or Tyler, to come in. If Chambers is involved, anyone could be. My contact says you'll know how to organize a safe meeting, and I should let you do so and wait for you to get in touch with me. So…I'll be waiting."
The message ended, the scan still showing that Marlow was, at least to her knowledge, telling the truth. Of course, that didn't rule out the possibility that she herself was being played by this supposed undercover agent. Nevertheless, Marlow presented by far the best option for proving the existence of the Fourth Branch and the innocence of his friends that Will had run across since Freed went up in a self-sacrificial fireball.
Will sat in front of the computer for a long time, nursing his Heineken, reviewing Jay's amazingly thorough research notes, and going over and over their predicament in his mind. Marlow's message coupled with the names, companies, backgrounds and connections Jay had uncovered combined to deeply unsettle him. Will knew he was good, but they were up against something now that was well beyond his power to tackle alone.
So what the hell am I doing? Why aren't we running for it?
Because they'd never let us go, he answered his own question. These people will find us. We might be safe for a month, a year, five years – but someday, they would catch up to us.
Every instinct told Will to stay hidden. If they did that, however, how could they ever secure their freedom? Jay had been right when he had said that laying low and exposing the Fourth Branch were mutually exclusive. They could fly under the radar to a certain extent, but if they weren't all willing to disappear forever in the slender hopes that they would never be caught up to, they would inevitably be forced into taking some chances in order to get the information they needed.
In a past life, one that had ended abruptly with the destruction of the Drexler Museum, Will would simply have made the decision himself and sold it to the others. He was a damn good agent; he could convince just about anyone of just about anything. But his life wasn't the only one on the line here. It wasn't even the most important one on the line. So, although it was against his nature to share authority or responsibility, he knew he had to put any decisions about their next move before the group.
One thing Will did decide for the group, however, was to keep the information about Carlton Fog's life-threatening injury to himself for the time being. Knowing about it would do Tyler no good; he couldn't go to his father, obviously, and Will understood that Tyler's emotions about Carlton were conflicted enough without adding the possibility of Carlton's imminent death to the mix. Once their plan of action had been settled, Will promised himself, he would bite the bullet and tell Tyler about his father. For now, they had more pressing concerns to deal with.
Shortly after sunrise, Jay and Kim came down the stairs hand-in-hand, looking so in love Will experienced the loss of Maya like a physical blow. Kim instantly uncoupled from Jay and hurried over to the couch, her brow furrowed with concern.
"Are you still sick?" she asked, feeling his forehead like he was a small child with the flu. "Have you been up all night?"
Nice to have someone who cares so much…
"I think you missed your calling, Florence Nightingale," Jay teased her. To Will, he asked, "What's up?"
"You mind to go wake Tyler and the girl? There's something you need to see."
Twenty minutes later, all clutching steaming cups of coffee, the five of them settled in at the kitchen table to discuss Marlow's message. The girl, Liz, seemed content to defer to the others, which Will – who winced inwardly at the sight of her bruised eyes and bandaged arm, wishing he could have caused the son of a bitch who had gleefully tortured her even more pain than he had – thought spoke to her good sense, considering that she had only been involved in this nightmare for two days whereas the rest of them had lived it for a very, very long week and a half.
Tyler posed the most obvious question: "Can we do this meeting without giving away where we are?"
"Yes," Will confirmed with a nod. "Wherever we meet, it won't even be in the state, so this place will stay hidden."
"Do you trust her?" Kim asked the next-most obvious question.
Will shrugged. "I don't distrust her. I dug around in her personnel file, what I could safely get into online last night. She's a good agent. But you've had more exposure to her," he added, looking between Jay and Kim. "What's your take on her?"
"I liked her," Kim admitted, "before she shot you."
Jay smiled at that. "Me, too. And I know it's not saying much, but I still trust her a lot more than anybody else I know of in the FBI."
Will waited for more discussion. When none came, he reasoned, "We've really only got three choices here, the way I see it. One, we can stay here, not respond to this message, and try to figure out another way to find out who all was involved in the Drexler plot and what they want with all of us now. Two, we can go meet with Marlow and see what help she and this undercover operative can offer us."
He took a deep breath. Moment of truth.
"Or, we can try to disappear. Get out of the country and hope nobody looks too hard for us."
Tyler immediately shook his head. "No way. The last plan that involved leaving the country almost got Jay and me killed."
Liz looked frightened by that revelation. "I say no to that, too," she piped up, scooting closer to Tyler. Will suspected she would do whatever Tyler did, and that made her fairly easily to predict, since Tyler would probably do whatever Will and Jay decided.
Turning to Jay, Will prompted, "Jay?"
"Like you said, I like to fix things. I'm not going anywhere until I figure this out."
Will's eyes moved to Kim. "Kim?"
"You know my answer. I'm not going anywhere without Jay," Kim declared firmly.
Will thought he saw Jay flinch. He sympathized, although the fact of the matter was, it would be much better for all of them to stick together.
"Okay, so, if we're not going to run away from this, then we have to decide whether to take a chance on Marlow or go it alone." Will looked at each of them in turn, seeing and appreciating their inner conflicts. Their lives hung in the balance of a terribly unclear decision.
At length, Tyler volunteered, "I'm for meeting with Marlow. I think if we can do it without giving away our hideout here, then if things go bad, we've got somewhere to run, and we can strike out on our own."
Rather reluctantly, Jay nodded his agreement. "I think so, too. We can't really pass up the possibility that she knows someone or something that can help us, right?"
All eyes went to Will, who understood that he was still the final authority despite his best intentions to let them each decide their own fate. Well, if that was how they wanted it, so be it – it certainly made life simpler for him.
"Okay," he determined without hesitation. "Kim, Liz, you two will stay here and keep working on the leads we've already generated. No arguments," he tabled, seeing Kim's defiant expression. "We shouldn't leave this place unguarded, and anyway, we need to be working on Plan B in case Marlow turns out to be a bust."
"Will they be safe here?" Tyler asked.
"Guys, none of us are all that safe anywhere." Will decided it was time to put the hard truth before them. "For all we know, the Fourth Branch is breathing down our necks as we speak. But, yes, Tyler, I think Liz and Kim will be as safe here as anywhere."
Liz caught Tyler's hand and smiled bravely at him. "It's okay," she told him. "I'm not scared here."
"Me either," Kim spoke up.
"So, what happens now?" Jay asked.
Will stood, feeling the rush of heady excitement that always preceded the start of a new mission. "Now, I let Agent Marlow know we're coming."
Part 4
Kim couldn't believe she was about to send Jay off into mortal danger for the third time in less than ten days. Or that, once again, she was being forced to stay behind.
In the bedroom they were sharing, she angrily stuffed his clean socks, shirts and jeans into a black duffel bag. "This is just ridiculous," she ranted to Jay, who was seated on the bed, watching her pack. "We should stick together. Every time we split up, it ends in disaster."
"The whole situation is a disaster, Kim. Will is just trying to protect us."
"Don't defend him to me right now." Kim knew she shouldn't have been so furious with Will, because Jay was right – he was, she believed deep down, only doing what he thought was best. Only, who was to say Will knew what that was? Much as she hated to say it, hadn't he made some pretty serious miscalculations up to this point?
Jay stood and took the bag from her, holding her hands in his. "Kim, listen to me. I think you should go."
Thank goodness he understands how I feel…
She beamed at him. "Really? But you should have said something before! Now Will's already making plans to meet – "
"No, I didn't mean…Not with us." Jay looked flustered. "I meant, go. Disappear, like Will said."
Okay, apparently he doesn't understand…
Kim jerked her hands out of Jay's. "We are not having this conversation again. You're not running from this, and I'm not running from this. In case you hadn't noticed, the FBI is after me now, too. I want my life back as badly as you do."
"Kim, you've already been kidnapped. You've already seen someone tortured. If Will hadn't shown up…"
Kim finished Jay's sentence silently: I would have been next. She didn't deny, even to herself, the icy wave of terror such a realization sent through her veins. But at the same time, seeing the lengths people like Chambers were willing to go to in protecting their secrets, and hearing from Jay last night what those secrets seemed to be and how awful they could prove for the country, had formed in Kim a resolve not to be intimidated. She was determined to stand up for her innocence and her friends', even if standing up ultimately cost her life.
You can't blame Jay for wanting you safe. He loves you. You'd do the same for him, if you could get him out of this…
"Jay." Kim's voice softened. She sat down on the bed and motioned for him to join her. When he did, she pulled his hands into her lap and looked deeply into his eyes. "I understand how serious the situation is. I know the risks – I know what could happen if I stay. But don't you see? I can't leave. I have to see this through, just like you do."
Jay was undeterred. "I'm asking you, for me, to please, please reconsider."
"Please don't put me in this position, Jay. It's not fair."
"What position?" He sounded exasperated. "The position of getting the hell out of here while you still can?"
"The position of not being able to do something 'for you.'" Kim held her own anger in check. Fighting would not help the situation. "I would do anything for you, Jay, anything – but I won't leave. I can't."
"I see." Jay's voice took on an edge that, she suddenly suspected, had nothing to do with exasperation. "And this determination to stay, that's all because of me?"
Kim shook her head, bewildered. Where was this coming from? What was he driving at? "I don't understand what you mean. I don't understand why you're so angry."
"It's nothing to do with Will?"
Will? What the…?
Confusion quickly giving way to impatience, Kim folded her arms across her chest. "If you've got something to say, Jay, then just say it, because I don't know what you're on about right now, I swear I don't."
"You're not staying because you don't want to leave Will?"
Understanding descended upon Kim in a flash. For a second, she was too stunned to respond; the idea that Jay would accuse her of straying, of cheating on him, when she had never been anything but loyal – had never given him the slightest reason to doubt her faithfulness – came as such a shock, she almost couldn't process it. A moment later, however, she was racked with guilt, remembering the moment of weakness nearly a year ago when she had, against every other impulse, came oh-so-close to kissing Will. Had Jay intuited that such an encounter had occurred although she had never, ever mentioned it? Had he seen something in her interaction with Will that screamed, I saw him half-naked and liked what I saw?
Wait a second. I was tempted, but I didn't act on it.
Kim's guilt did a U-turn back into righteous indignation. No, it hadn't been right for her to even think about another man the way she had thought about Will for all of five seconds on that strange, fateful evening. But was it realistic to expect that even the most devoted partner would never have a wild impulse, a forbidden desire? Was it reasonable for Jay to hold her to some absurd standard, one which was not only impossible for her to meet but one to which she would never hold him? She was sure Jay had found other women attractive in their three-year courtship; she suspected he had even, once or twice, been tempted to stray, just as she had been. That didn't make him unfaithful, anymore than it did her.
And, more to the point, one lurid thought did not give him the right to accuse her of cheating – especially considering the wreck she had made of her own life in trying to salvage his.
Fury mounting, she replied in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "Yes, Jay, that's exactly it. I'm staying because I'm so desperately in love with Will Traveler. He's the person I've decided to stand beside, come hell or high water. He's the man I've dedicated the last three years of my life to, the man I've built my entire future around. Obviously, that's why I would stay."
To his credit, Jay looked as if he would have liked to take back his words. "Look, Kim, I didn't mean – "
Unfortunately for him, Kim wasn't in the charitable mood. "I know exactly what you meant, Jay Burchell, and don't you dare try to weasel out of it."
Kim stared him down. Jay lowered his eyes, abashed. "I just…I'm sorry, I just wish this wasn't happening. I wish you weren't involved."
"I don't know what you want me to say, Jay. I am involved," Kim shot back. "If you're waiting for me to tell you that I'll do whatever you think I should do, without putting any thought of my own into what's best for me, you obviously don't know me at all. And if you think that you're the only person I have to consider in all of this, you're dead wrong there, too – I do care about you, I would think that would go without saying, but I also care what happens to Tyler, and this poor girl he's drug into all of this, and my father who is probably going out of his mind with worry right now that I've been missing for three days. And yes, Jay, I care what happens to Will, too."
The words poured out of her in a rush. She could see Jay working up one of his famous counterarguments; she could imagine the defenses he would present to disarm her fury. Abruptly, she didn't want to hear it, not any of it. His suggestion that she would be unfaithful – his arrogance in presuming that only his wishes, not hers, mattered in this situation – had struck her to the very core.
"Save it," she snapped, pushing past him toward the door. "Whatever excuses you've got for how you just acted, save it for someone who wants to hear them."
"Kim – "
But she had already slammed the bedroom door behind her, with all the force she could muster. Without stopping to think of anything except escaping somewhere private before her tears spilled over, Kim marched directly across the hall into Will's empty bedroom, kicked the door shut and, as the first sob wrenched out of her, flung herself across the unmade bed.
Goddamn him, who does he think he is? How could he treat me like that? How could he even think – after everything we've been through, how could he think I could love someone else…?
Naturally, Kim realized that Jay was under an enormous amount of pressure himself. His entire life had been turned upside down without warning, just as hers had been; he had seen and felt and experienced things in the last week and a half that had to make her own ordeal pale by comparison. She wished she could go back across the hall, wipe out their argument and hold him close. She wished she could forget that he had doubted her, that he had twisted her love for him, her willingness to sacrifice everything for him, her unswerving faith in his innocence, into something disgusting and reproachful. But she couldn't: The hurt was too raw.
Kim was crying so hard she did not hear the door open or footsteps cross the room. She only became aware of Will's presence when he sank down beside the bed and touched her shoulder lightly.
"Kim? You okay?"
He had obviously just come from the shower, for his sandy-colored hair was wet and tousled, his feet bare, his skin damp. Forcing herself into a sitting position, back against the headboard and knees hugged to her chest, Kim looked into Will's handsome, worried face as tears gushed anew from her eyes. Unable to speak around the lump in her throat, she shook her head.
Goddamn it, I can't believe I'm falling apart in front of him for the second time in two days…He must think I'm a real sop…
Will moved onto the bed beside her. "It's okay," he soothed, stroking her hair, which was damp from the tears running off her cheeks. "It's okay, just let it out."
He opened his arms, and Kim went into them gladly, thankfully. She sobbed into his shoulder until her tears were spent; she clung to him, shaking, while he gently rubbed her back and murmured that everything would be all right.
Why can't Jay do this? Why couldn't he just comfort me?
"I'm okay." Kim forced herself to regain some measure of control. If she didn't, she was afraid she would suffer a complete nervous collapse, and no one would be helped by that. She extracted herself from Will's arms and reclined against the headboard, feeling hollowed out and empty.
"I just…Ugh, this is so stupid. Jay and I had a fight."
"Ah." Will brushed tears off her chin with his thumb. "The infamous Burchell-Doherty temper match. Never a good combo." Kim managed a wan smile.
Will searched her eyes, curious but also restrained. "Wanna talk about it?"
Not really, but…To you, for some reason, yes, I kind of do.
Once she opened her mouth to speak, however, Kim almost couldn't bring herself to admit what Jay had accused her of. Not only was it horribly awkward, given that Will was her supposed lover, but she was also embarrassed to say aloud that Jay would think such a thing of her. "He, uh, he thinks I….That is, we…"
Her voice trailed off, catching on a suppressed sob. She drew a deep, composing breath and tried again: "He thinks I'm staying because of you. He thinks I'm in love with you, not him."
Will stared at her. He couldn't have looked more surprised if she had declared that Jay had announced his plans to fly to the moon. "Where the hell did he come up with that?"
"I have no idea." Kim buried her face in her hands, digging her knuckles into her swollen eyes. "It doesn't make any sense, Will."
"Well…Maybe it does. A little."
Kim lifted her eyes to his, and for a moment, the memory of that November evening hung between them like a veil: She saw again the heat in Will's eyes, felt the whisper of his lips tantalizingly close to hers. Her stomach constricted, whether from desire or guilt she couldn't tell.
Will went on, "This is all my fault, Kim."
She started to argue with him and stopped before the words formed. Obviously, this entire situation was, to some extent, Will's fault – she couldn't, and wouldn't, argue with that. Nevertheless, no matter what fleeting temptation they had experienced, she didn't think it was fair for him to accept the blame for Jay's irrational jealousy.
"Will, you've never done anything to come between Jay and me," she insisted. "I'm sure it would have made life easier for you if I wasn't in the picture, but you never tried to separate us. You can't take responsibility for this."
"I don't mean that. I'm talking about last night, when you were looking after me." Will ran a hand self-consciously through his wet hair, mussing it further. Kim felt a pang of tenderness for him; he looked so impossibly boyish with his hair sticking out in all directions.
No one would ever suspect Will of being a spy. Jay's the one who looks like a soldier – Will looks like the boy next door.
Pushing such thoughts aside, Kim protested, "Nothing happened between us last night, Will. You've got a bullet wound in your gut, for God's sake. And anyway, Jay was sitting there the entire time."
"I know, but…I lost someone, Kim. They – the people I used to work for – they took someone from me, someone…important."
Will stared down at his hands, unable for the first time in their acquaintance to meet her eyes. He spoke softly, almost as if to himself. "Pretending to be someone else is…isolating. I'm not used to being taken care of."
Will drug his gaze back up to hers. Kim could see the effort it cost him to be this open and honest, and she respected it.
"I'm sure Jay saw how I responded to your concern, how much I enjoyed it. That would probably be enough to make any guy wonder."
Oh Will, poor Will.
Kim was struck suddenly by a long-forgotten memory from two years before: She had been standing in the kitchen of The Castle talking to Nell Graham, Tyler's now-ex-girlfriend, when Will, sweaty from a late-afternoon run with Jay, had popped in just long enough to grab a bottle of cold water before rushing upstairs to shower. "Will's kind of shy," Kim had noted to Nell, afraid the other girl – who was new to their circle at the time – would think Will's lack of conversation rude.
Nell had shaken her head, looking after him. "I don't think so. I think he's just all alone."
Now, Nell's words echoed in Kim's mind, and she understood how true they were. And to imagine, on top of that loneliness, that he had been robbed of someone he loved, someone "important"…
He must mean this Maya that Jay told me about, this girl Freed murdered to punish Will for letting Jay and Tyler live, Kim realized. Her heart broke for him. Whatever his deceptions, she believed that underneath it all, Will Traveler was a good man. He deserved better than the hand he had been dealt.
"Will." She picked his hand up off the bedspread and held it in both of hers. "I don't know why Jay said what he said to me, but I don't think it has anything to do with you or me. I think he's scared. I think he's angry about what's happened, and he's angry because he doesn't feel like he can protect me. You have enough to carry without carrying this, too, honey."
Charged silence fell between them. Once more, Kim was reminded forcibly of their previous encounter; she wondered, for a split-second, what Will would do if she reached for him now. Would he be the friend to Jay he had been before, or would he let grief and loneliness override loyalty?
Even as she considered swimming into Will's beautiful blue-green eyes, however, Kim knew he was not who she wanted. She loved Will. In two years, he had come to mean a great deal to her, she suspected not in the least because underneath his charming, affable exterior she had sensed the isolation and pain within him. Compassion was in Kim's nature; she was naturally drawn to those who needed love and support, and Will certainly qualified. But the love she felt for Will was not so different from the love she felt for Tyler. The love of friends.
No, it's not Will I want. I want Jay. I love Jay.
The surety of the revelation shored up Kim's courage, restoring to her roller-coaster emotions the balance she had been missing since Chambers took her into custody. Sitting there with her life and the lives of those she loved lying in shattered ruins around her, fully accepting of the fact that the future she had so carefully carved out for herself was no longer so much as a remote possibility, Kim discovered that she was and always had been madly, unshakably, happily in love with Jay Burchell.
Will must have read those thoughts in her eyes, because he smiled knowingly and smoothed her hair into place. "You should go to him," he advised. "Don't leave it like this. Trust me, you might not get another chance to make things right."
"Thank you, Will." Kim impulsively leaned forward and kissed him quickly, chastely on the jaw. In his ear, she whispered, "You're not alone anymore, you know that, right?"
Will shifted away from her, his expression unreadable, the impenetrable mask slipping back into place. "We have to leave soon. You should go to Jay."
Kim understood that closeness would not come easily to someone who had been trained in deception and betrayal. She smiled at Will to let him know she understood. Then, heart full to bursting with renewed hope, she bounded out the door and across the hall to the room she was sharing with Jay.
She found him still seated on the bed where she had left him, appearing so broken and defeated it tore at her heart. He looked up solemnly to where she stood over him.
"Are we over?"
Oh Jay, I love you. God, I love you so much. How could we ever be over?
Jay's voice was rough with emotion. Kim knelt on the floor in front of him, bracing her palms on his knees. She didn't say a word: She just reached up, tangled her fingers in his soft dark curls, and pulled him down into a long, sweet kiss that said everything she needed to say.