She made it back to the room without incident. The darkness of the suite made her feel nervous, and she turned on every light available, feeling a little silly. Still, it helped. The images were burned in her brain, especially the message that had run across the flames at the end. Thinking about it now chilled her to the bone.
Why would someone do this to her? What did he or she have to gain?
The silence was deafening in the suite, and Allie switched on the TV, grateful for any noise that would help block out her thoughts.
She felt so cold. Grabbing one of Courtney's throws she kept on the back of the sofa, she bundled herself up. Still, she felt herself shivering and wondered if it was more from shock.
Normally she was not one for talk shows, but she found herself turning the volume up to drown out the thoughts in her head.
It was how Scarlett and Flint found her, with Courtney following a few moments later. Shipwreck had run into the two as they were leaving the room where they had been questioning Dr. Olivari. Beach Head was with them, whistling, a Cheshire smile on his face. He had been happy playing his "bad cop" role and things had worked out well - they had the information they needed to proceed. They had gotten the good ol' scientist so mixed up, he had finally blurted out what they needed to know. He had to admit – it had been fun.
Hector was huffing and puffing, earning a frown from Beach Head. "Sailor, if running through the halls does that to you, maybe I'm not working you hard enough!"
Shipwreck ignored him, turning to Flint and Scarlett. "You need to come, quick!" he managed, finally catching his breath. "It's Jaye. Something's wrong."
Flint grabbed Shipwreck. "Where is she?" he demanded.
"She said she was on the way back to her room. Gung Ho sent me to fetch her because she was late for brownies, and I found her there, staring at her computer screen, like one of those horror movies?" He found himself waving his hands in the air as he talked. "You know the one, where the freaky girl comes out of the TV and crawls towards you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Beach Head asked, scratching his head in confusion. "Is this one of your jokes?"
Shipwreck shook his head. "She told me she didn't need anyone, but something's not right. I asked her if she was okay, and she said no. I've never seen her like this before!"
Scarlett and Flint exchanged a look. "Go find Courtney and tell her to meet us back at the suite," she ordered Shipwreck.
Beach Head snorted. "He looks like he's about to collapse now. You're lucky if she'll get the message by next week. I'll find her," he told the group, who looked at him in surprise.
"Thanks," nodded Scarlett, and she and Flint hustled down the hallway.
Shipwreck gave him a sly smile. "You like her! You act like you don't like anyone."
Beach Head snorted again. "This could be a security situation. Don't take it as any more than that!" he told him and turned on his heel, marching off in the opposite direction. He had a feeling he knew where he'd find Courtney at this time of evening.
Scarlett and Flint stopped short, surprised to see Allie huddled in one of Courtney's quilts. "It has to be almost 80 degrees in here, and she's watching a talk show. She hates talk shows!" Scarlett muttered to Flint.
He nodded, making his way over to the sofa.
"Alison, honey?" he said as he approached her. She looked fragile, like she could break at any moment. Shipwreck was right – he had never seen her like this before. Normally she possessed a tough exterior and was able to get through most things that were thrown at her.
When she didn't look up, he sat down next to her. He reached out to put his arm around her, and she literally jumped.
Courtney burst into the room and took in the scene.
"Oh shit!" she exclaimed, seeing Allie huddled at the end of the couch. "I knew something like this could happen!"
"What do you know?" Shana asked, turning a puzzled glance at her other roommate.
Courtney clamped her lips shut. She had said too much already. Mentally, she berated herself.
"Let me take her for a moment," she told Flint, giving him an apologetic look. "I know what to do."
She crouched down in front of Lady Jaye, getting at eye level. Gently, she took the remote out of her hand and switched off the TV. Lady Jaye blinked, finding herself focusing on Courtney.
"Al, it's me," Courtney said in a gentle voice. "Whatever it was, it's over. It can't hurt you now. Let's get you into the shower so you can warm up, okay?" She held out her hand and pulled her friend up from the sofa, guiding her to the bathroom.
Looking behind her, she requested Scarlett to get her Allie's robe. She sent Flint another apologetic glance. "You can stay if you'd like. She might feel like talking once I get her out of this state."
Shana hustled out of Allie's room and handed Courtney the robe.
After the bathroom door shut, Scarlett and Flint exchanged looks.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked, running his hands through his hair in a nervous gesture.
"Whatever it is, Court knows about it," Shana muttered, feeling a little jealous. Normally the girls shared everything. She flopped down on the sofa, finding herself flipping the TV on. Wincing, she turned the volume down and flipped to a news station.
"Might as well stay informed while we wait," she told him, shrugging. "See if what's happening in Germany has reached CNN's ears."
Fifteen minutes passed until they finally heard the bathroom door open again.
"You go and get dressed, honey. We'll be out here waiting for you," Courtney told her in a soothing voice. "You want me to help?" she asked as Allie hesitated.
She shook her head. "I can do it," she replied, embarrassed to be standing in her robe in front of Flint. She hurried into her bedroom and shut the door.
Courtney gave one last worried look at the door, then joined the other two on the sofa.
Shana looked at her, eyebrows raised. "What was all that about?"
Courtney waved her hand. "Throwback to the modeling world. Too many of them would get in these drug-induced states that were kind of like being in shock. If it wasn't diet pills, it was cocaine," she sighed, glad to be out of the industry. "You learned how to deal with them."
"Are you saying Allie is on drugs?" Flint asked, confused.
Courtney sighed. "No, but she is in shock. Something happened to scare the bejeezus out of her." She paused. "I don't know if it's related to what she told me earlier today, but I sure hope not. I'm not sure she'll even tell us what exactly happened. She may not even remember it," she shrugged.
The bedroom door opened and Allie came out wearing sweats and an old t-shirt. She sent the three an embarrassed smile. "Sorry," she apologized, not quite sure why she was saying it.
Flint stood up and made his way over to her. He paused in front of her, wondering if she would flinch again if he touched her. He stepped closer to her, and she rushed into his arms. She needed the protection and warmth he was offering to her.
She stepped back, nervously tucking a loose strand behind her ear.
"Allie, you need to tell them," Courtney stated. "We can't help you through whatever this is without it."
She began to shake her head no, but Courtney's voice was firm. "You're lucky that Hector came to find us, not Hawk or Doc. As it is, everyone's worried about you. We talked about closure. We can work together and see that you get it."
Allie bit her lip nervously. She looked pleadingly at Courtney, who only shook her head, standing her ground.
Sighing, Allie collapsed in a nearby chair. "I don't know if I can talk about it."
"How about just saying what got you so upset first?" Shana said gently. "We're all concerned about you. We're all your friends. You know what you say here doesn't leave the room if you don't want it to."
Allie sighed and then, looking down at the floor, went through an abbreviated version of the story she had told Courtney earlier that day.
As she finished, Flint sat there, stunned. She had been married before? Why hadn't that ever come up before? Then again, why should it? another voice scolded him. It wasn't like they exchanged their sexual histories when their relationship had turned into more than just friendship. Hell, he had never really taken her out on a real date yet!
"So this is why you asked to be excluded from the mission," Shana commented thoughtfully, still feeling a little put out that she had confided in Courtney first.
"It's not just that," Allie said softly, raising her head to look at her friends. "I received two emails today, both with links to different websites."
She didn't want to describe them – she couldn't. Instead, she got up and fetched her personal laptop from her bedroom.
"I need to show you," she told them. "I tracked the first email account with Breaker's help, and I was able to find out who it was. Or who they claimed to be." Her voice was beginning to grow stronger.
As the computer booted up, she took a deep breath and then let it out. "I think either someone is trying to drive me insane, or wants me to come to Germany." At their puzzled look, she explained. "The website and email were registered in my dead husband's name."
She glanced over at Flint and saw he was frowning. Repressing a sigh, knowing that their budding relationship was probably over by this point, she saw no need to hide him from the pictures he'd soon be seeing.
First, she pulled up the picture of the burned cottage.
"You managed to escape that?" Courtney gasped. "No wonder you told me you spent months in the hospital. How badly were you…."
Allie waved a hand, interrupting her. "That's not the point right now."
Shana frowned. "I saw that picture earlier. You never told me that was your cabin." She looked over at Allie, her eyes narrowed. "It was an arson case. Someone deliberately set the fire. But, you were fine when I left…"
"You need to see the second email. I can't watch it and give an objective opinion," she all but whispered. As soon as she clicked the link, she stepped away, making sure to stand in a place where she couldn't see the screen.
The trio studied the computer intently. Allie could tell by their collective gasp when they got to the part with the message, before the whole screen went black.
"Please turn it off," she asked Courtney softly, who jumped up and shut the computer down, making sure to exit the browser first.