Chapter Thirteen
Steve, alerted by Jaime's half-scream, rushed to her room...but she was already gone. "That's impossible..." Rudy noted, finally catching up. "She shouldn't have been able to move..."
"Hiller's got her," Steve said with horrible, gut-wrenching certainty. "He's the only one who could've taken her so fast." Steve slammed his fist into the bedside table in sheer frustration, bending it into a piece of bionic sculpture. "I'll call Hansen," he told Rudy. "You have hospital security pull the tapes from the parking lot cameras. Maybe we can get a fix on his license plate – or at the very least, his car. We have to find them – fast!"
----
By the time Rudy returned to triumphantly give Steve a make and model for Hiller's rental car – as well as a plate number – Barney had already pulled into an alley behind an old warehouse and abandoned the car for a van he'd left waiting there. Jaime was still completely unresponsive so he picked her up and half-carried/half-dragged her to the back of the van, where he tossed her roughly to the floor. He saw Jaime's startled expression as she stared up at him...and he glared at her. "You know who I am, don't you?" When Jaime didn't answer, he leaned in close and grabbed her painfully by the chin, forcing her to look into his cold, dead eyes. "Don't you?" he repeated. All Jaime could do was nod. Barney released his grip and climbed into the driver's seat.
"I don't know what Wells gave you," he chuckled as he pulled the van back onto the highway, "but I hope for your sake it lasts. 'Cause if you try anything stupid, I will hurt you."
Jaime may have been unresponsive but she was certainly not unaware. She drifted into unconsciousness several times but always awoke within minutes, startled by words that her drug-addled mind couldn't seem to let go of: we've got serious trouble...he killed Gregory....no choice but to shoot to kill... Jaime knew her situation was dire, and the fact that she couldn't react terrified her. She pictured Steve and their daughters' faces and held the images close, trying to draw strength from her determination to see them all again.
Finally, the van turned in to a long, wooded driveway and parked in front of what looked like an old abandoned fishing cabin. Jaime cringed inside as Hiller dragged her from the van and forced her through the door of the cabin. She began to fade again and Hiller slapped her and threw her into a chair. "You're gonna stay awake now, little lady," he sneered. "You and me need to have a talk."
----
The car was located quickly – exactly as Barney had intended. In addition to being an evasive move, he'd used the switch to thumb his nose at his pursuers, to let them know he'd bested them once again. Steve, Rudy and Jack Hansen regrouped in Oscar's office. They were back to Square One.
"Rudy," Steve began, "if he tries to hurt her....can Jaime fight back?"
"Not in her present condition. The shot I gave her had to ensure she wouldn't leave that bed and go running off on her own again. I never meant...." his voice trailed off as the doctor tried to cope with his overwhelming sense of guilt.
"You did what you thought was best for her," Steve told him. "No one can fault you for that."
"How long will the drugs affect her?" Hansen asked.
"Eight to twelve hours total – so at least another four hours and quite possibly longer."
"But when she does come out of it," Steve queried, "she'll be at full strength?"
"If her body has acclimated to the reactivation – and IF she isn't rejecting. But we can't wait that long; Jaime is in serious trouble right now. If Hiller's intent is to harm her, she doesn't stand a chance..."
- - - - -