Innocent People's Lives

Chapter Twenty

He shoved her toward the door hard. "Run!"

Lisa nearly lost her balance and the gun as she bolted. She heard the guns firing at them just behind her. She could hear Jackson breathing as he ran behind her, firing off rounds of his own. Her heart pounded in her chest, pure adrenaline fueling her.

He grabbed her arm, guiding her around a corner.

She went with him easily, curving to turn with him, still sprinting. They were in sync running together.

"Where…?" she panted.

"Car…"

They hit the stairs, skipping steps as they went down and round, almost crashing into each other as the door above them swung open.

Crack! Crack!

Dust spat at them as bullets crashed into drywall. She threw up an arm to shield her face as they ran, not stopping to fire back. Jackson grabbed her wrist as he yanked open the last door to the ground floor.

They hit the lobby, bolting across the tile floor for the front doors. Toward freedom.

Crack!

He let go of her arm and she spun around, nearly falling as she stopped to look back. "Jack!"

He was down, blood running down his leg from a hole in the thigh. That's when she finally noticed that wasn't the only hole. He had blood running down his arm from where a bullet had clipped him. He had taken a chance, throwing her first. He'd given her a chance at life.

"Run!" he hollered at her, his gun in hand. He aimed back at their pursuers.

She looked over her shoulder at the glass doors. They were so close. So close to freedom. It was just out of reach.

She shook her head and checked her gun. "I'm not going without you. We're in this together."

"Don't be stupid, Leese."

"I'm not. I'm sick of running. We're in this together. I'm not going without you. I'm done running. There's nowhere left to run. No one to trust."

"That's not true."

She shook her head. "Your entire team just turned on you."

"There's no time. Run, Leese. For me."

"No. Stop being stubborn. We're in this together. Now don't make me shoot you."

He shook his head, pulling himself into a better position. "We're gonna die."

"You don't know that for sure."

"What are you…?"

The stairway door opened and Lisa fired, clipping a fire extinguisher as two men stormed the hallway. The pressurized canister exploded.

Jackson looked at her, impressed. "Where did you learn that?"

"It's not important. That's two."

He shook his head. "You're something else."

"C'mon… let's get you up." She reached down to pull him to his feet. He grunted, his shot leg leaving a blood trail.

"I'm just gonna slow you down."

"I told you – I'm done running. This is the end of the road. The final battle."

"Do you really think killing Keefe will end this?"

"No, not at all. But I'm not going to sit here and wait to die. I have to do something. I have to stop him. That will at least stop his employers."

"They could be anyone."

"Well, they won't have a presidential candidate in their pocket anymore."

He shook his head. "I can't believe you. You're insane."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. Wouldn't you agree?"

Jackson took care of the third person pursuing them with a shot to the head as they crossed the parking lot. It was astonishing how good he was with a gun.

"I thought you hated guns."

"They're messy and unnecessary," he said. "But I don't feel like gutting anyone except Keefe today."

She smiled at him. "I agree."

"Glad to know we're on the same page for once."

"Who could he be working for? Who is powerful enough to have moles in the CIA? Multiple moles?"

"There's only one person who knew I was working on this operation. Only one person who would know both my cover identity and my real one. It's common practice to protect undercovers."

"Who?"

He looked at her solemnly as she drove. "My boss, Gerald Cooper. He's the deputy director of the CIA."

She stared at him. "The entire CIA?"

"Pretty much. He would have the access."

"But why would he put you on the case if he's the person behind Keefe?"

"Probably he wanted to put Keefe out to dry if necessary. Sacrificial pawn and all that. He probably never expected me to track it all the way back to the source. We're lucky that he has loose lips." Jackson smirked at her.

"But how do we stop the director of the CIA? Is that even possible?"

"There's oversight committees."

"Keefe won't testify."

"He doesn't have to. You have it all on tape. We have him, Leese. Keefe just broke it all down. He's done for."

She looked at him, at his pale face. He'd lost a lot of blood. "Jack, we need to get you to a doctor."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "No doctor. I can't be a sitting duck."

"You're bleeding… you're really bleeding."

His shoulder didn't seem to be actively bleeding, not like his leg. His leg was oozing, the fabric of his pants stained with his blood, more and more with each passing moment. He was in bad shape and she didn't know what to do. Or where to go. She just knew she couldn't watch him die.

"It's not as bad as it looks. If it had clipped an artery, I'd already be dead."

"That's… comforting," she lied.

"Leese, I know it doesn't seem like it, but I've actually been through worse. A lot worse."

"You can't keep bleeding… we need… something…"

He put his hand on her leg. "I have a place nearby. There's supplies there. You can help me."

"Help with what?"

"Get the bullet out of my leg. I can feel it moving around. It will have to come out."

"Out? You want me to pull a bullet out of your leg?"

"And stitch up my shoulder."

"Are you insane? Did you hit your head? I'm not a doctor, or a nurse…" she protested, paling as they drove further away from Keefe. They were still in D.C., pretty much driving in circles. She didn't know where to go.

"I trust you. That's the important thing. I will talk you through this—take a right up here, at the light," he said, his voice calm and even.

She flipped on the blinker and followed his direction. "What if I screw it up? Make it worse?"

"You won't. I'll be right here. I just can't… not with my arm. It'll be better if you do it."

"And if you die?"

"Left past that, yeah, past that car, good—I'm not gonna die, Lisa. I'm not. I promise. You and me, we're going to get through this. We have the evidence. And as soon as we get things together, we're taking down Keefe."

"I think… I think we have to go public."

"Public? With what?"

She stole a glance at him. "With his own words. Get it out to the media. Then the CIA or anyone else can't stop it. Get it out to the public."

"You do realize that's basically suicide?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it is."

"Two more rights and then the garage on the left. I'll tell you the passcode when we get there," he said quietly.

"Ok… where exactly are we going?"

"A safe place that I set up a long time ago. Don't worry, the CIA doesn't even know it exists. We'll be safe."

"We have to expose him."

"I know."

"It's our best chance."

"I know."

She sighed. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

They made the first right turn.

"What do you want me to say? This is my mess, Leese. My boss, my job, my mess. But you… you're the one who's getting hurt. And you're the only one who can go public. And there's a good chance I'll lose you."

"And?"

"And I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either. Which is why we should see a doctor—"

"Right turn here."

She cursed under her breath, turning the car on a dime, causing another driver to honk at them. She ignored him.

"Can we… talk about this…?"

"Later. We're here."

"Where's here?"

"My safe place," he said quietly. "Where I lived before this all started. Before Keefe. Before the CIA. Before I became Agent Danvers."

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long wait – I've been ill so I haven't been writing. I've got a few pieces of the next two chapters in progress so hopefully I can get another chapter up over the weekend, maybe two. We're closing in on the end!

Please review! It helps keep me going.