Chapter 17

A/N: Small trigger warning in this chapter.

x x x

Saturday – 8:30 am

Redstone Women's Center

Alex awakens to a knock at her door. Her eyes drift over to the clock on the wall.

It's a surprise she got any sleep.

Thoughts of yesterday return with all the heartache and fears and anger. She has to stay focused on getting answers. Then she can deal with the emotions.

She gets out of bed, pulls on a hoodie jacket over her pajamas—a tank top and shorts—and scoops her hair back with her hands and attempts to neaten it.

She goes to answer the door, and it's Tess.

"Rise and shine, pumpkin," she greets. "Meeting in Roni's room. We've got breakfast."

"Now? Can I clean up and put on some clothes?"

Tess rolls her eyes and laughs. "Who cares! It's Saturday morning! No one's had coffee yet. "We're all casual. Come on!"

xxx

She enters Roni's room and they've got the card table set up for breakfast with a carry-out bag of food on it.

Roni and Ivy pull styrofoam containers and syrup packets out of the bag. Alex grabs napkins and forks for the group, then sits down.

"Blueberry pancakes!" Ivy tells her. "It seemed like that kind of morning." After dishing out the pancakes onto plates, Ivy takes a seat.

Tess carries the mugs of coffee to the table and sits down.

The pancakes and coffee smell good and she's starving, so she picks up a fork and dives in.

"How did we get pancakes?" asks Alex.

"Special delivery," says Tess. "The dipshit owed me one."

"Who?" Alex laughs.

"Gunther," Roni clarifies.

"Gunther shouldn't have left you at the hospital and just took off. Sorry about that. Anyway, I made him get his ass out of bed early and pick us up some pancakes for breakfast," Tess says.

Roni looks over at Alex. "I spoke to the maintenance guy, Curtis. Unfortunately, he didn't know much. He thinks he saw someone leaving the lot. Could be an employee, but he didn't get a good look at the car. That's all he told the police."

"The police will be looking at traffic cams," Alex says.

"We also have to tell you about your favorite pain in the ass," says Ivy.

"What now?" Alex rolls her eyes.

"Kirkpatrick was looking for you last night. We covered for you and said you were planning to take a shower, wash your hair, and go to bed. You'd been through enough for one night and we told him to give you some space," Ivy explains.

"Actually, we told him to go fuck himself," says Tess.

Alex grins. "So, what happened?"

Tess rolls her eyes. "The little perv went into your suite."

"Are you kidding me?"

"What if you had been in there asleep? Or coming out of the shower?" Roni asks.

"He'd be the one in the ER," Tess answers.

Ivy continues. "Anyway, since he didn't see you, I said I let you use my shower because your hot water was cutting out. Fortunately, he bought that excuse."

"He's got a bug up his ass. Just… You know. Be careful," says Tess.

Alex nods.

They finish breakfast, Alex and Tess clean up, then sit down to rejoin Roni and Ivy.

"I'll get Gunther to snoop around that hospital. See if he can find out where the suits are hanging out. That should tell us where Bobby is. He might see what's going on," says Tess.

"I was planning to go back there later," says Alex. "I wouldn't want Gunther getting into trouble. Plus, I know how they operate."

"But they've already seen you. And Katherine, who told you to take a hike, has probably given your description to the hospital, the police, and the feds," Tess warns. "You won't get much further than the front desk unless you're wearing a disguise."

Alex sighs heavily. "I know. But it's Bobby."

Roni reaches over and touches Alex's shoulder supportively.

"So, what's next?" asks Ivy.

"Bobby has always carried a binder with him. He keeps good notes. Remembers everything. I can usually follow his thoughts. I need to see that binder."

"Where is it?" Ivy asks.

"Most likely in the trunk of his car. Back in New York, he took the subway and sometimes left it locked in his desk. But on the job, it didn't leave his sight. He was told by his boss to go to Quantico. He told me he had some notes from his UC that he planned to look over on the plane."

"Then you'd better get it before the feds do," says Ivy.

"Who else knew about the binder?" asks Tess.

"Maybe his boss in Chicago?" she says and shrugs.

"Do you have any idea why Kirkpatrick might be interested in you, Bobby, Malik, or any of this? What's in it for him?" asks Ivy.

"Bobby and I talked about him. He's just a bully. Mostly follows orders."

"Malik's orders or the Bureaus?" Roni muses.

"Exactly," says Alex.

"He's close enough to have delivered that card to you from Malik with the pictures inside," Roni adds.

"Bobby already looked into that and there's no way to prove it was Kirkpatrick." Alex informs them.

"Dammit…" Tess groans.

"Yeah, but thanks for all of this. If you think of anything else, let me know. Now I've got to go track down his car."

"Do you need Gunther?" asks Tess.

"Yeah, I'd better."

xxx

10:40 am

Unfortunately, it started raining. The temperatures were staying above freezing, so there was no ice or snow, but the rain was no improvement. Skies were overcast, which only provided a little more lighting than they had last night.

Gunther still set a fast pace. He's probably unaware of it. He's more worried about being caught near the center and getting thrown back in jail.

Her head is ready to explode from all the information she's sorting out.

At one point, she focuses on the rainfall, listening to the tapping sounds from the drops hitting the ground. It's one of those meditation tasks her therapist suggested to her. For a few minutes, it works as a distraction until Bobby enters her mind again.

As much as she loves having him here and all he's done for her, it's not fair that he's caught in the middle. He should be in New York. He came here because he's a good man and a loyal partner.

And now he's lying in a hospital bed.

She feels responsible for what happened to him, no matter what anyone says.

Just like he's done for her, she'll do whatever it takes to find out the truth and keep him safe.

x

By the time she stirs out of her thoughts, they're a third of the way. The rain is definitely slowing things down.

She has to keep an eye near the ground, which is uneven in spots. The trail disappears under leaves that are slick from the rain and the muddy ground. There are too many low branches, rocks, and logs to climb over.

Alex senses someone approaching quickly from behind her. As she's turning around, they grab her by the arm and cause her to slip, but she recovers her balance. She looks up and into the eyes of Agent Kirkpatrick.

Shit.

"Ms. Eastman… I told you not to be out of the center without approval, didn't I?"

Rather than respond, she glares back at him.

It shouldn't be a surprise that he caught up with her. He got into her suite and could have planted a camera, then watched her climb out the window from some remote spot.

She's mad at herself for letting her guard down and not preparing for something like this. She should have checked the room after she found out about Kirkpatrick's visit.

Now she has to think her way out of this, and this pathetic excuse for a federal agent has a smirk.

No witnesses out here.

He thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants.

Gunther's somewhere behind her and probably hasn't heard them. He'll just continue to the car while wondering what's keeping her.

Bobby's Glock is strapped to her ankle. As tempting as it would be to just fire a round into this creep, she'll keep it as a last resort.

Alex looks for anything in her surroundings she can use to her advantage. She'll distract him and run. She can't let him think she's worried and tries to remain unfazed.

Her therapist's words replay in her mind, telling her that her recent nightmares don't represent who she is in her waking life. She can control the outcome.

Kirkpatrick steps closer, so he's just a few inches from her. Unfortunately, she can smell his convenience store breakfast burrito breath.

While holding her arm in one hand, he uses the other to reach for his belt buckle. "I think you owe me something for coming out here and dragging your pretty little ass back to that facility."

Then he's unfastening his belt and his pants.

"Are you trying to show me something or did you just forget how small it is?" Alex taunts.

"On your knees, bitch!" He tugs her arm forcefully, causing her to lose her footing again, but she catches herself. Unfortunately, this time, she felt some sharpness in her knee that she didn't need.

"Let go of me!"

"I said… On your knees, bitch!"

"You first!" She swings her leg quickly, giving Kirkpatrick a sharp kick to his knee. He loses his balance and slips, and Alex runs toward Gunther and the car.

She's going to control this outcome.

Kirkpatrick groans from the pain but gets back up and runs after her.

The rain suddenly picks up, but Alex presses onward. Despite having to climb over too many low-hanging branches that can slow someone down, she's gaining distance on him.

Finally, needing a rest spot, she checks over her shoulder to make sure he can't see her, then ducks behind a tree with a large trunk that's a little off the path. With any luck, he'll lose sight of her and give up. He is from New York. Doesn't know his way through the area any better than she does.

Maybe he'll pick another day to show up and piss her the hell off.

Kirkpatrick stops a few paces beyond the tree and looks around to see where she went. He's calling her name.

Unfortunately, Gunther started retracing his steps when he realized Alex wasn't with him, and ends up in Kirkpatrick path. The agent pulls his gun and Gunther freezes.

Knowing Kirkpatrick wouldn't hesitate to shoot, Alex attempts to knock him down or at least get the gun away.

She lunges toward Kirkpatrick and tackles him to the ground. Once they're on the ground, she reaches for his gun, but Kirkpatrick blocks her and re-holsters the gun.

As she tries to get back up, he grabs her arm again, and she's pulled to the ground beside him.

He rolls over on top of her and quickly has her pinned on her back. Swinging an arm or a leg is about all she can do.

While he's holding her down, he tries to unfasten her pants. Alex looks for any weak spot to regain control. If she can turn onto her side or her front, she'll have more leverage. It might also make it easier for her to reach her Glock, because she has no more reservations about using it. He's gone too far.

Another thought enters her mind while they're wrestling and her gun's still out of her reach. Her phone is in her jacket pocket. She finds the audio record app and selects it.

It might be a waste of time. She doesn't know what she'll capture out here. But Kirkpatrick is yelling at her, and saying how he's going to punish her, while she's yelling at him to get off of her.

She'll kick him in the balls the first chance she gets. But as satisfying as that would be, it won't last long enough.

She'll have him reported for harassment, but that will be the least of his concerns once they have proof that he's been working with Malik.

She's going to control this outcome.

Kirkpatrick is still trying to unfasten her pants. When he moves the arm closest to the gun, she tries to reach for it again, but Kirkpatrick is faster and grabs her wrist.

At that moment, she rolls onto her knees with Kirkpatrick now on top of her. She's reaching for her Glock when Kirkpatrick suddenly lets out a loud, agonizing groan and collapses on her.

Alex knocks him off of her and rolls onto her side. She looks up at Gunther, wondering what just happened, and he's standing over them, looking terrified.

Following his gaze, she sees where he had jammed the blade of his pocketknife into Kirkpatrick's spine.

Kirkpatrick tries to move, but the movement causes more agonizing sounds.

She remembers her phone and reaches into her pocket to shut off the record. Next, she grabs Kirkpatrick's gun from him. Kirkpatrick makes one last effort to grab her or Gunther before succumbing to the pain again and blacking out.

Gunther is pacing in that spot. "H-he was going to rape you or kill you. I—I had to do something!"

"It's okay."

"But I'm not supposed to be here! I—I can't go back to jail!"

Despite their rough start, she feels bad for the guy. He's sniffling and shaking. Eyes are filling with tears. He can't seem to stop himself from looking at Kirkpatrick's motionless body.

"You were protecting me. I'll keep you out of this. It's going to be okay," she assures him.

"What should we do?" he asks.

She goes to check the agent's pulse, and it's very weak. He's not breathing and he's bleeding out.

Her automatic response, in any situation, is to get him medical help.

She's got no cell signal where they are. Alex fetches Kirkpatrick's phone and asks Gunther to check his and no one has a signal.

While she's deciding where to go for help, Kirkpatrick's body goes limp.

"Oh fuck! Is he dead?" asks Gunther.

Alex nods. "Let's go back to the center."

xxx