Guardian (7 page)

There were cameras throughout the building, but she was similar to Mona’s height, build and coloring. As long as she didn’t look into a camera, she should be fine. When she stepped out of the elevator, she was relieved to discover the hall was dimly lit. The tension knotting her belly eased and she discreetly looked around for the location of the cameras. There was one at each end of the long hall. To her right she saw the sign for the records room and turned towards it. The card got her inside and she breathed more easily when she failed to spot any more cameras. She was sure they were there, but if she couldn’t find them easily, hopefully it worked in reverse. She kept her head low.

She pulled the list from her pocket and started alphabetically looking for the files. She found them, set them aside and hurried to check for two names not on the list—Jamie Wade, Carter Owens’ ex and mother of his son Kaden, and Merilee Durand, Esme Durand’s and Carter’s mother. She found both files. Unfortunately, there was no way she could smuggle them out.
 

The patient numbers started with seven, which she’d learned indicated the floor assigned at admission, and both files had a large stamp on the front: active trial. What the hell was that? So she flipped through Merilee’s first. The drug list was disturbing, a lot of heavy-duty sedatives and anti-psychotics. There wasn’t a lot in the way of physician’s notes, but one caught her attention.
 

As suspected, schizophrenia is a misdiagnosis. Subject demonstrates substantial telepathic abilities. However, years of mistreatment including drug therapies have possibly caused too much mental degradation to be useful to this study. Recommend further tests.

Her hands trembled as she closed the file and opened Jamie’s. Her file was also marked active, which was interesting since Jamie was supposedly
dead.
She was also heavily sedated and on a number of painkillers. The most recent notation was only a few days ago. She scanned the dates and saw the file was updated once a week. There must be a current chart on the floor. Mallory skimmed through the notes. There was no mention of telepathy or not being human, but one note she read over and over again was
subject uncooperative.
 

“Oh, sweetie,” she muttered under her breath, glancing at the list of pain medication again. “That’s probably a very bad idea with these guys.”

She returned the files and, on a hunch, she looked for one more name—Kaden Owens.
 

“Well, shit,” she muttered when she found his file. It was much thicker than the two women’s files. It was obvious Stirling had been watching him since he was an infant. The notes appeared to all be from his previous doctor, the one who’d been murdered, and stopped a few months ago when Carter had taken custody of his son. Mallory really wanted to look through his file, but she’d been gone too long as it was. She replaced the folder, grabbed the ones she’d come for and hurried back upstairs.
 

Where chaos reigned. She left the folders on the intern’s desk and hurried to help with a patient who’d overdosed after meeting a visiting friend. By the time he was stabilized and her shift was over, she’d forgotten about the keycard. So had Mona. Mallory didn’t remember until she rushed into Brax’s house, anxious to tell them about what she’d found in the paper records.
 

Zach, Mason, Gabe and Brax were all waiting in the foyer when she came in. She went straight to Gabe and handed him the card. “Clone that. Right now, Gabe.”
 

“Please tell me you didn’t steal someone’s card,” Zach bit out.
 

“Not the way you think.” She held up one hand to ward him off when he stepped towards her. Carter and Esme stepped out of Brax’s office then, and Mallory looked at them. “They’re both there. Merilee and Jamie.”
 

They all went to Mason’s office where Gabe started his magic with the card.
 

“What happened?” Zach asked. He held her hand and wouldn’t let her free when she tugged. To tell the truth, she might not have tried that hard.
 

“Mona, the charge nurse on my floor, needed some files from the records room, but we were slammed today. So I offered to get them for her.” She shrugged. “After that there was an issue with a patient and we both forgot I had her card. I didn’t even remember until I pulled into the compound.”
 

“She has access to the basement and records room?”

“Yes. But not the seventh floor.”
 

Gabe was absolutely giddy. “Fuckin’ A. Good work, Mallory.”
 

“We still don’t have access to the right floor,” she reminded him.

“But this card will get me into the basement, right? Where the servers are?”

She nodded.

“Get control of the security systems and I can get a team on the seventh floor.”

“The sooner the better. We have to get them out of there and probably whoever else is on that floor,” she said, and filled them in on what she’d read in the files.
 

The mood in the room immediately turned grim, but it was Zach’s fear and tension that was the worst. Thankfully, her phone rang before he could start bitching about pulling her out of the assignment. She was pretty sure she knew who it was before she checked the screen and saw a number she didn’t recognize.
 

“Hello?”

“Mallory? Thank God I caught you,” Mona said.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“You have my keycard.” She sounded embarrassed and flustered.
 

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry, Mona! With everything going on, I completely forgot about it.” She was a better actress than she ever imagined.

“I understand. The thing is I could get fired—we both could—for giving it to you. I can’t lose this job.”
 

“Of course not. You want to meet me in the morning?”

“Tonight would be better.”
 

She looked at Gabe and mouthed
how long
? He held up two fingers. She took that to mean twenty minutes.
 

“Okay. Where?”

She named a popular restaurant about forty-five minutes away. “Um. The thing is I’m kind of in the middle of a thing with my boyfriend. It’ll be a while before I can get away. Is eight okay?”

Mona exhaled. “Yes. Yes, that’s fine. I’ll see you then.”
 

“Great.”
 

She flipped the phone shut and turned around to find three pairs of avid eyes on her.
 

“Do you think she told anyone?” Zach asked.
 

“No way. She doesn’t want to get fired.” She anticipated his next question. “And she won’t tell anyone once she has her card back.”
 

A couple hours later, the keycard was copied, Mona’s back in her possession and Mallory was back home in bed with Zach. The excitement of the day caught up with her and she was asleep before Zach could deliver the lecture she sensed simmering in his mind.
 

Chapter Seven

A couple days later, Mallory suspected she was in trouble when she turned onto the highway. All day at the hospital she’d felt watched, and now she wasn’t sure if she was paranoid, or worse, right. And wouldn’t you know it? Her freaking cell phone was dead. She’d forgotten to put it on the charger last night. She pressed her lips together and checked the mirror to see if the black SUV was still behind her. Yep. As she drew closer to the city, she knew she needed a plan.
 

She couldn’t lead her pursuers to the Elect compound and she could hardly go to her condo. What she needed was a freaking phone and maybe a few burly guys to hide behind. If they were right about these Stirling people, they were murderers. They’d killed people while trying to kidnap Esme and Kaden. Mallory didn’t find anything appealing about death.
 

Think. Someplace safe.
 

She felt like an idiot when she realized where to go. As an arson investigator, she worked at the fire department’s headquarters, which also held the largest station in the city. There were always a lot of people around. If she could get there.
 

The SUV was staying closer to her as traffic grew heavier. She started counting down. Three more exits, two, one. She waited as long as possible to merge into the right lane, then the exit lane, holding her breath as she watched the mirror. Hoping they’d been caught in traffic. Hoping she was wrong. Then she saw the vehicle several cars behind her. Damn it.
 

The light at the intersection turned yellow and she kept going while the car behind her stopped. She knew she hadn’t lost them for long, though. She crossed her fingers she wouldn’t get caught at either of the two lights between her and her destination.
 

She was parked and entering the building when a black SUV drove by. It was too fast for her to be sure it was the same one. For that matter, she couldn’t be sure the one on the ramp behind her had been the same one.

She went straight to her office and called the compound. Mason picked up.
 

“Yeah?”

“It’s Mallory.” She couldn’t quite hide the tremble in her voice. Adrenalin or fear? A bit of both she decided.

“Is that her?” she heard Zach ask in the background. “Give me the phone.”

“Put it on speaker. I don’t want to have to repeat myself ten times.” It was only a slight exaggeration.

“You’re on and we’re all here. Where are you, hon? You were supposed to check in when you left the Institute,” Mason said gently. That he recognized she was afraid and was being nice because of it made her want to cry. She’d rather he yell.
 

“I forgot to charge my phone last night. I’m at my office.” She was standing in front of her office window and saw a large-sized black SUV creep by again. “I think I was followed here.”

“Fuck. Mallory, stay there. We’ll come get you,” Zach ordered her.
 

“No, I’ll send Aaron,” Brax said. Aaron was his twin brother and a police captain. If he was in his office, he was ten minutes away.

“Don’t go anywhere, baby,” Zach repeated. She snorted. Like she needed to hear that? She wasn’t going anywhere without an armed guard. “Don’t worry. I’m not leaving.”
 

“And you are done with this little investigation,” he snapped.
 

She might have argued if she wasn’t still shaking. “Can we just talk about that later?”

“Sure, baby,” he replied, but she knew that tone. He meant to order and expected her to obey his every little whim. She’d disabuse him of that delusion when she felt more in control.
 

“Tell us about the people who followed you, Mallory,” Brax broke in. “Start at the beginning.”
 

There was a knock at her door before she could start. Her heart thudded in her chest. “Someone’s here.”

“Aaron and Kai,” Brax said. “They were already on the way to finalize the paperwork on Esme’s case. They’ll bring you home, but tell us what happened first. And, Mallory?”
 

“Yeah?”

“Let them protect you.”
 

“Wait a second.” She set the phone down and stepped to the door.
 

“Who is it?” she asked. Brax said it was his brother, but Brax wasn’t there, was he?
 

“Aaron and Kai. Let us in, Mallory.”

She opened the door just enough for them to slip through, then shut and relocked it. Aaron put his arm around her and squeezed.
 

“You’re really spooked, darlin’. Never thought I’d see the day.”

And she
was
spooked, enough she didn’t shrug him off right away. Like his brother he was a protector. He couldn’t help but try to soothe her, but it was Zach she wanted right now. Not a substitute. She walked to her desk but before she could pick up the handset, Aaron reached around her and hit the speaker button.

“We’re all here,” he said.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t see the SUV in the parking lot or on the main road. I think they caught up with me on the highway. That’s where I noticed it anyway. It’s one of those huge ones, you know? An Excursion, I think.”

“A Ford?”

“Yeah. The windows are black. I have no idea how many people were in it, but they followed me here and I’ve seen them drive by at least twice,” she said, hearing the doubt creep into her voice. “But you know, there’s a ton of these vehicles out there. Maybe I’m just being paranoid.”
 

“Get her out of there now, Brax,” Zach snarled.
 

“Wait. When the others are in position,” Brax responded.

“What others?” she asked.
 

“You think we’d only send two people to pick you up?” Zach asked. “Keep dreaming.”
 

She sighed. Three years she’d lived peacefully without a bunch of overprotective males watching her every move. If she was going back into that world there were going to be some damned ground rules.
 

“I think two is plenty, oh lord and master,” she said with saccharine sweetness. She grinned when she heard snickering from the others.