Outer Banks (12 page)

“I can pump while you go for coffee,” she offered.

“I can't picture you pumping gas,” I scoffed.

She chuckled. “You still think I'm a princess?”

“Maybe a little.” I grinned at her. It was nice to see her coming out of her black mood.

When I was done fueling up I went inside and paid for the gas and coffee. As I emerged from the store I saw a heavyset man walking toward the van.

After our last encounter, I would have reached for my gun, except he was carrying a little girl—probably five or six—and had a smile on his face.

He peeked in the back window of the van and so did the little girl. He hadn't noticed Em sitting in the front with her arm hanging out the open window.

“Can I help you?” I asked as I approached.

“Do you have one in there?”

“Excuse me?” I tilted my head trying to understand.

“A Haunt. Do you have one inside? I'd like to show my daughter,” he explained. “The kids at school have been scaring her silly. You can probably imagine.”

I could. All too easily. I looked toward the passenger door and saw Emery taking in the conversation.

“Yes. I do have someone with HANTS with me and I would love for your daughter to meet her. What's your name?” I smiled at the little girl who seemed a bit shy and nervous about all this attention.

“Katie.”

“Em? Can you come out here for a sec?” I called to her.

She reluctantly got out of the van, and came to stand by me. The man waved, but the little girl had trouble making eye contact with her.

“Katie, this is my friend. She's a
doctor
. Em, this is Katie. She and her dad wanted to meet a Haunt.”

Em smiled shyly and held out her hand. “It's nice to meet you.”

The little girl reached out and her father encouraged his daughter shake hands.

“Don't be scared of her eyes,” the man told his daughter. “They're just different, is all.”

“Her eyes aren't scary, Daddy. She has eyes like Matilda,” Katie said. She was already warming up to Emery.

“Who's Matilda?” Em asked her. The little girl came a step closer and held up a stuffed rabbit.

“This is her,” Katie said while poking the bunny in a solid black eye. “See? Like yours.”

“I guess so.” Emery couldn't debate the point. The rabbit's eyes were solid black.

“You're a doctor?” the little girl asked.

“Yes, I am.”

“I don't like doctors. I had to get a shot yesterday.” I found it refreshing that Emery was being hated for her profession rather than her condition.

“I know shots are no fun. But do you know what's worse than getting a shot?” Emery asked as Katie shook her head with wide eyes. “Getting the measles or chicken pox because you didn't. You don't want to be covered with ugly, itchy spots do you?”

“No! Ick!” Katie made a yucky face.

“Well, that's the reason the doctor gave you the shot,” Emery explained.

“Daddy, she doesn't look like a monster,” Katie repeated something she'd heard someone else say.

“I know.” Her dad smiled. “That Billy Masterson doesn't know what he's talking about, does he?”

The girl shook her head.

“Emery isn't a monster at all. She's a great person.” I took Emery's hand and gave it a little squeeze, surprised she didn't pull away.

“Come on, Katie. She has to go. She has a long trip ahead of her,” the father assumed. “Thanks, both of you.” I nodded as they left. It had been a while since I'd seen something like that. Kind of gave you hope.

“It was nice to meet you, Katie. Remember, even though shots hurt they are keeping you safe from something even worse.” Katie nodded and waved happily.

Em turned to me when they were gone, her hand still in mine.

“I don't understand how someone like you ended up with this job. I'm truly sorry I've been so difficult.”

“I would be more accepting of your apology if you let me kiss you,” I hinted unashamedly.

Unfortunately the flirty tone backfired. “I think we'd better keep things platonic, Dillon.” She released my hand and got back in the van. I noticed she never mentioned the fiancé, however.

As I walked around to get in, I debated whether or not to tell her I wouldn't be leaving any time soon. I went with honesty.

“I need to tell you something.”

“Please don't. We only have a few more hours and then you can go back to your normal life.”

“Em…”

“Don't make this harder than it needs to be.”

“Okay.” She wasn't going to listen. Fine. I tried. I was officially off the hook.

Emery started to recognize her surroundings. She told me about her father's original place which had burned down during a wildfire years ago. He never told anyone he rebuilt it.

We passed through a tiny little town with a convenience store, a post office and not much else. Emery continued to direct me up the mountain. My phone's GPS wasn't even picking up the roads we were using.

We climbed the gravel road until the trees parted and the road flattened into a large parking area.

Adam had referred to his place as a cabin. This building was in no way a cabin as I'd known them. This was almost a mansion with very modern architecture. There were a lot of windows and I wondered what he was thinking by converting it to a lab for his UV sensitive daughter.

“Emmie!” her father yelled as he ran to the van and pulled her out. He hugged her tightly and kissed her cheeks and forehead before setting her back down on her feet.

“Dillon, thank you so much for bringing her here. You did it!”

“Yes. No problem.” As if.

“I have your living quarters ready upstairs. Emmie, you will be staying downstairs. I have a safe place for you during the day.”

Emery turned to me in surprise. “You're staying?”

“Yes. I'm providing security.”

“Security? To protect me or other people?” she asked with her brows creased.

“General security.” It provided a vague enough answer that seemed to satisfy her. Mr. Mitchell led us inside. “Let's show you the house. Shall we?”

I looked up at the wall of windows as we entered. The stars shone through them now, but in the morning…

“All the glass in the house is one hundred percent UV proof. If you could stay awake long enough you would be able to stand in this kitchen at noon and not worry about a thing.”

“This is your room,” he told her, pointing to the first door in the hall. “Dillon, this panel locks her room. You can set up the codes to your satisfaction.” I saw Emery look at me unhappily, but said nothing. Her father noticed and faltered. “Not every night, of course. I mean, only what is necessary. Extreme precautions, you understand.” Emery nodded. She followed her father to the next door which was apparently the lab.

I hung out by the door of this room. It was very intimidating. White with lots of shiny, expensive looking machinery inside. There were about ten large boxes sitting around, as if the lab wasn't quite finished.

They chatted to one another, but I didn't understand what they were talking about. Proteins, enzymes, rejection factors… It was like another language.

The next door was just as white, but had only a few tables and a wall of windows. I stayed out of that room too.

The last room was another white room with only a cot and a bunch of equipment. It was like the lab had been shipped from IKEA—some assembly required.

“And, Dillon, your room is upstairs,” Adam gestured to the wide open stairs.

I followed him, but Emery stayed downstairs in the kitchen. I heard her open the refrigerator which I was sure was stocked with blood.

“She seems well,” Adam said when we'd gotten to the top. It was a loft, so I could look over the railing down into the vast living room.

There was a sofa and a TV up here and a door which led into the actual bedroom.

The bed was enormous. Bigger than a king, if that was possible. There was a large bathroom off the bedroom with a whirlpool tub and a large walk-in shower. Everything was very black. There were skylights over the bed, letting in the moonlight.

“I hope it's acceptable,” he said after I hadn't responded.

My eyes widened. I hadn't seen places this nice on TV, let alone reality. “Yes. It's very nice. Thank you.”

“No. Thank you.” He pointed to a briefcase sitting on the dresser. “Your payment.”

I swallowed. A hundred thousand dollars. It almost felt wrong to take it now, given what was at stake. But I had risked going to jail to get her out, and she wanted to think of us only as professionals now. Professionals got paid.

I followed him back downstairs.

Emery was sitting on the sofa in the living room. Mr. Mitchell went to sit with her.

They caught up for a few hours while I got a soda and went back up to my loft. I didn't want to intrude on their reunion. I could hear their voices bounce off the wooden ceiling into my room while I unpacked.

“Why did you agree to let him stay here? I don't want him here.” I heard Emery hiss. My stomach instantly tied up in knots.

“It was the only way he would agree to take the job. He's risked a lot getting you out, and refused to do so without supervision. He's a good man. He'll keep you safe. It makes me feel better to have him here.”

“He kissed me, Daddy!” Wow. Did not take her long to rat me out. “How does that make you feel?” She must have hoped he would send me on my way after that.

He chuckled. “If kissing a pretty girl is the worst of his offenses then I feel even more pleased with my choice.”

“I'm not pretty!” she huffed.

“You are lovely, Emery. Besides, he understands you're engaged. I'm sure it won't happen again.”

“Ugh!” She gave up as I smiled, imagining her face at that moment.

An hour or so later, I was hungry so I went down to the kitchen as quietly as possible. I made myself a sandwich and sat at the table while I ate.

Mr. Mitchell chuckled indulgently. “You should have everything you need. Ah, that reminds me.” He pulled out a new cell phone and set it on the table. “It's encrypted, and only linked to one other phone—mine. You can talk freely with me on it. Not even the NSA can hack into this or trace it.”

“Thanks,” I said. That would make things easier.

He turned back to Emery. “I didn't unpack anything because I know how picky you are about how your lab is set up.” Mr. Mitchell grinned. “All of the formulas you worked on at OBX as well as their current research are on the computer. I won't go into detail on how I recovered everything.”

“Thank you, Daddy. You know I'll try my best. But please, don't expect any miracles.”

“I
do
expect a miracle. And per my agreement with Mr. McAllister, you only have three months to make progress. We're going to need a miracle, Emmie.”

“Oh, great! Now there is a deadline?” she snapped.

“You've always worked better under pressure,” he reminded her with a laugh.

“Right!” She threw her hand in the air in dismay. I wanted so badly to tell her she didn't need to worry about the time constraint. I'd stay here as long as it took. But Mr. Mitchell laughed at her anxiety, so I had to assume it wasn't as serious as it appeared. Maybe she would work better under pressure after all.

“Well, sweetheart, I have to go back to LA. I don't want people to be suspicious and follow me back to you. If you need anything call me and I'll have it brought up. Mr. McAllister will keep you safe.”

I returned to the living room to say good-bye.

“I know he will,” she said with a small smile in my direction. “Thank you, Daddy. I'll do my best.”

“That's my girl!” He hugged her again. “You look good, sweetie. Considering everything you've been through you look great. You're tough like your mom.” His expression changed, something seemed to be ready to crack. “I'm so glad you're alive.” He started to cry and she hugged him.

“You'd better get back. You have a company to run.” She put on a brave face, but I could see she was breaking down as well. “I'll keep you posted on my progress.” She sounded like a little girl eager to please.

“I'll be up to visit when I can. I love you.”

“Love you too.” I turned away to give them privacy.

Mr. Mitchell waved to the door. “Mr. McAllister, will you walk me out?”

Emery returned to her lab as I followed him out to his fancy SUV.

“Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I know you didn't want to do this, but I assure you it's the right thing. She's going to fix this. You'll see.”

“I believe you. If anyone can do it, she can.”

He nodded and patted my shoulder.

“You have faith in her. Good. Faith is what she needs right now. If you need more food there is a small store in town. Use the credit card I gave you for anything you need. Call if you need to arrange for more blood.”

“Thanks.”

He waved and drove off down the dusty lane.

I looked up at the bright stars filling the black sky, hoping he was right about Emery. It suddenly seemed more important than ever before.

Chapter Eleven

Emery went into her bedroom without another word. I shrugged and set the alarm on her door before going out on the immense deck as the sun peeked up over the mountains.

I decided to stay on a night schedule so I could be around when Emery was awake. After helping myself to a beer from the fridge I went upstairs to bed.

That afternoon when I woke I checked the perimeter, unlocked Emery's room and went to make breakfast. Was the lock really necessary? If someone had asked me that a month ago I'd have said no, but after running into the queen and talking to Colonel Arder, I'd be lying if I said part of me didn't think “better safe than sorry”.

I cooked up eggs and sausage. Mr. Mitchell had gone crazy with the supplies. Enough fresh food for the next couple of weeks, enough canned for the next couple of
years
. I wondered if he'd been like that before the invasion. Maybe he was one of those people who'd gone survivalist after the Bugs left. Preparing for a second wave. I'd seen a show about it.

Emery came out of her room and took a bag from the refrigerator.

“Good morning,” I said. She said nothing back, just took her food and left.
“Good morning, Dillon,”
I said to myself in a snooty tone. This was shaping up to be a long three months.

I spent a little more time on the deck, looking up at the stars. They seemed so close, like a dark veil just out of reach with a bunch of tiny pinholes poked through it. The night was clear. It was getting a little chilly so I went inside to find something else to do.

I wandered down the hall to the lab and found Emery getting things set up. I knew it wasn't a good idea to hover, but I was bored. I hoped she'd let me help so I had something to do. Not to mention we could get past the awkward silence.

She turned to me with her eyes narrowed, then with an exasperated sigh she started pulling off her shirt.

“Can we just get this over with? Let's deal with your creepy Haunt fetish and then you can hit the road or at least stay out of my hair,” she sneered and walked closer to me in just her bra.

The hell?
I backed away, unable to say anything. Then the anger caught up and threw me into action. Leaving the lab, I went up to my room and slammed the door.

“How could she
think
that?” I said to myself.
Haunt fetish?
Jesus.

I wanted to pack up everything I'd just unpacked and leave, but I couldn't. She was here alone. What if there was a fire? Or an earthquake? Or if some redneck found her here during the day? What if they figured out she'd left OBX and tracked her down? The only way I could protect her was if I stayed there.

Of course, I didn't know how much protecting she could possibly need, being that she was clearly made out of
stone
.

I turned on the TV and stayed in my room all night. I went downstairs only to get something to eat and grab a beer, and then quickly went back upstairs.

In the morning, after she fell asleep, I went down. After checking to make sure she was in bed I punched in the code to secure her room. When I couldn't find anything on TV but talk shows, I decided to go back to bed.

I set my alarm for fifteen minutes before Emery would wake, but I didn't need it. I hardly slept. I was too busy tossing and trying to convince myself to leave.

Did I owe her my protection anymore? I'd gotten her out. I did my job. I could take my money and go start a new life. Let her dad find someone else to watch over her.

My mind started flipping through other men guarding her. Guys like Bobby or those men at the convenience store. Obviously, her father wouldn't pick someone like that, but if the person he picked had any kind of temper at all, Emery was the type of woman who would bring out the worst in them.

I decided I would be a Hunter because I didn't trust other people like Bobby to do it. Now I felt the same obligation to see this through.

I went down and unlocked her room, and after a quick breakfast went back up to shower and continue laying low. I could protect her well enough from the confines of my room. The building's indoor and outdoor security cameras all fed to my entertainment center. I didn't need to see her.

By midnight I was hungry again, and there was nothing on TV so I went down to get a snack and choose a movie from the large collection in the living room.

Suddenly I heard the sound of smashing glass. Instinct had me running down the hall toward the noise, gun drawn.

In the lab, Emery was crying. A pile of glass lay on the floor against the wall below a dent in the once pristine drywall. She had thrown something, but aside from the crying she seemed fine.

I holstered the gun and retreated from the room, but not before she heard me.

“Dillon,” she called.

“Sorry. I heard the glass…” I shook my head. “I'll go.”

“Dillon, please?” I stopped but didn't turn. I felt I needed to say something, but I couldn't look at her.

“I made the arrangements with your father before I knew you. I felt that if I was going to break someone out of OBX, the only way I could square that with my conscience was if I had them under supervision. If I didn't, and something happened, I'd blame myself.”

She said nothing, so I continued. “I know you're not a danger to anyone. I just don't want you to be up here alone. If you want me to leave, I will. Just have someone you trust come to take my place and I'll go. I told your father I'd give you three months before I took you back, but you don't need to worry about that. Not anymore. And, I would never,
ever
expect…” I started walking again. I didn't want to talk about that.

“Dillon,” she said again. “Wait!”

I stopped and turned on her, ready to be angry now. “I can't believe you think I was only interested because… What have I done that would cause you to think the worst of me? Because I
kissed
you? I backed off when I saw you were uncomfortable. I don't get you!”

“I want to apologize.”

“You can't just say you're sorry, Em. That wasn't a
misunderstanding
. I could see you believed I was capable of—”

She moved toward me, wrapping her arms around my waist. I tried to back away, but she squeezed tighter.

“Please don't go. You're the only person I trust besides my dad. I'm sorry. I just can't figure you out. You treat me like I'm normal, but I keep thinking that's got to be some kind of twisted kink, not that you actually
see
me that way.”

“Was that your idea of an apology?” I asked.

She released me and looked up into my eyes. I smiled a bit to let her off the hook. I couldn't stay mad at her. She had every reason in the world to be angry and scared. But she said I was the only person she trusted and that got to me.

“It's not good enough?” she asked, her black eyes glistening.

“Do you still think I've got some kind of twisted kink?” I asked.

“I'm still not sure what your intentions are,” she said with a shake of her head.

“You know for a smart person you're pretty stupid.”

She frowned at the floor. “Yeah, this isn't the first time I've realized that.”

“My intentions…” I stood up straighter. “…are to protect you, and keep you company while you work on a cure. And if you find yourself ingratiated enough to name it after me when you're done, so be it.” I gave her a wink and she smiled. “I won't even demand royalties. Just an honorary doctorate, maybe.”

She smiled. “I'm sorry I doubted you. I'll beg you to stay if you want. You've earned some begging.”

“In just the bra?” I joked. She looked away in embarrassment. “Hey, I'm kidding! I'll take a rain check on the begging. I'm guessing you have these little episodes a lot so I'll wait for the next one.”

She nodded. “That's probably a good idea. I'm sorry I'm such a pain.”

“You are under
a lot
of pressure, Em. I'm not surprised you snap sometimes.”

“Still, I shouldn't snap at you. That's not fair. I'm truly sorry.”

“I'm the only one here, so unfortunately the responsibility of being snapped at falls solely on me.”

“I'll try to direct it toward an inanimate object next time.”

“Like whatever you threw against the wall?” I raised a brow.

She covered her face again. “Yes. Like that.”

I went to the kitchen to get the broom and the dustpan.

“I can do that.” She quickly took them off me as I followed her back into the lab. “In my defense it was already broken when I unpacked it so it wasn't like I wasted anything useful.”

I smiled. She didn't need to justify a mismanagement of financial resources to me. I could easily be considered a freeloader.

I looked around at the clean white walls, ceiling and floor. “This room is so white. It's a bit off-putting. It's no wonder you feel like snapping.”

“I wish I didn't need to sleep so long. I used to be able to work around the clock when I was developing something. Now my brain shuts down whether I want it to or not. It's so frustrating.” She continued unpacking and setting things up. “Thank you again for staying. I am sorry you have to share a house with a crazy person. I thought you would want to go home. Or maybe you had another job waiting.”

“No,” I answered steadily. “I don't.”

“You don't what? Want to go home or have a job waiting?”

“Hunters work for Homeland Security, but we're independent contractors. I can take as few or as many jobs as I want. As far as anyone's concerned, I'm on vacation.” She smiled a little.

“It will be nice to have company.” She smiled a bit more.

The lab was mostly set up by the time she started to wind down. She gave me a few projects to finish while she was sleeping, after asking me several times if I minded. I didn't.

The next night she went to the lab as soon as she was awake. Everything was to her liking. I could tell the way she inspected my work and thanked me over and over.

“Hungry?” I held up a bag. “There is a stash in this little refrigerator here.” I pointed under the counter. “At least until you need it for something else.”

“Thank you,” she said yet again.

“So what do you normally do when you're trying to come up with something?” I asked, wanting to help. “You know, a big idea?”

“Aside from staying awake, I used to take long baths. I also ate lots of junk food.”

Baths were easy enough. Junk food? Not so much. “What else inspires you?”

“When I came up with the base for Zentricol I was getting my hair cut. I left the salon with my hair wet. I was still wearing the cape.” She laughed at the memory and then turned sad. “Can't do that either.” She shrugged.

“No. We can't leave, and trust me, you
really
don't want me cutting your hair.”

She sat on the stool and put her elbows on the counter.

“We'll think of something,” I said. “Don't worry about it.”

“Don't worry about it?” she raised her eyebrows. “I've been worrying about it since I had to dig myself out of the ground.”

I nodded, feeling stupid.

“I wish I had the notes from my hotel room.”

I frowned. “I didn't see a notebook or I would have packed it.”

“They weren't in a notebook. I have a kind of organic chaos process when I'm following up an idea. They were cross connected on the walls.”

“Damn! I totally forgot.” I pulled my phone from my back pocket. “I took pictures.”

“Are you serious?” she seemed excited.

“Yeah. I didn't know what it all said, but I thought it might be important.”

She laughed when she looked at the screen then started writing down some key notes in a notebook. Later we could print off the lot of them on the lab's printer. “Well that's a good place to start. You are amazing, Dillon!”

I tried to hide my embarrassment. I stayed for a few hours while we talked about non-science related subjects. What classes I liked in school. How many grades she had skipped because she was so freakin' smart. It was a lot.

We also talked about how much trouble we got into. I wasn't surprised to learn she had been grounded a lot.

She was laughing at a story about my first dog when the new cell phone her father gave her rang. I watched as she checked the caller ID and the smile fell from her face.

“Damn it, Daddy!” she huffed, but didn't answer the call. “I guess I need to get ready for sleep.” She was winding down, even though she seemed to want to ignore the feeling. She was so stubborn.

“Yes,” I nodded, checking my own phone for the time.

When I walked into her room later to make sure she was sleeping safely, I saw her phone lying on the stand next to her bed.

Part of me wanted to see who had called and upset her, but I didn't want to betray her trust after I had finally earned it. Besides, I had a feeling I already knew.

I also wanted to sit next to her, but once again the trust thing kept me from doing what I wanted. This was a job. We had to be professionals.

I sat out on the deck and eventually trudged up to bed to go to sleep. It was becoming my new routine.

When she woke up, Emery had sent me to town with a list of ingredients. She thought compiling a three course meal might spark an idea.

“It's all about letting the mind wander,” she said as she worked in the kitchen. If she was as much of a powerhouse in the lab, she really was a genius.

I felt guilty eating the amazing meal she'd prepared when she couldn't enjoy it with me.

“Go ahead and eat,” she prodded while pointing to the salad and homemade rolls. “Don't worry about me.”

I was about to dig in when my phone rang, startling me.