WINDOW OF TIME (22 page)

Adam grinned. “Did I?”

Sunny let out a fast breath. “I can’t believe you.” She ignored the satisfied look on the pilot’s face and walked around him. The sand made their steps relatively silent. She figured the outside fence to the compound wasn’t too far ahead. A hundred yards closer and Sunny touched a button on her camera, turning it on. The lens cap automatically dropped away and dangled from a short cord. The roofs of two buildings peeked from between the palm trees. She took a picture, then moved closer. Now she could see three identical buildings. After she made sure the next pictures turned out well, which they did, Sunny moved closer and stopped beside a bushy palm and knelt down.

“There isn’t any activity,” Adam said, kneeling beside her. “Why take so many pictures of the same buildings?”

Sunny pointed toward the compound. “I have a clear view of the center. Since I already have those buildings documented, I want to capture any people, and I think that when someone in the compound goes anywhere, they will need to walk through there. When they do, I’ll get their picture.”

Adam nodded. “Makes sense.” He dropped down onto his butt, getting comfortable. “This could take a while.” He leaned his shoulder against Sunny. “Want a drink?”

“I’m good.” Sunny kept her camera up, looking through the lens like a binocular.

As the time passed, she heard Adam riffle through her backpack. The sound of thin plastic being torn apart preceding the faint aroma of chocolate told her that he’d found the stash of her favorite granola bars. Surprisingly, he didn’t bother asking if she wanted anything to eat. Of course, she would’ve said no, but he should’ve asked anyway. It annoyed her. He annoyed her, with the way he kept brushing up against her every time he moved. Like their little bit of desert island wasn’t wide enough to keep him from rubbing against her?

After a few hours of sitting in the warm sand with the sun in her face, her thirst became too much to ignore. “Is there any water left?”

“I’m not sure.” Adam picked up her backpack and opened the zipper all the way. “How many bottles did you bring?”

“Two.”

Adam stopped looking. “Then, no.”

Sunny picked up her camera again, held it up to her eye, and tried very hard not to sigh too loudly.

“I didn’t know we were going to be here so long, or I would’ve rationed what we had,” he told her.

“It’s okay.”

The sun was nearly down behind the buildings, and still nobody had walked through the center of the compound. The whole afternoon seemed like a waste of time; with the exception of a few pictures of the buildings, there had been no activity. Sunny was fairly sure that the agency’s satellite had most likely flown over that morning and shot exceptional, clear pictures of the place. Unless they didn’t think about positioning a satellite to cover the island. Or maybe the place was deserted. Could that be the reason for Lucy’s mission? Had Brockway told her to actually go into the compound and look around?

“We should be getting back,” Adam said, zipping her backpack up again. “It’s getting late, and I’m hungry.” He stood up and shrugged on the backpack.

Her finger reflexively pushed the shutter button, taking another picture. “In a few more minutes.”

“Come on, Doc. Just what do you think you’re going to see that you haven’t seen in the past four hours?” He tapped her shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Maybe Adam was right. Sunny had thought she would be helping Lucy in doing surveillance, yet all she’d accomplished was finding out that Adam was a first-rate flirt.

“You’re probably right.” A moment before she went to lower her camera, movement caught her attention. “Wait! I see something.” With a touch of a button, she focused in closer and quickly snapped a couple of pictures of men coming out of the building across the center yard.

“Sunny …”

Adam’s voice had an edge to it. She froze when she realized the men were carrying rifles. “They aren’t headed toward us—are they?”

Adam knelt down next to again. “Quiet …” He pushed his shoulder in front of her, tilting his head out far enough to look around the bushy dried palms. With one hand, he pressed Sunny down closer to the ground. She didn’t resist, and she flattened herself to the sand with her heart pounding in her throat. Had she miscalculated? Did they stay too long? Were they seen?

Adam cursed under his breath and whispered, “I think they know we’re here.”

“Oh, Adam … what do we do?” Sunny looked back toward the road. She couldn’t see it through all the bushes, but she knew it was there. “Should we try to run?”

“Hell yes, and right now!” He stood up, hauling her to her feet as he turned away from the men approaching.

With his hand clenched around her arm, Adam ran hunched over. Sunny followed beside him, trying not to trip during their fast escape. Yelling from behind them amped her pulse even faster. When someone pulled her from Adam’s grip, Sunny screamed and swung her camera around into the head of the man who had grabbed her. She heard Adam yell her name just before the man she’d hit punched her face—and then the world went dark.

“I’ll raise you five,” Rocky said, dropping a red plastic disk onto the seat between him and Johnny.

“Okay … I’ll call.” Johnny placed his chip on the pile. “Show me what you’ve got, hot shot.”

Rocky groaned, throwing his cards, face down, onto the seat. “You’re hard to bluff, Cartwright.”

Grinning, Johnny glanced down the aisle at Dusty. “Don’t take it personally. I’ve learned from the best.” He stood up and stretched his arms up, touching the plane’s ceiling while feeling his muscles lengthen, releasing the tension from his body. Lucy had been sleeping for over four hours, thanks to Sunny’s unexpected intervention. Dusty had been sitting on the Murphy bed across from Lucy since Sunny left. Every so often he’d take her temperature and pulse and write the results down on a chart Sunny had started before leaving with Adam.

Sitting down beside his best friend, Johnny asked, “How are you doing?”

“Me?” Dusty exhaled loudly. “I would have thought you would’ve asked about your girlfriend.”

“She’s fine,” Johnny said as he leaned forward and took her hand. “But you’re worried about Sunny.”

“Yeah, for good reason.” He leaned against his knees with his elbows. “I don’t know how long they’re going to be gone.”

Lucy’s hand moved.

“I think her sedation’s wearing off,” Johnny said quietly.

“It’s about that time.”

Rocky stepped nearer. “Then you’d better get your story straight as to why she’s here and her doctor isn’t.”

Dusty took the satellite phone from his pant’s pocket when it vibrated. “She may be able to explain it to Lucy herself,” he said, grinning as he opened the small phone and touched the speakerphone button. “It’s about time you called.”

“Excuse me?” Brockway demanded. “I need to talk to Agent James immediately.”

“Who is this?” Dusty stared at Johnny.

“I’m Assistant Director James Brockway, Agent James’s boss. I need to speak to her now.”

“Uh, Mr. Brockway, Lucy, uh, she’s unconscious.”

“What?” Brockway asked loudly. “Why? What happened?”

Dusty stood up, paced to the door, and looked out the window. “Sunny—Dr. Pettigrew gave her a sedative because Lucy has pneumonia and wouldn’t rest.”

“Wake her up now!” Brockway said, shouting.

“Why? What’s so urgent?” Dusty turned to Johnny and said, “Something’s wrong!”

“We’ve been monitoring the mission via satellite. Agent Sanderson and Dr. Pettigrew are in trouble. They’ve been taken into the compound.”

“Is she …” Dusty faltered, stumbled over his words. “Is Sunny hurt?”

“They didn’t go quietly. Wake Agent James up. She needs to go after them
now
.”

“Can I call you back, Mr. Brockway?”

“No. I’ll give you five minutes to wake her up and I’ll call you.”

Dusty touched the phone off and quickly opened Sunny’s medical bag. The compartment holding the drugs had several different vials inside. Dusty took them all out and started reading the labels. “Johnny, put oh-two on her. See if that wakes her up before I give her a stimulant.”

“No! Put those away, Dusty, and calm down,” Johnny stood rigid between him and Lucy. He wouldn’t let a stimulant be used on her. She still had a concussion, and the dangers from artificially raised pressure in her brain were too great.

Dusty sat down heavily on the bed and put his face in his hands. “They hurt her, Johnny.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I should have gone with her.”

“She wouldn’t let you,” Rocky said.

“Yeah, I know.”

Johnny found a small green oxygen tank in his medic bag and unwound the mask hanging from the top. He quickly strapped the clear mask over Lucy’s nose and mouth before twisting the tank’s valve. The subtle hiss of the gas was audible. Along with the oxygen, Johnny tried to rouse her, slapping her face—not hard, but enough to make a sharp sound. “Lucy! Wake up!” She moved her head and took a deeper breath. “Lucy, wake up!” They got nothing more. “Lucy, wake up, or I’ll take you into a cold shower.”

“No,” Lucy moaned, pushing him away.

“Open your eyes, Agent James,” Dusty said authoritatively. “James Brockway is on the telephone.”

Lucy’s breathing changed. It became shallow and quick. She seemed panicked.

“Lucy, honey,” Johnny said lowly, his face near hers, “I need you to wake up for me. We need you.
I
need you.” Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused. “Take some deep breaths, honey. The oxygen will help you feel better.” She understood him and did as he asked. Her chest rose slower, and after a few moments her eyes locked onto his.

“Johnny …”

Her muffled, whispered voice sounded weak. “Take a few more deep breaths, honey. Come on, breathe deeply for me.” Johnny stroked her warm forehead. “We have a problem, and Sunny needs your help.”

“Sunny?” Lucy licked her lips.

“Dusty, get her some water.”

“I’ll do it,” Rocky said, and walked away.

“Yes, Lu. I—I’m not sure how to tell you this.” Johnny glanced up at Dusty’s grave face. “Sunny left with Adam after noon today, and, well, she wanted you to rest because of how sick you are. She said she was going to take surveillance pictures from outside of the compound’s fence, and …”

“Tell me,” Lucy whispered.

“Your boss just called. Mr. Brockway said that they’ve been watching the mission by satellite, and he saw Adam and Sunny being taken into the compound a few minutes ago.”

Lucy put her hand over the plastic mask, her breathing becoming frantic. Johnny took the mask from her face, afraid she’d hyperventilate and get sick. “Why did she go?” Lucy asked.

“She did it for you,” Rocky said. He had a bottle of water in his hand.

“No,” Lucy said a little stronger. “That’s bull. I don’t believe it.” She rolled up onto one elbow, staring at Dusty. “What happened to me again?”

“Instead of injecting you with B-1, she gave you a sedative and knocked you out,” Dusty said. “Can you go get her? Can you save her and Adam from that compound?”

Johnny handed her the water. After she swallowed a mouthful, she moved her feet to the floor and sat upright, taking a few more swallows of the cool liquid.

“Lu,” Johnny asked. “What are you going to do?”

Handing the bottle to Johnny, she glanced at each of the three men around her before she said, “After we retrieve them from out of that compound, I plan on finding out what was so important that it cost Gabe his life before I blow up the whole damn place.” Then she glared at Dusty. “And then after we get Sunny back here safe and sound, I’ll kill her myself.”

“The mission has changed, sir,” Lucy said into the small phone, a cough drop tucked in her cheek, slowly dissolving, to keep her boss from knowing how sick she was. But what Sunny had done complicated things immensely. “It’s now a rescue mission.”

Brockway said, “I can understand how you feel. But you still have your first assignment to fulfill. There are reasons those people are so protective of that place, and they’re willing to kill to keep their secrets.”

The sun had set. Lucy stared out the window into the growing darkness. She knew all about secrets, but she wouldn’t kill to keep others from finding out about hers. “I thought you said you didn’t have enough probable cause to use a satellite to watch the compound. What changed?” She waited for an answer. “Sir?”

“Yes, I’m here.”

“You’re following me. Is it because you don’t trust me?”

“No, Agent James, that’s not it. And I can’t explain my reasoning. It’s …”

When he paused for too long, Lucy asked, “Does anybody else know about your vicarious interloping?’

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Um, my wife.”

Lucy smiled. “Your wife? A civilian?”