Laura woke up with a yawn and looked around. They were still in the car, only the smooth highway roads had changed to long winding country roads, sprayed with forests on one side and rolling hills and distant mountains on the other.
"Where are we?" she asked Ji Hoon.
"Saddlehorn Mountain. It's just a little way till the safe house." he said.
"We're gonna stay on a mountain?" Laura asked with incredulity.
"Not on. In." Ji Hoon said, pointing to a low range mountain. It appeared like he was going straight into the wall of the mountain which was covered in thick ivy trellises. But the car passed through the curtain of leaves, into a dark cave.
"Whoa –" Laura began, as they came into an opening full of light. It was like being in the hollow of the mountain, with the top open like a volcano, letting in a spot full of sunlight. There were even a few trees, shedding their leaves freely creating a crunchy carpet over the sand. Jutting into the space was a rock structure with windows and a door.
"Is that -?" Laura asked.
"Yes. The safe house. It's completely hidden and lined with bomb proof material. It's a good way from nearby villages but we won't need to get out too often." Ji Hoon said. He parked the car in front of the house structure and they got out.
"One last thing to do..." Ji Hoon said, bending down and looking for something on the ground. He straightened up when he found it – a lever buried under the sand and leaves. He kicked it and a grinding sound followed, startling Laura. A thick metal door like that of a garage lowered down from inside the rock tunnel they had just come through.
"Now we're safe. No one will find us. It's just you and me for a while." Ji Hoon said with a half-smile. Laura didn't know whether to feel relieved or nervous at that.
"What about food? And water?" she asked.
"Don't worry, this place is stocked up. There's a spring that runs through the mountain. We can get fresh water from there. This place even has electricity and plumbing."
"Oh, good. For a moment there I thought we'd have to live like the Stone Age." Laura said relaxing. Ji Hoon grinned as he unloaded the bags. Laura followed him into the house, carrying the small bag he had asked her to bring.
"Ah, I should warn you – there's no wifi. There's TV and cable though." Ji Hoon said.
"What about bedrooms?" Laura asked. Ji Hoon hesitated for a moment.
"There's only one bedroom. I'll take the couch." He said. Laura's mouth hung open.
"But –"
"I'm just gonna use the bathroom first okay? I need to change out of these bloody clothes." Ji Hoon said, hastily running through the bathroom door. Laura stared at the door. She turned to the rough looking green couch in front of the TV.
"It looks so uncomfortable... and he's way too tall for it. His legs will stick out..." she said. She walked around the room, taking in the furnishing. It was plain but provided the bare essentials. There was an open kitchen with an island, an oven and induction stove, two chairs, and a fridge. The living room was a wide carpeted space with just the couch, a tiny coffee table, lampshade and TV. In a separate room, cut off by a wall with no door hung a punching bag from the ceiling. Next to it was a pair of racquets and a ball.
"I wonder if he owns this place..." she said. She went over to the lamp to turn it on but nothing happened.
"Hmm... maybe the switchbox is off." She said to herself. The bathroom door opened and Ji Hoon came out wearing only pants and a short towel slung on his neck, his hair moist and shiny from a shower. Laura turned to him and nearly choked seeing him shirtless, a thin silver chain with a rectangle tag swinging from his neck.
"Y-you're not dressed..." she muttered. She tried to look at anything else for a distraction, but his ivory toned torso and smooth chest seemed to magnetically draw her eyes. Ji Hoon noticed her standing by the lamp.
"I didn't turn on the power did I? Hang on, I'll get that." he said going outside. The light came on immediately and he came back.
"You can get hot water in a bit." he said wiping his hair. Laura nodded trying to keep her eyes off him. He went to his bag and bent down to get a shirt when he winced. Laura heard and turned to him.
"Are you okay?" she asked. She suddenly spotted a purple bruise on the side of his stomach and gasped.
"You're hurt!" she exclaimed. Ji Hoon covered the area with his hand.
"It's just a bruise. It's nothing." He said.
"You need an ice pack! Oh but the fridge won't have any ice yet... a hot pack!" she said, pulling out her hanky. She went and filled the kettle and hunted for a bowl.
"What are you gonna do with that?" Ji Hoon asked. She didn't answer but continued working until she had a bowlful of hot water ready from the kettle.
"Sit down." She commanded, setting the bowl on the coffee table. She soaked the hanky in it, squeezed the water out and covered his bruise with it.
"Ah, ah, that's hot." Ji Hoon said, moving away. Laura frowned.
"You deal with guns and assassins and you're afraid of a little heat?" she asked. He remained silent letting her work.
"You didn't have to do this, you know. I've been through worse." He said after a minute. Laura halted for a moment before looking up.
"I couldn't leave it without doing anything." She said, meeting his eyes. She continued to apply the heat until the water cooled off.
"The ice should be ready now." She said going to the fridge. "Do you have any ice packs?"
"Yes, a few." Ji Hoon said. Laura came back with one and gently held it to his side. Ji Hoon watched her with an unreadable look in his eyes.
"Why? Do I have some dirt on my face?" Laura asked knowing his eyes were on her.
"No." Ji Hoon said. "I'm just not used to being taken care of."
"Hmm. You must've been independent for a while now." Laura said, still trying not to think how hot he looked shirtless. He didn't answer.
"You must have a first aid kit, right? There should be some gel for bruises in it." she said.
"Later." He said getting up. He put on a shirt and went to the kitchen, taking out some bowls and cutlery.
"What are you doing?" Laura asked.
"Making breakfast. You haven't eaten anything yet and it's almost eleven thirty." He said. He paused and turned around. "I hope coffee and ramen won't be too much of a step down for you. It'll take awhile to make anything else." Laura shook her head.
"It's fine." She said. She looked for the TV remote.
"So, do you own this place? How did you come across it?" she asked.
"Found it." Ji Hoon said shortly. Laura circled her tongue in her mouth; he had gone back to his volunteer-no-information self.
"Have you stayed here before?" she probed.
"Once."
"Why?" Ji Hoon's prolonged silence didn't go unheard by Laura. She gave up hoping for an answer after a minute when he finally responded.
"Same reason as you." he said, turning to look at her. "To not get killed." Laura felt a cold wind pass through her as she saw the hollow look in his eyes.
"You really must've been through a lot." She stated, but not pryingly. Ji Hoon remained silent, bringing a tray with two bowls and coffee cups to the table.
"Eat. You look like you need food." He said. Laura smiled.
"Why? Do I look skinny? I thought Korean guys like skinny girls." She teased. Ji Hoon stared at her in disbelief.
"What?" she asked.
"I'm just shocked. You almost got poisoned last night, killed this morning, had to get out of the state to stay alive and now you're making jokes?" he asked. Laura sipped the coffee. That's not all that happened in the last twenty-four hours, she thought privately.
"I'm still alive thanks to you. I'm grateful for that. I can't really ask for anything more at the moment." She said, staring at her coffee. Ji Hoon studied her for a moment before getting up and taking his bag.
"What are you doing?" Laura asked, seeing him rummaging it.
"Looking for – ah, there they are." He took out a series of devices and started flipping switches on them.
"Are those trackers?" Laura asked.
"No, but they can be used to track us. That's why I'm disconnecting them. We can't have any communication for a few days. Until I assess the situation."
"What about groceries? Don't we have to go shopping sometime?"
"This place is stocked for the time being. Andrew had this place prepared since you came home from the hospital."
"Oh." Laura looked around while he worked, stirring her noodle bowl. A lot of preparation must have gone into the plan to keep her safe...
"Are those yours?" she asked, indicating the punching bag and racquets.
"Yes."
"The punching bag I get, but I didn't take you to be a racquetball kind of guy."
"It's one of the few sports one can play alone."
"Does that mean you're not gonna show me how to play?" Ji Hoon looked up at that.
"You do know we're on the run, right?" he asked as though unsure if she fully grasped the situation. She pouted.
"I was just trying to make conversation..." she trailed off dejectedly. Ji Hoon's eyes softened.
"I'll show you how to play later." He said less surly. Laura's mouth turned up.
"For now, why don't you watch some TV? That'll keep you distracted so you don't ask me a million questions." He said with a sly smile, taking the remote from her and turning the TV on. Laura rolled her eyes.
"Pft, It wasn't even twenty questions." She mumbled. She turned her attention to a news channel that came on.
"I know it can get kind of boring here but try to make the best of it okay? Laura?" he turned to her when he didn't get an answer. Her eyes were transfixed on the TV, her face white with horror. Her voice quivered when she spoke.
"Talavera Group... it's been bombed..."
Andrew walked from left to right feeling like he was near a nervous breakdown. It was just last night that Ji Hoon had desperately called him asking for the doctor. He had alerted doctor Garner, the family physician immediately and sent him to Fort Estienne. Something was wrong with Laura; the stress from telling Jason Talavera about it made his blood pressure rise. But Ji Hoon called him a few hours later and reported that she was okay – stable at least. He gave a full account of what happened with Luke Wetmore.
"I want that," Ji Hoon called Luke a name that would make one cringe, "thoroughly investigated this time. I won't let him anywhere near Laura again." Andrew sighed. Wetmore again. He would have to convince Jason that the Wetmores were not allies, but dangerous foes. More stress for him.
He would also have to decide what to report about Ji Hoon – Jason Talavera might not keep him if he knew his daughter had been endangered on his watch. The burden of getting Ji Hoon fired lay heavily on Andrew's shoulders. What was he to do?
And then things started to spiral downwards from this morning. He had reached his office early when the head of security at Talavera Group came to him.
"Is Mr. Talavera in? There's an urgent report I need to get to him."
"No, he'll come by nine. What is it?"
"It's about our new security team employees – the ones we hired last week. They claimed Mr. Talavera had deployed them to Fort Estienne to protect Miss Laura."
"What? I never heard of this." Andrew said, frowning.
"Me neither. They didn't report to me. They left early this morning though."
"Mr. Talavera would've asked me if he wanted a security team for - but Miss Laura already has a bodyguard. Why –" Andrew paused wondering if Mr. Talavera already found out about the drug incident with Luke.
"I just had to report it. I'll come back when the boss arrives." The head said and left. Andrew leaned on his knuckles on his desk, thinking. He dialed a number on his landline and waited. The line went dead without an answer.
"That's not good – Ji Hoon always answers." Andrew muttered, getting a little worried. He tried calling the landline at Fort Estienne but there was no answer there either. He tried Laura's cell and it was turned off.
"This is bad." He said, panicking. He put on an earpiece similar to the one Ji Hoon had.
"This is Needle Tail, come in, Blue Jay! Is the Mockingbird secure?" he asked. There was no answer but a distinct static.
"Someone has to go check on them." he said to himself hurriedly dialing a new number on his phone. But before it could ring, there was a loud boom, like an explosion or something heavy falling from a great height and the entire building shook. Andrew lost his balance and clung to the table for support.
"What the heck was that?!" he shouted. He scrambled out and went to the freight elevator which was the only safe one to use in an earthquake. The building seemed to rumble loudly as he went down. When he reached the ground floor, it was like stepping into a world of chaos. Half the building had been blown to bits, debris falling everywhere and small fires catching from open live wires. People were screaming running back and forth while the security guards tried to help them.
"What happened?!" Andrew asked one of the guards.
"We're not sure yet but we think it was a bomb. The building's not secure yet, we have to get everyone out of here!" he said coughing.
"Mr. Talavera!" a woman screamed. Andrew rushed forward to where a huge pile of debris lay. Half under it lay Mr. Talavera, unconscious.
"Quick, get him out of there!" Andrew ordered the guards. He quickly took out his phone calling nine one one and the fire department.
"We have to get him to the hospital..."
Three hours later, Andrew was seated in the waiting room outside the OR. Jason Talavera's surgery hadn't finished and it was past noon. He sighed heavily. With everything that happened, he felt worn and exhausted. And it still wasn't over.
He looked at the phone in his hand as though waiting for a call. He had found out earlier that the mysterious security team Mr. Talavera allegedly sent to Fort Estienne was fake; they had swiped a pass card to get in and now they hadn't returned to the company. Andrew clutched his hair. They had obviously infiltrated the company to find a way to get Laura. And now...
The phone lit up with a number and he sat bolt upright, answering it.
"Yes? Are they okay? Did you find them?" he asked rapidly. His shoulders sank at the answer and his face paled.
"Ransacked... and they're gone... the car too... okay, keep searching." Andrew cut the call and dropped his head in his hands. Ji Hoon and Laura were missing; were they even alive? How would he break this to Mr. Talavera? Especially after everything that happened with the bomb?
"Ji Hoon, where are you? I hope you and Laura are safe." he said to himself in a hoarse voice.