PROLOGUE
D005 stood in the white, sterile-looking room; her feet spread hip width apart. The Colt she held in her right hand hung loosely at her side. Her expression said she was bored. At least that is the way she would look to an outsider. But she wasn’t. She was never relaxed. Right now every muscle in her body was at the ready.
There was just one window in the room, off to her left side. It displayed an outdoor scene of wild grasses dotted with dandelions, towering oak trees marked the edge of a forest in the distance and a stunning cloudless sky rose up above that. It looked perfectly real, but she knew that it wasn’t. It was really a two-way mirror. They were there on the other side, watching her. Always watching her. Testing her. Everything was always a test. A test that could not be failed. Fail and you disappear. She didn’t want to disappear – although she did wonder sometimes if it might be better than the life she and the others had.
A man, or maybe a woman, sat on a metal chair in the middle of the room with his (or her) arms tied around the back of the chair. There was a black hood over his (or her) head. D005 wasn’t sure what, but something did not seem right here. Something was wrong. Commander stepped forward from where he was standing at her side and yanked the hood off the person. A man then. She could see the terror in his eyes. A gag in his mouth silenced him. The man’s eyes darted around the room before they landed on her. On her gun. His eyes widened and shot up to meet hers. His eyes. They pleaded with her. Looking into his eyes something squeezed tight in her chest. Some feeling she had never felt before in all her years. She tore her gaze away from the man, not knowing what to make of that feeling. She looked to Commander for her orders instead. His narrowed hard steel gray eyes stared back at her, assessing her. Everything was always a test.
“Kill him.” Came the simple two word order.
D005’s gaze focused back on the trembling man in the chair. Raising her arm she leveled the gun, bringing up her left hand to join its mate on the butt of the gun. Looking down the barrel of the gun she found herself staring into the man’s eyes again. Hesitating. She never hesitates.
“Shoot him!” Commander barked out.
This is not right she thought. She isn’t supposed to think. She knows that. She is just supposed to do. Just supposed to follow orders. She never failed. Never came close to failing. But somehow she knew. She knew she would fail today.
“Shoot him!”
Blinking, D005 lowered her gun and turned toward Commander. “No.” She said firmly.
“What did you say?”
She didn’t think she had ever heard anyone tell him no before. Certainly none of them ever had. She narrowed her eyes at him. “I said no.” She repeated. She wasn’t completely sure why she couldn’t, but for some reason, after looking into the man’s eyes she just could not bring herself to kill him.
Commander strode over to her, bending slightly to push his face in front of hers. “D005 you are to follow your orders and your orders are to kill this man. Now obey your orders.” He snarled.
“I said no.” She repeated once more, saying each word carefully and slowly.
Before she knew what was happening Commander drew his own Colt from the holster at his hip and fired a round into the man without taking his eyes off her. D005 nearly flinched. Nearly. But she didn’t. She did not even turn to look at the man again; instead she kept her gaze trained on Commander. “Halloway! Chapman! Get in here!” Commander hollered, his eyes still piercing her. The two hulking guards in their grey uniforms slunk into the room.
“Yes, sir?” The one on the right asked. She was pretty sure he was the one called Halloway. He was actually one of the nicer guards and was not as strict with her and the others.
“Get her out of here.” He said, inclining his head toward her. “You know what to do.”
Halloway and Chapman glanced at each other. “Are you sure sir? It is after all-“
“Of course I’m sure,” he snapped, “You know the rules. Now get rid of her.”
It looked like D005 was going to find out where everyone went when they disappeared after all because that is exactly what was going to happen to her now. She was going to disappear, just like a number of others had done over the years. She wasn’t stupid. Actually she was ridiculously smart. She knew what happened when the others disappeared. They all knew it. They just called it disappearing because it was better than admitting that someone they had known their whole lives had been “put down.” Like they were animals. That’s how these people saw them.
After a slight hesitation, Halloway and Chapman each grabbed one of her arms and tugged her out of the room after them. D005 looked over her shoulder at Commander on her way through the door. He was still glaring after her, his eyes dark and stormy. Halloway and Chapman led her through a series of hallways until they came to a stop at a door with a keypad to the left of it. Chapman reached out, quickly punching in a set of numbers. 33246. Her eyes caught the numbers despite his quick movements. The door slid open and then they were through it. She had never been this way before.
“You should have done as you were told kid.” Halloway mumbled under his breath to her, his eyes remaining forward.
“I couldn’t.” D005 whispered back.
Halloway grunted in response. “Don’t think they were expecting that from you.”
She didn’t answer. No. They did not expect that response from her. She had always excelled at everything they had thrown at her. She didn’t think that made her any more special than any of the others. She just pushed herself harder because she didn’t want to have to deal with the punishments that some of the others had to deal with because they were slower or screwed something minor up. Or whatever. Life sucked as it was. She just didn’t see the point in making it harder for herself.
They were coming up on a larger, open area. Her eyes flicked around it, taking it all in. Analyzing. A large, enclosed desk area was off to the right of the hallway they would be exiting from with a dozen computer monitors. Each flickered from one scene to another, showing room after room, hallway after hallway. Security. The chair at the desk sat empty. Underneath the counter of the desk was a red button. Wait a second. That last scene on one of the monitors had been of the outside. She was sure of it. Maybe- She quickly took in the rest of the area. There was one hallway off to the right of the desk, leading back further into the facility. One hallway directly across from the hallway they would be exiting in thirty seconds. And then-yes that is what she needed. Off to the left was a set of heavy-duty glass doors. Ten seconds. She sent a silent apology to the two guards at her sides. She would try not to hurt them too much. After all they didn’t seem too bad compared to some of the others.
With that she slammed herself into Halloway, pushing him into the wall. Choosing him first as he was the larger and more experienced (she was pretty sure she could remember him far back in her memory) of the two. There was a loud crack as his head hit the solid wall and his hulking form crumpled quickly to the floor. Lying still where he fell. Well that had been easier than she had expected. Chapman was already bringing up his stun-stick from where it was holstered at his hip and she moved quickly to disarm him. She flew across the gap between them. A kick to his wrist and the stun-stick fell from his grasp - useless. Grabbing his wrist with her left hand D005 yanked his arm back and up, swinging her body around behind him while bringing her left foot up and down right behind his knee forcing him into a kneel. Simultaneously her right hand came up around Chapman’s neck, her fingers closing in and pressing in on his carotid artery. He fought back of course, but his efforts were in vain. She held him in check. Despite his size, she was stronger. Her movements were quick. Graceful. Effortless.
It was not long before he was out. Just unconscious – she did not want to kill the man. Then D005 was flying to the desk, throwing herself over it and slapping her palm against the red button under the counter. Then she was back over the desk and flying to the glass doors, pushing them open. Her feet pounded against the dirt on the ground that was in a slight incline as she ran through the tunnel outside the doors. She heard shouting from inside followed by an alarm sounding. She forced her feet to move even faster. There was an opening up ahead and she soon flew through it. The sound of running feet and more shouting could be heard from behind her. Dogs barking. Casting a glance around D005 took in her surroundings. She and the others had rarely been outside. It was dark out. Night time. The opening she had just emerged from was at the base of a cliff. There was a small clearing off to her right and directly in front of her leading to the opening was a dirt road. Around the clearing and on the other side of the road it was thick with trees.
Briefly D005’s thoughts turned to her biological brother back inside. He would be fine really. As long as he obeyed his orders and didn’t fail. She bit her lip. She didn’t want to leave him behind, even though they barely knew each other since she and the others were seldom allowed to talk amongst themselves. Her heart still felt heavy with some emotion, some feeling she did not recognize. She would have to come back for him some how. Right now she had to get away. If she were caught they would just kill her. And she would be of no use to anyone. She heard the dogs barking. They were getting closer. With that she turned to her right and took off into the forest.
She flew around the trees, ignoring the branches that tore through the nylon of her uniform, biting into her skin. She was not sure where she was going. She just knew she had to get away. Crashing behind her let her know that the guards had entered the forest as well. The dogs would be getting closer now. But she was faster.
She suddenly broke out from the trees and skidded to a halt before she ran herself over the cliff side whose edge was just ten feet away. There was nowhere to go. She was about to try slipping back into the trees and try going in a different direction when the dogs emerged from the forest. All six of them snapping and snarling at her, advancing on her as she backed up. Slowly they got closer and closer to the edge. The guards came crashing through the trees shortly after with Commander in the lead. There are eight guards plus Commander. Their faces were all red and they were breathing heavily. Half the guards had their guns drawn and the other half had their stun-sticks out. Commander held his Colt leveled at her, his gaze steely as it locked on hers. D005 suddenly knew that there was no way she was going back. Not alive anyway. If she were to die, it would be out here. Not that she wanted to die. She really didn’t. She just felt suddenly like she needed, wanted more. There had to be more to life besides the constant training, the orders, the rules, having every move you ever made watched and recorded. There had to be more. More what she didn’t know, but she wanted it. She glared back determinedly at Commander, matching his steely glare with her own.
“What do you think you are doing out here D005?” Commander practically growled, his lip turning up in a snarl. “You do not belong out here. Now you are going to march your ass back through that forest and back into the compound.”
D005 pressed her lips firmly together, crossed her arms over her chest and took another step backward in response.
“Right now D005.” Commander said firmly, fire shooting from his eyes.
Cocking her head to the side and quirking an eyebrow up she asked, “Why?”
There was a collective intake of breath from the guards gathered around Commander and their eyes darted between him and D005. Commander’s eyes narrowed at her and his jaw tensed. “Why? Why? You do not get to ask that. You follow your orders and that’s that.” He took a couple of steps closer, the guards following close at his heels. D005 took another big step backwards. There was the sound of rock falling against rock behind her and D005 knew without looking over her shoulder that she had come to the edge of the cliff. “You are coming back with us now.”
“Go back with you so that you can kill me anyway, right? I don’t think so.”
His right eye twitched as he glared at her. “You do not get to think.” He snarled. Commander’s eyes flicked down just slightly, his Colt following the movement.
The movement was barely noticeable, but D005 quick eyes caught it and that was why when the gun went off she dodged right and the bullet missed her leg by a hair. She was not so lucky with the next bullet that lodged itself in her left thigh causing a burning sensation to radiate in the surrounding area. D005 stumbled backwards at the impact and in surprise. She had been in pain before, but she had never been shot. Even with her surprise and the pain she would normally have recovered quickly. She had been trained to ignore pain and to work through it after all. The problem was that while she stumbled in surprise, she had forgotten that she was at the edge of the cliff and she found herself falling backward. She heard Commander cursing and him shouting orders that D005 wasn’t really paying attention to at the guards; she heard more shots being fired and the sound of feet running forward.
D005 felt the impact of more bullets but she was more focused on the rocks on the face of the cliff that her body careened towards after going over the side. She fell down and down. Crashing and sliding into and over boulders and branches that stuck out of the cliff. She felt darkness closing in on her as she suddenly flew away from the cliff side and plummeted down, breaking the water’s surface below just as her vision darkened completely.
CHAPTER ONE
Voices. Getting closer. A slight breeze brushed against her cheek and she could feel the heat of the sun beating down on her. She was outside? How did she get outside? She was laying on top of something – wait - more than one something sharp and hard. Shifting to try and get more comfortable, pain shot up and down her entire body. Gasping, her eyes popped open, but the pain was so great her vision was blurry and she could not make anything out. Why do I hurt so badly? It hurts just to breathe. She squeezed her eyes shut again.
The voices got louder. They sounded young. One boy and one girl. “Hey Brianna! Get over here!” The boy shouted from nearby.
“What is it Reid?” This from the girl.
“There’s someone down here!”
There was the sound of feet running over rocks and then the girl gasped. “Do you think she’s alive?”
“I don’t know. Can’t tell from here, but we should probably see if she needs help don’t you think? I mean, we can’t just leave her there.”
The girl must have agreed because the footsteps came clamoring towards where she lay rather than away. She opened her mouth to call out to them, but her throat did not want to cooperate. All she could manage was a moan. They must have heard her because their footsteps came faster. Their arrival next to her was announced by the crunch of rocks under their feet. As she sensed them crouching down next to her she suddenly felt vulnerable. Exposed. Get away! Get away! Her instincts screamed at her as her body tensed, ready for whatever she asked it to do even as they protested that little movement. She forced her muscles to relax. That’s crazy. She was not in any danger. They were just trying to help.
“Hey, are you okay?” The girl asked. She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned again.
The boy snorted. “Does she look okay to you Bri?”
“I was just asking-“
“Yeah, well she looks really beaten up.” He told her.
“Yeah, she does. What happened to you anyway?” She asked, directing the question at her. She groaned again.
“I don’t think she’s really up for talking.” The boy said and she felt someone lay their hands on her arm and shoulder. She had a feeling they were trying to be gentle and that they were just searching for injuries. And they had definitely found something because the pain she had been feeling increased fourfold. Her eyes flew open and she let out a strangled cry. The hands on her arm and shoulder were quickly yanked off. She squeezed her eyes shut again and began taking slow deep breaths.
“Okay.” The boy said slowly. “We need to call an ambulance and get her to the hospital.”
The girl groaned. “It will take them forever to get all the way out here. Maybe we should take her ourselves.”
“I don’t know. I’m a little scared to move her without knowing what is wrong with her. We could just end up hurting her more.”
“Well, what are we going to do then?”
They were quiet for a moment. “Call your brother. He would get here faster than the ambulance and he would know if it would be safe to move her or not.” The boy suggested.
“Good idea.” There was some shuffling around and then she heard the girl talking to someone on a phone. “Hey, I need you to come out to Weston Bend, down at the rocks by the river.” She broke off. “Because Reid and I found a girl down here and she is hurt really bad it looks like. I’m pretty sure she needs to go to the hospital.” There was a pause. “Because you’re closer! And Reid and I are scared to move her.” Another pause. “Uh huh.” The girl sighed. “Thank you. See you in a bit.” She heard a phone snapping shut. “He’ll be here in ten or fifteen minutes.”
“What was that all about?”
“You know how my brother can be. He is never happy to be interrupted for anything.” The girl crouched down next to her again. “Don’t worry; we’re going to get you out of here. Help is on the way.” She told her and then mumbled under her breath. “Grumpy help, but help nonetheless.”
The two of them decided that the girl would go out by the trail and watch for her brother, while the boy would stay with her. The boy-she assumed his name was Reid from the talking they had done-must have sensed she was in no mood to talk because he remained quiet as they waited. Meanwhile she kept taking slow deep breaths and focused on pushing the pain away. Eventually it actually started working and the excruciating pain she had been feeling, while still there, was reduced to the background. After about twelve minutes they heard a door slam.
“That must be Cormac.” Reid said for her benefit. Sure enough they soon heard approaching footsteps and voices.
“But Reid and I are really worried because she has been getting even paler than she already was when we found her; which is saying a lot because she was already super pale.” The girl – Brianna - was saying.
“Is she conscious? Talking?” A new male voice asked.
“I think she is still conscious, but barely. She has mostly kept her eyes shut, probably because she is in a lot of pain.” The girl paused. “It seems that way anyway. Reid barely touched her shoulder and arm before and she looked like she wanted to scream.” Another pause. “Oh, and no she has not said anything yet.”
She listened to their voices and footsteps getting closer and closer. “Holy shit.” The new male voice, which she assumed belonged to the brother, uttered. “What the hell happened to her? She looks like shit.” She was not sure but that sure did not sound like a compliment. Quite the opposite in fact.
“Like I said Mac, she isn’t exactly talking so I really couldn’t tell you.” The girl reminded him, both of their voices were coming from right next to her now. Someone crouched next to her, leaning slightly over her. She could feel their warm breath brush against her cheek momentarily, before the person inched back a little.
“Hey! Are you alive in there?” The brother said loudly right into her ear. She winced at his volume. The deep voice continued. ”Come on stop being a wuss. Open those eyes for me.”
“Mac!” His sister exclaimed.
“What?” He asked sounding annoyed. “I need to check her eyes to see if she has a concussion or not.” He explained to her without waiting for her answer to his question. “Hey!” He hollered into her ear again. “I’m not going to sit waiting on you all day.”
He didn’t have to worry. Something inside her had snapped at being called a wuss and at all the prodding. Anger welled up within her, pushing past all the aching body parts. Ignoring the pain, she forced her eyes to open and glared up at the grumpy male who had supposedly been called in to rescue her.
“There you are.” He said, his tone softening just a touch.
Her vision clearer now she took in as much of her surroundings as she could without moving any body parts. The first sight she took in being that of the brother crouched next to her. Gold flecks fought against the stormy grey of the ocean in the eyes that stared back at her. Those eyes seemed somehow sad, haunted almost. At the same time, gazing up at him she felt somehow calmer - like everything would be okay. Which was ridiculous but that is what she felt when she looked at him.
The brother, who appeared to be in his early twenties, had an angular face with prominent eyebrows and cheekbones and a long, straight nose. Jet black, unkempt and somewhat shaggy hair hung around his face. His golden skin, kissed by the sun, contrasted with the white t-shirt hugging his broad shoulders. Her gaze flicked to the other two hovering nearby. The other male - the aforementioned Reid - was probably seventeen or eighteen with neatly styled straw colored hair. Intelligent amber eyes peered out at her, his brow furrowed in concern. She guessed that he stood at about five foot ten and was covered in lean muscle.
His skin was just as golden as the brother’s. The girl – Brianna - was probably the same age as the boy named Reid. She looked a lot like her brother, just with obviously more feminine features. The prominent, high cheekbones were there, but she had softer facial features in general and a delicate bow-shaped mouth and her eyes were a darker gray and were missing the golden flecks. Wild jet black curls fell around her shoulder. Although she stood about the same height as Reid, her frame was slight rather than muscular. She also had golden skin, but it was lighter than either of the boys’. Currently she was worrying her lower lip between her teeth..
She settled her gaze back on the one Brianna had called Mac. “Well, her eyes look fine so I am pretty sure she doesn’t have a concussion.” He paused, frowning. “I am a little worried about this gash on her forehead though.” He said while brushing his fingers across her forehead. She winced as his fingers got close to the wound.
“Yeah, we saw that but it didn’t look like it was bleeding anymore.” Reid chimed in, crouching near her head to get a better look.
“It isn’t.” Mac assured him. “But it looks bad and it could have done some serious damage. These little scratches on her face I’m not too worried about, but - god she is just so bruised up. What the hell happened to you anyway?” He asked moving his gaze back to hers.
It took her several times trying to finally manage to get out, “Don’t remember.” Her voice came out hoarse and weary sounding. Mac’s brow furrowed and his lips pursed. Frowning at her, he sighed. “Where else are you hurting; besides your head obviously.”
“Everywhere.” She finally managed to croak out.
“Everywhere as in-“
“Everywhere.”
“Okay then.” His gaze left hers, traveling down the length of her body. Her eyes stayed on his as he did a quick visual examination. “Well, you’ve got scratches and cuts all over the place but nothing major as far as I can tell.” He said finally. “What is this you are wearing anyway? A wet suit?”
“Don’t know.” She croaked.
He frowned again and his brow furrowed deeper. “There isn’t a lake nearby for water skiing or anything. Why would you be wearing a wet suit?”
“Don’t know.” She repeated because she really did not have a clue.
“Mac can you just get on with it so we can get her to the hospital.” Brianna interjected.
He waved a dismissive hand at his sister. “Hold on. Let me feel for broken bones real quick and-“ He trailed off, his eyes riveted on her shoulder. “Shit.” He muttered.
“What?” Reid asked.
“Shit, shit, shit.”
“What Mac?” Reid asked him again, this time more forcibly.
Mac’s hands reached for her shoulder, his eyes leaving it to meet hers. “I’m going to have to rip this even more than it already is.”
“Umm, okay?”
The second his fingers grazed her shoulder pain rocketed down her arm. Drawing in a sharp breath, her body tensed up and she bit the inside of her lip to keep from crying out. After the initial shock and gasping in a deep breath of air, she was able to bring the pain under control much faster than before. Mac’s hands had stilled as soon as he felt her tense up, his eyes on hers, seeking her permission to continue. She gave him a small nod and worked on keeping her breathing even as she heard the fabric ripping and as his fingers probed gently around her shoulder. She saw something flicker briefly in his eyes before it disappeared and his brows drew together yet again. “Shit.” He mumbled again.
“For crying out loud Mac.” His sister said exasperated. “What?”
Mac’s gaze flicked over to his sister and Reid where they now stood on the other side of her body. “She’s been shot.” He said.
“Shot?” They both parroted, their voices filled with the same shock she felt at hearing that. All three pairs of eyes flew to her face, silently questioning her. Her own brows had furrowed in confusion. Shot? Why had she been shot? Who had shot her? She struggled to grasp some memory of it and failed. She could not remember how she had come to get that bullet wound in her shoulder.
As if sensing her confusion, Mac’s gaze left her face and returned to her shoulder and instead of voicing his question again, he continued his examination. “She’ll be okay though, right Mac? It is just her shoulder.” Brianna’s voice trembled as she asked. “I mean after we get her to the doctor anyway.”
“The shot in her shoulder should be fine once it is cleaned up and the doctor closes it up.” Mac assured her. “Although she has probably lost a lot of blood because of it. The thing is that if she was shot once, then there is a possibility that-“ His voice trailed off as his eyes quickly dropped from her shoulder to roam the rest of her body, stilling on her abdomen. “Shit.” He muttered yet again. Pain flared up before she got control of it and she gasped in another deep breath as his hands flew to where his eyes were fixated on her left side. Raising one of his hands back up, the others saw that it was bloody. “Shit, shit, shit.” She heard the other two gasp. “She’s still bleeding from this one.” He explained as his free hand went down to the edge of his t-shirt. Grabbing it, he pulled it up and over his head, letting it fall down his arm to join his other hand still pressed against the wound. Once the fabric was against it, both of his hands pressed hard against it sending a new wave of pain through her entire mid section as the pressure mounted. She put more of her focus on her breathing to control it.
“We need to get her to the hospital now.” Mac said with a note of authority in his voice. “She could be bleeding internally for all we know. Reid you get over here and put pressure on this. I’m going to check for those breaks. Then we’re going to have to get her out of here as carefully but as quickly as possible.” As they switched places she kept her deep-breathing technique up since it seemed to be helping. The pressure lifted briefly as Mac’s hands left the wound, but reappeared as soon as Reid’s hands pushed down on it. Mac’s fingers explored her neck and then moved on to a cursory exam of the rest of her body.
“I felt some possible fractures. Nothing vital.” Mac declared. “So let’s get moving. Bri you go get the truck started. Reid you keep pressure on that.” He ordered. Suddenly he was at her right side. One of his hands went under her neck. “Hey,” He said. Her gaze jerked up to meet his. “I know you are hurting from whatever the hell happened to you, but this is going to hurt like a son of a bitch. I will be as careful as possible, but you will just have to suck it up.” He told her firmly. And with that his other hand went under her legs. He and Reid swiftly stood up and Mac tucked her up against his chest.
She fought to control her breathing as she was overcome with pain. Her whole body was screaming. Squeezing her eyes shut her breath came out in short raspy spurts. “Hey.” Her eyes popped back open. “I meant what I said.” Mac told her firmly staring down into her eyes. “It’s going to hurt. Deal with it. I did not come out here so I could be cried all over by some girl. So I do not want to see any tears or hear any whimpering. Suck it up.”
She kept her eyes on his, focusing. She took a deep breath. In and out. And another. In and out. Mac nodded. “Good. Let’s go Reid; we are wasting time just standing here.” As they maneuvered their way over the rocks she closed her eyes again and tucked her head in against the warmth and strength of Mac’s chest, all the while concentrating on her breathing. On the steady thumping of Mac’s heart. She heard the click of a door opening and then had to double her attempts to keep the pain at bay as Mac and Reid juggled her a bit while Mac clamored into the truck and they got her settled on his lap. Mac replaced Reid’s hands with his own over her abdominal wound.
She started counting by twos to distract herself. A door clicked shut and then two more opened and quickly slammed closed. Mac’s arms tightened slightly around her as the truck jerked forward. “What are you doing?” Mac’s voice asked from above her.
“Counting by twos.” Her tone suggesting that this was something he should know. Doesn’t he know counting when he hears it?
There was a pause. “In what language?”
Her eyes fluttered open and she answered without thinking, “Greek. Although technically Greece uses Arabic numerals for its ordinal numbers. So only two, four, six, eight and ten are really Greek.”
There was another pause. “You know Greek?”
She blew out a breath. “I was speaking it wasn’t I?”
“Are you from Greece? Your accent doesn’t sound foreign at all.”
“Mac!” Bri exclaimed from the front. “Would you just let the poor girl rest already? Stop pestering her. You can play twenty questions later.”
They all grew quiet after that. The rhythm of the tires rolling on the pavement and Mac’s heartbeat worked together to lull her into a state between sleep and consciousness. She felt secure. Safe. There in Mac’s arms she felt safe. She did not know why but the feeling of safety seemed like a strange concept to her. After some time they finally rolled to a stop. Her eyes popped back open.
“Bri can you hop out and see if you can find Harvey?” Mac asked his sister. “I want him taking care of this.” He explained to her then turned to Reid. “Can you help me get her out of here?” That note of authority was in his voice again. Even though he did ask them to do those things, she could tell that they were not really questions.
The hospital did not appear to be very big. It was a simple brown and red brick structure with large windows spaced every six feet. A pair of sliding glass doors opened a few short minutes later emitting Bri and a short, stout middle-aged man in a white lab coat shuffling after her. He had balding black hair and wore glasses perched on his nose. Behind them were two nurses in green scrubs, pushing a stretcher. “What do we have here?” The man asked.
“Bri and Reid found her down on the rocks at Weston Bend all beat up like this Harv.” Mac explained to him. “She’s got a bunch of cuts and scrapes and at least two gunshot wounds.” Mac gently placed her on the stretcher as he talked.
The man’s brows lifted. “She doesn’t look like she is in much pain for having been shot.” He said skeptically.
Mac opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it. “Mac didn’t want to hear any girls cry he said.” She told the doctor matter-of-factly.
The doctor peered over his glasses at Mac who shifted uncomfortably. “Is that so Cormac? Hmmm, you and I are going to have a talk later.” Turning to her he smiled gently. “Now, I do not believe we have met miss. I am Dr. Harvey Lynch. And who might you be?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped, snapping her jaws together. Her brows drew together. Who was she? Who was she? Giving a strangled cry she tried sitting up in shock, her eyes wide and panicked. Mac stopped her, pushing her gently back down. “What is it?” He asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know who I am.”
CHAPTER TWO
She heard voices whispering nearby, but was too groggy to get her droopy eyelids open. Her head felt light. Floaty. The pain that had been present before seemed nearly nonexistent now. They probably had her pretty doped up. She tried focusing on the voices again. They sounded vaguely familiar. Oh yeah. She picked out Bri and Reid’s voices. Who were they talking to? Oh. Dr. Harvey. That was his name. Where was Mac? Why does it matter where he is? She argued with herself.
“So what do you think Doc? Is she going to be okay?” Right on cue, as if he knew she had been thinking about him, Mac’s voice broke through the fog in her head.
“Well, like you said Mac, she has a myriad of scratches and cuts all over her body. A couple needed stitches, but most of them just needed cleaning up. The only one that really worries me is the cut on her forehead - it’s a pretty nasty one. It’s no wonder she is having some memory problems.” Dr. Harvey sighed deeply. “I don’t know what happened to that poor girl, but nearly every inch of her skin is bruised. Although most of them are yellowing in color so it is like she has had them for a few days at least. And it’s weird but-“ He hesitated, as if he wasn’t sure he should voice his next thoughts.
“What is it Harv?” Mac questioned.
“Well, she has several bones that are cracked - not broken, but cracked. The thing is that from the scans they look like they were broken and are now on the mend, but those types of breaks would take some time to recover and would likely need to be bound tightly in order to heal properly.” He told them. “I mean she has probably three cracked ribs, the left side of her collarbone is cracked, her right forearm is fractured and she has several fractures in her left ankle and right calf.” He heaved another heavy sigh, sounding frustrated. “I don’t know Mac. It is all just one big mystery. And then there are the bullet wounds of course. Five in total. The one in her right shoulder and in the left side of her abdomen that you found Mac. The latter of which did not cause any internal bleeding thankfully. Then there was also one on her right arm and two in her left leg - one in the thigh and one in the calf.” He hesitated again. “The thing is that just one of those wounds left for just a little while might not be fatal on their own, but with all those wounds left open like that for god only knows how long, who knows how much blood she must have lost. For all intent purposes - that girl should be dead.”
A few silent minutes crept by. “But she’s not.” Mac muttered.
“No. She is not. And from the look of things her body is on the mend. So in my opinion she will be fine and I expect her body to fully recover over the next few weeks.”
“Her body? What about her mind? Her memory?” Came Bri’s sweet voice laden with concern over the girl she had barely just met. If it could even be said that they had actually met.
Doctor Harvey sighed heavily again. “Her mind is another thing entirely my dear. Memory and how the mind works can be very tricky. We will have to wait and see how much damage was done when she wakes up. She took a pretty hard hit to the head from the looks of it. She may eventually recover all of her memories, some of them or even none of them at all. It will be a watch and wait kind of thing.”
“It might be best if she does not remember some things.” Mac said quietly. The rest of them were quiet at this, thinking that perhaps the memories causing her to be in this state might be too painful to remember and would be better off hidden away in the recesses of her mind.
She was not too sure of that herself. It felt as if the memories were there, they were just out of her reach. She just couldn’t quite grasp them. They kept slipping through. It was frustrating is what it was.
Someone blew out a breath. At least she was not the only one frustrated. “So what do we do now?” Reid asked breaking the silence.
“I called Chief Johnston earlier and he said he would be in later and to just let her get some rest first. When he gets here we will see if she has remembered anything at all and talk to her about what she wants to do.” Mac answered. “In the meantime, I really need to get back to the ranch. Who knows what the hell the guys are up to without me there to direct them. And you two-“
“I want to stay here.” Bri interrupted him. “I want to be here when she wakes up so - you know, so she knows she’s not completely alone.”
A strange feeling fluttered through her chest and her throat felt strangely tight. “Bri,” Mac said tiredly, “I don’t want you to get too attached to this girl. We don’t know anything about her.”
And there went the nice feeling.
“Yeah well apparently she might not either.” Bri mumbled.
“Brianna.” A warning sounded in Mac’s tone. “She is not some stray animal for you to bring home and take care of. She is a human being. One with a mysterious and possibly violent past we do not and may not want to know anything about. She was shot for crying out loud!” He said firmly.
“I know that Mac.” Bri said and sighed. “But I can’t just leave her here by herself. I’m not going to condemn her just because of what ifs.”
“Fine. Stay then. Just don’t forget what I said.”
“I won’t Cormac.”
“What about you Reid? Staying or going?” Mac asked.
Reid sighed. “Sorry Bri. I’d love to stay with you but I promised my dad I would help him at the store today.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll find something to keep myself occupied until she wakes up.” They continued talking but their voices started blending together as the world went dark yet again.
Dogs were barking ferociously. They were getting closer. It was dark. There were trees all around her. She was running. She kept looking over her shoulder. The dogs’ barking suddenly sounded closer. She had to get away. She had to hide. She ran franticly. The air was heavy with fear. She ran and ran. Never tiring. Never running out of breath. But the overwhelming fear stayed with her. Hide. It told her. Get away. Then the dogs were there in front of her. Trapping her. Inching closer and closer as she tried to back away but couldn’t. No matter where she turned they were there. Snarling at her. Snapping their sharp pointy teeth at her. Lunging at her.
Someone was yelling, “Shoot her! We need her body! Shoot her now before she goes over!” Then she was falling. Tumbling. There was pain. An unbelievable amount of pain. Then darkness enveloped her.
She woke with a start, sitting straight up in the bed. Her breath came out heavy, her heart thumped hard in her chest and her hands were shaking. She whipped her head around, eyes wide. She was alone. And she needed to get out. Hide. Panicking, she ripped the IVs out of her arm and struggled out from under the covers she had become twisted up in. Finally breaking free, she threw her legs over the edge of the bed and placed her bare feet on the cool tiles, standing up. Pain rocketed up and down her entire body. She pushed it aside.
Hide. Spotting a white robe hanging off a hook attached to a closed door she grabbed it and jabbed her arms through the sleeves. She crept towards the door that was open a couple of inches. She assumed that it was the one that would lead her out. Hide! Hide now! The thoughts invaded her head again. Pushing the door open the rest of the way she stumbled out into the hallway. Turning to the right she started walking that way with her heart pumping hard against her chest. She kept throwing looks all around her.
There were all sorts of people in the hall. Young and old. Some dressed like her in some kind of gown and a robe. Others had blue scrubs on. And others wore all sorts of different forms of dress none of which looked familiar to her. She began walking faster. Hide! She forced her legs to move faster and then broke into a run. Still throwing panicked glances over her shoulder, she ran. Past doorways. Past people with shocked looks on their faces. She ran. Her feet slapping against tiles. Hide. Hide. Hide. The sound of snarling dogs came to her. Hide.
Seeing a sign above one door that read EXIT, she ran that way, but the door would not budge when she pushed on it. Hide. Pushing harder against the door, she heard something snap and the door swung open. Stepping through it she found a staircase. Up or down? Up. Her bare feet slapped against the metal of the steps as she pounded up them. She ran and ran until she ran out of stairs and came to a stop at a door. Pushing it open she stepped out into bright sunlight. Looking around she found a large metal box-shaped thing jutting out of the roof in one corner. There was a couple of feet of space between it and the edge of the roof. She wedged herself in the space there. Hunkering down, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths, trying to clear her head and calm her pounding heart. She zoned out like that for she didn’t know how long.
Eyes closed. Breathing in and out. In and out. Beginning to calm down she realized she may have overreacted just a little. It was just a dream. Or was it a memory? She shuddered, thinking of the dogs again and the pain. Maybe Mac had been right. Maybe it was better if she did not remember. But at the same time she knew that she needed to know what had happened to her. Who was she?
The sound of the door opening interrupted her thoughts. Her instincts were screaming at her to run and hide again, but she pushed the thoughts aside. There wasn’t really anywhere else she could go anyway. Unless she jumped from the roof. She contemplated the risks of such a fall while she waited quietly in her hiding spot.
“You know you have practically everyone in this damn place looking for you?” Mac’s voice floated down to her. “Hell, even I got roped into helping. What did I tell you about being trouble? Because I am pretty sure that this would qualify as trouble.”
She looked up then. Mac was leaning with one hip against the metal box thing, a cowboy hat on his head and arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at her. The sparks igniting in his stormy eyes told her that he was not pleased with her at all. “Why were you looking for me then?” She asked, her voice still hoarse and sore.
His brows drew together as he scowled. Looking away he muttered, “Because my sister went and gave me those damn puppy dog eyes.”
“Puppy dog eyes?” Her nose scrunched up in confusion at the unfamiliar phrase.
“Yeah, puppy dog eyes.” He said looking back at her. Tilting her head, she frowned back at him. His tone suggested she should know the phrase but its meaning was not where could grasp it. “Shit, that noggin of yours is really screwed up isn’t it?” He muttered.
She looked down, biting her lip. She didn’t really want to think about her brain being messed up. Cormac sighed from above her. “Come on Pipsqueak, get your ass up. We better get you back to your room before the doc and my sister have a heart attack.
Looking back up at him she frowned again. “Pipsqueak?” She questioned. This seemed to also be an unfamiliar term. He sighed and just turned around, shaking his head. He started walking back to the door. Standing quickly she scrambled after him. They walked in silence back down the stairs with her staring at his broad back the entire way. He was really tall, probably standing at about six foot five. And there was muscle everywhere on him. Suddenly he came to a stop and she crashed right into that muscle. “Ooph.”
“Watch where you’re walking, geez.”
“Sorry.” She muttered.
“This is our floor.”
“Oh.” She said. “I was not really paying attention to what floor I started at I guess.”
His eyes narrowed on her. With his hand on the handle, he asked her, “Why did you run off anyway?”
“I was scared.” She blurted out without thinking.
“Of?”
“I don’t really know.” She replied truthfully, biting her lip again. “I just woke up and had this feeling that I needed to hide.”
“So you did?” She nodded. “Uh huh.” He said sounding skeptical. He pushed the door open. “How did you get through this anyway?” He asked. “It’s normally locked and now the lock is broken.”
She looked up at him and shrugged. “I just pushed on it.”
“You just pushed on it?” He was sounding skeptical again. She nodded and he said, “Uh huh.”, again sighing, he waved her through the door. “Well, let’s get going.”
CHAPTER THREE
She let out a heavy sigh, shifting in the bed restlessly. She had been ordered to stay in her bed and to leave it only to use the bathroom. Dr. Harvey had been furious with her. While running she had managed to break open some of the stitches on some of her cuts and he had to stitch them back up.
He had muttered under his breath the whole time about silly patients and their carelessness. And what the hell had she been trying to do? Re-break her bones? Maybe they should just take her off her pain meds if she liked being in pain that much. And how the hell had she managed to make it all the way to the roof and back down without collapsing anyway? She had watched him curiously as he his fingers flew deftly through the process of stitching her back up and listening to him ramble on and on with interest.
She didn’t know why, but she found the way people talked to be fascinating. The way their eyes were so expressive and the way their whole bodies seemed to say something was interesting. The tones and inflections of their voices changing rapidly. Their speech seemed foreign to her. Of course a lot of things seemed foreign to her. Was this all a part of her memory loss? It had to be, right? What else could it be?
She had not known what to say about why she had run off. So far no one had even asked any questions about it. Mac had not even said anything else about it. Of course he had also disappeared as soon as he had delivered her to the doctor. Right now she sat up in her bed staring down at a tray of food, trying to figure out what exactly it was. She knew what the apple was but all the other food looked unrecognizable.
Bri, who had been sitting in the large chair next to the bed chattering non-stop suddenly became quiet. Tearing her eyes away from her plate she found Brianna watching her curiously. “What’s wrong?” Bri asked her.
Should she admit she was having problems just recognizing some types of food? “Umm-“
“I know.” Bri said, making a face. Her nose wrinkled up in disgust. “Hospital food. It’s not the best, but you need to eat. And drink” She added, nodding her head. “Doc said you were dehydrated and it may have been a while since you’ve had any food as well. So. Eat.” She finished, indicating the tray with a tilt of her head.
“Oh - um, yeah.” She said, looking back down at the food. She scooped some of whatever the soft, orange, tubular shaped stuff was up with her spoon and had it half way to her mouth when a knock sounded on the door. Looking up she saw Mac striding through the door, a man in a uniform following him in. The man was tall but not as tall as Mac and was leaner than him. Pale blonde hair was swept back from his forehead and eyes the color of the sky on a cloudless summer day surveyed the room. A warm smile lit the man’s face as his hand went to the brim of his hat, tilting it slightly in greeting.
“Hello ladies.” He said, his rich voice carrying across the room.
“Hi Chief.” Brianna chirped from her post in the chair.
“It seems we may have interrupted your meal.” He said indicating the spoon she still held raised half way to her lips. “We should probably come back later.”
Mac grunted. “Speak for yourself. Either we do this now or not at all. I’ve wasted enough time on this today.”
“Mac!” Bri gasped.
“No.” He said firmly, his eyes snapping in Bri’s direction. “I am not coming back here again today.”
“Mac.” Chief Johnston said with a hint of warning in his tone.
“What am I even doing here?” Mac asked him.
“Well, you are one of my volunteer deputies Cormac and everyone else is busy so I need you here. Mac if you were so dead set against coming here you should have said something on the phone and I would have just come out myself.” This last part he said quietly, like it was a message just for Mac, but she heard every word he said loud and clear.
“Just forget it.” Mac mumbled back and then louder he said, “Let’s get this over with.”
The Chief hesitated, his eyes going back to her on the bed, spoon still raised. “Mac maybe we should-“
“I don’t mind.” She said quickly, interrupting him. All eyes in the room zoomed in on her. “We can do whatever it is we need to do right now.” She said, setting her spoon down and pushing the tray out of her way.
“Well, if you’re sure-“ He began.
Her nose wrinkled up in confusion. “I would not have said we could do it now if I was not sure.”
Mac snorted and strode across the room to plop his tall frame in the second chair, leaving Chief Johnston to stand. Her eyes followed him across the room and then snapped back to the Chief.
“Okay, so, um-“ The Chief suddenly stammered, his eyes darting around the room as if looking for the right word.
“Jane?” Mac suggested from his chair.
“Jane?” Bri and the Chief repeated, their noses both crinkling.
“Yeah. Jane Doe.” Mac responded. “What else are you going to call her? She can’t remember her own name and isn’t that what people who can’t remember who they are, are called? Either John or Jane Doe?”
“Yeah, usually I suppose.” Chief Johnston said, nodding.
“Argh, Jane Doe?” Bri turned to her. “What do you want to be called?” She asked her. Her eyes had been flying between the three of them while they talked back and forth. Now her eyes drifted back down to her tray as she shifted uncomfortably and shrugged her shoulders. A strained silence followed until Bri cleared her throat. “Why don’t we just call you Jane for now and we can find a name you like better later on when you are feeling better.” She paused, and then rushed on. “Unless you decide that you like Jane, then of course we will go ahead and call you that. Okay?” She looked up then and nodded at Bri gratefully.
“Okay then-“ The Chief hesitated again. “Jane, what all can you remember?” He asked while pulling out a pad of paper and a pen from his front pocket
She looked back down at her tray, her teeth biting down on her lower lip. Should she tell them about the dream or not? She weighed her two options in her head, even though she did not know why she was hesitating. There was no reason for her not to tell them. No reason for her not to trust them as far as she knew.
“Anything at all could help.” Chief Johnston said.
There was no reason for her to not trust them. They probably already saved her life and now were trying to help her solve the mystery of what happened to her. So she decided she might as well tell them. She cleared her throat. “Well, I had a dream earlier, but I don’t know if it was a memory or not.”
“That’s good.” The Chief said, looking excited that he may have something to go on. “We’ll go ahead and start there. Even if it is just a normal dream and not a memory, it might give us some insight about your past that would help.”
“Okay.” She said, nodding. So she told them all about her dream and what happened in it, while the Chief jotted down notes every once in a while in his little notepad as she talked. She got to the end bit about her falling and cleared her throat. “So, yeah, then I woke up and had this incredible urge to hide.” She shrugged. “So I did.”
The other three were quiet then, keeping their thoughts to themselves. The Chief stood tapping his pen against his notepad and staring at what he had written. Mac sat forward in his seat, his hands clasped as he stared at the linoleum floor. Bri looked at her thoughtfully, her arms crossed on her chest and one of her feet tapping on the floor.
“Was that it?” Mac’s voice broke the silence, still staring at the floor.
“What?” She asked.
“Was the dream it? Or have you remembered anything else?”
“Like what?” She asked, pursing her lips.
“Anything.” Mac said, finally looking up and meeting her eyes. “Your family? Where you are from? Your age?”
“Any tiny detail about your life could help us figure out who you are and get you home where you belong.” Chief Johnston added.
She scrunched her nose up, biting her lower lip and averting her gaze. She gave a slight shrug. “No, that is it. That is the only thing I can remember.” She paused. “If it is even a memory.” She added quietly. Suddenly she felt empty. Lost. She shook her head again and looked back up to find all of them watching her. “Where exactly are we? Maybe knowing our location will jog my memory.”
“Platte City, Missouri and you were found in Weston Bend State Park.” The Chief responded.
“Missouri.” She repeated quietly to herself a few times.
“Triggering any memories yet?” Mac asked.
“Mac. Give her some time.” Bri said throwing her brother a dirty look.
She frowned and closed her eyes. Missouri. She knew that name, but it was not triggering any memories. Missouri. It might not be triggering any memories, but her head was suddenly flooded with facts. “Missouri. The Show Me State. Jefferson City is the capitol, while Kansas City is the largest city. The United States got it from France as a part of the Louisiana Purchase. It was first known as the Missouri Territory before they dropped the Territory from the name when it became the twenty-ninth state in 1821. It was named for the Missouri River which flows through the state, although the Mississippi River also flows through it. It’s the only state to have two Federal Reserves; one in Kansas City and another one in St. Louis. There,” She said, opening her eyes, “That is what I know about Missouri.”
“Okay.” Chief Johnston said slowly. “So Missouri is familiar to you? Like you may be from here?”
She shook her head slowly. “I do not know. Sorry. Those are just facts about the state that I happen to know. I do not have any actual memories of the state.”
“Why would she remember random facts like that, but can’t remember anything about her life?” Mac asked, voicing the same question that had come to her.
The Chief sighed heavily, his pen tap tap tapping against his notepad again. “I don’t know. That would be a question for the doc to answer. In the meantime we need to figure out what we are going to do about this situation.”
“Do about it?” She asked, frowning.
“Well there has got to be someone looking for you, especially since you look like you are still a minor. So we need to figure out how to go about finding who that may be. And we need to figure out what to do with you in the mean time, if you get out of the hospital before we can find your family or guardian - or whoever is looking for you.” The Chief paused. “Although considering your injuries I’m not sure you’ll be getting out of here anytime soon.”
She frowned; she did not like the possibility of staying in the hospital for an extended period of time. Staying in the hospital bed was already driving her crazy. It made her feel too vulnerable. Too restless. She wanted to be moving around - to be doing something, anything.
“I’ll have to call around town to see if anyone is willing to house you for the time being if the need arises.” The Chief said, interrupting her thoughts.
“Ooo, ooo. She could stay with us.” Bri exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down in her seat.
“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!” Mac exclaimed, shooting up from his seat. “I don’t think so. I do not need another kid underfoot at the ranch. I have work to do, a business to run. I am not going to play babysitter.”
“But Mac,” Bri whined.
“It’s okay Bri. I do not mind.” She said. “We’ll figure something else out. And Chief Johnston is right, considering the damage done to my body; it could be a while before I have healed enough to leave the hospital anyway.”
“No, it’s not okay - um, Jane.” Bri argued, stumbling over her new name slightly and hopped out of her chair to face her brother. “Seriously Cormac, there is no reason she can’t stay with us. We only use two out of seven bedrooms; there is plenty of space for another person. And she is not a child; she is obviously able to care for herself. You would not have to baby-sit anyone - you will be able to continue on with the work at the ranch as usual.”
Mac’s eyes narrowed on his sister, his arms crossing over his chest. “I said no Brianna and that is final.”
“But-“
“No buts.”
Her eyes flew between the brother and sister as they went back and forth, while the Chief had a bemused smile on his face. Bri looked up at her brother, her eyes softening and going wide, her lower lip starting to stick out. “Please Mac. I really want to help her.”
“Oh Brianna, that is so not fair.”
“Please Mac.” She repeated.
“Fine!” He nearly snarled in defeat.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Bri chanted while jumping up and down and clapping.
“But-“ Mac interjected, holding a hand up, halting Bri’s cheering. “Just remember that she is your responsibility.” The she in question quirked an eyebrow at him, her jaw tense. Oh really? She was a responsibility, huh?
“Okay, okay. Yes sir, whatever you say sir.” Bri said, saluting him. The corner of Mac’s lips quirked up just a tad bit.
Chief Johnston cleared his throat. “Okay, now that we have that settled - as long as Jane has no problems staying with you guys anyway.” He said. Bri whipped around, her eyes pleading with her. She hesitated. She wanted to get to know Bri more, but she was not sure about Mac. He did not seem to like her very much at all. Even now his mouth was set in a grim line. But then she remembered how she had felt in his arms as he had carried her. Safe. She had felt safe. She had liked that feeling and she wanted more of it, even if it meant putting up with Mac’s surly attitude. So, she nodded. “Sure, that is fine.”
Bri squealed a little. “Yay!” She began jumping up and down again.
“Alrighty then. Now, how to go about finding your family.” He frowned slightly. “I want to go about this kind of carefully because of the shape we found you in.” He winced. “Since we are not completely sure we could trust whoever comes looking for you.” Her heart sank a little as she remembered that someone had done this to her.
Mac cleared his throat. “I have a buddy in the FBI. I could have him discreetly look through the missing person’s files and see if he can find someone matching her description. I mean, come on, how many missing people do you think there will be with eyes like that?” He asked, gesturing to her.
“What is wrong with my eyes?” She asked, her hands flying to her face.
Mac chuckled quietly. “Nothing is wrong with your eyes. But there aren’t a lot of people with violet colored eyes – well not naturally colored that way.”
“There aren’t?”
Mac sighed heavily. “No, there aren’t. But anyway, my friend can let us know who is looking for her so we can quietly do our own investigation of them to make sure it is safe to just hand her over to them.”
The Chief nodded. “Okay, that sounds good. Why don’t you go ahead and do that Mac and we will go from there.” With that, he shook hands with Mac and tilted his hat at her and Bri before leaving. Mac strode out of the room after him, leaving without a word to either her or his sister, who shook her head at his retreating back. Bri told her she would be in the next day to see her and then followed her brother out. After they left she finally dug into her food. She decided that Bri was wrong. She had never tasted anything better.
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