Quinlan took her arm and gently pulled her toward him. “It’s all right now, Sally. It’s all right.”

He pulled her against him. “Are you sure you don’t want to have a doctor check you out?”

“No doctor. I hate doctors.”

That made sense to him. He didn’t point out that a doctor wasn’t the same as a shrink. He wondered in that moment if Beadermeyer even was a doctor. He said to Dillon, “When you get a minute, do some checking on Beadermeyer. I’m beginning to wonder if he’s just a ruthless crook.” To Sally he said, “All right. But you need to rest. Let’s find a place to stay the night.”

“How did you find me?”

“We just missed you at your grandparents’, just as we did at your mother’s. We figured you had to be as tired as we were, so we called all the motels in this area. It was easy. You’ve got a lot to learn about running, Sally.”

She realized then that she’d lost, she’d really lost. And it had been so easy for them. If they hadn’t tracked her down on the highway, then James would have just come into her motel room. Easy, too easy. She was a turkey. She looked down at her dead Honda 350, at its twisted frame and blown back tire.

“My bike is ruined. I just bought it. I was just getting it broken in.”

“It’s all right. It doesn’t matter.”

“That bike cost me nearly all my money.”

“Since it was my three hundred dollars, I’m willing to write it off.”

Everything had turned upside down. Nothing was as it should be. She eased her hand into the coat and pulled out his gun. She pressed it against his lower ribs.

19

“NOT AGAIN, SALLY,” he said, but still he was careful not to move.

“She’s got your gun on you again, Quinlan?”

“Yes, but it’s okay. I think she’s learned a bit more since the last time she did it.

“Sally, it’s over now. Come on, sweetheart, pull that sucker back. Whatever you do, don’t forget that hair trigger. Damn, I think I’ll have it modified a bit next time I’m at Quantico. Actually, if you could slip it back into my shoulder holster once we’re in the car, I’d appreciate it. My shoulder holster’s been empty since you stole my gun. I feel half-dressed.”

“I don’t want to shoot you, James, but I do want to get away from you. You did betray me. You know I can’t trust you. Let me go, please.”

“Nope, not ever again. You know you can trust me. It pisses me off that you’re even questioning that. Listen up, Sally. You’re with me now until all this is over. Would you rather trust your mother or your grandparents? Oh, yeah, your sweet little granny is a piece of work.”

“No, I don’t trust any of them. Well, I do trust Noelle, but she’s all confused and doesn’t know what to believe—whether I’m a lunatic or not. I’d bet that all of them have called Beadermeyer, even Noelle. If she called him it wasn’t to turn me in, it was to get some answers. Oh, God, do you think Beadermeyer would hurt her?”

Quinlan didn’t think he would hurt her unless his own skin was in really deep trouble, which it would be shortly, but not just yet. But he said, “I don’t know. Beadermeyer could do anything if he felt threatened, which he probably does, since we busted you out of his sanitarium. Hey, did you know I even threw meat to those dogs to save you?”

She looked up at him in the darkness. “What dogs?”

Dillon said, “There were guard dogs at the sanitarium, Sally. James tossed meat to them so they wouldn’t tear our throats out. One of the dogs was leaping up trying to get James’s ankle when he was carrying you up that fence.”

She could see the shadows and blurred lines of his face. “Well,” she said at last, aware that she couldn’t hold that gun up for much longer because her shoulder hurt like the very devil, “shit.”

“That’s what we’ve been thinking for the past six hours,” Dillon said. “Come on, Sally, give it up. Quinlan’s determined to help you. He’s determined to protect you. Let him be possessive. I’ve never before seen him like this. It’s a real treat.

“Now, come on, you guys. Let’s get out of here before some motorists come by and stop or worse, someone calls the local cops.”

Quinlan didn’t even think about it, he just scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the Porsche.

“You’re no he-man,” she said in the bitterest voice he’d ever heard. “It was just a six-foot walk. A nerd could have carried me that far.”