then caught her before she fell. Lopez sucked in air, her eyes aching and her limbs weak as she realized that the giant assassin held her life, quite literally, in his hands.
Mitchell turned and looked down at the injured doctor.
‘Get your wound tended to and call the police,’ he growled. ‘Ensure that woman is restrained and detained before she regains consciousness! Believe me, she will kill anybody who tries to stop her!’
The doctor nodded frantically as he scrambled to his feet, one hand clamped around the bloody wound to his arm as he pushed through the door and out into the corridor outside, screaming for a security team.
Aaron Mitchell turned to look at Lopez, his dark eyes smoldering with restrained violence.
‘Come with me if you want to live.’
***
XIII
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Lopez gasped, her voice a whisper, and despite the effort it required she still managed to add: ‘Asshole?’
Aaron Mitchell did not reply as he carried Lopez out of the hospital and across the parking lot outside until he reached a non-descript sedan he had hired with cash he had withdrawn from a safety deposit box in Missouri. The journey from Colorado had been a long one, but he had long maintained a network of such caches in case of emergency. He opened the passenger door and lowered Lopez into the vehicle, strapped her in before he took his place behind the wheel and drove out of the lot.
Lopez was, by any standards, out of the game. She knew that Mitchell had slipped something into her saline drip to bring her back to consciousness, because she had seen him toss the empty syringe into a trash can on their way out of the building. Likewise, she also knew that the woman whose face Mitchell had brutally stomped had been there to kill her.
‘I asked you a question,’ she murmured as the car veered onto the beltway, headed south.
Mitchell grabbed a chilled bottle of water and handed it to her.
‘Drink, as much as you can. We need to get you back up to strength.’
Lopez stared at the man who had opposed her and Ethan for so long, quite uncertain of what was going on. She took a small sip of the water from the bottle, and then immediately realized how parched she was and promptly guzzled the rest of the water down as Mitchell negotiated the traffic heading out of the district toward Maryland.
‘Why did you get me out of the hospital?’ she demanded, slightly more energetic now as the water hit her system.
Mitchell spoke in a serious tone that brooked no argument.
‘How much do you remember?’
Lopez blinked, her mind reeling as she tried to recall her last moments of consciousness.
She had been near the White House, running down two terrorists hiding in a goods vehicle to the south west of the building. They had been using an advanced form of technology, one that she and Ethan had been searching for, that allowed the user to control the mind of an implanted human being. She struggled to recall the man’s name: Hazeem? No, Abrahem – Abrahem Nassir.
‘I was running toward a vehicle,’ she said finally. ‘Shots were fired at two cops coming from the opposite direction. They went down and the vehicle started its engine. I got to the rear of it, pulled on the door and it flew open, knocked me off balance. There were two guys inside and they got the drop on me.’ Lopez hesitated as she realized that she had recalled the moment she had been shot. ‘Two rounds to the chest,’ she whispered.
Mitchell nodded, driving sedately amid the traffic in order to avoid standing out.
‘That’s the last thing you remember?’
‘Before that woman in my room and you turning up,’ she confirmed.
‘Then you’ve got some catching up to do,’ Mitchell replied. ‘You were in an induced coma for four weeks, and unconscious for as long again. You were shot two months ago.’
Lopez stared into the distance for a moment and then yanked down the sun visor and looked into the small vanity mirror upon it. Her
Mitchell turned and looked down at the injured doctor.
‘Get your wound tended to and call the police,’ he growled. ‘Ensure that woman is restrained and detained before she regains consciousness! Believe me, she will kill anybody who tries to stop her!’
The doctor nodded frantically as he scrambled to his feet, one hand clamped around the bloody wound to his arm as he pushed through the door and out into the corridor outside, screaming for a security team.
Aaron Mitchell turned to look at Lopez, his dark eyes smoldering with restrained violence.
‘Come with me if you want to live.’
***
XIII
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Lopez gasped, her voice a whisper, and despite the effort it required she still managed to add: ‘Asshole?’
Aaron Mitchell did not reply as he carried Lopez out of the hospital and across the parking lot outside until he reached a non-descript sedan he had hired with cash he had withdrawn from a safety deposit box in Missouri. The journey from Colorado had been a long one, but he had long maintained a network of such caches in case of emergency. He opened the passenger door and lowered Lopez into the vehicle, strapped her in before he took his place behind the wheel and drove out of the lot.
Lopez was, by any standards, out of the game. She knew that Mitchell had slipped something into her saline drip to bring her back to consciousness, because she had seen him toss the empty syringe into a trash can on their way out of the building. Likewise, she also knew that the woman whose face Mitchell had brutally stomped had been there to kill her.
‘I asked you a question,’ she murmured as the car veered onto the beltway, headed south.
Mitchell grabbed a chilled bottle of water and handed it to her.
‘Drink, as much as you can. We need to get you back up to strength.’
Lopez stared at the man who had opposed her and Ethan for so long, quite uncertain of what was going on. She took a small sip of the water from the bottle, and then immediately realized how parched she was and promptly guzzled the rest of the water down as Mitchell negotiated the traffic heading out of the district toward Maryland.
‘Why did you get me out of the hospital?’ she demanded, slightly more energetic now as the water hit her system.
Mitchell spoke in a serious tone that brooked no argument.
‘How much do you remember?’
Lopez blinked, her mind reeling as she tried to recall her last moments of consciousness.
She had been near the White House, running down two terrorists hiding in a goods vehicle to the south west of the building. They had been using an advanced form of technology, one that she and Ethan had been searching for, that allowed the user to control the mind of an implanted human being. She struggled to recall the man’s name: Hazeem? No, Abrahem – Abrahem Nassir.
‘I was running toward a vehicle,’ she said finally. ‘Shots were fired at two cops coming from the opposite direction. They went down and the vehicle started its engine. I got to the rear of it, pulled on the door and it flew open, knocked me off balance. There were two guys inside and they got the drop on me.’ Lopez hesitated as she realized that she had recalled the moment she had been shot. ‘Two rounds to the chest,’ she whispered.
Mitchell nodded, driving sedately amid the traffic in order to avoid standing out.
‘That’s the last thing you remember?’
‘Before that woman in my room and you turning up,’ she confirmed.
‘Then you’ve got some catching up to do,’ Mitchell replied. ‘You were in an induced coma for four weeks, and unconscious for as long again. You were shot two months ago.’
Lopez stared into the distance for a moment and then yanked down the sun visor and looked into the small vanity mirror upon it. Her
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