Chapter 14

Veni was scared to do anything right now, afraid that there would be another need to jump up and race out the door. She sat here, huddled in the chair, her feet tucked under her, her coffee long gone. As she waited for them to sort out what was their next move, she still struggled to get the shock of the attack out of her system. She was still waiting for everything to calm down, just so she could function properly. Without that, it would be even harder to carry on in the future. Everything was just piling atop each other. PTSD anyone?

As she sat there, she went through some slow, deep-breathing exercises to try to regain a certain sense of calm. At one point Reid looked over at her with approval, and she shrugged. “I’m just trying to find a way to deal.”

“That’s all any of us can do,” he said, “and we appreciate it.”

She smiled. “You guys handled that so effectively, but I’m… I’m still reeling from it.”

“From what? The fact that it happened or the fact that we dealt with it?”

“Honestly? Both,” she admitted, trying to keep her body from shaking. “I’ve never seen that kind of violence, not until this whole kidnapping thing,” she murmured. “Now it seems as if my life is nothing but violence.”

“We would do anything we could to not have it be that way, but, until you’re safe, the reality is, there could be more of it.”

Grim, she nodded. “Will we stay here for a while?”

“A little while anyway,” Reid replied.

Anders nodded. “We’re on the ground floor, and I’m mapping out exits right now, just in case we need it. You can never be too sure just who’s after you and when they will come.”

“Right,” she muttered. “I mean, after all, that would be almost like knowing ahead of time that you had friends. Or enemies.”

“Which we do know you have, so, in this case, better to keep an eye on our enemies.”

At that, she groaned. “Is there any way to track who may have come in through the airports? I mean, there were an awful lot of known Russian agents. Is MI6 tracking them?”

“Absolutely,” Reid declared. “I haven’t asked who or how many may have come through in the last little while. I’m not sure that information is helpful for us because, if we can’t track them, we can’t pinpoint their presence. However, we’re not alone in this. A bunch of other people on our teams are also working on those angles.”

At that, Veni sagged back again. “I never did get a phone or the laptop that I asked for,” she said angrily. “I feel so disconnected from the world right now.”

“The world is still out there, and I can’t say it’s doing any better than it was the last time you looked,” Reid quipped, with a smirk, “except for the fact that we are on this.”

“And if you weren’t,” she muttered, a mild hysteria building, “I would be dead right now.” The shock was starting to veer off.

“No, not dead, but you would be a captive again,” Reid clarified. “And, if they got you back to Russia, we would definitely have a hard time getting you away from them again.”

“Which would be almost worse than death,” she muttered. “I wish there was a way to tell them that I can’t do what my mother was so busy telling them I could—some way to just make them go away forever.”

“Now that you’re on their radar, chances are, they’ll be looking for you for a long time,” Reid acknowledged. “So finding a place to hole up and to live a life where you’re safe will be paramount.”

She winced. “Yeah, that won’t be very easy, will it? They have long arms that stretch clear across the globe.”

“True enough, so maybe being close to people who are like you would help.”

She stared at him in surprise. “That sounds like you’re talking about Terk again.”

“I’m not sure it’s even an option,” Reid clarified, “because Terk has a very large and powerful group already. I’m not sure that’s where either of us belongs.”

“Why not?” she asked, with a shrug. “It’s really hard to know what belongs where anymore.”

“I won’t argue with that,” Reid said, “but we can figure it out down the road.”

She nodded. “Of course. Besides, we also haven’t been invited to his place.”

“I have been,” Reid shared, “but I still have to talk to him about it.”

“Of course you have. You’re an incredibly talented psychic, and he knows it. Me, on the other hand, not so much.”

He smiled at her. “My talents are amped up when I’m with my ground.”

She chuckled. “That’s what you used to call me all the time, wasn’t it?”

“That’s because I’m pretty sure that’s what you are.”

“I don’t understand. What does that even mean?”

“It means that everybody’s energy is stronger when they’re with somebody else who can help stabilize it and ground them in this plane. That much I did learn. Not that it’s necessarily anything that’s helpful, but I think that, for some people, a ground amplifies their energy and their abilities.”

“In that case, you should have a ground.”

“Oh, I agree,” he concurred, amusement in his tone. “But my ground didn’t want to do what I wanted to do.” His tone was mild, but clearly something was on his mind.

She winced at that. “Yeah, well, turns out your ground was foolish.” He burst out laughing, and she grinned at him. “It’s a good thing we can laugh about it now because, at the time, I didn’t really see anything to this. I get it now. I mean, I wasn’t very forward-thinking about what could and could not happen,” she shared, looking at anything but him. “Obviously my world has changed. I still don’t know that this is where I want to be and what I want to do.”

“Of course not,” Reid agreed. “You haven’t really had a chance yet to see what other energy workers can do, and it feels like everybody is trying to force you into something that you don’t want to do. What I think is important, right now, is for you to decide what you want to do and then see if you can make it happen.”

His words were prophetic in many ways but also difficult because how did she figure out what she wanted to do when things were such a mess? She could do many things, yet nothing really appealed. She knew her mother was fairly aggressive about wanting Veni to work in the lab with her, but how did Veni get it through to her mother that she wasn’t interested? No matter what her mother thought of it, Veni didn’t want to invest her life in that work. How could she get it through in such a way that her mother didn’t end up hating her for all time, since her own life’s work would potentially move forward at lightning speed, if only her daughter would help?

Why is it that Idon’t want to help Mom? she asked herself.

She pondered that question for a long moment, as the men discussed the circumstances around them. All she could really come up with was that she wasn’t really against helping her mother, but Veni was dead set against being locked into doing only that. An awful lot of other things were out there that she would like to try or experience, and she definitely didn’t share her mother’s intense focus on nothing else but her work.

The problem was, it was her mother’s work, and it wasn’t Veni’s work. She would love to know what else she could do on that level, but she wanted to do it in a safe environment, not where she was a prisoner, and not where she was told what she could and couldn’t do. That just didn’t appeal to her in any way. But would her mother ever listen? That Veni didn’t know. Her mother surely hadn’t so far. Her mother had a mind of her own when it came to this kind of stuff, and that made it more difficult to figure out what Veni might be up to herself down the road.

If her mom could just continue on this pathway, and Veni could stop in and do some work every once in a while, that would be fine. However, she didn’t think that would be enough to satisfy her mother. She had this thing about ordering Veni around. Like, increase the energy now, change the intensity, affect these cells here, put some energy over there, and it just went on and on.

Veni hated to say it, but a large part of what she disliked about the work was the forced dedication that her mother insisted on and that Veni continue with her mother’s work. If her mother had any understanding that it wasn’t what Veni wanted to do and then accepted it, it would be a whole lot easier to help her mother sometimes. But there was no sometimes where her mother was concerned; it was all the time. Veni suddenly realized that was probably why her parents’ marriage had failed. Maybe it hadn’t been her father’s incredibly intense focus on his work. Maybe it was the both of them.

That thought was exhilarating. The fact that they were both just as crazy about their scientific endeavors and their research and their work and their results meant that they were also well-suited in many ways and complemented each other in other ways. Yet otherwise they were completely unsuited because neither of them was prepared to look beyond their own needs to consider what the other needed.

As Veni saw how her mother was at work now, Veni wasn’t at all surprised that the marriage was no longer something either of them were interested in continuing.

It made her sad, but, considering how absolutely stringent and dedicated her mother was, maybe it was for the best for all of them.

*

Reid nudged Andersgently and signaled him to keep his voice down.

Anders was on the phone and was getting louder, and Reid wanted Veni to keep sleeping.

Anders took one look around, then nodded, as he ended the call. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right. I didn’t expect her to fall asleep so fast, but she’s obviously exhausted.”

“With good reason. The shock, the adrenaline rush, and she’s still not recovered from being held captive. At least this way she’ll be ready, if we have to make another run for it.”

“I’m really hoping we don’t. That kind of shock is rough on her.”

“It is, but we have to be ready regardless.”

“Yeah, I know.” He left his tone open-ended on that because Anders was right. If that was what they had to do, they would do it. They would up and run again. But, in order for that to happen, they had to have some new bolt-holes where they could run to.

A few minutes later, Anders was back on the phone, but he had lowered his voice and had carried on the conversation at more muted tones. Reid got up, went into the bedroom, and came out with a blanket, which he gently put around her shoulders.

She would be a lot more comfortable if she would go into the bedroom and sleep, but she had refused that earlier, not wanting to be in the same position she’d been in the last place, separated from them. Even though it was a matter of a few minutes difference at best, she was not prepared for that again. He understood it, but she wouldn’t rest well like this. He contemplated picking her up and moving her to a more comfortable bed but ended up deciding against it. As long as she was sleeping, he would leave her be. The problem was, she very quickly started tossing and turning in the chair, and he was afraid she would end up falling off.

He gently picked her up. Instinctively her arms went around his neck and held on. He carried her into the bedroom, knowing that, even though that’s not what she wanted, it was probably what she needed. He just laid her on the bed, but she wouldn’t let go of his neck. Shifting to lay her down and to also lay down beside her, he just held her close and waited until she relaxed into a deep sleep.

As soon as her arms relaxed, and she no longer held on to him, he grabbed a blanket, pulled it up over her, and rubbed her shoulders gently to ease her back to sleep. He looked up to see Anders standing at the doorway, watching him. Reid got up and headed to the door. “I figured she would get some better sleep this way.”

Anders nodded. “It’s definitely better for her in here, but she may not appreciate it when she wakes up.”

Reid grimaced. “I know. She’s likely to be pretty stressed when she wakes up and finds herself in yet another new room, but we won’t be far away.” He looked over at Anders. “Anything yet?”

“They’ve run the hotel video cameras and have a facial recognition on one gunman but not the other. They figure one was locally hired help because he has a record here in England, mostly petty stuff. So they probably hired somebody small-time just for the job.”

“This wasn’t exactly petty stuff, and they came in well-armed and skilled,” Reid pointed out.

“That’s why they think somebody is behind this group as well, which probably means they’re just trying to put distance between them and the job.”

“Right. And the two so-called government guys?” Reid asked.

“Yeah, and then there’s that. Seems MI6 can’t ID them, but they are working on it.”

Reid stared off into the distance. “It still doesn’t change the fact that we need to figure out who the hell is behind doing all this and how to put a stop to it, as well as determine how they are tracking us.”

Anders added, “My money is on Levi or Terk finding out who the two G-men are first.”

“Yeah, me too. As far as tracking us, Russia had a tracking device buried under Natalia’s hairline, which we didn’t find until we got here. So that brought the Russian right to England. And the Russians knew we would check out both women at a hospital most likely. We may have just a rotating shift of men on foot, tracking us the old-fashioned way, with boots on the ground.”

When Anders’s phone went off not a minute later, Anders answered, his frown instant, as he stared at Reid. “Seriously? No, no, I’ll… I’ll get back to you soon.” He disconnected and asked Reid, “Did you know her mother was sick?”

His eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean by sick?”

“Like really sick, as in cancer sick.”

Reid shook his head slowly. “Oh God.” He was truly shocked. “No. I don’t think Veni knows that either.”

“That doesn’t mean the mother didn’t know though.”

Hearing an odd sound, Reid turned to see Veni standing in the doorway of her bedroom, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, staring at the men in confusion. “What about my mom?”

Reid walked over to her. “Look. I don’t know whether you heard this or not, but you need to brace yourself. The phone call we just got, and we’ll have to call them back again for more details, was about how your mother isn’t doing as well as could be expected.”

She stared at him, blinking, and then turned around in a panic. “I have to go. I have to go see her.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down,” Reid said. “There’s something else.”

“What else can there be?” she cried out, raising both hands in frustration. “This is a nightmare.”

“It’s a nightmare, yes, but there is more here that we have to figure out. According to the doctors, your mother is sick, as in very sick.” She blinked, and she was about to fall sideways as he caught her. Scooping her up in his arms, he walked over to the nearest chair and sat down with her in his lap. “Take a deep breath,” he whispered. “Just breathe.”

She stared at him with a vacant gaze, still not even processing this newest info. “I had no idea.”

He nodded. “I wonder if that’s why she was so adamant about doing the work.”

She moaned, the tears slowly trickling from her eyes. “That would explain it, wouldn’t it?” she whispered. “She wanted to ensure that she left a legacy, so that her work would live on.” She shook her head, the tears coming faster and faster. She angrily wiped away the tears, and there was a finality in her tone. “We have to go, Reid. I have to go to her now.”

He expected that response, although not quite so fiercely. Still, he should have known because he knew what Veni was like. He tried to warn her, saying, “It’ll be dangerous.”

She waved her hand at that. “Everything has been dangerous, and I really don’t give a crap. I have to get to my mother.”

“Listen. I don’t know that she’s dying,” Anders stated not-so-delicately, from the other side of the room. “I just got off the phone with the doctor. He’s not sure how long she’s got left to live, but it’s obvious that she’s had this condition for a while.”

“Yet she was always so healthy,” Veni argued, staring at him.

“No, she was always taking medication that kept her drive in good form, while her body slowly wasted away,” he clarified. “The drugs were strong enough that she could continue to work happily, ignoring everything else going on, until she needed the next dose.”

Veni shuddered at that. “Dear God,” she whispered. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“She probably didn’t want you to worry, but it would also explain why she wanted to make the move now, so that you weren’t stuck over there after she was gone.”

She blinked at him, and her face scrunched up.

Reid immediately snatched her into his arms and held her. “I’m so sorry, and, yes, we’ll get you to her. I’m not quite sure how at the moment, but we will get you over there.”

“Now,” she declared, tossing her head back and looking at him fiercely. “I need to go now, and you can feel it too, can’t you?”

He blinked and then winced because—now that the subject had been addressed, with her in his arms—he did feel it himself. Her mother was definitely slipping away. He looked over at Anders. “She’s right. We need to go soon.” He added, “She’s not just fading. She’s fading quickly.”

Anders looked from one to the other and then nodded. “Then I guess we had better just go.” And, with that, he led the way to the back door and out to the vehicle. He went to the driver’s side without looking back, his mind already made up. “I’ll drive.”

“That’s good,” Reid agreed, “I need to be with Veni.” He opened the back door for her. Then Reid went to the passenger side of the car.

Anders nodded. “Yeah, it’s a good thing you’re here for her. It could get pretty rough ahead.”

“It’ll definitely get rough ahead,” Reid noted. “Damn, why didn’t I see that before?”

“Probably because the drugs were masking it. Is that possible?” Anders asked him.

“Yeah, I think it is. I can’t know for sure, but that kind of fits.” Both men settled in the front seat of the car.

Anders continued. “It also fits that Natalia would have kept it to herself. I don’t remember hearing very much about her mother, but Veni always spoke with such admiration about her mother being such a strong woman. Of course, in this case, that strength was all about her work. She put everything she had into her work, trying to get it finished before this took her out.”

“Exactly,” Reid agreed, “and that’s why she pushed to get Veni to help her as much as she did because, if she could get something completed and handed off, then her work wouldn’t have been in vain.”

And Anders agreed. “We can definitely hand off her work, but we need to get a copy of it,” Anders suggested, looking at Reid.

“I don’t know if there even is a copy.”

Veni spoke up and said, “I think I know how to get a copy.”

“Good,” Reid replied. “That would be very valuable if you could, and it would also make your mother feel a whole lot better, just knowing that you can do something about making sure her work gets into safe hands.”

“Can I though?” she asked, looking at them. “I mean, are we capable of making such a promise to her? We’re running for our lives, for God’s sake.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Reid countered. “We have more resources at hand, being in England, with backing from both Levi and Terk. We are actually situated quite nicely here, with the exception of putting you in harm’s way with these public appearances. Still, we understand your need to be at your mother’s side. Yet are you really ready to tell her that you can’t hand down her work to someone who will carry on her passion project?”

She winced. “No. God, no. She’s dying,… so let her die in peace. I’ll do everything I can to ensure it happens after the fact. Hell, maybe I’ll take up that sword myself.”

“That is,” Reid clarified, “after you rethink what it is you want to do with your life.”