Being Amber (24 page)

Jaci walked at a good clip toward the border, sticking to the shadows. Her skin was cool and a sheen of perspiration from her full out running coated her skin.

The understanding that the Gov would never stop looking for her suddenly sunk in. She was a murderer. At best, she would be redesignated Onyx and be put outside of the city walls. At worst, she’d probably disappear into thin air, like the people Xander told her about.

She wanted to see Xander again before that happened.

That thought alone strengthened her tired body and ragged spirit. She kept going, finding points in the distance and making them goals. She promised herself she’d stop and rest once she made it to the goal. Then, she renegotiated with her tired legs and searing lungs, refocusing on another goal and telling herself she would stop and rest there.

Jaci didn’t know how long it took her but she guessed it had been at least two hours since she commed Xander. Now, border crossing gate one was in sight. Jaci stopped and caught her breath. She wiped the perspiration from her face with her forearm and raked her fingers through her hair in a desperate attempt to not look like the way she felt.

As she approached, she saw Jordan standing at the small booth talking to a couple of soldiers. She was in uniform. Jaci never saw Jordan in uniform before. She was laughing and so were the two soldiers.

Jordan caught sight of Jaci’s approach before the men did. She smiled wide at Jaci and raised her eyebrows. “Oh there she is,” she said, pointing and laughing. “Could you be any more of a pain in my ass?”

Jaci’s mouth was parched and her heart played the rhythm of her fear as she approached, pasting on her best smile. “I know, I know, guilty as charged.”

“And, so you know, I’m not coming here to pick you up again,” she said as she pulled Jaci through the narrow pedestrian gate.

“Go wait for me in the cruiser. I’ll be there in a sec,” Jordan said, winking at one of the men in uniform.

Jaci rolled her eyes and turned away from the soldiers. “That’s what you said the last time, yet here you are,” she called over her shoulder.

Now that her back was to them, she forced herself to squash the overwhelming urge to run to the waiting police car.

After a minute, Jordan walked back to the cruiser, drawing the appreciative looks of the two soldiers she’d been talking to.

“It took a considerable bit of flirting to get those guys to let down their guard enough to let me hang out and wait for you, but I think I made some new friends,” she said as she slammed the car door closed.

“Emily?” Jaci croaked.

Jordan hesitated then took Jaci’s hand. “Emily’s dead, Jaci.”

“Oh my God. No. I can’t believe this.” Jaci moaned, holding her hands over her face. Her head hung low as they rode together in silence for several minutes.

“I killed Caroline. I have to hide.” Jaci was deadpan. “You can’t be seen with me, Jordan. I’m going to be put out of the city when they catch me.”

“Well, they’ll have to find you first.”

Chapter 16

Xander had been waiting for hours when the two women walked into the vacant apartment in building twenty-eight. Jaci rushed to him as soon as she saw him. He took her into his arms and held her tight.

“Thanks, Jordan,” he said, his lips close to Jaci’s ear.

“No prob.”

“It’s late. Jaci and I are staying here tonight. Captain Rush scheduled a meeting for all of us tomorrow at nine.”

“See you guys tomorrow then.” Her gaze flicked toward Jaci for a split second, silently checking whether it was okay to leave.

Jaci mustered a smile. “Night, Jordan,” she murmured.

After Xander closed the door and turned the lock, he turned and held Jaci captive in a relentless embrace. Then her composure shattered. She withered in his arms. Each grieving sob filled his ears louder than the one before.

“Emily’s dead, Xander.” Jaci clawed at his shirt in an attempt to remain standing instead of curling into the ball her body seemed to demand.

He picked her up, laid her down on the bed and slid in next to her.

In the inky darkness of the room, Jaci’s spastic sobs echoed off the walls and floor. He held her tight while she released her grief and fear, burrowing into his body, as if for shelter. Her despair mangled Xander’s already wounded heart.

There were so many questions he wanted to ask her. So many things he wanted to say. But, now was not the time to do it. Not for either of them. Because as he lay there consoling her, he suffered his own feelings of loss.

He’d remained stoic at headquarters. Strong for his friend. Professional for the team. Now, in the sanctuary of their hiding place, under total cover of darkness, Xander took the time he needed to process the reality of Emily’s murder. Thoughts of her tightened the muscles of his throat. Emily was his friend. She genuinely cared for him and he felt the same. Whenever he was around her, she went out of her way to pull him into her orbit, giving him a prominent place in her panoramic world. She created a tornado of spontaneous fun, outrageous individuality and unbridled passion that swirled intensely around her. It was hard not to get caught up in it.

He never worried that he sent the wrong message when he was with her. She would never have mistaken his friendliness for anything more. She was Rock’s, so he was always safe to be himself.

Xander snapped out of his own grief and noticed Jaci had stopped crying. He listened to the slow, rhythmic in and out of her breath. She was sleeping. Her warm exhalations of air played over his chest.

It seemed an eternity since the conversation with his mother. He thought of what he’d promised her, that he would grab onto his love of a lifetime and never let her go. He looked back down at Jaci.

He did love her.

He had been an idiot. He’d purposely tried to drive her away, and he’d knowingly hurt her in the process. Yet, she was still here in his arms. Safe. For now.

The Gov wanted her gone, her and the fallows before her. Those in power were so afraid that the extent of the oppression in the Amber Zone would become known, that Ambers would begin to gain sympathy through the close family ties the transferred fallows had with their families, that they killed to sever those ties. What they’d been doing was a violation of the Amber Accord. If this information got out, Ambers would be outraged. They would be within their right to organize and fight the Gov.

Xander considered what life would be like in Onyx. Maybe he should take Jaci and leave before she was targeted again. At the far end of the huge medicinal garden behind the wellness center stood a large section of the wall that encircled all of New Atlanta. They could scale it and make a go of it in the Onyx Zone. But the unknown of what was on the other side was as intimidating and dangerous as the Gov. Ideas floated and wove their way around his half-asleep brain. Plans developed and were foiled before ever being given the chance to be executed.

He woke from his ethereal half sleep with intangible plans for their escape, the solution to everything just beyond reach of his conscious memory. As the outside world came into focus, the brief respite gained from his hour or two of sleep dissipated and the stress and fear of remembering the events of the day before returned to their proper place, descending like heavy weights on his chest.

Throughout the night, Jaci positioned her body as close to him as possible. Now, her rear pressed firmly on his morning erection. This time, instead of moving away from her as he’d done every morning since their first night together, he stayed where he was and caressed the brown, wavy ribbons of hair away from her face. He would never force himself to distance his heart or body from her again. Of this, he was absolutely sure.

Xander leaned over and whispered in her ear, “It’s time to get up.”

Jaci released a soft, whispery sigh and was motionless again.

Then suddenly her eyes flew open. He watched her as she hastily took in her surroundings and then remembered the events of the night before. Her face fell. She turned her head to look at him.

“What time is it?”

“I’m not sure but I think we’re probably already late for the meeting.” Neither one of them moved. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out together. We have a lot of things to talk about too,” he murmured as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed himself into her. He kissed her exposed neck.

Her gaze met his. He saw the confusion and pain in her face. She drew in an unsettled breath and closed her eyes on the exhale as if she were silently thanking God for the moment or maybe committing the moment to memory. He couldn’t be sure. “But we’ll have to save it for later. Come on.” He rose from the bed and took Jaci’s small hands in his, pulling her out from beneath the blanket until she sat on the edge of the mattress. He ambled to the bathroom while she started to comb her fingers through her hair.

Once in the bathroom, he looked around. No clean clothes, no toothbrushes, not even any soap. They both were going to look a bit rough. Well, he would anyway.

He commed headquarters, requesting a patrol car to meet them outside Circle City to give them a ride. The trip from the apartment to headquarters held an awkward silence, and Xander took a breath of relief when they walked into the briefing room. Everybody from the special task force was already there. They were crowded around the screen at one end of the room watching the morning news feed.

As Xander and Jaci joined them, they caught the remainder of the reporter’s story.

“…hero Officer Rock Dunham killed suspected serial killer, Emily Taylor, in the Amber Zone last night while she was in the process of trying to murder her next victim. The intended victim, whose identity has not yet been released, is reported to be doing well this morning. This is the first identification of a known serial killer since the pandemic.

In related news, a Government spokesperson announced that Officer Dunham has been granted a special petition designation to Emerald due to his police work and heroism in this case. He is the second Amber Zone citizen to be granted Emerald status this year…”

The screen went mute and everybody in the room returned to their places around the table in stunned silence.

“Well, at least we know which way the Gov is playing it,” Captain Rush said as he sat down. He looked at Jaci and stood back up. “I’m Captain Rush.” He stuck out his hand and she shook it. “I think you know everybody else here.” He motioned for her to have a seat. “Give us the run down from start to finish on what happened last night.”

Jaci told everybody what happened while she was in the Sapphire Zone, while Xander sat, feeling like he was going to explode. He felt murderous. He couldn’t believe that Caroline worked for the Gov. She’d been hiding in plain sight. The task force didn’t think twice about her during their investigation. They’d screwed up on basic detective work, and Emily had paid the price for their mistake. He wanted to scream.

Xander looked over at Rock. He wore the same bloodstained clothes from the night before. His eyes were rimmed in red with dark circles hanging underneath. A day or two of beard growth darkened his face. He was there, but not really. His eyes were empty, his body language said, “I’m broken inside and out.”

Xander knew Rock blamed himself. He hadn’t put everything together in time to save Emily. Xander also knew there would be no consoling Rock’s grief. There were no words he could utter that would ever change the depth of the agony Rock suffered. But Xander would still try.

The meeting ended with the consensus of all involved that they would release Jaci’s name as the intended victim of the serial killer. They felt it would protect her from further targeting by the Gov, reasoning that having the Amber population know she was a target for murder once may prevent her from being a target again.

There didn’t seem to be any more loose ends. Captain Rush officially called the case closed and silence descended on the room.

Nobody congratulated anyone else. There were no feelings of accomplishment or a job well done.

“Rock, come back to the apartment with us,” Xander said.

He shook his head in response, still staring into space. Xander motioned for Jaci to wait for him in the hall and then knelt in front of his friend. He tried to tell Rock all the things he knew a good partner, a good friend should, but as predicted, he was inconsolable. At the moment, he possessed the presence of his namesake–a rock.

“Go away. Just go away,” he finally said to Xander, not with anger, but with pleading expressed in his eyes.