Dangerous Secrets (29 page)

She arrived at the building where the car was
hidden. Pushing aside her thoughts, she suddenly wanted to get away fast. Time
seemed important. She didn′t have the feeling that anyone would discover
them if they stayed here, but she wanted to be away. She knew it was her
thoughts egging her on, her memories she wanted to distance herself from, even
though logic told her she could never get away from them.

The entire place looked abandoned. The army
left nearly thirty years ago, closing the base and leaving it like an obnoxious
relative. The sense of decayed life hung over the place, giving it the look and
feel of a graveyard at midnight. Light and air seemed to enter a building and
hang there, trapped and stale, as lost as the past.

Morgan shivered as she wedged herself through
the door of the hangar. The cavernous building was dark inside. She coughed at
the dry air.

‶
Wait here,′′ she
told Jack. He caught her arm as she started to walk away.

‶
We should stick
together.″

‶
There is only room for one of
us where I′m going.″ She looked him up and down. He had broad
shoulders and a body devoid of extra bulk, but he would fit. She was smaller
and thinner.

Pulling her arm free, she left him,
disappearing through a door at the far end of the room. In minutes the wall
that had been in place for the past twelve years slid away as if it were highly
oiled and maintained. The car rose on the elevated platform and she started the
engine.

Jack faced her in the headlights. He squinted,
covering his eyes, and started toward the car.

‶
Let me drive.″ He opened
the driver′s side door.

‶
No,″ she said.

‶
You′re in no
condition.″

‶
I′m driving,″ she
stated, and she reached for the door. Jack held it, stepping between her and
the door.

‶
I′m not moving,″
she said slowly.
‶
If you don′t get out of the way I′ll
leave you here.″

For a long moment they stared at each other.
Two lions ready to spring, growling, snarling animals with equal strength and
equal stubbornness, vying for domination.

‶
Jack, you showed up today out
of the blue. I don′t know if you′re on my side or here to kill me.
You saved my life tonight and for that I am grateful, but I set this plan up
years ago and I′m going to carry it out. Now get in the car or get out of
the way.″

He hesitated only a moment before going around
to the passenger side. Morgan took off as soon as he pulled his lean body into
the seat. She didn′t wait for him to put on a seat belt or even close the
passenger door. The dust cloud behind the car couldn′t be helped. As she
went through the electronic gate, she hoped the dust would settle enough to
cover the tracks, but if it didn′t there was nothing she could do about
it, and she vowed to worry about only the things over which she had control.

And that brought her to the man sitting next to
her. He intrigued her, even aroused her, but she had no idea why he was here,
and that scared her. Twelve years ago, she′d met Jack in the airport just
before they boarded the plane to Seoul. They were both going to the Olympics,
she to compete with the gymnastics team and he as one of the swim team coaches.
She remembered seeing him at Dulles International just outside Washington, D.C.
His eyes seemed to seek her out. She shivered the moment they made contact. He
held her gaze for only a moment before dropping it to return to his own team.
Afterward he appeared to go out of his way to ignore her. At least until that
last night. The night of the final competition. The night she′d stolen
into a foreign prison, nearly lost her life, raced like fire to return to the
arena and take her place on the balance beam and then to end the night with
tears in her eyes and Jack Temple′s arms around her.

***

Jack stared at the road ahead. Frequently he
glanced at the speedometer, expecting Morgan to use the car to relieve her
tension. She held it to the posted limit, going not a single mile over the
legal speed. Jack took a moment to review the car. He′d been disappointed
when he saw the monster vehicle she′d appeared with. They needed
something low and sleek, something that could hold the road and become one with
it. If they needed its power, he wanted to make sure it was there.

He could hear the purr of the engine. It told
him that this car was as finely tuned and carefully maintained as the escape
route the two of them had taken to get out of the house. It was unpretentious,
but not the one he would have chosen for an escape.

He just wondered where they were escaping to.
They were heading east on Route 70. It told him nothing since this route could
take them anyplace between St. Charles, Missouri, and the Atlantic Ocean.

‶
Morgan,″ he spoke her
name softly. He felt she was concentrating so intently that any sudden noise
would shatter her ability to control the car.
‶
Where are we going?″

She didn′t answer right away. Jack began
to feel she hadn′t heard him when she spoke.
‶
Don′t worry.
I know the way.″

She switched on the radio to a country music
station and went back to her driving in silence.

Jack wondered about her. What had happened to
her in the past twelve years? How had she lived? The house they′d left in
the quiet wooded area was beautiful, with furnishings and paintings, although
he′d seen none of her trophies or ribbons, cups or medallions he knew she
owned. On her way to the Olympics, she′d picked up a double score of
awards. She dressed well and had many friends. She hadn′t married or even
been engaged, but she was a beautiful, desirable woman.

Morgan continued to drive. The night
disappeared hour by hour. They hadn′t stopped for gas or food or to use a
bathroom. Jack kept tabs on her reactions, making sure she was alert. He had no
complaints about how she handled the car. She drove the way she′d done
everything since he′d met her, efficiently, competently, as if she knew
what she wanted and how to get it. She and the car merged into one. The road
made up the third part of the strange trio. She drove as if this was part of
her daily commute, that she had been over this surface day in and day out, that
she and the bumps, holes, smooth edges, ragged surfaces knew each other
intimately and swayed and moved to avoid any inconvenience.

While Jack wasn′t concerned about
Morgan′s driving, he was, however, concerned about her. She was burying
her feelings, swallowing them inside and using the car as a transfer device. He
wasn′t sure she knew she was doing it. From the profile he′d read
he knew she′d been very shrewd as a child. Spending years alone on the
street had taught her to hide her feelings, to keep them inside and never allow
anyone to see what she felt. The car was a safe haven for those feelings. What
she couldn′t talk to him about, what she knew needed an outlet, she gave
it through the car, but it was a controlled giving. She looked as if she was
running on automatic, like she′d set the car to drive itself and turned
on her own personal cruise control to keep from feeling anything.

Jack knew better. There was at least one time
when she didn′t keep her feelings to herself. She′d poured them out
with long heart-rending tears while he held her in his arms. He wanted her to
trust him enough to do it again. He wanted her to tell him what she felt.
Despite her facade of strength and ability, she probably hadn′t done
anything like trust another human being in twelve years, maybe longer.
He′d been there for her before. It was important that he be there again.
He′d helped her through it before. Helping her again was why he′d
come this time.

***

‶
That was a pretty amazing
house,″ Jack began.
‶
I suppose the options we walked through won′t
be found registered at the city building department.″

For a long moment Morgan remained quiet. Jack
didn′t think she′d talk to him at all.

‶
Come on, Morgan. I′m on
your side. I haven′t asked anything about why you had a secret escape
route or a car, with an engine that purrs like a kitten, hidden in an abandoned
military base. The least you could do is talk to me.″

‶
Why are you here?″ She
broke her self-imposed silence with a voice so low he had to strain to hear it.

‶
I don′t know. I was
hoping you′d tell me that.″

‶
I don′t need your help
and I don′t want it. So if it′s all the same to you, I′ll let
you out at the nearest town and be on my way.″

Jack sighed. He wasn′t used to people not
wanting his help. Often when he got to someone, they were willing to follow
him, assuming he knew how to keep them safe. He wasn′t sure about Morgan.
He had no idea how much trouble she was in.

‶
Morgan, can we start
over?″

She took her eyes off the road and looked at
him for as long as she could before returning her attention to the road.
‶
I
don′t think so,″ she said.

‶
Morgan—″

‶
I didn′t build the gym
myself,″ she started speaking at the same time as he did. Jack allowed
her to finish.
‶
Before
the Army base closed, the commander had it built for his children. He had the
foundation dug and moved the house to sit over it. Once the base closed, the
house was vacant for years. I got it because of. . . connections.″ She
didn′t explain any further.
‶
So you are correct, Jack. It
won′t be found on any building department′s plans.″

‶
What about the escape tunnel?
Did he build that too?″

‶
That was mine.″

‶
You did that?″

‶
Don′t look so surprised.
I am capable of many things.″

‶
It′s not that. It′s
why?″

‶
Why did I think I needed
one?″ she asked.
‶
I suppose that′s a moot point now. I needed
it, it was there.″

‶
And the explosives?″

‶
I wasn′t sure that would
work.″ She almost smiled.
‶
I found an old manual at the
base one night. It wasn′t about making bombs. I found that information on
the Internet. The manual was about the techniques of disarming bombs.″

‶
Why would you want to bomb your
own house?″

‶
I didn′t hurt
anyone,″ she rushed to say.
‶
That′s why it was ten
minutes after I set the timer. I left a recording warning anyone inside they
had ten minutes to get out before the house was blown up.″

She hadn′t answered his question.
‶
But
it was your home.″ Jack couldn′t imagine leaving a place he′d
lived in for twelve years by destroying it on purpose.

Morgan took her time answering.
‶
I
didn′t want to leave anything around that would help someone find
me.″

Jack thought she′d chosen her words very
carefully. He wondered if she was telling the truth. Why wouldn′t she
want any trace of herself left? He thought about the house she′d lived
in. It was beautifully decorated, but impersonal. Morgan lived there, yet the
only room that he could say he felt her a part of was the gym. She might walk
through the other rooms, but her presence was invisible, everywhere except that
chalk-filled air of the underground gym.

‶
What′s this all about,
Morgan?″

He couldn′t have shut her up more quickly
if he′d put duct tape over her mouth. And he could think of something
else he′d like to put over her mouth. It wasn′t tape.

Jack wondered what she was thinking. It had
been twelve years since they′d last seen each other. He thought that was
enough time, but it was wiped away in one tumble to the floor of her hallway.
He′d seen her struggling under him and he wanted to kiss her. She wanted
to be unseen, unknown and untraceable.

***

At daylight Morgan pulled off the main road and
zigzagged through a series of secondary roads until she finally reached a
narrow strip of blacktop that seemed to be swallowed by trees and bushes. The
blacktop faded into a pothole-ridden, broken road and then dropped all pretense
of being paved. The car′s suspension system barely registered a change.
Jack wondered exactly what was under the hood of this nondescript vehicle.
Certainly more than he had initially given it credit for, but Morgan had
planned carefully, and this car was no less outfitted than that tunnel above
her gymnasium.

‶
Can you tell me where
we′re going now?″ He spoke for the first time in hours. His throat
was dry and his knees cramped from sitting in one position for so long.

Morgan swung the car sharply around a bend and
a house came into view. The road changed from packed earth to gravel. The house
wasn′t what he′d envisioned. With all the trees around them he
expected a log cabin or some hidden away building with crumbling walls and in
serious need of a paint job. What he saw was a sprawling three-story mansion
with high white columns and a veranda and balcony that appeared to ran the full
circumference of the building. In front of it was a large man-made lake. They
drove around it, along an oval driveway outlined with deep red stones that led
up to the wide porch and double front doors.

Morgan stopped the car and got out. Placing her
hands on her lower back, she arched it, then raised her hands to the sky and
stretched. She gave a reviving cry, reminiscent of the first stretch of the
morning. Hours of sitting had taken a toll on her too. She rotated her
shoulders. Then, pulling the backpack from the car, she started for the house.