Double Bind (12 page)

           
Sarah started to look over at Valerie.
 
The woman sounded insane.
 
Sure, it made a sick kind of sense, but there was a hysterically happy note to Valerie’s voice that sounded truly deranged.

           
There was a gunshot in the darkness, and Sarah jerked, crying out.
 
She waited breathlessly to hear a body fall or Rob groan, but she heard nothing.
 
She could only hear her own breath and the giggles that Valerie kept letting slip.
 
Suddenly, there was a grunt and a thud in the darkness.
 
Sarah felt herself go limp.

           
She had done it.
 
She had been an idiot to go in on her own, and now Rob was truly hurt.
 
He was probably dead already, and now She was going to be next.
 
It was all her fault for not just being a little more patient.

           
Valerie nodded to Clive the moment that the thud sounded, and he opened the door to let the others step out into the street.
 
Sarah started to panic.
 
She couldn’t let them get her back into the alley, or she’d never get away.
 
In a sudden jerk, she pried herself from the thug’s non-slack grip, bolting toward Jared.

           
He turned slowly as the thug yelled, leaping toward her.
 
They were all too slow, though.
 
Sarah charged right into Jared, knocking the big black duffel right out of his hands.
 
Almost in slow motion it spiraled through the air, twisting and turning in the air before it crashed loudly onto the street.

           
There was a crack and crashing sound and Sarah had a moment of triumph before her momentum carried her too far and she and Jared fell hard onto the sidewalk, tangling in each other.

           
“You idiot!” Valerie was yelling, backing back up into the building.
 
“That was the
Espry
formula!
 
It could be in the air!
 
It’s contaminating us all!”

           
Sarah scrambled to untangle herself as Jared writhed on the ground, knocking over Mr.
Eddison
in his panic.
 
“It burns!
 
It burns!” Jared was crying.

           
They were a mess on the ground, when Valerie suddenly stepped back through the door.
 
Behind her was the familiar and comforting sight of Rob.
 
Sarah scanned his body, looking to find if he was hurt in any way.
 
His shirt was crooked, and he had lost one of his shoes, but he looked as good as ever.
 
Suddenly, she broke out in laughter.

           
Valerie was panicked, pressing herself as tight against Rob as possible, even though he had a gun firmly placed in her back.
 
“Don’t let me go any farther!” She cried.
 
“I don’t want to die some horrible chemical death!”

           
Sarah was still laughing on the ground, as Jared and Mr.
Eddison
finally found their footing.
 
They stared at Rob and Valerie, and Mr.
Eddison
started to run down the street.
 
The other thug and Clive didn’t waste any time, but followed right after him.

           
Rob sighed angrily, taking in a deep breath. “Stop!
 
Police!”

           
But his voice was drowned out by another siren, coming fast down the end of the road, blocking the vile miscreants in.
 
They turned, ready to scatter, but another cop car pulled in up another street, followed by another.
 
By now the runners were spinning in desperate circles, while the cops at the end of the street got out with their guns drawn.

           
“Put your hands in the air!” A loud voice echoed over the siren.
 
“Get down and we won’t shoot!”

           
Valerie was still shrieking, while Jarod pawed at his clothes desperately.
 
Rob stared at Sarah nervously as she continued to laugh hysterically.

           
“Sarah?
 
Are you alright?”

           
More cop cars were pouring up the other end of the street, leaving them in the circle of flashing lights and sound.
 
Sarah watched as officers rushed to cuff Valerie and Jared, darting into the building to presumably find the other hired gun.
 
Valerie was still shrieking and Sarah brought herself under enough control to stand up.

           
“Calm down!” She yelled at Valerie, who finally brought her voice down to a whimper.
 
Sarah shook her head, looking at the oozing puddle seeping from the black duffel bag, and then back up at Valerie.
 
“Well, I guess that tells me how much you were paying attention in work meetings.”

           
“What?” Valerie said, her voice still more a whimper than speech.

           
Sarah prodded the black bag with the heel of her shoe, then grinned up at Valerie.
 
The officer was talking to Rob as Valerie stared blankly at Sarah.
 
Sarah had to suppress another giggle.

           
“Even the interns know that
Espry
isn’t fatal.
 
And only an idiot would think that it could be spread through the air.
 
You have to ingest or inject it to have any effect at all.”
 
She reached down and scooped a little of the liquid onto her fingers, smelling them.
 
Then she reached out and put it toward Valerie’s face.
 
“See, smells like peaches.”

           
Valerie jerked back, almost hitting the officer in the face, and he jerked on her restraints.
 
“Come on then.” He barked, and Valerie was hauled after her.
 
Suddenly, she felt very tired.
 
She looked up to find Rob turning back to face her.

           
They didn’t say anything. Rob was just suddenly there, his arms pulling her in close.
 
She let him.
 
He pulled her into a tight hug, almost lifting her off her feet.
 
She clutched at his shirt, pulling him even tighter.
 
She took a deep breath, catching a whiff of his sexy cologne behind the smell of sweat and dirt.

           
He pulled away, his arms shaking a little with concern.
 
“Sarah?
 
Are you alright?”

           
Sarah didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry.
 
She settled for sarcasm.
 
“Oh yeah, I’m just awesome.”

           
He laughed and pulled her in close again.
 
“I was so worried that you were hurt.
 
I thought that maybe you were hurt.
 
When I saw your car parked next to the factory.”
 
His voice trailed off, and his hand started to run down her hair.

           
She pulled away far enough that she could look up in to his face.
 
“What were you doing here anyway?”

           
He laughed.
 
“I was following you, you impulsive idiot.
 
I was off-duty, but I thought I would make sure that you really did keep out of trouble this time.”
 
He looked at her, a smile spreading on his face.
 
“You were acting so weird the last time that I saw you, I was positive that you were going to do something crazy.”
 
He glanced around at the street lit up, the different people being loaded into cop cars and the neighbors peering out of windows at the ruckus.
 
“I didn’t think it was going to be this crazy.”

           
She felt a blush spread across her cheeks.
 
“Well, it didn’t seem crazy at the time.”

           
He shook his head.
 
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and debriefed.”
 
He glanced at a dark undercover car parked over by his.
 
“We are both going to be in a lot of trouble.”

           
Sarah giggled, leaning in against him.
 
“Hey, don’t expect me to take the whole blame.
 
I totally had everything under control until you got involved.”

           
Shaking his head, he led her over to the line of police cars, leaving the mess behind for someone else to pick over.

Chapter 10

           
She had expected to be debriefed and all of that right there on the site, but Rob insisted that they go down to the police station for the full workup.
 
It was a relief for her to be able to tell her story without worrying that anyone was going to question it.
 
Sure, everyone thought that she had been crazy, and that she should have stayed at home, but no one questioned whether or not she was innocent.

           
It also helped that they didn’t put her in one of the interrogation rooms.
 
Instead she got to sit in the main area at one of the officer’s desks. The officer gave her coffee and even let her get some chips out of the vending machine while she answered questions.
 
Rob passed by every now and then, giving her a bright smile.

           
In the bright light of the police station, she could see just how battered and shaken up he was.
 
His lip had been bleeding, and someone put a bandage over a jagged cut on his neck.
 
His hands were spotted with
bandaids
and one of his eyes was quickly swelling to a dark black.

           
The best part was when Sarah got to watch Valerie and Jared paraded through in handcuffs on their way to booking.
 
She couldn’t help but grin wickedly at Valerie, though she felt a little bad for Jared.
 
He looked like he had gotten out of his league.
 
Besides, he hadn’t pretended to be her friend, and the interrogation had revealed that he hadn’t even known that she had been the one to be framed.
 
Rob came over as he was paraded past, and saw the look on her face.

           
“He broke a deal with us, so he’s not going to be in too much trouble,” he said, nudging her shoulder lightly and smiling.
 
“But we’re going to give him enough trouble that he’s not going to try that again.”

           
Sarah nodded and felt her smile growing to match his.
 
She gazed up at him for a moment, feeling her smile get even bigger and sillier.

           
The officer at the desk next to her cleared his throat loudly.

           
“Oh!” She said, breaking Rob’s gaze and then turning back to face the officer with her face slowly reddening.
 
“Right.”

           
The officer was grinning, and he winked up at Rob before turning back to her.
 
“Well, I don’t know if there is much else you can help us with, Ms. Gaul.
 
Maybe Detective Snyder here can help you find your way out.”

           
Sarah grinned at the officer.
 
“Thank you.” She glanced up at Rob slyly.
 
“See how much easier things go when you aren’t trying to arrest an innocent woman?”

           
Rob laughed, shaking his head.
 
“I don’t know that you’re completely innocent.”

           
“What!” Sarah said, leaping out of the chair, ready to attack.
 
His grin disarmed her at once and she punched his arm.
 
“You are very mean, detective.
 
Horribly evil.”