Seeking Asylum (16 page)

“Are you sure?” He walked over to her side. She felt the trembling in his limbs. “Could it be misfiled?”

“I doubt it. He’s about to be arraigned for attempted murder and kidnapping. His chart is probably in police cus
tody, or at the very least in the chief medical director’s office.”

“There has to be something here that we can use.” His voice was harsh. “Look again.”

“Eric, what’s wrong with you tonight? What did Mitch say? Is Caleb no better?”

He shook his head.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could be more help. I can’t believe we’re having such a hard time finding anything.”

“Obviously someone has gone to a lot of trouble to hide the evidence.”

“If there’s anything down here referring to Caleb, it would have to be in that bin of unfiled forms.”

“Great. Where is the bin?” He wiped a hand down his face.

She grabbed his muscled wrist.

He looked down at her and his throat moved as he swallowed.

“First you tell me what’s wrong. What happened to you today?”

“I’m fine. We don’t have a lot of time here, Rachel.”

“I deserve to know why you didn’t contact me all day.”

He took the flashlight from her, rechecking the shelf she’d just looked at. She knew his action was just something for him to do to keep from looking at her.

“This morning, the big registered nurse, Thomas, who seems to have it in for Caleb, came in with an orderly. He gave me my regular daily injection.” He paused, wiping a hand down his face. “Then he told me I was going for a ‘procedure,’ and the orderly held me down while Thomas gave me a second injection. I guess they thought I might fight it, but I didn’t.” He took a shaky breath. “It was a strong sedative.”

Rachel took a sharp breath. “What had you done?”

He sent her an irritated glance. “I hadn’t
done
anything. About five minutes later, Thomas returned with another orderly and they strapped me to a gurney and took me—somewhere.” He rubbed his hand over his eyes. “I tried to keep my bearings, but I was too drowsy. I know I was taken on an elevator.”

Rachel thought about what he’d said to Mitch.

A sense of direction.
An instinct. Dread washed over her.

“I faded in and out of consciousness, but I tried to pretend I was asleep the whole time. They obviously thought I should be. I guess the antagonist medication they gave me at Walter Reed is kicking in.”

The flashlight beam wavered.

Rachel’s heart went out to him.

“I remember a syringe—a needle. A stinging at the base of my skull.” He blew out a breath. “I remember a burning sensation in my head, like it was on fire. It was hard to stay still.” He sent her a quick glance. “I remember seeing Metzger.”

He turned to face her, the flashlight’s halo lighting his face. She saw the feverish panic in his eyes. “I think Metzger extracted something from my brain. Remember Caleb talking about Metzger sucking out his brains?”

She remembered, but her instinct was to protect Metzger. He was a fellow physician. He’d taken the same oath she had. “Dr. Metzger’s first priority is to help his patients, not hurt them. We both know Caleb has delusions. I never saw anything like that in Caleb’s chart.”

Eric’s face darkened in anger. “And you think I’m having the same delusions?”

“You’re receiving the same drug. That’s got to be affecting you. It was probably a routine procedure.”

“I’m telling you it was not routine. I believe Metzger’s using the fluids he extracts to create the injections I’m getting every day. The ones that are recorded in the chart as fenpiprazole. You said yourself that Metzger’s theory is based on immunizing patients against their own brain chemicals.”

“You were drowsy. Maybe you dreamed—”

“I did not dream anything,” he snapped. “Damn it, Rachel—”

A noise behind them froze them both in place. A sliver of light shot across the worn tile.

Eric’s arms encircled her and lifted her off her feet. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he propelled her silently backward, into the far corner of the stacks, then lowered her to the floor.

He whispered through her com unit. “Shh. They won’t see us if we stay perfectly still.”

Rachel lay beneath Eric, his hard, lean body pressed along her length, sending erotic signals to her brain. Her breasts tightened, her breathing quickened.

How did they keep ending up in these dangerous situations with their limbs entwined, so close they were practically breathing as one person?

The lights came on. Rachel cringed and Eric’s body tensed. The corner where they hid was shrouded in shadow, but anyone who got close enough would be able to see them.

The swinging gate that separated the front of the room from the shelves creaked.

He’s in the stacks,
Rachel mouthed.

Eric nodded once. His breath was hot against her cheek. His arms sheltered her and his bare chest pressed against her breasts. She was hyperaware of him, of his barely con
trolled breathing, of his steel-hard muscles, of his growing hardness against her belly.

She swallowed and tried not to think about how quickly and easily she responded to him.

Beyond them, soft footsteps marked the approach of the person who might turn the corner at any second and find them. Rachel heard the unmistakable sound of papers rustling. She held her breath as adrenaline pumped through her veins like her blood.

If she were caught in such a compromising position with a patient, she’d be fired. Moreover, she’d probably lose her license to practice medicine forever.

Eric’s chest rose and fell against her sensitive breasts.

The gate creaked again and the quiet footsteps moved away. Then the light went out and the door’s click echoed in the sudden quiet.

For several seconds neither of them moved.

Rachel felt Eric’s rapid heartbeat as it synched with hers. After what could have been one second or an eternity, he lifted his head.

The darkness was so complete after the harsh shock of light, that if it hadn’t been for the glow in his eyes and the secure strength of his body, she’d have screamed in terror.

Her breath shuddered out. “I thought we’d be caught.”

“Me, too.”

“Eric—” She shifted and he made a low, pained sound deep in his throat.

Then he pulled away. “Sorry,” he whispered.

“Oh, please, don’t—” she whispered.

Eric tried without success to calm his out-of-control desire. He filled his mind with their risky close call, but that only fueled the hunger that surged through him.

He’d never felt like this. It was the danger, his rational
brain calmly asserted. Nothing like almost getting caught to add to the excitement.

Rachel’s hands slid around his bare waist and up his back. “Don’t move away. It’s so dark,” she whispered. “I’m scared.”

Her hands burned hotter than the damn needle this morning. He shivered with instant reaction. The heat of her hands and the warm caress of her breath engulfed him.

“I feel your heart pounding. Are you scared, too?”

He nodded, hearing her need for reassurance in her voice.

“Not of the dark.” He was afraid of her. Of her ability to make him believe he could have a normal life. Of the hold her strong, delicate body had over him. Of the part of himself he’d never shown to anyone, but that he knew she deserved to see.

The part that would frighten her away.

“Of what then?”

Her words echoed in stereo in his head. Here in the dark, alone with her, could he tell her the truth? “I’m afraid of you.”

She stiffened.

“Of this.” He closed his eyes and pressed himself against her, laying his cheek against hers so that her silky hair tickled his nose. “I have a hard time opening up to people.”

Her lips touched his ear and something happened inside him. A dam broke between his heart and his body, and the pent-up passion he’d never allowed to surface flowed over him. It took all his self-control to keep from coming right then.

He clenched his jaw and braced himself to stop this foolishness before it went any further.

But Rachel’s lips moved against his ear. “Don’t leave me yet,” she begged.

He turned his head. She turned hers at the same moment and their mouths met in a careful, slow kiss. He didn’t move a muscle, holding on to the last frayed strand of his restraint with all his might.

She leaned in, giving more, seeking more. Without meaning to, he found himself giving her what she sought. His tongue touched her soft, full lips and her moan slid through him, a potent aphrodisiac that left him rigid and pulsing.

He turned, pulling her fully against him, kissing her with an abandon he’d never even allowed himself to imagine. His prior experiences with women were reduced to adolescent memories as he gave himself over to the incredible feel of her supple, shapely body. She felt like the finest satin, wrapped around him.

And he knew, he
knew,
what she was feeling. Her hesitant movements, her trembling limbs, told him she was as surprised and overwhelmed as he.

He slid his hand up under her black sweater, craving the feel of her bare skin against his fingers.

“Do we have time?” she whispered, her fingers tracing his biceps up to his shoulders.

Ah, hell.
Her words hit him like a bucket of ice water. He took a sharp breath and rolled away.

“What is it?”

“I have to get back.” His voice reflected the intense control that he had to dredge up from within to quench the fire that had almost consumed him. He groaned as he sat up, his arousal aching.

“I’m on two-hour bed checks now, but I’ve been gone a long time.”

He stood, his legs unsteady, and held out his hand.

Rachel let him help her up, using her other hand to straighten her sweater.

“Rachel, we need to talk. Come upstairs with me.”

She stared at him. “And do what? Hide under your bed?”

He shrugged. “There are things we need to discuss.”

He felt her tense.

“May I have the flashlight please?” Her voice was carefully controlled.

He handed it to her and followed her as she found her way back to the door that led to the basement.

“We can talk through our com units,” she said crisply. “I need to stay here and search through the unfiled records. I know your ID number, and of course I’ll only be looking at records that begin with the number two. That will eliminate a lot.”

“No.”

“Yes.” She propped her fists on her hips. “Didn’t Mitch tell you that Caleb is not getting better? The longer he remains unconscious, the higher the chances he’ll contract an infection or go into a coma.”

He knew she was right. He had to trust her to be careful. “Stay in constant contact with me. Tell me where you are every second, and if I turn off my com, it will only be because I’m being watched. I’ll turn it back on as soon as possible.” He wrapped a hand around her neck, feeling her resist his touch.

“Keep your com unit on. Promise me.”

Her chin went up, but she nodded. “I promise.”

“I’ll try to get into the sunroom. That way I can see the guard and can warn you when he’s headed around the building.”

He caressed her cheek with his thumb.
God, he hated to leave her down here alone.

“Be careful,” he whispered, then he headed for the service stairs.

Chapter Nine

The next night Rachel met with the FBI agent. Despite their close call, the search the night before had yielded nothing about Caleb. Rachel had spent a restless night, tortured by the memory of Eric’s body against hers.

Then Mitch had called her first thing in the morning to let her know of the meeting. All day, she’d had to force herself to concentrate on her patients instead of the clock.

Now, she drove through the darkness, rain falling much too fast for the windshield wipers to push it out of the way. Rachel drove carefully, turning up the defroster to keep the windshield clear. Up ahead, she saw the small road sign that read Meadows Lane.

A shaky sigh escaped her lips. She was almost home. The meeting at a restaurant in the next town had been uneventful, if one considered a clandestine rendezous with a secret agent to exchange documents uneventful.

It occurred to her how different her life had become in less than one week. All her life, she’d pursued normalcy with the zeal of a religious convert. It had taken her a long time, after her chaotic childhood, to learn that it was actually possible to live quietly and safely.

But now, suddenly, she was caught in a bizarre world
where murder investigations and secret meetings and danger were everyday events.

She hadn’t realized how nervous she’d been about the meeting until now. As she made the turn, she noticed the stiffness in her fingers from clutching the steering wheel.

She took the long circular drive around to the staff apartments and pulled into her parking place, right outside her apartment door.

Before she braved the pouring rain, she made sure the copies of the blueprints the agent had given her were secure inside her backpack.

Then she jumped out of her car and dashed toward her door without an umbrella, key in hand.

She turned the key quickly and ducked inside, sighing in relief as she closed the door behind her and reached toward the light switch.

She wasn’t alone.
The thought skittered through her brain as if someone had whispered it to her. Her com unit was off, though, so it couldn’t have been Eric. She froze, her gaze sweeping the kitchen area to the left of the door.

The night-light she always left burning over her sink bathed the room in a pale blue glow. But the green and purple screen saver that started up after twenty minutes of no action on her computer wasn’t on. Instead she saw an open file. Someone had recently touched her computer.

Suddenly a dark shape blocked the computer’s glare. Before she had time to react, the shape slammed into her, shoving her out of its way and into the kitchen counter. She hit hard, knocking a glass onto the floor, then fell, her palms and right knee crunching on broken glass. She cried out in pain and surprise.