Because Tarik was afraid of being spotted by the Omega goons or Canadian police, Abby had to play it real cool when she finally spotted her friend. Although her insides were hopping around like grasshoppers on crack, she had to swoop around the corner and snag her friend before she made it to the hotel’s check-in counter.
Since Katie was clueless, Abby made sure Katie saw her face right away. She had to know things were serious and she had to be quiet.
All it took was a second for Katie to register what Abby was trying to tell her. She acknowledged with a nod then followed Abby toward the back door. Tarik was waiting in the woods at the rear of the parking lot.
“What’s going on? What’s with the mime act?” Katie whispered as she hurried along beside Abby.
“This is what you get for sending me to Alaska alone. Oh my God, I’m glad to see you!”
Katie hesitated, pointing at the motel, visibly confused. “Where are we headed? Why aren’t we going to your room?”
“Long story. Can’t talk now. Where are you parked?”
“Around front.” Katie pointed back in the direction of the road.
“Can you pull the car around back? Just stop right there, by the woods. I’ll explain as soon as we’re safely on the road.”
“Sure, but—“
A white van rolled around the side of the building. There were no cars to duck behind so Abby did the next best thing—she ducked behind her friend. “Oh shit!”
“What? What?” Katie stuttered.
Ducking down low in a failing attempt to keep out of the van driver’s view, Abby whispered, “Why, oh why couldn’t you be at least three inches taller and about fifty pounds heavier? Just walk casually toward the building. Try not to call any attention to yourself.”
“Like the girl who’s not really hiding behind me won’t call any attention to me?” Katie asked too loudly.
“Shush! They’re after me.”
“Did you become a paranoid schizophrenic overnight?”
“No. Take my word for it. This is no delusion. Fuck!” The van was stopped directly in front of them and a door swung open. “Go get your car.” Abby turned around and sprinted toward the woods as fast as her stumpy legs could take her.
A man’s voice echoed behind her, “Stop!”
Sure the man was following her, she ran with all she had toward the forest and toward Tarik. It was probably not a good thing, leading that Omega jerk toward Tarik’s hiding spot, but she was hoping Katie would see those guys meant business and they’d be getting a ride before they were in handcuffs. She didn’t slow down when she broke through the bare brush at the forest’s front but a pair of strong arms jerked her to a sudden, tooth-jarring stop a few yards into the woods.
She just about screamed, until she realized it was Tarik. “They’re here. Omega,” she whispered between huffing breaths. Oh man, she was going to puke. She hadn’t run that hard since grade school.
“Yes, I see that. I know this guy, but I don’t know if he’ll help us. I tried to call him on the phone.”
“He might help?”
“It’s hard saying. Depends upon what kind of lies Torborg told him. I don’t believe Raul would ever do anything intentionally to hurt me, but he might do something equally bad if he was misled into believing he was helping me.”
“Got it. What do we do?”
“We wait for him to come to us. Which won’t be long.” He pointed over her shoulder and she spun around. “You go back there and hide behind that tree. If it’s safe, I’ll give you a signal. I’ll wave like this.” He lifted both arms over his head. “If I don’t signal, I want you to sneak around to your friend’s car.”
She caught his hands in hers and squeezed. “What do I do if something happens to you?”
“You go with your friend and get far, far away. As fast as you can. Now, go. He’s coming.” He gave her a not-so-gentle push and swallowing a few choice words, she marched off into the woods. No man pushed her around! No man. Bad guys or not, she’d make sure he understood that.
And there was no way in hell she’d abandon him if things went bad.
Hadn’t he figured that out already?
* * * * *
It couldn’t have been an accident that Raul Zant was the one to have found him. Tarik knew better than that. No, Torborg had planned this. Which meant Raul was probably being used as a pawn, lied to and manipulated, much like Tarik had been all these years.
He hoped he’d be able to convince his old friend of the truth. He had to try, if they’d have any hope of escaping. He wanted a chance to do some research, see exactly what Torborg had been up to, what kinds of experimentation Omega was conducting. He hadn’t had time to do anything yet. The motel in Bear Creek didn’t have the internet. How could he possibly blackmail his way to freedom without information?