Iris Johansen - Final Target

"You'd better be darned sure Cassie is cured first. You wouldn't want me to be out of her reach. Did you tell Melissa anything?"

"No, only that it wouldn't happen again. She'll not be satisfied with that answer when she's stronger."

"Then you'll have to stave her off. Melissa's fully capable of throwing a wrench into my plans, and that would be bad for all of us."

"I'm not going to lie to her."

"Would you rather we leave her here, where you can't keep an eye on her? I don't know if she'd still be connected to Cassie at a distance, but I wouldn't want to chance not being able to monitor her." He paused. "But perhaps you would."

"You asshole."

"I didn't think so." He started for the door. "Handle it any way you have to."

"Wait."

He looked back over his shoulder.

"You're not going to do this to us without paying. I'll cooperate with you, but I want your promise that if we get out of here, you're not going to drop us in Amsterdam."

"I told you I wouldn't do that."

"And I want another promise. I want you to arrange to take Cassie to the Wind Dancer and make sure she has some time with it."

"That won't be easy. And why should I? I've already won, Jessica."

"Because you owe it to us, you bastard."

He was silent a moment. "Good point. Okay, you have my promise. Just be aware if we're caught at the museum, they could shoot me or take me off to jail. Either way, it will be bad for everyone."

"It would almost be worth it."

He shook his head. "You don't mean that."

He was right. She didn't mean it. There was no way she would sacrifice Cassie and Melissa just to punish Travis. She gazed at him in despair. "This is so crazy. Change your mind. You can't get away from here."

"Yes, I can. But you're not going to like the way I do it."

She stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"If I tell you, you'll argue and then worry about it until it happens."

"Are you going to kill someone?"

"Not if they don't try to kill me. I'll give you the game plan right before we start moving." He left the room.

Dear God, what was she getting into? If they didn't get shot, they'd be hunted like criminals. They would be criminals, and she couldn't see Jonathan Andreas being lenient where his daughter was concerned.

And if the escape didn't work, it would all be for nothing. She'd end up in prison and Cassie and Melissa might be lost.

The escape had to be successful. The stakes were too high. Would Travis keep his promise to help cure Cassie? She'd have to worry about that later. As she'd have to worry about his plan to escape from Juniper.

Jesus, she hoped no one got hurt.

The phone at the gatehouse rang at 12:17 A.M. two nights later.

"Get up here right away. She's having an episode" Jessica said when Travis picked up the phone. "And no games tonight, Travis."

"All the games are over. I'll be right there."

Larry Fike was frowning with concern as he watched Travis come down the hall a couple of minutes later. "It sounds like a bad one again. Good luck."

Travis nodded grimly. "We'll need it."

Cassie's scream tore through the room as he opened the door.

"How long?" Travis asked as he crossed to the child's bed.

"Ten minutes," Jessica said. "Thank God, you came right away."

He took Cassie's hands. "Come here, Jessica."

Jessica stepped closer. "What?"

He didn't look at her as he said in an undertone, " Find an excuse to send T eresa away."

She stared at him in bewilderment.

"Do it."

She turned to Teresa, who was standing by the door. "Go get me a hypodermic from the medicine chest downstairs."

"You think you'll need-"

"I hope not. I want to be prepared. Just get it."

Teresa hurried out of the room.

"How long will it take her?" Travis asked.

"I don't know. Last time I looked, there weren't any hypodermics in that chest. She'll look around and then go to the one on the third floor."

Cassie screamed.

"Do something. Talk to her."

Travis dropped Cassie's hands and stood up.

"What are you doing? Talk to her."

"We're leaving, Jessica."

She froze. "Not before you take care of her."

He opened his jacket, took out his laptop computer, and dropped it into Jessica's medical bag.

Cassie screamed.

"Talk to her. Can't you see she's hurting? She's screaming, dammit."

He turned to her and said quietly, "She has to scream, Jessica."

"What?"

"I can't help her. She has to scream."

"Is this some kind of power play? I told you that you'd won."

He closed the medical bag. "It's no power play."

"She's hurting. Mellie's hurting."

"Run out in the hall and tell Fike that you're having an emergency. Cassie's having a seizure and you need an ambulance to get her to the hospital. Give him this." He handed her a piece of paper." It's the number of the emergency room at Shenandoah General, the closest hospital."

"Don't do this to Cassie."

"And tell Fike to notify the President."

"Talk to her."

"Not yet. The sooner you put her in the ambulance, the sooner I can help her." He gave her a push. "Go to Fike."

"Damn you." She was sobbing as she ran into the hall.

Cassie screamed. The cry held all the agony and fear a child could feel.

He could stop it. God, how he wanted to stop it.

He walked to the window and stared blindly at the iron gate through which the ambulance would come.

He was wrapping Cassie in a blanket when Jessica came back into the room. "Fike?" he asked.

"He called the hospital. He's on the line with Andreas now. The ambulance should be here within ten minutes."

"Go get your sister and bring her down to the ambulance."

"How am I supposed to get her on her feet? She's probably in as much shock as Cassie."

"That's your problem." He picked up Cassie. "I've got enough on my plate."

"It's not going to work. You may get out of the gates, but there'll be a truckload of Secret Service at the hospital."

"It will work," he said as he passed Jessica. "Get Melissa downstairs."

Fike was outside in the hall. "Can I help?" He flinched as Cassie screamed again. "Christ, that poor kid."

Travis nodded. "You can make sure there's security at the hospital." He started down the hall. "And a earful of your guys to follow the ambulance."

"We've already taken care of the hospital." Fike ran down the stairs ahead of Travis. "And you can bet I'll be in that car following the kid."

"Good."

"What are you trying to do?" Jessica whispered, stunned.

"This way they think of us as a team." He heard the distant wail of a siren. "There's the ambulance. Get Melissa."

Cassie was already being placed in the ambulance when Jessica half led, half carried Melissa down the front steps.

"Jesus," Fike murmured when he saw Melissa's dazed, tearstained face. "What's wrong with-"

"You know how close she and Cassie have grown." Jessica pushed Melissa into the ambulance. "She wants to go to the hospital with her." She turned to Teresa as she climbed in after Melissa. "I'll call you from the emergency room."

The EMT slammed the door shut and ran around to the passenger seat. The siren wailed as the ambulance tore down the driveway with the Secret Service car following.

Jessica whirled on Travis. "Now help her" she said fiercely.

"I've every intention of doing that." Travis knelt beside Cassie, gathered her hands in his, and began to talk to her.

Within five minutes she started quieting and Jessica felt the tension ebbing out of her. No matter what happened to the rest of them, Cassie and Melissa were easing.

Travis checked his watch. He broke off in mid-sentence, got up, and looked out the back window at the Secret Service car behind them. "Too close," he muttered.