Chapter 12: Escape

I was stunned. I could sense Sarah’s growing apprehension and Catherine’s concern.

“Can’t we just give it to them?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, Michael. It’s actually more complex than that. The terms of your grandfather’s will stipulate that no major transactions can be made by the company before you turn eighteen and are officially in charge. I believe he thought it would protect you from the board doing anything that might hurt you. He did not foresee this possibility,” Catherine said.

“We can discuss that later. Right now, we have to get you and your family to someplace safer. The faster, the better!” Anna said emphatically. “Now, what about the others? How many people know about your talent?”

“The four of us, my sister, five cousins, and Grace,” I told her.

“What about the nurse, from last night?” she asked.

“She doesn’t know,” I said defensively. I didn’t want to drag Sydney into this.

She stopped scribbling notes and looked up at me, surprised.

“You mean all that was ... unassisted?” Anna asked.

“Pretty much,” I replied. Now I was the one who felt embarrassed.

“Wow!” she said.

I started to explain myself, but realized that anything I said at this moment would only make it more embarrassing for me.

“Who’s handling your security?” Anna asked Catherine.

“David. He’s been with me for six years,” Catherine replied, defensively. “Since before Greg died.”

“How many of them are with you? Here in Tennessee?” Anna asked.

“Six, counting David. Three here at the hospital, one with Nicky, one with me, and one at the house,” Catherine replied.

“Dad said you were in your fifties. You don’t look it, by the way. What kind of shape are you in? Any special needs?” Anna probed.

“I’m fifty-two. My last physical was good,” Catherine said smiling.

“Okay, so there’s three adults who know,” Anna said, naming them. “You, Sarah, and me. Then there are eight teenagers. Nicky, Julie, Jennifer, Randi, Candy, Mandy, and Grace. And of course, Michael. Is that it?”

“I think so,” Catherine told her.

“I know you are widowed, Catherine. Any current attachments, someone who would miss you if you didn’t call for a few days? Special friends?” Anna asked matter-of-factly.

“No. No special friends,” Catherine replied.

“I can’t believe a Russian hit squad is after Michael,” exclaimed Sarah.

“They’re not after Michael for his talent. They’re after the one individual standing in the way of their future. And believe me, they will use any means necessary to get him. That includes using you and your family as bargaining chips. Only their chips don’t usually survive the bargaining,” Anna said fiercely.

“How long will we have to ... er ... be gone?” Sarah asked.

“However long it takes to find the killers,” replied Anna. “Your husband, Sarah, what does he do?”

“He’s an attorney,” replied Sarah.

“Attorney. Okay, that may be a little tough,” said Anna. “What about the others?”

“Debbie, my sister, is a teacher and will be off for the summer after next week. Her husband, Jeff, is the president of the bank in Townsend. My mom lives next door to us. She and Catherine are twins.”

“Damn, that’s what, five sets of twins in three generations? Okay, six adults counting Jeff, Debbie, and Liz,” Anna summed up. “Plus, the seven teenage girls. And Michael.”

We all waited as Anna figured out her plan.

“All right here’s what we need to do,” Anna instructed, going into command mode. “Sarah, go back to your office. Take Catherine with you. Schedule Michael for an EEG. Make it for the first of the week if possible. He won’t be here for it, but maybe it’ll buy us some time. Next, arrange to have Michael moved to another room after supper. Make it as far away from other patients as possible. The FBI is sending in some people to lay a trap. Don’t take any more time than necessary to do all this, then call the hospital administrator and tell them your daughter is sick and go straight home. Understand?”

“What about the girls?” asked Sarah.

“Do they go to the same school where your sister teaches?” asked Anna.

“The schools are next door to each other,” Sarah told her.

“Okay, then get all of them,” she said to Catherine.

“What about Grace,” I asked.

“I’ll have the FBI pick her up separately. I’d rather not tie her to you all if we can help it,” Anna replied.

I wondered what Grace would say to having to disappear for a while.

“Michael, do you have any clothes here?” Anna asked

“No clothes. He does have a robe. And slippers,” said Catherine, as she went to a drawer and pulled out some slippers and a robe. Then she and Sarah started for the door.

“Okay, hotshot. I have to call Daddy, so I have to find a secure line,” she said, following them to the hall. “Like a payphone or something. That means that you’ll have to come with me.”

Seeing David outside the door, Anna stopped.

“Catherine, take your security with you to get the girls. Take them all to the house,” she told her. “We probably need to leave one security person by this door, though. For appearances.”

“I’ll stay,” volunteered a man I didn’t know.

“Okay,” Anna told him. “Don’t let anyone in this room for any reason. Tell them ‘Doctor’s orders’. When it can no longer be avoided, quietly fade away. Just disappear. Understand?”

“Understood,” he replied.

“What about Michael? Won’t he need security with him?” Catherine asked.

“Naah! He’s got me,” Anna grinned.

As Catherine, Sarah, and all the security people headed down the hall, Anna turned the opposite direction, leading me back towards the pediatric surgical wing. We walked to the elevators where Anna studied the directory for a second. When we entered the elevator, she pushed the button for the second floor. I looked at her and started to say something. She cut me off with a shake of her head as she put her finger to her lips.

We exited the elevator on the second floor, walking quickly towards the surgical waiting room. On entering, she stopped and looked around, then led me to a small room that was marked for doctor consultations. It had a desk, a couple of chairs, and a small couch. Anna closed the door behind me.

“All right, sport. We can talk here, but we have to hurry,” she said as she turned her back to me to study the emergency exit plan posted on the back of the door. It was obvious she was looking for something.

“Why all the subterfuge?” I asked.

“They are bound to have you under observation. That means that, by now, they know that I’m here too. We don’t know how many spies they have or who they are, but we have to assume that my presence here may cause them to react more quickly than they planned,” she explained without turning to look at me.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I told you. I’m CIA. I was semi-retired,” she replied. “But that’s ... uh, another story. For later.”

“Will you tell me what’s really going on?” I asked.

“Michael, I told you that you can touch me, or scan me, or whatever, when we get out of here. Right now, I need to get us some help. I need a secure line. And ... I need you to be patient for a little longer. Please?”

“All right, but I hope you know it’s not easy being this close to you and not being able to read you,” I replied.

Anna laughed. It made me feel good to hear her sounding happy. I suddenly suspected that she could be something special in my life. Then I remembered that I was only sixteen. And sixteen-year-olds don’t make relationship plans like that. I decided to be patient and wait on her to make the next move.

Without another word we left the consultation room, making our way down to the loading docks. On the way, she ducked into a door marked ‘Hospital Personnel Only’. Searching through the lockers there, she found two sets of scrubs.

“Here,” she said, handing a set to me. “Change into these. Let me have what you’ve got on.”

Anna quickly started stripping off her clothes. I couldn’t help it. I forgot what I was supposed to be doing as I stopped to stare. Her bra was a soft ivory color, matching her panties. I think I sighed.

She stopped dressing, to look at me.

“Down boy!” she said with a grin. “Get dressed!”

I blushed and quickly stripped off my robe and pajamas, slipping into the green hospital scrubs. I didn’t have any underwear, but I figured that wasn’t a priority right now. Anna, now dressed, watched me clumsily struggle to pull up the bottoms. Then she reached over tentatively to tie the drawstring for me.

“Damn casts!” I thought again.

She stuffed our clothes in an empty locker. Then, closing the metal door, she lifted a fire extinguisher off the wall and hammered the locker’s handle until it was bent too far to function properly. Next, she began going through the lockers, picking out various items. A clipboard and pen, an already-opened pack of cigarettes on the break table, along with a half-used book of matches, and a stethoscope which she handed to me.

“Here. Put this around your neck,” she instructed.

Leaving the break room, she led the way to the loading dock, where she took out the cigarettes and lit them, passing one to me. I noticed she wasn’t smoking hers.

“We’re a couple of hospital employees, grabbing a quick smoke,” she explained.

I nodded, tempted to take a puff of the lit cigarette. I had been a smoker in my last life.

“Now, stay close to me,” she instructed as she moved over to the payphone on the loading dock. Mostly, it was used by the delivery truck drivers. Since there were no deliveries allowed during lunch hour, no one else was around.

She looked at me, “You got any change?”

I stared blankly at her.

“Just teasing you!” she said.

She dialed a number, waited, then said, “971-alpha-hotel-63638,” and waited again.

Finally, she said, “It’s me. It’s worse. Yes. Fourteen total. Six adults, eight teenagers. Plus six more security.”

She listened for a moment, then said, “I’m thinking about where you took me horseback riding.”

Listening again, she finally said, “Extraction. Two. Loading dock, northwest side of the hospital. They should make it okay.”

She was silent again, listening.