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“Where are you?” The young feminine voice was cautious.
Lilly gave her the location quickly.
“Get out of sight. I have a tracking beacon on your cell phone, leave it active. Someone will be there soon. Disconnect now.”
The line went d
ead.
Lilly flipped the phone closed before ducking behind a stone fence, using the hedge that bordered a vacant property for cover. And she waited.
She glanced at the phone and the number she had dialed. She had no idea who it was, but she recognized the voice on the other end. It was familiar. It was someone she could trust. She hoped.
God, where was Travis?
She tried his cell phone number again. His house number. Voice mail was the only option she was given.
“Travis. Help me,” she whispered into the phone.
She had no idea who was coming for her or how much they could be trusted. All she knew was that at this point, she would prefer to fight her way free of terrorists than to go against her mother and Dr. Ridgemore.
Cynthia Danure, the stepdaughter of one of her mother’s friends, had told Lilly years ago exactly how she herself had ended up under Dr. Ridgemore’s care. How her mother had assured her he was just there to talk to her. He had come with several assistants and a medical van. Cynthia had been taken away sedated and hadn’t returned for six months. By then, the young man she had been in love with had been framed for stealing and incarcerated in a prison for two years.
The young man had been bright, with big dreams and a will to see them through, but he’d been unfortunate enough to be stubborn. He’d gone looking for Cynthia, certain his lover wouldn’t simply run away.
Lilly wouldn’t be caught in that trap. She had no idea how firmly Desmond would stand up to her mother, or whether her mother was right when she said that Desmond couldn’t stop her. She knew she was being betrayed by her mother and her brother. Whatever they were after, whatever they had in mind for her, it was definitely something she couldn’t survive. Something she wouldn’t allow.
The phone rang. The display showed the number she had dialed nearly twenty minutes before.
“There’s a white Ford Taurus pulling around, Lilly,” the voice on the other end informed her. “Get in the car.”
She waited until the Taurus eased in closer, then stepped from behind the bushes and ran for the passenger door. The car didn’t stop. The door flew open, though, and Lilly jumped inside, slamming the door closed as the vehicle accelerated.
“Well, it’s bloody damned time you remembered us, bitch.” The bright smile, dark brown eyes, and easy affection on the other woman’s face at least gave her a measure of hope that she hadn’t stepped from the frying pan into the fire.
Lilly sighed heavily. “I’m going to assume I know you. And I’ll assume I’ve not just fried my ass by calling. But could you please at least give me your name?”
The other woman’s wide, almond-shaped eyes became wider, gleaming with concern as she shot Lilly a quick look.
“Raisa McTavish,” she introduced herself. “Code name Raven. We’ve been waiting for your call. I assumed all your memories had returned when you contacted Shea.”
Lilly shook her head before checking behind them quickly.
“We’re not being followed,” Raisa assured her. “Besides, Nissa is behind us a fair ways to ensure no one even tries. So, what made you desperate enough to remember the number if you haven’t remembered us yet?”
Lilly pressed her fingers to her forehead and fought the pain building there. “I have no clue. I haven’t been able to contact Travis and things were getting a bit insane in the Harrington household.”
Raisa gave a light laugh. “Your mother is such a witch. I never understood how a person as compassionate as you actually came from the same genes.”
“Perhaps Father diluted them.” The pain was beginning to build. Lilly had never seen her mother as an evil person until now.
“Well, your father was definitely a hunk,” Raisa purred. “For his age, he was damned fine-looking. It was a shame he died. You once said he taught you most of what you knew.”
“He was a good man.” He would have never betrayed his children. Never would he have suggested for a second that Lilly be committed for opposing him, or for seeing Travis. He would have raged, given her the cold shoulder, perhaps disowned her. But something so cruel as to have her placed in an asylum? He would never have done such a thing.
“So what’s the wicked witch of the Thames up to?” Raisa continued good-naturedly. “I imagine she’s screaming bloody raging murder over your association with Travis.”
Lilly shook her head as she swallowed against the pain building in her head. “She’s not raging. She’s trying to have me committed instead.”
