"What? I was out of sight. I swear." Paul put up his hands. "Who are you exactly?"
"I'm a friend," came Amelia's curt reply.
Taylor leaned forward. “She and her husband have been protecting us since we arrived on the island."
Paul turned in his seat. "It's good to see you still alive." He swallowed, "After the explosion, we weren't sure where you were. Davin kept saying to have faith that we'd find you, but…"
"It's hard to keep the faith when the answers seem out of reach," Taylor finished. Kam's heart ached for all of the days and years that Taylor had no answers about him. At least ones that she knew were true. He entwined their hands. If it was up to him, they'd never be apart again. Maybe whatever Amelia had for him, she could include Taylor. That was, of course, if she'd want to leave the FBI.
Amelia pulled out slower than Kam liked. They needed distance, not discrete. Amelia nodded with a two finger wave to the security vehicle as it approached. The car started to stop and everything in Kam screamed to run. What was she doing?
"Have you seen anyone around your hanger, ma'am?" the security officer asked.
"It's all clear as far as I could tell." Amelia gave in a clipped tone. The security officer eyed her then nodded. Kam only let out a breath as they drove through the gate finally. He didn't believe in coincidences. Was someone watching them? Could Dasha, or worse, Katarina, have found them? They needed to stay vigilant. Their plan would never work if Spartak got wind of what they were going to do.
CHAPTER 14
Taylor wanted to drive straight back to the homestead. She couldn't shake the notion that someone was watching them, even though glances from every one in the vehicle indicated no one following them. A dread was settling over her that she couldn't shake. It was the same dread she felt when they left Nalani behind to go save Paul. Her Nana would tell her that it was the Spirit telling her something was going to happen and she needed to heed the warning.
Amelia wove through town back tracking through the small residential area. When she was satisfied that they weren't being followed, they took a road away from town. The road took them past a concrete building that seemed to emerge out of the hillside. It reminded Taylor of that one thriller book Paul forced her to read where the serial killer kept his victims in an abandoned bunker where no one could hear their screams.
She shivered. "That's an underground hospital from WWII," Kam whispered beside her. Taylor stared at the bare grey concrete. Those walls must have seen some horrific things.
"It looks haunted," Taylor admitted. Kam gave her a doubtful gaze. "If you believe in that sort of thing," she added quickly.She didn't believe in haunted things, but demons were real. She knew that to be true.
Movement on the top of the concrete caught Taylor's eye as they pulled further away. She turned in her seat, straining her neck to see what caused the movement.
"What is it?" Kam whispered and turned to face the hospital.
Taylor was shaking her head. "I could have sworn I saw movement back there, but I don't see anything. It was probably some kind of animal."
The structures disappeared into the distance behind them even though Taylor still couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen.
"So many souls were lost on this island during the war," Amelia said from the front.
Paul furrowed his brow. "I thought the only attacks on US soil were Pearl Harbor and off the Pacific Coast."
"Oh, I know this one." Taylor piped up. "Technically, Alaska wasn't a US state until after the war, but we had numerous bases, including a large navy base, here at Dutch Harbor, which saw many attacks from Japan throughout the war." Taylor spouted the information she looked up while waiting for Kam to wake up in the hospital.
Kam winged an eyebrow at her. Taylor shrugged. "I wanted to learn about the place we washed ashore while you were unconscious."
He gave her a smirk. "That's my girl, always about the details." He wove his hand with hers. She would never tire of having Kam here on mission with her. No matter what came at them, she knew that they were better together.
Taylor looked at Paul in the passenger seat, then at Kam. Could she leave the FBI, if it meant being with Kam? She wasn't even sure how Kam's life would look like after this was over. His family all thought that he was dead. None of them believed herwhen she told them her theory. His gran even told her she was crazy and that she never wanted to see Taylor again.
Taylor sighed and leaned against Kam. She wanted to talk with him about it all, but now wasn't the time to worry about family and their future when a terrorist had a neurotoxin and the tech to weaponize it.
As they crossed over the bridge, Taylor could feel herself relax a fraction. The tundra here looked like dark green carpet caste over the land. She found herself wanting to see the flowers in bloom across the field in the summer.
They pulled up to the cabin with Nalani standing in the door, arms crossed. "She looks mad." Paul winced. "What happened?"
"She wanted to go with us to pick you up." Taylor leaned closer to get a better look at the door. "She wasn't happy that both Kam and Alexei told her it was too dangerous."
Paul smirked and glanced at Kam out of the corner of his eye. "I'm surprised she didn't hide in the back when you weren't looking."
"Alexei had to distract her while we slipped out," Kam said flatly. "I would not want to see her in a fight with Davin."
Paul's jovial expression slacked and he reached for the handle. Nalani didn't wait for him to reach the porch, launching herself into Paul's arms. She then reached back and punched him in the shoulder. A smile graced Paul's face, but Taylor could see that it didn't reach his eyes.
