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"You don't get it," he said forcefully. "This place is compromised. We need to get in the car and leave now while she's on the run. We can't be here when she's had time to regroup and come back. Follow me. Don't take anything except the phone I gave you."
“I have to leave that too,” Hannah said, hearing her own words as if from a long distance away. “That’s how she tracked me.”
Rufus gave her a hard stare.
“We’ll deal with that later. Let’s go.”
She followed him out of the bedroom. As they dashed down the hall, she realized how he’d gotten back to the room without being heard. He must have somehow climbed onto the banister that ran along the length of the upstairs hallway and walked on it until he was close enough to the door to leap down and smash it in.
They rushed down the stairs, through the living room and kitchen, and into the garage. Rufus was about to push the button to open the automatic door but paused.
"Just to be safe, get in the backseat and keep down. Hold on tight because I'm coming out of this garage fast, and I'm not using lights. It could get a little squirrelly."
Hannah opened the backdoor, climbed in, and pulled it shut. Rufus got in the front, locked the doors, put on his seatbelt, and started the car. The sirens were much closer now, probably only a street or two away.
“You ready?” he asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” she told him.
He pushed the button, and the garage door opened. Rufus waited five seconds, then punched the accelerator hard as the vehicle shot out. Hannah was slammed back onto the seat but managed to stay low. The heavy thumping of the rain echoed on the car roof as they exploded down the driveway. Rufus ripped the steering wheel hard to the right and the car followed, fishtailing slightly before righting itself.
Now on the road, he really hit the gas. Hannah clung on for dear life as the car shot ahead, blasting through the darkness to an unknown destination.
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
“Stop fiddling with it,” Jessie ordered.
“But it itches,” Ryan said, trying to adjust the bandage on his arm.
“Listen to your wife,” Dr. Lemmon scolded from her hospital bed.
Jessie, in one of the room’s uncomfortable visitor chairs, stuck out her tongue at Ryan. In return, he scrunched up his face like a prune.
“This is not an endorsed form of couples’ therapy,” Lemmon admonished, though she was smiling.
It was reassuring to see the psychiatrist in good spirits, though Jessie suspected that had a lot to do with the medication coursing through her system. Less than an hour ago, she'd been bleeding profusely from multiple wounds suffered at the hands of Eli Cullen. But now she was stitched and bandaged, lying comfortably in her bed at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, enjoying the relief of a morphine drip.
It likely helped the mood that Ryan’s gash, just above the outside of his left elbow, was also patched up. It had required sixteen stitches, but the doctor said the blow from the chunk of glass, which was apparently one of Lemmon’s many awards, shouldn’t cause any permanent damage.
Less certain was the status of Lemmon’s receptionist, Amy. She had survived the trip to the hospital and was in surgery right now, but as Jessie knew well, blows to the head were scary things. And in Amy’s case, her injury had left a visible dent in her skull. Now it was a waiting game.
There was a knock on the door. Grover poked his head in and was invited the rest of the way.
“How’s everyone doing in here?” he asked.
“I’m getting by,” Ryan said, before nodding at Lemmon. “She’s feeling groovy now that the meds have kicked in.”
“How long do they want you all to stay?” Grover asked.
“I can leave tonight,” Ryan said. “They want to keep Dr. Lemmon here a few days for observation.”
Jessie had waited as long as she could.
“Now that you’ve gotten updates on the folks here, can we get some on the people out there?” she asked.
"Of course," Grover replied. "That's the reason I came in. No new updates on Hannah. As I told you, she and Rufus escaped safely from where they were staying. They've moved to a new safe house. Once they're fully set up, Rufus will let me know, but after that, he'll mostly stay dark. I don't even know which location he chose yet, and I won't until we feel confident that everything's squared away on the security front."
“I assume that there will be no more burner phones for Hannah?” Jessie asked, trying to keep her anger in check.
