In the morning, he checked in with Ian, then they proceeded with the next part of their plan. Shane was relying on the bug and the people who’d planted it and had been listening to their conversation to head in the direction of the hospital, but he also knew there was every chance they had at least one guy with eyes on Talia. The fact that she didn’t have the entire cure in her possession and they now knew it, however, would definitely buy them time to get to the cabin. Because the people after her would wait for her to lead them to the remaining pieces of the formula.
Meeting in a public place with plenty of people around would prevent anything dangerous from happening. At least that was his hope. Considering he hadn’t a clue how they kept tracking Talia, he was wary of taking anything for granted.
Not with Talia’s safety at stake.
They sat inside the coffee shop with a view of the window and the sidewalk outside, waiting for Jonah Goodwin. He wrapped his hand around a warm coffee cup, his second of the morning.
“It’s been years since I’ve seen Jonah,” Talia said, taking a sip of her latte.
“Were you close?” he asked, wondering about the relationships in her life.
“He was my professor in medical school.” She smiled at what must be a good memory. “He drove students crazy with his erratic schedule, requirements, and theories. But I liked him immediately. He took me under his wing.” She shrugged. “Got me my current position because I wanted to follow in his footsteps and work on the cure for what my mother had.”
Her eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh! Here he is!”
Shane turned to catch sight of an older man who looked just as Shane had pictured for a reclusive eccentric. His hair was to his shoulders and bushy, his face covered in a grayish-white beard. His jeans were old and faded, a plaid flannel shirt covering a T-shirt. And probably because he hadn’t expected this urgent meeting, he kept looking over his shoulder and glancing around.
He stepped inside and Talia shot out of her seat. “Jonah!”
The big man swept her into a hug, confirming their close relationship despite not having seen each other in a while.
He ended the embrace and met her gaze. “Who’s this?” He gestured to Shane, who was hovering protectively nearby.
Talia stepped back. “This is Shane Landon, my bodyguard.”
Goodwin narrowed his gaze. “You need protection? What’s going on?” he asked without acknowledging Shane or shaking his hand.
“Let’s sit,” Talia suggested. She gestured to the table and chairs behind them.
He pulled out a seat and settled into it. Shane and Talia did the same.
“Talk to me,” Jonah said, never truly relaxing.
“Okay, so the good news is that Christopher and I were finally successful in working out the right treatment. We were ready to go into the testing phase, and the company knew it. Next thing I know, someone wiped my lab clean, took the computers and equipment, and I’m sure they assumed they’d gotten the whole formula. Of course, they didn’t.”
“Because you listened to me and broke up your results,” he said, nodding as he took in her story.
She rubbed her palms against her leggings. “Someone’s been after me ever since. They want the rest of the formula.”
“And the only reason for that to happen is if someone wants to keep the medicine from ever getting to market.” He rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “You have your part?”
“Right here.” Shane patted the duffel he hadn’t let out of his sight.
“And I assume you have a plan?”
Shane leaned in. “It requires your trust.”
“And you can trust Shane,” Talia assured the older man. “I’ve known him practically my whole life.”
Jonah scowled. “I don’t trust anyone. Well, very few people, anyway. But if he’s kept you safe, he has my thanks. What do you need from me?”
Shane leaned closer to the older man. “We need the first part of the formula. And that means we need to go with you to your cabin,” Shane said. “Look, I work for McKay-Taggart Security in Dallas.”
“I’ve heard of them,” Jonah said, his facial expression less harsh now that he thought Shane was legit.
“Eventually whoever’s after Talia is going to realize I sent them in the wrong direction this morning or they have someone following Talia. Either way, we might have a tail as we go to your cabin.” Shane placed a hand behind Talia’s chair, his fingers brushing against her back as he spoke to the doctor.
“I want to give my people your address and set a trap for whoever’s been after her,” Shane explained. “The cops can take over dealing with the bastards from there.”
“And the formula?” Jonah asked.
Talia placed a hand on the man’s forearm. “I want you to reach out to Sheila. If we can get this into her hands, her company can take over from here.”
Jonah shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I haven’t spoken to her in a while.”
“I don’t believe she hasn’t tried to reach out?” Talia pressed. “The only reason you two aren’t together is because you decided withdrawing from life was what you wanted.”
“Yeah, I hear from her,” he muttered.
She blew out a long, relieved breath.
“Good. So can you call her and set things in motion?” Shane said. “Because we’ll need to transfer the formula to her quickly. Call her and—”
He shook his head. “I don’t have her number memorized.”
“Of course not,” Shane said. “Just take out your cell and—”
Talia cleared her throat. “He doesn’t have a cell phone.”
“Excuse me?” Surely Shane had heard wrong.
Jonah shrugged. “I don’t like extra equipment on me. Nobody needs to reach me, and if they do, they know how.” He tipped his head toward Talia, as if to say, you see? She found me.
“Fuck me.” Shane rubbed a hand over his face. “Guess we’ll handle that when we get to your cabin. Can I at least have the cabin’s address to send to McKay-Taggart so we can set up an op?” he asked the eccentric man. “Otherwise we’re going up there with no backup, and trust me when I tell you, somehow they will figure out how to tail us. They’ve been one step ahead of us the entire time.”
Talia frowned at the reminder. “He’s scanned me. We tossed my mother’s locket. I don’t know how else they’ve tracked me.”
“Hmm.” Jonah narrowed his gaze, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. “You get your annuals shots at the lab? Flu? Birth control? Anything like that?”
She nodded, her eyes wide. “What are you saying?” she asked, but from the dawning awareness in her eyes, she was beginning to figure it out, Shane thought.
“That they injected you with a tracker, the bastards,” Jonah said.
“What?” she asked, horrified.
Shane’s feelings were about the same. “Motherfuckers. And we’d never find it with a basic scanner.”
Jonah spread his hands wide as he explained. “An RFID chip injected under the skin that can be used to track you. You have a problem with one of the shots? It take longer, or something hurt that shouldn’t have?”
She managed a slow nod. “Yes. My hip was sore for a while after the flu shot this past November.”
“If you even got a flu shot,” Jonah muttered.
“Those bastards! This is such a violation!” Talia’s cheeks flushed red. “And to think I threw out my mother’s locket for no good reason.” Tears of frustration filled her eyes. “Get it out.”
“What?” Shane asked.
“Get it out now.” She began scratching at her hip where she must have had her injections.
He threaded his fingers through hers. “Talia, we’re in public, not to mention it’s going to hurt. It needs to be done by a professional. A doctor. Not me.”
“I want it out,” she insisted, chin lifted in stubborn determination.
Shit. He glanced at Jonah, silently pleading with him to back up what he was saying.
“Girl knows what she wants. She always did. That’s why I admire her. I can’t remove it myself though.” He held up his hands, which Shane now realized held a fine but noticeable tremor. “But I can walk you through how to do it.”
So much for backing him up, Shane thought in frustration.
He pressed his palms against his eyes. “You do realize that as soon as it’s out, they’re going to know we’ve figured out their game?” He was already calculating their strategy. “That means we get right on the road and head to the cabin. They’ll find the tracker where we leave it. Then we just have to hope no one’s following you as an extra precaution.” But he wasn’t holding out hope.
He’d just have his team meet them there.
“So you’ll do it?” she asked him hopefully.
Shane inclined his head. “You’re not giving me a choice. Besides, we don’t want to lead them to the formula before we can get it or a copy of it to safety. We at least want a head start. We just need to move fast.”
She expelled a harsh breath, then clasped her hand tight in his. “I’m okay,” she whispered, more to herself than to him.
But she didn’t let go of his hand, and he was grateful to be her rock when she needed it.
He turned to Jonah. “Cabin address? Please?” he added, because he sensed the older man was not comfortable sharing his personal information.
“Fine.” He rattled off the address and directions, which included off-road markers and indicators he’d put in himself. Because he was that far off the grid.
“But whoever’s following you can’t come in by car because I have a booby trap set up that’ll disable their vehicle.”
“What kind of trap?” Shane asked.
“You know those spikes they have at rental car companies? The ones that require signs that say Do Not Back Up Severe Tire Damage?”
“Yes?” Talia asked warily.
“Well, those are set to activate unless it’s me coming through with my remote to deactivate them first.” He shrugged as if it were completely normal. “A man can’t be too careful.”
Or paranoid. Jesus. “Can my guys get in by helo?” Shane asked, knowing Ian was going to shit a brick at the cost because there was no way Shane was letting any of this become a billable expense.
As far as Shane was concerned, this was personal.
Jonah nodded. “Just watch out for my trees. But we’ll get those bastards,” he said, suddenly warming to the idea. The man was nothing if not mercurial.
But Shane couldn’t worry about the good doctor. He had his own issues to deal with, and those included removing a tracker from beneath Talia’s skin. And Shane was not looking forward to hurting her. Not for any reason.
* * * *
Immediately after leaving Starbucks, Shane called Ian with the cabin coordinates and address. Unfortunately the team was over a good four hours out. If they were lucky. Which meant he was on his own.
At Target, Shane and Talia picked up supplies so he could at least sterilize her skin and complete the chip removal as carefully and safely as possible. Then they locked themselves in a family bathroom. Jonah, meanwhile, said he had an errand to run and would meet them back at the spot they’d left the car in the parking lot, to lead the way to his cabin.
The bathroom was small, but not as tiny as a stall, and there was no chance of anyone walking in on them. Talia hadn’t said a word since they’d locked themselves in, and Shane was too busy giving himself a pep talk about the upcoming surgery to have a conversation.
With shaking hands, he opened the bag of supplies and laid a pair of scissors, small razor blade, alcohol, and gauze pads on the counter. Bandages followed.
“I don’t want to do this,” he muttered, not for the first time.
“Come on. You’ve seen bullet wounds, right? It’ll be fine,” she said, her voice about as steady as his hands.
He shook his head, his admiration for her rising exponentially with every passing minute. “You’re badass, Ms. Smarty-Pants.”
She grinned. “Desperate times and all that.”
She drew a deep breath and pulled the waistband of her pants down to her knees. Looking down, she patted the muscled area below her hip, near her buttocks. “Son of a bitch. Here.” She grabbed his fingertip and pressed it against her flesh where a tiny raised area could be felt but not seen.
He nodded, breaking into a sweat. Was he really going to do this? He was. He washed his hands with antibacterial soap, then doused the small blade in alcohol.
“Why don’t you sit?” That way, if it hurt, she wouldn’t pass out from a standing position.
Nausea filled him, but he knew the faster he worked, the better off they’d both be.
She sat, her side facing him, her hands in tight fists.
“Keep breathing,” he told her.
She managed a short nod. “Just do it.”
He drew a steadying breath. With the blade, he made a tiny cut, pressing down hard enough to break skin.
She sucked in a breath. Let out a squeak of pain, her real noises being held back, he knew. He swallowed a wave of nausea and kept working.
Going on and methodically following Jonah’s instructions, Shane parted the skin and, using sterilized tweezers, dug in. He wasn’t a surgeon, and he had to dig around more than he’d have liked, the soft noises coming from the back of her throat piercing his heart.
“Got it.” Finally he pulled out the rice-sized chip, holding it up for her to see before dropping it into the towel he’d placed on the counter.
“Thank God,” she muttered, tears in her eyes.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d worked or how much time had passed. He’d only been aware of the task in front of him and the sounds of her heavy breathing mixed with his own.
“Okay?” he asked her.
She gave a short nod.
He did his best to close the wound with butterfly strips, determined to get her to a doctor, and probably a tetanus shot and antibiotics, as soon as they were safe.
She ducked her head, pulling in deep breaths, as he turned back to the sink and washed off the blood. He had a hunch he’d see that nightmare in his sleep often in the coming days. He cleaned up after himself, leaving no trace behind, except what he tossed in the trash. Let the bastards dig through the garbage to find their tracker.
Shane placed a hand on her shaking back. “Hey. Are you really okay?”
She met his gaze, her eyes glassy and her cheeks flushed, but she managed a nod.
Damn, she was brave. They had to get the hell out of here, but he took a minute to lift her up and pull her into his arms. He needed the embrace as much as she did. He’d never done anything like that on someone he cared about, and his stomach was roiling.
“You did good,” he said, not wanting to let her go but knowing they needed to leave.
She tipped her head back. “You did better.” She grinned.
Unable to resist, he kissed her lips. Not for long—they had no time to spare—but he needed a taste.
“Take the ibuprofen and we’ll get on the road.” He pressed another kiss, this one to her forehead.
She tore open the pain killer they’d bought and swallowed it with water. “Ready.” She took a step on her foot, wincing as she walked.
He grabbed his bag, which carried everything, including the formula, wrapped an arm around her, and rushed out to the car.
They followed Jonah to the cabin in a beat-up Jeep in silence. Talia wasn’t in a chatty mood, and Shane wasn’t about to push her to talk after what she’d been through.
He didn’t mention it to her, but they had a tail a far distance away. He wasn’t surprised; they’d obviously had someone on her, and with or without the tracker, they were on to them.
Shane had known he’d have to deal with whomever was after her at some point. Better to be aware than wondering.
But no matter how you sliced it, his team was four hours away by private jet, then they’d have to take a helicopter to reach the cabin.
They were talking hours before they could possibly feel safe, and though they might all reach the cabin at the same time, there was more of a likelihood Shane would have to take on at least the guy in the car and whatever backup he’d called on his own.