Chapter Six

Kadey yawned widely and cuddled into his shoulder. Her eyes drooped and closed but didn't stay shut. "One more story?"

Anubis pulled the sweet, just bathed scent of his little girl into his lungs and locked its memory into the vault of things he wanted to remember forever. He sat on her twin bed with his legs stretched out over the pink satin comforter as he read a second bedtime story to her. They'd had a quiet day, which Anubis assumed was the norm. Kadey tired easily, and her short bursts of energy were followed by naps. Sky had been on the phone off and on all day working with the hospital to schedule the surgery. The credit card he'd provided for her to use for medical expenses not covered by her insurance had paved the arduous, twisting road that Sky had to traverse through the hospital's accounting department.

Anubis pulled Kadey into a hug and kissed her hair. "Only one more." He heard the house telephone ring and glanced out the window at the darkness. It was too late for the hospital's office workers to be calling. Kadey yawned again and pointed to another Dr. Seuss book stacked beside the bed. "That one, Daddy."

He never wanted to forget the feeling that went through him every time Kadey called him 'Daddy'-another remembrance to be locked away in his memory vault. "You got it." He removed her book out of the middle of the pile as Sky appeared at the door.

"There is a Mr. Ben Gall on the phone for you?" Sky walked in and held out her hand for the book. "He said it was important. I'll get her settled."

Anubis handed off the book and leaned down, giving Kadey a kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight, squirt."

"Goodnight, Daddy."

He watched as Sky slid into his space and opened the book. She started quoting the words without looking at the page. Instead, her eyes traveled to him. Worry and fear were easy to read in her expression. Anubis winked at her and gave her a smile, hoping to relieve some of her concerns.

He checked his cell phone to make sure the house was secure before he picked up the phone. "Go ahead."

"We have a problem." Bengal's voice grated across the connection. "Standby for Alpha."

Anubis listened to the distant clicks before Jacob King's voice came across the line. "Alpha."

"The phone is unsecure, sir. We have one minute left before triangulation is possible."

"Copy all. Asset Six Four Nine, the medical office you went to this morning was destroyed. Arson. The employees in the facility when you were processed are dead. Intel tells us one was tortured."

"They did not have my identity." Anubis ran scenarios through his head, but more questions than answers appeared.

"They have the patient's information." Bengal's woman came over the line. "Someone accessed the hospital's medical system from the clinic's IP address five minutes before the fire alarms went off. They know. On the receiving end, the clinic used the patient's name to flag the file on the blood workup for her doctor. Anyone with a browser and half a brain can figure out your blood types are a match. Her identity was compromised, that means you're all in jeopardy." Jewell's fast explanation turned Anubis's blood into ice. He glanced up when he heard Sky walk down the hall.

"When was she compromised?"

"Forty-seven minutes ago." Bengal's voice announced.

"Orders?" Anubis snapped the question.

Alpha responded, "Safeguard your family. Get clear of there and then access the Gateway at Fairfield."

"Affirmative." Fuck. Forty-seven minutes. The fuckers could be outside now.

"A familiar will make contact." Alpha's comment registered a second before Anubis heard Alpha click off. He dropped the landline into its cradle. He snapped his head to meet Sky's worried look. "Is she asleep?"

"Yeah, within seconds of you walking out here. She was exhausted. Why?"

"You need to get a bag for you and for Kadey. We need to leave. Now."

"What? Why? What's wrong?" Sky moved only when he grabbed her arm and pulled her into her bedroom.

"The people who drew my blood yesterday were murdered, and the clinic was torched. They don't have my information, but whoever killed them have accessed the file with Kadey's name on it. They are either on their way here, or they are outside as we speak. Now, move!"

"She needs the operation. We can't leave! Why would someone murder those people? Who would do that? Why would they do that?" Sky's face turned an ashy white, and she grabbed his arm.

Anubis palmed her cheek in his hand. "Listen to me, Sky. Kadey will have the best care my agency can provide her, but first, we have to get out of here. You have three minutes." Anubis pulled her in and kissed her hard before he turned off the lights in the front room. To her credit, Sky flew down the hallway as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He pulled back the blinds enough to see outside the house. There were no new cars on the street, but that didn't mean a damn thing. He checked his phone again. The security measures he'd placed around the house hadn't been compromised.

Anubis headed down the hall and watched as Sky grabbed several changes of clothes for herself. She threw her clothes in a large duffle bag along with a quick swipe of her and Kadey's toiletries off the bathroom vanity. Sky stopped at a cabinet and pulled out a large sheath of papers. Glancing over at Kaden she whispered, "A copy of her medical records."

She slowed down after shoving the documents into the bottom of the duffle. Sky walked into Kadey's room quietly and carefully opened Kadey's dresser drawers, pulling out clothes for the little girl. Once done, she stuffed a stack of books from Kadey's nightstand into the bag and grabbed the teddy bear she'd been holding last night and a ragged looking cat he'd seen Kadey hug when she was tired. She headed out of the room into the hall where she grabbed Kadey's jacket and hers. Sky turned in a complete circle and scanned the area. Finally, she looked up at him, "I'm ready." She dropped the bag at the foot of Kadey's bed.

"Where is your phone?"

Sky patted her back pocket and pulled out the pay as you go phone. Anubis dropped it to the floor and put the heel of his boot through the device.

Kaeden's phone vibrated in his hand. "Fuck. Sky, listen to me. Stay in here and do not open that door unless you hear my voice. Take this. When someone answers, tell them six-four-nine has made contact and then hang up." Kaeden's urgent whisper fell around her, heavy and uncomfortable.

"What? Why?" Fear climbed her spine like a fat spider-one slow hairy leg at a time.

"Repeat it for me, Sky."

"Six-four-nine has made contact."

"And then you hang up."

Sky swallowed heavily and nodded her understanding.

In a practiced fashion that made her think he'd done it many times, Kaeden unhooked his belt buckle and pulled a long multi-strand wire from the wrong side of the belt. The ends were plastic coated. He wrapped the coil around his hand, tucking the ends, so they stayed in place. After buckling his belt back in place, he reached down into his boot and pulled out a wicked looking knife.

"Kaeden? What's going on?" Sky shivered and glanced back at Kadey.

He entered a number into the phone and handed it to her. "Stay here. Don't come out."

Sky opened her mouth to object but snapped her mouth shut before she uttered a sound. He left the room and silently shut the door.

"Operator Two-Five-Two." What was it with the numbers?

"Six-four-nine has made contact." Sky hung up as directed and leaned against the thick wood of the door. She pressed her ear to the crack where the wood met the doorjamb ,hoping to hear what was going on. She heard a muffled scuffle that lasted for far too long, and then nothing for what seemed like an eternity. Sky turned around and slid down the door.

A loud thud resounded and then the sound of glass crashing to the floor. She looked over her shoulder, but Kadey slept soundly. Sky pressed closer to the door. She heard the low rumble of male voices, then nothing.

The indicators for the front door changed from green to red. They hadn't made it inside by the time he eased down the hall. He avoided the middle floorboard that squeaked and stepped over another that popped and rubbed. He glanced at his phone again and pocketed it. If they were coming in any other venue than the front door, he'd deal with it later.

He stood behind the door, watched, and listened as someone manipulated the lock. A final twist freed the mechanism, but Anubis knew from experience the front door stuck. He moved just as someone shouldered the heavy oak door. The first person through the door stumbled, and Anubis flew into action. He grabbed the man by the neck and pulled him forward, sending him to the floor. He slammed his fist into the second man's throat, pulled him forward into the first man and kicked the door shut. The second man lunged at Anubis's legs, but a sharp kick to the nose dropped him into a heap. The first man raised a gun. The coiled garrote snaked from his hand, and Anubis whipped the wire, wrapping it around the barrel of the weapon. He pulled back, bringing the gun and man toward him. His knee and the man's head met. Anubis wrapped the garrote around the second man's throat. "Who sent you?" He hissed the words out and tightened the wire. The man clawed at his throat, gasping for air. Anubis felt rather than saw the first man move. A flash of silver was his only indication. He spun and yanked his human body armor directly in front of the knife that flew his direction. The knife buried itself to the hilt in the man's chest. Anubis dropped, bringing the dead man with him. He raised his knife and flung it back at the man who didn't have the intelligence to take cover. At such close quarters, there was no way he could miss. The motherfucker died before his head hit the floor.

Fucking bastard, now he had no answers. Anubis pushed the heavy son of a bitch off him and started to stand. A rush of heavy footsteps dropped him down again. The new attacker flew over him. Anubis grabbed his foot and yanked him back, pulling him off balance. Diving onto the man's back, Anubis grappled, using the newest assailant's momentum against him. The man stumbled forward, pushing the couch with him. Anubis used that moment to whip his garrote around the man's neck and power him to his knees. "I don't need to fucking kill you, you son of a bitch, but I really, really want to. Who the fuck sent you?"

Sky looked at the phone she held in her hand. She could call 911. Whoever was out there with Kaeden was trespassing… or breaking and entering. The cops should be able to arrest them. "Sky, it's me."

She jumped up and unlocked the door. She gasped at the blood splashed across his shirt. "Are you hurt?" She reached out to him, but he grabbed her arm and spun her around.

Kaeden gestured toward the bed. "I need you to carry her, so my hands are free." Sky glanced at the stuffed bag at the foot of the bed. He wrapped the fluffy pink comforter around Kadey and lifted her out of the bed before he handed her to Sky. He picked up the duffle, shouldered the bag and pulled a handgun from a concealed holster on his calf. Sky blanched at the sight of the weapon and hugged Kadey closer to her.

"What exactly do you do for that agency?" She hissed as she followed him out of the bedroom and down the hall.

Anubis cast her a quick look. He had to give her credit, she must be scared, but the woman was not falling apart. He led her to the back door and motioned for her to still. The bodies were behind the couch. Three stupid men. The third had a bit more intelligence than his contemporaries did and Kaeden needed information. The accent and the fact his garrote was around the man's throat made it hard for Anubis to understand his words, but obvious answers emerged. The intruders weren't local hired muscle. Muscle squealed like a pig at the butcher's begging for mercy. This man knew he was going to die and he still took pleasure in telling Anubis what was supposed to happen to Sky before they took the little girl. The girl is bait. The heavy accent and strained voice from the garrote that wrapped tightly around his throat still echoed in his mind. The bastard had no remorse. Neither did Anubis. He'd listened to the crunch of cartilage snapping and the whistling gurgle of a windpipe severing with immense satisfaction. The fucker.

He made certain he shielded Sky's line of sight from the carnage that lay a few feet away. The stench of blood curled in his nose as he herded Sky through the living room into the kitchen. While confident the three dead in the living room were the only ones sent to the house, Anubis wasn't going to take any chances. He carefully surveyed the exterior through the kitchen window while he palmed the latest version of his cell phone. Accessing the phone app again, he ensured nothing else had disturbed the sensors around the house. All were green. He glanced out the window again before he slowly opened the door and motioned for Sky to follow.

They headed through the back door and into her neighbor's side yard. Sky made a move to go toward her car. Anubis placed his hand on her arm stilling her. He shook his head and then motioned toward the neighbor's backyard. He tossed the bags over and then vaulted the four-foot fence easily. He reached back for Kadey and waited while Sky scrambled over the chain link. He handed Kadey back to Sky and silently beckoned her to follow him. They worked their way through six different yards before Anubis felt comfortable enough to approach an older model mini-van parked on a darkened side street. Sky followed closely behind him. Anubis scanned the area before he leaned against the driver's side door. His eyes continued to travel around them as he fisted his automatic and used the weapon to break the driver's side window.

Sky jumped at the breaking window, causing Kadey to stir. Anubis reached in and opened the vehicle from the inside. Obeying his silent gesture, Sky got into the back seat with Kadey cradled in her arms. Anubis climbed in, jimmied the steering column and yanked the ignition wires free of the casing. Twenty seconds later, they coasted down the side street without headlights.

"Lie down on the seat beside her. I don't want either of you visible." Anubis waited until Sky lay down before he turned on the headlights and headed out of town. The vehicle had two-thirds of a tank of gas. If they were lucky, the owner wouldn't realize the van was missing until morning. He palmed his burner phone and sent a text. 649 out w/family heading to Gateway. Rabbit hole for familiar. ETA 2 hr.

Anubis merged onto Interstate 80 heading east. The traffic in his rear view gave him no cause for concern, but he kept his eyes on his six. He'd have to find a crowded rest stop, steal a set of plates and switch them out with the minivan, but until then he needed distance.

"Kaeden?"

Sky's voice drifted to the front seat. He turned his head and caught her eye for a second before he returned his focus to the road. "You can sit up."

He heard Sky moving around and a seatbelt clicking. There were a few awkward moments as she clambered into the front passenger seat. He was damn glad he had good reflexes. He somehow managed to dodge elbows, knees, and feet, so he didn't end up with a black eye.

"Okay." Sky pulled her jacket down, tugged her seatbelt across her chest, and secured it. She turned and angled her chin defiantly. "You will tell me what is going on. Now."

Anubis sent her a sideways glance. His gaze flicked to his daughter.

"She's asleep. Now start talking."

Anubis scratched his chin with his thumb and tried to formulate some semblance of the truth she'd be able to understand.

"Who was at the house? I heard you talking to someone. I heard you fighting."

He shot her another quick look and shrugged. "I don't know who they were. There isn't any need for concern. I ensured they won't follow us."

"Why did they come at all?"

"I believe it had something to do with my job." Anubis couldn't place the accent of the man he'd convinced to talk. It was familiar but not quiet Suriname. It was, but…

"The job where you have 'people'?"

He snapped his head toward her and focused on the conversation at hand. "Yes. The same one. Overseas."

"Yeah, we've established the place and the fact that you have people." Sky turned even farther in her seat to face him. "Why are we running? Who is after us?"

"I don't know."

"Not good enough." Sky snapped.

He understood the fear running through her and the need to take care of her daughter. He felt the need and desire to protect both of them, but it wasn't fear that fueled him, it was unadulterated rage toward the bastard who'd try to take them from him. He couldn't let her see any of that, so he answered her questions as calmly as possible. "It is the truth. I'll tell you what I think, but I'm making huge assumptions, something I am not comfortable doing."

"Oh, by all means, please leave your comfort zone." Sky crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

Anubis wanted to smile at the attitude but figured the fact he thought she was amusing wouldn't be well received. "I believe someone, perhaps an enemy of mine, has somehow obtained a sample of my blood. They were alerted to my presence yesterday here in California when my blood sample was loaded into the healthcare system. I don't know any concrete specifics other than we are in danger."

"That. That right there. Explain that. How are we in danger? Why are we in danger? What do you do that put not only you but Kadey and me in harm's way?"

"I eliminate difficult problems for my company."

"Like what, a corporate hatchet man?"

Anubis nodded. Close enough.

"What company?"

"Guardian Security."

"Guardian?" She'd heard of them. Sky put her thumb into her mouth and chewed on her nail. "Overseas." She mumbled the word around her finger.

Anubis nodded again.

"So… you're like some kind of mercenary." There was a distinct hesitancy in her question.

He nodded. He'd let her believe that was the worst of it. She could probably understand the concept of that role. The danger the public associated with mercenaries would explain the urgency of their flight into the night. Anubis reached over and pulled her hand down, keeping her from chewing her nail to the quick.

She glared at him and popped the other thumb into her mouth, speaking around it, "Who would be after you? What did you do?"

Anubis slowed and hit the turn signal, pulling into a heavily populated rest stop just east of Davis. "I did my job."

"Which was?"

God, the woman clamped onto the subject like a pit bull. Couldn't blame her, though. He pulled into a vacant slot at the very back of the parking lot. He turned off the lights and performed a scan of the lot before he turned and looked at her. "I eliminate problems, Sky. People don't like it when I do my job. Organizations and people that terrorize the world do not take kindly to being thwarted, and I'm damn good at what I do. I have made enemies. As long as I remain anonymous, I travel the world without any problem."

"Except for now."

"Right. There is always a chance people in my line of work will be… exposed. When that happens, the vipers slither out of the cracks and come hunting. My enemies will exploit any perceived vulnerability-like those close to me. I'm solitary for a reason. Those are the reasons I left you in Fresno, why I didn't want to come back and bring my world into yours, and those same reasons are why I'm leaving as soon as both of you are safe and Kadey is recovering." Anubis pulled the cheap, plastic light cover off the interior light and pulled the bulb out. "I'm going to take care of some business. Don't get out. I'll keep the vehicle in view at all times."

Anubis opened the door and slipped out, shutting it without a sound. He dropped back out of the dim cast of the ancient light illuminating the parking lot and moved behind the van. A rear license plate would be easy to remove from a parked vehicle. The front would take some ingenuity. Anubis carefully removed the tags from the vehicle he'd stolen and put them inside his half-zipped jacket. He watched for several minutes until he saw his target. A large ten-passenger van pulled up toward the far end of the parking lot. A troop of six kids and two very bedraggled parents exited the vehicle. The children were arguing with each other, and the parents were following numbly behind the hoard. He waited until the contingent made it to the bathroom facilities before he walked to the far side of the target van, dropped down and rolled under the vehicle. He slid to the front and quickly dropped the plate, replacing it just as quickly. He shimmied to the side to catch a look at Sky. She was chewing her thumbnail watching the cars come and go. He pushed to the rear of the vehicle and exchanged plates.

Anubis rolled to the far side of the target van and did a quick sweep of the parking lot. He stood and casually strolled through the open space back to where Sky waited. He watched as the worry on her face lessened. He raised a finger when she started to open the door and dropped to the front of the van screwing on the new plate. The rear plate took less than a minute to affix.

"You stole someone's license plate?" Sky hissed.

"Yes. If the owner of this vehicle reports it was stolen, we need different tags, so the police don't stop us."

"But… even if you are a mercenary, you're a good guy. Right? Shouldn't we be going to the police, not running away from them?"

Anubis started the vehicle and turned on the headlights, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Right now, I don't trust anyone except the people my handlers tell me to trust."

"Handlers?"

"The ones who give me my assignments."

"They know about Kadey, right? They know she needs this operation?"

"They were the ones who told me about her and allowed me to come to you."

"Allowed you? Do you trust them?" Sky put her thumbnail in her mouth again.

"With our lives."

"Where are we going?"

"Not far. Just outside Fairfield. We'll need to get a hotel room and wait until my people make contact. It won't be nice, but it will be safe." He couldn't risk using one of the Kaeden Lang credit cards if the identity the architect had engineered for him had been compromised, so an hourly rate hotel would keep them safe until his contact arrived and gave him the necessary documentation to access the Gateway and the security and medical facilities it provided.

"Kaeden, I'm scared." Sky's voice trembled. She drew an audible breath and continued, "I think we should go to the police."

Anubis reached over and grabbed her cold hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I know you're afraid, and it is a perfectly normal reaction. Give me twenty-four hours. If you don't believe that you and Kadey are safe and that she is getting quality care, I'll drive you to the nearest police station myself." He'd never risk Sky or Kadey to the inadequate protection of the local police, but he felt no guilt in telling her that lie as it would never be an issue. The Gateway was the perfect place to hide in plain sight.

Sky's hand remained unmoving in his. Anubis squeezed it again and released it, realizing the trust he asked her to give him came at a price-one he wasn't sure Sky was willing to pay. "Kadey will have the best care. I promise you."

"I want to believe you." Sky's voice drifted over to him, faint as if she'd said it to herself.