Justified Means (Book One) (The Agency Files) (10 page)

“
Oh great. It’s that time again.”

“
Just about.”

He knew better than to ask, but Keith couldn
’t help but hope. “Are we any closer to nailing these guys?”

“
If we were, would I be sitting here exchanging pleasantries? I won’t be coming back for a few weeks, though. Until we know how they found you, we’re not coming close.” She covered the phone and then seconds later, said goodbye. “Chopper’s moving out. I’m going to make sure they get the right place. See you in a few weeks.”

“
Call me.”

“
Keep your phone charged. Don’t waste that battery on curling irons for Miss Priss.”

“
I can’t let her have a curling iron and you know it.”

The noise of the helicopter made it difficult to hear, but
Karen’s last words sent a new wave of dismay over him. “… and don’t let her call again. If somehow that’s how they found her—”

The line went dead.
He knew she was right, but he didn’t want to think about telling Erika. He also didn’t want to think of the long trek he’d have getting a letter from Erika to the nearest mailbox in the middle of the night. He also didn’t like the realization that it’d mean restraints while Erika slept.

She stirred on the couch.
He felt guilty for putting her on the filthy thing and made a mental note to request dustsheets for all unused safe houses. If she had been asthmatic, they’d have been in trouble. As if taunting him with concerns that didn’t even apply, the smoke in the air thickened somewhat. 

In what felt like minutes but almost an hour later, h
elicopter blades cut through the air. A glance at his watch showed that time had uncharacteristically flown. He glanced at her and decided to risk it. Once fully awake, she’d still have lingering effects. He’d be able to catch her even if she did run. He hurried outside and watched as the helicopter hovered a few feet from the ground before Karen pushed the pack from the edge and gave the signal to go.

From his peripheral vision, he saw Erika
’s movement and waited, forcing himself to remain relaxed, until she decided to pounce. Would she choose to try to hit him over the head? The thought caused him to shift slightly as he waved— better to be safe than sorry. He stifled a snicker as she rushed at him with every ounce of her one hundred twenty-two pounds. The split-second question was, step aside and let her rush the air or catch her and swing her around like a child and save her from an almost certain fall?

As tempted as he was to catch her, he knew the swing could encourage vomiting.
Just in time, he stepped aside as Erika rushed to tackle him. She stumbled, fell to her knees, and scraped her chin.
“Great, another injury to clean and keep from infection.”
Guilt tried to take root in his heart but he couldn’t help the twitch of amusement at the corner of his mouth.

“
You knew I was coming!” Erika’s accusation merely stated the obvious.

“
I did.”

Fury exploded in her heart until Erika was sure she
’d kill him. “I can’t believe you let—” She grabbed her head, spun in a disoriented circle, and vomited.

With a grumpy fa
ce that contradicted the gentleness and tenderness he displayed, Keith helped her into the house and grabbed a bottle of water. While she retched into a dishpan, Keith rubbed her back, handed her water, and wiped her face and mouth with a wet washcloth—none of which endeared her to him. More irritable than ever, Erika lashed out at him, but to no avail. He seemed immune to her tirades.

“
Drugs! Do you know how addictive drugs are? I can’t believe you did that to me! I
said
I wouldn’t be a problem! I begged!”

“
I know. I’m sorry. It’s just what we have to do.” She slapped his hand away as he tried to wipe her mouth after another bout of vomiting, but it didn’t seem to faze him.

“
Feel so weird.”

“
It’s the side effects. Drink some more.”

“
I don’t want to drink more! I’m puking here!”

“
You’d rather puke with something to come up than have dry heaves. Besides, dehydration means we have to sedate you and give you an IV. That’s really not what you want to happen.” He pushed the water bottle into her hand and then wiped his face with his sleeve when she used the “sport top” to squirt him with it. “That’s not helping.”

“
But I feel better.” As if unable to ignore the opportunity for irony, her stomach heaved again. “Ugh, why do people think this is so wonderful?”

He shook his head.
“I don’t know, Erika. Drink up.”

“
I don’t
want
to ‘drink up.’”

Before she could squirt more water at him, her body rejected the last infusion of liquids and spewed it all over his feet.
He unwound a few paper towels from the roll Karen had dropped and mopped up his shoes. “I’ll wash them later. Come on, Erika. Take a drink. Squirt me if you think it’ll make you feel better, but get some more liquids in you. If you get dehydrated, you’ll vomit from that too, and it’ll just make it worse.”

She broke away from him, furious that he
acted so nonchalant about having drugged her and the misery it produced, but at the door, he stopped her. “You can’t leave the cabin right now, Erika. I’m sorry.”

“
You are not! What a hypocrite! So, I don’t like your method of keeping me quiet, and now you’re going to lock me up even tighter? What kind of—”

“
We were just evicted from our cabin because they found us. Do you get that? Erika, they found us! That cabin is on fire right now. They burned it, probably assuming—or at least hoping—we were still in it. Dead. If we hadn’t left, we’d be dead. Do you hear me? Dead.”

“
But you still drugged me!”

“
Yes I did, and if we had to leave right now, I’d give you a half dose and do it again, so don’t think that me being sorry I
had
to do it means I am sorry that I
did
do it. There’s a difference.”

“
You—” Another wave of nausea crashed over her. Dizzy, she stumbled in a semi-circle and then sank to the floor holding her head. “Oh, man…”

“
Come on, Erika,” Keith encouraged, trying to get her to stand. “Let’s get you back to the couch.”

“
I can’t move. Leave me alone. I want my dishpan.”

At the sink, Keith pumped the lever on the hand pump at the sink, rinsing the dishpan.
Erika started to complain, but seeing him working to give her a clean pan made her hesitate. When he returned, he lifted her in his arms and carried her back to the couch. Seeing her eye the dishpan, he handed it back to her, and apologized. “I didn’t use the soap. It’s in the bundle, so I can if you want me to, but I thought—”

“
You thought I could clean up my own puke. First you make me sick, and now you want me to clean it up. What a guy.”

“
I thought you might need it,” he restated as if she hadn’t just ungraciously attacked him for trying to be nice. “Want me to wash it out to kill the smell?”

“
Yeah. Might want to clean the rest of this place while you’re at it.” She tried not to look at the door as she spoke, but it was as if her eyes refused to obey her brain. Even still, he didn’t seem to notice.

As he stood at the sink scrubbing, she crept toward the door, trying not to make any sudden movements that he might notice.
She had to get away. These people were crazy. Drugging her? What kind of “protector” drugs the person he’s responsible for? The same word that seemed to define the entire experience blasted her brain again. 
Insanity.

Just as she reached the door, he spoke from the sink, and she bolted before the words registered.
“I wouldn’t run—” Still unsteady from the effects of the heroin, Erika fell flat on her face before he could finish his warning.

“
Aaah! What the—” She stared at her feet as if they’d betrayed her. Handcuffs combined with a towing chain that was locked to a ring in the floor were hooked around one ankle. “When did you? I know I made it—”

“
It just took a second when I put you back on the couch. I’m sorry, but you can’t be seen in the yard right now. The car is hidden, but if someone sees us out here, it could get back to A—all the people who are looking for you.”

With every ounce of mental strength she possessed, Erika forced herself to think about his words repeatedly, until she fell asleep.
He’d started to say something with a short “A” sound. Whatever that meant, she didn’t know, but it was a start. She couldn’t let the drugs take that away from her. A. How hard could it be to remember the first letter of the alphabet?

As she sank to the floor, Keith realized that she
’d need help. It’d be impossible to curl up next to that dishpan unless it was empty. Stuffing down the impulse to gag, Keith dumped the contents down the toilet and pumped a bucketful of water to pour into the tank. This no electricity thing would get old quickly. As he handed her the rinsed dishpan, he slipped the handcuff around her ankle, hoping she was too upset to notice. As miraculous as it seemed, it worked. Now, if she’d just stop puking so he could give her detox capsules for her liver.

Just as he warned her
not to run, Erika tripped. As expected, a new string of insults followed a fresh wave of anger and culminated in a torrent of foul-mouthed expletives. After trying to explain why she couldn’t leave, Keith gave up and led her back to the couch. “Just rest. I—” he sighed. “Just rest.”

When she didn
’t awaken to vomit again, Keith sighed, relieved. He had too much to do and little time to do it before she woke up again. With the first sweep of the broom, he realized that she’d wake up coughing in no time unless he did something to filter her breathing. Tearing a strip of cloth from the bundle that Karen had dropped, Keith wet it, wrung every drop from it he could, and then laid it carefully over her head. Seconds ticked by as he waited for her to swing at it or shove it off, but she seemed unbothered. He started in the bedroom, sweeping the ceiling, walls, and choking from the dust himself until he was forced to open the windows. Once he brushed down all surfaces, he slowly—trying to avoid stirring up any more dust than necessary—swept the floor until he couldn’t get enough to be worth the fight.

Without a mop, wiping the floor
meant crawling around on his hands and knees, but thanks to small spaces, he had no trouble getting the floor cleaned in a reasonable amount of time. The sheets, however were the worst. Coated with months and months of dust and dank odors, he carried all bedding, including the pillows, into the bathroom and began pumping, filling the tub full of water. Though Keith would have preferred hot, he didn’t want to take the time. Besides, wringing out those sheets would be workout enough for him.

At the bottom of the bundle, beneath the
“pink package” that Keith stored in the bathroom vanity with a shudder, two fresh packages of sheets and two air mattresses waited. He unwrapped the mattresses, inserted the foot pump, and worked away, trying to fill it quickly. If he could just move her into the bedroom, he’d be able to work on the main cabin room. Finishing before dark would be hard, but he certainly did not wish to sleep in filth—with the critters.

As another mouse scurried across his toes, Keith jumped and shook his head.
If Erika saw that, she’d never let him live it down. “Must. Not. Get. Startled,” he muttered to himself as he worked.

Once
he inflated the air mattress, Keith pulled the old musty mattress from the bed and put the air mattress on the box springs. Wrestling with it every step of the way, Keith dragged it to the living room. He could beat it after dark. By the time he finished making the bed, over an hour had passed, and he still hadn’t rinsed or wrung out the other bedding.

The cloth over her
head already looked filthy, and he hadn’t even been working in there! As much as he hated to risk waking her, he scooped her into his arms and stepped around the chain as he carried her to the bedroom. Erika stirred, still groggy and feeling the aftereffects of the drug. At this rate, she’d be ready to start detoxing when she woke again.