The Chemist

“Look, Val, I would never question your understanding on anything remotely feminine. That’s your world. This is mine. I am not exaggerating when I say that everyone breaks. It doesn’t matter how strong Kevin is or how much he loves his brother. It may take a while, but he will tell them where we are. And for his sake, I hope it doesn’t take that long.”

It would, though, and she knew it. Rocky as her relationship with Kevin had always been, she had learned to trust him, to know him. He would buy her the time she needed to get Daniel and Val somewhere safe. Partly because he did love his brother, and partly because of his pride. He’d never give Deavers what he wanted easily. Kevin would make them work for every word they pried out of him.

She was glad it wasn’t her job to break Kevin. She was sure he would be the hardest case she’d ever faced. If anyone could do it – actually take his secrets to the grave with him – that person might be Kevin Beach. Maybe he would have broken her perfect record.

For a second, she could see it vividly – Kevin restrained on the state-of-the-art table in the old lab, herself standing over him. How would she have worked the case? If things had panned out just slightly differently – if her Pakistani subject had never murmured the name Wade Pace – the scenario she pictured could have been her reality.

She shook the image away and looked up at Daniel and Val. Alex could see that her tension – her intensity and dark certainty – were finally getting to Daniel, at least.

“If they did get Kevin… what do you think would happen to Einstein?” Val asked, still skeptical, but her lapis eyes were abnormally vulnerable.

Alex winced. Why had she learned to care so much about an animal on top of everything else? What a stupid thing to do.

“We don’t have time to figure everything out right now,” she said. “Do you have a place to go, Val? A place Kevin wouldn’t know about?”

“I’ve got a million places.” Val’s face hardened. Her perfect features suddenly looked like they belonged to a beautiful doll, cold and empty. “You?”

“Our options are a little more limited, but I’ll figure something out. Pack up the things you want to save – it won’t be safe to come back here. Can I keep the wig?”

Val nodded.

“Thanks. Do you have another car besides the one we’ve been using?” Kevin had taken the McKinleys’ SUV when he and Einstein had set off just after midnight.

“I’ve got a couple here. That one isn’t mine. Kevin was driving it when he got here.”

Val pivoted slowly, gracefully, and then sauntered to the stairs. Alex couldn’t tell if she was going to pack or headed up to catch a nap. Val didn’t believe her.

Alex’s mind was racing in a hundred different directions. They’d have to get a new car quickly and dump the one Kevin knew about. There were so many details she had to think through, and she had to do it fast.

Alex turned and hurried back to the guest room. She had to pack, too.

And think. She hadn’t planned for this. She should have.

Daniel followed her down the hallway. “Tell me what I need to do,” he said as they walked through the door.

“Can you get everything back into the duffel bags? I… I need to think for a few minutes. We can’t afford any mistakes today. Just let me concentrate, okay?”

“Of course.”

Alex lay down on the bed, then crossed both arms over her face. Daniel worked quietly in the corner; the noise wasn’t distracting. She tried to think through all the moves they had available to them, everything Kevin didn’t know.

There wasn’t much. She couldn’t even go back for Lola – Kevin had picked the boarding facility.

She took another centering breath and put that thought away. There was no time for sadness now.

It would be small motels for a while. Cash only. Luckily she had plenty of Kevin’s drug money. They’d be able to keep their heads down.

Of course, Carston would expect that. Her face and Daniel’s would end up on a police flyer e-mailed to all the potential stops for a thousand miles. Since they’d already rolled the Daniel story, maybe they’d cast her as his captive. It would be hard to sell the other version, given Alex’s and Daniel’s relative sizes.

They could camp out of whatever car they found, as they’d done before. The scrutiny would be intense. Once Carston’s people located Kevin’s vehicle, they’d trace every used car sold, every want ad, every stolen car for a hundred miles in any direction. Any description that fit the scenario would go onto a list, and if a cop reported that vehicle, Carston’s people wouldn’t be far behind.

Maybe it was time to go back to Chicago. Maybe Joey Giancardi wouldn’t kill her immediately. Maybe he’d be willing to trade some kind of indentured servitude for two sets of facial reconstruction. Or maybe he’d get one whiff of her desperation and know there was good money to be made in selling her back to the people who wanted her.

She had identities that Kevin knew nothing about, but Daniel didn’t. The documents she’d grabbed from Kevin’s mobile Batcave wouldn’t be safe.

Unless Daniel acted fast enough.

She uncovered her face and sat up.

“Do you think you’ve grasped the basic principles of hide-and-seek?”

Daniel turned with two clear bags of ammo in his hands. “Maybe the very most basic of the basics.”

Alex nodded. “You’re smart, though. You speak Spanish pretty well, right?”