“We both know that the spasms won’t be stopping without your meds.” He adds a couple of sticks to the tiny fire. “I fecking hate leaving ye alone, but I can break into a pharmacy and be back in the time it would take to carry ye there.” His big hands are gently rubbing my back. “The only thing I have with me is ibuprofen, it’s safe to give ye four, no more.” He hands me the pills and holds the water bottle for me.
Twilight is spreading through the forest as Lucas straps on one of his guns and a knife. “Here’s the Mossburg.” He crouches in front of me, handing me the gun. The solid weight of it is reassuring. “Can ye feel the ibuprofen working?”
“A little,” I say. “It’ll be enough.”
His warm hand cups the back of my head. “I’ll be back as fast as possible, aye? Stay quiet, shoot anything that moves.” He kissesthe top of my head and pulls away. I dinnae know who’s more shocked by that kiss, him, or me.
Before I can say anything, he disappears into the forest like smoke.
Lucas…
I’m gonna pay for that.
I dinnae know what possessed me to kiss her, but the feel of her again, her sweet smell of lavender and the almond lotion she loves so much. It's been three years since I held her in my arms and every goddamned day since, I remember her curves, the dips and valleys of her little waist and hips, the smooth swell of her perfect breasts.
Torturing myself.
The air is cool, so I’m not breaking much of a sweat, the six kilometers takes less time than I expected. Good. I need to get back to Cat before she suffers any more than she has. So many of these little towns in the Atlas Mountains are laid out the same way as the last, forest giving way to farmland, then little homes clustering closer together, and then the main streets. Outdoor food markets, a few clothing and grocery stores.
The pharmacy is usually not as well protected as it would be in a bigger city, though a guard nodding off with his hand on his rifle is not unusual. It’s pitch-black tonight, which coversme as I circle the building. No guards.
It’s stucco and stone, sturdy-looking with a wooden door braced with steel bars. They’re not elaborate enough to have a complicated alarm system, which is a pity. I have an app that can unscramble almost any electronic lock.
I’m gonna have to pick this one the old-fashioned way.
Surprisingly, old locks are often harder to pick. There’s less give, the metal rusted and stubborn. It takes about five minutes, having to step back into the shadows as a young couple passes by, their eyes only for each other.
Would Catriona and I have looked at each other if we’d met at their age? No forbidden connection. Maybe meeting at a pub and hitting it off...
Stop.
Forcing myself away from dangerous thoughts, I get to work to with my little pick until the locks release and I’m inside.
I’m thinking I should be grateful that the bawbag who kidnapped Cat brought her to a country where I speak the language. The tidy rows of bottles are lined up along the shelves behind the pharmacist’s counter, not as many options as I’d like, I’ll take what I can get.
“Muscle relaxants…” I barely whisper, shining my penlight over the labels. “Good. Diazepam. Now for the anticonvulsants…” These are harder to find, though not surprising. Squinting at the third bottle on the top shelf, I nod in relief. “Got the Gabapentin. Now for the corticosteroids and back to Cat.” The only thing I can find is Methylprednisolone, not my first or even fourth choice, but it’ll do the job.
Ten precious minutes wasted as the coffee house down the street closes, sending everyone out onto the streets. Slipping past the last two men, elderly and robustly singing an old folk song, I’m back into the forest.
It’s more intense now, the insistent nudge at the base of my spine pushing me to hurry.
She’s alone. In pain. Run faster.
I’m near the campsite when I realize the fire’s out.Shite.
Circling behind it, I search the grounds. No intruders. And no Cat. Bursting from the trees in a move that I know is colossally stupid in case someone is lying in wait, I hear a smothered, wee screech.
“Ye scared the hell out of me!” It’s an angry little whisper from behind the tree to my left. There’s a hollow in the ground there and Cat’s huddled under some branches.
“Sorry, lass.” Helping her up, I ask, “Why were ye hiding? Did ye hear something?”
“Helicopter.” She’s gritting her teeth and it comes out a wee bit garbled. “Put out the fire and hid under the branches. I dinnae know if they had thermal imaging.”
“Clever thing,” I say approvingly, carrying her back to the log in our sleeping area. “Did they hover over or do any sweeps?”
“No.” I can see the tendons in her neck tighten and know there’s another series of spasms on the way. “They continued on. Looked like a normal grid pattern sear- Ah,god!”
Yanking the pill bottles out of my backpack, I lift her head. “It’s bad, I know. Let’s start with the Diazepam and the Gabapentin, aye?” I get the meds into her mouth and hold the water bottle for her.
