Heroes Lost and Found (23 page)

There was a small breakfast nook just past that, the U-shaped brown leather cushions almost encircling a solid wooden table, the varnished top showing no signs of wear and tear. A few feet away lay the kitchen, the aisle made just that much wider for another person to squeeze through while someone worked at the tiny sink. A microwave, fridge and a convection oven stacked on each other filled the space.

Throughout the entire area lay television screens of all sizes, including individual ones in the three sets of double bunk beds on each side of the aisle. The bunks weren’t large but looked darned comfortable. The diminutive half-lockers took me back to high school and the horrible experience of having the lower locker. My back never felt the same after that year.

I found a pair of sweatpants and a black T-shirt in the small locker labeled with my name.

“Thank you for your help.” A sidestep into the bathroom and I stripped down, tossing the underwear into a nearby garbage can. I didn’t even want to entertain the idea of resurrecting them. It only took another minute to put the clean clothing on, the soft fabric heaven against my battered skin. A shower would have to wait a few more minutes.

“I’m leaving now. I’ll tell Mr. Dillon that you’re fine,” the paramedic called. “Just sing out if you need any help—we’ll be outside for a bit longer.”

“No problem.” I smiled as I exited the bathroom, biting the inside of my mouth to keep standing as she headed for the front steps. Hunter passed her on the way out, hopping up the steps to get to me.

I waited until she stepped off the bus before collapsing onto the cushions, grabbing my cramping right leg. The shooting pain had me gasping and gritting my teeth, the last few hours of abuse finally taking their toll.

“What the…” Hunter’s hands were on me, kneading and pressing the offending muscles. “Are you okay?”

“Yeahsureyoubetcha,” I moaned.

“Here.” He got up and went to the mini-fridge. A hoagie landed in my lap, the thick slices of meat and cheese spilling out of the sliced bun. “Eat while I brief you and cop a fast feel under the pretense of massaging your leg.” He settled down beside me and pulled my legs across his lap.

I unwrapped the sandwich, wincing as his fingers found yet another sore spot. “I’m fine, which is what I told you before you chased me up in here with that damned medic.”

He grunted. “Rather be safe than sorry. And I’ll confess things were a bit easier to deal with out there knowing you were here, safe and sound.”

I whimpered around a mouthful of food. “Ask me something to take my mind off this.”

“Have you talked to David?”

“Damn it.” I reached for a nearby phone. “We got the Lair on speed dial?”

Hunter pointed at the ceiling. “He’s been on hold since we got here. Hit 1.”

I took a deep breath and tapped the button. “David, are you there?”

His voice boomed out of small speakers set around the bus. “Are you okay? Do you want me to come out there? Are you eating?”

Hunter laughed. “Sounds like a bad case of mothering.”

I mewled as his hands went over another muscle knot. “I’m fine. I’m eating, and Hunter is giving me a massage.”

“Oh.” David’s tone changed. “Do you want to call me back?”

“No, no, I mean a real leg massage. My legs are all cramped up.” I ripped into the sandwich again. “The medic said I’m okay.”

“That’s what the medic says. What do you look like?”

“No.” I jabbed my finger at Hunter as he moved towards one of the screens, leaving me stretched out around the table. “Don’t you dare.”

“Jessie left instructions on how to do this.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “We knew he’d want to see you.”

“Jo,” David said. “How bad is it?”

I scowled at Hunter as he sat back down by my legs and resumed his gentle but firm massage.

“If you don’t let him see you, he’s going to badger us until he does,” Hunter explained. “Better get it over with now before he hops a plane and we have to pick him up somewhere.”

I put the sandwich down and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to fluff up the blonde strands.

“Pass me a wet cloth, at least.” I motioned frantically.

Hunter dampened a piece of paper towel and threw it to me. I ran it over my face and neck, trying not to wince when it came away with flecks of dried blood and a few smears of fresh scarlet. I nodded towards Hunter. He took the phone from me and pressed another button, connecting the screen.

The dark monitor in front of me flickered to life, the image taking a second to solidify. The elderly bookstore owner appeared on the screen. His face ran through the gauntlet of emotions, spinning the wheel and unable to settle on just one.

“Jo.” David looked about to burst into tears. He shook his head. “Jo.”

“I’m fine.” I traded the wet towel for the sandwich. “A bit banged up. I’ve had worse, you know that.”

The bookstore owner nodded, his lower lip trembling. “Not by much.”

“No,” I conceded. “But I’m a pretty tough old broad. Have to do a bit more cleanup, and I’ll be home soon enough. Besides, I bet you’ve been enjoying the peace and quiet.” My voice broke on the last few words as I struggled not to cry at seeing the pain on his face.

“I’ll take chaos with you here and safe rather than the peace and quiet of being alone and you in danger. Just be careful. I know you’ve got work to do, but that doesn’t mean I can’t worry. Hunter, I’m counting on you to bring her home safe.” The underlying threat in his voice had me suppressing a giggle.

Hunter nodded, his hands wrestling with the unyielding knots. “You know I will, David.”

“I have to go hit the showers.” I blinked away a tear. “I’ll see you soon enough, ’kay? Don’t forget to lay in the smoked meat.”

“Got it already on order from the local deli.” He gave me a knowing smile. “And a loaf of that light rye you love.”

The screen went blank.

Hunter grinned as I gasped, the tense muscles finally giving way under his touch. “There. That’ll help.” His tone shifted from serious to whimsical so quickly I almost missed what he said next. “So, I guess I’ll have to ask David’s blessing if I want you to marry me, right?”

“What?” I nearly fell off the couch.

“We’ll talk about it later.” A saucy wink matched the strong squeeze on my leg.

“Yes, yes we will. When we’re not in the middle of dealing with some situation.” My head spun with mental notes demanding attention. “Where’s the rest of the team?”

His tone switched away from playful to professional. “Steve’s gone to the hospital with Thrasher, real name Jim Hanson. Not sure if they’ll be able to save his hand or not. I’m betting not, myself.” He shook his head. “Steve’s feeling bad, but I reminded him it was Jim’s decision to keep pressing the fight. Hanson was warned back in boot camp about pushing it too far. Stone isn’t unbreakable.”

“Damn,” I replied. “He seemed like a nice enough fellow. A bit pessimistic, but it’s understandable.”

“Hot Foot, real name of Mike Manners, is kicking up a fuss about his rights being violated and demanding a lawyer. I think it’s more because he’s got two cannonballs tied to his legs than any actual concern about his civil rights.”

“Ah, now. He is an ass in the world. Anarchist if I ever saw one.” The pain subsided, replaced with a warm throbbing. “He still got some jammers off you guys.” I sighed as I wriggled my toes. “Scared the crap out of me when I saw them get crushed.”

“Gave us a leg up on Dykovski, excuse the pun. He thought he could activate our plugs, and we didn’t want to discourage that notion. Kept him busy worrying about that instead of setting the place afire and/or killing you directly.” He rolled up the pant leg and flinched as he spotted a large blue and black bruise drowning the back of my leg. “We had some idea of what we were facing before we went in, thanks to Harris’s friend Bernie. She helped us identify the men from the diner who took off with Harris. I think she’s sort of sweet on him, told Jessie to have him call her when he got a free moment.”

I shuddered at the mental image of Harris dating. “Let’s not go there right now.”

Hunter ran his fingers along my exposed skin. “Once we got identification, it wasn’t too hard to figure out how to beat them. Adding in the surprise about the jammers and we knew we’d get you back.” He bent down and kissed a ripening bruise. “I wasn’t going to stop until we did.”

“Harris,” I asked, closing my eyes and relishing the tingle going up my leg. “Where is he?”

“Hanging out with Steve at the hospital and getting looked at. He doesn’t seem to be as pigheaded as you are about receiving medical attention.”

I ignored the comment and finished up the sandwich.

“There. Now for that shower.” Hunter touched the edge of my mouth, coming away with a smear of mayonnaise. “Unfortunately there’s only room for one in there, but I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

“You can keep talking and bring me up to speed.” I hobbled towards the back of the bus, stripping as I went. “And explain what the hell this bus is, other than a huge honking eyesore on the road.”

Hunter followed, chuckling the entire way as he picked up my clothing.

The shower stall worked to my advantage, being so narrow it allowed me to lean on the walls, shifting my weight from one aching leg to the other. The massage helped, but it’d take a bit longer for my legs to totally recover.

The hot water drummed on my face, the steam working its way into my muscles and bones. If this bus had a water heater, I was about to empty it. “Where’s Peter and Rachael? Is she going to be okay?”

“They hit a special Agency station to get that goo melted off. Outrager brought the experts along based on what Dykovski scrounged from the caches. They created it, they know how to turn it back to liquid form and wash it off. Took a few minutes to wrestle with the bobcat and clean him up with Peter playing interpreter. Now they’re hanging around outside. Told them we needed a little privacy.”

I spat out a mouthful of water. “Good grief. They’re going to think we’re sex fiends.”

“I fail to see the problem with that statement.”

I flicked a handful of water over the clouded glass door. “Continue briefing me, you pervert.”

“Jessie’s been visiting the lost supers’ chat room on a regular basis. All quiet now. We’re figuring they all cleared out when some supers vanished.”

“As in dying under Dykovski’s trigger finger.” The large bar of soap shrunk. I couldn’t scrub myself enough, trying to hit a perfect balance between the pain of pressing on the scrapes and bruises and an urge to get as clean as humanly possibly.

“Most likely. So that option is out for us to contact other survivors and for Dykovski to troll for new recruits.” Hunter peeked over the top of the semitransparent door. “You okay?” He leered. “Need help with any spots?”

“Just fine, thank you. Keep on going.” I waved him away. “Sit, boy.”

“This bus is a special mobile center set up by the Agency for Alphas to tour on. Goodies galore and a king-sized bedroom in the back.”

“You lie.” I couldn’t hold back the disbelief in my voice.

“Seriously. King. Size. Bed.”

“And bunk beds on the side, I saw that much along with the computer monitor and the television sets, plural. Jessie must be having orgasms at all the tech.”

“Speaking of…”

“Keep talking, Casanova.”

An exaggerated sigh drifted over the steam. “Anyway, it’s been in mothballs for a few months. Outrager pulled it out and gave it to us when we landed in Portland.”

Now it was my turn to peek over the top of the door. “Really? And you think it’s not full of wires and bugs feeding information back to the Agency? I bet there’s a goddamn spy cam in here.”

“Jessie swept it. All clear,” he shot back. “Want me to scrub your back?”

I turned the water off and opened the door. “Towel duty is about all you’re getting before we get back on Dykovski’s trail.”

Hunter pouted, ready with a large fluffy white towel. “I’ll take what I can get.”

I flinched again as he touched a bruise. “We got any drugs?”

“I’ll assume you’re talking legal painkillers,” he joked. “I managed to wrangle some Tylenol 3 from the paramedics. Need some?” The towel moved over me, gentle but efficient. I thought I heard a low grumble when he patted down some of the larger bruises.

“Oh, Lordy. Yes.” I groaned. “I’d ask for a beer to wash it down, but I’m sure you’d say no.”

“You got that right.” He tossed the towel over my head. “Back in a minute.”

I made a halfhearted swipe at my wet hair. “Peter, are you there?”

“At your service, boss,” he called over the link. “Hunter need some vitamins? You outpacing him even after all that? I’d offer to tag team, but…”

I chuckled, seeing the dismay on Hunter’s face as he returned holding a cup of water and two small pills. “No, he’s holding his own. Tell me where Dykovski is and where the two of you are.”

“We’re hanging here at the snack truck set up for the Agency boys. Nice spread.”

I gulped down the painkillers with a swig of water. “The boys or the food?”