Manhunt (15 page)

Nikki’s guilt nearly overwhelmed her. While they were having fun at Disney and making love at quaint bed and breakfasts, their friends were left behind to bear the brunt of the consequences.

“Good news is I’ve had to close up shop until the heat dies down, so I’ve been able to be here for her more. When I’m not with Jeremy, that is.”

“How’s he doing?”

“He’s… stoic. I’ve never seen that boy so calm. Well, he’s a bit pissed at how much his company’s stock has dropped since his confession, but other than that…”

Nikki didn’t want to hear any more about how much damage had been wrought in their name.

“Yeah. Listen, Christian, I don’t know everything—there’s still a lot of blank spots in my memory—but Michael says Jeremy is innocent, so we’re on our way back home. Michael is going to turn himself in. Thing is, we had a close call tonight and we’re fairly certain the cops know exactly where we were an hour ago. What do you think we should do?”

“Get your asses back here, pronto, if that’s the case. It’s going to look a whole lot better if you two turn yourselves in than it would if you got caught and ended up on the six o’clock news in handcuffs.”

“I agree with you. We’re going to need a lawyer. A good one.”

“Already covered. I put my best guy on retainer on the case about a half hour after you pulled out of my drive. He’s representing Jeremy right now as well.”

Nikki breathed a sigh of relief.

“Nikki,” Michael shout-whispered, grabbing her attention, “we’ve got a problem!”

Nikki looked out the glass doors. A police cruiser was parked alongside their car. An officer stood behind it, jotting down their license plate number. “Shit! The cops are here.”

Christian rushed to speak. “First of all, where are you?” Nikki gave him the exit number and a quick rundown of the towns listed on the sign they’d passed just before the rest stop. “Alright. Don’t run. Walk out the door. Tell them who you are. Tell them you were on your way back to turn yourselves in. Understand?”

Nikki watched the officer return to his car, sitting in the driver’s seat, leaving the door open as he started calling in the plate.

“So much for things looking better for us. Gotta go. Love you, Christian. Tell Sophie and Jeremy we love them too.”

“Will do, sugar. Love you too. See you soon.”

Nikki hung up the phone and took Michael’s hand.

“Christian said to turn ourselves in to them.” Michael squared his shoulders off and nodded. “Do you think they’re here for us?” she asked.

“Actually, no. I think if he was, he’d be on higher alert. He would have blocked our car with his, that kind of thing. I think we’re going to make some guy’s night for making a headline-worthy bust. Ready?”

“No, but let’s go.”

They headed out the door and started walking to the car, and Nikki couldn’t help but feel like they were walking to the electric chair. She stopped about half way there and turned to Michael.

“I love you. I don’t know much, but I know that I love you.”

“Isn’t that a line to some cheesy love song?” Michael smiled, bending down to kiss her.

“I’m serious,” she argued between kisses. For obvious reasons and ones she couldn’t quite put her finger on, it seemed urgently important to get this out. “Always have. Always will. No matter what happens from here.”

Michael nodded in agreement. “Always,” he whispered against her lips, kissing her one more time before they were interrupted.

“Hey, you two. I need to have a word with you,” the officer interrupted, starting to close the distance between them as his partner stepped out of the passenger side and put her hand loosely on her holster.

Michael straightened his shoulders and turned to address him. “Officer, my name is Michael Brennan. This is Nicole Wright. We are turning ourselves in and will fully comply with you. I just ask that you be gentle with Nikki and get her medical attention. She is still recovering from her injuries.”

The policeman looked confused for a moment, and Nikki wondered if he knew just how big a fish they’d caught. Apparently, he did.

“Well, son, you’re in a heap of trouble. You are under arrest for possession of a stolen vehicle, and are wanted for questioning by the FBI.” The officer read Michael his Miranda rights as he put him in handcuffs. He then turned his attention to Nikki. “Hands behind your back, ma’am.”

“Wait, please,” Michael begged. “She’s still suffering from bruised ribs. Please, we won’t be any trouble, just don’t put her in cuffs. It could hurt her!”

The officer turned to his partner, looking for some indication of which way to go.

“Nicole Wright is a kidnapping victim, Paul. There’s no reason to arrest her.”

She gave all three of them a look that said she knew it was a complete farce, but to go along with it anyway. Nikki was afraid, however, that it would be used against Michael later if she didn’t protest now, but the look Michael gave her made her response die in her throat. The female officer turned to Nikki.

“Miss Wright, I’m assuming you feel comfortable riding to the station with your captor. Since he’s restrained, of course.” They both smiled weakly at the little show they were putting on for no one. “Otherwise, we can arrange for another cruiser to pick you up.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Thank you,” Nikki replied gratefully. Officer Paul placed his hand atop Michael’s head as he helped him sit in the back seat. Michael slid over and made room for Nikki, who sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder since she couldn’t really hold his hand while they were handcuffed behind his back.

The officer called it in on their way back. In the short 20 minute drive, several network news crews and newspaper reporters had already shown up outside the station to cover their apprehension. Nikki let the female officer, whose name she never caught, pull her protectively to her side and whisper in her ear to just keep her head down and ignore them as they shoved their way past the sea of microphones and camera flashes. The cacophony of everyone yelling their names and throwing out questions just to see if they could get a reaction was overwhelming, and it took everything Nikki had to not break down crying. Once inside, they were checked in and shuffled to different rooms. The separation put Nikki into a near panic for Michael.

“Please,” she begged the officer. “Can’t we stay together?” The room was an interrogation room straight from those television crime shows Nikki always avoided. She hated violence, and never had a desire to watch it as entertainment. The officer smiled, but shook her head and motioned for her to sit.

“Sorry, no can do. There are some people here who want to talk to you. Now, you understand that even though you’re not being accused of anything right now, you can still refuse to speak to them without the presence of an attorney, right?”

The woman’s voice was almost maternal and Nikki made a mental note to bake her something really fantastic. If they managed to get out of this, she thought ruefully. Nikki nodded her head that she understood and the woman put her hand on Nikki’s shoulder for a moment before she turned and left.

It seemed like forever before two men in suits came back in the door. The older man had a coffee in each hand, and set one in front of Nikki before he and his partner took the chairs on the opposite side of the table. The younger and taller one had brought his own. Nikki furrowed her brow, lacking the courage to pick it up, so she just watched as the two gentlemen blew on the top of their own steaming cups and sipped at their coffee silently. She couldn’t understand the extended silence, but it was driving her crazy.

“Who are you? Where’s Michael?” she snapped after a while.

“We’re the FBI, Ms. Wright. Don’t worry, Mr. Brennan won’t bother you anymore. I promise you, I haven’t poisoned that cup. Two creams and two sugars, figured it was a safe bet. I can get you something else if you like.”

She wasn’t sure if he was being sincere or sarcastic.

“He isn’t bothering me! He didn’t kidnap me! I went willingly!”

The two men cast a sideways glance at each other.

“Ms. Wright, perhaps you would care to tell us exactly what happened the day you disappeared from the hospital,” the older one said, a kind tone to his voice and a sincere look in his watery blue eyes, pretty even with the massive bags under them. She thought perhaps it was a good cop/bad cop kind of thing, but the other man was smiling encouragingly at her too. Nikki took a deep breath and told him the truth about when Michael took her from the hospital.

“So you had no idea who you were, or who he was for that matter, when you followed him out of the hospital?” Nikki shook her head. “And he was aware that you were suffering from amnesia?” Nikki nodded. “Well, it doesn’t appear to me that you were in any condition to make an informed decision. Do you think he would have taken you by force had you not agreed?”

Nikki knew damn well Michael would have picked her up and carried her out of there kicking and screaming had she not agreed to go with him, but she wasn’t about to tell them that. They caught her hesitation, though, and took that as a yes.

“Did he ever give you a reason why he took you?”

Nikki thought hard about that one. Come to think of it, he never had given her a straight answer when she asked. She knew why he had to leave, but didn’t know why he felt such an urgent need to take her along.

“Well, no, but…”

“Did you ever ask if you could leave him, return home of your own free will?”

Nikki’s thoughts flashed back to their conversation at the fast food restaurant where Michael made it clear to her he was not letting her leave.

“Well, yes, but…”

“Ms. Wright… My name is John, by the way, and my partner here is Joe,” the older man said before leaning forward and taking Nikki by the hand. She suppressed the urge to jerk her hand back. “Ms. Wright, we understand that you’ve been through a traumatic experience and when combined with amnesia, it’s easy to see how he might have confused or manipulated you.”

“No!” Nikki shouted, pulling her hand away from John and standing up. He sat back in his seat, slightly stunned at her outburst. “He wasn’t manipulating me. He loves me.”

“Please, Nicole, sit back down. Let’s discuss this rationally, alright?” Joe asked her. Nikki plopped back down in her chair and John continued. “If you truly want to take the position that you left willingly, a few things are going to need to happen. First, you will need to submit to a psych exam.”

“A psych exam? I’m not crazy!”

“I’m not suggesting you are, but Stockholm Syndrome isn’t unheard of among kidnap victims, and a psychologist is better qualified to determine if that’s the case here than I am. If they determine that you are of sound mind, then I would suggest in your own best interests that you insist on having a lawyer present before we speak to you again. If you are, in fact, not a victim here, you are in almost as much trouble as he is.” John’s voice was quiet and soft, not accusing at all. He truly seemed to believe that she was, in fact, a kidnapping victim and that Michael had just done a very good job of messing with her head.

Nikki, on the other hand, was appalled. They’d been gone a few weeks, not months or years. Did they really think she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome!? Nikki wasn’t even willing to entertain the possibility. Her love for Michael was true, and she would never doubt it again.

A knock sounded at the door before Nikki could even drum up a response. The female officer from earlier poked her head through.

“Pardon the intrusion, gentlemen, but there are some folks here to see Nicole and I’m fairly certain they’re not going to take no for an answer.” She swung the door open to reveal Christian, Sophie, and Dr. and Mrs. Brennan. All of them looked like they’d aged 10 years since she’d seen them last, especially Mrs. Brennan, whom Nikki only recalled from sporadic memories. Nikki was so happy to see them, she jumped up out of her chair to run to them, but then stopped with a sharp gasp as pain ripped through her chest. She grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself.

“Nikki!” they yelled in unison.

Christian got to her first, catching her by the waist and lowering her back into the chair. Aaron knelt beside her, kissing her forehead.

“Let me see how you’re doing there, kiddo, okay?”

Nikki nodded. He checked out the stitches on her forehead before lifting her shirt slightly and feeling her ribs.

Christian looked at the two agents and glared. “You two turn around. This ain’t a peep show,” he said, angling his body to make sure they weren’t trying to sneak a peek. Not that Aaron was really exposing her in any way.