“But why would the scientists even use chloroform? There’s a lot of drugs on the market that are safer and work faster.”
“But they won’t work on us. Chloroform does. Something to do with our body makeup.” I offered him the water. “Were there any others?”
He nodded and took the drink. “Two of them. They split off, which is why I’m late getting back here. It was easier to take them out one by one but it took longer.”
“And what does ‘take out’ mean, exactly?”
“It means just that. Taking them out of the picture and making sure they can never hurt you—or anyone else—ever again.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was bad enough that I had blood on my hands, but now he did, too.
“But if the bodies are found here—”
“They won’t be,” he cut in. “I flew them out to sea. And I seriously doubt a
nyone is going to report them missing. Not if what you’re saying about Marsten is true. He wouldn’t want any investigation happening that could shed serious light on what he’s doing.”
That was true. I glanced back at the man I’d knocked out. “And what about him?”
He hesitated. “What do you want me to do about him?”
“Leave him.”
“That could be a decision that comes back and bites you in the ass. We don’t know how many more are out there, remember.”
“I know, but killing in cold blood is different than killing in a fight. I just can’t—”
“Then we won’t.”
Relief slithered through me. “What about their car?”
“I drove it off the property and abandoned it several miles up the road. It’s wiped clean of prints.”
“Good.” I bent to pick up the scattered groceries. “At least we should be safe from them for a while.”
“Unless they’ve got another way of tracking you.”
I glanced at him sharply. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “You said yourself that you underwent a lot of examinations and operations. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that they’ve got another way of finding you.” He must have sensed the panic that was surging through me, because he smiled and added, “It’s unlikely, but we’ve still got to be aware of the possibility. We can’t afford to relax just yet, that’s all I’m saying.”
I blew out a breath, then nodded. He slammed the trunk back down, then walked around me and opened the passenger door. “Let’s get moving before that man awakens.”
“Good idea, Ninety-nine.”
He snorted. “Do I have breasts and dark hair?”
“No, but Ninety-nine was the smart one, remember? Although it probably wasn’t hard to be smarter than Maxwell Smart, if the show had been anything to go by.”
He laughed, slammed the door shut, then ran around to the driver’s side. The sudden brightness of the head-lights as the car started up had me blinking.
He drove cautiously through the trees, edged the car through a smashed section of fence, then we bumped our way along a barely-there track, moving through the dunes and grasses for what seemed like ages.
When we finally hit the road, Trae turned right and gunned the engine.
“Feels like we’re in the middle of nowhere,” I said.
“Basically, we are.” He didn’t offer up other information, though, asking instead, “How were you planning to get to Maine?”