She shakes her head, "No, please don’t ask me to do that." She rises to her feet and picks up her bag, "I guess it was a mistake coming here. I should have realized there was nothing to be gained from it."
"Sit down," I say in a hard voice. Shit, some of Michael’s assertiveness is rubbing off on me. Hell, I even sounded like him there for a second.
She blinks, but sinks back slowly into the seat. "You are not letting me leave without some kind of a deal, are you?"
I smile wider, "You guessed right, Doc. You can make up a little bit for what you were part of."
"How?" She swallows. "He has you chipped. Even if you did manage to escape, he'd be able to track you."
But if I manage to get to a phone and call Summer first, she'll be able to help."Let me worry about that," I murmur. "Your role is only to get me out of here."
She locks her fingers together, "The moment you go missing, Michael will suspect me. Also, I was checked thoroughly on the way in, and they are bound to repeat the procedure on the way out again."
"Hmm," I tap my finger against my chin, "you’re a doctor, right?"
She frowns, "You know I am."
"So, if I were unwell enough that you couldn’t treat me here, you’d have to take me out of here to a hospital, right?"
She peers into my face, "You really are a devious woman, aren’t you?"
"You have no idea."
"Does he know that you can run circles around him?"
"Hehas no idea." I chuckle and a reluctant smile curves her lips.
"So, I was thinking…"
"Stop," she throws up her hand, "whatever it is you’re thinking, don’t tell me. I trust you to plan the events. Then, I’ll be called in and when I am, I’ll simply be the concerned doctor who insists on doing the right thing by you."
She rises to her feet, "Now, may I check you out, to make sure the wound behind your ear is healing properly?"
"That was like barely a prick."
"Regardless, Capo’s orders."
I take my seat again and she checks me out. When she’s satisfied, she packs her bag, and straightens, "Right then, I’ll leave you here." She glances around the studio, "The Capo had this set up for you, didn’t he?"
"Are you surprised?"
"Not anymore. When it comes to his wife, I am realizing, the Capo will do just about anything for you."
She heads toward the door. Somehow, I get the feeling that my only friend in the entire world is leaving. Not that I know Aurora that well, but with some people you just know that you can trust them, right? Maybe it’s because she’s a doctor… A doctor who is in his employ, who was the one who implanted the tracker. But still… She’s also a woman. Surely, she understands why it’s important for me to leave here?
"Aurora!"
I call out and she stops. She turns to me, with a quizzical look on her face.
"Thank you."
She tilts her head. "Don’t thank me, yet," she murmurs, "you don’t know if this plan of yours is going to succeed."