Part 24 (1/2)

Kay hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. Annie left the room at a dead run.

James was nowhere to be seen. She figured he had already gone downstairs, so she headed for the stairwell and jogged down.

When she reached the lobby, James was just exiting the building. Fortunately James, with his size and his long golden hair, was about as inconspicuous as a lion pacing down the sidewalk. She followed him,

managing to keep a reasonable distance behind him. He never once glanced back over his shoulder, which sent an odd quiver through her.

It was clear he had no notion she might have followed him, and that he had actually expected her to let

him go without a struggle. Obviously he had no idea what he meant to her.

She doubted James had a clue that he might be important to anyone.

He did not look around, just walked on with an easy, long stride that looked like a saunter but was actually so fast she practically had to run to keep up. She wondered if he had any destination in mind, or

if he just intended to wander around the vicinity until Dekka and her compatriot found him. She suspected he had not bothered to formulate a plan. He had given up.

She wished she had had the time to come up with a plan.

Just then she saw a blue car pull up to the curb. The window rolled down, and she saw a dark-haired woman lean her head partway out to speak to James. Annie broke into an all-out run. James pulled open the back door of the car and settled himself into the back seat. Before he could close the door, she had flung herself over his lap, into the back seat.

”Annie!” he whispered in shock.

Dekka looked back at them. Her lips curled in an unpleasant smile. ”Well, well. Still devoted to your robot lover, I see.”

Feeling somewhat undignified, face down on the seat with her rump sticking up in the air, Annie struggled to right herself. She sat up and glared at Dekka. ”That's right. I am.”

”Get her out,” Dekka said to the man in the driver's seat. Annie recognized the no-nonsense, ruthlessly trimmed hair and the solid, square jaw of the man named Gar. He started to open the door.

”Hold it,” Annie snapped. ”You try to haul me out of here, and I'm going to scream b.l.o.o.d.y murder. There are a lot of people around. You don't want to cause a scene, do you'”

Dekka practically rolled her eyes. ”Be reasonable,” she said. ”You really don't want to go where we're going.”

Annie lifted her chin. ”Wherever you're taking James, you're taking me too.”

”Fine,” Dekka snarled under her breath. ”We'll just take her along.”

”We can't do that,” Gar protested. ”If the baby was in fact Clark Sterling, then this is his adoptive mother. She has to stay here.” Annie realized she had them in an awkward situation. A grim smile twisted her lips. ”If you'll let me and James out,” she said, ”I promise not to make a scene.” Beside her she felt James stiffen. ”Annie,” he objected, ”I thought we agreed--” ”I'm not going to let them kill you, James.” She turned toward Dekka. ”He isn't going to alter the future, Dekka. He had a chance to kill Clark and he didn't. He's no threat to you. Let him go.” ”I'll never let him go,” Dekka hissed. Gar looked uncomfortable. ”Dekka, maybe it would be best if--” ”No!” Dekka's eyes glowed with a furious light. ”I have waited for this moment for a long time. I won't be deprived of it now.” Annie looked into Dekka's wild, angry eyes and shuddered. Kay had been right. Dekka was too far gone into hatred to bargain. But Annie refused to give up now. ”Let him go, Dekka. Let him go and the future won't be changed. But if you don't let him go I swear I will find some way to change everything. I swear it.”

Dekka looked at her with a trapped expression, then she glanced at the man. ”She knows too much,”

she muttered. ”We have to take her along.”

d.a.m.n. That was definitely not the answer she'd been hoping for. Annie lunged for the door, intending to

fling it open and start screaming, but Dekka held up the device she'd hurt James with the day before.

”Behave yourself, Ms. Simpson, or James will suffer for your actions.”

Annie froze.

Dekka cast an impatient look at Gar. ”Well, what are you waiting for' Get moving.”

Gar hesitated for a long moment. Annie had the feeling he didn't agree with this course of action, but evidently Dekka had seniority. Reluctantly, he nodded. The car pulled out into traffic, bearing them toward the suburbs.

Annie shot a glance at James, seeing him staring at her with a hard expression on his face. He looked p.i.s.sed off. ”Surely you didn't really expect me to let you go to your death,” she said.

”It would have been the sensible thing to do.”

”Yeah, well, I've never been noted for being sensible.”

James took her hand, looked down at it, and swallowed hard. ”I only wanted to protect you, Annie.

And now I have failed at that as well.”

”You didn't fail,” Annie said, stung. ”I made that decision on my own. It wasn't your decision to make.

It was mine.”

”I simply do not understand why you would risk your life for mine.”

Despite the serious nature of their predicament, Annie grinned wryly. ”If you really don't understand that, James, then you have a h.e.l.l of a lot to learn about women.”

The car wound out past the suburbs, into the fields that still bordered the city. Gar turned down a narrow road, pulled over to the side, and stopped. ”Get out,” Dekka ordered. ”And don't try anything, or James will suffer for it.”

Obediently, Annie scrambled out of the car, with James following more slowly. They were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, she noticed. There wasn't much point in making a scene here, because there was no one to hear her screaming. She wondered if Dekka had brought them out here, away from prying eyes, to execute them. It was not a cheering thought.