tried not to think about what the last couple of months had been like for him.
“Your little meeting of the minds is over,” the guard said.
Bob tried to smile at him, working up what little energy he had left to charm his way through the exchange. “Might I give Ms. Gerard a proper goodbye? We’ve always been…close.”
“Whatever.” The guard shoved Bob toward her. “Make it quick.”
Despite her own lack of strength, Caroline caught him in her arms, pain searing through her broken ribs. Tears burned her eyes. He was practically a skeleton.
She looked back at the guards, who were giving them a good ten feet of distance and leering. They expected something inappropriate to happen. Bob leaned in to give her a hug, his weak arms wrapped loosely around her shoulders. Then, very casually, as if he was giving her an extra affectionate creepy old man hug, he kissed her cheek and buried his face in her hair. Despite his appearance his voice came out surprisingly strong.
“Keep your mouth shut, Caroline,” he whispered, so softly she could barely make out the words. “They’re going to kill both of us no matter what you do, and they aren’t going to stop trying to break you. Don’t betray the cause and for God’s sake, don’t worry about me. I’m proud of you, sunshine. Have courage. I’ll see you on the other side.”
He pulled away from her and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’ve always wanted to tell you that.”
The guards separated them, slapping their cuffs on before either of them had time to react.
“I’m glad you two could share that moment,” the guard holding Caroline said sarcastically.
Bob lurched forward and patted Caroline’s face with a cuffed hand. “I have confidence you’ll help these gentlemen out, pumpkin. Deep down you’ve always been a true patriot.”
* * * * *
They dumped her in her cell, removing her handcuffs and shoving her inside. How nice of them. The lights in her cell were still on, which was weird. Maybe they’d forgotten about her. They hadn’t bothered cuffing her to her bed, either, but that might be part of their routine now, since they had very rarely done it after that first night. It didn’t matter much. She barely had enough energy to do much more than shuffle around. Fuck them.
And fuck herself, while she was at it. She felt like a fucking idiot. Bob dropped all those hints to her, and she didn’t pick up on any of them. Including the most important one. He may as well have held up a giant flashing red stop sign, and she still didn’t see it.
Caroline’s best friend from Marquette still lived in the Chicago suburbs. Or, she had. Caroline hoped she was in the UK with her extended family by now. But she had dug around, finding an underground group in Chicagoland. She told Caroline that if the rumors were true, it had been started by the spouse of a prominent politician. Who never met up with anyone, never saw anyone in person, just funneled money and other resources to the members who needed it. People who needed financial help because they lost their jobs. People trying to cross the border or get to Europe. People trying to infiltrate the federal government’s offices in Chicago.
It had been Adeline. Caroline was sure of it. Not because Caroline didn’t have faith in the other husbands and wives of the rest of the members of Congress from Illinois, but because of what she knew about Bob and Addie.
Had they come for Adeline like they’d come for her? Had they brought both she and her husband to this facility for the same purpose? To torture, to mindfuck, to kill? Caroline doubted she’d ever know for sure. And what had they done to Bob?
Not that it made any difference; he was lost without Addie. He was done. Caroline could tell by the look in his eyes. Thank God she hadn’t told him anything. She felt incredibly stupid. He had been warning her the entire time but she’d been too dehydrated and malnourished to notice.
It was too late now. She knew she’d never see him again. So she had to focus her energy on something else. The cell. She finally had a good opportunity to look around. To find potential weaknesses. To plot. Not that there was any way out of here; the guards were everywhere. But maybe they’d missed something.
And just what would she do if she found a way out?