She nodded and turned to Dan. "That should be possible, right?"
"I think we can manage to get the okay, but we can't promise more than a few days. The lieutenant won't approve more than that. Budget crunch and all."
Jim understood budgets only too well. He jabbed a finger in Mark's direction. "Keep your phone handy. If you see anything, hear anything, or hell, have one of your dreams, give us a call. Got it?”
"Got it. I'm just going to head upstairs and relax. I'll be fine. I doubt even Kern would try anything with all the witnesses around."
Jim decided he'd come by in the morning to check in on Mark. He didn't quite trust the phone arrangement any more.
Jessica sighed. "I'm not comfortable with you staying alone. I can stop by in the morning and check in with you. You might need help with your bandages."
"Lily, do you have the keys for the new locks? I'd like to give one to Jessie so she can come up in the morning." Mark kept his gaze locked on Jessica as he spoke and Jim had a feeling that Jessica had nothing to worry about when it came to Lily.
Jim shook off the surge of pleasure that revelation gave him. He didn't have time to entertain thoughts of romance. Besides, while Lily was cute, she was ten years younger than him, and he'd only met her a few times before the night of Mark's abduction.
Lily rummaged in her desk and pulled out a key ring. "Here you go. I got three sets. I wasn't sure how many you'd need. The locksmith assured me the place is more secure than Fort Knox now."
"That's great, Lil. Thanks." He took a set and handed it to Jessica, his eyes more alive than Jim had seen in a long time.
Jim changed his mind about checking in. He had a feeling Jessica would get a much better reception. He hid a smile as she flushed and nodded.
Lily laughed, obviously not the least upset that Jessica would have the nursing duties. "Great! It's settled then."
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The minute Jessie, Dan and Jim left, Mark took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The adrenaline rush from the day's events had completely dissipated, and now he felt drained.
Lily locked the door after the trio had left and closed all the blinds. Mark turned towards the door at the back of the office that led up to his loft. Something smelled great and his mouth watered. After bland hospital food, he was ready for something good. “Did you cook something, Lily?”
She grinned and caught up to him. “Yeah. Kind of a welcome home lunch. It’s nothing fancy, just my sloppy joes and hash browns. I turned it off when I came downstairs when I heard the commotion outside. I just hope it's not too cold by now."
It was the perfect choice. He loved how she made them. The sauce was a blend of sweet and tangy and went great with salty hash browns. “That was really nice of you. Thanks. I can’t wait.”
"Good, because it's been ready for over an hour. I didn't know about the press conference until I saw it on the news at noon."
"Yeah. It was sprung on me last minute. It wasn't my idea."
"I didn't think it was, but you did great."
"Liar." He expected her to laugh, and when she was silent, he looked at her. "What's wrong?"
She stopped and rubbed her eyes.
Confused, Mark stepped in front of her and lifted her chin with one finger. "Lil? What is it?"
"I'm just angry at what is happening to you. It's not fair."
Mark smiled and pulled her into a one-armed hug. "Aren't you the one who's always saying God has a plan?"
Her shoulders shook as she chuckled against him. Pulling back, she wiped her eyes. "Yes, you're right. And I believe it. That doesn't mean I don't think that sometimes God's plans royally suck."
He laughed. "Come on. Let's go eat lunch."
Hobbling a bit, Mark made his way towards the steps, not relishing the thought of climbing them, but he found that going slowly helped and it wasn’t bad. Entering, he felt a wave of both relief and dread wash over him. He was relieved to be home. There was no doubt about that, but this was where the cult had first attacked him, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel completely secure here again.
Lily turned to him when he stopped just inside the door. "Mark? Are you okay?"
“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little creeped out.” He tried to laugh, but it died in his throat. To forget about his fears, he looked around, noticing that the loft was immaculate. A lot cleaner even than it had been before the attack. He had to smile at that. He wasn’t a slob, but when things got crazy with the camera, housekeeping chores fell by the wayside. “The place looks fantastic.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I only organized the clean-up crew. Jessie helped and got her sister to pitch in as well. Did you know you had something green and fuzzy growing in your fruit bin in the fridge?"
Mark laughed. “No, I did not know that-not sure I wanted to either.” He plopped down on the sofa with a sigh. “Sit down, Lily. We haven’t had much chance to talk lately.”
Lily settled in her usual chair. “We haven’t, have we?”
Mark sagged against the back of the sofa; his arms limp. Closing his eyes, he relaxed for a few moments then the smell of his lunch made his stomach growl and he stood and followed his nose to the stove. The pan was still hot.
"I can get that, Mark."
"No, I'm good. You stay there. I'm tired of being waited on. I'm not entirely crippled."
Lily had already set out a couple of plates, so he just ladled the mixture onto the buns and saw that the hash browns were staying warm in the oven. In a few minutes he had plates ready. He pushed them to the side of the breakfast bar closest to Lily and called her to eat. He turned back and grabbed them each a can of pop out of his newly-stocked fridge.
“Who do I owe for all the food?”
Lily took a bite then wiped her mouth on a napkin. “It came from the petty cash.”
Mark grinned. "I had a feeling."
They ate in silence, and he thought about the night of his abduction. He couldn’t help it. There were so many unanswered questions. “Hey, Lily, how did anyone find me that night? If you told me already, I don’t remember.”
Lily set her fork down. “No, I didn’t get a chance to tell you. You had so much going on at the hospital, with nurses coming in and out so often, the moment was never right.” She paused, dabbed her mouth with a paper napkin, and said, “Jim had a dream. In his dream, he saw what was happening to you. He tried to ignore it, but when you didn't answer your phone, he came here in the middle of the night."
Mark almost choked on his hash browns. He grabbed his drink and gulped down a large mouthful. “Jim had a dream? Like what I have?”
"Sort of, but it wasn't a future dream. It was in real time, as close as we can figure. We didn't know that then. We hoped we'd get to you before what he saw, and what was in the pictures, could actually occur."
"Pictures?"
Lily nodded. "Yes. From your camera."
A dozen questions flew to the tip of his tongue, but he bit them back to allow Lily to finish. "So, then what happened?"
"Well, as soon as Jim got here, he realized something had happened. The place was a mess. The door was wide open, and he called Jessie. It was the middle of the night, of course, but she came right over. After calling the police, they found the camera, and I developed the film at Gary's camera shop. The pictures led us to the warehouse.”
"If I had developed my film that night…" The implications hit him. If only he had followed his usual routine.
Lily's eyes welled. "Yes. That thought has plagued me since I developed the film and we saw the pictures of you." She picked at her meal, her head bent. A tear splashed onto the countertop.