“What… what are they?”
“Nothing you will be able to taste or feel,” he said. “These are the antidote to something you have already taken. During your time in that house, nanites were introduced into your system via your food and drink. The purpose of these nanites is to allow the Order to track you via GPS, just as they would if you were carrying a tracker dot. That is why they made no special effort to track you while you were in England — they did not have to. They will be able to track you now, unless you swallow this. More nanites, I’m afraid, but these will jam the GPS signal.”
Nina looked at the little vial, trying to picture the tiny machines swarming within it. It could have been colored soda, for all she knew. Nevertheless, she opened one and swallowed its contents.
“Good,” said Purdue, taking the empty vial from her. “Give the other one to Sam as soon as you can, and stay safe. I shall tell Sam and Alexandr that you are safe to be moved.” He turned away, opening the car door.
“Wait!” Nina reached out to stop him, but her seatbelt locked into place and winded her. He turned back to face her and waited for her to catch her breath. “Purdue… thank you.”
“What for?” He seemed genuinely confused.
“For this. For helping me even though… you know. Even though things didn’t work out.” She felt the pink flush beginning to creep across her neck and face.
To her surprise, Purdue laughed softly. He took her hand and kissed it. “Oh, Nina. To think that anyone could be so highly intelligent and at the same time so… dense. You think that this is me accepting defeat? Think again. This is me giving you time. You’ll love me yet, Nina. I am certain of it. And there is no sense of challenge in triumphing over a dead man. When you are ready to leave his bed and return to mine, you will know where to find me. I shall make sure of it.” He leaned in and kissed her. The touch of his lips was light but definite. Then he was gone.
‘Damn you, Purdue,’ she thought, as she sat waiting to be helped out of the car. ‘First you save me and make me feel I should be grateful to you, then you tell me it’s just another manipulation and make me want to hate you. My head is not clear enough for this.’ Slowly, stiffly, she managed to unbuckle the seatbelt and get the door open just in time to see Alexandr and Sam approaching.
Nothing was broken or sprained. Nina had definitely hit her head, but as the fog of confusion began to clear she was certain that she was fine. The two men helped her to get steady on her feet. The car was in a worse state. The tree they had hit was an old, solid oak and the bonnet was completely crumpled.
“The other car spun out too,” said Sam, “but it’s intact. It’s a little way over there. The driver wasn’t so lucky, poor sod. It doesn’t look like he was belted in. He got thrown about pretty badly. He was dead by the time we got to him.”
“Still, one must be positive,” Alexandr said. “At least there is one working vehicle that we can take.”
Sam nodded in agreement. “We should get on our way, just in case there are any more of them after us.” They set off through the trees towards the place where the SUV had thundered to a halt.
“Err… this is where it was, isn’t it?” Sam asked, feeling utterly stupid. He was certain that they were in the right place, but there was no car.
“It is,” said Alexandr. He pointed to the tire marks in the dirt and the battered foliage, then to the corpse of the SUV’s driver which they had partly concealed beneath leaves and grass. “It would appear that the SUV has succeeded in departing without its driver.”
“Where’s Purdue? And… where’s Renata?” Nina asked, and even as she spoke the words she felt her stomach drop and knew that Purdue must have taken the car. They began to search, calling Purdue’s name and hunting through the undergrowth for any sign of him, but there was none. Just tire tracks, a missing car and Nina’s creeping realization that his words to her in the car had been a goodbye that she was just too groggy to recognize.
“Well,” Sam said, once they had made certain that Purdue was nowhere to be found, “I suppose that finally answers the question of where his loyalties lie once and for all. Looks like he’s decided to take Renata back to Bruges and throw his lot in with the Black Sun once and for all.”
“So it would seem,” Alexandr nodded. “Are you two planning to do the same? Or will you join me in Russia and fight against them?”
Nina slipped her hand into Sam’s. “We’ll fight,” she said.
“I think we have to now,” Sam agreed. “There’s got to be a way to bring the Order down. Now… which way to Russia?”