Nick approached the exit. "I'll go first."

Melissa nodded with her lips pressed firmly together.

He got out the Glock and pushed the door open. Keeping his right shoulder against the door, he crouched down and peeked around the edge of the door. "It's clear. "Go!"

Nick bolted. Melissa was right next to him."Straight?" she asked.

"Yes, to that group of trees over there."

They dashed to the clump of poplars, hunkering down behind them. Nick asked, "See that small building over there?"

Melissa followed the direction he pointed. "Yeah."

"Aim for that. Then send that video out as soon as you can. It might be the only thing that keeps me out of jail."

"And gets Sidney out of CIRAS."

"Yes." Nick wondered if Mel thought he was being selfish, but the reality was that he had shot one man and killed another. If there wasn't good evidence that showed why he'd done those things, he would be serving jail time and a lot of it. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

They dashed to the building. It was some sort of storage unit, by the look of it. They sat with their backs against the wall, parallel to CIRAS. Melissa was breathing heavily. Nick pulled the video camera from his pocket. "You ready to do your thing?" Being younger, she knew how to do this crap better than he did.

Melissa nodded, attaching a cord from the camera to the phone. She started to type. Nick got up and looked around the corner of the building to see if anyone was coming. After a couple minutes, Melissa called out, "It's sent."

"You got all of them? The national ones, too?"

"Yes, all of them. And every social media site, I could think of." Her face was tight. Nick knew why. She didn't have Sidney back yet. The only thing that mattered to her.

"Let's get out of here."

"Please tell me it will work."

He picked up her hand and clasped it between both of his. "Yes. Yes, it will." He felt one of her tears drop onto the flesh of his thumb. "We need to leave here, Mel. Now. You still trust me?"

"Yes." She rose up. 

Her voice sounded tired, although she was trying not to show it. She had been through too much tonight. He needed to get her some rest, but home wouldn't be safe. Nowhere might be safe. But a hotel would be better. He had thrown a couple of Sam's IDs in the bag. A wave of sadness flashed through Nick as he thought of Sam, but he parried it aside. He had to concentrate.

His thoughts obediently lined up in a row: a small hotel would be better, and they should get there as soon as possible. Close to CIRAS was fine; no one would suspect that. There were a lot of surveillance cameras in D.C., so they shouldn't get on the Metro again. They would be spotted too quickly. Walking was best.

He asked, "Can you find us a small inn near here?"

She brought her phone out of her coat. "I think so." She started moving her finger around on the screen. "Nothing is that close." She toggled around some more with her fingertip. "Everything is across the river. There's a C Street Inn about two miles away that has a vacancy. But do you want to walk across the bridge?" She looked at him to decide.

Nick had limited choices, and he didn't like it. Still, a decision had to be made. "Let's call a cab."

"That's best?"

"How the hell do I know?" He knew Melissa could sense his indecision. "But we can't stay here. I do know that."

Melissa grabbed his hand. Nick interpreted it as a vote of confidence.

Melissa's phone vibrated. She looked at Nick. "Should I answer it?"

"See who it is first."

She looked down at the screen and bit her lower lip. "It's Victoria."

Nick's expression softened. "She's probably worried about you. You should let her know you're okay."

"Hey, Vic," Melissa said. She paused. "No, we're fine. Nick is taking care of me." She offered him a faint smile. "Sidney? No, we have to leave him there for now. Nick says it might not be safe for him to leave yet." Another slight smile. "Thank you. Nick will watch out for us. I'll try to call you tomorrow. Love you." 

She looked back up at Nick. "I should probably call that cab now."

~~~

"You need to get some sleep," Nick said gently as Melissa paced back and forth in their room at the C Street Inn. They'd had no trouble getting to the motel and checking in, but the danger was far from over. He knew her endorphins and concerns about Sidney were keeping her awake.

She plopped down into a chair. "I know I should be exhausted, but I feel so wired."

He poured a glass of water and fished a couple Xanax out of his wallet, handing them to her.

"I can't take those. I'm too worried."

"Mel, you have to. If you're deliriously tired, you won't be able to be there for Sidney when he needs you."

"Fine." She downed them. In five minutes, she was out.

~~~

Sunlight made a long, bright line between the heavy drapes. Nick must not have pulled them completely closed the night before. A slim rectangle of morning draped over him and Melissa as they lay in bed. She rolled over and pressed her body close to his, laying a hand across his abdomen. She wasn't quite awake but would be soon.

Nick waited, alert for several minutes before he slipped out from beneath Melissa's embrace. She groaned and turned over but didn't wake. He walked over to a chair where her coat hung, taking her phone from the inside pocket and going into the bathroom. 

He entered CIRAS into the search engine. The results populated, and they were all about the Tabula Rasa scandal. He felt his shoulders sag in relief. Thank God. It had worked. He had good news to tell Melissa when she woke. He read the story quickly, noting the most important details.

"Nick?" 

"I'll be there in a second, honey." He shut off her phone and met her in bed.

"Is it over?"

"Yes. Authorities have already evacuated everyone from CIRAS."

Veins popped out on her temples. "The Tabula Rasa group, too?"

"Yes."

Melissa reeled out of bed so swiftly that Nick was worried she might faint. "We have to go to him!" 

"He's been taken to a local hospital along with the others. A group of social workers and psychiatrists has volunteered to help figure out the safest way to integrate them into the real world."

"We have to find out where Sidney was taken. I need to see him."

"Not yet. They're keeping him in isolation like everyone else. They pulled all their records from Sunshine and are going to start contacting relatives."

Melissa fell back on the bed. "What the hell does that mean?"

Nick sat beside her. "You have to have faith, Melissa."

"In what? In who?" Her face looked empty, blank.

"In your love for him."