Explosive Force

by Lynette Eason

  “Of course.”

  He took her hand and led her out of the building. She took a deep breath and looked around. “It’s nice not to be looking over my shoulder and wondering if someone’s going to try and kill me.”

  A low laugh escaped him. “I’m sure.” Then he frowned. “But Sullivan is still on the loose. And if Gentry is to be believed, Sullivan had him blow up the center as a distraction, which means Sullivan still has plans. Evil plans, no doubt.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  “We do what we can to find out who’s stealing the medals.” He looked away, then back at her. “Heidi, I—I apologize.”

  “To who? For what?”

  “To you. For jumping down your throat about the article.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t have to apologize for that. Your reaction was completely understandable.”

  “No. I knew better. Deep down, I really didn’t think you’d do that, but when I couldn’t find a better explanation...”

  Heidi squeezed his hand. “Really, Nick. It’s okay.”

  “Let me make it up to you.”

  “Hmm. Okay. How?”

  “You feel like Mexican tonight?”

  “That sounds good.”

  “So, I’ll pick you up at six?”

  She smiled. “How about we just meet at the front door?”

  He laughed. “That works.”

  His phone rang, and he raised it to his ear. After a moment a dark look spread across his face. “I understand,” he said into the phone. “Thanks.” He hung up.

  Dread curled through her. “What is it?”

  “Lance Gentry just escaped custody.”

  “What? How?”

  “He attacked one of the MPs escorting him, got his weapon and took off on foot. They chased him and lost him in the woods. They’re bringing the dogs out, but if he manages to get off base, he’s as good as gone.”

  “He lives on base. He knows how to come and go without detection.”

  “Yeah. Which means we’re back to looking over your shoulder.”

  THIRTEEN

  Nick tugged at his collar and studied himself in the mirror. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was. They’d decided to go ahead with dinner—and keep looking over their shoulders.

  Gramps appeared in the bedroom doorway. “You look good, boy.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So why do you keep fidgeting with that collar?”

  Nick dropped his hands. “Because I don’t know what else to do with myself.”

  “She’s come to mean a lot to you in a short time.”

  “She has. It scares me.”

  “Because she’s a reporter?”

  “Partly. I’m having second thoughts about this. I keep second-guessing myself. And her.”

  “It’s your nature.”

  He huffed a short laugh. “I come by it honestly. When that story came out in the paper, I can’t tell you how betrayed I felt. That feeling was not a good one and it never once occurred to me that she didn’t write it.”

  “I can see why you’re struggling, but you just have to talk through those times. But there has to be trust. If you can’t trust her, you can’t build a life with her.”

  “I know, Gramps.”

  “I know you do.” He paused. “Your mother would like her.”

  A lump started to grow in the back of his throat and Nick cleared it away. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “I think so, too. That’s part of the struggle. I want to marry a girl Mom would approve of.”

  “I know, son. But truly, you can’t go wrong with a girl who likes Mexican food.”

  Nick laughed, appreciating his grandfather’s attempt to lighten the moment. “Maybe not.”

  His grandfather’s expression sobered and his eyes narrowed. “She has a kind heart, Nick. Be gentle with it. But don’t date her if you don’t think you can work through the angst you still have about her.”

  Nick shook his head. “I think I’ll talk to her, see what she’s thinking. See if I learn anything new. I don’t want to get hurt, but I don’t want to hurt her, either. Maybe spending some time alone will help.”

  “Aw, you’ll be all right. Now, let me get this for you.” Gramps reached up and adjusted the collar, then patted Nick on the shoulder. “You look great, kid. She won’t know what hit her.”

  Together, they walked out of the bedroom and into the foyer.

  Heidi was pulling her coat off the rack. Nick stopped dead in his tracks when she turned and smiled. He gulped, wondering what happened to all the oxygen in the room.

  His grandfather slapped him on the back. “I may have been wrong in my assessment.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I think it’s you who doesn’t know what hit him.” He hugged a startled Heidi. “Go easy on him, honey. He’s out of practice with this dating stuff.”

  “Gramps!”

  The old man laughed and strode into the den to turn the television on.

  Nick blinked at her. “You look amazing.”

  “Thanks. So do you.”

  “So...uh...are you ready to go?”

  “Whenever you are.”

  He helped her on with her coat and opened the door. Her light vanilla-scented fragrance followed her outside and he breathed deeply—only to stop when he came face-to-face with Justin Blackwood. Nick saluted, as did Heidi. “Sir?” Nick asked.

  “Sorry to interrupt your evening, but we just got word that Bobby Stevens was attacked in the hospital.”

  Heidi gasped. “Oh, no! Is he all right?”

  “He’s wounded and under sedation right now, as well as heavy guard, but the doctor says he should be able to talk first thing in the morning. He’s not to have visitors until then.” He paused, his gaze on Heidi. “Because I want you there, I’m going to read you in on something that I need to stay out of the papers.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “OSI Agent Steffen has been digging into Stevens’s background, financial records, et cetera. At first, he couldn’t find anything that set off any alarm bells.”

  “At first?” Heidi asked.

  “As they kept digging, they expanded their search and found some interesting deposits into his mother’s savings account. His name isn’t on the account so it took some convincing to get a warrant for his mother’s banking. Which is why it’s taken this long to get back to you on Stevens.”

  “His mother has MS,” Heidi said. “She’s in a wheelchair.” She cleared her throat. “I guess that has nothing to do with what you’re saying. Sorry.”

  “It has everything to do with it. He told you about her?”

  “He did.”

  Justin nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You saved his life and you have a rapport with him. I’m guessing he’s being paid to keep his mouth shut about something and I want to know what. Between the two of you, I want you to drag every scrap of information you can out of him. He knows something and it’s time we knew it, too.”

  “Yes, sir,” Heidi said. “I’m happy to talk to him. I’m glad he’s going to be okay.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Captain?” Nick asked.

  “Yes?”

  “Why didn’t you just call?”

  “I did. You didn’t answer your phone.”

  Nick sighed and pulled it from the clip. “Sorry, sir. I’d turned it off during a meeting. It’s back on ring now. If you need anything else, I’ll hear it.”

  Justin nodded, climbed into his vehicle and left.

  “Poor Bobby,” Heidi said. “I have a feeling he was up to no good at the training center the night it exploded, but he doesn’t deserve this.”

  “I’m not sure I have quite as much sympathy.” Nick took her hand. “Let’s grab
dinner and then get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a long one.”

  * * *

  By eight thirty in the morning, the hospital was a beehive of activity. And so was Heidi’s brain. Determined to get some answers, she led the way to Bobby’s room even while her mind relived the dinner from the night before. It had been nice—and weird. Nick had seemed a bit distant, as though he wanted to be there, but wasn’t sure if he should be. She chalked it up to distraction due to the news about Bobby and the fact that Gentry had escaped. But they’d kept the conversation light, touching on a variety of topics before finally landing on the case of the stolen medals.

  “Why do you think the thief’s doing it?” Nick had asked. “They can’t be worth that much.”

  “Some aren’t, but there are a few that are. I think this guy doesn’t know who has the ones worth money so he’s having to break into every home and just grab the ones he can—along with any jewelry and cash he can find—and get out.”

  “I suppose.”

  “A lot of these families are multigenerational military. Some World War II medals are going for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

  “That’s crazy. It’s not the piece of metal that should be worth anything, but the heroism behind them.”

  “I agree. Unfortunately, our thief doesn’t.”

  “And he might be able to pass one or two off as worth more than they are. There’s no telling.”

  “Right.”

  Now Heidi stood in front of the door that would lead her to the man who could possibly help them figure out who the thief was. And she wasn’t leaving until he told them.

  The security officer at the door stood and eyed them until Nick flashed his badge. He nodded and returned to his chair, his posture alert, eyes moving over each person in the hall. Heidi was glad to see him taking his responsibilities seriously.

  “Hi there, may I help you?”

  Heidi and Nick turned. A nurse in her early forties stood next to a cart with an open laptop.

  “We’re here to see Bobby Stevens,” Nick said.

  “I’m sorry, he’s still pretty weak. I just came out of his room. The doctor upped his pain medication and he dropped back off to sleep. You might want to give him a few hours or come back after lunch.”

  Heidi frowned. “We were told he’d be able to talk this morning.”

  “Well, that person was wrong. Sorry.”

  Heidi sighed and exchanged a shrug with Nick. “All right, thanks. Guess we’ll come back later. If I give you my number, will you let me know when he can talk?”

  “Sure.” Heidi gave it to her and the nurse moved to the next room.

  Nick blew out a low breath. “Great.”

  “I have my laptop with me,” Heidi said. “I guess I could head down to the cafeteria and get some work done on a couple of articles.”

  “We have a team meeting at eleven that I could make. Justin excused me from it so we could be here, but if we’re not going to be able to talk to Stevens until after lunch, then I guess I’ll head over there.”

  “All right. Go get caught up and come back and fill me in.”

  He quirked a smile. “A lot of it will be classified, sorry.”

  “I understand. I’ll take whatever information you can give me and try to be happy with that. I’ll let you know you when the nurse calls.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  * * *

  Nick arrived at the meeting ten minutes early. He slipped into the room and took a seat near the door, hoping Heidi would be safe while working in the hospital. If her attacker was smart, he’d be long gone by now, but the fact that Sullivan still owed him money meant he might still be hanging around. And that worried him. Only the fact that the hospital had security would allow him to focus his full attention on the forthcoming discussion.

  Justin entered the conference room and set his briefcase on the table. “Nick, I’m surprised to see you here. Weren’t you going to speak with Bobby Stevens?”

  “Yes.” Nick explained and Justin nodded.

  “All right, you can head back over that way after the meeting.”

  Gretchen and Vanessa entered and took their seats at the table. Once everyone was accounted for, Justin opened by bringing everyone up to speed on the arrest and escape of Lance Gentry. “We managed to ask him some questions before he escaped. Not that I’m happy he’s still out there, but I think he’s given us everything he knows about Sullivan. There’s no security footage at his home, so we’re just going to have to believe that Sullivan showed up there. I believe it happened the way he described it.” He looked at Vanessa. “Why don’t you give us an update on Yvette Crenville?”

  Vanessa shook her head. “We’ve been watching. Tag-teaming it, so to speak. So far, there’s nothing. She’s gone to work, shopped for ridiculously priced health foods at the base market and spent any spare time doing yoga at the base gym. If she’s an accomplice, we can’t find any evidence of it.”

  Gretchen nodded her agreement.

  “All right. I’m not ready to give up on her just yet. Keep up what you’re doing and give us another report at the next meeting.”

  “Yes, sir.” Gretchen nodded.

  Vanessa also agreed.

  “Let’s move on to our next steps in finding Boyd Sullivan.”

  For the next two hours, they went over the case files, reviewing notes, interviews, and making more plans to track the man down.

  Nick’s phone rang just as they were wrapping things up and he motioned to Justin that he needed to take the call.

  In the hall, he swiped the screen. “Hey, Heidi, everything okay?”

  “That’s sad.”

  “What?”

  “The first question out of your mouth is asking if everything’s okay.”

  He gave a low laugh. “Sorry, I guess it’s become a habit at this point.”

  “I guess.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “The nurse just called me and said we should be able to talk to him in the next few minutes. I’m going to head to his room.”

  “Perfect, I’m headed that way.”

  * * *

  Heidi tossed the remains of her snack into the trash and headed for the elevator. Once on the floor, she went straight to Bobby’s room and showed her ID to the officer on duty.

  “You might want to wait a minute before going in,” the officer said. “The doctor’s in there.”

  “What? The nurse just called and told me to come on up.”

  “Oh, well, he’ll probably be done in a few minutes.”

  “I’ll just stick my head in and let him know I’m here.”

  With a frown, she shoved open the door. To find a man in a white lab coat standing over Bobby Stevens, holding a pillow over his face.

  She screamed and launched herself at the man, slamming into him. Heidi went to the floor while he stumbled back into the IV pole, cursed and landed beside her. Then he was on his feet. Heidi tried to get up, but at the last second, saw the hard fist swing at her. She rolled and his knuckles grazed her jaw. A flash of pain shot through her face and she lost her balance, falling to the floor once more. She landed on her backside with a grunt.

  The door swung open and the officer ran in. “What’s going—”

  The attacker slammed a fist into the officer’s face. His head snapped back and he crumpled to the floor. As the officer rolled, the man jerked the door open and bolted into the hall.

  “Bobby?” Heidi gasped. Once again, she surged to her feet, ignoring the throbbing in her jaw. She hurried to Bobby’s side. When she got a good look at him, she flinched at the sight of his new wounds. He had a puffy right cheek and a bruised eye. She went to him and grasped his hand. “Are you all right?”

  Bobby nodded, breathing hard. “Y
es. I’d just dozed off when I felt the pillow over my face. But yes, I’m okay.”

  Hospital personnel swarmed the room. A nurse was kneeling next to the fallen officer. She looked up. “We’ve alerted security.”

  Nick stepped inside. “Heidi? What’s going on?”

  It didn’t take long to fill him in. He touched her chin and she pulled back with a wince. “That’s gotta hurt,” he said.

  “Yes, but, thankfully, it was just a glancing blow. I’ll have a bruise, but nothing’s broken.”

  “Did you see who it was?”

  “No, not really. He was dressed like a doctor in a white coat but had on a baseball cap and sunglasses when he turned around. And before you ask, it could have been Lance Gentry, but I can’t say for certain.”

  Once the officer was removed to receive more care and the doctor had checked out Bobby, he nodded to them. “You can have ten minutes. Then I want him resting again.”

  “Yes, sir,” Nick said. The doctor left and Nick placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let me talk to him first, okay?”

  “But the captain said...”

  “I know what he said. Just go with me on this, will you? For now?”

  She huffed and eyed him. He was up to something. “Fine. For now.”

  “Thanks.” Nick opened the door and she followed him inside. Nick stepped up to the man’s bed. “Bobby, who did this to you?”

  “I—I don’t know. It’s all a little foggy.”

  “Maybe the attack is foggy, but I doubt the name of your attacker is,” Nick said. “Who was it? Was it Lance Gentry?”

  He flinched and then his expression shut down.

  “Come on,” Heidi said. “Without naming who it was, what happened with the previous attack? We know what happened this time.” She rubbed a hand across her still-throbbing jaw.

  “The previous attack?”

  “Yes. When you got the bruises to your eye and cheek.”

  “I was asleep,” Bobby said, his eyes locking on Heidi’s. “When I woke up, I couldn’t breathe. Someone was holding a pillow over my face—just like this time. I started flailing, trying to grab something, anything, to make him let go. My hand landed on my mug of ice and I managed to crack him in the head with it. He let go long enough for me to push the pillow off. Then he punched me. A nurse heard the commotion and ran in. The other guy bolted out and down the hall. This time was like an instant replay.”