Deadly Force

by Misty Evans

  His mouth moved again and his eyelids fluttered. Then they closed and he went back to breathing like he was asleep.

  She shook him gently and said his name several times. This is wrong. So wrong. She should walk out and leave the man alone.

  Ready to give up, she stared at the bars of sunshine falling on the senator’s blanketed legs. How was she going to clear Cal’s name now? Without Halston’s admission or further proof that Cal wasn’t to blame for the failure of Warfighter, she had nothing. She wasn’t any closer to stopping Rory Tephra from killing her or figuring out the web of deceit and betrayal going on between all the players in those damn clusters of circles Emit had shown her.

  “Agent…Mmm…”

  Bianca’s head snapped up. Halston’s eyes were open and he was looking at her. His fingers rose and he tried to remove the plastic oxygen tubing from his nose.

  “You need to leave that in place,” she said, pulling his hand away. She drew the mask over her mouth down so he could see her face. “I’m sorry to bother you at a time like this, but someone is trying to kill both of us and I’m trying to stop them. I believe it has to do with Operation Warfighter. Do you remember what happened with that operation?”

  He closed his eyes again and Bianca thought she’d lost him. The oxygen tank droned and the IV dripped, and she hated herself all over again.

  He leaked info, Bianca. Information that got men killed. Wake him up and get him to talk. “Senator Halston, I don’t have much time. If you know anything about Warfighter or why someone wants us both dead, please talk to me.”

  The senator’s mouth moved, his lips puckering as he strained to say something. “J-j-j-he-wa-wants…”

  J? “Jonathan? My boss?”

  Before Halston responded, the door blew open and a heavyset gal in a floral uniform blew in. She already wore gloves and a mask. “How’s our patient?”

  Bianca quickly slipped her phone into her pocket and put up her face mask. “He’s coming around a little.”

  “Great.” The woman hustled over to the bed and started sorting out the drip line and monitor cords. Her badge had a blue CNA label below her name, Katy Smirtelny. “Radiology is ready for him.”

  “Radiology?”

  “Ultrasound. Doc wants to check out his liver and kidneys.”

  “Oh, right.” Halston was once again still. Bianca hesitated, not wanting to leave. “Do you need help moving him?”

  The gal tapped a lever under the bed with her foot. “I never turn down help.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  The CNA gave her an odd look as she disconnected the oxygen line. “Release the break at the end of the bed?”

  Brake. Right. Bianca found the lever in question and punched it with her foot. Grabbing the handles on her end, she guided the bed toward the door as the CNA pushed from her end and brought the IV pole along.

  Bianca blocked the door open and wheeled the senator into the hallway. The security detail and the rest of the entourage came to attention. Before anyone asked, she announced, “Senator Halston is moving to the X-ray department for an ultrasound.”

  As the CNA wiggled the head of the bed through the door, one of the suits asked, “How long will that take?”

  The woman locked eyes with Bianca for a second as if expecting her to answer. She had no idea. She’d had one ultrasound, with the second baby, but that was different, wasn’t it? Hers had taken ten minutes. How long would one of the liver and kidneys take?

  Like she’d told Cal, she knew how to bluff. This was a hospital after all. They ran on their own clock. “Half an hour, give or take, depending on what the doctor is looking for and what they find.”

  The CNA didn’t contradict her and no one else did either.

  Bianca drew a deep breath and smiled under her mask.

  Two of the nurses were at the nurse’s station desk, talking and laughing about something that had happened on The Bachelor last night. Bianca covertly glanced over her shoulder toward the waiting room, hoping to catch Cal’s eye as she and Katy wheeled Halston by.

  She caught it. He stood with a soda in one hand, leaning against the doorframe, pretending not to notice her even as he made brief eye contact and a muscle stood at attention in his jaw.

  His posture was casual, yet as always, he radiated heat and danger, like a puma ready to pounce. She knew what was going through his mind. Abort, abort, abort.

  No way. Halston had something to tell her and she was sticking with him until she found out what it was.

  J… He hadn’t gotten the whole thing out, but that’s what it had sounded like. Her boss’s name.

  The elevator dinged and Bianca worked with the CNA to wheel the bed onto it. Jonathan had been high on her suspect list of who was having her followed, but would he send an assassin after her? The man who had trusted her with some of America’s most dangerous secrets? The man who had trained her and believed in her analysis of any given situation more than he trusted the most sophisticated computers the NSA owned?

  As the elevator doors began to close, Bianca saw Cal coming for her, his eyes now saying, Where the hell are you going?

  She gave him a small no-no-no shake of her head. He needed to let her see this through.

  Cal, being Cal, however, wasn’t about to let her out of his sight for long. He’d almost reached the elevator when the big, black security guard from outside Halston’s room stopped him and slipped his hand in between the closing doors. The doors slid open again. “Sorry, sir, this elevator is full.” He slipped inside, working his way around the head of Halston’s bed. “You’ll have to wait for the next one.”

  Cal’s eyes were hard as he met Bianca’s. Clearly, he still wanted her to abort.

  She reached up and tapped the end of her nose. A signal they’d used as kids when she wanted him to know she was all right.

  As the doors once more closed, shutting her off from Cal, Bianca prayed she really was all right.

  The ultrasound would definitely take half an hour if not more, according to the tech Bianca and the CNA left Senator Halston with. The security guard went into the room with him and there was nothing Bianca could do but wait.

  The CNA bustled off and Bianca loitered in the hall. Her phone had vibrated once with a text from Cal on the way down, but since entering the basement of the medical center, she had no service. She needed to go up a floor and text him back before he blew a nut, but the waiting room near the radiology unit was full and there were dozens of hospital staff, patients, and visitors walking the maze of halls. Trying to avoid the security cameras and get back to the elevators was a trial.

  Plus, she had to pee. Like, now. All this undercover stuff was giving her hives and causing her nervous bladder to go into overdrive.

  She was hustling down a hallway, looking for a restroom, when she thought she heard someone behind her say her name. She stopped and did a quick check over her shoulder, and a man in scrubs nearly ran into her. Two women in street clothes went around them, a constant stream of chatter running between them.

  “Sorry,” Bianca said, starting to follow the women. They were probably heading to the restroom too.

  The man grabbed her arm and held her in place. “No problem.” His voice was light and cheerful. The women continued on. “In fact, I was just looking for you.”

  Goose bumps ran down her arms as she realized who it was. Jerking her arm back, she nearly lost her balance. “What are you doing here?”

  Rory Tephra cocked his head. “Exactly what I was going to ask you, Agent Marx.”

  Before she could protest, he pulled her into a nearby supply closet and shut the door.

  The assassin looked like an entirely different man in hospital scrubs rather than the get-up he’d worn at the beach house. His face was clean-shaven, his hair neat and trim. Posing as a doctor suited him…if not for the fact his creed involved taking lives rather than saving them. “I’ve been looking all over for you but never thought you’d turn up he
re.”

  “And why are you here? Come to finish what you started?”

  He leaned his back against the door, blocking her only way out. “I told you, I’m not trying to kill you.”

  “I was talking about the senator. Why did you poison him?”

  He glared. “I would never hurt Patrick. I’m closer to him than my own father.”

  Tephra was no doubt a skilled liar, but something about his demeanor and the tone of his voice made her believe him. “Did you go MIA for him?”

  His eye twitched. It was subtle, but told Bianca she’d hit the mark. “Why do you think someone poisoned him?”

  “Everyone tied to Operation Warfighter seems to have a target on their backs.”

  “I agree. Why?”

  “You tell me.”

  He folded his arms across his chest. A gold bracelet around his wrist reflected the overhead lighting. “Did you figure out the numbers?”

  “McConnell Place in Chicago. What’s going down there?”

  His tight smile told her she’d hit the mark again. “Besides the president’s speech?”

  “Is someone going to attempt to assassinate the president?”

  Tephra snapped his fingers. “You are a smart one, aren’t you? That’s why, after I read your file, I knew you’d be the one to help me out of my jam here. Of course, with a bounty on your head, I had to make it look good. Had to make sure no one got the assignment but me.”

  “What situation?”

  “Someone’s going to shoot the president tomorrow night, but he’s not the only one eating a bullet. I will too.”

  “You?”

  “I’m coming out of hiding, you see. I wanted out, been trying to get out for years. Patrick agreed to help me, but we couldn’t keep it quiet like I wanted. He had to get permission from the White House and it got turned into a big show. A hero’s welcome home party. It’s super top secret, all been arranged by the vice president. The party line is she and her team located me and sent in a Special Forces unit to free me from a Pakistani prison. That’s where I’ve been all these years, you know, not doing wet work for my government.”

  He rubbed a hand over his face. He looked tired, defeated. “I’m supposed to show up in uniform tomorrow night and receive a medal. Shake the president’s hand and tell the world the vice president is my hero. Get my picture taken with them while the Vice President Banner gets the credit for rescuing me. Norman will have to acknowledge her brilliance and astute military planning. Can you imagine? Haley Banner, an astute military planner? She’s cunning, I’ll give her that, but…” He waved off whatever he was going to say. “Someone pretending to be one of Otto Grimes’ mercenaries will take a potshot at Norman and Vice President Banner. I’m to jump in front of the V.P. and take the bullet. I’m told Norman won’t die and neither will I, but I don’t believe it. The V.P. will stand there with our blood on her hands and vow revenge.”

  Bianca tried not to laugh. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Trust me, it’s all scripted like some goddamn reality show. I’m not supposed to know the details, and I was told not to worry, that the assassin won’t aim for my vital parts, but they’re full of shit. I’m a goddamned nightmare for them so they’re going to kill me off. The V.P.’s approval rating will soar and it’ll be a landslide vote next month when she’s elected to president.”

  “You’re delusional.”

  His eyes flattened. “You’re delusional if you think this isn’t true.”

  “Why would I believe you?”

  “I haven’t lied to you yet.”

  They stood there in a glare-off, neither backing down. Finally, Tephra pointed at her face, “How’s the cheek, sweetheart?”

  Bastard. “How’s your shoulder?”

  He grinned. “I bet you make Reese absolutely crazy.”

  “You hurt me again and he’ll kill you.”

  He shrugged, held out his hands, palms up. “I’m already a dead man walking.”

  If she’d still had the Glock, he would just be a dead man. He said he needs your help. Play along until you can get out of here. “Why are you going along with the script?”

  “If you knew someone was going to shoot the president, wouldn’t you try to stop them? Besides, if I don’t show up, Patrick will die. This little poisoning thing is a reminder to me to follow the script and not do anything stupid.”

  “Like ask me for help?”

  “Banner wants another four years, but she wants it in the president’s seat. Patrick and I figured out this little stunt is to kill off Norman and pave the way for her to have an easy election win.”

  “Seems extreme for a reelection bid.”

  “For someone so intelligent, you’re pretty naïve.”

  Gullible was more like it. As evidenced by the fact she was still standing there talking to an assassin. Well, besides the fact that he was blocking the door…

  Tephra eyed her, waiting for a comeback.

  She didn’t give it to him. A tension, low but pervasive in her stomach told her she actually believed him. Rory Tephra, assassin and certified crazy person, was telling the truth. “How exactly do you think I can help?”

  He blinked, and she may have imagined the look of relief that slid across his face, but she didn’t imagine the sound of it in his voice. “I have to show up and play my part tomorrow night or Patrick will die. He’s the only family I have and I owe him, big time, for many, many things you’d never understand. But you—you and Reese—the two of you can expose the V.P. and stop the assassination. Catch whoever is going to kill me and President Norman and make them give up Banner.”

  She really was gullible because she knew that was exactly what she needed to do. If any of this was true. “I need something from you in return.”

  “Besides me letting you live?”

  “Who exactly wants me dead and why?”

  “I can’t believe you haven’t figure it out.”

  “It’s my boss, Jonathan, isn’t it?”

  “Jonathan? Hell, no, but you’re not going to like the answer.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  Just as Tephra opened his mouth to answer, all hell broke loose.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Cal was jogging down the corridor when a loud blaring started above his head and people began to scatter.

  Fire alarm.

  Threat.

  Real or imagined? That was the question. If it was a drill, they couldn’t have picked a worse time. From the way the hospital staff were acting, this was no drill.

  But was there really a fire?

  No. In his gut, he knew there was no fire. This was a ploy to get someone inside the hospital to come outside. Bianca? The senator?

  You’re paranoid. Well, he’d spent too many years in the field not to be. What better way to find a target than to set up on a nearby building and scan the crowds below? Easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

  Evacuating the hospital wasn’t the most brilliant idea, however, unless the assailant could cover all the exits. Hard to do with a place this size. Hard, but not impossible.

  This part of the building was old, built before the laws requiring sprinkler systems. Cal skirted around fleeing people. Fire or no fire, he had to find Bianca. Keep her from running outside.

  I can’t lose her. Not again.

  Bianca flinched and covered her ears as the alarm shrieked above her. “We have to get out of here!”

  Tephra shook his head. “Could be a trap.”

  They locked eyes, the same thought suddenly dawning on both of them. “Senator Halston,” Bianca said.

  At the same time Tephra said, “Patrick!”

  Tephra went for the door, Bianca followed him. “That way,” she yelled, pointing to Radiology once they were in the hallway.

  People were scrambling in all directions, the main stream heading across their path and to the left. An exit. Tephra grabbed Bianca’s arm and pulled her behind him, forming a human shield as he plowed th
rough the masses.

  Someone knocked into her and she lost her balance. She didn’t fall, thanks to the steadying hand Tephra had on her. Protective. Just like Cal.

  Cal. She had to get to him, get a message to him. As she was jostled to and fro, she drew out her cell. Still no service. Of course not, she was in the basement.

  They came to a T in the halls. “Which way?” Tephra asked.

  Bianca looked down one and then down the other. Double wide swinging doors were at the ends of each. The shiny tile floors and overhead lights made everything look the same.

  The alarm continued to shriek. Her brain was being bombarded with information. Focus, Bianca. She closed her eyes for a second, remembering the things she’d seen earlier, hoping she would remember some kind of landmark.

  Her eyes snapped open, her attention turning upward. There. The colored stripes. The blue one ran to the double doors at the Radiology Department.

  “Right,” she told Tephra. “Beyond those doors.”

  They ran down the corridor, checking the gurneys and the nurses pushing them, looking for Halston. When they didn’t spot him, they pushed on through the swinging doors and entered the x-ray department’s waiting room.

  Bianca pointed. “They took him behind that door.”

  Tephra again led the way as they ignored the warning signs and burst into the ultrasound area.

  The room was empty.

  Tephra double-checked behind several doors, but there was no one and nothing. He swore and motioned for her to follow him back out.

  “What do we do now?” she asked as they left radiology.

  He picked up a scrub hat someone had lost in the chaos and shoved it on her head, securing her ponytail under it. Then he brought the mask back up over her mouth. “The only thing we can do. We disappear.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  From the moment he’d watched the elevator doors close with Bianca inside, Cal had felt a gnawing panic. He’d watched the light above the elevator as it illuminated each floor, stopping on 1. Problem was, once he’d gotten to the first floor, he couldn’t find her. He couldn’t find Senator Halston or Halston’s bodyguard either. They’d all vanished.