by KaLyn Cooper
It was Daniel’s turn to chuckle. “They’ve been dating for years. I have no idea why they’ve never married. I’m constantly surprised that their relationship has never gone public, but they seem to be able to keep it private. I guess that’s the way they prefer.”
“So, you were finally able to talk to Nita?” Alex wondered if Griffin had spoken with Grace yet. It was unlike his friend not to share such good news, but they hadn’t talked in a few hours.
“No.” Disappointment filled Daniel’s single word.
“Then how—” Alex started to ask.
“Somehow Lei Lu finagled access to a computer and sent an encrypted, very short email to Henry telling him the plan and instructing him to pass the word.”
Katlin stirred and machines beeped faster.
“Talk to her,” Alex instructed. “Touch her.”
“Hey, baby sis. It’s me, Daniel.” He gave her bicep a small squeeze and the beeping immediately slowed.
“Any chance her team will be able to stop by on their way out of town?” Alex knew how tight the women were and how much they would want to see Katlin before leaving.
“I doubt it.” Daniel shook his head. “Jack keeps a close eye on them and for some reason, he doesn’t want them seeing Katlin in this condition. He’ll be watching their trackers to be sure they make it to the airplane and lift off on time.”
Alex wasn’t sure if every field agent for Homeland Security had a tracker embedded in their carotid artery, or if it was something new the military was testing on its special operators, but each member of the Black Swan team had one. Once he’d been given access to her tracker, he had gone to sleep every night listening to her heartbeat.
The door opened softly behind them. “Gentlemen, it’s time.” Nancy smiled at both of them. “I’m sorry, but all of her vitals are elevating. We’re going to be adjusting her meds and putting her back into a deep sleep for the rest of the night. You both look like you could use some sleep, too. I’m strongly suggesting you go home.” She reached out and touched both men’s forearms. “I have all your numbers and I’m on duty until seven tomorrow morning. I’ll call you if there’s any change whatsoever, but don’t expect to hear from me, especially since we're putting her down deep. She needs to heal and only time can do that.”
Daniel slapped Alex on the shoulder. “I’ve got time for a beer. How about you?”
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard in days.” Grabbing his briefcase, Alex and Daniel left the hospital once Nathaniel was back at his post.
Alex had lived his life based on ten minutes every hour for nearly a week. Lack of sleep and worry were taking their toll, so when Top Cooper arrived at the hospital on the fifth day, Gina convinced him to return to Guardian Security and sleep. Since she’d been an ICU nurse for nearly twenty years, and knowing that Katlin was in good hands, he took her advice.
Alex hadn’t realized how physically and mentally exhausted he was until he lay down on the soft sheets in his penthouse bedroom and fell asleep with all of his clothes on.
Nearly six hours later, Alex emerged from the best shower he’d had in days. Dressed in his Guardian uniform of a black polo shirt with gray guardian logo and khaki cargo pants, he decided to take a few minutes and check his email.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The Internal Revenue Service was investigating the San Francisco Center claiming that the company he’d bought out had been money-laundering for the Chinese. Since he was now the owner as well as the managing partner, they were requiring his presence.
The next day!
He immediately hopped on the phone to the center manager who knew nothing about it but received the same email while they were talking. The attachment included a list of files they expected ready for them when they arrived in the morning.
Alex had no choice. He had to fly as soon as possible to San Francisco.
An hour later, his packed bag in the Guardian vehicle, Alex trotted to the ICU. He’d texted Dr. Tobias asking him to meet there.
“I have to go out of town for a few days,” he told the neurologist. “You have all my numbers. I expect you to call me immediately if anything changes.” He glanced into Katlin’s room. “How is she doing, really?”
“As well as can be expected, maybe even a little better than we had hoped.”
Hope. Alex grabbed on to that single word and pressed it against his heart.
“She seems to be rising from the deep state we keep her in more often than I would like. It’s as if she is fighting to wake up,” Dr. Tobias explained.
“Is that a bad thing?” Alex wondered aloud.
“Not really, but I don’t often see that in a moderate TBI. That’ll happen in a mild TBI quite often because they recover faster than initial indications.” The doctor’s clarification gave Alex even more optimism. “I’ll run some tests on her today to check the swelling and brain functions.”
“Will you please call me with the results?” Alex asked.
“Of course,” Dr. Tobias assured him.
“While I’m gone, Top Cooper will be in to visit her more and some of my men may stop in. Daniel will be here, of course. If the Ladies from her team come, they should get in immediately, no matter what time.” Alex was trying to cover all the bases before he had to leave.
“Not a problem.” Dr. Tobias held Alex’s gaze. “How long do you expect to be gone if, I may ask?
“I’m hoping I’ll only be a few days on the West Coast.” Alex was really hoping he could wrap things up in a day and turn them over to his center manager.
“Good, Katlin seems to react well to your visits.”
He was helping her get better, faster. Alex couldn’t hold in the smile. It fell immediately when his phone buzzed. He needed to go.
“Please call me when you get the test results.” As Alex left, he overheard Dr. Tobias ordering several tests. Since she was in ICU, some of the tests would take place during the night when X-ray and EEG were not busy with outpatients. Almost every department at Walter Reed operated 24/7.
Without asking permission, Alex stepped into the glassed private room and took Katlin’s hand. “I love you, babe. I won’t be able to see you for a few days, but you will be my first stop as soon as we touch down in D.C..” He brushed his lips over hers. “Come back to me, Kat.”
9
Daniel pulled the Guardian SUV to an unlit back entrance of Walter Reed Medical Center. “Lei Lu, are you sure this is going to work?”
She patted his shoulder on her way out of the vehicle. “The light’s out, isn’t it? I told you I’m damn good.”
“Honey, check the tracker app that Alex’s computer geek created.” Nita kept her hand on Daniel’s forearm as he pulled up the application on his phone. Sure enough, it showed her on her way toward Marine Corps Base Quantico. He didn’t care how the hell she did it, Daniel was just thankful that Lei Lu, and some guy named Brett at Alex’s office, were fucking computer geniuses. The tracker diversion program worked.
Nita bent over the console and kissed him. “Thank you for doing this for all of us. We’ll be out in just a few minutes.” She was the last one out of the vehicle.
Ten minutes later, his beautiful wife stomped to the SUV. It seemed as though all four women were talking at the same time. The doors slammed as Lei Lu, Tori, Grace, and Nita filled the seats.
Daniel couldn’t make hide nor hair of anything they were saying. Maybe they hadn’t been able to get in to see Katlin. Had her condition changed? Was his sister all right?
“Whoa. Silence. One at a time.” He held his wife’s gaze. He knew what he wanted to say but his throat tightened. Swallowing, he finally managed to croak, “Is Katlin okay?”
“She is at the moment, but she won’t be by morning,” Nita declared.
The back of Daniel’s eyes burned. Even though he and Katlin were born eight years apart, raised separately, he’d quickly gotten over his childhood resentment and truly, deeply loved his sister. He unbuckled his seatb
elt. He needed to see her for himself, especially if this might be the last time.
Nita grabbed his arm. “No, honey, you’ve got it wrong. She’s not going to die. It’s much worse than that.”
Daniel’s jaw dropped as he stared at his wife. He couldn’t think of anything that would be worse than dying.
“Jack is planning to impregnate her tomorrow morning.” Nita held his gaze.
“I’ll kill that motherfucking sonofabitch.” Daniel’s fist pounded the steering wheel. “What’s he going to do? Go in there and rape her?” Daniel reached for his phone. He’d simply call Alex and make sure that the bodyguard didn’t let Jack anywhere near her.
“In vitro fertilization,” Nita explained.
“Uhm, Daniel, we need to get a move on. The hospital rent-a-cop in the truck just turned the corner,” Tori announced from the back seat. “We should have been gone from here two minutes ago.”
Daniel pulled out and headed for Quantico, Virginia. “From the beginning.”
“You already know that I tapped into the medical center’s security program and set things on a loop to cover our trail,” Lei Lu began.
“Yeah, I got that.” Daniel was thankful for the minimal traffic as he headed toward the Interstate 495 Beltway.
Nita picked up the story. “On our way in, we passed the doctors’ lounge, so I borrowed a white jacket.”
“She actually borrowed it,” Grace interjected. “She returned it on her way out.”
“Well, I’m so glad you didn’t steal it. I don’t know how you would’ve explained to Jack that you needed bail money for stealing from the Walter Reed hospital in Maryland when you were in Quantico, Virginia.”
Nita smacked his bicep. He was being a dick and deserved it. She continued, “While the others were going through identification at the nurse’s station, I grabbed Katlin’s chart. I couldn’t figure out why they were giving her pre-pregnancy drugs. Sure, in her condition she couldn’t take the pill like we all do every day. But these medications are designed to help a woman get pregnant, not prevent conception.”
Daniel was glad his wife was so damned smart. How had he ever gotten so lucky as to marry this brilliant woman? He reached over and squeezed her thigh. A thigh he had caressed, kissed, and licked three hours before, bringing his wife to a screaming orgasm. Thank goodness their children were deep sleepers and the nanny hadn’t returned yet. The look she gave him said she was remembering the same thing.
“I’m with you. Continue,” he insisted.
“Being Katlin’s brother, I doubt you know this, but about four years ago it was determined that her ovaries weren’t functioning properly.”
Daniel wasn’t sure he wanted to know this about his sister.
Nita continued, “She was told that she could never have children, but they could harvest a few eggs and maybe she could do in vitro fertilization later. She went through the procedure, but somehow her eggs disappeared.”
“You have any idea how much an egg from a blond-haired, blue-eyed, Mensa member with a bang-up body like your sister’s is worth?” Tori asked from the back seat.
“Are we talking designer babies?” Was that a real thing? He thought that was just science fiction.
“I can show you on this website that her eggs would sell for close to fifty-thousand dollars each. Possibly as high as one-hundred thousand dollars.” Lei Lu’s face glowed from her computer screen in his rearview mirror.
“Holy fuck. I had no idea,” Daniel admitted.
“Jack somehow found Katlin’s eggs…and fertilized them with his sperm.” Nita shook her head. “I saw the DNA matches. They’re her eggs.”
“Now ruined by damn Jack so Katlin will never have a chance to have a baby.” All eyes flew to Grace as she slapped her hand over her mouth. The preacher’s daughter never swore, yet she’d been so emotional about Katlin’s situation that the word slipped out.
“Katlin is scheduled for implantation at seven a.m. with prep to begin at six,” Nita announced.
“That bastard knows Katlin would never abort a baby, even if it was his,” Daniel stated, fuming deep inside. “Unconscious was the only way he’d ever get her pregnant. She’ll be tied to him for the rest of her life. Just what he wanted.”
Nita continued. “From what I could tell, someone named Dr. James Greer has ordered her pumped full of folic acids, progesterone, and steroids preparing her body for the IVF.”
“I’ve got him.” Lee Lu spoke from the middle of the backseat. “He’s a highly respected infertility expert.”
“I can only imagine what lies Jack told him,” Tori added.
“I’ll bet this is why Jack wouldn’t let us anywhere near Katlin. He knew you would look at her chart and know what he was doing.” Grace shook her head. “That man belongs in h-e-double hockey sticks.”
“That’s why we were on lockdown. That sonofabitch!” Tori said through clenched teeth.
“And why we’re getting shipped out tonight,” Grace noted.
“So, what are we going to do?” Lei Lu asked. “If we’re not in the air soon, Jack is going to know something is up.”
Nita looked at her husband. “You’re not going to let Jack do this to your sister, right?”
“Fuck no.” Daniel thought for a few minutes. “I wonder if Jack had anything to do with Alex’s last-minute trip to San Francisco.”
“Alex being out-of-town can work to our advantage, and his.” Grace met his eyes in the rearview mirror. He’d never thought of her as a tactician. “I suggest we start with calling Top Cooper. If you want, I’ll call Griffin and ask him to stay in town an extra few hours.”
“I can forward my security video program to Brett,” Lei Lu offered. “Covering your tracks is child’s play for him. You can thank him while you’re at it. He helped me with the satellite end of the tracker distraction program.”
Forty-five minutes later, a basic plan in place, Daniel kissed Nita goodbye. “I love you. Fly safe. The kids and I will video call you tomorrow night at bedtime.” He gave her another quick peck. “I’m so glad we will at least be in the same country, even though we’re not in the same time zone.”
“Me, too.” The security lights outside the dull green hangar reflected in her wet eyes. “I didn’t have hardly any time with the kids, or you.” She blinked and looked away. When her gaze returned it was filled with anger and determination. “I hate fucking Jack Ashworth. If things don’t change soon, I’m going to think twice about taking my next promotion and the additional years that go with it.”
Daniel never thought he’d hear those words from his wife. The military had always been her dream. He wondered if she’d actually leave the service. It was her decision, though.
He pulled her in for one last kiss. “Don’t think about it now. Your emotions will get in the way. You need a clear head for big decisions like that.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips.” Now, go play nice with Black Swan Team Two.” Hands on her shoulders, he turned her toward the door.
Leaning over her shoulder he whispered in her ear, “I love you.”
She started to walk away. Looking back, she gave him the smile that was reserved just for him. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Daniel Callahan. I love you.”
Since this wasn’t his first time taking the Ladies of Black Swan to the hangar at Marine Corps Base Quantico, he knew he was not allowed to linger. As he backed out of the parking space and headed toward the front gate, he speed-dialed Top Cooper. “You think we ought to call Alex and let him know what’s going on?”
“Nope. This way he has complete plausible deniability. He’s on the West Coast. The less he knows, the better.” Top was right. Time was of the essence. A clean, tactical strike in and out, using the fewest men possible, was the best idea.
Since Daniel had visited Katlin several times, he was too recognizable to the nurses to handle the inside job himself. He was relegated to being the driver. As soon as he was sure his sister was safe and settled, he wou
ld head to work…as though he hadn’t kidnapped a federal agent at dawn.
“Don’t worry, Daniel, we’ve got this,” Top said with confidence.
“I’ll meet you at Walter Reed in a few hours.” Daniel glanced at his watch. At least he’d get a few hours’ sleep as long as one of the kids didn’t wake him up. Thank God they had a wonderful nanny.
At five-thirty, as the first streaks of dawn replaced street lights, Daniel pulled into the now-familiar hospital complex with Rick and Doug from Guardian Security in the back seat. Riding shotgun was Rafe Silva, who lived next door to Katlin in the condo off DuPont circle and also worked for Guardian. He handed Daniel a communications earbud.
“We’re not tied into the operations center.” Rafe explained, “We can talk to each other, Top Cooper, and Brett. Are there any last-minute questions?”
“No, sir,” the two in the backseat said in unison.
“Brett, we’re in place and ready to roll.” Rafe glanced around the cab one last time.
“Taking control of cameras now.” The words came through Daniel’s earbud. “You’re a go. I repeat, you have a go.”
Daniel blinked and the Guardian SUV was empty.
“Turning on cameras now.” Brett’s voice was loud and clear. “Daniel, can you tell me if you have images?”
Grabbing the specialized Guardian tablet, he nervously fumbled turning it on. Several squares filled the handheld screen with amazing color and clarity. Guardian had the best fucking toys. If Daniel was ever going to turn in his CIA agency badge, he wanted to go to work for the company owned by his sister and future brother-in-law.
“I’m seeing everything, everywhere.” Rafe was walking around outside of the emergency room entrance. The two Guardian men passed through the double doors with Operating Rooms, No Admittance written in bold letters. One square seemed more like a picture because nothing moved outside the door labeled Morgue. In another square, Daniel watched Top Cooper’s wife, Gina, test half-a-dozen monitors surrounding a hospital bed.
