Leverage

by Janie Crouch

  “Are you sure?” Burgamy questioned.

  “Absolutely.” Dylan had no doubt, especially after what he’d seen her do today. “Shelby never makes mistakes with numbers.”

  Dylan made it out of the staircase and sprinted through the main lobby. He could tell the guards were going to stop him. He slowed, not wanting them to shoot him by mistake.

  “I am Director Dennis Burgamy. Clear the path for this man!” Burgamy yelled it while swiping his badge for Dylan to get out the front door of Omega.

  Dylan took back every bad thing he had ever said about Burgamy.

  Outside, Dylan was unsure which way to go and stopped. Burgamy came up behind him.

  “She said they were going to the new coffeehouse. But Chantelle wouldn’t take them to a populated place.”

  “The new coffee place is around the block, actually behind the building. If you could get there from the alley next door, it would be great. But I don’t think that leads anywhere.”

  Which would make the alley a perfect place to take two people if you were trying not to be seen or heard. Dylan took off running toward the alley, praying he wasn’t too late. Burgamy was right behind him.

  “We need to take her alive if we can, Branson.”

  Dylan nodded, but he wasn’t willing to make any promises. He forced himself to slow down and be more calculating with his movements. Rushing up on Chantelle guns blazing would do nothing but get Shelby and Megan killed.

  Dylan turned back to Burgamy. “Let’s split up. I’ll go down this side of the alley, you work your way down the other side. Stay a few paces behind me.”

  Burgamy nodded. “Alive, Dylan.”

  “If she’s hurt Shelby or Megan then I promise nothing.”

  “Fair enough,” Burgamy muttered then crossed to the other side of the wide alley.

  Dylan dashed from blockade to blockade, trying to move as quickly as possible, but not do anything to tip off Chantelle that he was there. He was thankful for the Glock Burgamy had provided for him.

  Although he couldn’t see them from this angle, Dylan finally got close enough to hear someone speaking. Chantelle. Still talking with Shelby and Megan.

  For the first time since Dylan realized a murderous operative who had fooled trained agents for years had Shelby in her clutches, he felt as if he could breathe. Shelby was still alive. Dylan would make sure she stayed that way.

  “I see that it’s after the scheduled time for the bombing and it still hasn’t detonated. You may have stopped this attack, but I’m going to make sure you don’t stop any more,” Chantelle was telling them.

  “There’s going to be a lot of suspicious people when we were last seen with you and our bodies are found in an alley.” Shelby didn’t sound scared. She sounded mad.

  “That’s so naive of you. But you don’t have to worry about anybody finding your bodies here. Someone from DS-13 will be along to clean that up five minutes after I let them know you’re dead.”

  “It won’t work, Chantelle.” Megan sounded decidedly more frightened.

  “Of course it will work. I’ve been working undercover for DS-13 for years with Omega. You know what the key to my success was? Not trying to do too much. I wasn’t trying to bring down Omega. This wasn’t personal. I didn’t help every bad guy and criminal organization that came along. I just did a little slip of information here and a tiny drop of false information there. I’ve gone undetected for years, and I’ll continue to do so.”

  Dylan peeked for a brief second around the corner of the garage container that hid him. He instantly broke out in a cold sweat. It was like something out of the nightmares of his past. An assassin, a gun and a silencer.

  Pointed straight at the woman he loved.

  No. Dylan could not lose Shelby this way. Dylan knew he’d promised Burgamy he’d try to take Chantelle alive, but that just wasn’t going to happen.

  “So I’ll just finish you two off and go in and wipe all the data Shelby entered. You may have stopped today’s attack—and after all the planning that went into that, I’ll be a hero with DS-13 for killing you—but you won’t be around to stop anything else.”

  Dylan steadied the Glock in his hand and got ready to jump out. He didn’t have a great shot at Chantelle from this angle, but he wasn’t going to sit here and do nothing. Not again.

  One, tw—

  “Drop it, Chantelle!”

  Dylan heard Burgamy’s words and dived out, firing as soon as he could see Chantelle. She was startled and fired her weapon right at the women, while turning to fire at Burgamy. Shelby screamed and leaped at Megan, trying to pull her out of harm’s way.

  Dylan’s first bullet hit Chantelle in the shoulder. He squeezed off two more rounds that hit her in the heart. Chantelle fell dead to the ground. Both Shelby and Megan were crying, which reassured Dylan.

  “Burgamy, are you hit?”

  “Yes.” The older man bit out the word from where he lay on the ground. “But I’ll live. I’m calling it in. Check on the women.”

  Dylan ran over to Shelby, who was crying hysterically now, sitting on the ground near Megan. Blood was all over their clothes.

  “The baby, Dylan. Megan’s been shot. The baby. Just like your baby. Oh, no!” Shelby was inconsolable.

  Dylan’s heart stopped. He looked over at Megan, who was obviously still alive, but covered in blood. Megan couldn’t lose the baby. Please God, no.

  “Megan.” Dylan rushed to her side where she sat on the ground. Her face was as ashen as Shelby’s. “Where are you hit?”

  “Dylan, nothing hurts except my butt where I hit the ground when Shelby grabbed me.” Megan’s voice was shaky. She took a couple of deep breaths as Dylan started pressing along Megan’s body to try to figure out where she was hurt.

  “Dylan!” Megan said loudly. “I just felt the baby kick. The baby’s fine.”

  Then where was all this blood coming from? Dylan and Megan both looked over at Shelby, who had her hands over her head and was rocking back and forth.

  Dylan put his arms around Shelby. “Shelby, listen to me. Megan is fine. The baby is fine.”

  Shelby refused to be consoled. “No. I saw the blood.”

  Dylan looked down at Shelby’s beige blouse. The blood was definitely coming from Shelby. “You got shot, Shelby. Not Megan. You did.”

  “What?” Shelby finally stopped sobbing.

  Dylan put his forehead directly against hers and began trying to find her wound. “Megan is fine. You are hurt.”

  “The baby’s okay?”

  Dylan nodded.

  “Megan’s okay?”

  Dylan nodded again.

  “You’re okay?”

  Dylan rolled his eyes. “Yes, we’re all okay. You’re the one who’s hurt.” And at the rate blood was beginning to drip from her blouse, Dylan was seriously becoming concerned. He laid Shelby down against the pavement. Her face was waxen, her skin was clammy. Her breathing more and more labored.

  Dylan ripped open her blouse to see the wound. It had gone in the fleshy part of her side, but might have nicked her kidney at the rate blood was rushing. Dylan tore off his shirt and began pressing it against the wound.

  “Burgamy, we need a medic back here, stat. I mean, like five minutes ago,” Dylan yelled out. He heard the man relay the info.

  “Dylan, I don’t feel so good,” Shelby muttered.

  “Hang in there, baby. If you don’t, I’m going to call you and make you talk on the telephone every day for the rest of your life.”

  Now Megan was crying. “She pushed me out of the way, Dylan. If she hadn’t...”

  Dylan didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Both he and Megan knew if that bullet had hit Megan in the same area it had hit Shelby, the baby would be dead. Megan probably, too.
>
  Dylan could hear reinforcements running down the alley. He kept his hand firmly pressed on Shelby’s wound. “Help is almost here. You stay with me, okay?” Dylan put his head right next to Shelby’s.

  Shelby’s green eyes looked up at Dylan, but he didn’t think she really saw him.

  “Dylan?” Shelby whispered.

  “Yes, Freckles?”

  “I promise I won’t die.”

  Dylan leaned down and kissed her tenderly. “I’m going to hold you to that promise.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Shelby kept her word and didn’t die, but it was touch-and-go for a couple of days. Days of agony and soul-searching for Dylan. He refused to be moved from the waiting room while the doctors operated on Shelby to repair the damage the bullet had done to her kidney, stop the bleeding and save her life.

  His family joined him one by one in the waiting room as they came back from the scene of the would-be bombing at the Lincoln Memorial. The bomb had been shut down, dismantled and removed from the location without any fanfare. Omega Sector didn’t need glory or accolades from the press. They just did their job and got out. The public didn’t need to know how close they had flirted with disaster.

  Dylan’s family sat with him in the waiting room, as the one small woman who had done the biggest part to save thousands of lives, fought for her own.

  When the doctors came out to give a report and asked if they were family, everyone gave a resounding yes. Shelby was theirs now, regardless of whether Dylan decided to pursue her or not.

  The doctors weren’t hesitant to let the Bransons know how close a call it had been. Just an inch farther... Just a minute or two more... The picture that could have been was bleak. And they all were thankful it wasn’t what it could have been.

  Burgamy was also in the hospital, a bullet to the shoulder. Nothing life threatening. The man had already sent down his regards and well wishes for Shelby. Dylan was glad he had been wrong about Burgamy. The man may have been a pain in the ass, but at least he was one of the good guys.

  Once Shelby stabilized and began waking up, Dylan’s family left. It had been a long, exhausting couple of days for everyone. Juliet was the last one to leave.

  “Do you want to come home and get a little rest? Take a shower?” she asked Dylan.

  “I will. After I’ve talked with her. Made sure she’s okay.”

  “You sure you don’t want to tell me she’s not important again? Just another woman?” Juliet’s eyebrow was raised.

  Dylan couldn’t even joke about it. “I will never say anything so stupid again for the rest of my entire life.”

  Juliet hugged him. “I’m glad to hear you’re getting smarter with age.” She walked toward the door, but then turned and took a few steps back toward him. “Dylan, Fiona wasn’t the one for you. Her life was cut short and that’s so sad, and a baby was killed and that’s tragic.”

  “Juliet—”

  “Dylan, I don’t want to see you lose Shelby.”

  Dylan walked over and put his hands on his sister’s shoulders. He could remember not so long ago when she would’ve flinched if he had done that and was pleased to see she didn’t now.

  “Jules, if you’re going to say that I’ve used Fiona’s death as an excuse to keep everyone at arm’s length, you’re right. And that it’s not only her death that’s haunted me, but the fact that I knew I had gotten married to the wrong woman. And that’s why I haven’t let myself get close to anyone. I’ve already figured that out.”

  Juliet laughed and reached up to kiss Dylan on the cheek. “Actually, I was just going to say don’t screw this up with Shelby.”

  She winked and left, leaving Dylan alone in the waiting room.

  Yeah, Dylan had been afraid of letting Shelby get too close. But seeing her bleeding out right in front of him, watching her slip away from him in a way he couldn’t stop?

  That was when Dylan had learned true fear.

  A nurse came out. “Ms. Keelan is awake. Would you like to see your fiancée?”

  Dylan hoped Shelby wouldn’t be upset by that little piece of news. It was the best way for him to be allowed to see her, since he wasn’t her relative. And the fact that he had his entire family there backing him up had helped.

  Shelby’s mother was on her way. She should be here soon. Dylan wasn’t very sure how she would take the fiancée news either. But he’d burn that bridge when he got to it.

  Dylan followed the nurse into the intensive care unit. “You can only stay for ten minutes. But I’ll be surprised if she’s awake that long.”

  Shelby looked so tiny and frail in the bed. Little, and not at all fierce. He slid a lock of her hair back away from her face and her eyes opened. They still seemed a little unfocused, but at least they weren’t clouded with pain this time.

  “Megan and the baby are okay?” Shelby whispered.

  “Yes, they weren’t hurt at all.”

  “And we stopped the bomb at the memorial?”

  “Yep, nobody hurt there, either.” Dylan ran a finger down her cheek. “Nobody got hurt at all, but you, Freckles.”

  “And Chantelle DiMuzio is a—”

  Dylan half coughed and half laughed as a filthy set of words about Chantelle DiMuzio flew out of Shelby’s mouth. Even a nurse looked over, eyebrow raised, from the station in the center of the room.

  But seeing the state Shelby was in, knowing how much she had fought just to be alive now? Dylan didn’t mind Shelby saying that and could add a few choice words of his own, although he didn’t.

  “Um, yes. Chantelle was not a nice person. And was the traitor. And is no longer among the living, so we probably don’t need to call her any more names.”

  “But I want to. I don’t like her.” Shelby’s voice was beginning to slur. Dylan could tell she was fading.

  “Sleep now. You can say as many terrible things as you want when you wake up,” he promised.

  * * *

  THREE DAYS LATER Shelby was beginning to wish she had died in that alley. Okay, maybe not really, but a little bit.

  This hospital was her description of hell.

  There were people around her all the time. She was never alone, someone was always talking to her, asking questions. And Shelby had to answer them politely. Because they were her caregivers and were only doing their job. And what kind of terrible person would Shelby be if she was mean to the people who had taken such good care of her?

  She wondered if she could sneak out. Maybe go out the window.

  Probably not, since she couldn’t even walk five feet to the bathroom without assistance.

  And to make all of these matters worse, Shelby’s mother, Belinda, was here. She’d already asked Shelby, oh, so subtly, if Shelby would like her to put on a little makeup—you know, sweetie, to cover up some of those freckles—and do Shelby’s hair. It was important to look good, even in the hospital—you know, sweetie, because there’s just so many attractive nurses around—for one’s fiancé.

  Fiancé.

  Dylan had explained that it had been the easiest way for him to have access to her when she’d first been brought into the hospital. Shelby didn’t blame him, as a matter of fact, thought it was kind of sweet.

  But then a nurse had told her mother about Shelby’s fiancé. And that had been it. After meeting Dylan, her mother had actually cried tears of joy. Belinda had thought Shelby would never find someone who would put up with her and all her awkwardness.

  That was a direct quote. That Belinda had said to pretty much everyone.

  Shelby had tried to explain. Even Dylan had tried to explain. But every time they did, Belinda just started crying and thanking heaven her little girl was alive and had found someone to love. And then promptly changed the subject.

  Shelby closed her eyes
and shook her head. She knew when she opened them, the huge stack of bridal and wedding magazines her mom had brought in and set by her bed would be the first thing she saw.

  So, yeah, a little bit Shelby wished she had just moved on to a better place in that alley.

  The sole peace she got was when she worked with Megan to decipher more of the DS-13 code. Now that all the data from Shelby’s head was in the Omega system, Megan could bring it in to the hospital in smaller chunks on a laptop. Although Shelby was only able to work short spurts at a time before exhaustion set in, they’d cracked away at it multiple times each day.

  They’d found four more potential bomb sites and dates as well as information about the key people responsible for each likely attack. Megan, as well as all the other Bransons who stopped by, assured Shelby that the information from the codes would put an end to DS-13 for good. Arrests were already being made.

  So although the mental exertion tired Shelby, she was glad to help. Plus, Megan always shooed Belinda out of Shelby’s hospital room while they worked, making deciphering the code Shelby’s favorite activity ever.

  They were releasing her from the hospital tomorrow, but Shelby would need someone to help her around the clock for at least the next week. She was glad to be going, to be getting away from all these people, most especially her mother, before she went absolutely crazy.

  Her mom came bouncing through the door, no doubt having just been flirting with some doctor significantly younger than her. Shelby knew she couldn’t wait any longer. She needed to tell her mother her plans for once Shelby was released from the hospital.

  “Mother, I’ve decided to go home tomorrow after they release me.”

  “Home where, darling? With Dylan?”

  “No. To my home. To my condo in Knoxville. I’m just going to hire a temporary nurse to take care of me.”

  Belinda immediately went over and began pressing the nurse call button next to Shelby’s bed.

  “Mother, what are you doing? That button is supposed to be for emergencies.”

  “It is an emergency. Listen to the crazy way you are talking!” Belinda’s volume never rose, but her intensity did.