“You ready to do this?”
Alex’s question broke the silence. I glanced up at him to find his worried gaze locked on my face. Using every inch of willpower in my body, I forced myself to relax and offered him a smile. “Of course I am, stud. I was born ready.”
He rewarded me for my effort with a chuckle and a quick but hard kiss. I felt it seep into my bones, warming me—but doing nothing to lessen the tension I was feeling.
“Then let’s get this over with, once and for all.”
Hefting my bag over my shoulder, I followed behind him. My head swiveled as I studied our surroundings, looking for any changes since we were last here. The warehouse district was quiet at this time of night, and nobody was around. I spotted one light out over the door of the building across from our destination, but the bulb was intact. It hadn’t been shot out, most likely just needing to be replaced by the owner. I scanned the windows and roof anyway, searching for signs that we had unwanted company. Reaching a hand out to touch Alex’s shoulder briefly, he paused and glanced back at me. He caught where my gaze was aimed and joined me in my perusal. After a couple minutes, he squeezed my hand.
“Spot anything?”
“No,” I answered. Nothing except the darkened light bulb was different, but it was enough to put me further on edge. I figured part of it was that I was hyper-sensitive to danger after the close call at the safe house, and because Alex was with me. If it had only been me, I probably would have set-up on the same roof I’d just stared at, but I couldn’t bring myself to be that far from him, in case we needed to make a quick retreat. If that wasn’t a sign I needed to seriously reevaluate my role with the agency, then I didn’t know what was. Letting emotion impact my decisions was a sure fire way to get myself killed, but I couldn’t shake my gut feeling that I needed to stick close to Alex. “I think we’re good.”
We moved on and rounded the building to approach the rear door of the warehouse. Alex kneeled down to pick the lock, his back to mine as I kept watch. I’d never worked a mission this closely with another operative, and I felt the weight of my responsibility for his safety heavy on my shoulders. He made quick work of the lock, and we entered the building swiftly and quietly, softly closing the door behind us so we didn’t alert anyone to our presence.
Heading to the east side of the building to the large stack of crates where we’d dropped our bug. Nearing them, I noticed the lid of one was slightly off center. I was certain we hadn’t left it that way, and we hadn’t heard anyone open them while we’d listened in. I stopped dead in my tracks, gripping Alex’s arm so he halted with me. It was then I heard it. Clapping. Motherfucking clapping.
“Well done, Scarlett.”
I swiveled around, pulling a Glock from each shoulder holster mid-turn, and found our target standing about ten feet away from us. He had four beefy bodyguard types with him, each with a gun aimed our way. I raised my arms and aimed mine right back at them.
“I have to admit I was hoping you were the one they’d send after me,” Heron announced, his eyes raking my body before he turned his attention to Alex. “But I’m a bit disappointed, since I’d heard you always worked alone.”
“Maybe you were too big a target to risk losing with only one agent,” Alex interjected, presumably in an attempt to play on Heron’s ego.
“Ah, but Scarlett isn’t really an agent, is she?” Heron replied. “You might be, but she’s a bit more than that. Or less, depending on how you look at it since your government would be content to let her die while denying her existence. All of which means she could be quite valuable to me.”
At that, the guards shifted their stances so all four guns opposite us were aimed Alex’s way. And my husband, the stubborn ass, took several steps away, drawing their aim farther away from me and more firmly on him.
“How interesting,” Heron murmured, his gaze darting between us with a calculating gleam. “Looks like I’m not the only one who thinks the infamous Scarlett is valuable.”
I tapped my left foot, hoping like hell Alex would catch the signal. Between the two of us, we could take four of them out fairly easily, but five would be pushing it—especially since Alex was hell bent on taking Heron in alive. This situation called for kill shots if we wanted to improve our odds of getting out of here alive. With the bodyguards, I didn’t have to worry about Alex hesitating. If Alex understood what I meant and started from the left, we had a good chance to take them all out, leaving Heron as the only one standing.
“I can think of at least four people who would agree with you.” I stressed the number as I spoke, and followed it up with three light taps of my foot. As soon as my sole hit the ground the third time, I fired in rapid sequence. Three shots from my two guns and one from Alex’s pistol. Four shots, straight between the eyes of each bodyguard. It would have been perfect, except Heron had used that time to reach behind his back to pull out a weapon. A gun he had aimed straight at my husband.
“You were just a name on a list to me up until a few days ago, Scarlett. One of many who I’d sell to the highest bidder without thinking twice. Then I heard rumblings about a dark ops assassin who was hunting me, with a male special agent at her side.”
“Fuck,” Alex hissed.
“An assassin so good at her job that a kill team had been sent for her but failed when she blew the safe house where she’d been staying,” Heron continued. “Someone on your side wants you dead, and they’re willing to pay a lot of money to make that happen. I’m curious to see how much you’d be worth to others, alive.”
“You’ll never find out because there’s no way in hell you’re gonna walk out of here with her,” Alex growled.
“Are you sure about that?” Heron chuckled. “It’s not like you can kill me since you’re supposed to bring me in alive for questioning.”
“The only way she leaves here with you is over my dead body.”
“If you insist,” Heron replied.
In those brief seconds as I watched Heron take aim at my husband, I better understood why he’d been so angry about what I’d done at the safe house in Rome. His fury merely masked his fear of losing me. A nightmare I shared, as images of our life together raced before my eyes. I couldn’t just stand here and watch it happen, not when Alex’s life was on the line. I leapt into action, diving in front of Alex just as Heron’s finger pressed down on the trigger of his gun.
Shit! I was hit. I’d never taken a bullet before, but I knew what the flare of heat and stinging pain in my upper arm meant. Luckily, I’d already gotten both of my shots off and it looked like my aim had been true, one to his hand to knock the gun out of it and another to his knee so he couldn’t run. Mid-leap, I twisted my body to avoid landing on my injured arm. I went down hard. Damn hard. I managed to miss my arm, but I took the brunt of the landing on my upper back. My head snapped backwards, smashing against the concrete once, before bouncing up and slamming down again.
Fuck! The pain in my head overshadowed my arm. Darkness crept around the edges of my vision. I wasn’t sure how much time, if any, had passed since I went down. I heard Alex yelling, but his voice was muffled as though he was in a tunnel far, far away from me. I tried to lift my hand and reach out to him, to reassure him that I was okay, but my body wouldn’t cooperate.
“I don’t care what the fuck it takes, get an ambulance to our location and make sure a medevac is on standby at the hospital for her, Martin!”
Was it bad enough that I needed a medevac?
“I know her personnel file is buried deep, but you’re going to have to figure out a way to unearth it because her medical records had damn well better be at Moron when we get there.”
Martin was good, but there was no way he could get me onto a military base for treatment.
“You’ve got plenty of time to find a way to make it happen between however long we’re at the hospital and the almost two hours we’ll be in the air.”
Even if he managed to get an operative who technically didn’t exi
st onto the base, he couldn’t get his hands on my info. Not that quickly anyway.
“Yeah, we need medical care for two.”
My breath froze in my lungs. No. Please don’t tell me it was all for nothing.
“Damn fool woman leapt in front of a bullet for me, and she still managed to fire two rounds at Heron with a precision most operatives don’t even have at the gun range. He took one in the hand and one in the knee.”
He meant Heron and me. Alex was unharmed. Comforted by the knowledge that he had escaped the confrontation unscathed, my eyes slid closed and I stopped fighting the darkness, letting it swallow me whole.
Chapter 12
Alex
I rested my forehead on the bed next to Evie as I held her hand tightly in mine. I heard the door open and the doctor walked in, staring at a chart.
“Mr. Shaw,” he greeted me in Spanish, finally glancing up from his clip board and shaking my hand. “I’m Dr. Ruiz.” I had a lump in my throat and fear was keeping me tongue tied, so I simply nodded.
“From the bruising under your wife’s eyes, and her state of unconsciousness, it’s highly possible we are dealing with a skull fracture, but I’m confident it isn’t more than a linear fracture.”
He said it as though it was no big deal. I’m no doctor, but it seemed to me, any kind of crack in the skull was fucking serious. The lump in my throat became a boulder and I silently begged Evie to wake up.
“We want to confirm this and rule out an epidural hematoma. Normally, we’d do a CAT scan but, I’d rather not take a chance at harming the baby, so we’ll move forward with an MRI.”
I froze. “The baby?” I croaked.
The doctor’s eyebrows went up into his hairline as he registered my shock. “I’m sorry, Mr. Shaw. This early on, I shouldn’t assumed you knew. You weren’t aware she could be pregnant?”
I shook my head, once again, speechless. Then what he asked seeped into my awareness. “No, I mean I didn’t know, but we were trying.”
Evie was pregnant? My eyes strayed to her belly. I’d put my baby in there. Unfortunately, I was too worried to gloat about the fact that I’d been right, and I’d knocked her up the first night we tried.
“Well, congratulations, Mr. Shaw. It looks like she is about two weeks along. Once we get the results on the MRI back, we’ll do an ultrasound to check on the baby. Depending on the results, we’ll clear her to be transferred to Moron.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, my eyes still glued to Evie’s flat stomach. I vaguely noticed the click of the door shutting as I stood and sat a hip next to her on the bed. I couldn’t wait to see her round with our child. Now, if she would just wake the fuck up so my dream could become a reality.
Brushing her hair back from her face, I cradled one cheek in my hand. “Did you hear, baby? You’re going to be a mom. But, you have to come back to me first.”
Nothing.
I tapped her on the nose, then tried another tactic. “I told you I’d get you pregnant that night, didn’t I?” I asked, infusing my voice with smugness. “Aren’t you going to give me shit for being so damn cocky?”
Nothing.
I leaned down and kissed her dry lips softly, before resting my head on her chest. The slow, steady beat of her heart and even breaths brought me some comfort.
A knock on the door interrupted the peaceful moment, and I sat back up as a nurse entered the room.
“This was left at reception for you, sir?” She stretched out her hand, a small black burner phone in her palm.
“Gracias.” I took the phone warily, not sure if it was from my superiors or Scarlett’s.
“De nada,” she responded, before disappearing back through the door. No sooner was she gone than the phone began to vibrate. Unknown. With one last glance at Evie to make sure she was resting comfortably, I stepped into the hall and answered.
“Justice.”
There was silence for a moment before an emotionless disembodied voice spoke. “Where is Scarlett?”
I gripped the phone tightly, already sensing this call was going to piss me the fuck off. “She’s in a damn coma.”
There was an extended silence once again, fraying my nerves and making me want to punch the son of a bitch on the line.
“Give her a message. We’ve received a burn notice on her. She’s blacklisted.”
“What the fuck?” I roared, earning me angry glances from the nurses and fingers pointed at the signs declaring the use of cell phones was prohibited.
I was prepared to stalk outside and let the asshole have it when the call was cut off with a resounding click.
Pulling the phone from my ear, I stared at it hard, willing it to ring again. The squeak of rubber soles on the linoleum broke my concentration, and I looked up to see the nurses arriving to wheel Evie from her room for her scan.
For some reason, I felt panic that she would be out of my sight for even the smallest amount of time. Something wasn’t sitting right, but I had no idea what it was or what to do about it. So, I let them take her, following until we reached a restricted area and I had to stay behind. When the procedure was completed, I returned with her to the hospital room to await the results.
I was starting to fidget, impatient for answers, and frustrated that Evie was still unconscious. With every set of footsteps approaching the door, I shot to my feet but then they would pass by and I would slowly sink back into my chair to brood.
Finally, there was a knock, and the door opened to reveal a nurse in pink scrubs entering the room with a smile. She introduced herself as Beth and picked up Evie’s chart. “The doctor has prescribed some pain medication for her. Often, with a closed fracture, pain meds are the only course of treatment and if she is suffering a great deal, it could be contributing to why she is still in a coma.” She smiled at me again and again, something struck me as odd. “Don’t worry, the medication is safe for pregnancy.”
I nodded and watched her walk over to Evie’s IV and uncap a syringe I hadn’t realized she’d brought in with her. Readying the shot, she picked up the tubing.
“Stop!” I yelled, jumping to my feet as I realized the insignia on the liquid filled plastic wasn’t the one I’d been seeing all day, everywhere. This hospital had their logo on all of its equipment. At the urgency in my voice and my abrupt movement, Beth dropped the syringe and darted for the door. The bed hampered my movements and I wasn’t able to reach her before she was out of sight. Dashing into the hallway, I looked left and right frantically, then quickly checked several rooms in the vicinity, but she was nowhere to be found. Fuck!
Back in the room, I retrieved my phone from my jacket pocket and hastily dialed Martin. “There’s a kill order for Scarlett,” I barked, “Get it called the fuck off, Martin!” I was shouting by the end, terror and rage clawing at my insides.
“Dude, calm down.” Tapping.
“Someone just tried to kill my wife, Martin. I will not calm down until I know she’s safe!” I’d sidestepped Martin’s questions about my concern for Scarlett before, but no more. I was beyond caring who knew about our relationship anymore.
More tapping. The silence was unbearable.
“Um, Justice,” Martin’s tone was wary and shocked. “It’s not the agency. There is no record of a kill order. Just a burn notice. She’s on the books now because she’s been blacklisted and is on the no-fly.”
I was confused. “I’m telling you, Martin. A woman was in here who didn’t belong and she almost injected Evie with something. Then she ran before I could get to her.”
“Yeah, I meant, there isn’t a kill order from us. I sent a secure text to a contact and he just replied. It’s a hit, Justice.”
I dropped the phone, stunned and incapable of moving. It clattered on the ground, and I could hear the faint sounds of Martin calling my name. If there was a hit out on Scarlett, how would they know she was in the hospital? She was checked in as Genevieve Shaw.
Suddenly, it hit me. I bent and scooped up the cell, my voi
ce like steel when I asked, “Where is Heron?”
“Interrogation at Moron. The brass wanted to wait for you, but Colin convinced them to let him fly out there and take a run at Heron.”
I was pretty sure I’d reached my limit on shock for the day. One more jolt and my heart would probably give out. Colin. No fucking way. I’d trusted him with my life countless times, I’d trained him and been his partner. He’d been the best man at my wedding for fuck’s sake.
“Martin, who all knows about the noc list?”
He cleared his throat guiltily. “Um, you know, the higher ups.”
“I don’t give a shit how long you’ve known, Martin. Or the fact that you shouldn’t. Who else? Does Colin know?”
“I honestly don’t know, man. I can’t hack a person.”
“How many times has he interrogated Heron?”
Martin clacked away at his computer. “Three. He stepped out twice, ostensibly to give a progress report.”
“Did he make a phone call?” I asked anxiously, more and more convinced by the second.
“Let me check his log.” After a pause, Martin responded. “Yeah, two on his second break.”
Two? Shit. There could be another contract on her life.
“Martin, you’ve got to get her out of here and to Moron as quickly as possible. I don’t care what it takes. Burn the fucking agency to the ground if you have to. I want her in the air in 30 minutes. And find out who the fuck took the contracts.”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “You don’t ask much, do you, Justice?”
My response was a menacing growl before I snapped the phone shut. I didn’t know how long I stood there, my eyes squeezed shut as I tried to process. I was practically crushing the cell phone in my hand when the doctor came back. I stalked to Evie’s bed and hovered over her warily.
“Good news, Mr. Shaw. The lab results came back sooner than expected. There is no sign of bleeding or trauma beyond a very small fracture. No need for surgery, it can be treated with pain medication and rest. I’m clearing her to be transferred.” He looked at me oddly. “I’ve been told to wait on the ultrasound and any other tests. Is this what you want?”
Until Death Do We Part (Sex and Vows #1) Page 11
