by Lori King
Her nails bit into his nape, and she made mewling sounds. She moved, her leg hit his. He hissed in pain.
“David?”
“It’s nothing.”
Little nurse arched back from him. Reluctantly, he loosened his grip on her butt and stroked.
“Stop that, I can’t think,” she protested.
“Who asked you to?”
She pushed out of his arms so she was sitting alone on the bench seat beside him. “What’s wrong with your leg?”
“It’s bruised.”
“What happened?”
“Falling debris from the earthquake. I’m fine. It’s better than it was.”
“Let me look at it when we get to the clinic.”
“Honey, I don’t have time. It really is fine. I’ve been clearing debris for the last two days, and it hasn’t gotten worse.”
She gave him a considering look. “Okay. But when we’re alone together, I’m going to examine it.”
“When we’re alone together, there are other parts of my body I would prefer you examine.”
She laughed and hit his shoulder. “I like you, David Sloane.” She kissed his chin. “I think when I’m examining your cock, I can manage to examine your thigh as well.”
Pulling her into his arms, he kissed the tip of her nose. “As long as you realize which one takes priority.” He buckled them up and started the truck.
5
“Where is he?” David asked again, his voice low, deadly.
The man who had been slouched at the break table shot up and saluted.
“He left yesterday after you and the governor did, we haven’t heard from him since.”
“Bring every other officer in this building, and have them in the warden’s office in three minutes.
“But the warden’s office is locked,” the man protested.
“It won’t be for long.”
David turned and walked down the hallway and up the stairs back to the warden’s office. The damn building felt like a ghost town. It had taken him ten minutes to find the one ass clown in the break room.
The administrative building, which was separate from the rest of the prison, was still intact after the earthquake. For fuck’s sake, the guard at the gate had let David in, believing him when he had shown his military ID. At least the fencing around the perimeter was back up. There were also armed guards in the two towers that were still standing, but he hadn’t seen anyone walking the prison yard.
When he got to the door of the warden’s office, he saw a man standing outside looking as pissed off as David was feeling. He looked up when he heard David arrive.
“Don’t bother knocking, he’s not here.”
“I know.” David gave the door a considering look. Damn it. It would normally be a piece of cake if his leg wasn’t still bothering him. Still. He was sick of this shit. He braced and lifted his leg and kicked. Fuck! That hurt. But the door gave way, and he strode through into the office.
“Guess you wanted in.” The man chuckled.
“Guess so. David turned on the light, strode around the desk, and started opening desk drawers. Every single one of them was unlocked. For this alone, the man needed to be fired. “Why are you here?”
“To quit.”
“Why?”
“It’s wrong just to leave a job. My supervisor isn’t here. So I was going to tell the warden.”
Interesting.
“Yeah, but why do you want to quit?”
“Because the warden and his men are useless,” he said vehemently.
“Don’t quit just yet. I need your help.” David found the drawer with the personnel files. He found the warden’s phone number, as well as the numbers of the five men who reported directly to him. He started with the warden. He didn’t get an answer. It wasn’t until he made his fourth call that somebody picked up.
“This is David Sloane. I’ve been appointed by the lieutenant governor to take over the apprehension of the escaped prisoners. I’m here at the prison. Where are you?”
The line went dead.
“You’re here to help?” the man in the office asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m Joaquin Morales. It was my day off when the earthquake hit, but normally I worked on the cellblock where most of the men escaped. We have to find them,” he said urgently. “They can’t be left on the loose.” He slapped his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “The warden has been doing nothing to find them. Those men are vicious. People will end up dead. Women aren’t safe.”
“Are there are others like you who feel this way?”
“Yes,” he said excitedly. “And not just other guards here at the prison either. I’m leaving to lead a manhunt.”
“Joaquin, it is a pleasure to meet you. I can arrange things like cell phones, additional vehicles, as well as some members of the police who can be trusted.”
“I have eight men.”
“Now that I know the warden, and many of his men aren’t going to be of any use let’s see who is. Gather your team, and bring them back here. I’ll call in the officers who will join the hunt. I also know someone else who can get us some volunteers.”
He punched in Carmen’s number.
* * *
Everybody in the prison yard was sweating, but Bernardo had to be the worst. Finding out your warden had left the country, probably with a bag of drug money, would do that to a lieutenant governor.
“Captain Sloane is in charge of the manhunt.” Bernardo grabbed his arm and held it above his head. “I have just promoted Luis Martinez to Warden. He is now in charge of the prison. Bernardo held Luis’ arm above his head. It was like they had all won a championship. The gathered men cheered.
David looked around, he had five teams of eight men.
He’d given them their orders. David worked with the two team leaders of each team. In his gut, he believed many of the convicts were going to be trying to get to the docks, so he put one of the teams there. The rural area was huge, so he put two of the teams in charge of checking the countryside. One team patrolled San Marcos, and one team patrolled the small towns.
“I want you to check in every hour. Our teams will be working in two twelve hours shifts. The first shift will work with me. The second shift will work with Joaquin. Remember they took weapons from the armory, so we need to consider all of these men armed and dangerous. Joaquin, you and your second shift leaders and men need to go and rest, you will take over in twelve hours.”
“I’m good to go now,” one man who was part of the second shift said.
“We are doing this by the rulebook,” Joaquin said swiftly. “Go home and rest. Your turn will come.”
Yep, he’d done the right thing putting Joaquin in charge. David turned to Luis. “Will you be ready when we bring in these assholes?”
Their eyes turned towards construction workers who were maneuvering a steel beam into place on part of the collapsed prison. Even now, a lot of the current prisoners were living four in a cell, instead of the normal two.
“I don’t care if I have to chain them to a stake in the prison yard, I’ll figure out a way to keep them in place when you bring them to me,” Luis growled.
David had read over the files of the escaped convicts, and the idea of Hector Salazar with a steel collar around his neck was very appealing. Luis must have read his mind.
“David, you know some of them have already hurt people.”
His teeth hurt as he ground them together. Deep in his gut, he knew that somewhere out there were one or more people in their clutches, and it killed him that they hadn’t been looking for these monsters yesterday.
“I know, Luis.”
“You’re going to get them. I trust you.”
“Damn right we will.”
* * *
David had gone with one of the teams into the Las Flores countryside. They had passed a cluster of homes, knocked on each door, and came up empty. An old man at the last house had told them where some other ou
tlying homes were, so the team split up to check them out. David took a young man named Manuel to go with him. Hell, he couldn’t be more than eighteen.
Talk about off the beaten path. It seemed like these people wanted to hide from everyone.
“They probably grow marijuana,” Manuel said to David’s unasked question. It made sense. Even if there weren’t prisoners lurking about, chances were the owners of the little homestead weren’t going to be happy to have them knocking on their door.
“Let me go first,” David said. “You stay back.” Smoke curled out of the chimney, and chickens pecked in the front yard, but there were no other signs of activity.
He knocked on the door and waited. Finally, a woman answered. She only opened the door a fraction before demanding to know what he wanted. He explained about the escaped prisoners and asked if she had seen anything. She looked like she was in pain, but she said in a loud voice, that she hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary.
He didn’t believe her for even a second. Fear practically seeped from her pores.
“Lady, can I have some water?”
“No. Go away.” Her eyes pleaded with him. His neck crawled. He was being watched, and it wasn’t Manuel.
“Do you have a cell phone?”
She nodded. He’d been astounded to find out how many people in the rural areas had cell phones, but Bernardo had assured him it was normal. They might not have indoor toilets, but they had cell phones.
“Good. If you see something. Anything. Call the police.” She slammed the door. David walked back to Manuel. “This was a waste of our time. Let’s go,” he said loudly enough for anyone in the house to hear.
He waited until they walked over the rise before taking out his phone and calling the others on the team. He told them where to meet. Then he told Manuel to wait for them, while he circled back through the trees to get another look with his binoculars at the little farmhouse.
There was a small stable, and he saw a horse and a mule. Then he saw something yellow near the foot of the mule. He adjusted the lens. It was a yellow shirt. Dammit, it was a body. Adjusting the lens again, he could make out bloating. The man had been dead for at least two days.
He looked around the backyard, and saw more chickens, then he lifted the glasses so that he could look into the small house. Good, it was a clear view into the kitchen. The woman was not in sight, but he could see a toddler on the floor. The three men seated at the table had on prison uniforms. He swung the binoculars back to the baby and sucked down bile. There was no way one of the men was related to that little boy, not with how scared that woman had been. No, this was a hostage situation.
The woman came into view. She was carrying something, and she put it on the table. One of the men grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap. She struggled. Don’t lady. Just do what they want. Help is on the way. Another man pulled out a knife and laughed. He pierced the tabletop with it. The woman stopped struggling. They all laughed.
David double checked that his phone was on vibrate, and called the team leader.
“Follow the GPS to my phone. Do not make any noise. A woman and baby depend on us.” He hung up. Damn, he needed a plan. Where he was situated was about one hundred yards from the kitchen window. Could he make the head shots? If he got closer, sure. But not before one of them grabbed the knife and a hostage. They needed a diversion.
His team arrived. He gave them credit, for four men, they were incredibly quiet.
“I’m a sharpshooter,” an older man said quietly as he stepped forward. He was holding a well-cared for rifle. He had binoculars hanging around his neck, and it was clear that he had already assessed the situation. David liked him.
He motioned for all the men to huddle in close.
“I see three men in the kitchen, but for all we know, there could be more. There is a dead civilian in the stables and a woman and child in the kitchen. We need a diversion.”
“Drugs,” Manuel said flatly. The team leader nodded.
“Explain,” David demanded.
“I saw marijuana plants as we came over here. It’s clear that’s what they grow here. Someone pretends to come to the house as a buyer with money. All of their attention will definitely be on the supposed money, not on the woman or the kid.”
“Good plan. If at least two men show up at the front, that will force two men to go there, while some of us could go to the back and get the baby and the woman.” David nodded, he liked the idea. He turned to the older man with the rifle.
“You’ll stay up here. You take out anyone who moves wrong.” The man smiled, showing two missing teeth.
These men, who he had just met, were impressive. The team leader and another one walked up to the front, while David and Manuel crawled down the hill, taking cover in the long grass and shrubs. When they made it to the stable, they stayed still. The sharpshooter would be able to see everything, and he would tell them when to move across the backyard toward the kitchen door.
Yelling pierced the quiet. It was the team leader, and David assumed a convict. He could make out the words drugs and money. Then a shot rang out. He pushed Manuel out of the stable, and the two of them ran toward the kitchen door. Another shot rang out. A baby started to cry. David stumbled, and Manuel grabbed his arm, heaving him up. Goddamn, leg.
“Kitchen! Go! Now!” It was the sharpshooter. David plowed through the door of the kitchen. One of the men who had been sitting at the table had a knife in his hand and was reaching for the baby. As one entity, David and Manuel tackled the man. Ice. Fire. Pain. Why wouldn’t his arm move to hit the guy? Other hand. He pulled back and slammed his fist into the fucker’s mouth. Crunch.
“You’re bleeding.”
“Baby. Get the baby,” David wheezed.
Another shot.
God, he hurt. He tried to roll over and groaned.
6
“He saved them,” Manuel said for the third time in three minutes.
“We all saved them,” David corrected again, biting back a wave of nausea.
His phone vibrated, and he tried to answer it.
“Don’t move,” Sarah’s voice was strident. He looked up at her, and she looked as sick as he felt. A nurse shouldn’t get sick at the sight of blood. He tried to switch the phone to his other hand.
“Goddammit, I said don’t move.”
“I have to take this call.”
“Manuel, take his phone and answer it. I need to finish stitching him up.” Manuel gave him a pleading look, and David gave the young man his phone.
“Sarah, I’m coordinating things for the next four hours. I need to take those calls,” he attempted to explain. When had he ever thought she was hesitant and unsure? This was a woman who would punch you in the nose and feed you your nuts.
“Manuel, call Joaquin and tell him we ran into a bit of a snag, and he’ll have to take over a little earlier than anticipated.” The kid saluted and then pushed past the curtain to let himself out of the little treatment area in the clinic. There was a curtain because half of the wall was missing.
“Sarah, it’s not that big of a deal,” he started.
“I’m the one who is now tying up your twenty-seventh stitch. I’m going to say this is a big deal,” she said too quietly.
Enough. He’d had enough. “Are you done?”
She threw the tools into a stainless steel pan. “Yes, I’m done.”
His right shoulder and chest hurt, so with his left hand he picked up her right hand. He held it up in front of their faces. “Your bruised knuckles are also a big deal.”
“It’s not the same thing at all, you could have been killed,” her voice trembled.
Ah, God. Such pain in her voice, and he couldn’t even tell her it was going to be all right, because this was a terrible situation, and he didn’t know what was going to happen next. He knew this was her worst fear.
“I wasn’t. Nor do I intend to be. I’m sorry I scared you.” He brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them
.
“Don’t try to charm me.”
“Would it work?”
She sighed. “Maybe. Probably. That’s why I don’t want you to try. This is too important. You scared the hell out of me. I know you didn’t mean to, but you did.”
David closed his eyes. Then popped them open. “Whoa. What did you give me?”
“I gave you a shot for the pain.”
“Honey, I need to keep it together. I’m in charge of this manhunt.”
“No, you’re not. You just put Joaquin in charge. Which as luck would have it, finally dovetails with the end of my shift. So let’s get back to the hotel.”
Not that they’d be able to do anything with the horse tranquilizer she shot him with. What the fuck?
“It wasn’t a horse tranquilizer.”
“Did I say that out loud?”
“Clear as a bell.” She helped him off the exam table. She helped him step over the uneven floor on the way to the door. They found Manuel in front of the clinic.
“Did you call Joaquin?” David asked.
“Yes. He wanted me to tell you that he would call you tomorrow. I stayed so I could drive you to your hotel.”
“Could you drive both of us? He was my ride this morning.” David watched as Manuel smiled brightly at Sarah. Of course, he would. What man wouldn’t?
“Yes, ma’am. I would be happy to.”
David settled into the backseat. He tried to focus on the conversation going on between Sarah and Manuel, but he couldn’t. He was too damn tired.
* * *
The phone was ringing, and he groaned in pain. He moved to find it.
“Stop! I’ll get it.” The bedside lamp turned on, and he got a tasty view of Sarah in his T-shirt as she reached over the side of the bed and groped for his phone. It must have been in his pants.
She handed it to him. Before he could even say hello, Joaquin started talking. He threw off the covers and was standing beside the bed. The pain only mattered because it slowed him down.
