by Desiree Holt
“You have my word. See you in the morning.” Then he was gone.
Nancy Quayle moved away from the bed. “You can come sit by her now if you wantn. I’ll be checking her vitals and her IV regularly and giving her meds, but I don’t think you’ll be in my way. Just move when I need you to.”
“Thanks.”
Quinn pulled a chair close to the bed, listening to the beep and whir of the monitors, his eyes following the drip of the life-giving fluids being pumped into Kate’s body. She seemed to be breathing a little easier. Her color hadn’t returned yet, but he knew that was as much from the surgery as the blood loss.
He reached over to the hand that didn’t have anything attached to it and enfolded it in his. Her skin felt icy cold, and he wished he could transfer some of his body heat to her.
Quinn hadn’t felt such murderous rage consuming him for a long time. His first impulse had been to rush out, dig up his old contacts, and run to ground the people who had done this. But he couldn’t tear himself away from Kate. He had some crazy idea that just by holding onto her hand he could infuse life into her, speed the healing process.
The pain that grabbed his heart when he’d seen her on the floor of the garage had not eased. He’d never forget the sight of her, small and crumpled with her blood oozing out of her body. At that moment, he thought he’d died himself. It reminded him too much of another scene four years ago.
But unlike Lisa, Kate was alive, even though she lay broken and bandaged. He couldn’t shake the feeling it was his fault, that bringing her into town had been a big mistake. He should have insisted Jake come out to the house with Dean and Kane and taken care of business there. Then he could have swept Kate off somewhere to a hidey hole until the whole mess blew over.
Some protector he was. He’d told her to trust him, given her his word that he’d take care of her, but so far he was doing a lousy job. If everyone had just taken her story about payoffs in the prosecutor’s office—and elsewhere—a little more seriously.
Damn it to hell anyway.
No more gambling with her life, he promised himself. When he got her out of here he’d tuck her away up in the hills until this was all over, no matter how long that took. He didn’t give a rat’s ass what the Department of Justice wanted. Trading off her life to make their case wasn’t an option.
As he sat and watched her, it shocked him to realize what an intricate part of his life she’d become in just a few short days. Was it love? It was different than what he’d felt for Lisa. But just as good. Maybe because they’d both seen so much tragedy and disaster. He wanted Kate Griffin in his life. Forever. So he’d better take damn good care of her.
Quinn dozed in the chair off and on as activity in the room ebbed and flowed around him. Kate roused once, but only to moan, and Nancy injected more pain medication into the IV.
But as the blackness of night faded to predawn grey, her weak and raspy voice brought him awake at once.
“Quinn?”
He reached for her hand. “I’m here, darlin’. Right beside you.”
“Hurts,” she whimpered.
“I know. I’m so sorry.” He lifted her hand to his lips. “I’m not doing such a hot job taking care of you.”
“Not…you’re fault.” She was struggling to get the words out.
He leaned over and touched his lips to hers. “We can argue about that when you’re back to your old feisty self.”
“Bullet…meant for you.”
He’d hoped she wouldn’t realize that. “I’m too tough to kill.”
“My fault. Brought…danger to you. That’s…why…didn’t want…tell you.”
“Hush. I don’t want to hear that kind of talk.”
She touched his hospital scrub with one finger. “Nice…outfit.”
“I wore it just for you.” His heart turned over that her sense of humor could poke its way through her pain and trauma. “Can I get you something?”
“Water. Mouth…so dry.”
Nancy heard her and was there at once, holding a cup with ice chips and a small plastic spoon. “Feed her little spoonfuls of this, a tiny bit on her tongue so it can wet her mouth. We don’t want to give her actual liquids yet until we’re sure all the anesthesia’s out of her system. Vomiting won’t help her pain. Or the surgeon’s fancy stitch work.”
“Okay.” He took the cup from her.
“The doctor’s going to keep her heavily sedated for a day or two. Apparently they had to do a lot of digging around inside, and she’ll really feel it.”
“Do whatever you have to. I don’t want her in any more pain than necessary.”
Each time she roused, Quinn fed her more ice chips, wiped her forehead, brushed her hair away from her face. Her breathing still seemed labored, but Nancy assured him it was nothing unusual. Despite the heavy medication she was being given, her subconscious was registering the intense level of pain.
At seven, Nancy introduced him to Sharon Langford, the day shift nurse, and the new guards on the door made themselves known as well. Except for Dr. DeWitt, that was the only traffic in and out of the room. David Nolan had been as good as his word.
At eight Jake arrived, freshly groomed, suit and shirt immaculate. But nothing could disguise the heavy circles under his eyes that bespoke a sleepless night. His face was almost as haggard as Quinn’s.
“Breakfast,” he said, holding up a box from Krispy Kreme. In his other hand, he carried a shopping bag, which he handed to Quinn, and a newspaper. “Thought you might like to feel human.”
“What’s this?”
“Razor, soap, change of clothes, stuff like that. Wal-Mart’s finest. Nobody else is open all night. I figured you wouldn’t leave here to go home and change.” He pointed to the patient bathroom in the corner. “You can shower in there. The hospital won’t object. They’re good to go about whatever we want.”
“Thanks.” Quinn ran a hand over the stubble on his jaw. “I didn’t even think about it. Just let me know what I owe you.”
“We’ll worry about that later. Go change. I’ll sit with Kate, then fill you in on where we are.” His face sobered. “And show you a little item in the newspaper that will make you as sick as it did us. It was on the late news last night.”
Quinn froze. “About Kate?”
“Yes and no. Go shower, then we’ll talk.”
Kate was still asleep when Quinn came back into the room, the result of the continuous pain medication, but she seemed to be resting a little easier. He had to admit he felt somewhat better clean-shaven, showered, and dressed in fresh jeans and shirt. But it did nothing for the knot of dread in his stomach anticipating what Jake had to say.
Jake had produced two cups of coffee from somewhere. They carried them with the doughnuts over to the window, away from the bed.
“Okay, give,” Quinn said when they were settled with their food and drink. “What’s in the paper?”
“First of all check the front page of the Metro section,” he said. “Big news when someone shoots at people in a federal building. Especially these days.”
Quinn scanned the article, then threw the paper on the table. “I notice you told them the victim’s condition was unknown. Good move. Maybe they’ll think she’s dying and leave her alone. But your face tells me there’s more.”
Jake turned to page three and handed the section back to Quinn, folded to show an item on the bottom of the page.
“Woman missing,” the headline stated. The article went on to ask if anyone had seen this woman who’d disappeared from the library two days ago and not been seen since then. Her car was still in the city parking lot next door, and no one had heard from her.
“Shit.” Quinn felt sick to his stomach. “Look at her picture. Add the longer hair and the tailored clothes and she could pass for Kate.”
Jake nodded. “That means it didn’t take them long to trace her back to the computer she used. Whoever they sent to check it out must have still been using an old picture of her.
”
Quinn dragged his fingers through his damp hair. “Jesus, Jake. This is getting out of control.”
“It’s unusual for them to do anything that gets this kind of publicity,” Jake pointed out.
“Yeah, but they couldn’t know we’d put it all together. This means we need to take extra precautions where Kate is concerned, because they’re getting more desperate.” He swallowed some of the coffee. “All right. Tell me something good.”
“You should know Kane is seriously pissed that what happened to Kate was because his office apparently sprung a leak. I think he dragged everyone including the secretaries down to the office last night.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. But did you find out anything?”
Jake popped a bite of doughnut into his mouth. “A couple of people remembered Efron Pendera hanging around outside Kane’s office while we were in there on the phone with you. Trying to look casual, they said.”
“Could he hear you talking with the door closed?”
“We weren’t shouting, but those walls aren’t the thickest. If someone listened hard enough he could catch what was being said.” He snorted. “You don’t expect you’ll have to hide from your own staff. From now on we talk in the conference room with white noise in place.”
“So what did this Pendera have to say for himself?”
Jake didn’t answer right away. He put his coffee down on the window sill and stuffed a last bite of doughnut into his mouth.
“Come on,” Quinn prompted. “He’s gotta be the mole. What did he say?”
“Pendera’s dead.”
“What?” Quinn stood up, almost knocking over his coffee. “The hell he is.”
“The cleaning crew found his body in the dumpster behind the justice building when they went to take out the trash early this morning.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly.” Jake tossed back the rest of his coffee, then crumpled the cup and dropped it in the wastebasket.
“Was he shot? DeWitt gave Kane’s messenger the fragments of the bullet he took out of Kate. I don’t think you can tell much about it, but maybe you can get one intact from Pendera’s body and try for a match.”
Jake shook his head. “No such luck. His throat was cut. Nearly severed his head, as a matter of fact.”
“Damn and damn again. What else?”
“It was Pendera’s car the shooter made off in last night. The arrangements had to be made ahead of time. That about seals it that he was on the Osuna payroll.”
“Damn it to hell anyway. Kate was right. Wonder what else he’s fed them?”
“We’ll find out. We’ve pulled his cell phone, office phone, and home phone records. We also got a warrant to search his house. His wife totally collapsed, and her family came to take her away, fortunately, so she didn’t have to deal with that, too. There’s a team out there now.”
“How many people know about Kate?”
Jake looked as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. “It was kind of hard to keep her a secret after last night.”
“That just increases the risk factor where she’s concerned. Hell.” Quinn jammed his hands in his pockets and stared out the window.
“We’re keeping her bottled up tight here, and I know you won’t be more than two inches away from her. We just have to figure out what to do when she can leave.”
“Forget that. I told Kane I’m taking care of that, so you all can just drop it from your minds.”
“I hear you. But Kane insists he wants to take charge. You’ll have to fight it out with him.”
“No fighting. My decision. It’s my fault she got shot to begin with, agreeing to bring her into town. I’m not trusting her safety to anyone else.” He shifted his gaze to a corner of the room. “Not that I’m doing such a fucking good job.”
Jake frowned. “You can’t run with her, Quinn. You know we need to have her available. Kane hasn’t even had a chance to talk to her yet.”
Quinn turned to him so filled with fury that Jake took a step back. “I’m the one who called you, remember? I’m the one who played by the rules here, told her she didn’t have any choice. I’m the one who insisted she come into the city. Look what happened. I’m not risking her life again, so just back off.”
“Don’t be stupid. You’ll never get her out past Kane’s guards.”
“Fine. Then I won’t.” He turned away.
“Ace, don’t get yourself in a jackpot here. I know how you feel—”
Quinn jerked his head up. “No. You don’t. You can’t possibly. So just get the hell out of my face.” He clenched his jaw so hard his bones ached. “I want you to forget we ever had this conversation, okay?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Don’t fight…in sick…room.” Kate’s voice, weak as it was, stopped them cold.
In a flash, Quinn was at her side, touching his lips to her forehead. “Sorry we woke you, darlin’. Just two jerks letting off steam. How do you feel?”
“Like a truck ran over me.” Her voice was still halting but a tiny bit stronger.
“Glad to see you’re back with us, Miss Griffin.” Dr. DeWitt had come into the room unnoticed. He glanced at Jake and Quinn. “Can I have a minute to take a look at my patient?”
Quinn stepped away from the bed while DeWitt and Sharon checked Kate’s wounds and Sharon changed dressings. The doctor pulled her file from the nightstand drawer where it was being kept out of sight, read it, entered some notations, then gave Quinn a tired smile.
“She’s doing quite well, considering all the probing we had to do for the bullet fragments. We’ll get her up for a few minutes later today. That won’t be much fun for her, but I don’t want to leave her lying in bed and risk pneumonia. I’ll check back this afternoon.”
“I’m going to bathe her and change her sheets,” Sharon said after DeWitt left. “How about stepping outside for just a few minutes?”
Quinn was ready to dig in his heels. Jake, obviously deciding to head off an argument, took his friend by the arm.
“Come on. She’s not going anywhere, and she’s safe in here. We can talk out in the hall. Besides, I have some news for you. Maybe it’ll help change your mind about what happens when Kate’s discharged.”
As soon as they were out of the room, Jake walked him to the end of the hall. A ghost of a grin drifted over his mouth as he looked at Quinn. “We cracked the files. I waited to tell you when no one could overhear us.”
“Hot damn.” Quinn smacked a fist into his palm. “So give. What did you find?”
“Only the mother lode—the whole Trans Global corporate structure, just like we hoped. Jesus, you’d think they were a real company the way they did it.”
“This means Kane can proceed to get search warrants against the brothers, right?” Quinn asked.
“Yes, but we’re moving very carefully on this.” Jake’s face looked grim, his lips thin and the hollows deepening in his cheeks. “First. There are three files with a totally different encryption code, so we’re still working on those. Second, if the Osunas could pay off a federal prosecutor, it’s not too big a leap for them to pay off a federal judge. We’re not applying for warrants until we’re sure the judge we go to is one hundred percent clean. Kane’s conferencing with the Attorney General and the FBI Special Agent in Charge before he does anything else.”
“Jake, listen to me.” Quinn felt the note of desperation creeping into his voice. They had to get these people so they couldn’t get to Kate. “As long as we don’t take steps against the Osunas and their people, Kate is still in danger. They can still come after her.”
Jake took a long time answering. “You might as well face the fact that Kate’s going to be in some danger until everything is done and finished. Trial and all, especially if we need her to testify. But we’ll take precautions. That’s why Kane wants to find a safe house. After he talks to her and makes sure he’s not missing something.”
Quinn ground his teeth in frustration. “With al
l due respect, not all safe houses are safe. Tell Kane whatever you want, but no one will know Kate’s whereabouts. He’ll get to talk to her when the doctor okays it. Testifying is still up for discussion.”
Kate was still awake when Sharon called them back into the room, propped up on pillows, pain cutting deep lines in her face.
Quinn looked at Sharon. “I thought she was getting some pretty heavy medication.”
“She is, but I had to move her around a lot to bathe her, and changing the dressings wasn’t much fun for her. I just gave her the next dose. It should start to work in a minute or two.”
“I’ll catch you later,” Jake told Quinn and kissed Kate on the cheek. “Get better, pretty lady.”
Quinn moved the chair back up to the bed, took Kate’s hand again, and began talking to her in low, soothing tones. In seconds, her eyes fluttered closed and she was asleep. The medication kicked in and she was breathing more easily than before. Her color had improved slightly, too.
Sitting for hours in the room, watching the daylight fade to a rosy afternoon glow, then to the gray-to-black of night, Quinn used the time to think about what to do next. He’d been very blunt with Jake. The hell with what the DOJ wanted. Kate’s safety was priority number one, and he would take care of it himself.
He needed to do this. To make up for what had already happened, something he continued to blame himself for. In retrospect, going to Jake had been a mistake. He should have figured out a different way to go after what he needed and maybe Kate wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed. To keep her safe he’d have to get everyone out of the loop as fast as he could.
By late afternoon he had a glimmer of an idea. First, he needed to make sure Kate was a lot stronger. Then he’d make a telephone call and see if he could set things up.
****
Five days had passed since the surgery. All the monitors had been disconnected and removed and DeWitt had switched her from intravenous to oral medications.
That first day, when they’d gotten her out of bed, she gritted her teeth and broke out in a sweat. The second time was easier. Now, she could actually walk without looking like she was going to pass out.
