Assignment: Second Chances

by Honor James

  “Why would she need a shirt?” Jacobs asked.

  Meeting her eyes, Gordon rolled his own. “We were in the middle of something when we were rudely interrupted. Not sure where the hell that shot came from, but whoever it was has talent. Not as much as Markham obviously since she’s still alive and bitching at us, but there’s nothing directly in line of sight with these windows.”

  “One of the reasons I took the place,” Jacobs muttered. “But there is a building about five hundred yards out that, if you were skilled enough, you could make a shot into those windows from. Only at certain times of the day though, otherwise you’re working against various reflections. Son of a bitch. Drive faster, Cutter!”

  The buzzer sounded just then. “Crap, I think the medics have arrived.” And he’d have to stand up to answer the buzzer too. Lovely. “Olivia, keep Lee calm so he doesn’t get it in his head to murder me when we next see one another. I need to go and pretend I’m not a target while getting the door.”

  “A target?” Olivia’s hand tightened on his. “No, if you are going to get hurt, no. Lee, tell him no.” He could see the panic clear in her eyes. “You just got into my life and I’m not letting you out that easily. I mean it.” There was more in her voice than just the words were giving away. “Just tell them to break the door. Lee will replace it, but please, no. I can’t lose you.” She was starting to freak out just a bit more as she spoke.

  “They can’t get in the building unless I press the release, Olivia,” Gordon told her quietly. “I’ll be fine. You need to trust me. Stay right here, and I’ll be back in no time at all. I swear it,” he whispered. Leaning in, he kissed her lips gently. Then before he changed his mind, he rolled away and shimmied across the floor fast. Sitting behind a wall, he looked toward the buzzer and then at the windows. He let out a muttered curse before he pushed up the wall to his feet.

  Taking a breath, he darted over to the door and the buzzer. He hit the release for the downstairs door and unlocked the condo door at the same time. A tickle on the back of his neck had him throwing himself down a second before a bullet smacked into the door. “Son of a fucking bitch. I am going to kill this asshole.” Rolling over, he shimmied back to Olivia and settled in at her side again. “The shooter’s still up there. Fucker just tried to blow my head off.”

  “We’re five, six minutes out at most. Are the EMT’s there?”

  “Not yet, but I let them in the building. I don’t think this guy can see us on the floor. He had a couple of seconds there he could have gotten me, but he didn’t take a shot until I stood up.”

  “Warn them when they get up there. We don’t need dead EMT’s on the doorstep.”

  “Why are they doing this?” Olivia asked both Jacobs and Gordon. “I don’t like this. I’m so over being hunted down. I want this son of a bastard.” There was a frown on her face. “Bitch. Son of a bitch.” She corrected herself. “Lee, where are you? I need you.” Her voice was waning and her eyes closing again, which had Nathan moving in closer to her again, his hand on her cheek once more. “I don’t like hurting like this. I’m so over pain. Unless you are spanking me, that I liked. A lot.” Her eyes opened and looked up at him as she spoke.

  “Plenty of spankings in the future,” he told her. “Jacobs is close, sweetheart. Stay nice and still, we’ll get you out of here and to the hospital soon.” A knock on the door had him whipping around. “Stay low, there’s an active shooter outside who can see into this place. You need to stay as close to the floor as you can.”

  “No one said anything about a shooter,” one of them said. But a minute later two EMT’s belly-crawled toward them, pushing their bags ahead of them. “What do we have?”

  “Gunshot wound to her upper shoulder, through and through. She was thrown off the sofa, hitting her head on the coffee table on the way down. She fell unconscious for about five minutes before I was able to wake her up. I stopped the blood flow with our shirts, but there is a bit of blood from the head wound.”

  One of the EMTs wiggled around Gordon to get at Olivia’s head. “Miss, do you know where you are?”

  “I’m lying on the floor of one of the men that I love’s house.” She let her eyes drift closed once more. “Goodness, this sucks. I don’t like gunshots. At all. I can’t take codeine and I’m allergic to latex.” She winced when the EMT who was looking at her shoulder jerked back. “Yeah, sucks I know. Sorry.” She looked up at Gordon again. “Tell Lee to get home, now. I want him to find this asshole.”

  “We’re pulling up right now, Vi.” Jacobs’s voice came through the still open phone line. “Markham’s heading out to hunt this asshole down with Cutter and Michael. I’m coming upstairs, so don’t fucking shoot me, Gordon.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” he muttered. Reaching over, he ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. “He’s coming now, sweetheart. Just do whatever the EMTs say, and know I’m right here.”

  Both of the EMTs had switched out their gloves and were back to looking her over. One was probing her head wound, while the other was peering under his makeshift bandage at her shoulder wound.

  “Bleeding has pretty much stopped on the shoulder,” the one said.

  “Minimal bleeding on the scalp wound. Looks like a few stitches are needed, but it’s mostly superficial. Concussion is a worry though, and we’ll need to alert them they’ll need to do a scan to check for internal bleeding.”

  “Setting up the IV now,” the first said. “Are you allergic to morphine, miss?”

  “No, not that I know of.” Her voice was getting a little sluggish, which worried Gordon. “I’m good, just hurt.” She squeezed his hand once more. “I think that I am more angry because we were interrupted than anything else,” she grumbled.

  Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her fingers lightly. A noise at the door had his head whipping around, but it was only Jacobs belly-crawling into the room. He moved in closer to them. Gordon eased out of the way, and Jacobs slid up into the spot he’d vacated.

  “Hey, love,” Jacobs whispered to Olivia. Tracing a finger down her cheek, he leaned in to kiss her gently. “How are you doing, little one?”

  “Feeling much better now.” Her voice sounded slightly drugged. “I think that they just gave me some lovely morphine for the pain. If I fall asleep on you, it’s so not my fault.” She was teasing Jacobs, something Gordon was happy about because it kept him calm and centered on her instead of tearing off someone’s head who was trying to help. “When this is all over can we please all take a vacation?”

  “Anywhere you want to go, Vi,” he told her.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket. Digging it out, he frowned at the screen and wiggled a little further away from the group on the floor so he wouldn’t interrupt them. “Yeah?” he said.

  “You’re still alive. Odd.”

  Rolling his eyes at Markham’s greeting, Gordon wiggled behind a wall. “He’s otherwise occupied right now.”

  “So I can see.”

  “Wait. What? You can see them?” he hissed out.

  “Yep. Don’t worry, I’m in a different spot than where your shooter likely is. Given the angle and what everyone’s said so far, he, or she’s lower than I am. I’m also farther out. The other factor to determining that is the fact they only shot when they had a visual of you above the window sills.”

  Gordon peeked around the wall and looked at the two spots. “Correct on both. Olivia was kneeling up on the sofa for the first shot, and I was up on my feet to unlock the door.”

  “Interesting,” the sniper purred in his ear.

  Part of him said “Don’t ask.” Another part said, “You totally want to know, so ask.” Flipping it around in his head, he finally decided to ask, “What’s interesting, Markham?”

  “Well, the laws of physics don’t work for both shots from the same building. Despite some of what Hollywood claims, it can’t be done from that singular spot. Hold on, need to get Michael in on this call.”

  “Holding,
” he muttered. Peeking around the wall to where the EMTs were, they looked ready to roll. Covering the mouthpiece, he whistled for Jacobs. “Keep below the window sills and you’re good to move.”

  Jacobs looked to the EMTs, and they had a small conference. Then Jacobs belly-crawled out into the hallway where he moved to collect the gurney they’d brought, dropping it down to its lowest setting. He gave it a push ahead of him as he shimmied back into the room.

  “Tell them to stay low,” Markham said in his ear.

  Uncovering the phone, he flipped the windows the bird. “No shit, Sherlock. What’s going on out there?”

  “Two shooters,” he said.

  “Fucking hell.” Like their day wasn’t bad enough already.

  “First one wasn’t so good on the other end of the rifle. Good for Olivia, bad for the shooter. The second though had a bead on you, and if not for your sense of self-preservation and years on the battlefield, you would have lost your head.”

  “I felt that fucker breeze past when I threw myself down. It was closer than I’d like, especially since this isn’t a war zone.”

  “It is today, my friend. I have Cutter proceeding up to the roof of one building, and Michael’s working his way up to where I’ve calculated the other shooter likely had his or her perch. At a guess they are probably both gone, but we can’t chance anyone leaving the building until we’re sure.”

  “Are the cops on scene?”

  “Yup. They are moving the ambulance into a better position to keep Olivia out of sight as much as possible while being loaded. There’s still a two-second gap though I don’t like.”

  “For you, or for the other shooters?”

  “For anyone,” Markham muttered. “Don’t let them take her out of the building until I give you the all clear.”

  “Copy that,” he said. The EMTs and Jacobs were wheeling Olivia toward the door at a slow and steady pace. Hanging up, he slid his phone into a pocket and moved to join them, bringing Jacobs up to speed.

  “We’ll stay in the lobby until Markham gives us the clear. No one moves until we get the word to go,” he said for the benefit of the EMTs. They nodded as everyone got to their feet in the hall, and pulled the gurney up to its top height. Jacobs locked the door, and they all made the journey to the elevator.

  “You thinking what I’m thinking?” Jacobs asked him.

  Nodding, he kept his lips sealed in front of the EMTs. Yeah, he was thinking the same thing. Phyllis’s boy toy didn’t like her being distracted by her revenge on Olivia. So he’d hired, or asked for some help to eliminate Olivia, and any other obstacles. Only it wasn’t going their way so far. If he was in that position he’d be waiting for a chance to pick Olivia off once and for all downstairs. Close by, not at a longshot, and using the guy he’d hired if at all possible. There wouldn’t have been names used. Cash would have been the only form of payment. And the other guy would be fully expendable. With no info and no money trail even if he said he’d been hired, there was no proof.

  “So you haven’t been able to catch him have you?” Olivia asked. It was clear that she was fighting the drugs in her system with the way that her words slurred. Gordon turned so that he could move closer to Olivia and touched his fingers to her cheek. “That’s why we are here in the foyer or, what do you call this place?” Her mind was clearly confused. “Look, they have paintings on the ceiling.” He had to smile at her jumping topics as she was.

  Turning his head, he squinted up at the ceiling. “Huh, they do at that. I didn’t notice that before. Very Sistine Chapel I have to say in process, but definitely not as good looking.” Looking back at her, he smiled. “We’re just going to wait here in the lobby until we get the all-clear.”

  “I’ve never seen the Sistine Chapel. Can we see it one day?” Her voice was wavering in and out of wakefulness. “If so, think they will let us get married there? You guys will one day maybe ask me to marry you, right? Maybe one day in the future when you figure out you love me as much as I think I might love you?”

  “I doubt we’ll be able to talk them into letting us hold anything in the Sistine, sweetheart. But I’m sure we can at least ask so that you know the very definite answer. For the moment try to rest, sweetheart. You are very weird on morphine, Olivia.”

  “You have no idea,” Jacobs said. “She’s only getting warmed up, and they didn’t give her all that much. Wait until she gets a full dose.”

  “Lee is so funny.” Olivia’s giggle was cut off by a moan of pain. “Ouch, pain hurts. I don’t like it. I do like morphine though. No wait, I don’t like it,” she said with a frown now. “It makes me tell the truth and I can’t make it stop. You weren’t supposed to know that I love you because you aren’t ready for that yet. Lee knows I love him, I won’t even tell his middle name and if that isn’t love I don’t know what is.” She giggled. “He’s so good. You are too.”

  “Loosens her tongue, I take it?”

  “To say the least. Though she somehow remembers never to divulge my middle name. It’s odd. Most things she’ll blurt it right out without any care at all to the effects of her sudden talkativeness, and yet she stays mum on the name. I’ve never quite figured out how she does it,” Jacobs said. “Only down side is she’s going to be a raving angry person when she comes down. She always ends up with a brutal fucking headache.”

  “Geez,” Gordon said. He looked down at her then and shook his head. “Sorry for that part of this trip, Olivia.” Brushing some of her hair back lightly, he smiled down at her.

  “It’s okay, Lee gives me these headache pills and then he massages my feet and head and it makes it all okay. I am not a happy person though.” She looked up at him once more and reached out to touch Gordon’s cheek. “You are so pretty. No, not pretty. You are super handsome. Its only one of the things I love about you. That and then when you do that one thing with your tongue. So good.”

  Gordon felt his cheeks warming up as everyone there turned to look his way. Glancing up he gave a shrug. “I can tie a cherry stem into a knot. She thinks it’s hilarious,” he said. Jacobs wasn’t buying it, which was fine, but at least the EMTs didn’t appear to know for sure, so they let it drop. “You really do like sharing all sorts of secrets, don’t you? Why can’t you share the one everyone on the team is dying to know, Olivia? Come on, you can tell Nathan anything. What’s Jacobs’s middle name?”

  “Nope, not telling.” Olivia’s laugh was there once more. “I will, however, tell you that he’s got it on one ID that I know of, only one though. I only know it because of going through his pants a bunch of years ago.” She snorted and then winced. “Oh, do you know that he has this one thing that he can do with his coc—” Gordon watched Jacobs cover her mouth with his hand and felt as if he had missed something important with whatever she was going to say.

  Lifting his gaze to the other man, he cocked a brow. “Oh really? Well we’ll talk later while good old Lee is otherwise occupied and you’re feeling chatty. Thanks for the tip about the ID though. That helps greatly in my search for the truth about him.” His phone rang then, and given the look in Jacobs’s eyes, saved him from something painful. “What’s going on?”

  “Rooftops and buildings are both clear. Michael and Cutter are coming to you to move you out. Their entire focus will be on anyone hanging around. You two get her into the ambulance and moving.”

  “Copy that.” Hanging up, Gordon slipped the phone into his pocket again. “Couple more minutes and then we’re off for a ride to the hospital, sweetheart.”

  “Good, because I think I’m ready to go to sleep and I’m afraid that if I do go to sleep, Lee’s going to be very upset with everyone around us. I don’t want him to be all worried, but I’m so tired. Can I sleep yet, please?” This time she looked to the EMTs in question.

  “No ma’am, you need to keep talking a little longer. At least until we get to the hospital and you can answer some of the doctor’s questions.”

  Gordon snickered at the look she gave th
e EMT. The poor guy was likely thankful she was strapped down and higher than a kite. “It’s okay, sweetheart. We’ll keep you company on the ride. Okay, one of us will keep you company on the ride,” he said when the EMT lifted a single finger. “Lee’s going to ride with you, and I will meet you there as soon as I can.” Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her lips lightly.

  “Time to move,” Michael’s voice interrupted them.

  “See you soon, Olivia,” he told her a moment before the EMTs started pushing the gurney toward the doors.

  The last thing that he heard from Olivia was a complaint, with pure hurt in her tone. “He didn’t tell me that he loved me. I told him, didn’t I? Lee did I tell him yet? It’s all fuzzy.” And then they were gone.

  Flinching at her words, he let out a sigh as he followed them out the doors.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Quit fidgeting, Vi,” Lee told her quietly. “He’ll be in here soon enough and you can pose your questions to him. The doctor said for you to stay still. I thought you were tired, little one. Why aren’t you sleeping, love?”

  “I am exhausted.” She thankfully only had to have stitches in her shoulder and a few staples as well as stitches in her head. Her head hurt like hell, but she would survive. “I’m ready to go home. I hate that they are going to keep me though.” Overnight, the doctors insisted because she lost consciousness when she hit her head. “I just want to go home. I know that I’m whining, but I hate hospitals. I hate the smells and the memories that they bring back.” Her time spent with her son in the hospital was some of the worst times of her life.

  Lifting her hand, he settled on the edge of the bed and held her hand in his lap. “I know,” he said softly. He was stroking the backs of her fingers with his thumb. “But it’s a precaution, one I completely support, I should mention, so we’re going to tough it out. Gordon and I will be here the entire night with you. You need anything, you just say the word. When tomorrow comes we’ll get the all-clear from the doc, and then we’ll take you home where you can really rest.”