Dave turned to look at his friend. They exchanged a look that spoke of the bond Castello had made with all the Edgars, his adopted family. The Marshall was wrong. He would be missed. The decision made, Dave swallowed hard and nodded, before fixing his gaze back on her.
Slowly, Dave slid his hands from the glass. Shoulders slumped, he turned and followed the others down the hall, hitting the exit to the ER doors at a jog. As soon as it closed behind him a sob escaped her.
“Judy. Did Wilkes say anything to you about the bomb?”
She shook her head. She was going to die.
“Judy, look at me.”
Castello’s deep commanding voice penetrated the pain inside her. She dashed the tears out of her eyes and raised her gaze to meet his. “You need to find someplace safe, Frank.”
Lips set in a thin, determined line, he shook his head. “Not happening. I promised your husband. What I need is for you to think. Did Wilkes say anything about the bomb or a code?”
She shook her head, trying to remember. “No, all he talked about was wanting justice for his wife and child’s death.”
“Did he give you their names?”
Dave’s words hit her. I love you, babe. You are my life. You are the most important thing in it. I can’t leave you to do this alone. Dave would do anything for her, anything in his power to protect her. Would Wilkes do the same?
“Betsy. Her name was Betsy.”
Five buttons, five letters.
“B-E-T-S-Y.” She counted the letters on her hand and looked hopefully at Castello. “Do you think he used her name as the code? Could it be that simple?”
He gave her a half shrug. “It’s as good a clue as we have.”
She looked at the timer. Forty-eight seconds. Forty-seven.
“What if it’s not right?”
“You’ve got to try it. It’s the only chance we have.”
She reached out to the cell phone, her fingers shaking as they hovered right over the keyboard.
Chapter Six
Three feet. That’s as far as Dave made it past the ER doors before his legs gave out. He sank against the brick wall of the ambulance bay, despair gripping him like a vise, squeezing all the air out of his lungs.
“Dave, we’ve got to move a little farther,” Matt said, grabbing him by the elbow.
“No,” was all he managed to get out around the huge hole inside him.
Matt put his hands up in a submissive fashion. “You made a promise to Judy. Do you want to break it by having half the building coming down on you?”
“What’s one more?”
“One more building?”
“No, one more fucking promise!” He surged off the wall, hands clenched. God he wanted to plant his fist into something. He eyed the opening to the parking garage across the street where the senator’s entourage stood beneath the awning—surrounding the bastard, their umbrellas keeping the sleet off him—and started toward them.
“Whoa! You don’t want to do that.” Jake grabbed his arm and spun him around, ducking at the punch he threw his way.
“Let go of me, Carlisle,” he growled and his sister’s husband let him go, but when he turned, sweet Katie stood in his way.
“What other promises have you broken to her?” she asked quietly, taking some of the anger out of him.
“You know, the one that said I’d always protect her? How much time?” He dragged his hands over his face then looked at his other brother. “How. Much. Time. Until the love of my life is blown all to hell?”
Luke looked at his watch, his face growing intensely serious, a rarity for the fun-loving geek. He raised tear-rimmed eyes full of pity. “Forty-five seconds.”
“Oh, God.” He doubled over as if someone had gut-slammed him. Staring at the ice-covered asphalt between his feet, Judy’s tear-streaked face begging him to leave was all he saw.
“Thirty seconds.”
The image shifted to the first time they’d made love. Her eyes staring up at him, trusting him to make it right for both of them. A virgin still, she’d been so scared. He’d been barely past the stage himself and so worried she’d be disappointed in him, so afraid he’d hurt her. In the end she’d been the one to take him over the edge. They’d laughed afterwards, snuggled and repeated the performance, just to be sure we get it right, she’d said.
“Fifteen seconds.”
Another vision flashed in his eyes. The doors to the church opening. There she stood, hand resting on her father’s arm, her eyes shining with joy. To think he’d placed that joy on her face. The church and all the people stuffed inside fell away. There was only Judy. His past, his future, his life. He focused on her beautiful smile and shining eyes.
“Five seconds.”
Hands settled on him. Matt’s. Luke’s. Katie’s. Jake’s. His family surrounding him.
“Four.”
Judy all alone.
“Three.”
Judy alone.
“Two.”
Judy.
“One.”
He braced for the impact.
Nothing.
Slowly he raised his eyes. “What happened?”
“Nothing!” Katie said, tears streaming down her face.
“Are you sure you had the timing right?” he turned to Luke.
“Positive, Dave. I wouldn’t do that to you,” he said, wiping at his tears, shaking his head.
Suddenly the doors in front of them flew open. Castello stood in the center. “She did it! Dave, she disarmed the motherfucker!”
Relief surged through him. His legs no longer able to hold him, he sank to his knees.
Luke, Matt and Katie were hugging him, Jake pounding him on the back. He heard their joy, but he wouldn’t be happy until he had Judy back in his arms, safe and sound.
Movement came from his left as hospital personnel, cops and several of the senator’s men ran towards the door.
Castello held out his gun, freezing them in their tracks. “Stop right there.”
“You have no right to keep us out,” a young officer said.
“We have to get to the senator’s son.” A tall, bald man tried to push his way forward.
“You heard the man, no one goes in,” the police lieutenant stepped between them, facing the crowd, hand on the butt of his own weapon. He nodded to the back of the crowd at Jake. “No one except Agent Carlisle and his team.”
This seemed to ease some of the crowd, who moved back to open a path for Dave. Surging to his feet, he started toward the door, moving past the policeman and Castello.
Judy is alive. Judy is alive.
The words rang through his body like a hymn. He had to get to her. Had to see her for himself. Picking up speed with each step, he hit the hallway at a dead run.
“Dave!” Castello yelled his name.
He kept running.
Five feet from the double doors, two sets of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and hauled him backwards.
“What the hell?” He jerked, trying to get free, but Matt and Frank held him tight.
“The doors are still wired,” Matt said on his left. The firm words cut through the haze and focused him on the situation.
Oh, shit! He’d forgotten. In his relief that the bomb hadn’t gone off and his haste to see Judy again, he’d nearly triggered the door wires—would have, too, if Castello and Matt hadn’t stopped him.
He doubled over on his knees and sucked in air.
Calm down. Think. Get it together, Edgars.
His pulse and breathing back to normal, he straightened and looked through the windows into the OR hallway. No sign of Judy.
“Where is she?”
“Said she had to go help save the senator’s son,” Castello said. “The others were still doing surgery when she plugged in the code.”
“What was it?”
“His wife’s name.”
For once he could empathize with the bastard. Judy meant the world to him and he’d want revenge on someone who woul
d take her from him—had planned to take him out for even threatening her. Lucky for this guy she’d gotten to him first.
Time to make decisions. Around him stood his family, a half-dozen police officers and two hospital maintenance men. “We need to secure those other two entrances. No one gets near them until they’re completely disarmed.”
“I can post two men at both doors,” the police lieutenant stepped forward. “We’ve also got a few outside keeping the reporters and everyone else out until this is cleared.”
“Dave, this is Lieutenant Brush, the ranking officer on site.” Jake made the introduction and the two men shook hands.
“Glad to have the help and support, Lieutenant,” Dave said. He turned to Castello. He was going to thank him properly for staying with Judy once this was all over, but first they had to get her out of there safe and sound. “Frank, can you show him where the other entrances are?”
“Follow me, gentlemen.” Castello led the police back down the hall.
“Which one of your men is the bomb expert?” Lieutenant Brush asked.
For the first time since he’d gotten Judy’s first call Dave smiled and stepped back so they could see Katie. “Here she is.”
The policeman sized up the petite brunette from head to toe and gave a shrug. “All right, then. What do you need from us, Miss…?”
“Mrs. Edgars,” Matt said from behind her, his hand coming down to rest on her shoulder, almost staking his claim to the men openly admiring her.
Katie rolled her eyes and shook her head. Their normal routine easing more of the pain that had been around Dave’s heart. “I’m going to need to get on the other side of that,” she said, hitching her thumb over her shoulder at the main OR doors. “Got any ideas?”
The older of the two hospital maintenance men stepped forward. “All the ceiling panels are easy to pop up. The grid goes through to the other side. We can get a ladder up here real quick and get you going.” He nodded at the younger man who took off at a jog down a different hallway.
“Thank you, Mr…?” Dave said, shaking his hand.
“Watson. Bob Watson, sir. Glad to do whatever we can to help.” He paused a moment and looked at Dave’s team. “Edgars. Y’all related to Miz Judy?”
“She’s my wife,” Dave said, pride welling up in his chest along with other emotions.
“She always asks after my wife when I come up to fix things. She’s a fine woman, sir.”
“That she is, Bob. That she is.”
Dave looked down the hallway to see her exit the operating room and blow him a kiss before darting into another room. Putting her patient before anything else. How did she do that? Step away from a threat to her life and refocus on her job?
Because she was strong.
Inside, she could handle anything. He thought to the fights they’d been having ever since he’d gotten shot in the thigh. How nervous she’d seemed to be once he went back to work, even after the move to Columbus. It hit him like a sledgehammer up the side of the head. She believed she could handle anything—except losing him.
A few minutes later the ladder arrived.
“I’ll go up and over first,” Dave said, laying his weapon aside as the maintenance crew got the ladder up and started removing tiles.
“’Fraid not, big brother,” Matt said, getting between him and the ladder.
“Get out of my way, Matt.”
“Not this time. My wife is going over there to disarm these doors and I want someone focused on helping her do it,” he said, stepping on the first rung.
“My wife is over there—”
Matt dropped one hand on his shoulder. “And she’s safe. She’s also working. You stay here and be in charge of all this crap. Let Katie and me make it safe for you to get to Judy. Okay?”
He wanted to drag his brother off that damn ladder and go over the top into the OR, but his brother was right. Katie was good at dismantling bombs. She’d been building and taking them apart since she was a young teen. She needed someone calm and steady helping her. Right now, he was anything but calm and steady.
“Okay. Go.”
He held the ladder as Matt climbed up, popped two panels out of the way, then hauled his body up into the ceiling. It took a few minutes, with lots of rattling of the aluminum ductwork over head, but finally another ceiling tile popped out on the other side of the OR doors.
Feet first, Matt lowered himself to the floor. Once he secured the panel out of the way, he leaned carefully to the door, without touching the explosive. “Send Katie over. Tell her to watch the pipes. Hotter than hell,” he said, shaking his hand as if he’d burned it.
“Katie?” Dave stopped her once she had her foot on the first ladder rung.
“Yes?” She gave him a curious look.
He wrapped her in his arms for a fierce hug. “Thank you. And you be careful.”
She laid one hand on his arm, looking him straight in the eye with confidence. “Don’t worry. We’ll have Judy out of there before you know it.”
Then up she went. Holding the ladder, he watched her until she disappeared completely in the ceiling. Some more shaking in the rafters and then her feet were dangling over Matt’s head.
“I’ve got you,” his brother said as he slowly lowered her to the ground.
A wave of envy hit Dave hard. Not that he’d want Judy crawling around among the ductwork in the ceiling, or disarming bombs—a shudder ran through him just thinking she’d already done that—but he’d give anything to wrap his arms around her and hold her close right now. Despite the need to keep the area secure and everyone on task, his insides felt like they might implode at any moment and that Judy was the lynchpin preventing that from happening.
As if she knew he was thinking about her, she exited the operating room once more, headed straight for the door, a sheet of paper flapping in her hand with each step. She jerked the mask down when she neared Matt and Katie, smiles and tears breaking out on both women’s faces as they exchanged quick hugs. Matt caught her up in a fierce hug of his own, once more sending Dave’s jealousy into overdrive.
“You two want to quit hugging Judy and get on with disarming these doors before some idiot sets one off?” he barked through the door.
Katie slipped to her knees to study the wiring around the C-4 encasing the door handles, Matt crouching down beside her.
Judy stepped to the side, her gaze locking on Dave’s through the thick glass.
He stared into the depths of her dark eyes, noting the slight dark circles around them. “You okay?”
“I’m okay. Can’t wait to get out of here.”
“How are things going in there?” he nodded at the operating room behind her, trying to fight the knot in his throat and the tears threatening to appear.
“Okay. The team is working hard to try and save the senator’s son. That’s why I came out here. We need blood.”
“Don’t know if I can find anyone with his blood type out here.”
She laughed. “No, I need someone from the nursing staff to run this paper down to the hospital’s blood bank and bring me back two units of blood.”
“All I’ve got right now is the maintenance guys.”
“Can you send someone to find Lydia the OR charge nurse? She’s going to be close by, I’ll bet. She can get what I need.” She slipped the paper under the door.
He bent down and snatched it, then turned to scan the room. “Luke!” he called, seeing the wonder-kid keeping guard with the lieutenant at the end of the hallway. Luke hurried over and Dave handed him the paper. “See if you can find a nurse named Lydia and have her get blood for Judy.”
“Hey, Judy. Glad you’re okay,” Luke said with a grin.
“The faster, the better,” Judy said. She hesitated a moment after Luke took off, tears once more in her eyes.
There was so much Dave wanted to do—to haul her into his arms and hold her there until the fear at almost losing her was obliterated. So much he wanted to say—that he go
t where her worry came from, that he’d been heartless in not understanding, that she was the center of his world and he never wanted her to doubt it, or put herself in danger like she had today.
Suddenly yelling started at the end of the hall by the ER exit, breaking their connection. Judy gave a nod, slipped her mask back on and disappeared down the hall, whatever she’d wanted to say would have to wait until later.
He turned to see what the commotion was. Jake, the lieutenant and even Bob-from-maintenance stood toe-to-toe with a man in complete SWAT gear, his team crowding in right behind him.
Great.
“Matt,” he leaned closer to the door. “How’s it coming?”
“Katie says it should be as simple as stripping all the wires from the plastique. But it’s strung in spurts down the hall between each door. She’s got to do it carefully, as to not trigger the others.”
“We’ve got company, so try to hurry it up, if you can.”
Matt peered out the glass. “Shit. You keep them out of here. I don’t need Katie distracted.”
“Don’t worry. No one, and I mean no one, is going to put any of you in jeopardy just because their egos are twisted tighter than a virgin’s knees.”
He turned and stalked towards the commotion.
Time to take charge.
“What do you mean your team is in charge here?” the man in the flak jacket eyed Jake with confidence borne from years of rising through the ranks in the police system.
“Let me see.” Jake held up fingers as he made a list. “First to respond. Check. FBI credentials. Check. The son of a state senator is involved. Check. Yep, that gives me jurisdiction. So, yes, my team in in charge. You’ll get your chance when we’ve secured the area.” He looked over his shoulder and Dave caught his eye, giving him a slight nod to let him take over. “But the man in charge is right here.” He moved out of the way for Dave to step up, and then headed over to keep guard outside the main door.
“Edgars?”
“Captain Johnson.” He held out his hand to shake his boss’ hand. “Sorry to keep your team out, but we’ve got this handled.”
“You and the FBI guy? Who else? We heard there was a real bomb threat here.”
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