by J. M. Madden
“You’re right,” she said quickly, moving to the side of the broad sidewalk. Yes, the city was fascinating, but she needed to concentrate. Haven was out there alone, with no one to help him. Raine wasn’t sure exactly how long he’d been away from the general public, but it had to be a couple of years, at least. More if she counted his time in the Army Rangers.
Walking side by side they entered the park and angled toward the south. When they found an unoccupied bench, he sat with her, and they watched the people go by. The sun was out but it was still pretty chilly, and there were no leaves on the trees. She drew her coat around her. Noah wore a coat as well, but he didn’t seem affected by the cold like she did.
When Noah drew the ear buds out of his ears, she watched him wind them around his broad hand and tuck them away into a pocket. Then he sat back against the bench and closed his eyes.
Raine watched Noah actively use his ability. She’d thought it was mostly a passive ability, intrusive to the point of distraction, but now he appeared to be actively scanning people and conversations around him. She held very still and tried to quiet her breathing.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she swiped the notifications. “I think this is Poole. He says there’s something going on four blocks south. Cops have been called for… a man with a gun.”
“I’m listening,” Noah said softly. “I heard the screaming.”
His broad face was completely calm, but she could see the tension in his body. She had a feeling that he would jump into action with a moment’s notice. As soon as he figured out where Haven was, she expected to be running. Raine grimaced. It was a well-known fact in her neck of the woods that she was not a graceful runner. Her brothers and sisters used to make fun of her like crazy because she was so awkward at speed.
If Haven needed her, though, she would do it. It wasn’t that she couldn’t run, just that she looked like a drunken orangutan when she did. But then, she didn’t think she would look out of place in this city, she thought with an internal laugh.
“Let’s walk…” Noah murmured, getting to his feet. He started walking to the south.
Raine followed. When her phone buzzed again, she took it from her pocket, walking quickly. “Reports of a standoff with police. Do you think…”
“I don’t know. I’m not hearing his voice.”
Noah took off into a jog and Raine followed, phone in her hand so that she could feel messages come in. Dodging around people, Noah navigated through the park. They eventually found themselves on the bustling sidewalk of 59th street. She paused to catch her breath, trying to figure out where they were going. Swiping through the screens on her phone she saw Senator Hall’s address was to the right. West, she supposed it would be. Only about a block away.
Noah stood in the middle of the rushing people, garnering dirty looks because he refused to move. Good thing that he was so big that no one could bowl him over. Raine stood back, next to a tree to escape the surge and watched him turn slowly. He was about to take off again when she realized something was wrong. Wading through the people she grabbed Noah’s arm.
“You’re bleeding,” she admonished. Digging in her bag she pulled out a tissue and handed it to him.
Noah swiped beneath his nose, his gaze focusing on her. “There are so many voices,” he murmured. “It’s hard to filter out just one, but I think I have him.”
Her heart thudded. “Seriously?”
He nodded, giving his nose a final wipe. He motioned down Seventh Avenue. “The cops are dealing with an active shooter down there, but they can tell something is up. They just deployed a taser and it went right through the shooter.”
Tossing the napkin into a trash can he took off, crossing against the light. Several car horns blared but he kept going. Raine tried to tell the drivers she was sorry even as she hurried after him. They travelled for two blocks before they reached an area blocked off by the police. Reaching back Noah grabbed her wrist and pulled her through the gathering crowd to the front. Cops were keeping people back on the sidewalks, arms outstretched. One officer’s eyes widened when he saw Noah pushing forward.
“What’s going on, Officer?” Raine asked, blinking up at him.
The cop was about to yell at her, she could see it in his face, but his expression softened when she lifted her brows innocently in question. Raine knew that most men wouldn’t be cross with a woman, normally. It had gotten her out of trouble with her daddy several times.
“We’re not sure, miss, but you need to stay back here. We think it’s a guy with a gun.”
Noah looked out over the man’s head and she could tell he was listening. Blood began to dribble down his upper lip again, so she scrambled for another napkin, shoving it at him. He took it absently, wiping away the evidence of his strain.
Raine didn’t like that he was injuring himself, possibly seriously.
Suddenly, there was a spate of gunfire. Noah wrapped her in his arms and caged her against the wall of the building beside them, waiting for the sound to die down. Raine looked up at him. That sharp crack of sound had to be terrible on his ears. His face was scrunched up into a grimace and his teeth were clenched. Quickly, she reached into the pocket of his jacket and drew out the bigger noise-cancelling headphones. He didn’t say anything as she fit the black earpieces over his ears, but as soon as they settled, he looked down at her, the pain fading from his eyes.
“Just keep those on for a while,” she told him softly, knowing he could still hear her. “We have an idea where he is now.”
Noah kissed her forehead and nodded, turning his head to look down the street. Apparently, a shooting in New York was no big deal. Yeah, a few people had drawn back but there was still a crowd. She laughed lightly as he pulled away and her glance caught on a guy across the street. He was dressed all in black, his hands in his pockets, looking extremely unconcerned. The oddest part was, he was staring straight at her and Noah. She met the man’s gaze for the briefest of seconds before he faded away into the crowd.
Raine didn’t have any memory of the man’s lean face. Was he one of Rose’s men?
She looked back at Noah, but he was looking in the opposite direction, toward where the shooting had occurred. He hadn’t even noticed the man. Raine glanced back again but the guy was completely gone.
“They have someone in custody,” Noah murmured down to her.
Fear tightened Raine’s heart. Oh, no…
“Actually, they think it’s someone hit with friendly fire. A homeless man, they think, but it could be Haven. The description fits. They’re doing first aid until the squad gets there.”
Immediately, Raine turned to the officer that had been holding the line. At just that moment a message squawked over his radio about a GSW. She didn’t understand the rest of the message, but GSW meant gun-shot wound.
“Officer,” she said quickly. “I’m a nurse. Can I help?”
He stared at her for a long moment before keying up his mic. After exchanging words with someone presumably in charge, he waved her through. “Straight down and in the alley on the left.”
“Thank you.”
Noah moved forward but the cop kept him back. “I’m with her,” he growled.
The cop shook his head. “It’s an active crime scene buddy. She’s only going in because she’s medical.”
Raine gave him a wave. “I’ll be careful.”
Turning, she jogged down the street to the alley the cop had indicated. Inside, several cops were milling around, looking confused. One tried to stop her from entering the alley, but she told him she was a nurse and he let her through, and they returned to their conversation. As she passed, she overheard him tell his partner, “I’ve never seen anything like it in twenty-two years. The guys just disappeared.”
Raine could see the destruction of the bullets against the brick and she prayed that Haven was okay.
She found him toward the middle of the alley, an unconscious form in a black leather coat. One of the cops had laid him
out and cut open the t-shirt, showing her a bullet wound high on his right chest. “Oh, Haven,” she breathed.
His eyes fluttered open and he smiled at her weakly. “Nurse Raine. How did I know you’d be here?”
She shook her head even as she shrugged the backpack around. She drew on a pair of gloves and immediately found a pressure bandage. The gunshot wound wasn’t bleeding too bad, and he seemed to be breathing okay, so she thought it might have missed his lung. “What were you thinking, Haven? Why are you running?”
He watched her work over him. “I didn’t have a choice. She’s here, Raine.”
“That woman you said? Belladonna?”
He nodded his head, wincing as she put pressure on the dressing. “Yes. I know I’m close. I hope she felt me. I’m so tired.”
Alarm ran through Raine. Haven used a massive amount of energy when he created specters and maintained them for any length of time. At Christmas, when he’d created the vision for all those other people, he’d had to recover for almost a week. Since then he’d been gaining strength, but she didn’t think he was ready for this kind of exertion. And now he would have to deal with healing a gunshot wound. With her other hand she felt for the pulse in his wrist.
Sirens wailed in the distance and she knew their time was running out. “Noah is here with me. We’ll follow you to the hospital and be ready to break you out.”
“I can’t leave yet, Raine. I’m so close.”
His eyes fluttered shut and she thought he passed out. “Haven?”
But he didn’t respond. The only thing she could do was hold pressure on the wound and wait for the ambulance. When the vehicle pulled to a stop at the street and two men jumped out, she started to breathe a little easier. After relating the vitals she’d been able to read, she let them do their assessment. Very quickly, they loaded him up onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. “What hospital are you taking him to?”
“Mount Sinai West,” the lead paramedic answered. “Thank you for stepping in, Miss.”
When she returned to Noah, he grabbed her hand and stepped out to wave down a taxi. Raine knew he’d probably heard every word, so she didn’t bother relating the conversation to him. When he gave Mount Sinai as the address she sat back against the seat.
“He looked tired,” she said softly.
Noah glanced at her. “Well, he’s had a busy twelve hours.”
Jeez, had it only been that long? She glanced at her watch. Yeah, it was afternoon now, and they’d taken off early, early this morning. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she messaged Elizabeth that they’d found him and that he’d been injured. Then she messaged Poole the same. Almost immediately he sent back, ‘tracking him now’.
They arrived at the hospital less than ten minutes later. Raine knew it would take a while for Haven to make it through the emergency department, and she really doubted they’d be able to see him before they moved him upstairs.
“We’re going to be waiting for a while,” she murmured as they chose a couple of chairs in the waiting room of the ED. Noah gave her a nod.
“Not what I expected to be doing today,” he told her, grinning slightly. He turned to look back through an electronic door, then he pulled one of his headphones from his ears.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, dread filling her.
“We shouldn’t have beat him here. I don’t hear any kind of chatter about a gun-shot wound.”
“The paramedic said Mount Sinai West.”
“I know. I heard him as well. Let me…” his voice faded away.
Raine couldn’t imagine where the ambulance would have gone. Pulling out her phone again, she looked at the hospitals in the area. This had definitely been the closest one. Worried, she crossed the waiting room to the receptionist.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Can you tell me if there’s a gunshot wound victim in the ER? I don’t need his name or anything. I just want to make sure he made it here okay.”
The older woman smiled at Raine. “I don’t hear ma’am very often, young lady. And your accent is beautiful. Where are you from?” She asked, fingers flying over the keyboard.
“Tennessee, ma’am. Born and raised.”
The woman smiled, nodding. “I thought so. My husband was born there as well. I don’t see any gunshot wound victims in the emergency department right now.” She typed a little more. “And none pending, either.”
Raine, alarmed now, forced a smile for the woman. “Thank you so much for checking. What is the next closest hospital?” she asked.
“The closest hospital to us is either Columbia University Medical Center just south of here or Bellevue or NYU over on First Avenue."
“Ok, thank you ma’am.”
Noah was already on his feet. “You’d better call Rose and Poole.”
Once again Raine pulled out her phone. Poole answered on the first ring. “Yeah?”
“He’s not here,” Raine hissed into the phone. “They have no record of him either arrived or on the way.”
“Hold on,” Poole answered, and she could hear a keyboard rattling on the other end of the line. “Fuck, I missed it,” he answered, coming back on the line. “A couple of blocks into the trip he turned off his lights and siren and turned into an alleyway. Fuck,” he breathed.
“And where did he end up?” She asked as they went through the door and out into the sunlight.
“I can’t tell exactly. The alley does end up behind 201 East 59th Street, though.”
Damn it. She glanced at Noah. His lips were pursed. They both knew that address. “Keep us posted.”
Noah was pissed. She could see it in every line of his big body as he stalked out of the building. This was not how things were supposed to go. He paused on the sidewalk; hands planted on his hips.
“What do we do now,” she whispered.
Chapter 6
Haven didn’t feel good. There was a pressure on his chest… he shifted, trying to ease it, but pain lanced through him.
“You need to be still. I’m almost done,” a woman murmured.
Fear clutching at his chest, he opened his eyes, but the room appeared dark. There was a bit of light on the far side, he thought from a bathroom, perhaps. “What’s happening,” he asked.
“I’m stitching up your bullet wound. Why did you let the police shoot you?”
Haven struggled to see in the woman’s direction. “I needed to find someone,” he said simply. “And I thought it was the only way to get her attention.”
The woman snorted softly. “Not very smart if you ask me. I have a feeling she knew exactly where you were.”
Yeah, maybe it hadn’t been the brightest idea. Already depleted from the antics the night before, he hadn’t had the energy to spare to do a huge expenditure, then try to heal a gunshot wound. Even as he thought it, though, he realized he wasn’t as depleted as he should have been. “Am I going to survive?”
“Yes,” the woman said. “For a while, at least.”
Haven tried to see as she gathered up her medical equipment. She’d been putting stitches into his upper chest, he realized. “Who are you? And where am I?”
The woman smiled as she got to the door and turned to look back at him. “I thought you knew, Haven. They call me Belladonna. And you’ve fallen into the fire.”
Leaving him reeling, the woman let herself out of the room, the lock clicking behind her.
It took a long time for his heart to settle into a fast gallop. Even though he was laying down, the skin all across his body was creeping. Just the thought of what she could have done with her hands on his body made him quiver in fear. And what did she mean by the fire? Oh, he realized. The frying pan thing…
As soon as he’d heard her voice, he’d remembered where he’d seen her before.
Belladonna had been the stuff of nightmares when they were in the camp. Haven himself had only seen her once, but it had been enough. The sheer power she projected… Dr. Shu had used her as a barometer to test the abilities of the me
n. He had no idea where she’d come from, only that she’d been brought in at one point during their testing. She’d walked along the cages and murmured to the tech in the lab coat beside her. Sometimes she would rest her hand on a soldier’s forehead. A few of them had fallen from her touch. Haven had shrunk back when it came his turn, but it hadn’t mattered. The power in her hand had struck him like lightning, and he thought she might have taken it easy on him.
After they left, the group was separated into two groups. They realized later that they were potentials and non-potentials. The potentials group had disappeared after the woman had, never to be seen again. Haven had no idea where they’d gone, only that the testing had intensified on the remaining group until they were all but broken. It was like she had walked in, taken the best for herself, and left the rest of them to fight for their lives. So many men had died during that period. They had named her the Angel of Death.
Blinking in the darkness, he looked down at his chest, but he couldn’t see anything. Anxiety, fear of the unknown rode him and it took everything he had not to freak. What he wouldn’t give for one of Raine’s sedative-laced Cokes right then.
Noah hated killing time, especially in New York. This was one of the busiest areas of the city and they were trying to decide what to do. If he had his way, he’d plow into the senator’s building like a bull, shoot everyone he needed to and get Haven out of there. It wasn’t up to him, though.
After they’d lost the ambulance, he and Raine had returned to Rose’s safehouse for the night. They were all frustrated. It was in every one of their expressions. But their courses of action were limited. Rose had given them places to sleep and advised them to chill.
Supposedly, the CIA was investigating Senator Hall and his associates, but Noah wasn’t holding his breath. The man had seriously powerful friends. He’d gotten away with a hell of a coup in Florida when Damon Wilkes had escaped there with his son. Noah knew that Wilkes wanted to force Elizabeth to sign over her family company to him by spiriting her son Blake away. Noah had been his guard at the time and he’d worked out what Damon was doing, but he hadn’t been willing to leave Blake alone with his father. The man had been irrational, trying to barter the last of the Marathon drug off to secure his future. Senator Hall had been the facilitator to contact the other countries to set up the auction.
