Sinfully Wicked

by Kym Roberts

  “Stefan Asher?”

  “Wh-what? No, his name is Stefano Astrella. He lived in my neighborhood and went to work for my uncle. When I escaped, he lost face. He killed Sister Mary, while she was talking to me on the phone, when I was in Brazil.”

  Megan shook her head. “Is he a white guy about twenty-nine? Big hairy ape with black hair, taller than Danny who doesn’t like women?”

  Téa snorted her hatred for the man who’d stolen so much from her. “Trust me he likes anything that says, ‘No.’”

  “Son of a—get in the car I’ve got a call to make.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  His phone rang, again but he couldn’t answer it despite the incessant vibration in his pocket. The doctor was briefing him on Palmer’s condition and the last thing he could do was to stop the woman mid-sentence as she described his agent’s injuries.

  “He’s got a punctured lung and three shattered ribs, which is less than we expected since the bullet didn’t come out. It’s lodged in the costal cartilage of his fifth rib. We’re taking him down to surgery in a few minutes, but he wants to speak to you.” While Dr. Russo’s English was melodic and soothing, her expression was impatient.

  “He’s awake?” That had to be good news. Right?

  “He is. He woke up as we were trying to put the endotracheal intubation in place. He refused until he spoke to you.”

  “Let’s go.” He didn’t need to hear anything more. Palmer had something he wanted to tell him, whether it be about the shooter, or his wife and child, Khaos was going to be there.

  They left the emergency desk where he’d been stopped upon their arrival and traveled to the inner workings of the hospital. Although it was set up similar to an American Emergency Room, the Italian Pronto Soccorso had a different feel to it. Despite being open and spacious, it felt institutional and compartmentalized, making Khaos feel as if the walls were closing in on him. He didn’t want to be there anymore than the patients behind the pastel yellow curtains did. The one at the very end was making the most noise.

  “I said…get that damned thing…away from me…until I talk…to my boss.”

  Palmer. Khaos passed the doctor and threw back the curtain. He was at Palmer’s side in seconds. “Hey buddy, I’m here. Relax.”

  “About…fu…cking time.”

  He laughed at that, he couldn’t help it. Machines were incessantly beeping, a chest tube was sticking out of Palmer’s side, a bag of blood was hanging with an IV bag of fluids and God only knew what concoction of antibiotics and drugs, and they were both being fed into his body. Yet at the same time, critically injured Palmer was funnier than he was healthy.

  “What is it? What do you want to tell me?”

  Palmer glared at the medical personnel who were there to save his life. When they didn’t budge, he swiped a bloody hand in their direction.

  Not wanting to make him talk anymore than he needed to, Khaos addressed the staff. “Is it possible to have a minute with him?”

  Dr. Russo nodded and sent everyone out except for herself and a nurse monitoring the multitude of machines spitting out information. She waved him closer to Palmer’s head.

  He stepped over cords and tubes and lowered his head to Palmer’s. “What’s so damned important that you’re keeping these fine people from doing their jobs?”

  Palmer smiled then. The pain medication had to have kicked in extra doses to keep him that happy. “Your boy…friend shot me.”

  He stared at his agent, not sure the man knew what he was talking about.

  Palmer coughed and then said, “The guy wh-who…wants to…be…”

  He didn’t need to say anymore. “Stefan Asher?”

  Palmer let his neck relax on the table. He hadn’t even realized his agent had lifted his head. Palmer smiled. “P-p-put him be…hind bars f-for…good. Tell Julie…I-love…”

  Alarms in the room blared, staff began running back in and Doctor Russo pushed him out of the way with her elbow. Khaos hadn’t even noticed her coming up to stand next to him.

  “You’ve got your information, now go and let us do our job.”

  “Of course. Save him. I want him to see that fucker go to jail.” Then he realized that wasn’t the important information these people needed to hear. They needed to know about the husband and father they were attempting to save. They needed to know that there was a nursery waiting to be finished. Palmer had to go home to see the wife he loved so much and hold his daughter in three months. They had to know what was at stake.

  “His wife is seven months pregnant. They’ve only been married—”

  “He will see both of them if we have anything to say about it. Now go.” Dr. Russo’s voice was pure business. The same tone his was about to take, because in a moment of crisis, that was what kept everyone calm and got the job done.

  The moment he was out of the way, Palmer was rushed to surgery, the intubation in place and the staff completely focused on his agent. Khaos made his way to the waiting room and pulled his phone out of his pocket. The need to call Julie was overwhelming, but it was three in the morning in Denver. He had to wait until he could get an agent to her and get a support system in place. It wouldn’t make the news in the States until morning, and it was essential for him to get in touch with Megan. Stefan may have been after him, but that didn’t mean his agents and Téa were out of danger.

  He scanned the lobby for potential threats. Seeing none, he plopped down into a chair that afforded him a view of the door with his back to the wall. If Stefan came through that door, he was a dead man.

  He glanced down at his phone. Five missed calls from Megan meant she probably already knew Stefan was the shooter and she was attempting to warn him. He pushed the button to call her back and waited for her to answer. On the fourth ring, the call went to voicemail.

  “Palmer told me it was Stefan who shot him. He’s after me. That doesn’t mean you guys are in the clear. Be careful and call me when you’re secure.”

  Khaos took a deep breath. It was time to get down to business. He had a crime scene to coordinate with the Italian authorities, notifications to be made, and a pregnant wife who would need a whole helluva lot of support in the coming hours.

  “The man answers every damn robocall in the country, but he can’t answer my damned call once.” Megan muttered under her breath.

  “Should I try calling him?”

  “No.” Megan and McDaniels said as one.

  “Why not?” Surely after what had occurred between them that morning Khaos would pick up the phone. He may not have feelings for her, but Daniel Khaos Artino was an honorable man.

  McDaniels answered first. “I threw your phone away.”

  “You what?” How the hell had he gotten her phone? Téa immediately began digging in her purse. She’d put it there herself.

  “I gave it to him to dispose of.”

  Megan’s tone was so casual it was as if she didn’t understand that even burner phones weren’t cheap. She couldn’t afford another phone right now. “Why?” She demanded. “Why would you toss my phone without saying a word to me? And when did you do it?”

  “Because it’s not secure, you would argue that it was, and I took it right before you got in the car.” Her fingers were ticking off bullet points like she was giving a lecture. Téa wanted to smack her hands down out of frustration, but Megan could kick her ass in a heartbeat. That’d be a stupid move on her part.

  “Do you see that?”

  Megan leaned forward. “What?”

  McDaniels pointed up in the air and Megan leaned over the front seat to see what he was pointing at in the sky. Téa couldn’t help it, she too was curious as to what McDaniels had seen.

  “Fuck!” The energy in the car skyrocketed from curious, to holy hell the sky is falling. Guns were being drawn, the car was zigzagging and they were all talking at once.

  What? What were they so excited about? What the hell was out there that
could make these agents freak out?

  “Turn there!” Megan yelled. “Over there!” She pointed to the left away from the Colosseum.

  Finally, Téa saw what they saw. A drone flying between the buildings was headed in their direction. “Tourists get fined for trying to fly their drones above the sites of Rome all the time,” she tried to tell them.

  They ignored her like she wasn’t even there. Agent Cooper behind the wheel seemed to be well informed on the techniques of drag racing. He turned the wheel sharply avoiding a tourist who didn’t know how to maneuver through Rome’s traffic.

  McDaniels yelled at the tourist. “Get out of the fucking way!”

  Megan scolded McDaniels. “Shut up, you moron. I’m calling it in.”

  Téa kept her mouth shut and held on for dear life as she was thrown over in Megan’s direction; the seatbelt cutting into her shoulder as it locked in place.

  “We’re heading for the Tiber River at the Ponte Palatino. There’s an armed drone following us.”

  Téa turned around and looked out the rear window. Somehow with all of their dodging cars and turning left then right then left again, the drone was behind them. She could clearly see the large commercial style drone with eight rotary wings that looked more like the mutant spider with a baby doll head from Toy Story, than a tourist’s camera pod. Instead of a bald one-eyed doll head, however, it had a bundle strapped to it that was even scarier.

  Her stomach dropped. It was a bundle of pipe bombs heading directly for them and the buildings in their current location weren’t tall enough to create any obstacles. Which left fewer and fewer obstacles for the drone to avoid, but not them. Vehicles and pedestrians seemed to want to throw McDaniels into a tizzy, because despite Megan’s warning, he was still waving and yelling at them like a mad man.

  Megan and Cooper were the only ones who seemed calm. Then she noticed the death grip Cooper had at ten and two o’clock on the steering wheel, as she braced herself between the ceiling and seat. Her stupid seatbelt felt like it was going to cut her in two.

  “Straight ahead you’re going to turn right onto Vico Jugario, then an immediately left and a block up on the right is the Ponte Palatino. Take it and we’ll abandon the car in the middle of the bridge. There are less vehicles and minimal chances of pedestrian casualties.”

  The driver nodded, accepting the directions without question, but Téa knew this city. They couldn’t stop on the Palatino.

  “You can’t stop on the Palatino. It’s being restored. There’s a construction barge full of workers working underneath it.”

  “Fuck.” It was the only word Cooper had ever muttered in her presence and Téa noticed the dark and gritty tone seemed to match the man.

  Megan looked out the back window. “We’re outta time. Take a right then stop the car straight ahead at the edge of the river. Téa, we’re bailing out before the car comes to a complete stop. Do you understand?”

  She nodded. Her mouth suddenly too dry to reply and if she didn’t know better, they’d left her heart one block back. Megan unbuckled her seatbelt as well as Téa’s. McDaniels did the same for himself and the driver, then he helped Cooper get free of the straps before they made their final turn.

  “We’re getting out on your side as soon as we clear this turn.”

  “He’s going too fast.”

  “It’s going to hurt, but we’ll be fine. I’ve done it before.”

  Hurt? That was going to do more than just hurt, and who went around jumping out of cars for a living? Téa’d had the opportunity to jump out of a car in Mexico City, but couldn’t do it. She wasn’t sure she could do it now, either. She looked back at the drone that was nearly on top of them. She didn’t have a choice. It was either take a chance or have no chance.

  She thought of Sister Mary and the choice she’d made. She’d sacrificed her life for Téa, and now four agents’ lives were on the line because of her. If she didn’t jump, the three with her right now wouldn’t survive.

  “Here we go.” Megan stood up in the back seat, her hand extending in front of Téa to the door handle. The car whipped around the corner, hugging the curb as Cooper struggled to keep it from fishtailing. He shifted down and at that moment Megan yelled for the first time. “Now.”

  Téa hesitated, and in that second Megan pushed, exiting, flying and rolling with Téa as one. The first impact was fast and hard, but not as penetrating as the second. Pain radiated through her knee and hand as the rolling continued until they slammed into something.

  Dazed, she blinked up at the blue sky just when the ground shook with thunder and dark clouds billowed in the air. People screamed, alarms blared and tires screeched. Panic seemed to be occurring all around them as people ran away from the river.

  “Get up, Téa!” Megan’s face appeared above her, blocking out everything else. She yanked on Téa’s arm and pulled her to a sitting position. Getting Téa to her feet wasn’t successful on the third try either.

  Shouldn’t she assess the damage to her body? Make sure nothing was broken? A man came over and pulled on Megan’s arm. The odd angle of Megan’s shoulder came into focus as she growled viciously.

  “He’s trying to help.”

  “I don’t need any fucking help. I need you to get off your ass and into his car.”

  Téa pushed herself up and wobbled as her knee buckled. She looked down to see her torn bloody jeans at the knee and instantly the switch to her exposed nerves came to life. A hiss escaped her lips but she knew as painful as it felt, she could push through it; she’d been through much worse. She limped forward. “His car?”

  She shouldn’t have asked. Megan was showing her identification to the man and telling him in fluent Italian that she was taking his car. Taking. His. Car.

  He shook his head, eyeing Megan like she was a crazy person. Téa really wished he wouldn’t do that.

  Megan’s gun appeared out of nowhere. She didn’t point it at the man, or anyone else. Its presence in the middle of Rome along with the menacing look on her face was enough to make everyone back away.

  “Get in the car, Téa. You’re driving.”

  “I—” Megan’s glare stopped her objection.

  Téa got into the driver’s seat and Megan walked around the front of the car, eyeing everyone within sight as warbled sirens blared through the city. Megan got in the car and put her gun back in the holster on her left hip before reaching across her body to close the door. “Drive down and pick-up McDaniels and Cooper.”

  Téa put the car in first gear and lurched forward.

  Megan hissed and grabbed her right shoulder. “I don’t like to get pissed, Téa, but you’re pushing my buttons.”

  “I tried to tell you. I haven’t driven in seven years.”

  She shifted to second and then to third gears leaving a bit of tire tread in the road for each gear.

  “Do you know how to drive a stick?”

  “Yes, but this is a bit different from my mom’s bug.”

  “Could you try to pretend it was your mom’s VW?”

  Téa nodded, unable to say anything else as they approached the intersection where the drone had blown up the agents’ car. Debris was scattered everywhere. Most people were standing back, but a few had moved forward to help. McDaniels was kneeling over Cooper who was sprawled out on the street with blood gushing from his leg.

  “Fuck!” It was the second time Megan had lost her cool in mere minutes.

  Téa stopped the car and Megan pulled herself out of the passenger door with her left arm. “Use the QuikClot!”

  “Can’t you see that’s what I’m doing?” The bite in McDaniels’s voice wasn’t directed at Megan. It was in response to the stress of applying pressure to Cooper’s wound. A few minutes ago Téa would have never believed so much gauze could be packed into such a small wound. McDaniels was shoving what looked like two rolls of emergency combat gauze into Cooper’s leg that had a tourniquet applied to it near
his hip.

  Cooper’s gaze landed on Megan. “Are you okay?”

  Megan nodded and Téa saw the first scrap of emotion in the woman standing next to the car who didn’t just look like she’d been to hell, she looked like she’d been beaten to hell. Tears spilled down her face as her unstoppable force died at the sight of Cooper.

  Téa got out of the car. “What can I do?”

  “Get back in the car and get out of here. Take Megan with you. She’ll keep you safe.” Cooper’s voice didn’t waiver. Nor did it budge.

  “Coop—”

  “Now, McClary. You’ve got a job to do.”

  “We can load him up and take him to the hospital,” Téa suggested. It was the right thing to do. McDaniels was losing the battle of stopping the blood on Cooper’s injury, and everyone knew it.

  Megan stepped back, swiping at the tears falling down her cheeks as she did. “No,” she growled. “Get back in the car, we’re leaving. Now.”

  “But—”

  “Téa!” Megan got in the car and rolled the window down with her left hand. With her head hanging out of the car she yelled, “Get busy Coop. You can pull the ace bandage out of the package and start wrapping it around your leg. You need to get compression on it ASAP.”

  Téa couldn’t help the tears that blurred her vision. Until this moment she would’ve never realized there was anything between Megan and Cooper. Staring at the woman sitting next to her with every ounce of love pouring out of her soul for the man bleeding to death on the street, however, was the saddest moment of Téa’s life. It was all because of her. Megan’s pain was gutting her and Cooper—Cooper knew he’d never see Megan again, yet he was sending her away and Megan was going because of her.

  “Go,” Megan ordered.

  She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t. If that was Khaos bleeding to death, she would sacrifice every person on the earth to stay with him. It was an awful eye-opening moment.

  Megan pulled the gun out of her holster and pointed it at Téa. “I said, go.” If Megan had been expressionless before, she wasn’t now. There was pure hatred in her eyes for Téa, and probably the world.