“I’ll have to help and direct casualty assessment, but keep me posted,” the sheriff muttered beside Colt as he laid his woman on the surface. “And I want fucking answers, Montgomery.”
“If you see Millie …” he started just as he saw the diner owner and Josh hurrying toward them.
“What happened?” Millie hissed.
“I could ask the same,” he gritted through his teeth.
“Josh was a mess,” the older woman whispered. “Kate and I were trying to calm him down when Olivia slipped away.”
“I doubt we can get an EMT to check on Kate with all the wounded around,” Colt said, turning to Josh. “You okay now, bud?” He noted he had his headphones on and probably couldn’t hear them.
“What’s wrong with Ms. Kate?”
“My fault, Josh,” Olivia said, staring down forlornly at their mother.
Her brother didn’t say anything as he tentatively took off his headphones. He looked a bit pale, if not a bit guilty. Even Colt wondered if he should have stayed behind and rushed them out of the danger zone instead, but the moment didn’t call for retrospection. He needed to get Kate to the ER.
“Can you take the twins back to Misty Grove?” Colt asked Millie. “I don’t think Josh can handle the hospital right now.”
Millie agreed.
He gathered the kids in front of him. “I’m going to take your mother to the hospital. Can I trust you both not to give Millie any trouble?” He glanced specifically at Olivia.
The little girl nodded.
“I’m not blaming you, Liv, and you gotta believe Kate doesn’t blame you either. Whatever your reason was, we’ll talk about it later, but right now your mom is the priority, understand?”
Again she nodded and hiccupped a sob. Her lower lip trembled. He had no time to sugar-coat the situation. She’d just learn to deal with the consequences of her actions whatever the fuck they were—one fucked-up situation at a time. He turned to her twin.
“Josh?”
He tipped his chin.
Colt leaned in and lifted Kate. “Okay. Let’s go.”
17
Kate
My eyes wouldn’t open. My arms seemed stuck at my side, my spine immobilized. Voices murmured, machines whirred, and a rapid clicking grew louder and louder. The base of my skull hurt. The Gray Room taunting me to cross its threshold and peace would be mine. But I didn’t fall for its two-faced seduction.
Never again.
After a while, there was only silence. Then I faded into blackness.
When I came to again, I tried to blink my eyes open, but every fiber of my being resisted.
“That’s it, babe.” It was Colt’s voice, encouraging, yet tinged with fear. “Open your eyes. Please?”
I tried to move my lips.
“Kate?”
A flurry of activity ensued and an annoying beep persisted in my head. I wanted to cover my ears with my hands, but my paralysis foiled me.
“Blood pressure shooting up—”
“Kate, do you hear me?” I didn’t recognize the voice.
“She’s trying to wake up. Kate …”
The sounds grew muffled as darkness claimed me again.
I dreamed.
I’d just set the coffee maker to brew when Colt walked in. He was sweaty from his workout, his white tee clinging to his body like a second skin. I gawked at his muscles that bulged from their fresh pump at the gym. He stalked toward me and backed me against the counter. Yanking my head backwards by my hair—ooh, caveman—he slammed his mouth on mine and somehow my pajama bottoms disappeared and so did my panties. He set me on the counter and spread my legs. Finally, we were going to have sex.
The scene changed to the kids’ bathroom and Olivia was squirting the body wash against the tiles, the mirror, and the tub.
The scene changed again. Olivia on the merry-go-round. Olivia eating a funnel cake. Wait, I didn’t give her a whole one, did I?
Sounds of gunshots.
Olivia running through the festival.
A blinding headache.
Gunshots!
“Liv!”
“Where are you, babe?”
Colt!
Lips flitted against my ear pleading for me to wake up.
My eyes shot open and I inhaled raggedly as if I’d been robbed of breath. I squeezed my eyes shut when bright lights singed my irises. When I opened them again I made out Colt’s features through my hooded gaze. He held my hand and kissed my knuckles while fingers combed through my hair.
“You’re awake. Christ, you had me so worried,” he said hoarsely.
“Olivia—”
“Is fine.”
“She ran from me.” I swallowed a sob as I remembered the frantic moments of relentless gunshots and I was chasing her through the chaos. “I’m so sorry.”
He looked at me with tenderness mixed with relief. “Not your fault.”
“Josh?”
“He’s fine too.”
I closed my eyes briefly, realizing my heart rate had sped up and was only returning to normal after my anxiety over the twins diminished.
A nurse appeared and brusquely insinuated herself between Colt and my bed. “How are you feeling, Mrs. Montgomery?”
“Mrs.—” I glanced at Colt in confusion and he gave a brief nod. I narrowed my eyes.
“I’m fine,” I said slowly.
“Headaches?”
“Just groggy. How long was I out?”
“More than twenty-four hours,” Colt answered, his bleary eyes indicating he hadn’t slept much. “Cassie and Lucas just left.”
My eyes widened as I glanced at the clock across the bed. I lost an entire day? I was prevented from talking when the nurse stuck a thermometer under my tongue.
“We’ve paged the neuro on call,” the nurse said. “Your vitals look good. Your heart rate is a bit elevated.” She paused to look at the monitor. “But it’s going down.”
There was a knock on the door; a man in a white coat appeared.
* * *
After the neurosurgeon and the nurse left, I squinted at Colt. “Mrs. Montgomery?”
“It was the only way I could make decisions for you.” The man didn’t present an iota of remorse. “Just another reason why marriage between us makes sense.”
I ignored his non-sensical justification. “Wouldn’t they have to match what you’ve written down in the form with my medical records that already exist in their system?”
“Let’s put it this way. I told them we just got married and you have yet to change your information. You didn’t have your identification with you because your purse got lost in the chaos.” Colt blew out a breath as if he didn’t see the point in explaining his actions. “The hospital is overwhelmed. They wouldn’t have time to dig into your records.”
My face sobered at this. “How many?”
“Twenty-eight dead—four of them Harris County cops.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered. “And the injured?”
“Seventy-five at last count.”
“Was it a single gunman or multiple?”
“Single. Elias Colbert. Former Green Beret. He’s been in treatment at Walter Reed for PTSD.”
“So, it’s not as random as the other mass killings?”
Colt shook his head. “Trent told me they’ve found a link to another shooter, but it’s too soon to jump to conclusions.”
He glanced away, suddenly finding the wall in front of them interesting. A muscle in his jaw ticked.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He returned his eyes to me. “It’s a crazy thought.”
“In our world, nothing sounds crazy.”
His mouth flattened into a hard line.
“Out with it,” I sighed.
“I think Liv stopped the shooter.”
Blood drained from my face and even though I was lying down, I felt faint. “Wh-what?” I recalled how I chased her near the pavilion, but several cops stopped me from follo
wing her. Reliving that memory sent a chill up my spine. I’d never been so scared in my life.
“When she showed up, the shooting stopped. Colbert fell from the rafters. The medical examiner’s findings are not in yet, but Trent said he was not struck by a bullet. Chances are the fall killed him.”
“Have you called Porter?” I asked.
“No. I wanted us to discuss our options. I don’t know whether letting the admiral know of our suspicions would be good or bad for the twins.”
“I’m not letting the agency near them until we know more.”
“We’re on the same page on that.”
“Good.” I leaned back against the pillows and my lids slid shut. The smell of antiseptic and the thought that the twins might be subjected to experiments brought back unwanted memories.
“Are we in Peach Meadow?” I asked, opening my eyes.
“No. We’re a town over.”
“We can’t stay here.” I lifted the blanket and lowered the guardrail.
“Whoa.” Colt scowled, gripping my shoulders. “You can’t leave the hospital. Not when you’ve been unconscious for an entire fucking day.”
“You heard the doctor. They couldn’t find anything wrong with me. My brain scans were fine and so was my blood work. If what happened to me has anything to do with Olivia, then the answers lie with her.”
“He also suggested keeping you for observation for the next twenty-four hours.”
Giving up the physical struggle of trying to get off the bed, I said, “Look, this isn’t my first rodeo and I know exactly what it feels like coming out of a coma. This isn’t it.”
“Then how is this different?”
“At first it was total blackout, but then I was conscious. I couldn’t move, couldn’t even open my eyes. I heard some conversation, the click-clack of a machine.”
“The MRI.”
“I dreamed. That never happened in any of the comas I experienced.”
“That explained the normal brain activity.”
I nodded. “It’s like I’d been put under by a strong sedative.”
Colt contemplated me for a beat. I could see the worry churning in his gaze, but he was also weighing what I’d told him. Resignation and resolve etched his face.
“All right. I’ll check us out of here, but the second we get to Misty Grove and make sure the twins are secure, I’ll call Porter and we’ll have an agency physician flown in and check you out. Deal?”
“Doctor Ryan? I think I’m good with that.”
He nodded toward the closet. “Cassie brought you some clean clothes and stuff.”
“That would explain why I’m wearing my Moo-cow pajamas.”
“I’m partial to cows.”
I grinned, recalling the first time he’d seen me in this very same sleepwear and made the same comment.
Colt made sure I could stand and walk on my own before he left the room. I went into the bathroom, surprised to see a shower stall instead of a simple toilet and sink configuration. The first thing I needed to get rid of was this cotton-dry feel in my mouth and I was vain enough to cringe that I’d talked with Colt with the taste of a dead rodent on my tongue. I checked through the toiletries Cassie packed for me and found a shower cap. I smelled of sweat and antiseptic and I couldn’t wait to wash the hospital odor from my body. After a quick shower, I unearthed a bottle of dry shampoo spray—one of mankind’s best creations. I was ready in less than fifteen minutes. I removed all traces of myself in the bathroom and packed everything neatly back into the duffel.
I sat on the bed, wondering where Colt was. He must’ve been gone thirty minutes. A sense of foreboding started to form in the pit of my stomach and I couldn’t shake it off. I was about to walk out of the room in search for him when the door opened. A pissed-off Colt walked in, followed by—oh, shit—Admiral Porter.
But nothing prepared me for the third man who walked in.
“Hello, Kate.”
Alex.
Double shit.
18
Kate
Red hazed my vision.
All I could think of was this man stole my eggs. Pent-up fury coursed through my veins, found a target and shot me forward.
I clocked Alex across his face.
He cursed and staggered back.
“You son of a bitch!” I screamed.
The admiral stepped in front of me. Humor danced in his eyes, but the rest of his face was expressionless. “Now that we got that out of the way …”
“Not even close,” I growled.
“I deserved that,” Alex muttered, cupping his nose, and I was gratified that I’d spilled blood.
He hadn’t changed much in the fourteen years since I’d seen him. His hair was as jet black as ever, save for a slight receding hairline. Twin slashes of brow hovered over green eyes. One could describe his face as beautiful if not for the jagged scar that started at his jaw and crossed over his mouth. He received that scar when he tried to save my life. At that time, he didn’t know I was an Enhanced Soldier, and, therefore, hard to kill.
“You sure did, motherfucker!” I had never cursed so much in my life.
He winced at my statement and my heart twisted as I saw Josh in his mannerism.
He took a step closer to me, but Colt blocked him. “Not another step closer.” He and the admiral were like two brick walls shielding me.
“Porter said I can talk to her.”
“Can’t this wait until Colt and I get back to Misty Grove?” I asked.
“Are you really married to him?” Alex looked skeptical. “The Kate I know would never be tied to any man.”
“None of your goddamned business, you prick,” Colt snarled.
“I’m curious as well,” the admiral joined in conversationally. “Did you two get married and not invite me to the wedding?”
They must have found out somehow from the hospital records.
“This isn’t going anywhere,” Alex snapped. “Do you want the intel I have or not?”
“Let me remind you, Romanov. You came to me,” the admiral said. “In exchange for access to Kate and the twins, you agreed to tell me what you know.”
“What he knows about what?” I asked.
“What the fuck, Admiral?” Colt snapped. He was unusually hostile and, if I wasn’t mistaken, he was jealous. I hoped he knew there was no way in hell I’d get back with Alex. I wouldn’t let him take the twins either, although I had my doubts if that was under my control. I didn’t have birth certificates stating I was their mother—something I intended to rectify after I got past this episode with Alex.
“This isn’t conversation for the hospital,” the admiral said. “Where the hell is the nurse?”
“Why do we need a nurse?” I asked.
There was a rap on the already open door and a nurse stood there with a wheelchair.
“Mrs. Montgomery?” she said. “Are you okay?” She eyed Alex and Porter suspiciously.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you ready to leave?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll tell the driver to bring the car around,” Porter said.
Colt gave a snort of derision. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’d let you take her.”
Alex glowered at the admiral. “You promised me I could talk to her privately.”
“I never promised she’d cooperate,” Porter countered. He looked at me. “Kate—”
“No,” Colt cut in.
If I had my car with me I’d leave these Neanderthals behind.
“Guys … I’m right here,” I said, not without sarcasm. “I’m riding with Colt. I assume we’re meeting at the diner?”
“No,” the admiral countered, then stared pointedly at the nurse.
I sighed and looked at my fake husband. “Guess you and the admiral will work out the location?”
He gave a tight nod.
I walked to the wheelchair and plopped into it.
* * *
“I’m not li
king this.”
I stared at the house before us. According to Colt, this was the same safe house where he picked up the twins. It was located around twenty minutes from Misty Grove. Since we left the hospital, the man beside me had been a broody mass of nerves, as though he were a hair-trigger away from detonating.
“I’m not either,” I replied. “Looks like Trent is here.” The sheriff’s cruiser was among the parked cars. Colt pulled in with his pickup and shut off the engine.
“I don’t want you alone with him,” he gritted, staring at the windshield.
“What exactly do you think is gonna happen if he gets me alone with him?” I said, turning slightly so my body was facing him.
“Isn’t it obvious why he’s here, Kate?” Colt said darkly. “He wants you. He’s obsessed with you. He’s going to use the kids to get to you.”
“Pot meet kettle,” I said dryly.
“I would care for them whether they were a part of you or not and you know it.” He shoved his door open. “Let’s go in before I turn around and say fuck it to everything.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, startled by the force of his anger, fumbling to open my door and get out. He was a few steps ahead of me to the house. I hurried beside him, noting the security guys guarding the place. Did they belong to the admiral or Alex?
“Colt?” I touched his arm, but my touch appeared to burn him and he moved away. I didn’t have the chance to press him because Alex, the admiral, and Trent were already in the living room. Porter further led us to another room which looked like his makeshift office.
As with other safe houses I’d been in, interior decorating wasn’t a priority. Stark walls, basic furniture. A television was always necessary. And books. Lots of books. At least this one didn’t have patched-up bullet holes in the plaster.
“Why am I here, admiral?” Trent asked and looked at his watch. “I’ve got another meeting with the Georgia Bureau and the feds in Harris County in two hours.”
“Have the autopsy results returned?” Porter asked.
“The shooter died from his fall, broke his neck,” Trent answered impatiently. “We’ve linked him to the Greenville shooter, Arthur Johnson. They were friends and that’s the biggest break we have in this case.” He turned a scrutinizing look at Alex. “Are you saying this is some Russian plot to de-stabilize the United States?” Looking at Kate, he said, “I’d be more interested in what happened to you …” His voice trailed off. He looked uncertain whether to mention the twins.
Unexpected Vows Page 14