Lone Star Christmas Rescue

by Margaret Daley

  “John is the head of hospital security. Let me introduce you.”

  Drake followed Pierce into the room. Pierce made the introductions, and Drake shook the security head’s hand.

  “I can change which camera I monitor. Right now, I have them on all the entrances and on the ones on the fifth floor. Everything is recorded and can be pulled up and reviewed if needed.”

  Drake shifted his focus from one monitor to the next, recognizing where some of the cameras were filming but not all. He pointed to a top left one. “Is this the only loading dock for the hospital?”

  “Everything comes through there other than patients.” John hit a key on his computer and changed the view. “There are two cameras capturing different angles.”

  “A police officer and a DEA agent are inspecting every item coming into the hospital,” Pierce said as he gestured toward one man in uniform, then another a few yards away. The DEA agent was dressed as though he was a worker unloading the trucks.

  Drake finished his perusal of the monitors and started to turn to leave. A tall, dark-haired man wearing a baseball cap, jeans and a University of Texas sweatshirt coming into the hospital through the main entrance caught his attention. There was something about how he carried himself—as if he owned the place—that gave Drake pause.

  He pointed at the guy. “Have you seen that man before?”

  John shook his head while Pierce said, “No.”

  “Can you zoom in on him?” Drake bent closer to the screen.

  “This is the best I can do.”

  Drake stared at the man’s right hand. Was that a gold ring—possibly like the one Soto had on in Kay’s dream?

  “I’m going to check him out.” Drake couldn’t explain exactly why. A gut feeling. “Keep an eye on him while I head for the lobby.” He hurried from the security office and entered the lobby only a minute later.

  But in that time, the tall man had disappeared. He called Pierce’s cell phone. “Where did he go?”

  “He got on elevator two and exited on the third floor. Do you want me to switch the monitors to follow him?”

  “No. You’re watching the essential places.” If it was Soto, it was more important to have the fifth floor locked down.

  “I’ll have John call the security guard on that floor and have him meet you at the elevator.”

  Drake rode the elevator up to the third floor, mentally preparing himself for an encounter. He kept thinking of the short video he’d been sent showing Soto from a distance leaving his office building in Juárez. People often changed their physical appearance but didn’t think of things like how they walked or favorite mannerisms. By the time Drake got off the elevator, he was seventy percent sure Soto had just strolled into the hospital.

  The young security guard approached Drake the second he exited the elevator. Although it looked like the suspicious man wore glasses under the baseball cap, Drake showed the guard a photo of Soto. “Have you seen him on this floor? He got off the elevator no more than a few minutes ago.”

  “No.”

  “Stay here. If you see a man wearing glasses, a baseball cap and a University of Texas sweatshirt, call me here.” Drake handed him a slip of paper with his cell phone number on it. “Do not approach or give away you’re watching him. I’m searching the floor and want to know if he leaves.”

  The young man stood up straight. “Yes, sir. I can do that.”

  “Also keep an eye on the staircase at this end.”

  “Will do.”

  Drake went down each corridor and showed various employees Soto’s photo while describing the guy he was looking for. One doctor thought he might have passed him, but he wasn’t sure.

  At the next nurses’ station, an orderly pointed toward the second set of stairs at the opposite end from the bank of elevators. “Yeah, a minute ago. He was in a hurry.”

  “Thanks.” Drake jogged toward the staircase door and eased it open, one hand near his holstered gun in case the man was waiting on the other side. He heard footsteps above him and below. If it was Soto, he would want to go up. Even with the guard on that door on the fifth floor, he decided to head that way. When he began up the steps, his cell phone rang. He quickly answered the call from Pierce.

  “Drake, the silent alarm went off on the outside door in the first floor’s west stairwell. Someone opened it and either went out or let a person inside.”

  “I’m a few floors above. I’ll check it out.” Drake turned and hurried down the steps.

  “I have a police officer heading that way, too.”

  Drake stuffed his phone into his pocket and quickened his pace. When he reached the bottom, an officer entered the stairwell. Drake shoved open the fire door that led outside and caught a glimpse of the man in question getting into a black sedan, which sped away. He ran forward, trying to get the tag number. The only numbers he saw were the last two—seven and four. Mud obscured the rest of the license plate.

  The police officer came up behind him. “Was that the guy we’re looking for?”

  “Maybe.” Drake strode toward the emergency exit. The fire door was shut and locked from the outside.

  Had that been Soto? That man sure had walked like Kay’s brother-in-law. If so, why had he come? To scout out the hospital? To taunt the police? Or something more sinister?

  A diversion?

  Urgency compelled him to move faster while placing a call to Dallas, stationed at Kaleb’s hospital room.

  *

  With Drake gone, Kay couldn’t even close her eyes, let alone sleep. Dallas stuck his head into the hospital room every once in a while, and she appreciated the gesture. She hadn’t realized how much she’d come to depend on Drake’s presence. She was remembering more pieces of her past life. As a firefighter, she’d faced many dangerous situations as part of her job, but in this case her life wasn’t the only one on the line.

  Kaleb slept in the baby bed inches from her. She sat next to it with the side railing down so she could soothe him when he became restless. She began to think she needed the physical connection more than he did.

  What did a normal life feel like? Since Drake had left, she’d asked herself that question several times. She began to picture the firehouse she worked at and wondered if what she saw was right. Drake had shown her a photo of the outside of her house, but flashes of what the inside looked like started to form in her mind.

  It was like the memory of her sister’s murder had unplugged the dam holding her past back from her, and yet she couldn’t remember what happened at her sister’s house that led up to her death. Why did Kassandra’s husband kill her? The memories she was having of her twin sister were filled with love and happiness.

  She glanced at the clock on the wall. Where was Drake? He’d been gone over thirty minutes. She’d thought he would be back by now. If something had happened, surely Dallas would have informed her. She picked up the phone to call Drake, but halfway through punching in the number, she remembered he’d said he would be gone an hour and hung up.

  Her eyelids felt heavy. She laid her head on Kaleb’s bed near him and placed her hand on his arm. Maybe she would close her eyes for a few minutes.

  But she wouldn’t go to sleep. She couldn’t relive Kassandra’s death again.

  A hand clasping her shoulder jerked her awake. She popped up, glancing over her shoulder—at Drake. She jumped up and threw her arms around him. “You’re all right.”

  “Yes. I know I was gone over an hour, but—”

  “An hour?” Kay checked the clock on the wall. “I must have fallen asleep. I wasn’t going to. I…”

  “Was tired?”

  She nodded.

  Drake embraced her. “I was making sure the security was in place. Nothing is going to happen to you two.”

  The fervent last statement made her wonder if something had happened while he was gone. “Anything suspicious?”

  “One guy who came into the hospital had the same build as Soto. I went to check him out.�
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  “Who was he?”

  “He left before I could talk to him. I did get a partial tag number and make of the vehicle he was in. Pierce is running what little we know through the system to see if anything comes up.”

  “That sounds like a long shot.”

  “It is. The man is gone, and the guards have been alerted.” Drake turned toward the bed. “How’s Kaleb?”

  “Moving more. The nurse told me the doctor would be here soon to examine him.”

  “Good. I hope he can give us an estimate of when Kaleb can leave the hospital. I’ll feel better when he can.”

  She felt the same way. What little she could recall about Kassandra’s husband didn’t bode well. She’d started to remember part of her sister’s wedding. Alejandro Soto had been charming, but there were a couple of times when he’d wanted something a certain way and Kassandra hadn’t. Looking back, Kay realized he’d always gotten his way.

  A memory flitted through her mind. When she’d arrived at Kassandra’s house over Thanksgiving, her sister had hugged her tightly and started to tell her something, but she’d stopped when her husband joined them in the foyer. When she’d looked between Alejandro and Kassandra, Kay’s two overriding impressions had been that her sister was scared and her husband had had no idea that Kassandra had asked her to come visit. And a few days later, those assumptions had been proven true.

  *

  The bright light of a new day streamed through the narrow slits in the blinds, enticing Kay to open them. She even took a step toward the window. But Drake’s words from yesterday about a possible sniper stopped her. She missed being outside in the sunlight. Her freedom of movement was stifled as much as a prisoner in a cell.

  In two days, she hadn’t left Kaleb’s hospital room. Stroking his back, Kay held him close to her as she walked from one end of the small confines to the other. The pediatrician would be in soon to let her know when he thought it would be safe for Kaleb to leave the hospital.

  “It won’t be long before we can go, Kaleb.” She gently returned him to the baby bed and took her post right next to him in a chair with the railing lowered.

  He held her finger, brought it to his mouth and proceeded to gum it. She felt the edge of the tooth coming in.

  “After the doctor comes, you’ll get to eat. Just hold on for a little while.”

  Kaleb gibbered.

  Thank goodness he didn’t know she wasn’t Kassandra. He didn’t need to deal with the loss of his mother with all that was going on. When he was older, she would tell him. She wouldn’t let his father come near Kaleb, if at all possible.

  When the door swung open, Drake entered with Dr. Santos.

  Kay rose and stepped away to let the doctor examine Kaleb. He tolerated Dr. Santos’s probing, only trying to wiggle away at the end. She put her hand on the top of Kaleb’s head to calm him. He immediately found her watch and tugged on the band.

  The pediatrician backed away and picked up the chart to scribble notes down. “Unless there’s a problem, he can go home this afternoon after a few more tests. I’m taking him off his IV.”

  “That’s great.” Kay slanted a look at Drake. The relief on his face matched how she felt.

  After Dr. Santos left, a nurse came into the room and removed the IV. “I’m glad to see he’s doing so much better.”

  Kay smiled. “He had us worried, but he’s a little tiger. He doesn’t stay down for long.”

  “The doctor said you’d be leaving a little later.”

  “Yes. I appreciate all your help with Kaleb.”

  As the young nurse walked to the door, Kay returned to her chair and scooped up Kaleb to hold. “Since he’s been up most of the morning, I’m going to try to get him to take a nap so he’ll be rested when we leave.” As she held him against her chest, she rocked back and forth. “Did the police find anything about the guy you thought might be my sister’s husband in the stolen car they found this morning?”

  “Wiped clean. It was abandoned in an area where there weren’t any cameras and no one was willing to come forward. When So—the man and his accomplice drove away, only one traffic cam caught the vehicle and that was near the hospital. Nothing from that picture can help us. They were careful, which only reinforces my feeling that was Soto in the passenger seat.” Near Kay, Drake leaned back against the baby bed, partially perched on it.

  “All the more reason to leave here today.”

  “I’ll need to check with Pierce later this afternoon before we leave the hospital. I think the diversion we’ve planned could help us catch him. Once we’re away and not being followed, we should be okay. Again, Dallas will accompany us, and our location will only be known to us and Pierce.”

  “A new safe house?”

  “Yes, in El Paso area in case Kaleb has a problem. We’ll be close to medical care.”

  Kay glanced at Kaleb, who had fallen asleep. “I think I’ll try to take a nap while he is. Later it might be hectic.” She stood and carefully placed the baby in the bed while Drake helped her lift the railing.

  As she straightened, Drake clasped her arm and tugged her closer. “A lot of people here and in Mexico are looking for Soto.”

  He looked away for a few seconds, and when his gaze returned to her face, she realized he had something else to tell her from his conversation with Pierce earlier. And suddenly she knew what it was. “Kassandra’s body was found.”

  He nodded. “The Mexican authorities discovered another piece of property, a ranch he owned. The ranch house had burned down a couple of days before. They found a woman’s body in what would have been the master bedroom. No confirmation it was your sister yet. The fire wasn’t reported, and because its location was isolated, no one else came forward about what happened. There were also a male and female body in the stable, which caught fire, too. The male doesn’t fit Soto’s build or height, and they could tell from the woman she most likely wasn’t your sister.”

  “A fire? I don’t remember anything like that.”

  “You could have been gone by then.”

  “Or I don’t recall that part of what went down.”

  “The bottom line is we think Soto has gone underground, and very likely in the United States. He never officially crossed the border, but there are other ways. He has the connections and money to make that happen, especially if he’s coming for his son.”

  Kay shivered at the thought of a murderer taking Kaleb. She didn’t care that the man was Kaleb’s father. If she had to disappear to give Kaleb a chance to grow up a normal little boy, she would.

  Drake tightened his arms around Kay. “I’m not going to let that happen, Kay. I care about Kaleb too much to have him ever returned to his father.” He kissed the top of her head, his hand stroking her back. When he pulled away slightly, he stared at her.

  His look melted her, her legs giving way. He supported her at the same time as he dipped his head toward hers.

  A loud boom shook the room—the whole building—a picture on the wall crashed to the floor. Multiple alarms rang.

  FOURTEEN

  Stunned, Drake held Kay against him for a few heartbeats, trying to process what had just happened. A bomb?

  The lights flickered and went off.

  Kaleb’s cries pierced through Drake’s daze, and he set a shocked Kay in a nearby chair and then went to the bed and picked up the baby. He cradled him like a football against his chest and opened the blinds to let some daylight into the room.

  As the door swung open, he quickly passed Kaleb to Kay and put his hand on his gun. Dallas rushed inside. Behind him, people hurried up and down the hall.

  “The transformer blew up. The backup generator should come on any second.”

  “Blew up?” Could this be the work of Soto? “We have to get out of here.”

  Some lights came back on.

  Drake breathed a little easier, because the stairs were the only way to leave the floor. Now they would be able to see the steps they would descend
and also if anyone was waiting for them.

  “Kay, get everything you need for Kaleb. We’re leaving.”

  “You think this is Soto’s doing?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but I’m not taking any chances. We’re going to implement our plan a bit earlier.”

  Kay stuffed everything she’d brought of Kaleb’s as well as items they had acquired while in the hospital. Drake helped her secure Kaleb against her using the baby sling while Dallas opened the door and checked the corridor.

  “The staff is going into emergency mode. Not as chaotic as before.”

  “Let’s go. We’ll use the south stairwell.” Drake informed Pierce of their plans, then removed his gun from its holster.

  Dallas stepped out first and motioned them forward, then they headed for the exit. When Drake opened the door to the stairs, he scanned the lit area, then entered and flattened himself against the wall while looking up. Dallas positioned himself at the railing and looked down. The sound of footsteps echoed through the stairwell. A young man and woman appeared from the sixth floor and hastened past them. More joined them.

  Drake pushed his way into the flow between a family with a child about eight or nine and an older couple. Drake descended first with Kay following right behind him and Dallas taking up the rear. A crowd could help them, but that also made it harder to keep tabs on everyone.

  Drake hurried, but he couldn’t set the pace as fast as the group’s because Kaleb didn’t need to be jarred with his stitches. Some people passed them on the steps. He’d feel better when they were away from the hospital.

  At the third-floor landing, another explosion reverberated through the building, and what lighting they had went out. Total darkness entombed them. Someone screamed from above.

  “Hold on to the railing,” Drake whispered to Kay, then withdrew his cell phone and tapped his flashlight app on, while others did the same around him.

  With the second explosion most likely affecting the generator, even more people flooded the stairwell. In their rush to get out of the hospital, pandemonium began to drive some of the people behind him. A tall, rugged-looking man, his head poking above the rest, shoved his way toward them. Drake twisted toward Kay, keeping his gaze fastened on the guy, and stopped their progress until the stranger passed them. As he did, he looked Kay up and down. Drake moved his hand stuck in his jacket enough for the man to glimpse his Texas Ranger star and gun. With a glare, he pressed forward, leaving them behind.