Hell & Back (Outbreak Task Force)

by Julie Rowe

  He froze for a couple of seconds, then his shoulders relaxed a little and he shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  Frowning, she asked, “Why not?”

  “Because even if I knew about his kidnapping, I still would have gone to the level-four lab to ensure the smallpox sample stayed secure. The FAFO would have still attacked, still gotten in, and I still would have had to blow the whole place up.”

  “You wouldn’t have done anything different?”

  He gave her a wry smile. “What I would have done differently was make sure you were stashed somewhere safe and surrounded by law enforcement. Given how much information the FAFO seem to get their hands on, they probably would have found out you weren’t a viable source of information or samples. They probably would have killed your brother as soon as they realized that and gone after another target.”

  A betrayal she could have never forgiven him for.

  Instead, she’d betrayed him and then nearly killed herself trying to correct her mistake. Her body ached, her side throbbed, but it was her heart that hurt the worst. A wound she wasn’t sure would ever heal.

  “We’re not very smart, are we?”

  He grunted. “Nope.”

  So much sadness in one word. An ocean of sorrow in which he was far from shore and barely treading water. She was in over her head, too, but they were too far apart to help each other.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said again, her face wet with tears that wouldn’t stop welling up.

  “It would have gone south on us one way or another.” His gaze returned to hers and was steady. “But I would like to extract something from you now.”

  “What?”

  “A promise to never lie to me again.”

  She sucked in an abrupt, painful breath. She’d earned his reservations and distrust, and she’d done it with her eyes wide-open. The worst part…she’d do it all over again the same to get this result: the FAFO stopped and most of its members dead or in custody and Nate, Henry, and herself alive.

  She could, however, start fresh with Henry. “I promise to never lie to you again.”

  He studied her with a careful gaze, then nodded. He opened his mouth to say something else, but someone ducked around the curtain and into the cramped room.

  Nate.

  Whose gaze seemed caught on Henry’s hand holding hers.

  Henry stood slowly then let go of her hand. That reluctance was the only reason she didn’t turn into a salty fountain again.

  “Stop worrying and get some rest,” Henry said, then he slid by her brother and left the room.

  Nate took Henry’s place and chair, and her hand. She loved her brother, but it wasn’t the same.

  “I’m not a fan,” Nate said with a frown.

  “I am.”

  He opened his mouth too fast for anything he’d say to be nice.

  “Don’t,” she managed to get out before he said anything unforgivable. “Don’t be mean. He…” She ran out of breath. “He…” She ran out of words to describe how she felt about the most complicated, conflicted, caring person she’d ever met. “He’s been through some awful stuff, Nate. So, yeah, he’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s a good man.”

  Her brother stared at her, his jaw hanging wide for a moment before it shut with a click of teeth and he swallowed hard. “Holy shit. Are you…in love with him?”

  She wanted to answer in the negative, but she couldn’t make herself do it.

  Was she in love with him? In lust, certainly. For his body, his brain, and his brooding strength. That added up to the whole man.

  “Maybe?”

  “Sis, his type are…not the kind of guy I’d want for you.”

  “What do you mean, his type?”

  Nate sighed. “Broken soldiers, because they stay…broken. Even though they want to have a normal life, most of them never manage to find all their pieces and put themselves back together right.”

  What did he do, read up on the subject in a psychology textbook? “And how many broken soldiers have you met, Nate?”

  “More than most.” He shrugged. “I run into them in the course of my job more often than you might be aware of.”

  He worked for MML, not the army. “How did you know they were broken?”

  “They’re hyperaware of their surroundings. They’re terrified of getting close to anyone for fear of losing them, so they earn a reputation for being bad-tempered and grumpy because they avoid or push people away. Those they see as their own, they’re obsessively protective of.”

  “Henry isn’t overprotective or grumpy without a reason.” She wasn’t going to let her brother stick him into a small psychological box and slam the lid shut. “He recovered from his wounds, learned to walk again, went back to school, and reinvented himself.”

  “That’s all great, but not what I’m talking about.” He thumped his chest. “He’s broken in here. Most of his unit died. He didn’t.” Nate shook his head. “No matter how much you don’t want to admit it, there’s a part of him that will never stop bleeding. Never stop hurting. Never let him truly relax again.” Nate had the grace to look sad. “He’s not someone I’d ever choose for you.”

  Ruby studied her brother for a long moment. He believed what he said, and maybe he was right, but what he didn’t know was that Henry wouldn’t be chasing after her for a relationship, not after her stupid lies and stupider decisions. She’d botched any hope of a relationship before it could ever begin.

  “You’re wrong about him.” Before he could argue with her, she kept talking. “But it doesn’t matter. I did something unforgivable and stupid. He’s the one who’s too good for me.”

  Nate’s frown deepened. “What are you talking about?”

  “I lied to him.” Tears wet her face again. “I didn’t tell him about the FAFO kidnapping you. He had about ten minutes’ warning before they attacked the lab.”

  “You were under a lot of stress—” Nate began.

  “No,” she interrupted. “I chose not to tell him. I chose to keep him in the dark, because I knew what he’d do, and I couldn’t let him do it. My choices resulted in the loss of the level-four lab and hundreds of rare bacterial and viral samples.”

  She sucked in a breath as a few more seconds of her memory emerged out of the unfocused, frustrating fog circling the inside of her head. She remembered the moment she decided to put herself in the terrorist’s way, knowing it could in no way make up for her betrayal.

  She would be Henry’s shield, even if it was the last thing she did.

  Nate stared at her with unhappiness tugging the corners of his mouth down. “You are in love with him.” It was a statement, flat and featureless.

  He was missing the point.

  “Doesn’t matter if I am or not,” she whispered. “He trusted me once, and I destroyed it. Trust with a man as honorable as Henry is integral to any relationship.” She blinked. “He might be worried about me right now, but that will pass as he processes everything that happened. Be nice to him, Nate. Please.”

  Her brother studied her for a long time before saying, “It sounds like I need to talk to your Henry.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  3:12 a.m.

  Nate left his sister’s room.

  For the first time in his life, he didn’t understand why his sister did what she did.

  It had always been the two of them against a world that seemed out of step with them. They were either behind or ahead, but this was the first time they’d been at odds with each other.

  He didn’t like Henry Lee, didn’t like how the man looked at his sister. As if she were the only other person on the planet.

  What really sucked? She looked at him the same way.

  He’d always known she’d find someone to share her life with, marry, have kids, and do all the other things oth
er people did, but he’d never imagined she’d end up with such a dangerous job. Or fall in love with such a dangerous guy.

  She’d been hazy on the details, but it was clear she’d decided she was to blame for nearly dying. Nate didn’t agree—she wasn’t a soldier or cop trained on how to respond to violence. She was a civilian whose instant response to danger was to run toward it to try and save whoever she could.

  If she knew Henry Lee well enough to fall for him, the man should’ve known her well enough to keep her out of harm’s reach. But, as much as he wanted to lay all the blame at the man’s feet, it seemed they needed to have a talk.

  He walked out of the beige hallway into a slightly wider one that had a couple of alcoves with chairs. They weren’t waiting rooms—rather, they seemed to be a place where staff, patients, and/or family of patients hung out during breaks or while visiting with a loved one.

  Henry was there, along with the drill sergeant, a cantankerous, retired veteran whom Nate had liked from the moment he met the man, if only for his colorful vocabulary.

  Nate strode over and sat.

  No one said anything for a minute.

  “How is she?” DS asked.

  “Stubborn, argumentative, and determined to be a martyr.”

  “Martyr?” Henry asked, his brows low over his eyes.

  “Yep. She says the loss of the lab and the specimens, the wounds she suffered, and the damage caused to the building are all her fault.”

  “So, she’s the brains behind the FAFO?” DS asked, his voice heavily laced with sarcasm.

  “No, but she thinks she did or didn’t do something that directly resulted in getting hurt and losing the building.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Henry said, holding Nate’s gaze.

  “She’s feeling guilty for something.” He let that hang in the air and kept his attention on Henry.

  “What the fuck are you fishing for, boy?” DS asked.

  Nate sighed. He couldn’t even get angry at the old man, since he’d called him on his own bullshit. “She’s acting out of character.” He turned his attention back to Henry. “Something happened when you two were in the lab. Whatever it was convinced her she committed some unpardonable sin.”

  “Well, let’s see,” Henry said with a snarl on his face and in his voice. “We watched some assholes murder two security guards, blow a hole in armored walls that were supposed to keep the assholes out, and hunt us down on the first floor. I killed more than one of them in front of her.” He wiped a hand down his face. “And that was just in the first hour of the attack.”

  “What mistake could she have made?”

  “Three times, I told her to stay hidden,” Henry said between teeth clamped together so hard it looked like they would break. “Three times, she came out of her hiding spot and nearly got herself caught or killed. The third time, the bastard used that knife on her…” Henry’s voice died, and he swallowed hard instead of finishing his sentence. He cleared his throat. “I was so angry she didn’t follow my instructions, I yelled at her.”

  “You…yelled at her?” Nate stared at Henry, at his clenched fists, pale face, and gaze that couldn’t quite meet his.

  He was hiding something, too.

  What could she have done?

  The terrorists wanted smallpox, and she’d promised to deliver it. Had she actually tried to get a sample of the pathogen?

  “Ruby is stubborn once she’s made up her mind about something.”

  If she’d grabbed a sample and Henry caught her…that would definitely qualify as a mistake.

  Certainty settled into his bones. Henry Lee was in love with his sister.

  From the barely leashed violence written all over the man’s face and posture, it looked like he was more than prepared to take the responsibility and blame to protect her.

  The resentment he’d been hanging on to slipped out of his grasp. While Nate wasn’t particularly happy about Ruby’s choice, Henry did have a few strengths most other men didn’t. He was ruthlessly intelligent, a deadly fighter, and more than a little overprotective. There were worse options out there. Maybe broken wasn’t so bad if you were too busy keeping up with someone determined to run you ragged.

  He mulled over the events Henry outlined a couple of minutes ago. “What do you mean, armored walls that were supposed to keep the assholes out?”

  Henry’s eyes narrowed as if he were trying to figure out why Nate changed the subject. “The building’s security had been retrofitted with several serious upgrades. Armored walls, cameras inside and outside, and fingerprint and retina scans required to access the high-level containment areas.” He shook his head. “They shouldn’t have gotten in.”

  “We’ve got an info leak somewhere,” DS said. “A big one.”

  “Or more than one,” Henry put in.

  DS snorted. “Do not start making shit up.”

  “Do you really think all this is the result of some nosy HR person passing along nothing more than moderately sensitive information?” Henry asked. “To get the information on the security upgrades would require a higher security clearance than that. And those mercenaries weren’t cheap. Where does the money lead?”

  “Homeland and the FBI are investigating,” DS said. “They’re still working on it, but the payment to the mercenaries was in cash. It’s impossible to know where it came from.”

  “Cash?” Nate asked. “That’s oddly old-school.”

  “Digital leaves tracks and traces,” DS said. “If done right, cash doesn’t.”

  “There’s a trail somewhere,” Henry said. “We need to find it.”

  Henry’s new phone rang—DS had brought it to him, along with a warning not to destroy this one. Two seconds later, DS’s phone rang. Both men answered, and Nate watched as they sat up straight and their faces went blank.

  Bad news.

  “Understood,” they said almost in unison.

  DS opened his mouth to say something, but the PA system came on with a slight crackle. “Code black. Security to second floor, Maternity. Security to second floor, Maternity.”

  “What’s a code black?” Nate asked.

  “Bomb threat,” DS said. “On the floor directly below this one.”

  Holy shit, someone had called in a bomb threat to a maternity ward?

  Henry was on his feet and heading in the direction of Ruby’s room.

  “Where are you going?” Nate called after him.

  “I’m not leaving her alone,” he shouted back as he went into the unit.

  Shit.

  DS came to stand in front of Nate. “You know how to shoot?”

  “Yes.”

  The older man reached back, pulled out a handgun from under his shirt, and handed it to him. “Keep a lookout. I’m going to see if this is a real threat or an imagined one.”

  Nate looked at the gun in his hand then tried to give it back. “I don’t have a license to carry.”

  DS walked backward down the hall toward the elevators. “Just until I get back. Don’t let anyone but people you trust in there.”

  Nate rolled his eyes, checked the gun, then tucked it into the back of his jeans and made sure his shirt covered it.

  With just his luck, he’d be arrested for having it while some asshole tried to get into his sister’s room. Henry could handle them, but Nate didn’t want anyone with unhealthy intentions anywhere near her.

  …

  3:54 a.m.

  Henry strode into the unit and went straight to the nurses’ desk.

  They were both on their phones talking while rushing around the desk, grabbing charts and putting them into a pile.

  “I’m taking my girlfriend out of here,” he told them.

  One protested, but the other nurse said, “Take her to the muster point behind the building. That’s where we’ll be taking
all our patients.”

  The phone in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and looked at the text message he’d received. It was from DS.

  Found a fucking bomb. Are you moving yet?

  Henry looked at the two nurses. “Is there a spare stretcher around?”

  “No, but you can use a wheelchair.” She pointed at two sitting in a corner.

  He appropriated one and pushed it into Ruby’s room. Nate followed him in.

  Henry scooped her off her bed and transferred her to the chair. It had a short IV pole attached to the back. Nate hung the IV bag off it while Henry covered her lap with a blanket.

  “What’s going on?” Ruby asked, squinting at him.

  Henry pushed her out of the unit as a team of people with more wheelchairs came in. He leaned closer and whispered, “Bomb threat.”

  “Seriously?” she asked, sounding equal parts irritated and concerned. She glanced at her brother. “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

  “They went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat.” Nate pulled out his phone. “I’ll check in with them again and tell them to go outside.”

  The hallway was quickly filling up with people, wheelchairs, and stretchers heading in all directions.

  “Stairwell,” he said, turning the chair toward the closest one. “Wouldn’t want to get stuck in an elevator.”

  “Do you think this bomb threat is connected to the FAFO?” Ruby asked, sounding a little less drugged.

  “I have no idea,” he replied. “But I’m going to err on the side of caution.”

  A crash behind them had them all turning to look. An empty wheelchair lay on its side on the floor. A staff member righted it and pushed it toward the nearest unit at a run.

  Ruby made a pain-filled noise.

  “Ruby?” her brother asked before Henry could.

  “Oh my God,” she said almost soundlessly. “I remember that asshole yelling at me through the security mesh. He told me my whole family was already marked for death.”

  What the fuck? “Why?” Henry asked.

  Ruby and her brother stared at each other for a long moment. “Because we’re sticking our noses where they don’t belong. Both our parents work for the NSA. I tried to get more information out of him, but that’s all I got.” She spoke directly to Nate. “Where did you say Mom and Dad were?”