The skies, heavy with storm clouds, grew darker with each mile he drove. Without so much as a sprinkle, rain began falling in sheets. The windshield wipers fell short of keeping his vision clear, but he kept going.
Anger churned in his gut, mingling with fear that Angel might be caught wandering around this school/hospital and be arrested. If his brother was there, Ivan would find him. In a fucked up way, this was his own fault. If he hadn’t taken the New Mexico job, none of this would be happening.
The tires lost traction on the slick highway, and the rear end of the car fishtailed. He steered into the slide, easily regaining control. No way was he ending up in a ditch. He had to get to the makeshift medical station.
A half mile from his destination, Ivan parked. The rain had tapered off, so he walked the rest of the way. He saw news vans parked across the street, telling him he was at the right place. A small crowd stood under trees with their cell phones out. Why? Were their lives so dull they hung around crime scenes hoping to catch their fifteen minutes with something that goes viral? Just in case a cop was nearby, he skirted the area and walked farther around to the side of the building, climbing up a grassy rise. He lost his footing, his body lurched forward, and he landed on his knees.
He hated getting dirty. Once he got Angel away from this place, he had some hard decisions to make. He had promised his brother that he’d always take care of him. Angel would never survive in jail; a private hospital was looking better all the time.
Angel’s voice pushed the rain and mud from Ivan’s mind. He crawled on all fours to an opening in the brush. A group of cops had surrounded Angel and a woman. He was hanging on to her while facing drawn pistols. Fuck. He was trying to kidnap a woman in broad daylight right in front of the law and the media.
Ivan wiped away the wetness from his eyes. What was Angel screaming? Ivan made out two words: she’s mine. He started to run to Angel but stopped, standing there helpless as the scene unfolded, and he tried to figure out what to do.
The woman broke free. One cop grabbed her and together they ran inside. Angel slammed a cop to the ground, fell on top of the man, and clamped his hands around the bastard’s throat.
Three cops were yelling at the same time. All three fired their pistols. Life moved in slow motion as the sounds of multiple gunshots mixed with the pouring rain. His baby brother’s body flinched and jerked and then crumbled like a brick wall under the pressure of a wrecking ball.
A cop walked over, grabbed Angel’s lifeless body, and dragged him off the man. Then he helped the fallen guy to his feet. They looked down at the body at their feet.
A man wearing a white shirt and western hat joined the group that now stood over Angel. Rain poured off the brim when he bent down and touched his fingers to Angel’s artery. He shook his head, turned his back, and strolled away.
Ivan held his head in his hands to keep his skull from exploding. His vision blurred as tears mingled with rain and slid down his cheeks. He’d promised his brother that he’d always be safe. Yet Angel lay on the ground like a piece of trash.
Every single person involved in Angel’s death would pay the ultimate price. Ivan vowed not to stop until he’d killed the cops and the bitch who had started it all. If RG was to be believed, that nurse, the one who just escaped, had set Angel on the road to his death.
Ivan joined the crowd huddled under a clump of trees, wiped his eyes, and got his bearings. He kept his ears trained on the media. Sooner or later they’d learn something, and they wouldn’t care who heard as long as they got to broadcast the news.
A camera woman noticed his arrival. She cut him a smile. One of those, I’m interested and available smiles. Normally his dick would have jumped to attention, but not today. His mind was too full of anger. Still, she could come in handy, so he smiled back, and moved close enough to start a conversation. He needed information and this was a good place to start.
Twenty minutes later, he still hadn’t been able to get her alone. He leaned down, whispered in her ear, and made a date for dinner. He’d try to get the information somewhere else. He was far too busy to mess with some bitch in heat. Only as a last resort would he keep the date.
Ivan walked away in a daze. The sense of loss weighed down on him. It wasn’t Angel’s fault their mother had been a junkie. No one had ever been able to explain why Angel and Ivan had been born with no sense of right and wrong. Perhaps it was an inherited trait bestowed on them by their father, who had left without compunction.
Anger boiled through his veins with the heat of molten lava. He drove away from the makeshift clinic, got on the freeway, and tried to decide his next step.
The rifle currently resting on the back floor of his rental just might be the answer.
CHAPTER 10
Jake and Dalton finished setting up sawhorses on one of the hardest hit cul-de-sacs. The sprinkle they were working in was rapidly turning into a lot more.
“We’re about to get really wet.” Jake laughed as he looked at the sky. He was already wet with sweat and figured a little rain might cool him off. But before he finished his thought, all hell broke loose.
“Just what this area doesn’t need.” Dalton made a dash for Jake’s pickup.
Jake barely managed to hit the button and unlock the door before Dalton grabbed the handle. Dalton got in, and Jake followed.
“It’s a bad break.” Jake started the engine, turned the air conditioner to high, and relished cool air hitting his wet body. “The river hasn’t crested yet, so there’s more flooding on the way.”
Setting out the sawhorses to block the road completed their assignment for the day, so Jake waved as he drove past a patrol car with the two officers inside. They would enforce the barricades, and Jake didn’t envy them the job. The homeowners hadn’t been allowed to go home yet, and today’s downpour would, no doubt, extend that order.
“You surprised me today,” he said to Dalton.
“How so?”
“I figured I’d have to carry you, but you held up to the heat and work. You pulled your weight and then some.”
Dalton chuckled. “I’m not sure if I should say thank you or fuck off.”
“Neither is required.” Jake realized he actually liked the man.
“I was doing my job,” Dalton said.
“Read minds much?” This time, they both laughed.
The police radio issued to them this morning sat in the seat between them. Dalton had carried it around with him at first, but after listening to hours of chatter that had nothing to do with them, he’d left it behind.
“We probably need to check in. I’m betting the city will need help handing out sand bags.” Dalton turned on the radio.
The talk was rapid-fire and sent the hair on the back of Jake’s neck standing on end. He listened closely as someone called, “Three-eleven. Shots fired. Suspect dead. Dispatch CSU to Stanton Junior High.”
“Dispatch crowd control and supervisor?” the voice on the radio asked.
“Negative.”
“Fuck,” Dalton muttered as Jake pressed harder on the gas pedal.
“Buckle up.” Jake swallowed the bile rushing to the back of his throat.
He turned the wipers to high and pushed his pickup’s speed as he raced up the entry ramp to the freeway and wove through the traffic. He hadn’t completely familiarized himself with all the streets, and Dalton turned out to be a decent navigator, never once mentioning Jake’s speed.
Something about Holly pulled him to her. He was kidding himself. It was guilt. Guilt for kidnapping her. Guilt for using her as barter to secure evidence to keep his boss’s son out of prison. Guilt for not releasing her before he had to kill that same slime-bag to save her life.
A car changed lanes, pulling directly in front of Jake. He slammed on the brakes, sending his pickup into a swerve. An excellent driver, he turned his wheel into the slide and corrected his vehicle’s path.
“Sorry. The bastard could’ve given a signal.” He glanced at D
alton, whose face was as unreadable as it had always been. “If Holly’s been shot…”
“She’s fine. The suspect is dead.”
Dalton’s words gave Jake no peace. “I need to see for myself.”
“Then take the next exit. We can avoid the end-of-day traffic and go the back way.”
Jake did as told, anything to shave a few minutes off their driving time. They arrived to find police officers and their patrol cars blocking each entrance to the school grounds. Jake parked on the outskirts of the parking lot.
“See if you can reach Rey on the radio,” he said to Dalton. “He’ll clear the way for us to go inside.”
They got out and waited in the drizzle while Dalton tried to reach the chief. Seconds ticked by, giving Jake’s imagination time to create dozens of possible scenarios. None of them good.
“You’re clear through the front entrance,” Rey said through the crackling radio.
“About fucking time.” Jake crossed the street in long strides. He moved through the crowd, ignored the grumbles, moving forward until he stood facing a guard who looked enough like the Hulk to be his kin.
“Names?” The guard shifted his assault rifle, keeping his attention on Jake and Dalton.
“Dalton Murphy and Jake Donovan,” Dalton answered.
The big man nodded once, and then wordlessly stepped sideways.
Jake stepped into the doorway and scanned the area. Small groups of people were huddled together, but there were no honey-colored blondes to be seen.
“Where are the nurses?” he asked the guard.
“Don’t know. I’m not working inside.” His tone suggested Jake’s question might have been a stupid one.
“No shit. But you have ears. Were any of them taken to a major hospital?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
Jake entered the building and walked to the closest group of people. Some were obviously patients who’d been receiving treatment when all hell had broken out. A few were wearing white coats, but Holly was nowhere to be seen. He ignored the stares as he pushed past them and walked behind the row of office dividers.
His breath caught in his throat. His heart jumped around inside his chest. All he could see was the back of Holly’s head, but she was perched on an examination table while a doctor inspected her arm. Her feet were bare, and her hair looked like a tumbleweed.
“She’s fine,” Dalton said from behind.
“Doesn’t look fine.”
“I’m going to find Rey. See what I can do to help.”
Jake was so focused on Holly that he didn’t realize Dalton had walked away. Then, the people in the room, staring at him, drew his attention. A few scanned him and went back to their conversation. Others scrutinized him. He felt them gawk, wondering why this man with stringy wet hair was staring at one of the nurses.
Hell, he was as confused as they were. Why had he rushed across town to check on Holly? She was nothing to him, so why did he give a shit that someone had roughed her up? His relief that she was okay bordered on freakish.
The doctor stopped and stared at Jake like he was something to scrape off his boot heel. Fuck it. He had to know if she was hurt. “How is she?”
“Jake, I’m okay.” Holly turned to face him. Unless he was blind, the tension in her eyes eased when she saw who was asking.
“Good to know.” He walked closer, dragging a hand through his wet hair and knowing he probably looked like a shaggy dog. “What happened?”
“I was at my workstation when that man, Angel, grabbed me by the arm. He said I was his now. He dragged me out the back door.”
“Was he alone?”
“I didn’t see anyone else.” The fear returned in her eyes tenfold. He rolled his fingers into fists to keep from pulling her into his arms. “Nobody in their right mind would try to kidnap me in front of all these people.”
“I’m sorry about all this.”
“If the police hadn’t been here, he might have taken me.” She blew out a sigh. “I’m so glad it’s over.
“How’d he get in?”
“Someone said he killed the guard on the back door. I don’t know how long he’d been inside when he grabbed me.”
The red marks on her arms were already on their way to being bruises. He clamped his jaw shut to keep from uttering words unfit for her ears.
“Maybe he was going to kill me for interfering? I’m not sure.”
“But you’re okay?” Jake tried to sound reassuring while his mind was churning.
She gifted him with the slightest of smiles. “Yeah. I am.”
Shit. Her expression sent electric impulses shooting through his body. She shouldn’t be looking at him like he was a superhero. He’d explained Stockholm syndrome to her more than once. Hadn’t she listened? Hadn’t she learned anything in nursing school?
He needed to be far away from her, because being around her fucked with his mind. She was like kryptonite to Superman…shutting down his system. “I’ll get out of the way. Dalton’s around here somewhere. I’m sure he needs my help.”
A hint of disappointment clouded her eyes. At least that’s how Jake read it. “Well.” She slid off the table and looked around for her shoes. “Thanks for checking on me.”
He wound through the group of people crowding the area and went out the back door in search of Dalton. The rain had stopped and the heat was already rising.
Dalton nodded as Jake approached. “I’m guessing Holly is pretty shaken up.”
“She seems to be holding it together,” Jake said, doing his best impersonation of someone who didn’t care. He shook hands with the chief.
The brim of Rey’s western hat had protected his face from the rain, but his shirt and slacks were soaked. Still, there was no doubt that he was in charge of the crime scene. Rey pushed the Stetson back, removed his sunglasses, and then looked around the parking lot.
“To say it was stupid of this guy to come here would be the understatement of the decade. But he did. Witnesses reported he was rambling but not making sense.”
“Surely he wasn’t alone?” Dalton asked.
“We’ve questioned everybody. No one saw an accomplice,” Rey said. “If he wanted her dead, an old-fashioned drive-by would have been easier.”
A big, icy hand slipped in between Jake’s ribs and squeezed his heart. “Maybe he wasn’t planning on killing her right away. Maybe he was taking her to his buddies.”
Rey nodded. “I’m putting Holly under protective custody for a few days.”
“I’m not sure that’s enough. You won’t be able to keep her name away from the media.” Jake wanted her as far away from Connersville as possible.
Dalton moved closer. “He’s right. Every weirdo around will be trying to reach her.”
The sound of rifle fire ended their conversation. Spectators and policemen rushed for cover amid a barrage of bullets. “Get down,” Rey yelled.
Jake, Dalton, and Rey dove behind a cruiser.
Two of Rey’s deputies were hit. One was dead, the other — Tom — desperately tried to drag himself to safety. Jake ran into the open, hooked his hands under Tom’s arms and pulled him behind the car with them. A bullet bounced off the pavement where they had been standing.
Rey was propped against the cruiser’s front tire. A red stain covered the front of his normally snow-white shirt. Jake had never wanted a gun so badly.
The gunfire stopped as abruptly as it had started. The voices of women crying and people yelling filled the air.
“Son of a bitch,” Rey said with a cough. “Stay here. Give my men time to sweep the area. We’ll carry the wounded inside.”
“There’s no time. You’re going first,” Jake said.
“No.” Rey’s voice was weak.
“Jake’s right,” Dalton said.
The officer Jake had pulled to safety pushed himself up on his elbows. “I’m okay. Go.”
Dalton reached down and caught Rey’s ankles. Jake slid his hands under the chief’
s arms and they hurried inside.
Pandemonium was the only way to describe what was happening inside the building. The front doors had been closed and locked, no doubt to keep people safe, but apparently everyone wanted outside.
As badly as he wanted to make sure Holly was safe, he tamped down the fire in his belly and went back to help Tom. He’d lied when he’d told the chief he was okay, and Jake knew it.
Tom’s face was pale, but he tried to stand.
“Put your arm around my shoulder.” Jake grabbed him. “Now lean into me. Let me carry the load.”
One step at a time, they made their way into the building. Jake handed him over to another white coat. “Hang in there,” he said as they whisked him away.
Jake and Dalton walked to the front door and stood with the guard. The rain had stopped, the sky had cleared, and the sun was trying to break through the clouds. It was oddly quiet.
“Until Rey can talk, we’ll have a hard time finding out anything,” Dalton said.
Jake dug his fingers into his scalp. “Too many pieces of this puzzle are missing. If these men are hell-bent on getting to Holly, you need to take her and disappear.” Dalton would protect her with his life if it came to that. “Without talking to anyone, just take her to Dallas.”
Dalton rubbed his chin as if considering Jake’s idea. “That’s not a bad idea, but Dallas isn’t the answer.”
“Why not? The new facility sounds like a fortress.”
“It’s close, but if Holly’s name gets out, connecting her relationship with Lost and Found will be easy.” Dalton’s eyebrows pulled together. “Kay is pregnant again. They don’t talk about it, but she miscarried last year. I don’t know anything about babies, but no way can stress be good for mother or baby.”
Jake smiled at the news. Nate and Kay would make great parents. “How far along is she?”
“I don’t know, but she’s big.” Dalton glanced back at the area where the doctors had taken Rey. “Have you seen Holly?”
No Greater Hell (Lost and Found, Inc. Book 4) Page 8