Personal Protector

by Debra Webb

  “Who took the call from Mrs. Olsen?”

  “Keith—”

  “The desk assistant back in Atlanta,” Ric said for Lucas’s benefit. “He’s in this.” Martinez hit the brakes and made a hard right at Lucas’s barked instruction. Tires squealed. Martinez fought the inertia pulling them into a tailspin, then stomped the accelerator to launch the car forward into the middle of the slowly moving traffic.

  Fifteen minutes, sounded in his earpiece. Faster, Martinez. Right on Twenty-First.

  He had to hurry.

  He swerved to miss a pedestrian who stepped off the curb when the traffic signal turned red and the crossing light said Walk. Piper screamed. Horns blared as cars on the cross street screeched to stops.

  “Slow down, Martinez. You’re going to get us both killed!”

  Left on K Street.

  “Now you tell me,” Ric muttered as he slammed on the brakes and turned in front of the oncoming traffic. His heart rushed into his throat when a moving van bore down on them before it came to a rubber-burning halt. More horns. Shouts. But he ignored them all. He had to concentrate.

  “Let me out of this car!” Piper demanded suddenly. “You’re going to kill us both.” She depressed the unlock button and reached for the door handle. “Stop the damn car!”

  “Shut up before you make me do something we’ll both regret!” Ric sent her a look that stopped her cold. He couldn’t risk telling her the truth right now. She might be angry, but he could deal with her anger. Hysteria was another story.

  Right on Twenty-Third.

  The emergency room entrance is on the left.

  “Listen to me, Martinez. There’s no way to stop it,” Lucas said quietly, uncharacteristic fear in his commanding voice. “Once it’s activated, there’s no turning back. No way to disarm it. Watts must have gotten close enough to trip the timer right before the interview began. He had to have touched her with the device we found on him. It was the only way to start the countdown.”

  The memory of Piper tripping and Watts steadying her flashed in Ric’s mind. “Did Watts touch you in any way that seemed odd at the time?” Ric demanded of his now-sullen passenger.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” she snapped. “The only thing odd around here is your bizarre behavior. I swear, Martinez, I’m not going to forgive you for doing this.”

  “When you ran into him and tripped,” Ric barked impatiently. “Think, Piper!”

  Her hand went to her abdomen, right over her belly button. “He caught me.” She frowned. “I remember it kind of hurt. But I didn’t think anything of it. Too nervous about the interview, I guess.” She met Ric’s gaze when he glanced at her “Why?”

  Son of a bitch. Ric was going to kill Watts when he got his hands on him. And any of the other SSU bastardos Lucas rounded up.

  “We’re here,” he told Lucas. Ric slammed on the brakes directly in front of the emergency room doors and shoved the gearshift into park. He was dragging Piper out of the car before it stopped rocking.

  Ric shoved his gun back into his waistband beneath his jacket as he tugged a still-reluctant Piper through the automatic doors.

  “What are we doing at a hospital?” she demanded, again trying to slow his forward movement. “Is my uncle here? Is he hurt?”

  Ric ignored her questions as he listened to Lucas explain that Raine was still trying to get the seriousness of the situation across to the 9-1-1 operator. Clearance to direct assistance was still pending. No one was waiting to help them. There’d been an automobile accident on Pennsylvania Avenue and the bomb squad was still three minutes away.

  Ric swore.

  Twelve minutes.

  A dozen people were crowded around the admissions desk. He didn’t have time for that. He glanced around the crowded waiting room. Piper tried to twist free.

  “Be still,” he hissed in her direction, pinning her with a deadly glare.

  She glowered right back at him. “Not until you tell me what the hell is going on!” She stepped closer. “Dammit, that was national television, Martinez, and you dragged me off the set like…like…” She flung her free arm heaven-ward. “Like a maniac. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  A nurse called the name of one of the waiting patients. The woman, holding a crying child in her arms, hurried to follow the nurse through the double doors. Ric jerked Piper close and slipped through the doors marked Authorized Personnel Only behind the mother and child.

  He scanned the frenzy of white uniforms rushing in and out of exam rooms. Personnel preoccupied with the business of saving lives and helping the sick buzzed around the nurse’s station. Ric needed a doctor. He stuck his head in each exam room he passed, until he found one empty. He paused then and surveyed the starched white coats for the name tags.

  Eleven minutes sounded in his earpiece.

  Time was running out.

  “You do know that they’re going to arrest you for your actions, don’t you, Martinez?” she snapped. “They’re going to take you away in one of those straitjackets and lock you in a little room.”

  Dr. Devers. The name tag grabbed Ric’s attention at the same instant that he’d decided his only choice was to draw his weapon and demand that a doctor step forward.

  “Dr. Devers,” Ric said before the man could rush past, “we have an extreme situation here.”

  Devers frowned and glanced at the file in his hand. “Are you Lester Phelps?”

  Ric nodded. “We have to hurry.”

  The doctor motioned to the empty exam room behind Ric. “Right in here, Mr. Phelps.”

  Ric ushered a fuming Piper into the room. “On the table,” he ordered. “Now,” he demanded when she folded her arms over her chest and simply stood there in defiance.

  She rolled her eyes and hopped onto the examination table.

  Dr. Devers frowned again at Ric’s ordering Piper onto the table. “It says here, Mr. Phelps, that you’re suffering from severe gastric upset.” He glanced at Piper. “Or is it your wife who has the problem?” The doctor shook his head in confusion. “They seem to have the age wrong here, as well.”

  Ric snatched the folder out of the man’s hand and tossed it onto the counter across the room. “Forget about Phelps for now. We’ve got bigger problems.”

  “See here,” the doctor said sharply. “What’s the meaning of—?”

  “Lie down,” Ric ordered Piper.

  “Get real, Martinez,” she retorted. “I’ve had just about enough of this madness. Tell me what the—”

  Ten minutes.

  Fear seared through Ric’s veins. “I said lie down,” he commanded.

  Startled, Piper complied.

  Ric turned back to the doctor. “Listen to me. I don’t have time to repeat myself. There’s something implanted subcutaneously near her belly button.” He gestured to Piper who looked appalled at his suggestion. “I need you to get it out. Now.”

  “You must be joking,” the doctor scoffed.

  “No joke.” Ric leveled a lethal glare on him. “You have ten minutes to do it.”

  “This has gone too far,” Piper muttered heatedly. She started to get up but Ric stopped her with a look.

  “We don’t have time to waste, Doc.” Ric turned his attention back to Devers.

  The doctor laughed a choked sound. “I can’t cut into this young woman without an ultrasound or X rays. You must know that what you’re suggesting is impossible, not to mention unethical.”

  “I’m out of here.” Piper sat up. “There’s no way anyone’s cutting into me without my permission.”

  “That’s right,” the doctor chimed in. “There’s paperwork that has to be done. Tests.” He shook his head in confirmation of his words. “I simply can’t begin a surgical procedure without the proper preop tests and authorization.”

  In one fluid motion, Ric slipped the weapon from beneath his jacket and leveled a bead directly between the good doctor’s eyes. “This is your authorization, Doc.” Ric flicked a look at P
iper. “I said lie down,” he growled.

  Though she trusted him on some level, real fear of his intent flickered in her wide eyes. “You’ll never see the light of day again after this, Martinez,” she told him, her anger still simmering despite her mounting anxiety. “They’ll throw away the key.”

  “Now.” Ric turned his attention back to the doctor who’d gone a sickly shade of white staring down the barrel of Ric’s weapon. “The previous incision is where you need to begin. It’s probably very close to that spot. But I can’t be certain. You’ll have to do a little exploring. It’s small enough you can’t feel it through her skin. It might be in more than one part.” He swallowed tightly. “You’ll need to be careful, very careful.”

  The doctor shook his head again. “I—I can’t just cut into her like that.”

  Sweat dampened Ric’s forehead. He snugged his grip on his weapon. “Nine minutes,” he said, echoing the voice in his ear. When the doctor still hesitated, Ric added, “What you’re looking for is a very tiny, very deadly high-tech explosive. If you can’t find it and get it out in the next nine minutes then she’s going to die.” Ric stared directly into the doctor’s eyes then. “And if she dies, you’ll die.” Ric cocked his weapon. “One way or another.”

  “Explosive?” Piper echoed. She reached for her abdomen, her gaze colliding with Ric’s. He watched realization dawn there. “Do it!” she screamed at the doctor. “What’re you waiting for? Get it out of me!”

  Ric glanced from Piper back to the doctor staring, stunned, at him. “Now that I think of it, maybe you’d better clear the E.R., too,” Ric added as calmly as he could.

  The doctor jerked the door open and shouted at the top of his lungs. “Get me a local and a surgical pack in here, stat! And get this area cleared. Now!” His movements jerky, Devers grabbed a pair of latex gloves from the dispenser on the wall and tugged them on.

  Finally, Ric thought with a twinge of relief. Now they were getting somewhere.

  A frazzled nurse rushed into the room within seconds. She squeaked in surprise when she saw Ric’s drawn weapon. “The local you ordered…D-Doctor,” she stuttered as she handed the prepared syringe to him. “They’re clearing the E.R. but…I…don’t…” She looked back at Ric’s gun and fell silent.

  Piper winced when the doctor injected the local anesthetic. Ric focused on the doctor’s movements instead of her frightened expression. His own fear was bordering out of control.

  “Scalpel,” the doctor ordered brusquely.

  Her movements clumsy, the nurse struggled to break open the seal on the surgical pack and uncover the implements.

  “Eight minutes,” Ric announced, his whole body going numb with fear.

  “Scalpel,” the doctor shouted.

  “But, Doctor, I’m not sterile,” the nurse protested. “I need—”

  “Give me the damned scalpel!”

  The nurse slapped the instrument in his gloved palm. He poised the scalpel above Piper’s belly button. “Can you give me an idea of what I’m going after here?” he asked. His gaze locked with Ric’s. Sweat had beaded on the man’s forehead.

  “All I know is that it’s implanted subcutaneously and that it’s set to go off in eight minutes.”

  The doctor swiped his forehead with the sleeve of his coat. “What if I hit it…cut into it or something?”

  Ric clenched his jaw against the muscle throbbing there. “I can’t answer that question. Just get it out. Okay, man?”

  The door burst open and two police officers wearing protective gear and wheeling a detonation control container between them stormed into the room.

  “Do we have it yet?” the older man, the one in charge Ric surmised, demanded. “For safety’s sake I need to get it out to the parking lot.”

  Ric shook his head. “We’re working on it.” He nodded to the doctor. “Let’s do it, Doc.”

  Ric’s gaze fixed on Piper and he tried to calm the fear in her eyes with the promise in his own. “Everything’s going to be fine, querida,” he said softly. She reached for him, and Ric wrapped his fingers around her hand. “Hurry, Doc,” he urged.

  The doctor pressed the scalpel to Piper’s flesh and bright red blood pooled in its wake.

  Seven minutes…

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ric adjusted the covers around Piper once more. With a weary sigh he sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. Lucas had wanted her to stay at the hospital, but she’d refused. So he’d sent them to his Georgetown apartment along with Townsend and Green to stand guard.

  The sedative Dr. Devers had prescribed had finally kicked in. Ric glanced at the two bottles sitting on the bedside table. Sedatives and antibiotics—just the trick for surviving a foiled assassination attempt.

  He closed his eyes and thanked God one more time that the intel had arrived in the nick of time. A few minutes later and…

  Ric shook the horrifying thought away. The guys from the bomb squad had only managed to get to the parking lot with twenty seconds to spare. The blast hadn’t been earthshaking, but it had been more than enough to do the job. SSU only intended to kill Piper and the senator. The senator’s assistant, Watts, had been the one to suggest Piper for the interview. Allowing SSU to kill two birds with one stone. He’d set everything up to make a very public, very blunt statement. Between the desk assistant back at WYBN and Watts in D.C., SSU had known Piper’s and the senator’s every move.

  Keith, the desk assistant, was young. He’d joined SSU because of his older brother. The woman who’d called herself Mrs. Olsen turned out to be their mother. Ric shook his head. But Watts was a different story; he’d done it solely for the money. Ric swore silently.

  Lucas thought it was probably too late to determine what kind of poison they’d used to give Piper the abdominal cramps, but a sample of her blood had been sent to a special lab to see if they could find any lingering traces of whatever substance had been used. Petersen had lied about the laparoscopy. They’d merely put Piper under so that they could implant the explosives. While he’d patched her up today, Dr. Devers had explained that the tiny three-part unit had been implanted much like a Norplant contraceptive. Ingenious, Devers had said once the danger was passed.

  Ric didn’t think it was ingenious at all. He wanted to kill the bastardos with his bare hands. Between Raine and the FBI, the SSU was being dismantled from the inside at this very moment. They might never know the names of everyone involved, but the headquarters in West Virginia had been brought down. Watts had spilled his guts, giving the FBI plenty of evidence to take down the upper echelon of the organization that had hired him.

  A relieved sigh hissed past Ric’s lips. Piper would be safe now. He doubted there would be any renegade members looking to make such a high-profile hit with no backup from their former commanders. What would be the point now? Ric would know more when Lucas returned from his teleconference with Raine and the federal agent in charge on site. Lucas had wanted Raine on site as an advisor. Ric’s assignment wouldn’t be over until he’d turned Piper safely over to her uncle’s care.

  Ric was to keep Piper comfortable until Lucas returned home. When he arrived, the two of them would have a little talk, Lucas had informed Ric. Right now he was too tired and too thankful that Piper was safe to care what Lucas had to say to him. Nothing he could threaten Ric with would compare to what it was going to cost him to have to face the rest of his life without Piper.

  “Martinez,” she murmured.

  “Rest, querida, you’re fine now,” he assured her. She looked tired and vulnerable, but more beautiful than any woman he had ever laid eyes on. He couldn’t help himself; he had to touch her. He caressed that soft cheek and wished for the umpteenth time that things could somehow be different between them.

  She sighed and licked those full, pink lips. He resisted the urge to lean down and kiss her. Just when he was certain he would have to kiss her or cease living altogether, her gaze locked on his and she smiled dreamily.

  “I lo
ve you, Martinez.” She touched his face, her soft fingers cupping his jaw. “I’m sorry I got so mad at you for not telling me the truth.” She blinked twice, clearly having difficulty keeping her eyes open.

  If only she meant those words. “Shhh, querida, it’s only the drugs talking. You’ll be much better tomorrow and wondering why you said such foolish things.”

  And it was foolish. He knew better than to even hope that Piper could feel that way about him.

  Her sweet features scrunched into a frown. “No, Martinez, I mean it,” she insisted. “I really do love you.”

  “Piper—”

  “Don’t say anything,” she insisted. “Just think about it and give me your answer later.”

  Answer? Ric frowned. What answer? Piper smiled another of those sweet, most likely drug-induced smiles. His frown deepened when he realized she wasn’t actually looking at him any longer. She was looking somewhere past his shoulder. The drugs, he decided.

  “Daddy,” she murmured.

  Ric stilled. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Someone else was in the room. And he’d been too tired and too worried about Piper to notice. “Rest now, querida,” he suggested, as if unaware of the presence behind him. “I’ll check on you again a little later.” Ric stood and slowly turned around, his hand going instantly to the weapon in his waistband.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man said, a 9 mm in his hand and pointed at Ric’s chest.

  Ric noted the resemblance immediately. Same dark hair, only the man’s was peppered with gray. Same startlingly blue eyes. Daddy. This man was Piper’s father.

  The same man who’d been dead for nearly twenty years.

  “Daddy, you’re here,” Piper said unevenly, surprise, disbelief in her tone. “But I don’t understand.” She sat up. “Where have you been?”

  Fear slammed into Ric. Any man who’d faked his own death couldn’t be back for anything good. “Don’t move, querida,” he said softly, praying she would have the presence of mind to listen. He didn’t even want to consider what had happened to Townsend and Green.