Judy jumped.
Karen screamed.
“Oh, my God,” Smith yelled.
“You bastard,” Bill said, narrowing his eyes.
“Now I suggest the rest of you understand this is not a game.” He grabbed Judy by the arm. “Come with me. Quickly, before anyone hits the main door to wonder at that gunshot.”
He hauled her through the OR suite’s doors and down the hall to the main entrance.
She could see people running towards the door. Glancing down she could see what looked like a pile of modeling clay molded around the two door bars, connected by multicolored wires.
Oh, God, if they tried to open them…
“Stop!” She waved her free arm as she shouted. “Don’t come in!”
Wilkes stopped her right in front of the door. “That’s far enough.”
He stepped back and to the side, pointing the gun at her head so the others could see it through the window but not him. “Tell them not to let anyone in here, especially the sad excuse for security or the local police.”
At the mention of the police, Judy knew what she had to do. Thankfully her earpiece was on the far side from Wilkes. Holding both arms up as if signaling the people on the far side of the door to stop, she pulled down her mask with one hand and tapped the dial button on her wireless earpiece twice with the other one—on the side away from her captor.
***
The guys were just settling up the betting and reorganizing the room when Dave’s phone vibrated on the table.
“Oh, man, the woman is psychic. Probably wants to remind us to wrap the leftovers and not to spill any beer on her brand new carpeting,” Luke said.
“Too late. You already did that,” Matt said, shoving their youngest brother sideways.
Dave gave his brothers a warning glare. “Hey, babe,” he said as he held the phone to his ear. “What’s up—?”
“Listen carefully, Lydia” she said, as if talking to someone else.
“Lydia? Did you dial the wrong numb—”
“Dr. Hodges is dead. That’s the gunshot you heard.”
“Gunshot?”
All the men in the room froze. Dave hit the speaker button on his phone and set it on the counter of the bar so they could all hear. Gripping the counter with both hands, he willed the sudden rush of fear to ease its stranglehold around his heart.
“The rest of our team, all four of us are okay and the patient is stable. Mr. Wilkes is in charge and he’s wired a bomb to the doors. If anyone…and he means anyone…tries to come in, all three entrances will blow.”
His knees wobbled when he heard the word bomb. “You’re telling me there’s someone holding you hostage? In the OR?”
A deep voice spoke off in the background, too muffled to make out his words.
“Paul says you have ninety minutes to clear the patients out of the hospital.”
Matt dropped the poker chips and pulled out his phone. Dave could hear Jake also talking on his phone, probably to his sister Sami. They lived on the next block over. Luke pulled his ever-present laptop out, while Castello, pad and paper in hand, leaned in to hear what Judy was saying and take notes old-school style.
“What else does he want?” Dave asked, trying to control the panic surging through him. He needed to remain calm or his woman was dead.
“Mr. Wilkes wants to be sure the SWAT team knows if he sees them or any cop, he’ll trigger the bomb early.”
Good girl. She’d mentioned his last name twice. He glanced at Luke, who was already typing the assailant’s name into his computer.
“Keep him talking, babe. Can you tell us what he’s planned?”
More deep rumbling sounded in the background.
“Lydia, he knows the media are already all over the place in the ER. He wants someone to find Senator Klein and make sure he gets here. You have twenty minutes. Then meet us back at this door. Remember, no one is to try and get in here.”
“The guys are still here and we’re leaving now. We’ll figure out how to get you out of there, I promise.” He looked at the seriously concerned features of the men surrounding him. They all knew he’d just made a promise he might not be able to keep.
“Judy, I’m going to disconnect now to save your battery life. Don’t panic. Stay calm. Keep him calm. I’ll call you once we’re there. I love you, babe.” He nodded at Jake to hit the off button, his body shaking too much to do it.
“Fuck!” He whirled and slammed his fist through the drywall he’d spent hours putting up that summer. Dull pain registered in his hand. He pulled it out and bent over, willing himself to slow his breathing.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Think.
Judy was depending on him.
Information. What he needed was the who, what, when and where.
“Okay, what do we know?” he asked as he straightened, his heart still racing.
“Judy and three of her coworkers are hostages in the hospital’s OR,” Castello started the rundown. “The gunman’s demanding no cops, which we all know the SWAT team will be crawling all over the place in a matter of minutes. All exits are presumably wired to explode if anyone tries to breech them. We’ll need a bomb expert.”
“Got that covered,” Matt said, pocketing his phone. “Katie will meet us at the hospital. She’ll probably beat us there.”
“Good. Tell her to meet us at the back alley entrance to the offices in the old building.” Dave felt the fear clutching his heart start to ease. Matt’s wife learned about building and defusing bombs from her father and they all knew she was calm in a bad situation. As Matt dialed his phone again, Dave looked at the others. “Any information on this…what was his name?”
“Wilkes, Paul Wilkes,” Luke said, glancing up from his computer. “Still working on finding out who he is and what his agenda is. It’s not kids’ work, you know.”
“Kids.” Dave slapped his hand to the back of his neck. “What the hell am I going to do with the kids?”
“No problem,” Jake said as he was pulling on his coat. “Sami’s on her way over to stay with the kids. She has to get our two up and bundled. Should be here in about ten minutes.”
“Luke.” Dave grabbed the coat Matt tossed him. “You stay here ‘til Sami gets here, then meet us at the hospital. I’ll need any information you can get on this guy.”
Outside, Matt and Jake hurried out to get their service weapons from the locked boxes in their trunks, while Castello climbed in his government-issue SUV. They’d arrive as one, no use giving the authorities or any accomplices of the gunman a heads-up with multiple vehicles.
Dave retrieved his service weapon and rifle from his own locked gun cabinet. He paused to see Luke had reopened his laptop on the kitchen counter, his cell phone beside it. “Find out what the connection is between Hodges and Senator Klein, too. And Luke?”
The usually carefree member of the family met his gaze with serious hazel eyes. “Bro?”
“I’m counting on you.”
Luke nodded.
The unspoken promise hung in the air between them like a lifeline. Dave knew his brother would do whatever it took, even breaking a few hacker laws to get him the information.
With a deep breath and a soul-wrenching determination, he headed out to rescue his wife. He wouldn’t think about failing. If he did, he might as well die, too. Without her, his life was over anyway.
In the luxuriously quiet dining room of the upscale restaurant he’d chosen for the occasion, he wondered how he’d ever gotten so lucky. The most beautiful, sexy, smart and funny woman he’d ever met had not only noticed him, but she’d been dating him for months. He’d seen her in the ER when she’d admitted his prisoner. She was a senior nursing student and he could tell from her compassion for the injured kid that she was going to make one hell of a nurse. Then she’d turned that 100-watt smile up at him. His tongue literally stuck to the top of his mouth and he’d had to remember to breathe as he gazed into eyes the color of the
ocean off Waikiki.
“You okay?” Judy asked, her head tilted sideways in that cute way she had of looking at things when she was curious or didn’t quite understand something, as if turning her head to the side would make it all look clearer.
He swallowed and reached for his wine with a shaky smile. “Just thinking a moment.” He took a long drink.
Liquid courage.
He’d never been so nervous in his life, not even facing down armed, drugged-out criminals. Of course, he’d never had his life depend on someone else’s answer—ever.
“Can I ask what has you so quiet?” she said, humor lighting her eyes and the corners of them crinkling just a bit whenever she was teasing him.
“You.”
“Oh?”
He almost laughed. For the first time he could remember, he’d caught her speechless.
She blinked, a light blush filling her cheeks, then focused on her dinner, scooping up some of the seared scallop and sauce. He watched her bring it to her mouth, wrap her lips around it and suck the succulent morsel off her fork then dart her tongue out to lick her pink lips.
He fought off moaning in the restaurant. Everything she did was seductive, at least to him. She was his soul mate, the reason for his existence on this earth. And he didn’t want anyone or anything keeping them apart. The weight of the ring box in his coat pocket gave him reassurance. This was the smartest decision he’d ever made.
Setting aside his glass and wiping his mouth, he reached over and took her free hand in his.
“Fucking ice. Can’t we get there any faster?” He asked as they navigated their way through town, steering clear of the highways.
“Judy needs us there in one piece, Edgars,” was all Castello said. A man who kept secrets for a living, the white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel was all the indication he gave that he was as concerned as the rest of them. After helping stop an assassin gunning for Matt and his now-wife, Katie, the Edgars clan had unofficially adopted the big Italian into their family. Even though Frank had never said it, Dave suspected they were all the family he had.
“I know, I just wish…oh hell, I wish she hadn’t gone in there tonight.” Dave gripped the door handle tighter.
“It’s her job, big brother,” Matt said from behind him, landing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing hard. “You know how it is when duty calls.”
“Yeah, but I’m the one usually in danger, not her.”
“The hardest part of my job for your sister is when I have to go out in the field,” Jake added. “Sami says the worry makes her crazy.”
“Uh, Jake, didn’t we warn you she was a little crazy to begin with?” Matt teased.
“Can you blame her with brothers like you guys?”
Despite the serious situation they were headed into, their banter helped lighten the fear inside Dave just slightly. He knew his brothers were just as worried as he. Gunmen with explosives and an agenda usually didn’t plan to leave alive.
“You know the cops probably already have the place on lockdown,” Jake said after a few minutes.
Dave nodded. “Standard protocol. They won’t want any outside help, especially from an off-duty spouse of one of the hostages. They’ll lock the place down and try to wait the guy out. Take it slow.”
“How do you plan to get inside?” Matt asked.
“Judy’s mother used to go to nursing school back in the days when hospitals ran their own schools of nursing and the dorms and classrooms were attached to the hospitals.”
“Yeah, but didn’t Judy tell us they’d closed it down years ago and converted those rooms to office spaces for docs and such?”
“That’s right, but Judy’s mom told us the students used to sneak in and out past curfew hours through the school’s boiler room and the morgue.” Dave turned to look at the others. “Which just happens to be connected to the annex into the new OR department.”
Chapter Three
Dave was on his way.
Judy repeated that thought over and over in her mind as Wilkes dragged her back into the OR suite.
Inside, he gave her a little shove to the side then closed the door behind them. Positioning himself where he could keep an eye on the hallway just outside.
She automatically averted her gaze from Hodges’ crumpled form against the far wall. She’d never liked the man, his arrogance had grated on her nerves on a daily basis, but she’d never wanted him dead. Scanning the room quickly she saw her three coworkers huddled against the wall nearest the anesthesia cart.
What had they been up to?
Her gaze locked with Karen’s deep-brown eyes. Karen looked up at Bill, then down at the anesthesia cart. A syringe wrapper lay open on top.
Could they have managed to draw up something to put Paul out?
“Get over there with the others, Ms. Judy. And all of you sit.” He waved the gun in their direction.
Judy helped the others slide down the wall then scooted in next to Karen. She looked at the clock on the wall. Twelve-fifteen. Thirty-five minutes had passed since she’d looked at the clock during surgery. Did that mean they had fifty-five minutes before the bombs went off? Or had he started the timer later?
So little time left. Her body started to tremble and she wrapped her arms tightly around her middle, trying to control the fear.
Who would take care of her babies when she was gone? Images of Ella, Lily and Wyatt flashed in her mind and tears pricked her eyes. Dave and his family would keep them safe.
David.
How could she tell him she was sorry for being such a bitch to live with lately? There were so many plans in their lives they’d had yet to see through.
“If there’s one place in the world you could go, where would it be?” Dave lay curled behind her spoon-style, his arms wrapped tightly around her as they snuggled down in the bed, their bodies sated from making love all night.
Outside, she could hear the rain softly tapping on the tin room of the bed-and-breakfast cottage on their honeymoon trip, deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee. Given their limited resources, they’d happily taken the offer of his aunt and uncle to use the place for a week.
She smiled, tracing her hand over his thickly muscled forearm lying just under her breasts. “I don’t need fancy or expensive, Dave. As long as you’re with me, anywhere is romantic.”
He chuckled deeply in her ear, sending shivers of desire coursing through her once more. “That’s nice to know, but I hope one day we can travel. I’d love to take you to England and Germany. I saw some beautiful country when I was stationed there.”
“Not Kuwait or Iraq?” she teased.
“No, if I never see another dry, hot desert again, it will be too soon for me.” He pulled her closer, letting his thickening erection press between her buttocks. “Seriously, what’s the one place you’ve ever wanted to go? No thought to expense.”
“Seattle or British Columbia.”
“Really?”
The surprise in his voice made her giggle. “Yes. I’ve seen both places on the travel shows and cooking shows. I think that would be an interesting area to visit.”
“But all that rain?”
“Well, if you’re afraid of a little rain, I could always find a desert.”
He growled and bit down on her ear.
“Ouch,” she’d said, even though it sent tendrils of desire through her more than it really hurt.
“I’ll teach you to tease me,” he said. With one swift move, he flipped her onto her back and crawled on top, one knee pushing her legs apart. He thrust deep inside her already moist heat, filling and stretching her.
If this was how he meant to punish her for teasing him, she’d give him more reasons to do it than not.
Something nudged her hand.
She blinked and dashed the other hand over her eyes to wipe away her tears, watching their captor pace in front of the doors, his back slightly to them. Glancing to the side, she noticed Karen had turned slightly, leaning farther
toward Bill. Her hands, still bound behind her back, were clutching something.
Judy slipped her hand over Karen’s, taking the syringe and slowly moving it away and slipping it into her scrub jacket pocket. She hoped it was Succinylcholine and enough of it to put Paul out.
The problem was, how was she going to get close enough without making him suspicious? Would he make her go out of the room again? He hadn’t bound her hands like the others.
Get the perp to talk. Get him to trust you. Keep him distracted, but calm.
Dave’s words resonated in her head from all the times he’d talked about working a hostage situation. He always made it sound so easy. Of course Dave would be calm in a Tsunami. But he was right. Information was what they needed.
“Paul, why are you doing this? Why kill Dr. Hodges?” she asked.
“The bastard let her die,” he said, glancing at the dead surgeon with contempt. Then he walked over to the OR table where the patient slowly bled from the open wound in his leg. “They said she’d lost too much blood before they could get to her. How much blood is too much?”
No one answered.
“I said, how much blood is too much? How much does this other bastard have to lose, before he’s too far gone to save?” He turned and pointed his gun at the resident surgeon.
Judy gasped and pressed herself against the wall.
“God, no,” Karen said, leaning into Bill’s frame.
Smith flinched, but didn’t cower, looking straight at the gunman. “About forty percent of his total circulating volume.”
“Translate that into liters or pints, Doc.” Wilkes clicked back on the trigger.
“Given his height and weight, the fact that he was young and healthy before he was shot and the average human has about five liters of fluid, I’d say about two liters.”
Lowering the gun, the gunman paced the length of the room in front of the doors. The group let out a collective sigh of relief.
“How much would you say he’s lost?” Paul asked.
“That depends on how much he lost at the scene of the shooting and on his transport to the hospital,” Smith answered.
SEIZED, A Romantic Suspense Novella Page 3