Coming to Colorado (13 page)

“You should wash up,” Ryan said.

His gaze swung to Ryan and he nodded. “Thanks.” Davis was in the bathroom, the door closed behind him. He needed to get his shit together but everything seemed too difficult. He washed his hands and face before going out to the main room. He stood at the window, looking out at the river and the cars below, almost unable to even think.

“It’s a busy city,” Davis said.

“Very busy. There’s lots of traffic. I like to bike to work.”

Davis turned to Ryan and stared at him, taking in his beautiful eyes and kind smile. He had no idea what the next day would bring, but he was happy he’d gotten to know this man, even if only a little.

“You look beat. I’m going to order some food,” Ryan said.

“We should order extra for when Mike an Roger show up.”

“How long has it been now?” Ryan asked.

“An hour and twenty minutes.”

Ryan picked up the phone and stared at him. “What would you like to eat?”

“I’m good with anything. Food and coffee, lots of coffee, that’s all that matters.”

Davis stretched out on the bed as Ryan placed the order. After he hung up, Ryan headed to the bathroom. Davis heard the shower turn on but didn’t get up. He was too tired, his emotions too close to the surface. Being emotional wasn’t normal for him, but the day had twisted him up. He closed his eyes, the serenity of the room started to get to him, and he must have drifted off.

The phone in his pocket buzzed and he opened his eyes, seeing Ryan sitting beside the bed. Their gazes met as he pulled the phone from his pocket. Roger was calling.

A knock sounded on the door, and Ryan jumped up. “Room service.”

Everything was happening all at once. He could deal with this. Nothing was too big for him to handle, and if he kept telling himself that, he may just start believing it.

*~*~*

Roger followed the nurse to a small room where Mike lay on a white sheet that almost matched his color. He looked like shit. The man must have lost a lot of blood. Mike moaned and opened his eyes.

“Hey, big guy,” Mike mumbled, his voice sounded ragged.

“Michael, we’ve got you set up, no worries.”

Mike’s gaze focused from the haze of pain and he nodded. He was glad to see that Mike was with it enough to understand that he had to play it safe. Any misspoken word could endanger them and draw the wrong kind of attention. With Craig still out there, they had to be careful.

A woman stepped in from the other side of the curtain. Her dark hair was pulled up into a bun, and her eyes were sharp, unforgiving. “Hello, I’m doctor Chambers. I believe you’re my patient’s friend. What is your name?”

“I’m Derik. How is Michael doing?”

“He’s lucky he made it in. He’s lost a lot of blood. We gave him enough to get him back on track. So, what happened?” the doctor lowered her clipboard, her hard brown gaze drilling into him.

“I wasn’t there.”

“Really?” The doctor looked at her chart then back to Mike. “Mr. Williams, could you tell me what happened?”

Mike cleared his throat and tried to sit up but groaned instead. He closed his eyes, and the doctor frowned before her gaze swung back to Roger.

“Someone shot him. I’m not a forensic scientist, but I know that with an injury like this it wasn’t self-inflicted. I’ll be placing a call to my father. He is a police officer. He’ll be interested to hear about this. Maybe the two of you should get your stories straight before he arrives.”

“Don’t worry, doctor, I’m sure once Michael is capable, he’ll tell you exactly what happened. I wish I knew too.”

“We had another man come in with a gunshot wound just after your friend. He’s still out and not talking. If I find that the two incidents are related, there’s going to be a lot of questions to answer. Don’t leave the hospital. I’m sure my father will want to speak with you also.”

The doctor walked out, and the nurse was close behind her. Mike’s eyes flashed open, drugs still making his eyes glassy, but he looked better, more alert.

“Help me get up and get dressed.”

“It sounds like Craig is here,” Roger said.

“We need to kill him.”

“Not yet. There are too many cameras, and this doctor is a bulldog. She won’t let us get away with it.”

“Help me.”

“I don’t have any clothes. We’re going to have to get inventive to get you out of here. Good news, the hotel is right around the corner. We can sneak in.”

Mike groaned as he sat up. “We have to get moving. Go find a wheelchair. I don’t think I can walk far.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in a few. Don’t go anywhere.”

Roger left Mike’s room and headed down the hall. He found a wheelchair quickly and was on his way back when he saw a police officer step into Mike’s room. Fuck, they were screwed. He turned down a hall and glanced at the patient on the gurney rolling past him. It was Craig. His heart stalled then raced. Craig was in the same hospital with them. This could go bad real fast. Craig was a wanted criminal, but that wouldn’t stop him from making trouble for them. His phone buzzed and he glanced down. It was Duff.

“Hey,” Roger said as he answered.

“The cops aren’t going to hold back. I tried. I’ll take it higher, but it might be a while before we get the clearance we need to get you and Mike out of there.”

“Craig is here,” Roger said.

“Oh shit, did he see you?”

“No, sir. He’s out cold. The doctor said there was another gunshot victim. I’m guessing it was Craig, and that Mike actually shot him.”

“You need to get the hell out of there, quick.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get Mike out as soon as the cops leave his room.”

“I’ll see what I can do from my end. I’m not sure I can accomplish much.”

Roger hung up and stepped into Mike’s room. The cops were gone and Mike seemed to be asleep.

“Mike, it’s me.”

Mike flicked open his eyes, looking even more alert than he had a few minutes ago. “Fuck, this is getting messy. You need to get me out of here.”

“Let’s go. I have a wheelchair around the corner.”

Roger helped Mike out of bed and turned off the heart rate monitor before disconnecting the pulse reader. He took the bag of saline, knowing that Mike still needed the drip, and if they’d pumped any antibiotics into the bag, he needed those too.

Mike was leaning heavily on him, and Roger hoped no doctors or nurses saw them. They made it to the wheelchair before Mike dropped. Roger didn’t waste any time getting out of there, wheeling Mike down the hall and to another hall then another. They ran into a few people, but Roger acted like he knew what he was doing. They were at a back exit and outside in less than five minutes.

“The hotel isn’t far. We’ll be safe once we get there. But we can’t stay in Boston for long. Do you think you can fly tonight?”

“Sure. I’ll just sleep.”

“Good. We’ll have the guys ready to take care of you when we get home. Don’t worry; I’ll make sure you’re okay. I’m not sure who we can transfuse blood from, but I know one of the guys is a match, or we’ll go buy some blood.”

“Zander and Billy. They can give to me.”

“Okay, that’s covered.”

They were at the back entrance to the hotel and the door had been propped open by a smoker who was facing the other way, puffing on a cigarette while she talked on the phone. Roger put the breaks on the wheelchair and moved to pull Mike up.

“You’re going to have to move,” Roger said.

“I’ll do what I can.”

“Good. Now let’s move out, soldier.”

Mike grunted and groaned. “Okay,” he whispered as he tried to walk.

Their path up the few steps to the first floor was maddeningly slow. Roger couldn’t make Mike walk up any more stairs. The difficulty was too much. He propped Mike against the wall and dialed Mike’s phone, calling Davis.

“Hey, what room?”

“Five twenty-one.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a few.”

Roger put his arm around Mike again and helped him into the main hall of the hotel and quickly saw a sign for the elevators. They stumbled forward, him carrying Mike instead of Mike supporting his own weight. Luckily, they reached the elevator before anyone interrupted them. He knew hotel security would find their actions odd, but he could deal with that later. Right now, he needed to get Mike to a place where he could rest. Once he had Mike upstairs, he’d head back down and bring up the wheelchair. They’d need it when they headed to the airport. There was no way Mike would be able to walk down to the car.

The ride up was great until they hit the forth floor. The lift doors opened, and a man and woman moved to step in but stopped.

“Sorry, no one else on the elevator. Doctor’s orders,” Roger said with his most serious tone. The doors slid closed and sweat broke out on his forehead. It was only a matter of time before their hijinks were reported as suspicious.

The doors slid open again. Ryan was there to help him with Mike. They got him into their room quickly and shut the door.

“We’re fucked.” Roger said. “I’m going to grab the wheelchair. Davis, here’s my phone. I’m pulling up Duff’s contact information. Call and tell him we need a flight out as soon as he can arrange it.”

“Okay,” Davis said.

“Hey, we’ll be fine. We just have to get on that damn plane. Once we get to the ranch, everything will settle.”

Davis nodded and pressed the dial button on Roger’s phone. Roger grabbed a key card and left the room to head downstairs. Once he had the wheelchair, he rushed back in, hoping like hell the plane would be ready soon. There was no way he’d get to Craig right now without some sort of manipulation, and he wasn’t sure they could pull it off, not with the doctor who’d treated Mike watching everything like a hawk.

Chapter Fourteen

Davis dialed Duff and waited for the call to connect. There was a lot they needed to talk about. The omissions they’d both made were probably so big it would take them weeks to fully disclose the truth about their lives.

“Roger?” Duff’s voice was strong.

“No, it’s Davis. Roger said to call and arrange a flight out.”

“I’ll see what we can do. Is Roger there?”

“No, he brought Mike up and ran back down. He should be back any moment.”

“Put Mike on.”

Davis handed the phone to the man propped up on the bed with an IV bag hooked up to the lamp.

“Duff, good to be talking to you.”

Davis watched as Mike nodded and then frowned.

“No, it was Craig. I know for a fact it was him. He was the one who had taken a shot at Davis. No, I’m not sure.”

Hearing that some guy they knew was shooting at him made Davis sweat. He’d believed that the guy targeting him had been inside the CIA or connected, now he wasn’t sure. Ryan came up behind him and rubbed his back.

“You okay?” Ryan asked.

“No—yes. Damn, this is fucked up.”

“Yeah, it is,” Ryan whispered as he smoothed his hand over Davis’s waist.

“You can leave if you want,” Davis whispered.

Ryan patted his back. “No, I can’t. I’m sticking with you until I know you’re safe.”

Davis turned to look at him, and their gazes held for a long moment. He swallowed and nodded. “I think I’m safe with these guys.”

Ryan laced his fingers with Davis’s and squeezed. “Once I know for sure, we can talk about it. Until then, I’ll stay with you.”

His lips curved up in a smile. “Okay, I’d like that.”

The door to the room opened and Roger pushed the wheelchair in. He stored it in the bathroom before coming to the bed to check Mike’s pulse. Mike had just hung up with Duff, and they were all just waiting, watching to see if Mike was okay.

“You have to go kill him,” Mike said.

Roger frowned. “No, it’s too dangerous.”

“He will come after us again. This is our best chance. We didn’t fly out here all this way to let him walk,” Mike said.

Roger huffed out a breath. “But Davis—”

“He’ll keep coming back. Davis won’t be safe, none of us will be safe. If he leaves that hospital, we’re all just as good as dead.”

Ryan held up his hand. “Don’t keep us in the dark, spill what this is about.”

Roger shook his head. “It’s too complicated.”

“Don’t give me complicated. I was a sharpshooter in the Marines. We took down people who needed to go. This guy, he’s the one who was shooting at Davis just a few hours ago, right? And he was most likely the one who took shots at Davis earlier in the day.”

“He was,” Mike said.

“It sounds like he’s bad news. Why should he be eliminated? What threat does he pose?”

Roger blew out a breath. “He’s after Davis because he’s after Duff. It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it,” Davis couldn’t stay silent any longer. The guy had tried to kill him, and he needed to understand.

“Craig has targeted us, Duff’s friends and Duff. We weren’t able to take him out the last time he attacked. He was in military custody up until a week ago. The transport crashed and he escaped. Craig has people helping him, and one of those people must have given him your information.”

“Shit, that’s why this mission was so odd.”

“Mission?” Mike asked.

“Fuck, I’m not an antique dealer. I just told my dad that to make him feel better and not worry.”

“This is all shades of fucked up. You should have told him the truth,” Roger said.

“Why, he wouldn’t understand. He’s all about being by the book and stuff. I do things—things that would make him question me and my reasoning. He’s not the type of guy who would understand. But hell, after meeting you all, I’m not sure what type of man my father is.”

“Davis, you’d be surprised what your father would understand. Anyway, we can’t kill Craig. Mike can’t go in because he’s injured. The doctor knows who I am and would turn me over to her father who just happens to be a police officer. And Davis, there is no way in hell I’m letting you get with in a mile of Craig. The man wants us to pay, and he’ll kill you if he sees you.”

“I’ll do it,” Ryan whispered.

“No!” Davis spun around. “I can’t let you kill someone. It’s terrible and you could—”

“Babe, I did it for the Marines. This guy, he was in military prison until he escaped?”