Extrasensory (27 page)

“We’re sorry,” the man said again. “We just wanted to let you know how your mistakes have hurt someone.”

“I know and I’m sorry.” Mia clenched her fists tightly to maintain her calm, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. “But please go home. This isn’t doing anyone any good.”

Then the woman broke down in tears, her friends led her away and it was all over.

Dan slammed the front door shut and pulled Mia into his arms.

“You did a very brave thing,” he murmured in her ear. “That took a lot of guts.”

“It tears me apart when I can’t make my visions work,” she sobbed. “Or when I misinterpret the information. That was my first case with Captain Holcomb. I don’t blame him for thinking I’m a fake or a kook.”

Dan stroked her hair and her back. “Nothing is ever perfect, sweetheart. All we can do is the best we can.”

He noticed Lloyd’s eyebrows rise slightly as he watched Dan with Mia but he kept his face carefully schooled and said nothing. The Phoenix men were well trained for all occasions.

“I’m better,” Mia said after a few moments, pulling back and wiping her face with her hands.

“Doesn’t it seem strange that she showed up at this particular time?” he asked.

“Almost as if someone suggested this would be a good time to strike.” Mia shook her head. “She’s done this about a half dozen times. Maybe the media coverage triggered it.” She swallowed hard and leaned into Dan. “I always feel as if my home has been violated afterwards but it’s the least I can do for her.”

“Then let’s get out of here.” He nodded to Lloyd, who led the way to the back door.

They had just stepped out onto the porch, Lloyd first, then Mia, with Dan behind her. She caught her heel on the doorsill and lurched forward to grab Lloyd’s hand for balance just as a
thunk!
sounded in the air. Mia stumbled and fell back into Dan’s arms.

“Gun!” Lloyd hollered, crouched and began scanning the yard with his own gun in his hand. In seconds he was off and running, crouching low, heading into the trees where the shot had come from.

“Be careful,” Dan shouted to him, then turned back to the woman in his arms.

“Mia? Sweetheart? Oh, Christ!”

Her entire front was covered with blood, the red liquid still seeping from her body.

Dan kicked the back door open and carried her inside. Laying her on the floor in the hallway he yanked off his jacket and used it to make a pressure bandage, tying it in place with the sleeves.

He grabbed his radio. “Mike? Get your ass down here now.”

But Mike was already landing the chopper in the backyard. Frank had run around from the front to see what was going on.

“The police have got almost everyone cleared out.” He looked at Mia. “Oh, sweet Jesus.”

Dan pressed his fingers against the hollow of her throat and felt a faint but thready pulse.

Feet pounded on the porch, then the back door opened. “I’d need an army to find whoever it was,” Lloyd told him.

“Son of a bitch,” Dan swore.

“Mike’s down,” Lloyd told him. “Come on. We’ll cover you. That was a silenced rifle and he could still be out there, high up in a tree waiting to pick us off one at a time.”

Mike had set down as close to the house as he could. Trying not to jostle Mia, Frank held her while Dan climbed into the cabin, then placed her gently in his boss’s lap.

“I’ll get some of the cops to help me check out those woods,” he told Dan. “That’s where the shot came from. One of the guys from the substation called his commander for the SWAT team. But it’s dicey if he’s still there by the time we get enough people to help. And he could still easily pick us off.”

“Do what you need to,” Dan told him, his eyes never leaving Mia’s still form. His heart was racing so fast he felt as if someone had given him a triple shot of adrenaline.

But he knew in this case it was fear.

Mike was lifting off almost before the door was closed. He handed a set of headphones to Dan.

“St. Luke’s has a helipad,” he told him through the communications system. “I radioed in as soon as Frank got hold of me.”

“I need to get hold of Mark and Rick,” Dan said.

“Already done. Mark’s headed to Carpenter Techtronics to put a lid on things there and make sure everyone’s okay. Rick’s on his way to Mia’s house to get a situation assessment. Then he’ll get with you.”

Dan held Mia as carefully as possible, his fingers on the pulse at her neck the entire time.

The moment they set down at St. Luke’s, glass doors to the roof swung open and a full trauma crew rushed out, rolling a gurney and carrying equipment. In seconds they had Mia on the gurney, an IV drip started, a blood pressure cuff attached and were rushing back through the doors.

“You want me to hang around?” Mike asked, as Dan jumped to the rooftop.

“No. Check in with Rick and see what you can do to help that mess at Mia’s. You may be able to spot something from the air, if he’s still around.” He groaned in frustration. “Damn it, I should have had you do that first.”

“No,” Mike argued. “Getting her to the hospital was the top priority. An ambulance would have taken far too long with a wound like that.”

A wound like that.
Dan thought his racing heart would freeze up and stop beating.

“Make damn sure no one gets in the house,” he told Mike, his eyes never leaving the doors where the emergency team had taken Mia. “I may have to go outside to use my cell here but I’ll get with everyone as soon as I can.” Mike gave him a long look. “She’ll be fine, Dan.”

Dan nodded and took off for the hospital doors at a run.

The two people sat in a parked car inside the Rivercenter garage in downtown San Antonio.

“Once again we’ve managed to hire an incompetent. I can feel Khalid’s wrath now.”

“Our man winged her enough to put her out of commission, keep her the hell out of our way and maybe distract Romeo at the same time. That will more than accomplish our objective.”

“The objective was to get rid of her permanently. Why the hell can’t we find someone to do that? I thought this guy was a professional.”

“He is. He said she moved just as he squeezed the trigger.”

“You’d think considering what he’s getting out of it and what his reputation is, he’d have been able to compensate for that.”

“One good thing, though. It might also send the cops running off in the wrong direction. They might finally decide it’s someone who had a grudge against her personally. That all this has nothing to do with Oscar and her weird visions.”

“Yeah? What about Stan? They didn’t even know each other. And supposedly she got some kind of vision from touching him.”

“Let’s hope this will all be just a confusing puzzle to the cops and they’ll be chasing their tails.”

“Do you think we’ll get another chance at her?”

The laugh was filled with contempt. “Are you out of your mind? She’ll have more guards around her now than Fort Knox.”

“Well, we only need to buy time until Friday. Then we’re golden. But having her completely out of the way would make me feel a lot better.”

“If that shot did the damage our guy said it did, she won’t be relating visions to anyone until long past the danger point. She still may not recover from this.”

“Let’s hope.” A pause. “And when Friday arrives?”

“We’ll handle that like everything else. And play our parts beautifully. Is your call with Khalid set up? Are you ready with the arrangements for the money?”

“Yes. Three o’clock tomorrow. I’m all set. He’ll transfer the amount we agreed upon, I’ll monitor it on my laptop and when the money’s in place we’ll proceed.” A humorless laugh echoed in the car. “It’s all going in the joint account, right? You wouldn’t be trying to screw me out of some of the money, would you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. After all this time you still don’t trust me?”

“Lack of trust is what keeps us honest.”

A shrug. “The money will all be there. You can check it from your own computer when you get home.”

“And you’re absolutely sure this is going to work and we’ll be able to pull it off.” Another short laugh. “It’s either that, or prison or a coffin. The choice seems obvious.”

“All right. We’ll check in with each other in the morning, then go forward. I’d better get out of here now. And you’d better call our shooter and tell him to make himself scarce.”

The car door slammed, then footsteps echoed on the concrete. Finally a car started in the distance.

* * * * *

To Dan it felt as if a year had passed before anyone came out to talk to him, although in reality it was just a few short minutes. He knew he should step outside the building long enough to make his phone calls but his feet seemed glued to the floor outside the trauma room where Mia was being treated. He had to argue his status with hospital personnel but they finally allowed him to sign all the forms allowing them to treat her. Then he just waited, wondering if he’d survive if Mia didn’t.

Finally a man in scrubs came out and introduced himself as the surgeon, Dr.

Cardoza.

“We’re prepping her for surgery right now and I have an OR ready,” he reported.

“She lost a great deal of blood so we had to pump some into her before taking her upstairs. The bullet itself appears to have done extensive damage. It doesn’t look like any handgun wound to me.”

“It wasn’t. More like a long range rifle.” Dan was having trouble keeping himself in control. “Any fragments you can recover would be a help.”

“How well are you acquainted with the young lady?” Cardoza asked.

“She’s my fiancée.” Dan had stood in a similar spot many times when one of his men had been hurt, often in far more primitive facilities. He had never been as frightened as he was now. “Is there a problem I should know about?”

“Are you aware she has a heart murmur?”

Dan’s breath caught but he had long ago schooled himself not to show a reaction to anything. “No, I wasn’t. Is it a danger during surgery?”

“Not if it’s what we call an ‘innocent’ murmur.”

The look on Dan’s face must have spoken volumes, because the doctor went on to explain in greater detail. “An ‘innocent murmur’ is nothing more than an occasional irregular blip in the flow of blood. However, if the murmur is caused by actual cardiac damage, that makes a difference.”

Dan shoved his clenched fists into his pockets. “Can’t you tell ahead of time?”

“Normally we’d do a heart catheterization. That would give us our answers. But we can’t afford to wait with Dr. Fleming, nor can we do any invasive procedures in the shape she’s in. I just wanted you to be aware of the situation. Also, since this is a bullet wound, you know we have to report it to the police.”

“Ask for Captain Holcomb. He’s already working two cases for us and this is probably connected. Don’t let them slough you off to someone else.” He pulled out a business card and handed it to Cardoza. “Give this to whoever is going to make the call.”

The doctor studied the card, then looked back at Dan. “All right. I’ll give it to the head trauma nurse. If she has questions she’ll come find you.”

“Be sure to take good care of her,” Dan said, his face set in a grim expression.

Cardoza’s eyes narrowed as he heard the implied warning. “I take very good care of
all
my patients, Mr. Romeo.”

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply—”

“Of course you did.” He smiled. “Relatives give me the same message all the time.

Go get yourself a cup of coffee. The surgical waiting room is on the second floor.”

“Can I ride up in the elevator with her?”

Cardoza looked over his shoulder, seeing the gurney being wheeled out into the hall. “All right. Just don’t jostle anything.”

Dan gripped Mia’s hand tightly as the gurney was pushed toward the elevator. She looked even paler than before. Fear squeezed his heart and he made a deliberate effort to push it away. He couldn’t lose her, not when he’d just found her. He’d use all his internal resources to be strong for her.

Just before they wheeled her through the doors to the operating suite, he leaned down and placed a kiss on her ice-cold lips. ”I love you, sweetheart. Remember that. I love you and I’ll be here waiting for you.”

Then she was gone, into the hands of strangers and he was left standing in the hallway feeling as if he’d lost everything in the world.

“Dan?”

The soft voice sounded behind him. He turned to see Faith standing there, her eyes filled with sympathy.

“Mark thought you might like some company.”

“Thanks.” He hugged her. “Although I hate to take you away from your writing. I know you’ve got a tough deadline looming.”

She squeezed his arm. “This is more important to me. How about a cup of coffee?” She held up the bag she was holding. “I made a quick Starbucks stop.”

“It’ll probably taste like mud to me right now but thanks anyway.”

“Come on.” She tugged at his arm. “Let’s go sit in the waiting room. I’m sure it’s going to be a long while before you hear anything.”

“I should go call everyone but I can’t use the phone inside and I’m afraid to go out of the building. Stupid, huh?”

“Not at all. Just sit down a minute. Mark gave me a bunch of messages for you.” Dan moved closer but he was too jittery to sit. Iceman Romeo, having a case of the nerves. He would have laughed at himself if the situation wasn’t so serious.

“It’s my fault, you know,” he told her.

Faith raised an eyebrow. “That Mia got shot? Exactly how is that possible? Did you pull the trigger?”

“I never should have let her talk me into taking her to the house. Especially when we saw that mob. I should have driven like hell in the opposite direction.”

“Dan, no one expected this. When I talked to Mark he said the guys told him that woman has done this before. She shows up at Mia’s all the time. There’s never been any violence before. There’s no way you could have predicted this.”

“But damn it. I should have protected her better.” Pain contorted his face.

Faith cocked her head. “Am I detecting a little something more than just normal security concerns here?”