Operation Date With Destiny (34 page)

She looked up and down the street once more, and was relieved when she saw the dark car pull up down the street and Tate exit from the vehicle. She detached herself from the shadow of the building and crossed the street to meet him.

“
You okay?
”
he asked, running his
gaze over
her briefly before accepting her quick nod of assurance.
“
Where is he?
”

“
Town house half way down the street. Blue door. I only saw two of them back at the hotel, and only spoke to Rothman in the basement. I haven
’
t seen anyone else go in or out since I called you.
”

“
Is there a back way in?
”

“
Yeah, the way I got out. Is it just us?
”

“
Cartwright
brought along his team,
”
he cut off her protest,
emphasizing
,
“
Minus
the guy he discovered leaking
Intel
.
You were right on the money with that.
”

“
Pity he didn
’
t screen his men before they managed to almost get us killed
,
”
she snapped, more than a little unimpressed by the whole situation.
“
A
re we sure we can even trust him?
”

“
He
’
s one of the good guys…and he
’
s saved our asses more times than I care to admit. I trust him.
”

Destiny gave a reluctant
nod;
she had very little choice in the matter. Johnny was in that building and they needed to get him out—now.

Tate took out the phone in his pocket and relayed the info Destiny had given him to whoever was on the other end of the phone and
instantly
a swarm of black vested agents emerged from vehicles positioned along the street and converged upon the building. Some went to the front door, others branched out and surrounded the rear of the building and within minutes, they had the front door open and were sp
ill
ing inside the building.

Tate and Destiny followed them in and ahead of her she could hear men yelling, as they cleared rooms and an outraged voice belonging to Rothman as he lay pinning beneath the knee of a federal agent.

Destiny followed the three agents who were making their way downstairs to the basement, relieved to find everything looked untouched. She squeezed past them, and began throwing off
the boxes
and furniture she
’
d stacked around Johnny when she
’
d left, calling over her shoulder urgently for the medic.

The
agents
let the team of EMT
’
s
enter the
house once it had been cleared
and they ran down the stairs and
calmly began working on a now very still…very
pale
Johnny Tupperoni.

Destiny hovered anxiously nearby, watching their every move, and waiting for some kind of report on his condition.

The grave looks on their faces as they worked were beginning to freak her out.
“
How is he?
”
s
he demanded, knowing she was becoming one of those frantic loved ones at an accident scene who only presented one more problem for the EMT
’
s to dea
l with—but was unable to control herself any longer.

“
Let them do their job,
”
Tate said quietly, pulling her back t
o
give the men room to work.

“
I didn
’
t want to leave him here alone,
”
she heard herself saying out loud but couldn
’
t work out what was wrong with her voice until
it registered
she was crying so hard she could barely put two words together.
Oh my God, she was falling apart…she never fell apart…what the hell was happening to her?

“
Tupper
’
s gonna
’
be okay,
”
Tate was saying, holding her against his chest and talking her down calmly.

Then she heard a weak, but all too familiar voice reach her ears, and pulled away from Tate
’
s arms to look down and see Johnny frowning up at her.

He was slapping away the EMT
guy
’
s
hands as he tried to place an oxygen mask over his face.
“
I knew I couldn
’
t leave you alone with him. Ox
,
get your paws off my woman.
”

“
You snooze-you lose buddy,
”
Tate grinned down at him.

Destiny wiped at her face and fought the
insane
urge to throw herself down across his chest. One glance across at the EMT guys and she saw that they seemed to be thinking the same thing and were ready to protect their patient if she tried.

He reached his arm out to her and Destiny sank down onto the floor beside him and took his hand. Resting her head on their joined hands she sent a silent prayer of thanks heavenward and took a deep breath, rega
ining
some of her lost dignity.

“
Ma
’
am we need to get him to hospital.
”

She tried to let go of his hand, but Johnny held on firmly, making her look up at him.
“
I meant it.
”

She knew he was referring to
his last words before she
’
d left the basement,
but
the intensity of his gaze
had
her catch
ing
her breath.
“
I know
,
”
s
he whispered.

“
Say it.
”
he demanded, before the EMT
’
s finally lost patience and slid the mask firmly over his face once more.
He still held her hand
and
her gaze—refusing to relinquish either, until they medics lifted the stretcher and forcibly broke their hold.

“
Do as your told and don
’
t give them any trouble,
”
she said as they carried him away…and felt like a coward that she hadn
’
t been able to give him the words he
’
d wanted to hear her say.

I love you,
she said silently as he disappeared from sight.

Chapter
Twenty

Tupper was in a
foul
mood and it wasn
’
t just because his ribs were killin
’
him or that he was stuck in this God forsaken hospital—it was because he was powerless to do a damn thing about keeping the woman he loved tethered to his side any more.

“
So where is she?
”
he demanded as Tate sat down on the chair by his bedside.

“
I don
’
t know.
”

“
She
’
s gone
,
isn
’
t she?
”
he said flatly and saw his friend drop his gaze almost guiltily.

“
She checked out of the motel the feds put us in last night and she
’
s not answering her cell.
”

“
What? Then get out there and find her. What if
Tre
’
ago
’
s
had
someone
get her?
”

“
Tre
’
ago
can
’
t get anyone to do anything
anymore. The f
eds have frozen all the assets they found on that computer file and
Tre
’
ago
’
s
in lockdown. He
won
’
t
be doing anything to anyone outside that prison ever again.
”

“
Then where the hell is she?
”

“
Summer said she called. I think she
’
s on her way back to the island.
”
Tate admitted reluctantly.

“
God damn it!
”
Tupper yelled, then winced and caught his breath as pain shot through his chest.

“
Calm down. Look, maybe she just needs some time to deal with everything. She
’
d got a lot on her plate with her brother and they
’
re gonna
’
need time to get used to each other again. Just concentrate on getting better and give her some space.
”

“
I
’
d almost broken through, Ox,
”
he said turning his head to look out the window of the hospital room.

“
She loves y
ou
, man. She was freaking out when they found you in that basement
and s
he
’
s not a woman who falls apart easily.
Just give her some time
to sort it all out. You
’
ll see. She
’
ll be back, when she
’
s ready.
”

“
I don
’
t think so, Ox. She doesn
’
t need anyone—least of all me. She
’
ll handle everything all by herself like she
’
s always done.
”

“
I wouldn
’
t write her off just yet, Tup. I saw how she looked at you. That woman loves you and if it
’
s one thing I
’
ve figured out—it
’
s that you just have to give them time to
realize
how
awesome
we are,
”
he grinned and shrugged.
“
Let
’
s face it—what
’
s not to love about us?
”

Tupper gave a small snort at his friends
attempt to
lighten the mood, but inside he wasn
’
t so sure. Destiny Dawson was the strongest woman he
’
s ever known—she didn
’
t need anyone and especially, it seemed, not him.

And damned if that didn
’
t sting like a
son
of
a
bitch
.

****

Destiny sat in the
visitor
’
s
room, a glass partition separating the visitors from the inmates, her eyes on the doorway
that
guards and prisoners had been coming and going through as she waited. Then the door opened and a man walked into the room and for a moment she was a child again, a mixture of fear and awe running through her at the sight of the man who fathered her. Shaking herself, she drew upon her Army training and buried her emotions. She
’
d survived
D
rill
S
ergeants yelling in her face
;
she
learnt how
to slip away to her happy place and keep her emotions in check…in fact this man coming towards her had taught her how to do that from a very early age…the Army just honed the skill.

No way would she show him
any sign of fear. She was stronger now—stronger than she
’
d ever been in her life. She
’
d faced her fears and come out on top. He
’
d tried to break her spirit, but he hadn
’
t succeeded.