Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (2 page)

He
took several slow deep breaths, and turned back to Angel. “Let
me see her, mate.” Angel shook his head and held Morgan
tightly, but Finlay grabbed Angel's hand and moved it from Morgan's
head. “I need te see her.” Angel sniffed loudly and wiped
his face, then nodded. It was obvious that Angel wasn't going to move
out of the way, so Finlay inched closer and pulled her upper body
gently in his direction.

He
looked to her chest and saw that her breathing was shallow. “Broken
ribs.” Then to her legs, one at a time. “Broken ankle.”
His eyes moved back up, taking in every bruise and cut along the way,
until he reached her face. His long fingers gently touched her hair
that was in one large mass covering much of her face, and he moved it
all to the side. He, along with Angel and Elena, gasped in horror.

Morgan's
entire face was swollen, with dark purple, black, and deep blue
bruising covering every part of her cheeks and forehead. Finlay saw
the distinct straight bruises across her jaw line and knew that she
had been kicked several times. The open cut above her eyebrow showed
that she had been punched. His emotions were all over the place
causing his entire body to shake as he fought to remove the images of
what she must have went through. “Ah, Love.” He brought
her up to his chest, gently pulling her upper body to rest against
his legs, and held her for several moments. “You'll be awrite,
it's okay now.” He smoothed her tangled hair against her head
and rocked her gently. She was alright, in terms of serious danger,
but he had to get her medical care as soon as possible. “Wake
up now, love. Morgan.” He sat straight and pulled her body away
from him a few inches. “Morgan. Love. Morgan!” Finally,
her eyes began to flutter, and when she opened them, Finlay smiled
and brought her to his chest again. “That's it. Wake up. I'm
here, love... I'm here.”

Morgan
tried to open her eyes, but only one would budge. She tried to make
out the shapes around her, knowing that she wasn't alone, but
something was in her way. Her hand moved up, slowly, and she cried in
pain as her fingers finally found the mass that blocking her view. It
was an arm. A large arm. She also began to hear sounds of crying from
a woman, and a man. Nothing made sense, and all she could do right
then was hope that she'd been found.

She
was terrified, yet the arm was warm and gentle. It made a small part
of her feel safe. Her fingers grabbed the arm, in which it responded
by holding her closer. Closer to what, she wondered. “I...,”
she tried to speak, to ask who was with her, but her world began to
go dark once again. Before she surrendered to unconsciousness, Morgan
spoke only one word. “Fin.”

*****

“
Angel!
I think he is there with her. I...” Julianne trailed off as she
got up from the bed once more. She was sure she had Angel's phone
number, maybe he would answer. Felix got up and followed Julianne as
she went to her desk and dug in the drawer for her address book. “Ah,
here it is.”

Julianne
grabbed her phone and walked to the other side of the room as her
finger nervously dialed the number. She was terrified of what she
would learn, but she had to know something, anything, about Morgan.

“
Julie
Annie, I can't fuckin' talk right now!” He was about to hang
up, answering only because he assumed it had been, Gio. However, he
knew Morgan's boss would need to know what happened, so he took a
deep breath and tucked his phone between his shoulder and ear. He
held Morgan's head for as long as he could while Finlay carefully
placed her in Anthony's car.

“
Angel!”
Fresh tears streamed down her face upon hearing his voice. “Are
you with her right now? What happened? Is she okay?”

“
Baby
girl, I don't know what the motherfuck happened, but it's bad. Real
fuckin' bad.” He crawled into the back seat with Morgan, and
placed her head on his lap. “She's been beat, Julie. If that
big mothafuckin' Scot doesn't kill his sorry son of a bitch ass,”
Angel looked out the window, at the evil bastard who was being held
to the ground.

“
Scot?
Angel, is Finlay there? Please, let me speak to him!” Julianne
sat down again and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Just
then, Finlay was climbing into the passenger seat, and Elena into the
front. Anthony still guarded Carlos and waited for a few moments for
Finlay to speak to Morgan. There was a place, not far from Anthony's
home, where he knew the doctors. Not just
knew
them, but
practically grew up with them. Doctor Martinez was a good friend of
Samuel's and Anthony knew he wouldn't ask too many questions.

“
Finny
Boo-boo, Julie Annie needs to speak with you.” Angel passed the
phone up to Finlay as he sniffed loudly, but the man pushed his hand
away as he turned in his seat to look at Morgan.

“
I'm
not speaking te anyone, mate.” He didn't know who the hell
Julie Annie was, and he certainly didn't want to talk to her. “Wait,
who?” There was only one person that could be. “Give it
te me.” Angel passed the phone, and Finlay brought it up to his
ear. “Julianne.”
“Finlay! Oh, thank you!
Please, tell me everything!” Finlay wrapped his fingers around
Morgan's, and very quickly began to tell Julianne everything he knew.
From Angel calling him, to arriving at the hotel and finding Morgan.
Julianne sighed a breath of relief. It pained her heart tremendously
that Morgan was hurt, but she was found and she was going to be
alright.

“
Mister
Campbell, you take care of her. As soon as she is able, I want her to
come home, you hear me?” Julianne wanted Morgan back in Ohio,
where she was safe until Carlos was dealt with.

“
Aye,
we'll bring her home te ye.” Finlay ended the call and got back
to his reason for climbing in. “Love, I'll meet ye at the
hospital, aye?” Morgan was still out cold, and he brought her
hand to his lips. “I promise, Morgan.. I'll be there.” He
kissed her gently and placed her hand close to Angel's.

“Finny.”
Finlay turned as he was half way out of the car and looked at Angel.
“Thank you.” The large man nodded, looked at Morgan, and
stood. They all watched as he approached Anthony, then grabbed
Carlos' arm once again. Elena and Angel pulled away from the curb as
Finlay dragged Carlos back into the Purple Peacock.

Chapter
Two

The
waitress was too far away to hear her, but Morgan kept trying to get
her attention. “Can I... miss..,” her throat was too dry
and sore to speak any louder, and she was getting nowhere. Morgan
tried to move the hair from face, but it was
stuck?
“I
can't...what..,” a hand came down over hers, and assured her
that everything was alright. It was, in her opinion, most certainly
not alright. She was thirsty and the waitress was ignoring her.
Morgan's delusion came to an abrupt end when the demerol through her
IV put her right back to sleep.

The
gauze on her forehead had been slightly moved when she pulled on it,
but it was also taken care of. Angel had his work cut out for him,
but he wasn't going to let anyone else take care of his Sticky Buns.
“I'm here, Boo. I'm here.” He smoothed her hair again,
and admired how straight he had gotten it with a simple brush from
his overnight bag. Yes, Morgan had been washed, stitched, X Ray'd,
and dressed, but he was sure to take care of the most important
things to his best friend. “Your hair looks amazing, and...,”
he wiped another tear from his cheek, “and we can get a
cosmetic for those bruises. You'll see.” He sniffed, and the
nurse who had recently checked on Morgan smiled as she left the room.

Morgan
had been in the small hospital for a little over an hour, but she had
been taken care of meticulously by the entire staff. Anthony had
meant what he said, he knew most of them, and that friendship led
Morgan to the best hands in all of Costa Rica. It was discovered that
four of her ribs were fractured, but her ankle was not. Finlay's
quick assesment was otherwise spot on. Lacerations, bruises, and
massive swelling had left her in incredible pain, as well as dealing
with the aftermath of the chloroform. Morgan was in terrible shape,
yet the doctors assured everyone that under the circumstances of a
terrible car accident
, she was doing quite well.

Angel
had insisted that Elena go home to shower and get some rest. He would
keep in contact with her throughout the day as to how Morgan was
doing. Elena didn't want to leave her, but Angel was right in that
she would most likely sleep the entire day, and Elena could use that
time to rest until that evening when she could return. Angel,
however, wasn't planning to move one single inch from his best
friend.

The
hour had turned out to be torture for Carlos. Finlay had taken him
back to his room, and closed what was left of the door. He put Carlos
on the floor, between the dresser and a green upholstered chair that
had most likely been there since nineteen-seventy-one. He had less
than a few inches on either side of his body to move, not that Finlay
would have allowed him to. Anthony sat on a chair beside the window,
watching the situation unfold.

“So
this is your plan? Stare at me to death? Get on with it!”
Carlos couldn't take the silence, the staring, the waiting. Finlay
smiled and leaned back against the two small pillows on the bed.
Waiting, that's what Finlay was good at. He had patience when it came
to business, and that's what he was conducting right then. He yawned
loudly, loving the fact that his supposed boredom was making Carlos
even more uncomfortable. “What?! What are you waiting for?!”
Finlay stretched his long legs and yawned again. He looked to Carlos,
to Anthony, and back as he smiled wide.

“It's
not what I'm waiting for. It's what yer waiting for.” Carlos'
brows came together in question, and he looked away without trying to
get more answers. Obviously, he was meant to be scared, and he wasn't
going to give the large man that satisfaction.

Finlay
hoped that he was on the right track. He'd known people like Carlos,
and they all operated in the same way. Right as Finlay was beginning
to move his legs off the bed, he got what he wanted.

“I'll
be getting that.” Carlos started to reach for his phone as a
text notification sounded out loudly, but Finlay took two large steps
across the room and took it from his pocket. The text that he had
hoped for had arrived. “Aye. Mendez? Sounds aboot right.”
Finlay's large fingers replied to the text of Mendez demanding his
payment for finding the 'bitch.' Finlay wanted to crush the phone in
his hand, but he kept calm and kept typing. “Purple Peacock.
Room 201.” He threw the phone behind him, and it landed on the
bed with a soft thump. “Now, we wait again.” Anthony
smiled at a hand well played, and nodded slightly in Finlay's
direction.

Carlos
didn't understand what Mendez had to do with Finlay, the man was a
paid tracker, and hit man by trade. He didn't have a personal
attachment to the situation. It did, of course, give Carlos a new
idea. He could blame it all on Mendez, say that it was his doing, and
Carlos might get a chance to walk away. Yes, a smile spread across
his face as his plan began to come together. Finlay watched him,
enraged at the audacity of the man to smile, but still...he waited.

Mendez
had left Costa Rica after spotting Morgan, better business to attend
to had sent him to Brazil, but he was back. He had no idea that
Morgan had been found by Carlos, and his intent was to drag her
directly to him. First, he planned to get paid for the extra work
that he'd already done. The Purple Peacock was right beside the
airport, and his taxi had him there in under ten minutes. He was
climbing the back stairs to the room when Carlos finally spoke to
Finlay again.

“So,
you've figured it out. It was all, Mendez. He planned it, he did it
all. I was just paid to watch over her.” Carlos nodded and
smiled, feeling confident with the new plan, and he was already
looking forward to leaving Costa Rica, and returning home. Finlay
cocked his head and looked directly at Carlos. The look on his face
couldn't be read, but it still didn't deter Carlos from his plan.
Finlay took a deep breath, and his fists clenched as he continued to
wait.

“Carlos!”
The door opened and Finlay took a step to the side, unseen by the
newcomer. “I want my...what the fuck?” Mendez stepped
into the room and started to walk to Carlos, who was staring behind
him. Before Mendez could turn around, the door was slammed shut, and
a large man stepped behind him. Mendez spun around in shock. “Who
the fuck are you? What's going on?” He looked back at Carlos
who refused to say a word. He just hoped that Finlay had believed his
story.