Last Chance (42 page)

toward him. The clouds that had been obscuring the moon shifted, allowing

him to see her better. Within feet of reaching him, he saw her expression

change from determination to fear. Her eyes wide, she shouted, "Lucas,

watch out!"

Lucas turned. He'd been so focused on McKenna, he hadn't seen the

man step out from behind his hiding place. He had a clear shot at Lucas and

was poised to fire. Lucas turned back to McKenna, knowing what she was

about to do and unable to prevent it. Having only one choice, Lucas flew

toward her at the very instant she leaped on him. He caught her in his arms

the instant a blast of a gun rang through the air.

Arms wrapped around each other, they fell to the ground.

Lucas heard another blast farther away and a loud grunt. Apparently

someone had finally taken the shooter out. Rolling off McKenna, he glared

down at her, ready to deliver a stern lecture about staying put when she was

told to stay put. Lying facedown on the ground, she wasn't moving.

"McKenna?" he whispered hoarsely.

Heart thudding with dread, Lucas turned her gently onto her back. Her

eyes were closed, her expression one of peace, as though she were sleeping.

He felt for a pulse. There...but dammit, not nearly as strong as it should have

been.

In the darkness, her black clothing revealed nothing. Forcing the fear

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away, Lucas quickly ran his hands down her body, searching. Fingers

touched a warm, wet spot on her right side. Breath halted in his lungs as his

worst nightmare was realized. McKenna had been shot.

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Twenty-six

Lucas wasn't much of a praying man. He figured he'd been blessed

more than most people; asking God for more seemed damned presumptuous.

Now, as he stood over the bed of the woman who was his life, he uttered

every reverent plea he'd ever heard, hoping this one prayer would be

answered. Emotions exploded like bombs and his entire being felt as if it

could disintegrate at any moment.

She had saved his life. Bloody hell, she had saved his life and had

almost lost her own.

Though the bullet in her side had gone straight through, missing vital

organs, and the surgeon insisted her injury wasn't life-threatening, she still

hadn't opened her eyes. The doctors believed the cause of her continued

unconsciousness was blood loss blended with extreme exhaustion. All vital

signs were good. But when the hell would she wake up?

Not one to doubt his decisions once they were made, Lucas now

questioned his every move from the moment she'd rescued him in Brazil. He

shouldn't have pursued her. If he hadn't been so adamant that they meet, he

wouldn't have been on this op where she thought she had to save his life.

And the entire setup with Damon. Hell, he'd screwed that up, too.

Used the photos to lure Hughes when he could have easily had them

destroyed. Lucas had always known he had a touch more arrogance than

most people, but it had always gotten him what he wanted. This time his

arrogance could have cost McKenna her life.

"How is she?"

Lucas looked over his shoulder at Dylan. Though he'd only known the

man a few hours, Lucas got the idea that not much fazed him. Now,

however, his eyes were dark with concern.

"Doctors said she'd wake up when she was ready. I've had four

specialists in here. All of them swear it's not a coma."

"Poor kid's got to be exhausted after what she's been through." He

shot a commiserating glance at Lucas. "Waiting's the worst."

"You speak as a man who's done his share."

A slow shrug and the blankness of his expression increased. A man

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who didn't like to talk about himself. Something he could identify with.

"How's the young woman...Jamie?"

A small flicker of something showed in Dylan's expression before he

quickly masked it and said, "Damaged but dealing. She's in a room down the

hall. You'll want to meet her."

Lucas nodded absently. McKenna was his only priority right now.

"She tell you what happened?"

Another slow shrug. "Some. Said Reddington was keeping her at the

cabin for his son and the kid's weekend friends. Good thing about it--" He

gave a snort of disgust. "If you can call it a good thing. Hughes had beaten

her so badly, she was still recovering...so they'd only been entertaining

themselves with her for a few days."

Lucas's stomach churned. Long ago, he had stopped asking himself

what turned people into conscienceless savages. Evil could not be reasoned

with or understood, only fought against. "Sounds like the Reddington family

had a lot in common with Damon Hughes."

A quick nod. "She talked a little about her abduction. Hughes's men

took her from the laundry room in her apartment complex, knocked her out.

She was gagged the whole time, so she didn't get to ask them what they

wanted. Apparently her ex-husband had made some threats against her, so

she just assumed he was responsible."

"I hate to think what the bastard did when she told him he'd made a

mistake," Lucas said.

"She didn't tell him. He found out for himself."

"Why didn't she?"

"He disabled her vocal cords; she couldn't speak for a couple of days.

By the time she could speak, she was afraid to tell him, figuring he'd kill her.

Said she hoped he'd let his guard down and she could escape. Only he found

out before she got a chance."

Lucas didn't have to ask how he found out. If he saw Jamie's body at

all, he would have seen she didn't have the scars or brand Hughes had put on

McKenna's body.

"I'm surprised he didn't kill her."

His jaw working, Dylan said, "I'm not so sure a small part of her

doesn't wish he had."

There was nothing he could say to that. Wishing for death rather than

going through hell was understandable, considering what the young woman

had experienced. McKenna had once felt that way, had taken sleeping pills

to escape. How many more times had she wished for death because of

Damon Hughes? When the bastard killed her parents? When she'd watched

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her sister die? Every time he raped or tortured her?

Lucas didn't want to think about that. McKenna was alive, strong, and

resilient. A survivor. And now, soon, she could actually have a life.

"So, physically, Jamie's going to be all right?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah. Should be well enough to go home in a few days. She's going

to need some counseling, though."

Lucas looked back at McKenna. How the hell did she deal with what

was probably a monthly if not weekly job for her--saving victims from

unspeakable horror? In his former job, he'd dealt almost solely with bad,

sorry-assed vermin who enjoyed killing others. Rarely were there victims to

save.

"Samara's flying in tomorrow. Noah thought it might help both

McKenna and Jamie for her to be here."

Holding McKenna's hand, Lucas couldn't help but wonder if he should

be here. She had called him arrogant and stupid. He'd defended his actions,

but now they haunted him. He couldn't get it out of his head: she could have

died because of him.

Dylan sighed. "I doubt it'll do any good to tell you this, but blaming

yourself doesn't help."

"Does anything?"

"Yeah. Making sure it never happens again." He jerked his head

toward McKenna. "That's why she does what she does--why we all joined

LCR. We know what can happen; it's either happened to someone we cared

about or to us. Preventing it from happening to others deadens the pain."

Dylan Savage didn't look like he'd be one to share this kind of

confidence with anyone. Lucas appreciated the man's insight, allowing him

to see LCR in a different light than before. He might have always admired

their purpose and the work they did, but he couldn't say he'd ever given

thought to their need to exist outside of the work they performed. Now he

understood that not only did LCR save lives and rescue victims; the

organization also helped those who worked for them. As it had McKenna.

Saving others had given purpose to her life and had eased her guilt.

"I know you don't want to leave her, but I'll stay here while you go

meet Jamie."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

"I--"

"Room 412. Three doors down, on the right. I'll call you immediately

if McKenna wakes."

Thinking it odd that Dylan was so insistent, Lucas didn't argue.

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Besides, he did need to meet with Jamie Kendrick. If she left the hospital

before McKenna woke, he wanted to be able to assure her he'd seen the

young woman in person and that she was indeed alive and as well as could

be expected.

Giving McKenna one last glance, Lucas turned and went through the

door and down the hall to room 412. Rubbing his neck wearily, he prepared

himself to meet with a ravaged young woman. Knocking softly, he was

surprised when Noah opened the door.

"Is Jamie up to having a visitor?" Lucas asked.

Surprising him even more, Noah McCall gave a broad smile and said,

"She's anxious to meet you. Come in."

An odd feeling of deja vu washed over him. Lucas walked into the

room, then jerked to a halt. Speechless for the first time in his life, he could

only stare at the person sitting in a chair by the window.

Consciousness returned in increments. McKenna heard a soft sigh,

then the crinkle of paper, as if someone had turned the page of a book.

Something told her she needed to wake up. She blinked. When light pierced

her eyes, she closed them quickly.

"Hey sleepyhead, are you finally awake?"

Samara?
That was odd. What was she doing here? And where was

here?

Willing her eyes to open, she blinked again. Finally, able to squint,

she saw Samara sitting in a chair beside her bed. Her bed? What was she

doing in a bed? She leaned forward to sit up and hissed as pain slashed at her

side.

"Don't try to move," Samara said. "I'll raise the bed so you can sit up a

bit."

The electronic hum was McKenna's first awareness that she was in a

hospital bed. What had happened? And then in a flash, she remembered.

"Lucas!"

"He's fine."

Her eyes searched around the room. Her heart thundering, she

whispered, "You're sure? Where is he?"

"Absolutely. He just stepped out to visit with the doctor again. He's

convinced they're not telling him the truth about your injury. He's already

consulted with all the doctors here and three others outside, two in London

and one in Boston. And now he's threatening to fly his personal doctor in."

She grinned. "I imagine the entire hospital staff will throw a party when they

find out you finally woke."

Bewildered, she shook her head. "But why?"

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"You've been unconscious for over two days. Everyone's been

concerned. Lucas...well, let's just say he's been on a different level

altogether. You scared the hell out of the man."

"And you're sure he's okay? He wasn't hurt?"

"He's fine, I promise."

"Thank God." Her eyes widened again. "Jamie...how is she?"

Something flickered in Samara's expression, replacing her earlier

humor.

McKenna's heart jumped. "What's wrong? Is she badly hurt?"

"No, she's got some bruises. I think most of the physical damage that

Hughes inflicted has gone."

"There's something else, though. What?"

"Nothing. Other than you're going to want to meet her."

Yes, she knew she should. If nothing else, she needed to apologize.

Samara huffed a sigh. "Get that look of guilt off your face."

"How can I not feel responsible?"

"Because you've done nothing wrong. You did not create Damon

Hughes. You're not responsible for what he did."

Leaning her head back on her pillow, McKenna closed her eyes

briefly. "I'm just not sure what I'm going say to her. I'm sorry you had the

misfortune to look like me?"

Samara smiled. "I think you'll find something. You two have a lot in

common."

"I guess we do. How bad is she?"

"She's going to need counseling, but she's incredibly strong. She'll get

through it. She said she survived other bad stuff...and she would survive this,

too."

Sadness filled her. Apparently Jamie hadn't had an easy life, and

thanks to Damon Hughes, it had only gotten worse. He had damaged so

many people. But now, thanks to Lucas, he couldn't hurt anyone else.

"I can't believe it's finally over."

"You've got a lot of thinking to do. You're free for the first time in

years." Samara stood. "I need to put Lucas out of his misery and let him

know you're awake. Are you ready to see him?"

Resisting the urge to let Samara tell him to come in right away, she

said instead, "Do you have a hairbrush I could use?" Then, grimacing at the

foul taste in her mouth, she added, "And maybe a toothbrush, too?"

Laughing, Samara went to the small bathroom and returned with a

cosmetic bag and a glass of water. "Go ahead and get presentable while I'm