Relentless (23 page)

Nice to find that out now, Rhys thought dourly. Beside him, Dec shot him an “Oh, shit” look, and set his hands on his hips.

“Want us to take you to the hospital?” Dec asked.

“No,” Luke growled. “I'm fine. The symptoms were better until my flight yesterday. Must've been the altitude.”

“You're not fine,” Nev snapped. “You need to be admitted ASAP.”

Luke shook his head, but stilled quickly and blanched, as though the motion had hurt him badly. “No way.”

“Spare me the macho alpha male bullshit.”

Luke's head jerked around to stare at her, and he flinched.

Rhys had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Luke's stunned expression was priceless. Probably the first time anyone had ever dared speak to him like that, at least to his face. Not many people could withstand Luke's glare, but Nev was holding her own.

When she spoke again, her voice was flinty. “You may be tough, but you don't strike me as stupid.” Her eyes never wavered from Luke's, and Rhys was even more impressed. He'd seen special ops commandos wilt under that stare, but Nev seemed completely unfazed. “Sounds to me like you've either got a clot or a bleed in your brain, and it's likely in the occipital lobe, which explains your blurred vision and nausea. But the pressure could be compressing the cerebellum which— ”

“Controls my balance and coordination,” Luke finished. “Yeah, I've heard this already.”

“Then you should understand how serious it is,” she replied crisply. “If your intra-cranial pressure spikes high enough you could go into a coma. Just ask Rhys how much fun that is.” She raised her lake-blue eyes to his, and Rhys felt that increasingly familiar ripple of awareness spread through him.

“And ask him how it feels to wake up and not be able to move one side of your body, or if you can, not well enough to do simple things like write or feed yourself.”

Her gaze told him she understood exactly what he'd gone through, because she'd made sure to be updated about his progress. She'd cared enough about him to follow his rehab, and knew every single obstacle he'd overcome during his therapy. She'd stayed and held his hand, caressed him and talked with him even though he'd been unconscious.

The knowledge unfurled something deep inside him, a kind of yearning. The emotion was so strong it triggered an ache beneath his sternum.

She held his gaze another moment before looking back at Luke. “Go ahead, ask him. Because that's what's going to happen to you if you don't get this looked after— if you're lucky enough that it doesn't leave you in a vegetative state. Otherwise, it's going to kill you. Maybe not tonight, but at some point it will. And I think you know that as well as I do.”

Luke didn't say anything, just sat there with his jaw tensed, staring in the direction of the reception room. Rhys stepped in.

“Let's just take you in for some tests and find out what's going on,” he said in a reasonable tone, appealing to his boss’ practical nature. “Dec and Bryn can stay here to make sure the bride and groom have a good time, and then we'll bring you straight back.”

“If they discharge me,” Luke pointed out. “Which y'all know isn't going to happen. If I go in there, they're going to want to open me up and then I'll be laid up for God knows how long.”

And then he wouldn't be able to go into the field if he needed to. Luke hadn't said it aloud, but Rhys understood that's exactly why he hadn't had surgery before now. He was afraid he'd miss his shot of staving off disaster or eventually nailing Tehrazzi if the doctors wanted to operate. Rhys glanced at Nev for her opinion.

“If they need to do a craniotomy, you can be out in a matter of days, if not hours,” she said. “It all depends on what they find when they go in.”

Luke hedged. “Shit. Why tonight?”

“Stress amplifies the problem, as I'm sure you're well aware,” Nev answered, and climbed to her feet. “Now let's go. It's way past time you took responsibility for your health. You're no good to anyone like this, so you may as well get it fixed and then you can go back into the field.”

Rhys hid a smile as she breezed past him in a tangy lemon-scented cloud, and offered a hand to Luke. “Come on. Doc's orders— let's go.”

With a resentful glare, Luke ignored the hand and stood on his own power, staying still a few moments until he got his equilibrium. He aimed a hard look at Dec. “Make sure they think everything's fine in there.”

“Roger that.”

“And Emily, too, or trust me, all of them are gonna wind up at the hospital.”

“Consider it done,” Dec said, already heading back to the dance. Then he stopped. “Which hospital you taking him to?”

“VGH,” Nev answered, in the take-charge way of a woman who was used to being obeyed. “I got to know the hospitals in the area yesterday at the conference, and VGH is the closest. We'll call you with an update.”

When she turned away, Dec raised his brows at him in amusement, then sauntered back to the party. Rhys waited for Luke to go ahead of him, just in case he had to step in and catch him again on the way to the truck. True to form, Luke threw him a dark scowl, silently warning him he'd better keep his distance.

With a weary sigh, the patient trudged along behind Neveah. Rhys eyed her swaying hips appreciatively as he followed. She was stunning in her midnight blue gown with her authoritative air wrapped around her like a suit of armor. Damn, she was sexy when she got all doctorly and took charge like that. He really should be paying more attention to his security role and not wondering whether she was wearing anything underneath that gown.

“Bet you intimidate the shit out of all the other surgeons,” Luke remarked as he came alongside her.

Gazing straight ahead, Neveah smiled fiercely. “Yep. And that's just the way I like it.”

When the call came in, Ahmed excused himself from the table and strode through the crowded dining room outside into the cold, clean air. The phone in his right breast pocket stopped buzzing, but the moment his shoes hit the damp pavement of the parking lot it started up again. He retrieved it and headed to the seclusion of his vehicle, parked nearby. When he saw the caller ID his hands grew damp. Though he'd helped plan the attack, part of him didn't want to hear about the deaths he'd caused.

Shutting himself in the leather interior and locking the door, he answered. “Is it done?” The words came out raspy.

“I— n-no.”

His spine snapped taut. “What?”

“There was a problem. Our man was intercepted outside the location.”

“
What?"

“A group of SWAT members or something stopped him at a checkpoint, and then got Hassan.”

Ahmed closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I thought you said this guy could handle it!”

“You didn't warn us security would be that tight.”

He suppressed a growl of irritation. “I told you there could be some resistance, and that there might be military people involved— ” He cut off the rest of his tirade and ordered his brain to focus on the task at hand. “What about the primary target?”

“The target collapsed.”

“Dead?”

“No.”

Ahmed ground his teeth together as his stomach turned inside out. This was a complete nightmare. “Then why are you calling me? Go after him and finish it.”

A pause filled the line. “He is with two others. A huge guy that could be RCMP or military or something, and that woman doctor.”

His pulse jumped. “Doctor Adams?”

“Yes. I've followed them to VGH. They just went inside. What do you want me to do?”

Wasn't it obvious enough? Damn, how had things gotten so out of control? He glanced at his watch in the light from the street lamps coming through his window. His dinner companions wouldn't think anything of him not returning, and as for two of the targets being at the hospital... Apparently he'd have to make sure nothing else went wrong personally.

“Stay there and wait for me at the Emergency entrance. I'll be there in ten minutes.”

Flipping the phone shut, Ahmed grabbed for the keys and ignored the tremor in his hand as he fired up the engine. This wasn't supposed to be how it went. He wasn't supposed to be directly involved.

His heart beat faster as he pulled onto the street into traffic. He didn't want to have blood on his hands— not that kind of blood. But if the men he'd hired to commit the murders didn't follow through, Tehrazzi would blame him and then...

Ahmed didn't even want to think about what would happen after that.

An hour later, Nev walked through the emergency ward on her way to the CT area. Passing the waiting room, she did a double take when she saw Emily sitting on a chair, rubbing her hands over her arms.

She pushed the door open. “Hey.” Emily looked up at her with worry-filled eyes. “Didn't feel much like celebrating after that, huh?”

The other woman shook her head, the pretty chin-length bob swinging against her jaw. “No.” Her moss green eyes went to the window in the door. “How is he? Have you heard anything?”

“Not yet, I was just heading there.” Nev angled her head. “Why don't you go back to the reception and we'll call you when we know something? Maybe it'll take your mind off everything for a while.”

“Thanks, but I can't do that.” She stood and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Is he having tests?”

“Yes. X-rays and a CT scan.”

Emily met her gaze. “Is he in there already?”

“I think so. Why, what's wrong?”

She hesitated a moment before answering. “Luke's claustrophobic.” She bit her lip. “Really claustrophobic.”

He was? The idea shocked Nev. How in the world had Luke been able to get through SEAL training with a phobia like that? Didn't they have to lock out of subs and stuff? Tough to do if you didn't like confined spaces. Maybe Emily was looking for an excuse to be with him.

Emily shifted from one foot to the other. “Do you think... Would it be okay if I could maybe talk to him? It might help him relax.”

Or it might put his blood pressure through the roof if it wasn't there already. “I'm not sure if— ”

“I promise I won't say anything to upset him. I just... I want to help if I can.”

How the hell was she supposed to say no when Emily was looking at her like that? “You really think he needs you to distract him?”

“He'd never admit to it, no, but... ”

Nev narrowed her eyes for a moment as she considered it. She'd seen firsthand how much of an alpha male Luke was. And the rest of his team. Maybe Emily's presence would be a kindness. “All right. I'll get you in there, but if his vitals show signs of stress, you'll have to leave.”

“Of course.”

Emily followed her down the hall and into the CT room. Nev went into the booth where the technician was performing the scan and held the door for Emily. On the other side of the glass, Luke lay inside the sterile white tube of the CT machine with his eyes closed.

Repressing a sigh at the stubbornness that had landed him there, she motioned for Emily to approach the technician's place. “We've got an important message to deliver,” Nev told the woman seated at the controls. “Mind if we say something to the patient?”

She smiled. “Not at all.”

While Emily got situated behind the microphone, Nev thought about what was going on back at the reception, and wished the hell she could be sure something dangerous wasn't up. Dec, Ben and the undercover crew were still at Seasons. She knew Luke had the utmost faith in their abilities, but not being there in person to oversee the security must be driving him crazy. Add in the fact he was trapped in that tube with a possible bleed in his brain, and... well, maybe this was a good idea if for no other reason than it might distract him for a while.

Emily spoke into the mike. “Luke?”

He jerked slightly and his eyes flew open. “Yeah?”

“They're almost done here,” she soothed in her soft Charleston drawl. “Just a few more minutes.”

Even from where she stood Nev saw Luke's scowl. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Well, it was either that or Rayne and Christa were coming down, so I figured this was the best option.”

“Dec with you?”

“Yes, and Bryn. They're parking the car.” Emily glanced over at her. “That fellow Ben stayed behind at the reception with Nate.”

Luke grunted in reply and closed his eyes, but he gave no other indication of how Emily's presence affected him so Nev let her stay.

“I was just thinking of Rayne's Marine Corps graduation,” Em said after a long pause.

He made a noncommittal sound, and Nev's heart swelled for Emily. What a sweetheart, to try and ease his anxiety like this. Add in the fact she'd been divorced from the man for two decades, and Nev was even more impressed. Few people had that sort of kindness in them.

But then, Emily was still hung up on him, wasn't she? Unfortunately for her, Luke didn't seem to reciprocate those feelings. Nev wondered what had gone wrong in their marriage, apart from the obvious. Making a life with someone in the military was hard enough, but even more so when they were in special ops.

Which begged the question, how was she going to deal with Rhys and his work if they stayed together? She really didn't know.

Nev tuned out while Emily kept talking to Luke, conferring with the technician about what the on-screen images showed. After another few minutes they were done, and Nev wanted Emily out of there so she wouldn't overhear something confidential. The whole night had been a mess, but Nev still had her patient's privacy to protect.

Ahmed ran a hand through his unkempt hair for what seemed like the hundredth time before entering the kitchen through the garage. Things were unraveling faster than he could fix them, and the people he was dealing with were every bit as dangerous as Tehrazzi.

He'd decided to stop at home before going to the hospital. Would be less suspicious if for some reason his wife paid attention to his comings and goings. But he didn't think she did.

His fingers tightened around the bunch of cut flowers he'd bought, making the cellophane wrapping crinkle. He went straight to the butcher's block on the counter and took out the pair of left-handed scissors Lily had bought for him and suffered a bittersweet pang. She was such a thoughtful person. He really should make more of an effort to be a better husband, he thought as he cut off the wrapping and took down a vase from the cupboard.