Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet (4 page)

Dan immediately dialed the
phone while Ally dropped to her knees beside Ana. She didn’t have
to say anything for the elevator’s occupants to know that something
was wrong. Bad wrong.

Ally was woefully
unprepared for this. Still, what options did she―or Ana
McLaughlin―have?

Dan’s voice rose behind
her. “Get this cart moving! I don’t care what you have to do! Pry
the damned doors open if you need to! Use a blowtorch if need
be!”

Ana’s hand wrapped around
Ally’s. “What’s wrong?”

Ally hesitated. The woman
deserved honesty; she could give her no less than that. “You’re
bleeding a little more than you should be. We’re going to have to
take care of that.”

“
But my baby? The baby’s
alright?” Ana’s eyes were glued to the infant Marianna had passed
to Ana’s husband. His eyes were trained on his redheaded wife. He
passed the baby back to Marianna, then dropped closer to
Ana.

Ally could never remember
seeing that kind of fear on an agent’s face before. “The baby’s
fine, let’s get you taken care of now, ok?”

“
Is she going to be all
right?” McLaughlin’s voice was low, but Ally had no trouble hearing
him. “What’s going on?”

“
The baby was a pretty big
one, and your wife is a small woman. There was some additional
tearing. I don’t have anything to stitch her up with. I’m going to
try to get the bleeding to slow down. But I won’t lie to you. The
sooner we get your wife out of this elevator, the better,
understand?”

The elevator jerked once in
protest. Both Ally and Ana screamed. Marianna clutched the
baby tighter and Ana’s brunette friend gave a small prayer. Dan and
McLaughlin both released hot curses.

Ally turned to Dan. “What’s
happening?”

He already had the phone at
his ear. Within seconds he’d replaced it on the receiver, and
clutched his cane determinedly. “McLaughlin, I’ll need your help.
Carrie’s found one tiny loophole in the programming. It’ll raise
the cart enough to fool it into thinking we’ve come to a floor. The
door will open partway. When it does, we have to be ready. Because
once it senses we’re between floors it will automatically close
again. And won’t open until it’s reset.”

“
What are you going to do,
Danny?” The brunette asked.

“
Gonna’ get us out of this
damned box, kiddo.” He twirled the cane in the air. “Knew this
danged thing would come in handy sooner or later.”

Ally focused all her
attention on the patient, trusting the others to implement whatever
plan Dan had devised. Her main concern was stopping―or if not that,
slowing, bleeding enough to buy Ana McLaughlin some much needed
time.

She silently echoed the
brunette’s earlier prayer as the cart gave one more lurch, and
started rocketing upward. It rose two feet at the most before the
bells started dinging and the doors slid open.

Fin McLaughlin placed his
prosthetic arm between the two panels. “Hurry, Reynolds. I’m not
sure this thing could withstand being caught between the
doors.”

Dan’s cane was placed
between the doors just as they started closing again. Everyone
inside held their breaths as the wood bowed slightly, then
held.

A lobby full of anxious
faces peered down into the cart at them. The silver-haired man
who’d spoken earlier was the closest. “McLaughlin, Reynolds,
everyone ok in there?”

“
No, Dennis,” Dan said,
taking the baby from Marianna. He shoved the infant into the other
man’s arms as gently as he could―while still moving quickly. “We
got medical standing by?”

“
Dr. Bellows and her team
are just behind me.”

“
Good. Ana’s comin’
through. She’s bleeding pretty bad.” Dan didn’t waste any more
words and Ally watched in admiration as the silver-haired man
handed the infant off to someone behind him then he and another man
reached into the cart as Dan lifted Ana from the floor. McLaughlin
stayed beside the elevator doors, keeping his body between the
steel doors. His eyes never left his wife’s face. Hers never left
his.

Then she was out, and Ally
couldn’t see where they’d taken her. McLaughlin was replaced by the
big man Ally recognized as Hellbrook. He immediately grabbed the
brunette woman and pulled her to his chest before lifting her out
of the cart. Marianna went next, helped out by the silver-haired
man.

“
You’re up next, doc.” Dan
said. Ally nodded, anxious to follow her patient. Not that she
didn’t trust the medical team; she just would prefer to finish what
she’d started. His hands were warm on her waist as he lifted her to
the waiting arms of an attractive man with dark hair and blue eyes.
Then he was climbing out―refusing any assisting hands.

Ally’s attention shifted
from Dan back to her patient. A woman a few years younger than
herself was directing a team of three around Ana and the infant.
The woman handled it with calm and competence that Ally
respected.

It spoke of many long hours
in emergency situations.

In less than two minutes
the entire McLaughlin family was out of the lobby on their way to
the nearest hospital. But Ally was reassured, the bleeding had
stopped. Ana McLaughlin would most likely be fine.

Dan ran a quick eye over
Georgia, Dr. Glendower and the little doc, checking for any
injuries. While in the damned elevator Ana had taken obvious
precedence, but now that that was done, it was time to take
stock.

The little doc had swelling
forming on her forearm, by the looks of it. She’d obviously hit
something pretty hard. Other than that, everyone seemed fine.
Hellbrook still held Georgia, and her father stood at her side near
the new ERT teams. Glendower’s people were swarming her and the
little doc, everyone wanting their attention. Probably just to
reassure themselves that their teammates were alright.

One hell of a first day.
But the doc had handled herself just fine. Earned even more of
Dan’s admiration.

Paige Daviess came running
up to his side, her dark eyes worried. She was followed a few steps
behind by Compton. “Danny? You ok? I heard you were trapped in
there.”

Dan smiled. It was
well-known throughout the division that this girl hated to be
confined in any way. The saying was You can’t cage Paige. Being
trapped in an elevator would have seemed horrible to
her.

Dan felt he held the place
of honorary uncle to the girl. And he liked that just fine. They
shared a love of music that he’d once shared with his oldest
daughter. They also shared a house. Paige rented one of the two
basement apartments from him, and had for the last eighteen months.
She'd been the one to 'keep an eye on him' the entire time he'd
been off. She was a good kid. “Yeah, kiddo. All in one piece. Not
even the little bit worse for wear.”

“
You didn’t reopen
anything?”

“
All good, Paige, I
promise.” He laughed, ruffled the dark hair that always smelled
like strawberries. He loved this kid, with her all black clothes,
brown eyes, dark hair, and pale skin. Something about her made the
entire unit feel the same way. They all protected Paige.

“
If not, you’ll see the
doctor?” She persisted. “Promise?”

Compton chided her softly,
telling her to leave him be. The two were close, of an age and good
friends. Dan thought it was good, he worried about them
both.

“
Promise. I promise.
Shouldn’t you be out incognito, or playing Sam Spade or something?”
Paige was a member of the smallest team in the division. Undercover
Operations three people in it, Paige, Alessandra Brockman, and Max
Fulton. The three could assume almost any identity in hours. If
they couldn’t pull it off, they’d borrow from other units to fit
their needs. Dan himself had played undercover in a few operations.
He’d played Carrie and Josh’s father in two separate cases. Had
actually gone to the beautician for darker red highlights to better
look the part. Even worn brown contacts, since both the younger
agents had darker eyes. It had been fun.

“
We’re working a local
angle.” Paige shrugged. “Was down in the lab waiting on results.
But when I heard it was you in the elevator I had to come check,
make sure you weren’t causing trouble.”

“
I’m always trouble, kid.
Don’t you know that by now?” He led her toward Dr. Brockman.
Malachi was a favorite of Paige’s and Dan liked the man. If there
hadn’t been such an age difference between the nearly
forty-year-old Brockman and twenty-something Paige, Dan would have
tried his hand at some matchmaking between the two. Paige needed a
strong man to take care of her, but one who’d understand that she
was a free spirit. You couldn’t cage Paige.

“
Yes.” Paige nodded, as the
two of them moved closer to where Brockman was speaking with his
sister and Dr. Glendower. Doc Brewster stood behind them speaking
earnestly with the orange and purple haired girl. Dan suppressed
the urge to cringe at the wild coloring.

“
Well, here’s the man of
the hour.” Paige motioned to Dan with one skinny arm. Girl was
tall, but had no real curves to speak of. “Hero Dan! How many of us
has he pulled out of the proverbial fires in the last year
alone?”

“
Cute, Daviess.” Dan bumped
the back of her head with one chiding hand.

“
It’s true, though,”
Georgia said from behind him. “Dan does seem to be in the right
spot at the right time for the rest of us―and the wrong spot at the
wrong time for himself.”

“
By the way, Reynolds, I
think your cane has finally given up the ghost,” Malachi Brockman
said. Dan turned back toward the elevator. The cane had bowed
completely, and all watched as it finally snapped. The doors slid
shut with a loud shudder. Paige shivered. Dan rubbed her
arm.

“
Not much of a loss, I was
tired of the damned thing anyway. Only so long a man can feel like
an invalid.” Dan was conscious of the little doc and her companion
moving closer. “Doctors said I could be done with it in a month. I
think today is as good a day as any.”

“
Danny...” Paige and
Georgia both said. Georgia continued. “Don’t be a stubborn
idiot.”

“
Am I ever?” Dan smiled at
the two dark-haired, dark-eyed women.

“
Only all the time.” Paige
said, as the little doc finally moved to their group. The
wild-haired girl was at her side.

“
Are you hurt, Dan?” the
doc asked, her pretty eyes filled with worry.

“
Nothin’ new.” He felt a
hint of red tingeing his cheeks, as she moved closer. “Just rattled
a few leftover shrapnel and things. Will be just fine.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
Completely. Doc Brewster,
you met Malachi Brockman earlier; this is his sister Alessandra and
her partner Paige Daviess. Alex and Paige are from UO. Their
offices are located one floor up from your lab.”

Paige nodded. “My desk is
actually right over your mass-spec. Sometimes if you really get it
going my desk vibrates. Weird, since the MS is a silent machine.
But we figured it out one night.”

“
Back when she was
extremely bored with paperwork,” Alex said. “Was running back and
forth between the two places, checking the reactions of every
machine. It was fun to watch.

“
It’s nice to meet you
both. This is my lab partner, Kelly Reynolds. Kelly, this is Agent
Dan―“

“
Daddy?” The girl’s voice
rose, carrying over the entire crowd as her green eyes
narrowed.

Green eyes just like
Dan’s.

Ally’s eyes widened in
tandem with half the people’s surrounding Dan and Kelly. Marianna
moved closer, her hand wrapping around Kelly’s arm in a show of
support.

Ally had never asked Kelly
about her parents, just knew that the girl and her mother rarely
spoke. Kelly’s youngest sister, Gracie, often spent time with
Kelly, and Ally had met her. The younger girl looked even more like
the man standing gawking at her purple-haired partner.

Kelly and Daniel Reynolds
obviously were related; it was hard to overlook seeing them
standing facing each other. They shared the same eyes, same
profile. Same stubborn chin and relatively thin lips. Kelly had his
nose, his coloring, and his build. Less than two inches separated
their height, and both were lean and rangy.

They both had a certain
spark in their eyes that Ally couldn’t quite put her finger on. It
said that this person has seen the world and understands it. And
was not quite sure where they fit in it.

Dan stepped forward, his
left hand rising slowly. “Kelly Danielle? Kiddo?”

Kelly stepped back. Her
eyes were wide, her mouth trembled. She looked nothing like the
full-speed ahead, not afraid of anything Kelly that Ally was used
to seeing.

She looked young, unsure,
scared. Hopeful and angry. It was all there on the younger woman’s
face. Ally felt a wave of protectiveness flood her.
“Kelly?”

Kelly looked at her, then
turned and did something Ally never expected―Kelly left.