Sniper Fire (Love in the Crosshairs) (5 page)

She waited until Gage fit the elastic band of the mask around Kyle’s head to keep it in place. “BP every two minutes while we’re on the artery,” she instructed Sam. “Gage, you stand over here please, I may need an extra hand. Jeff, if you don’t know what something is when I ask for it, say so, don’t guess. And you.” She pointed at Joshua. “Guard the door and stay out of the way.”

He gave her a little salute with a slight quirk of his lips that looked odd against the background of his worry. Farrah reached for the belt. “All right, everyone, let’s see what we’ve got.”

Chapter Three

Kyle wasn’t sure what the noise was that roused him. All he knew was that it pulled him out of a blissfully numb state back into the pain-filled real world. He didn’t like it one damn bit. He wanted to shoot the person responsible, was already feeling around for his gun, when he realized the noise was the sound of someone crying. Not boo-hoo wailing out loud crying, but the soft little sobs his Granny Fagan used to refer to as weeping.

He listened to the sound, half-afraid the crying came from him. No, too feminine. Had to be a woman. And damn if the quiet little sobs didn’t threaten to break his heart. He didn’t have a choice now, he had to wake up. Had to see what he could do to stop those tears.

After several seconds of struggling to push his eyelids open, Kyle finally got them lifted enough to look around. He didn’t have to look far. The distressed woman stood not three feet away, almost within touching distance, a slim figure covered in a white coat with miles of red-gold hair tumbling down her back. A man held her in the circle of his arms. A man Kyle easily recognized. Some of the urgency pushing at him eased. Good. Whoever she was, Joshua would take care of her. He’d—

The woman lifted her face, smiling weakly at something Joshua said. Kyle’s heart skipped a beat. God help him, he hadn’t been dreaming earlier. It really was Farrah!

He watched, helpless, as Joshua leaned down and gently kissed her tears away. Pain tore through Kyle. Not the physical kind, the one a good dose of morphine could take care of. Oh no. This kind went too deep, had been a part of him for too long. This kind went all the way back to his high school days. To the very day he planned to ask cute little Farrah Hastings to go out with him…only to have someone else ask her first. It only made it worse when that someone turned out to be his best friend. It was the first and only time Kyle had ever been tempted to cut Joshua out of his life, because Josh never had to ask a girl twice. Farrah had been his from that day on. Off limits. Out of reach. Even when she broke up with Josh, Kyle knew he didn’t have a chance. The military was as much a part of his life as Joshua’s. No safe, civilian job, no Farrah.

If asked, Kyle would have said that was one fast rule Farrah Marie Hastings would never break. But from the look of things, Joshua just about had her convinced otherwise.

He let his eyes close, the lids suddenly way too heavy.

Too late again, Fagan. Always too damn late.

He was drifting back toward sleep when more noise dragged him into consciousness once again. He tried ignoring the arguing voices, letting the sounds roll over him without actually focusing on the words. He thought it was working until cool, trembling fingers pressed against his wrist. Then he heard every word loud and clear.

“—don’t tell me he can’t be moved.”

Kyle grinned. Joshua was in full Harrier mode. He pitied the person on the other end of that tone.

“I just did.”

Damn, that was Farrah. If Josh was using that tone with her, maybe he’d imagined that tender scene earlier. Either that, or the situation had sure gone to hell in a hurry.

Kyle forced his eyes open, searching the dim room until he found Farrah’s sweet face. Only she wasn’t looking very sweet at the moment. The glare she had pinned on Joshua was as sharp as one of her scalpels.

“You brought him to me so I could save his life. I refuse to let you put that life in jeopardy again.”

If not for the drugs dulling his senses, Kyle would have laughed at the look of frustration screwing with Joshua’s usual stoic expression. The Harrier wasn’t used to anyone questioning his orders. Not since he’d taken over the Hawks two years ago. The look he turned on Farrah was just as sharp as hers, just as cutting, revealing a ruthlessness Kyle was surprised Joshua let Farrah see. Hell, the man was just holding this woman in a tender embrace a moment ago. Now he was trying to intimidate her?

“He’s a soldier, Farrah. This is his job. He’d be the first to tell you he can’t stay here. I need you to move aside, now. Dawn is almost on top of us. We have to go.”

Her chin lifted. Kyle would have liked to lay there and listen to the impending fight, but knew there wasn’t time. Joshua was right. If he stayed, he’d just be putting her in more danger. He twisted his wrist under her hand, capturing her fingers. Her gaze dropped immediately, first to their joined hands, then his face. Her smile warmed him like the sun on a spring day. He felt his heart respond, wretched organ that it was.

“Kyle! You’re awake.”

He tried to force his lips to curve up to take the sting from his words. No time for pleasantries. “Josh is right, sweetheart. I have to go with them.”

Her smile disappeared, damn it, just like he knew it would.

“No.”

Kyle felt a familiar hand land on his shoulder. The slight squeeze was encouraging. “My eyes outside,” Joshua said, his tone clipped, “have already spotted several men with guns a few blocks over. They’re searching building by building, Farrah. We couldn’t erase all the blood where Kyle was shot, so they’ll be looking for anyone injured. You won’t be able to cover for him. He stays, he’s as good as dead.”

Kyle watched Farrah’s forehead wrinkle, her lips tighten. She opened her mouth, then closed it again without speaking. Straight, white teeth tugged on her bottom lip. Her gaze circled the room before settling on him once more. He could see the moment the fight went out of her. Her next words weren’t what he expected.

“There’s another alternative.”

Joshua muttered a swear word. “We don’t have time for this. Gage, get the stretcher.” He tried to muscle his way between Farrah and Kyle. Farrah’s grip on his hand tightened, and Kyle squeezed back, unwilling to let her go.

“There’s a safe room,” Farrah said quickly. Joshua stopped trying to push her aside and took a step back. His gaze locked with hers.

“Safe room?”

She nodded. “Yes. Only WHO personnel know about it. It’s not very big, about the size of this room, but we can hide Kyle there. All of you can hide there. You can stay till night fall. The searchers will be long gone by then.”

“Where’s this room?” Joshua asked.

Focused as he was on the woman holding his hand, Kyle saw the hesitation in her gaze, the shadow of something close to fear. She licked her lips. “Underground. There’s a tunnel access.”

Kyle closed his eyes. No wonder she was so hesitant. Farrah had a bad case of claustrophobia. Joshua had once told him she’d even freaked out in an elevator once. The words underground and tunnel were definitely not her friend.

He opened his eyes. “You stay up here,” he said as clearly as the drugs let him. “You don’t have to go down with us.” The squaring of her shoulders and hardening of her expression reminded him that he’d forgotten who he was talking to. He wanted to swear again when she twisted her hand free of his and shoved her hands into her coat pockets.

“I’m a doctor. I need to stay with my patient.”

“Damn it, Farrah!”

“Don’t swear, Kyle,” she said, a sudden brisk confidence in her voice that he didn’t believe for an instant. “Joshua, you need to call in your other men right away,” she continued, suddenly moving around the room with quiet efficiency. She grabbed a canvas bag from a cabinet and started stuffing things into it. Kyle closed his eyes again and listened to her voice, knowing there was no stopping her now. The Harrier could order her to stand down all damn day and it wouldn’t do any good. When Farrah Hastings decided she needed to do something, she did it, consequences and fears be damned.

“Have them come in through the side door at the end of the hall. Less chance of anyone seeing them. Gage, please bring the stretcher. We’ll have to be very careful getting Kyle down the stairs.”

Beside him, he heard a deep, frustrated sigh. “If I had more time,” Joshua said quietly, “I’d turn her over my knee.” A light pat on his shoulder, then his friend was gone. From around him came the sound of bodies in motion. Kyle tried not to focus for the next few minutes as he was transferred to a stretcher. Jagged shards of pain shot through the barrier of painkillers in random strikes, leaving him gasping. A cool hand smoothed once over his forehead. Instantly he felt comforted, tension from the pain leaking out of his muscles like water through a sieve. Farrah’s hand left him and he listened, straining his hearing for her light step, tracking her as best he could. There, to his left, down around his feet, up and to the right, back down and around his feet, again to the right…

Kyle smiled to himself, recalling the level of frustration in Joshua’s voice when he’d threatened to spank Farrah. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe the two of them weren’t getting back together. He’d always thought they were more like oil and water than a cohesive pair anyway. Maybe, just maybe, if he got his act together, he might be the one to convince Farrah to take a chance on loving a soldier.

Then the stretcher he was on was lifted. Just that slight movement caused more pain than the drugs could mask and knocked some sense into him. His leg was a mess. Despite Farrah’s tender ministrations, there was still a chance he’d lose it, if not his life. He had no business dreaming of a future, much less one with Farrah. One day, hell, one hour at a time, was all he should be thinking about right now.

He cracked his eyes open as they exited the room. The hallway was dim. Still dark outside, then, but something told him dawn wasn’t far off. There was more noise coming from behind the closed doors of the occupied patient rooms they passed than from the men walking quickly and quietly down the hall. He tilted his head up a little when they stopped. Farrah opened a door to a closet-sized space. She bent and lifted out a rolling mop bucket, setting it aside as quietly as possible. Then she squatted, her fingers running along a strip of wood marking the closet’s threshold. Next thing he knew, she was lifting a section of the closet’s floor on nearly silent hinges. Farrah stared down into the dark hole in the floor, but didn’t move. Kyle let his head fall back. He’d give anything to be able to stand up right now. He’d walk over to her, take her in his arms, and tell her she damn well wouldn’t ever have to hide in a hole in the ground. Yet, here she was, willing to do just that—because of him. Damn if the guilt didn’t hurt almost as bad as his leg.

****

Farrah tried to stop her insides from shaking apart. Just the thought of walking down those steps, of being boxed in by those narrow walls made her sick to her stomach. “There’s a light switch at the bottom,” she whispered.

She caught Joshua’s nod, saw him motion to one of his men—a slight, brown-skinned man she would have taken as a native—to go down first. The soldier navigated the stairs with ease, disappearing quietly into the darkness. Several seconds later, the light came on. Another few seconds and the man appeared at the bottom of the stairway. He made a motion with his hand and she saw Joshua make one with his.

“Go,” he said, squeezing back so Gage and another man could carry Kyle down. She was afraid the steep stairs would be a problem, but the men handled the stretcher and its burden with ridiculous ease. The others quickly followed until it was just her and Joshua. He gestured to the stairs. “Is this the only entrance?”

“No, there’s another tunnel through a door in the far wall. It’s locked, but I have a set of keys. The tunnel comes up a few houses down where we keep the vehicles. You won’t be trapped down there.” She let those words repeat over and over in her mind, hoping she could somehow make herself believe them by the time it was her turn to go down the stairs.

“Good,” Joshua said.

The sound of voices came from down the hall. Joshua stiffened, his hand going to the gun on his hip.

“No.” Farrah put a hand on his and squeezed. “It’s only the shift change. I recognize the voices. Hurry.”

“What about you?”

“I need to clear my schedule so I’m not missed before I can join you. And I have to get the keys. Give me an hour.”

He nodded. “All right, but don’t take any chances. Things get tense up here, you stay put and play dumb blond. I don’t want you getting hurt. And no more tears, hear? I promise you we’re getting through this.”

Before she could even take him to task about the dumb blond comment, he was down the stairs. Farrah eased the trapdoor closed. She shook her head at his order not to shed any more tears. Joshua never knew what to do when she cried except hold her until her tears ran out. Kyle, on the other hand, was too impatient. He knew just how to gently tease her out of a crying jag. She missed that teasing. Even when he took it a step too far and riled her temper. She could only hope she’d done enough so he’d one day be able to tease her again. She’d managed to temporarily stitch the damaged artery back together, enough, at least, to save his leg and his life, but she knew it wouldn’t last. The tissue was too damaged. A graft was needed, something that was beyond her skill as well as their current circumstances. And his knee! She wasn’t an orthopedic surgeon, but she wasn’t sure anything could save the damaged joint short of a complete replacement.

She returned the mop bucket and closed the closet door just as one of the aides, a local man, came around the corner. At first he smiled at her, then his eyes widened as he took in her appearance. Glancing down at herself, Farrah barely managed not to wince. Fresh blood stains marred the white of her coat. She needed to hurry and change before one of the other doctors saw her and started asking questions.

“Good morning,” she said, hurrying past man. Once around the corner, she dashed for the back stairs.