Noah lowered the radio he’d taken from those men, right before he took their pickup. “They have the whole building surrounded, and it sounds like they’re bringing more men in by the minute.”
Determined to root out Amy.
He gritted his back teeth together and tried to not let her know that he was scared. For her. For him. For what might happen. For anyone who was here that might get caught in the cross fire. There were so many things to worry about it was beyond overwhelming. God, help us get through this. Help me figure out how to help her.
Noah needed serious help. Otherwise there would be multiple casualties, and Amy would be gone.
“What can we do?” Amy glanced from the nurse to him.
Noah didn’t have much he could tell her. But he hadn’t sat around while they checked her out and put the IV in. They’d stitched up his arm, and insisted he wear the sling. He’d mostly worn it just so when Amy woke up she’d know he had been taken care of. The headache would go away on its own. Hers was probably much worse.
He said, “I put a call out to the marshals service when we got here, remember? Help is on its way.” That reminder was the good news. Now for the bad news. “Problem is, your brother and his friends are going to come in here before the good guys even show up. We don’t have enough time to wait.”
Which meant she could be dead before help arrived. Noah could be dead by then. The damage could already be done, and there would be nothing either of them would be able to do about it.
No way to save her.
“So we should try to get out.” She glanced to the nurse again, then back to Noah. “Maybe there’s a side entrance we can slip through, get away.”
The last thing Noah wanted to do right now was rip this sling off and run. Neither of them were in any state to try to flee again. Though he would if it was their only option. He fingered the radio, not wanting to listen again at how they were surrounding the building. Waiting for the “boss” to show up at the medical center so they could come in and get Amy.
Was Jeremiah the boss? The US Marshals hadn’t thought so through the trial. Neither had the Department of Justice, or the FBI. None of the evidence seemed to point to that. Still, it was possible they’d just missed it. Or things had changed since he had gone to jail. Like a favor done, and the return was that he had been given an elevated position. That was essentially speculation, though, and not much more than that unless he could get actual evidence.
“Obviously the best option is for me to just go out there and give myself up.” Amy shifted on the bed, shoved the covers back and sat up. She might sound brave right now, but he could see the fear in her eyes. She said, “Jeremiah will stand down if I go to him.”
There was no way he’d let her sacrifice herself.
Noah shot her a look. “Really? You know that, do you?” Maybe her brother wanted maximum damage.
She ignored him and asked the nurse, “Get this out, will you?”
The nurse looked at him—the badge in the room, therefore the voice of reason.
Amy said, “He doesn’t need to give you permission. Get this thing out of me.” She started to tug on it.
“Okay, okay.” The nurse practically slapped her hands away. “Don’t hurt yourself. Let me do it.”
“I’m trying to save all of you.” Amy winced. The needle slid all the way out, and the nurse covered the skin with a square of gauze. “Who cares about a little blood?”
Noah did. He really cared about Amy not bleeding. He’d rather she was healthy. Safe.
Was she really going to do this? She seemed determined, but that was going to hit a wall any second now when she realized he wasn’t going to let her sacrifice herself. Being noble didn’t make it the right choice.
He turned to the nurse. “How many patients do you have right now? How many people in the building?”
“Three, including Amy. Not including you. Six total.”
He nodded. Then he turned to Amy. Chin up, that determined look in her eyes.
It very much seemed like she would give herself up to her brother. If he let her.
“You get that my job is to keep you safe, right? The whole point of you being in Witness Security is to make sure of that. That means not letting you turn yourself over to the man who wants to kill you.” Noah folded his arms. “The two of you need a place to hide.”
The nurse turned to him. “There’s—”
A voice came over the announcement speakers. “Clare.”
There was a pause. The nurse glanced at a speaker, high on the wall. The way a person turned their attention to a phone call they were on.
“Hopefully you can hear me,” the man said through the crackle of the speakers. “I’m not sure if you can, but the deputy they brought in is awake.”
“That’s good, right?” Amy hopped off the bed like they were too distracted to notice her essentially trying to escape.
Noah said, “Hold up.” He lifted a hand, palm out. Just so she would know he was serious. “You’re going to find somewhere to hole up while I talk to him.” Hopefully that would buy some time, so he could convince her to stick around. “There are people here, and we need to make sure they’ll be all right before you do...whatever you’re going to do.”
Let her think he was going to allow it. The truth would win out. Noah would figure out a way to keep her safe, hopefully with the deputy’s help.
He had limited ammo. Limited options.
There was an army outside the door.
“Just give me a little time, okay?”
Amy clearly didn’t like it, but he saw her nod.
After Noah had a quiet conversation with the nurse—one she wasn’t privy to—Amy and the other woman were ushered to a room. Noah shut the door.
She half expected a lock to turn. Why was he acting like this? She’d had a good idea. He might not like it. Truth was, she didn’t much like it, either. It wasn’t like she was all fired up to go see her brother. To be killed, or whatever those cartel friends of his were going to do to her, all to shut her up as revenge for testifying. And for costing Jeremiah his son.
Amy shut her eyes. Tried to figure a better way out of this. Of course she would go for another option, but what was there that she could do?
She squeezed the bridge of her nose with her good hand and tried to think. The other arm was basically useless.
“You okay?”
Amy turned to the nurse, who had for some reason been closeted in here with her. “Fine.” She didn’t want a stranger to get hurt for her.
“Nothing residual from the crash?”
Amy didn’t want to shake her head. Her thoughts were a little...swimmy. Like shaking her head would make everything swish around, and she’d get dizzy. “I’m okay.” With a list of qualifiers she didn’t intend to share.
No jumping. No running. No turning around too fast. No movement at all that was too fast. So long as she stuck to things not on the list, she figured she could convince them she was all right. Or, at least, well enough to be making a decision rationally.
She wandered around the small space. It had a kitchenette. Tiny round table and four chairs. A beat-up love seat. Amy pulled the fridge door open and stared at the contents inside. What else was she supposed to do when confronted with a fridge?
“Hungry?”
Amy shut the door and moved on, around the room. Looking at what was here. “What’s been happening in town? We were running through the woods, so we don’t really know what has gone on.”
“Gunmen rolled in. I saw at least four pickup trucks. Guys in front, and more in back. It was like being in Afghanistan.”
Amy lifted her brows. “You served?”
“Medical mission trip. They used to sweep into town, wave their guns around and threaten to kill us if we didn’t treat whoever they had with them that had been shot.” The nurse made a face. “Mostly I figured it was one of our guys who tried to kill one on their side. So why was I going to help save him? But it’s what I signed up to do.”
Amy saw her anew through the lens of this information. Maybe if she’d stayed in town, they would have become friends.
Right now she had no idea if she would even live out the rest of the night.
The nurse shrugged. “These guys seemed kind of similar. But without the wounded to treat.”
“That would be my fault.”
“They’re really here for you?”
Amy nodded, small and slow but enough. “My brother is one of those guys who escaped from that federal prison. He brought them here to get me.”
Her eyes widened. “They locked down the town. No one is allowed to go anywhere until they find you.”
“What about the sheriff—is he doing something?”
The nurse shrugged. “I have no idea where he is, but I wouldn’t want to be him right about now. Faced with an army. One of his guys in here. Maybe he’s dead.”
“Backup is on the way.” Great, now she was flinging around the party line. Saying what Noah had said, just because it sounded reassuring. Not because it was actually going to help them get away.
She wandered to the high window, just so she didn’t have to see the disbelief on the nurse’s face. Neither of them was dumb. There was no way backup would get here in time. Noah had said that. And yet, here they were. Waiting.
Did she want to do this? Not especially.
Was it the right thing? Yes.
Amy did the right thing. That was how she’d decided to define her life. When everything with her brother became clear, and she realized he worked for a cartel, she’d decided this. Maybe even before then. When Anthony had been born she’d been his primary caretaker, even though Jeremiah didn’t see that. He didn’t even thank her. Or help out with groceries, since teenage boys consumed more food than a small country.
His mother certainly hadn’t stuck around. She’d been gone since before Anthony’s third birthday. After that Amy did all those “mom” things, taking care of him as much as she could. Being there for him. He hadn’t turned out perfectly. Who did? But he was a good kid. Just a little...wild.
And convinced she’d betrayed him, the same way she’d apparently betrayed her brother. According to them. But her beliefs called her to stand for truth. To do the right thing, even if it cost her everything.
Which it had.
Though if she’d kept her head down and never testified, then she would never have met Noah. They’d never have had that...moment. What a tragedy that would’ve been. She’d take the good with the bad any day, even though the bad had been so hard. Still was. Not much she could do about that.
“I should go and see if Noah and the deputy are done talking.”
Maybe they would make a plan. Maybe it would be good, and it would work. This, however, would be much more efficient.
No loss of life.
Except hers.
“I don’t think you should—”
Amy hadn’t lied yet, and she wasn’t going to start doing it now. “It’s okay.” She held the nurse’s gaze for a second, not sure what else to say that wasn’t going to make it completely obvious what she was about to do.
The nurse started to object.
Amy strode into the hall, right into view of the front doors. She heard a shuffle behind her, but kept going. Walking fast made her arm hurt.
The nurse yelled, “Deputy Marshal Trent!”
Amy ran for the front door, shoved at the handle and was hit by a wall of cold January air. And a man.
She collided with his chest. Looked up at his face, and swallowed a gasp.
Her brother.