CHAPTER FOURTEEN

 

 

THE MOMENT KENDALL opened her eyes, she wished she hadn’t. The bright fluorescent lights right over her head nearly blinded her, making her jerk to the side in a lame attempt to escape the torture. That only made her head throb more than it already did. She instinctively squeezed her eyes closed and reached a hand up to check her head, if for no other reason than to make sure it was still there, as well as shoo off the angry pixie with the jackhammer who was going hog wild on her noodle.

“She’s awake,” a soft voice said.

Strong hands grabbed hers before she could get to that pesky chick with the jackhammer. A shadow hovered over her and she opened her eyes again to see Holden leaning over her, blocking the fluorescent glare and regarding her with a serious case of the worries.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

His voice was so soft she could barely hear him over the hubbub of voices around them. Somewhere in the background, she heard someone say something about getting the doctor. That must mean she was in a hospital. Part of her wanted to look around and see whether she was in an ER or an actual room, as well as check to see who else was there. But then she decided she’d rather spend her time gazing into Holden’s beautiful eyes. He was obviously concerned she was seriously injured, which made Kendall feel really good for some crazy reason.

“Like a thousand-pound gorilla just finished tap dancing on my head,” she said in answer to his question. “What the heck happened?”

He frowned. “What do you remember?”

She thought a moment. “I remember a dark sedan sliding coming straight toward us, then someone in the back seat shooting at us. I think I hit my head on the ground when you pulled me down. I did hit my head, right? I wasn’t…?”

“You didn’t get shot,” he said, reading her mind. “You hit your head on the sidewalk. Not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough for the doctor to be concerned you might have a concussion.”

She breathed a little sigh of relief. “I’m not sure about the concussion thing, but I definitely have a throbbing headache.”

“You smacked your head on the pavement,” a man’s voice said. “You didn’t think it would feel good, did you?”

Kendall looked over to see a middle-aged man in a white lab coat with a well-trimmed beard and a draped stethoscope around his neck. Without a word, he came over to the bed and shone a bright penlight in her eyes. That really helped her headache. Not.

As she did her best to avoid the light, she took the opportunity to look around the room, stunned when she saw Kimber, Dalton, Kyla, and Wes standing along the back wall of the tiny space regarding her with as much worry as Holden had. They were all here for her?

After the doctor finished torturing her with the light, he checked her heartbeat and pulse, then ran his fingers under her hair, seeming to take great pleasure poking the bump on the back of her head.

“Everything looks good,” he finally said, stepping back to nod at her. “But you have a mild concussion, so I want you to remain here for the night so we can keep an eye on you.”

Kendall opened her mouth to protest, but the man was already heading for the door, saying he’d start the paperwork to get her a room. Holden leaned over to press a kiss to her forehead. The gesture was so tender she wanted to cry.

“You guys have to know how lucky you are, right?” Dalton asked, crowding around the bed with everyone else. “You could have been killed.”

“I heard a cop out by the desk saying it was probably a random drive-by,” Wes said, looking at Holden. “Do you think that’s what it was?”

The muscle in Holden’s jaw flexed. “I saw the shooter and it wasn’t Isaac, if that’s what you’re asking. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t hire someone. This wasn’t a random drive-by. That car was parked across the street and pulled out as soon as we left the diner. That shooter was aiming at us. Another inch one way or the other…”

Kendall knew why Holden might think Isaac was involved, but that couldn’t be right. The FBI might want to do everything it could to help secure her cover, but even Isaac wouldn’t try and kill her to do it.

“No way,” she said. “My ex might be a total dick, but he doesn’t know people with automatic weapons. And he definitely doesn’t have the money to hire someone to kill us. Hell, half the time we went out, I ended up paying. It might be nice to think he was involved, but it wasn’t him.”

Holden looked like he was more than ready to argue that point, but his phone rang before he could say anything. He looked pissed at the interruption, but as he’d already told her before, not answering his phone wasn’t an option for him. Still, she was surprised at the confusion that crossed his face when he saw the number that showed up on the screen.

“I have to take this,” he murmured, giving her an apologetic look before walking out of the room.

Kyla and Kimber took the opportunity to ask if Kendall was thirsty, hungry, or needed them to bring her anything from Holden’s place. She smiled, trying to convince them she was fine, but truthfully, it was kind of overwhelming having this many people around worrying about her. She had friends in the Bureau, but she wasn’t sure how many of them would go all out for her like they were. It was nice. But also, a little painful, too. It was going to be hard losing all this when everything came out into the open.

She’d finally agreed to let Kyla bring her a book to read when she peeked around the women and saw Holden standing out in the hallway. He was still talking on the phone, and he looked pissed. She couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she could tell from the tension in his body that he was this close to going ballistic at whoever was on the other end of the conversation.

Kendall was still trying to figure out what that was about when Dalton’s cell rang. He was still reaching for it when Wes’s went off, too. They both glanced at their call screens, then walked out into the hallways to answer their phones.

“Crap,” Kyla said softly.

“What’s wrong?” Kendall asked, suddenly worried as her friends visibly tensed.

“The guys all getting calls at the same time is normally a sign of a short notice call-up,” Kimber whispered, her eyes locked on Dalton. “They’re going somewhere.”

Kendall thought she might start hyperventilating. “Holden can’t go anywhere. He just got back.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Kyla said. “I’ve been around them long enough to know that.”

Kendall prayed they were wrong, but thirty seconds later, Holden, Dalton, and Wes came in, grim looks on their faces.

“I have to go.” Holden leaned down to rest his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry I have to leave you like this. Promise me you’ll be careful and rest as much as you need to.”

Kendall heard Wes and Dalton talking softly to Kyla and Kimber, likely saying words similar to Holden’s. She nodded, wanting to ask all the questions she knew he couldn’t answer. Where was he going? Was it safe? When would he back?” She bit her tongue, not wanting to waste time on the unimportant stuff.

“You’ll be careful, right?” she asked. “And call as soon as you can?”

Holden kissed her gently on the lips. “I will, baby. Promise.”

Then Holden and his buddies were gone, leaving a deadening silence in the room.

“They’ll be okay,” Kimber whispered.

Kendall prayed she was right. Because right then, all she cared about was Holden coming back safe and sound.

Then reality came crashing in, as she realized the FBI’s number one suspect was disappearing only days before the Dark Web auction was supposed to take place. Isaac was going to have a cow.