45

When Monty and Logan got to Alex’s room, she was obviously in distress. Monty ran out into the hall and called for help. Within seconds, two nurses sprinted into the room.

“Out,” one of them ordered Logan. Monty pushed him into the hall, where they waited with the agent who’d been guarding Alex. The man was shaken when he heard their suspicions, but he left to find someone to shut down the hospital.

A few seconds later, a man in a doctor’s coat came running down the hall and into Alex’s room. Logan could only pray. He couldn’t lose Alex. He really did love her. Maybe she’d never feel that way about him, but it didn’t matter. She had to live.

Monty pulled his wheelchair near a row of chairs. He pushed one next to the wheelchair, sat down, and grabbed Logan’s hand. “Let’s pray for her,” he said.

Logan didn’t care that other people were in the hallway. He just started praying, asking God to take care of Kaely and save Alex. He felt someone come up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. He was grateful for anyone who would pray for this woman who had captured his heart. When he finished, he opened his eyes and wiped the tears off his face. He turned to talk to the person who’d prayed with them, but no one was there. In fact, a trash can sat behind him.

“Who was standing here with us?” he asked Monty.

Monty looked confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Someone was standing behind me with a hand on my shoulder.”

Monty shook his head slowly. “No one else was with us, Logan.” He leaned over and looked around. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe it was an angel or something.”

A nurse came out of Alex’s room and looked around until she saw them. “You’re the brothers?” she asked.

Logan nodded. He felt a little guilty saying that, but the truth was they were family. The FBI bonded people in a way some blood relatives never experienced.

“Your sister had a reaction to something in her IV, but she’s recovering. We’re not sure what happened.”

“I am,” Logan said. “We’re with the FBI, and this hospital is being shut down right now. We believe someone tried to kill Agent Donovan. He could still be here.”

The doctor who’d rushed into Alex’s room came out. “What’s going on? You need to tone it down.”

“Doctor,” the nurse said, “this man says they’re with the FBI, and their locking down the hospital.”

The doctor, whose badge said his name was Wenden, looked back and forth between Logan and Monty. Then they all heard “This is a code silver. We are in complete lockdown. All security personnel to the exits and entrances.”

“Who are we looking for?” Wenden asked.

Logan hesitated a moment. Who knew what kind of disguise Bayne was wearing now? “He’s tall. Probably wearing medical garb. His hair is usually salt and pepper, but he uses disguises.” He turned to the agent just coming back. “Who went into the room before Agent Donovan was brought here from recovery?”

The man frowned. “Two nurses to set up the room. I checked their IDs. And a doctor who said he wanted to make sure the room was ready. I checked his ID as well.”

“No doctor should have been in there,” Wenden said. “We don’t check rooms to make sure things are set up correctly. The nurses do that.”

“Do you remember his name?” Logan asked the agent.

“Actually, I do. Dr. Chandler. That’s my wife’s maiden name.”

“Thank you. Please go back and watch that room.”

“We don’t have a Dr. Chandler,” Wenden said, frowning. “Not even one with privileges. And you think he put something in Miss Donovan’s IV?”

“Yes, I do. Is she going to be okay?”

“Strange, usually someone with a reaction like that doesn’t recover. She wasn’t breathing when I got to her room. And then suddenly she took a deep breath and smiled. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Frankly, she’s extremely lucky. We’re going to check out her meds immediately. We’ll let you know what we find.”

After he and the nurse left, Monty wheeled Logan back into Alex’s room. When a nurse came to the door with new medication, Logan asked the agent outside to confirm her identity with the doctor and make sure she’d been ordered to deliver the meds. He wasn’t taking any more chances. Once she’d gone, he looked at Monty.

“And now we wait,” he said. “And hope we’re fast enough to catch Bayne.”

Alex set her phone on her coffee table, wondering why Logan insisted on coming over. She certainly didn’t look her best, but she couldn’t talk him out of it. She walked into the bedroom and carefully put on a clean pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. After only three weeks, her ribs were still healing.

She didn’t really need to pick up the house since Shirley had been keeping it clean. She’d also brought over more food than any one human could possibly eat. The kids shoveled her driveway and put her trash barrels by the curb every Sunday for pickup Monday morning. She was really spoiled, and she loved it, but she was ready to get back to work. She couldn’t imagine another three weeks of just sitting around.

Alex put her dishes in the kitchen sink and then sat down to wait in the living room. When she first got home, she was happy to have nothing to do. She’d spent time reading her Bible, trying to learn more about the God who had saved her—twice. And she gently played with Krypto, who loved the extra attention.

After she recovered in the hospital, Logan told Alex about his hunch that Bayne hadn’t left the area and was determined to go out with a bang. Sure enough, he’d entered the hospital early that morning dressed as a doctor. He’d obviously seen an official hospital badge somewhere because his fake ID was good enough to fool everyone. When he discovered which room would be Alex’s, he’d entered it and injected what turned out to be fentanyl into the lines connected to the morphine pump. When Alex activated it, the fentanyl entered her body.

She should have died. No one could explain why she didn’t, but she knew God had rescued her.

After leaving Alex’s room, Bayne was seen walking toward Kaely’s room, probably hoping she had an IV so he could take her life too. But then the code silver went out all over the hospital. He’d headed for an exit but didn’t get there fast enough. When he was stopped by an armed guard, he grabbed a gun from his waistband and tried to shoot his way out of the hospital. But the guard was faster, and Bayne was killed.

Alex was grateful to be alive. She couldn’t explain the strange things she’d experienced, but they had changed her. She was convinced God was real and that He loved her. Although she still respected Kaely, she’d also realized that she didn’t need to be like anyone else, not even her. Maybe she hadn’t had good role models, but she had a good Father. It was her job to pattern herself after Him—and only Him. She still had fears to face, and life would certainly present other challenges, but now she was convinced that for the first time in her life she wasn’t alone.

About fifteen minutes after she’d sat down, the doorbell rang. Krypto followed her to the door, wagging his tail. You’d think after everything he’d been through, he’d be unsure of people. But he loved everyone. Visitors were fun. More people to play with.

Standing outside were Logan and Terry. She held the door open for them. “Come on in,” she said. Why was Terry here? Was she going to be put on extended leave? The doctor had promised she would mend completely and get back to one hundred percent. Did Terry doubt that?

He smiled at her as he stepped inside. When he saw Krypto, he took a step back, but Krypto took that as a challenge and leaned against his leg, waiting for a rub. Terry laughed and put his hand on the large pit bull’s head.

“Boy, you look scary, but you’re just a big baby, aren’t you?” Terry knelt and rubbed Krypto’s head until the dog almost wagged his tail off.

“All right, Krypto, that’s enough,” Alex said. “He came to see me, not you.”

Logan and Terry laughed.

Alex gestured toward the chairs next to her couch. “Sit down, please. Am I in some kind of trouble?”

“No,” Terry said with another smile. “Just the opposite. You all did excellent work. Thank you. But you know, behavioral analysts aren’t supposed to risk their lives in the field. I’m not sure this group understands that concept.”

“Trust me,” Logan said. “We’re all happy to stay safe and just analyze UNSUBs. It’s much easier.” He eased himself into one of the chairs, wearing the special boot designed to support his ankle while it was healing.

“I’m sure it is.” Terry took a deep breath as he looked at Alex. “I have two important items to discuss with you.”

“Yes?” She tried to relax, but it was difficult. Her career meant so much to her.

“I hear you’ve talked to Kaely?”

Alex nodded. “Yes, she told me she’s leaving the Bureau, decided she wants to get married, settle down, and raise kids. She’s been through a lot and needs to make sure she’s around for a while. I understand that.”

“I’m glad. She was worried about telling you. She feels you’ve become good friends.”

Alex smiled. “We have. She’s a great agent and an even better person.” She looked at Logan, who was wearing his poker face. Not that she’d ever played poker with him, but she could tell when he was trying to look innocent.

“Was that one of the items?” she asked Terry.

He nodded.

“And the other one?”

“I wanted to tell you this earlier. But after everything you’d been through, I had to make sure you were strong enough to hear what I’m going to tell you. I’ve already spoken to the rest of your unit. I hope you’ll understand why I had to wait. We needed to be certain Bayne was no longer a threat.” He took a deep breath. “I asked Logan to come with me for moral support.”

Now she really was worried. “What?” She frowned at Logan. “What’s going on?”

Terry hesitated. “We had no idea it was actually Cooper and Palmer, but we suspected that someone could be working with Bayne from inside the FBI. Turns out we made the right decision. If they had found out what I’m about to tell you, it would have put someone at great risk. Bayne would have done anything to destroy him. As you’ve seen personally, he didn’t like failure. So being committed to keeping everyone safe, we decided not to take a chance by revealing the truth. I believe you’ll understand.”

He cleared his throat and looked at Logan, then back at her.

“Who?” Alex asked. “What are you talking about? Please tell me.”

Terry took another deep breath, then said, “The night Jeff drove his car into the Potomac?”

She nodded.

“He survived, Alex. He was in bad shape for a while, but—”

“He . . . he what?”

Terry glanced at Logan.

“She’s okay,” Logan said. “Keep going.”

Krypto jumped onto the couch next to her, and she put her hand on his head, reassuring him.

“When Jeff was pulled out of the water, the EMTs were sure he was dead,” Terry said. “But in the ambulance, they detected a faint pulse and got him to the ER. We didn’t think he was going to make it, but he held on. We decided we had to keep his recovery quiet, with the cooperation of not only his family but the hospital personnel. We told Logan, but only because he was acting unit chief.”

“Think if Bayne had found out, Alex,” Logan said. “He was determined to finish what he started. He would have tried to kill Jeff if he knew he’d survived.”

She nodded. Terry was right, but she was having a hard time processing this news. “But how did Jeff stay alive after all that time underwater?”

“An air pocket in the car. But then he went into shock because of the cold water. It really was touch-and-go for a while. That’s why I was genuinely emotional when I told you all he’d died. For all I knew then, he still could have.”

“But he’s all right now?”

Terry nodded. “He’s fine. A little more time to recover physically and emotionally and he’ll be back at work. He’s working with some good doctors.”

“Isn’t it wonderful, Alex?” Logan asked.

“That’s not a good enough word for it,” Alex said with a smile. She realized tears were falling down her cheeks, but she didn’t care. She silently thanked God for saving Jeff.

They talked for a while longer, and then when Terry left, Logan stayed behind. “I . . . I wonder if you’d like some company,” he said. “I could hang around. Make dinner. Would that be okay?”

Alex dismissed all the casseroles in the fridge and smiled as Krypto barked and wagged his tail. “That would be great.”

As Logan headed into the kitchen, Alex wrapped her arms around Krypto’s neck and cried. She was already so grateful to God for saving her and Kaely. That Jeff was alive was almost too much for her to believe. “Thank you, God,” she whispered.

The sound of a pan hitting the floor in the kitchen made her jump.

“Sorry,” Logan called out. “Everything’s okay.”

Alex laughed, then wiped her eyes. She didn’t have many visitors, but the man who was rattling around in her kitchen didn’t feel like a visitor at all. He felt . . . different. As if he belonged.

She smiled to herself. This was a good day.