My left eye peeled open, then my right. I lay on the floor, head throbbing, stomach lurching, the empty syringe still in hand.
The room spun like a Tilt-a-Whirl, and voices swirled overhead, Leo’s loudest of all. “Forget Nighthawk. Grab that nurse.”
Frank’s face loomed over mine. For some reason, he slapped me. Hard.
“Nighthawk. Wake up.”
Never rouse an unconscious person by smacking them in the face. It leaves them miffed.
Rico hovered behind me, peering down.
I grabbed Frank’s hand as he came in for a third slap. “Touch me again and you’re a dead man.”
Rico winced. “Rookie mistake, dude.”
Frank slowly backed away from me, as if I were an IED that might explode, and mumbled, “Just trying to help.”
I gathered my legs beneath me and wobbled to my feet, cradling my head with one hand, pointing to the door with the other. “Then get your ass out of here and follow that fake nurse.”
Happy to escape, Frank set out down the hallway.
I sat on the edge of Leo’s bed and patted his leg. “You okay?”
“Better than you,” he quipped.
Rico picked up one of Leo’s ice packs and handed it to me. “You aren’t using this, are you, Leo?”
“Not anymore.”
“What the hell did I miss?” Rico asked. “I was just down the hall.”
When I finished the blow-by-blow, I handed him the empty syringe. “We need to dust it for prints, other than mine, and find out what was inside it.”
“How’d you peg this Angie for an imposter?”
“Just a feeling. And a tattoo on her arm.”
Rico raised an eyebrow. “A tattoo? Of what?”
I shrugged and shifted my gaze to the doorway. “Just a Voodoo thing I’ve seen before. When I tried to stop her, she whacked me over the head with Leo’s bedpan. It could have been worse.”
“How so?” Leo asked.
“It could’ve been full.”
Jade Chen entered the room and I scowled. “Talk about full of shit.”
Rico threw me a glare.
“What’s going on?” Jade asked, kissing his cheek. “You scared me when you rushed off our call.”
I stared a hole through Rico. Stupid, clueless Rico, the fish dangling on the end of Jade’s hook. “Yeah, Rico. Tell us. What is going on?”
He couldn’t even look me in the eye. He must have been thinking about his last conversation with Jade. The one where she totally emasculated him. I know I was.
“What’re you doing here?” he asked Jade. “And how’d you get here so fast? We just hung up.”
“Actually,” Jade said, “I’m looking for Nighthawk, to get her thoughts on the Z-virus mutation. But that can keep. Who’s in the bed?” Her eyes lit up. “Does he have anything to do with the virus mutation?”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “How’d you know I was here? And don’t say you’re a reporter. You couldn’t follow a clue if it left a trail of bread crumbs.”
Jade flashed a triumphant grin. “Well, Nonnie told me, of course. She’s a chatty little minx, isn’t she?”
Sweet Jesus. What had Nonnie told her?
“Honey, you can’t be here,” Rico said, whisking Jade out of the room and closing the door behind them.
Her voice filtered in from the hall. “But why? Who’s that in the bed? What aren’t you telling me, baby?”
Baby? Now, there was a bell I couldn’t unring.
While I waited for Rico to give her the boot, I leaned over Leo’s sink and splashed some water on my face, instantly regretting it. My head began to spin.
I copped a squat on the edge of Leo’s bed and heard a knock at the door. It was Weston.
“What are you doing here?” I growled.
“I’m here to watch Leo while you guys meet with Cap and the Director.”
I looked at my watch. Three-ten. We needed to get a move on or we’d be late. The door opened again. I assumed it would be Rico coming back to collect me, but it was Frank, sweating like he’d just run the 800.
“She’s gone,” he said, panting. “I’ll confiscate the security footage. Grab a still shot, see where she went. Maybe get a plate number from the parking lot, if we’re lucky.”
Weston eyed Frank. “Who the hell are you? Somebody want to tell me what’s going on here?”
“Frank, Bill. Bill, Frank,” I said, making introductions. “Frank, why don’t you bring Bill up to speed on today’s events?”
I slowly rose from the bed, steadying myself against the nightstand, and grinned at Leo.
“Gotta run, buddy. Rico and I have a meeting. But first, I need to rescue him from that two-legged black widow of his, before she eats him alive.”
Leo eyeballed Weston and Frank. “You’re not leaving me here with these schmoes? No offense, guys, but I don’t know you from Adam. My own nurse just tried to kill me. My, whatchamacallit, circle of trust, is shriveling up faster than balls in ice water.”
Leo turned and pointed at me. “Just so’s you know, when I get sprung from here, screw safe houses. Fucking unsafe houses, that’s what they should be called. So many dead bodies, you need a score card to keep up. No, I’m going home with you, Nighthawk. You and Nonnie. She’s the only reason I’m still alive.”
Weston shook his head. “She’s a civilian, Leo. Bad ide—”
“My life. My rules. Either I go to Nighthawk’s or the D.A. can kiss my testimony goodbye.” Leo set his jaw and turned away, signaling the conversation had ended.
Freaking Leo. The smug bastard had us all over a barrel.