9:00 a.m.
Grady jogged beside his brothers to the helipad. He was warm, but the headache had dulled. His reflexes were sharp, mind clear. He would never fly dangerously impaired. And as long as he didn’t touch—or kiss—anyone, there was no danger of spreading the virus.
Six SWAT officers walked out from behind the chopper, and he lurched to a stop. He scanned the lineup. Riverside PD’s entire Alpha Squad, present and accounted for.
Grady’s breath hitched. “This is an unsanctioned op. Your asses are on the line, and so are your careers.”
“We’ve been briefed.” Wyatt Cain grinned. “No way are the Fighting Irish stealing all the thunder.”
“Besides,” Hunter Garrett drawled. “There’s nothin’ to watch on TV but news reports.”
The guys would rag him until doomsday if he bawled like a little girl, but, damn. The entire team had thrown in with him. “Let’s get this show on the road, ladies.”
They spent fifteen minutes reviewing the operation.
Grady rolled up blueprints. “The National Guard is protecting the building. There’ll be bodyguards. Federal agents. You guys know the score.” He glanced around the solemn circle. Every man was his brother. “So do I. I want everyone’s word that if I go down, nobody touches me.”
He drilled stares at Aidan, Con and Liam. “Nobody.”
Grady made them all swear a vow. Officers who were sworn to uphold the sanctity of life and the letter of the law reluctantly promised they would let him die rather than risk infection.
Ten warriors stood in a silent circle, the responsibility of their mission heavy in their hearts.
“Hell.” Liam ruffled Murphy’s fur. “We’re dead men walking, anyway. If we live through this, our women are gonna kill us.”
Grady snorted. “And Mom will fire the first shot.”
Laughter broke out, and they boarded the chopper.
The team donned throat mikes and tactical headsets. Grady throttled to flight speed. “Skying up!”
The flight to the roof of the KKEY news tower seemed excruciatingly long. And unbearably short.
The team disembarked, then tugged on Kevlar hoods and clipped cables into rappel harnesses. A K-9 harness allowed Murphy to rappel with Liam.
The men braced backward on the skyscraper five hundred feet above the city.
“Alpha One, standing by,” Con, the team’s leader, barked into the headset.
As each squad member verbally checked in, Grady rolled taut shoulders. “Pop,” he murmured. “If you’re inclined to help out, now’s the time to bring it.”
“Double Z,” Aidan said. “Are you in position?”
Zoe had gained access with her employee pass. “Standing by,” she answered from inside the building.
“Rappelling!” Con said.
“Rappelling!” Grady replied. The call echoed eight times in his headset as they leaped. He hurtled ten floors, then braked in front of the huge windows.
“Fire!” Con commanded.
Gunfire bit into the glass above head level. Windows shattered, and the team swung inside and landed on the floor.
“Down!” the squad yelled at stunned people packed into the large room. “Everybody on the floor!”
Aidan and Hunter sprinted out the door, headed for Zoe’s post.
“Doc Holliday, three o’clock!” Liam barked into Grady’s headset.
Grady pivoted and aimed his assault rifle at a soldier brandishing an M16. “I wouldn’t.”
The soldier raised the gun. A snarling Murphy charged and knocked aside the weapon.
Grady kicked the gun out of range. “On the floor.”
“Alpha eight, clear,” Aidan reported from downstairs.
Finally Grady heard Con say the magic words. “Green light.”
Boots crunching glass, Grady stalked through acrid gun smoke past rigidly prone bodyguards, the governor, the mayor, city councilmen and prostrate reporters and cameramen.
His boot nudged Ethan Burke, cowering on the carpet. “Get up.”
Quivering, Ethan clambered up. “Wha-what do you w-want?”
“To shake your hand.” Grady removed his left glove. He tugged out his Swiss Army knife, and sliced his palm. He advanced on the retreating man, gripped his arm and then clasped his hand.
Burke stared at his blood-smeared palm. “I d-don’t understand.”
“You sold your soul, Burke.” Grady yanked off his Kevlar hood. “Now there’s the devil to pay.”
“O’Rourke?” Burke stumbled. “What have you done?”
Grady smiled. “Infected you with V-10.”
“It’s a bluff! They wouldn’t release a contagious victim!”
“The doctor will verify. I’ll wait.” Grady clenched his fingers over his bleeding palm. “You might want to hurry. The longer you’re exposed, the uglier it gets.”
“Help!” Burke scrubbed his hand on his suit. “Bring me the antidote! Now!”
Grady shrugged. “There isn’t one.”
“No,” he sobbed. “You’re wrong!”
“Interesting.” Grady addressed the cameramen. “You were invited to broadcast a press conference. Fire up your cameras, boys. Ethan Burke has a helluva story.”
The cameramen scrambled up. News cams settled on shoulders, and lights blazed on.
Grady spoke into his tactical mike. “Double Z, do you see Burke on the monitors?”
Zoe’s face appeared on the wall screen. “Crystal clear. The telecast will transmit live, nationwide. Nobody will interfere.” She gave him a thumbs-up. “Say when.”
Grady stared at Burke. “March your sorry ass to the podium and talk. Every detail. Every name.” He glanced at Zoe and grinned fiercely. “When.”
From her hospital bed, Sabrina watched television news anchors discuss the V-10 crisis. She’d retrieved Grady’s scrub shirt and clutched it like a lifeline. Any minute.
If he’d succeeded.
After a rant about Grady’s disappearance, her father had donned a biohazard suit and come to sit with her.
“He knows what he’s doing, Dad.”
“O’Rourke is exposing Lord knows how many people for another irresponsible stunt.”
“Grady understands the risks. He’ll be careful.”
“That’ll be the day.” Wade’s scowl didn’t conceal his worry. Sabrina’s symptoms had progressed rapidly. “What’s your pain level?”
On the pain scale, one was minimal, ten was excruciating. “A three,” she fudged. Even dulled by morphine, her skin and muscles burned. And her stomach cramped as if a rodent was gnawing on it. But they both knew what she was facing.
The TV went black, and Sabrina’s pulse leaped. Zoe’s grave face appeared. “This is Zoe Zagretti with live, breaking news from Riverside, Oregon. Mr. Ethan Burke, the president’s top adviser, is in KKEY’s studio with an important message.” She nodded. “Mr. Burke, you’re on the air.”
Ethan Burke stumbled to a podium, his complexion gray, hands trembling.
In spite of her pain, Sabrina smiled. O’Rourkes one, bad guys zilch.
Ethan fumbled with the microphone. “I’m here to set the record straight.” He exhaled. “For twelve years, Serpens Pharmaceutical has been conducting research using the V-10 virus. A Serpens laboratory discovered V-10 while attempting to develop a drug to cure children born with HIV. Doctors working with the program…ah…” Burke cleared his throat. “Some doctors prescribed unproven medications to foster children. Side effects occurred, and there were unfortunate fatalities.”
The politician’s gaze skittered off-screen and he gulped. Sabrina knew he saw a green-eyed avenging angel wearing battle gear. Go, Grady.
Burke soldiered on. “Specifically, over three hundred foster children died.” His fingers whitened on the podium. “A week ago, Serpens sold the patent for V-10 to the government to use as a biological weapon. The corporation received five hundred million dollars. Yesterday, the president signed an exclusive contract with Serpens…two billion dollars upon delivery of an antidote. The contract funds Serpens’ research for the next seven years and grants Serpens Corporation and its officers exemption from antitrust laws.
“The truth is—” Burke adjusted his crimson tie as if it were strangling him “—the vice president of the United States and I convinced the president to sign the contract. We’re…partners. Major stockholders. We, ah, buried our ownership in offshore investments.”
A quivering breath. “This is the president’s final term. The vice president intended to announce his candidacy for president, with me as his vice president. Winning an election requires millions of dollars.”
As he paused, a twitch vibrated his right eye. “Uh…we were aware of the tests on foster children and the consequences. We…arranged the death of Senator Vaughn when he investigated our corporation. We tried to…eliminate his granddaughter because he passed on information. V-10 was released into the population because…of…our failure to come forward.”
His gaze flickered off-screen again, and he blanched. “Um…I secretly stockpiled the antidote, which the vice president and I withheld for distribution until after…the contract was signed. And, uh…until more people…ahem…to increase market demand.”
Burke raggedly named individuals involved in the conspiracy. “I…uh, apologize to…everyone affected by this tragedy for my…lapse in judgment.” Shoulders bowed, he trudged off camera.
Zoe signed off, and the screen cut to local anchors.
Wade stared at Sabrina. “O’Rourke knew this?”
Grady had done it! “He uncovered the information, yes.”
“But why ensure he was infected?”
“Our word against theirs. We needed a confession.” Sabrina told Wade everything. “Grady wasn’t positive they had an antidote, but he accepted the risk. To save me. To save everyone.”
She sank into her pillows, and Wade’s forehead furrowed. “You’re getting tired.”
“My throat…” feels like I swallowed needles “…is…dry. Could I have some water?” Battling weakness, she sipped. “Teresa Monteros was a CCC nurse. She was there three years ago when Burke adopted his son. The boy survived V-10, and she overheard the doctors telling Burke they could create an antidote using the child’s antibodies.”
“Burke adopted the kid as an insurance policy? Cold-blooded bastard.” He smoothed her hair with a gloved hand. “Sabrina, you don’t have to—”
“I’m okay,” she lied. Awful lassitude crept over her. She was terrified if she drifted into sleep, she wouldn’t wake up. She wouldn’t keep her promise to Grady. “Teresa didn’t comprehend the implications, but after Granddad contacted her, they figured it out.”
A cough racked her, and she sipped again. “Viper didn’t know about Burke’s son or Teresa. Teresa said Granddad was concerned because Viper was increasingly obsessive.”
Another painful coughing spell hit. She removed her hand from her mouth…and saw blood. “Dad?”
“Lie down.” Wade’s eyes were wild, but his voice was soothing as he placed an oxygen mask on her. “O’Rourke has the antidote. Hang on.” He stabbed the intercom, barked orders.
The room whirled, spears stabbed her chest. Grady. All she had to do was wait. Stay strong. Her fingers entwined in Grady’s scrub shirt. Survive until he returned.
Just like she always had.
Desperation thrummed inside Grady as he retrieved the antidote from Burke’s safe and flew the chopper back to Mercy. The rest of the team had taken Burke to the police station.
Sabrina was dying.
He could feel the connection between them weakening.
In the isolation ward, Wade was bent over Sabrina’s bed. Grady rushed to her side, and his heart crashed into his ribs. Her eyes were closed. Blisters had appeared on her face and arms. A ventilator was breathing for her.
“Sabrina? Baby, I’m here.”
He handed Wade the antidote. “Can she hear me?”
“I don’t know.” Wade’s lips trembled as he walked to a cabinet. “She’s been unresponsive for thirty minutes.”
“Sabrina.” Grady carefully slid his hand beneath hers. His heart wrenched again as he saw she’d been clinging to his shirt. “We did it, sweetheart. You’re gonna be all right.”
Wade injected the antidote into Sabrina’s IV, then turned to Grady. “Your turn.”
He shook his head. “Not until I know she’s okay.”
“Grady, the sooner—”
“I made her a promise. If she’s going, I’m going with her. We’ll be together in this life…or the next.”
He looked down at Sabrina. Bloody tears leaked from her eyes and stained the pillowcase.
Wade put a gloved hand on Grady’s shoulder. “She hears you.”
Grady dragged the chair next to Sabrina’s bed and took her hand again. Wade had another bed wheeled in as he left to administer the antidote to Dalton. Though fire scorched Grady’s skin and his limbs were rubbery, he refused to leave Sabrina’s side.
He rested his head on the sheets. “Fight, sweetheart. You can do it. You didn’t give up on me before. Don’t let go of me.”
He talked nonstop until his throat felt raw. When he reached for a glass of water, the nightstand veered away. “No!” The room spun. “I won’t leave you!”
Grady fought with every ounce of remaining strength. But a torrent of pain dragged him into darkness.
Grady drifted into awareness. There was no sound. No movement. Bright light pierced his vision.
He remembered the fiery torment of hell. Remembered hoarse screams torn from his raw throat. His mother, weeping. His grim, silent brothers guarding him. A dim recollection of Father Niall quietly reciting Last Rites.
He felt no sorrow.
No pain.
Was this the ever after?
He raised his hand. Hmm. He had a body…and it was beeping.
Grady blinked, his thoughts cleared. “Sabrina?” He sat up, and his gaze whipped around the white room.
He was in the isolation ward. Sabrina lay in the next bed, pale and still, no longer on the ventilator.
Grady jerked out his IV, then reached beneath his hospital gown and yanked off monitor wires. He staggered to her bedside. “Sabrina!”
Her eyelids floated up. A slow smile drifted across her mouth.
“You’re all right!” He resisted the urge to scoop her up. “You’re alive!”
Wade strode inside, sans biohazard suit. “Hey, now. What’s with ripping out your IV, cowboy?”
Grady grinned at Sabrina and watched her eyes light up. “She’s okay?”
“She’s alive.” Wade gestured. “Get back into bed.”
Grady swayed, then casually leaned on the railing surrounding Sabrina’s gurney. “I’m good.”
Wade snorted. “Well, you’re back to normal.”
“Why isn’t she talking?”
“It’s been a long seventy-two hours. Sabrina was hit harder, and her throat is still healing.”
Grady brushed a kiss on her forehead. “She’ll be fine.”
Sabrina squeezed his hand and nodded.
“We’re not sure about permanent damage.” Wade sighed. “We’re lucky to have her at all. We almost lost her.”
Grady looked into Sabrina’s eyes, and the love glowing in the amber depths made his heart do a slow roll. “You could never be lost.” He put her hand on his chest. “You were always right here.”
Sabrina walked out of the rehab wing three weeks later. After her final checkup, she’d stopped to see Dalton, who was still recovering. One of a handful who’d survived a prolonged bout with V-10, he seemed uncharacteristically bitter.
Worrying about him was easier than dwelling on her test results.
She paused to collect herself before joining Grady. Her rock. He’d encouraged and pushed her through recovery and physical therapy.
After the hospital had discharged her two weeks ago, he’d moved her into his houseboat. He’d slept on the floor beside the bed. Catered to her every want. When she looked into his eyes, she saw love. Complete commitment.
But now she had to tell him…Her throat clogged. She would not surrender to despair. Not after everything they’d been through.
Rounding the corner, she halted as her father approached Grady. They’d called a wary truce during her illness. “Sabrina with the doctor?” she heard her father ask.
Grady tensed. “Yes.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Excellent.” Grady’s shoulders squared beneath his mocha shirt. “Dr. Matthews, I love Sabrina. I know you never thought I was good enough—”
“Hold on.” Wade frowned. “Step into my shoes as a father. What if you lived next door to four raging teenage libidos…and the daredevil of the lot was interested in your only daughter?”
Grady’s right hand dropped to his waistband where his Glock normally rode, and Wade laughed. “Exactly. Plus, you weren’t one for sticking around, and I didn’t want her hurt. It was nothing personal.” He extended his hand. “You’ve proven yourself. ‘Thank you’ is hardly adequate for everything you’ve done.”
Grady’s handsome face warmed as he accepted Wade’s peace offering. “You were right to warn me off. I wasn’t ready to commit to her then.”
“You’ve grown into a fine man, Grady. Sabrina is happy.”
“I’ll try my best to keep her that way, sir.”
Blinking back tears, Sabrina joined them. She was deliriously happy with Grady. But he was destined for disappointment.
During the drive to his houseboat he kept glancing at her. “You’re quiet.”
“Sorry. I have…things on my mind.”
“Dalton?” His concern was genuine.
“Partially. He’s not himself.”
“He’s been through a lot.” Grady’s hand embraced hers. “So have you.”
“I’m all right.” She stared out at the bright June morning. “When we get to the houseboat, we have to discuss—”
“If you’re worried I’ll be upset because the doctor isn’t sure you can conceive…” He squeezed her hand. “Don’t.”
She whipped around. “You knew?”
“I’m a medic, remember?” Muscles ticced in his jaw. “Internal bleeding does damage, sweetheart. The doctor didn’t want to say anything until she ran more tests.”
“I saw the way you held Brianna Rose.” Her voice was still husky when she got emotional. “I know we haven’t talked…” Don’t assume and make him feel trapped. “We…haven’t decided…anything. But how can you be okay with this?”
“Sabrina, all I want is you. And the only sure thing is right now.” Smiling, he raised her hand to his lips. “We’ll cross that bridge if and when we have to.”
Relief warred with dismay. He didn’t appear disappointed. She knew he wouldn’t leave her again. But his refusal to consider the future sounded too much like the old Grady.