The rising sun was painting the sky in streaks of pink and gold before Daniella felt calm again. She had volunteered to stay past the end of her regular shift, just in case there were more bombs or other emergencies, but had ended up idle for most of the rest of the night.
She had considered sleeping at the hospital and not going home at all. If it hadn’t been for the needs of Puddy, her black Persian tomcat, she might have opted to stay there indefinitely.
Bone weary, she yearned for solace and privacy and for the quiet companionship of her feline roommate. Her senses were already dulling and she knew that lack of adequate sleep would affect her more and more as the hours passed. She owed her patients her best. The only sensible choice was to give up and go home.
She’d picked up her Windbreaker and purse when someone shouted from the break room. “Hey, everybody! Come here. Look. We’re famous.”
Daniella joined the rush to peer at the TV screen. A rapid progression of scenes with smoke and a booming sound were followed by pictures of an ambulance, then the inside of the very ER where they all worked.
“There I am.” One of the ambulance attendants cheered. “That should prove to my girlfriend that I really was working last night.”
Daniella held her breath. The camera panned. She recognized other staff members. There had been more than one news group present so this airing was no guarantee that she had escaped being photographed. Nevertheless, not seeing herself was a good start. If the other major stations were running pooled footage, all the better.
Just as she started to turn away, someone tapped her arm. “Wow! Look at our Daniella acting like a pop diva.”
“What?” Her jaw dropped. Not only had she been caught facing the camera, but the white paper on the clipboard next to her cheek highlighted her features. Even someone who barely knew her would recognize her in that shot.
She sagged against a wall. Moving to a big city was supposed to help her blend in. She liked living in DC. Loved her job and her apartment and the people at work, even the sourpusses. Acceptance of others had accompanied thankfulness for survival and the realization that she was getting a second chance.
Was she going to have to give it all up? Did she dare stay; stand her ground? What were the chances that her father or one of his former cohorts would recognize her on TV and track her down? She’d changed a lot from the gangly teen she’d been back then, but would it be enough?
Wresting the remote from the hand of another nurse, she paused the picture and backed up the scene. There she was, all right. In all her brunette glory. Thank goodness she was still putting a dark rinse on her honey-blond hair.
Daniella ignored murmured protests as she moved the scene forward, then back, then forward again until she was sure of the seriousness of the slipup. In one of the shots her hospital ID badge was visible. It was impossible to read her name as she’d hurried past the reporters, but anyone who had the capabilities to freeze those few frames and enhance the image would also know her false identity.
She clenched her empty stomach and dropped the remote. With one hand clamped over her mouth and the other clutching the strap of her purse, she wheeled and ran from the room.
At his murder trial, ten years ago, her own father had threatened to kill her. Even though he was still in prison, she figured he could hire an assassin. She had done nothing wrong and yet she was serving a longer sentence than he was. She was going to have to keep running and hiding for the rest of her life.
It wasn’t fair. She was one of the good guys. This nightmare was not supposed to be haunting her.
* * *
Isaac didn’t remember much about his ride home with Gavin at the wheel and he was asleep minutes after his head hit the pillow. When his phone rang midmorning he was surprised to note how long he had slept.
He answered, “Black.”
“How’s the leg?” his captain asked.
“Now that you mention it, it hurts. The pain meds I took last night must have worn off.”
“Good. You may want to drive and you’ll need a clear head.”
“I can’t drive to work. You carjacked me. Remember?”
“I had your unit delivered to you this morning.”
“Are you serious? You really want me to come in today?”
“I have something I think you’ll want to see. Of course, I could email the file to you.”
“Wanna give me a clue? I’d hate to get dressed and drive all the way into the city for nothing.”
“It’s about your girlfriend.”
“My what?” Isaac was sitting on the edge of the bed by now, running his fingers through his hair and taking mental stock of his injury.
“The nurse you wanted me to check on.”
“Okay. Go ahead.”
“She has a spotless record at the hospital and graduated from nursing school at the top of her class.”
“So? That doesn’t sound bad.”
“Her career is not the most interesting part of her past,” McCord said. “Prior to entering college ten years ago, Daniella Dunne didn’t exist.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It is if she’s on the up-and-up. I don’t know who she was before or where she came from. All I know is she’s not who she implies she is.”
* * *
There had been a time when Daniella had tried to keep close tabs on her jailed father. Then, as the years had passed, she had slowly stopped worrying about him and had gone on with her life, content to have a purposeful career and to be a truly new person.
Now, however, she felt it was vital that she know more about the man, if only to set her mind and heart at ease. There was no sense panicking and going on the run if it wasn’t necessary. For all she knew, he might have died in prison.
One phone call would tell her everything. The question was, if she did contact the emergency number her original US marshal contact had provided, would she be opening Pandora’s box?
She hesitated, her cell phone gripped tightly. Then, before she could make up her mind whether or not to call for information, the phone rang. Caller ID was no help. All it showed was Unknown.
Could it be the marshal’s office taking care in case the call was being monitored? Logically, that might be possible, particularly if she were at work. There was only one way to find out.
She clicked the green button and pressed the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
A low menacing chuckle was followed by, “Well, well. Remember how I always taught you to finish what you started?”
She knew instantly who was on the line. Her father had tracked her down. “How—how did you get this number?”
“I have friends in many places.” He laughed again. “I’ll see you soon, girl.”
Daniella was speechless. That awful voice! Not only did he have her cell number, he probably also knew her address!
Staring at the tiny screen, she noted that he’d ended the call.
Her hands shook and her legs were close to collapse. Every sense insisted that she flee. Immediately. She glanced around at her cozy home. The mere thought of leaving all this behind made her sick to her stomach. Not only would she be in limbo once more, she’d have to give up her friends and career and maybe even her pet, since Puddy was microchipped and might be traceable via his former veterinarian.
She sank into the closest chair and cradled her head in her hands. Although she would have welcomed the release brought by tears, there were none. Numbness and disbelief filled her to overflowing, leaving room for nothing else.
Her first change of identity, when she’d fled Florida as a teen, had been easy compared with what she was facing now. She had often tried to imagine what it would be like to have to abandon nursing and relocate again, but nothing had prepared her for the chilling reality she now acknowledged.
Her murderous father had tracked her down. Life as she’d known it was over. Period.
* * *
Isaac was driving himself toward headquarters when his captain radioed Daniella’s home address.
“That’s right on my way,” he replied. “Okay if Abby and I make a stop there, first?”
“Officially?”
“Not exactly. Our mysterious woman may be more willing to fill in some information gaps if I approach her casually.”
“It’s worth a try. I’ve already checked with the hospital. She stayed on duty all night so she should be at home now. Just keep us posted. I don’t want you going off the grid.”
“Who? Me?”
McCord laughed. “Yes, you. Remember that case last fall when you forgot to radio your position and almost got yourself killed before backup could reach you?”
“That was an exception. Getting hurt at the scene last night was not my fault, either,” Isaac insisted, noting the dull throbbing in his injured calf. “I followed all the rules precisely. Somebody obviously breached the police security lines after Abby and I checked. If she hadn’t acted funny we might have ended up with a lot more casualties.”
“You’ll get no argument from me on that score,” his captain said.
“Good. Listen. I’m almost to the nurse’s. I’ll have my cell and Abby with me but I’m leaving the rest of my gear in the unit.”
“You sure that’s wise?”
“Hey, you didn’t find any connection between her and terrorists, did you?”
“Not in the last ten years, no.”
“Then I’m not taking much of a chance.” Besides, I kind of like her, he added silently. If there had been anything nefarious about her he figured he would have sensed it—and if he hadn’t, Abby would have. Of all the partners he’d ever had, human or otherwise, it was the little beagle he trusted the most. People could be swayed by appearances. Dogs looked beyond the obvious and into a person’s true heart.
Slowing as his GPS led him to the address, Isaac pulled into the driveway of an apartment complex. McCord had told him Daniella Dunne lived on the first floor. A mailbox check showed names posted for the other occupants but not for her. That, alone, would have struck him as strange. Coupled with the information he’d gotten from headquarters, it stood out like a red flag.
Her apartment sat at the end of a long interior corridor, next to the rear exit door. Isaac called Abby to heel and limped toward it, mentally preparing an opening line to relax the nurse.
He’d paused at her door when he heard a voice inside. Good. The woman was home. If she failed to respond to his knock he’d have further proof that there was something odd about her.
Isaac raised his fist.
At his side, Abby edged backward.
He was frowning and looking down at his dog when the door was yanked open and Daniella barreled into him so hard he almost lost his balance.
His arms flew out to steady them both. All he managed to say was “Hey...” when she let out a screech that could have made her the star of a horror movie!
“Whoa,” Isaac said, grabbing hold of her upper arms while Abby’s leash went flying. “Take it easy. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
The emerald eyes that were staring into his dark gaze reflected so much raw fear he was taken aback. Her scream had become a whimper and tears were beginning to slide down her flushed cheeks.
As unexpectedly as she’d crashed into him, she flung both arms around his neck and held on as if he were her only lifeline from a sinking ship.
Astounded, he nevertheless embraced her gently. “Easy. I’ve got you. What’s wrong?”
All the answer he got was the sound of her gasping for breath, so he turned to place himself between her and the open apartment door. “Is there somebody else inside?”
Daniella shook her head emphatically, then seemed to come to her senses. “I—I have to get out of here.”
“What’s the hurry?” he asked, holding her away by cupping her shoulders.
She blinked rapidly and swiveled her head to look up and down the hallway before she said, “Because he’s coming.”
“Who is?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Whoa. Slow down and start from the beginning. Why are you so scared?”
“He—he threatened to kill me.”
“When? Why?”
“A long time ago. I put him in jail.”
That was enough information for Isaac to make a sensible decision. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and held her protectively. “Okay. Where do you want to go?”
“Away. Anywhere he can’t find me.”
“I’ll drive.”
Daniella twisted out of his grip. “No. I need my own transportation, at least until I can get something untraceable.”
“Then Abby and I will follow you,” he insisted. “Where are you parked?”
“In the back. The blue car right there.” She pointed through the heavy glass of the outside door.
Isaac scooped up the dog’s leash. “All right. We’ll go first and make sure there’s nobody lying in wait. You stay here until I give the okay.”
Surveying the parking area until he was satisfied it was deserted, he pulled his smaller holdout gun from the ankle holster he always wore and started toward the parked cars. If Daniella was telling the truth, it was his duty to protect her. If she was making up stories in order to evade law enforcement, his job was to keep track of her. Either way, she was not getting out of his sight.
Isaac cautiously drew closer to Daniella’s vehicle.
He felt a tug on Abby’s leash.
When he looked back and saw the determined little dog firmly planted in a sitting position and staring straight at the blue sedan, he realized his canine partner had just saved at least two lives: his and the frightened woman’s.
Abby was never wrong. There was no doubt. Someone had planted an explosive device in the nurse’s car.
* * *
Waiting at the door, Daniella saw the officer returning rapidly and interpreted his closed, somber expression as either anger or angst. In a smooth motion, he encircled her with one arm and had her back inside her apartment without time for discussion, let alone argument.
“I want you to stay put for right now, understand?”
“No. I told you. I have to leave.”
“Not in that car, you don’t.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate her sedan. “I’ve notified local police. I’m going back outside with my dog to guard the scene until the regular officers relieve me. After that, we can go wherever you want.”
“Police? What are they for? I already told you...”
“I don’t care what you did or who’s after you, lady. Pull yourself together and listen to me. My dog sensed a problem in or around your car, and nobody is going to touch it until the bomb squad has had a chance to look it over. Am I clear?”
She wanted to answer verbally but her body refused to cooperate. There was no breathable air in the apartment. The walls were closing in on her.
She staggered back until she felt her legs contact the front edge of the sofa cushions, then plopped down on them with a whoosh. Her jaw hung slack. Her eyes refused to focus properly. This was even worse than she’d imagined. If Isaac Black had not arrived at just the right moment, she’d have gotten into her car, just as her mother had, and then...
Tears gathered in Daniella’s eyes and spilled silently down her cheeks. Her voice was thready. “Are—are you sure?”
“No. But Abby is and that’s good enough for me. Now, stay put and let me take care of everything.” He drew the living room blinds while his sweet-tempered dog wagged her tail and licked Daniella’s fingers.
When he returned and gathered up the leash, he paused with one hand on the doorknob. “Lock this after me.”
Her “Okay” was little more than a weak whisper, but at the moment she couldn’t manage anything more forceful.
“It’ll be all right,” Isaac assured her. “Just sit tight and don’t move.”
“Can I pack a few things?”
“No!” was almost a shout. “Listen carefully. We know that couch is safe because Abby didn’t react to it, but I don’t want you wandering around in here until I’ve had a chance to let her explore every room.”
“You—you think there’s a bomb in here, too?”
“Probably not. But are you willing to take the chance?”
“No. Of course not.” She whisked away her tears with the back of her hand.
“Good. Now you’re being sensible.”
The door closed quietly behind the K-9 officer. Daniella twisted the dead bolt, listening to its click for added assurance. She was safe, at least for the present.
The fortuitous arrival of Isaac and his remarkable dog still amazed her. Could God have somehow spurred him to make this impromptu visit?
She shook her head, clenching her jaw tightly. No. God might protect innocent people, but she was far from naive. Her lack of initiative had gotten her mother killed, and her foolish choices afterward had sent her into perpetual hiding.
Although she had no trouble praying for others, she’d long ago given up asking the Lord to watch over or guide her.
Ella Fagan, aka Daniella Dunne, didn’t deserve God’s love or his forgiveness. The most she could hope for was the wisdom to once more escape her father’s vendetta.
Her whirling thoughts would not, could not, carry her further than that.
For all she knew, there would be no life beyond the next few days.