B00MV3HMDW_EBOK (32 page)

“The fucking elevator lost power.” Ethan’s voice could be heard in the hallway and relief poured over Taryn as she took in the fact that he was unharmed. She’d just reached the door when it swung open. “Jax, can you give me a—what the hell? Taryn, get back in bed.”

“Ryland was here. You had to have passed him in the hallway. Shut down the hospital.”

Ethan lifted her up into his arms, making sure her left side was to his chest. She looked over his shoulder to see Jax and Connor running away from the room as the door closed, preventing her from seeing anything else. Taryn pushed against Ethan, wanting down.

“Ethan, we need to go help.”

“You’re too weak to do anything and you don’t want to fucking know what I would do to you if you rip open your sutures.” Ethan gently laid her back in bed although he didn’t move from the side. Instead he hoisted up the side rail, and had it not been such a dire situation she would have laughed at such a measly barrier. “You so much as move from this bed and I swear I’ll handcuff you to it. You understand me?”

“This is not the time for—”

Ethan grabbed her chin and leaned in close so their faces were less than an inch apart. “Do you understand me? You nicked an artery, and should you rip open those sutures you
will
bleed out. Get over this fucking attitude you have and accept the fact that I love you and you’re my responsibility now. That will not change regardless of our positions. Stay in this fucking bed.”

And just like that Ethan was gone. Taryn’s mind had been spinning with her conversation from Ryland and trying to sort out all of the details, but all of that went by the wayside with Ethan’s declaration of love. She leaned back against the pillow, the adrenaline now leaving her body. It was as if someone flipped a switch and whatever was left of the anesthesia flowed through her veins. She tried once again to sit up with every intention of helping the team, but blackness crept in on all sides of her vision. Damn if Ethan wasn’t going to get his way.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“N
othing.”

Ethan stood outside of Taryn’s room with his hands on his hips as Jax walked toward him, sidestepping a nurse who went about her business. Crest was coming down the hallway from the other direction. They’d fucked up. One of them should have been guarding Taryn the entire time she’d been in surgery. Ethan pressed his fingers into his eyes in frustration. He shouldn’t have let her out of his sight.

“Video feed?” Ethan asked, dropping his hand as Crest finally reached him. There was movement behind him and it was easy to see that the two men trailing along were feds. “Are we absolutely sure he’s not in this building?”

“Connor just radioed in.” Crest lowered his voice, obviously not wanting the agents to overhear what he had to say. “Ryland was out of this building before we shut down the hospital. We need to talk to Taryn and find out what he had to say before the anesthesia causes drug-induced amnesia and we lose the entire conversation.”

An hour had passed and although probably half the hospital hadn’t been searched, if Connor had spotted Ryland on the video feed leaving the building there was no reason to continue the hunt. Ethan spun on his boot heel and shoved open Taryn’s room. She’d been sleeping for most of the sixty minutes but she was now struggling to sit up. The nurse had been in twice to take her vitals, and from what she’d said Taryn was doing well. He walked around the side of the bed and poured her some water. Anger was still coursing through his body at the things that had taken place today, but most of all her behavior, which had resulted in her getting shot.

“Taryn, did Ryland give any indication of where he was going?” Crest asked, taking up position at the end of her bed. They’d left the agents standing outside the door. There was no time for pleasantries or to take a moment of gratitude that Taryn was still among the living. Ethan knew the magnitude of this moment and he was well aware of their mission. That didn’t stop him from placing a cup of water in her grasp and resting his hand on her good shoulder, regardless of who was in the room. He needed to touch her, to feel her alive beneath his fingers. “Ryland knew ahead of time how many minutes he had to get out of this building. We need to be one step ahead of him, not two steps behind.”

“Ethan, give me your phone,” Taryn instructed, her voice a little hoarse even after a sip of water. Her hand trembled and Ethan removed the cup before giving her his phone. “Ryland mentioned the photographs. We’re missing something.”

Taryn scrolled through the pictures with an unsteady finger, squinting at the display. Ethan had no idea where her glasses were but figured they were in her vehicle. She brought the phone closer to her face as she continued talking.

“Fallon was right all along. He views me as the woman Sabrina would have turned out to be.” Taryn fiddled with the screen, obviously trying to magnify something in one of the photos. “Ryland also indicated that had Sabrina not been killed, she would have come back for Art Bowers. Fuck. Now we know why.”

Taryn handed Ethan’s phone back to him and he looked down to see what she was referring to. When he saw the ring on the hand that was inappropriately touching Sabrina, his gut twisted. It hadn’t only been Charles Bowers that had defiled a teenage girl, but also his brother. Two perpetrators had sexually abused her. Another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

“Ryland’s going to finish what Sabrina started,” Ethan said, tossing the phone to Crest, who only needed to glance at it to see what they were talking about. “Is Bowers still at the station?”

“We’ll find out,” Crest said, pulling out his own phone. At that moment, the hospital door swung open. “Just in time. Fallon, you’re armed?”

“Of course,” Fallon exclaimed, walking deeper into the room until she stood side by side with Jax. Connor must have met her at the front of the building for he had also entered the room two steps behind her. “And Taryn’s, as requested.”

Taryn reached for her holstered weapon, nodding her thanks. Ethan once again handed her some water. He wasn’t too keen on not being here himself, but he knew they stood a better chance of capturing Ryland with more hands on deck. Fallon wasn’t a field agent, but she’d had enough training to be able to defend herself.

“I don’t care about protocol,” Ethan said, making himself clear on where he stood. “If Ryland comes through that door, you keep shooting until he stops moving.”

Crest didn’t contradict his words, although the man did direct a stare at Ethan that could be read in a number of ways. That was just too fucking bad. At the rate this mission was going he and Taryn wouldn’t have a job at the end of it anyway. They’d pretty much violated every code of ethics there was. As Crest lifted his phone to speak directly into it, Ethan chose that moment to lean down to speak to Taryn semi-privately. He needed her to understand something.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Ethan murmured in her ear, ensuring he punctuated every word. “I. Love. You. Whatever comes after this, we’ll deal with it together. You just keep your ass safe while I’m gone and don’t do anything stupid.”

Taryn lifted her left arm, taking his vest by the neck and leaning in so that her lips were less than an inch from his ear. “You’ve watched enough chick flicks with me to know that isn’t the way to sweep a woman off of her feet. You’ll have to do much better than that.”

Before Ethan could get over the shock at how casually she dismissed what he’d said, Taryn pushed him away and concentrated on the other people in the room. She’d almost died…for his ass, no less…and she was treating this as if she hadn’t almost lost her life. He curled his fingers into his fists and was ready to clear out the room when Jax spoke.

“So where are we headed? The agents outside that door are going to want in on this.”

“I’ll update them now,” Crest stated as he walked to the door. “Bowers is still in holding and the feds are moving him now to a more secure location. The agents will be directed to go to the Bowers’ estate. We’re taking the one step I talked about and using Donald Rudder as bait. Fallon and I have already discussed this, but Ryland won’t allow Rudder to walk away from this either. Ryland will take out the secondary target first.”

Everyone followed as Fallon and Ethan stayed behind. He had so much more he wanted to say to Taryn, but he knew that time was of the essence and he needed to be with the team. He leaned down and claimed her lips, ensuring she felt his overwhelming emotions that he didn’t have time to put into words. Obviously he hadn’t done it justice.

“Taryn,” Crest said, his abrupt halt stopping everyone from filing out of the room. He was looking over his shoulder, his green eyes pinning hers as Ethan leaned back. “You did well keeping Ryland here as long as you did.”

Taryn nodded and then she finally released Ethan’s hand, allowing him to head toward the door. Crest wasn’t an emotional man by any means and that was as close to an ‘
I’m glad you survived’
as she was going to get. Everyone filed out and Ethan was the last one, wrapping his fingers tightly around the door. He looked back one more time, taking in Taryn’s beauty and the gorgeous aura of life that surrounded her.

“I love you, Squid.”

*   *   *   *

Ethan scanned the area around the building, believing that Ryland would resort to his usual method of the long range shot. Crest had worked it with the federal agents to leak word that they were releasing Rudder on bail and that he should be discharged in under an hour. Bowers had already been moved to another federal building for his safety, although if the justice system worked his ass would be sitting in jail for murder, crimes against a minor, and whatever hell else they could charge him with. The team had gone over Ryland’s known hits and the four of them had each taken a direction, using distance as their calculation.

Ethan utilized the corner of a building to shield himself as he cased the windows of the high-rise, already seeing that there wasn’t any way to take a shot from a window without cutting the glass. That left the roof, but there were two buildings side by side that would give Ryland the height advantage. Which one proved to be a tough choice.

Ethan was running out of time and as he gauged the way the roofs were designed he went with his gut. His expertise was in short range combat, but he’d worked with enough long-range shooters to know what they preferred as cover and what they didn’t. He waited for a group of people to cross the road and joined them, doing his best to camouflage himself with the crowds. It didn’t take him more than a minute to enter the building.

Saying his location out loud so the team knew his position, Ethan then proceeded toward the elevator bank. He couldn’t bring himself to think of Taryn right now, although she remained on the peripheral edge of his thoughts. Taking the elevator up to the highest level he could, he then took the stairs two at a time until he was at the entrance to the roof. He mentally calculated which direction they were facing and he was confident that if Ryland were at this location he’d be on the other side of the building. Ethan would have the upper hand. Unholstering his Sig Sauer P226 Tactical, he slowly opened the metal door and winced when the hinges creaked. He stepped cautiously onto the gray sullied surface and didn’t hesitate to let the door close, checking both sides and listening intently for any indication that Ryland was here. All he heard was the traffic below.

Ethan gritted his teeth as he debated which side to take, ignoring the heat as the sun’s rays beat down on top of the roof. It felt like a goddamned oven up here and his vest only perpetuated the intensity. He disregarded the sweat that rolled down his neck and chose the right side of the cinder blocks to go around. Weapon held close, he peered around the corner. His heart pounded against his chest when he saw the old Finish Lahti 20mm Rifle with a side mounted scope laying against the inside lip of the building’s perimeter wall. A man’s suit jacket was draped over the weapon’s custom cut Hardigg weapons case. Fucking A—bingo. Knowing that Ryland must have gone around the other side and not wanting to be caught unaware, Ethan quickly and efficiently made his way forward.