Hard Target: Elite Ops - Book One (7 page)

“I haven’t used birth control in years. My son was born only after multiple in vitro treatments. My husband and I had no luck conceiving again. I assumed there was no need for preventative measures.”

She focused on Zach sitting in the chair beside her. Speechless and mortified, his hand had gone slack in hers. That was just as well. She had no clue what to say. The doctor nodded and prattled on.

“I agree pregnancy is highly unlikely. I’ll order a little more blood work and a urinalysis to figure out what caused your fainting spell. I’m thinking dehydration. But we’ll add a couple more tests just in case. If you were pregnant, how far along would you be?”

She swallowed audibly. “One day.”

Without a word Zach got up and stalked from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Dr. Travis seemed oblivious to the emotional land mine that had just detonated. “That’s too early for us to tell.”

“Do you want me to go after him?” Leland asked her.

She turned to look at him, completely unsure of what she’d find, surprised he was still in the room. Every man she knew would have made a beeline for the exit by this point. But no, he was standing at the door, staring at her. Not exactly as if she’d sprouted horns, but she was about to touch her forehead to make sure when he finally spoke.

“I’m going to wait outside to give you some privacy while you talk with the doctor. I’ll be glad to find Zach and take you home when you’re ready.”

She nodded, uncertain of what she could say to make this all not sound so . . . awful.

Dr. Travis turned to him. “You’re welcome to stay, Mr. Mercado. We’re just going to sew up her arm.”

Leland pinned the man with a frosty glare. “I’m not Mr. Mercado. I’m a neighbor who brought Zach here to the hospital.”

“Ah,” said the doctor, belatedly realizing he’d treaded into areas she didn’t want to visit in front of her son and a neighbor. “I’m sorry, my mistake. I assumed.”

“No problem,” said Leland, his voice clipped. “I’ll go find Zach.”

She stared at him a moment, again at a loss for words. He’d had a perfect opportunity to bail on her and he hadn’t, or at least not yet. “Thank you. I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be here when you’re done.” His tone toward her was considerably warmer than the one he’d used with the doctor. He closed the door softly as he left.

Anna took another glance at Dr. Travis and decided to lay her cards on the table. “I had sex with my estranged husband this morning. This evening he tried to kill me. That’s how I got the cut on my arm. I’d rather have a lobotomy than a baby.”

Obviously this ER doctor had heard everything but that particular story. His eyes widened and his bedside manner finally appeared. “I understand. Let’s see what we can do to put your mind at ease about . . . things.” He marked something on her chart. “And I’ll take a look at that arm now as well.”

T
HINKING HIS ANKLE
was marginally better thanks to the painkiller, Leland was drinking bad coffee and ignoring a Jerry Springer episode on the lounge TV when Zach showed up in the waiting area. The boy sat across from him and put his head in his hands, looking like a kid who has just been told the truth about Santa Claus.

Leland knew when he took a seat here instead of heading to the parking lot that he was making a conscious decision to get involved. He still wasn’t sure why he wasn’t in his Jeep headed back to the hotel. He blamed the Vicodin he’d taken earlier for his lethargy. He’d had the chance to leave when he’d walked out of that exam room, yet he hadn’t exited the building.

Something about Anna Mercado and her son resonated within him. He’d fought it, but this was becoming a losing battle. He’d recognized the expression in Zach’s eyes when the doctor had asked his bombshell question.

“A baby?” Zach mumbled. “I can’t freakin’ believe this. Things are so complicated right now with their separation. How come she’d do that?”

Leland read the boy’s face and recognized the wordless last question: Aren’t I enough to love?

He stared at his feet and took a deep breath.
Jesus.
He was in so far over his head he was drowning, and there were no life ropes to be had.

He didn’t possess the skill set or proper parental experience to deal with this, not to mention his own issues with similar baggage. What experience he did have made him more of a terrible warning than a shining example, but no one else was available, so he had to try something. For starters Zach’s mother was nothing like his. He’d seen enough already to know the kid had a leg up on life with someone who cared as much as Anna did.

“Zach, you need to chill. The doctor thinks it’s highly unlikely your mom is pregnant. That’s just a question they have to ask every woman before they do certain tests. Besides she wouldn’t love you any less, even if she did have a baby. So get that through your head. She’d do anything for you. Hell, she has from what I’ve seen.”

The boy was silent and Leland filled the uncomfortable void with words. “Sometimes people get caught up in a situation and don’t . . .”

He stopped. What did he say now?
“Your mom and dad did the deed, but it was just sex. She had no intention of getting knocked up?”

Christ, he did not know what he was doing. So he was going to quit before he said something completely inappropriate to this boy, even if he had to shove his own shoe in his mouth. They sat in an awkward silence but apparently Zach wasn’t ready to stop wrestling with the issue.

“I know she’s been sad and lonely while I’ve been sick. They split up, so it kind of makes sense. I hated that they were getting a divorce. But that was before I knew what was really going on, that he would hurt her.” Zach shook his head. “I still can’t believe it.”

”I imagine it’s been difficult for her since your diagnosis. Sounds like she has been doing a lot on her own. Not everyone’s mom loves them like that. So you think you could give yours a break?”

Zach was quiet, either unwilling or unable to engage.

Leland had no idea if the boy had heard anything he’d said. For now, he was relieved the conversation was over but unsure if he’d helped the situation or hurt it. This was so not his kind of gig. As soon as he got Anna and Zach settled back in at the hotel, he was done.

Relieved that he’d come up with a workable exit strategy, he leaned back in his seat and pretended to watch the domestic train wreck on Springer.
How does one guy get three women pregnant while in prison?

He was on his third cup of bad coffee and puzzling that biological conundrum when the nurse from earlier approached him. “Mrs. Mercado is ready to check out now. She was wondering if you were still here.”

“Of course. I’ll drive the car around to the entrance.”

“We’ll bring her out.”

Zach looked up, unsure of where to go. Leland knew exactly how he felt. “Want to see if she needs anything? I can meet you with the car.”

“Yeah, okay.” And Zach was gone.

Whatever Leland had gotten himself into was about to begin, but it wasn’t going to last long. He wasn’t the boy’s dad or the woman’s husband. His neck itched just thinking about the unresolved mess that lay ahead for Anna and her son.

He had no obligation here, and that was a good thing. He had enough of his own drama to deal with, and this mess with the Mercados was something that could make Jerry Springer look tame. Grateful he wasn’t going to be part of it for longer than it took to get everyone back to the hotel, he cranked his Jeep and headed for the ER entrance.

Chapter Eight

A
NNA SAT WITH
her back to the passenger door, facing Leland and Zach. It was so late, they’d decided to wait till morning to go to the police station and file her official statement. Beyond that no one was talking much. There was an uncomfortable stillness, and she didn’t know how to break it.

She wasn’t sure if Zach was angry, in shock, or in denial. This was confusing her on half a dozen levels, so it had to be blowing the boy’s socks off. And Leland? She had no clue what he was thinking beyond getting back to the hotel and vaporizing.

They finished the drive in deathlike silence. She could practically hear crickets chirping. When they got to the Best Western, Zach helped her out of the car, despite his solemnity. Together they headed to the front desk only to be greeted by a very long line of folks coming off a tour bus in front of the hotel.

“I’m pretty sure they were going to put you in a new room, but things may have changed while we were at the ER,” said Leland.

She nodded. “Blood and glass is probably a bit much for the night cleaning crew.”

“I can go and get our things from Leland’s room while y’all wait in the line,” Zach offered.

“I can bring the luggage down,” said Leland.

“No, it’s just the one suitcase and my mom’s purse. I’ll do it,” insisted Zach, obviously eager to not be hanging around his mother.

“Okay,” nodded Leland, too tired to argue. “Here’s the keycard.”

Zach made a beeline for the stairs. Anna watched the fire exit door for a long time after her son pulled it shut behind him.

She dreaded turning to face Leland. She couldn’t imagine what he was thinking—of her, the situation, or the mess he’d gotten himself into by befriending her. The kindest thing she could do to repay him would be to send him on his way.

Prepared to do just that, she took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to thank you. You saved me.”

“It’s no problem. Like I said—”

She turned, interrupting him. “Don’t. I can’t imagine what you’re thinking of this entire soap opera you’ve witnessed tonight.”

They stood soundlessly until they were next in line. The night clerk was working alone, and his eyes lit up in recognition as Leland spoke to him.

“Ah, Mr. Hollis. Could you please have a seat in the lobby while I get these arrangements finalized?” The man nodded at Anna, taking in the bandage on her arm. “I understand you’ve been in the ER. Our computers are acting up. I don’t want you to have to stand while you wait.”

Leland nodded his thanks and guided Anna to the conversation area in front of a faux fireplace.

She took a deep breath before beginning. “I should be mortified about all this, and on one level I am. On the other hand, I’m so grateful you were there. I don’t know what I would have done without your help. So I can’t be sorry. As for the questions the doctor was asking—”

“That’s none of my business.”

“You’re right, it’s not your business. But I’d like to explain because . . . well, I’m not sure why exactly. They say confession is good for the soul, don’t they?” She felt her smile tremble and hoped her expression wasn’t as shaky-looking as she felt.

For some reason it was important to her that he hear this. Since she didn’t expect to lay eyes on him again after tonight, her story felt anonymous. Like talking to the person beside you on an airplane and telling them things your best friend doesn’t know.

He watched her with unnerving intensity, his eyes holding a green fire that should have been intimidating. She appreciated that he wasn’t saying anything. This admission would be impossible with interruptions. She needed to speak the words quickly to get it over with. The problem was, she wasn’t sure where to start. Diving in seemed the best option.

She took a deep breath before speaking. “First of all, I’m not pregnant.”

When Leland’s face didn’t change with that declaration, she kept going. “After Zach was born, Max wanted another baby and initially I wanted to give him one. But after twelve years of fertility specialists . . .” Her voice trailed off as Leland’s eyebrows rose.

“I know, it’s a long time,” she said, reading the questions so clearly in his puzzled expression. “Along the way, our marriage disintegrated. Max wasn’t abusive, he just . . . disappeared.”

“Had he ever hit you before tonight?”

“No. He yelled a lot, a whole lot, leading up to when he moved out a few months ago. But until today I’d never thought he’d try to hurt me. When he got his own place, our relationship got better. His leaving took the pressure off. I’m pretty sure he was seeing someone else. He’d had affairs even before Zach’s diagnosis, but once he moved out it was ‘good riddance.’ By that time I didn’t care. It was such a relief to have him gone.”

Something about that seemed to bother Leland, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he asked another question. “Why was he was searching for you here exactly?”

She huddled into the sofa before she said anything else. “I never explained. It sounds so unreal, and given the fantastical events of the evening, I wasn’t sure how much more you would believe.

His piercing gaze never wavered. “I’m still here and I’m listening.” Both statements could be taken to mean he could leave or stop listening at any moment, but this was as good an invitation as she was going to get.

“Zach, Max and I were all together in Cancun, Mexico this morning. It was meant to be a treat for Zach before the surgery. The reason we’re here in this hotel is that I overheard Max planning to stage a kidnapping where they took Zach away from the resort and killed me. From what Max was saying on the phone, I think the plan was to make it look like a cartel kidnapping.

“I didn’t stop to think, I just did what I had to do. We couldn’t leave without our passports, so—” She swallowed hard. “I went to bed with Max as if I’d overheard nothing. After . . . when he went to shower, I took Zach and got to the airport with our travel documents, Zach’s meds, and a change of clothes.” She tried to keep the agony out of her voice but Leland’s discerning gaze made it clear she hadn’t been successful.

“That must have been incredibly . . . disturbing,” he said.

She barked a harsh laugh that she didn’t expect Leland to understand. Having Max’s hands on her after what she’d overheard him planning had been horrifying. What she’d imagined rape must be like. Except she’d had to act as if she was in ecstasy, when in reality she’d been so repulsed she was worried about throwing up again.

When Max had been inside her, she’d focused on her plan to escape. She’d made lists in her head of what she’d pack, the order in which she’d collect everything. She’d focused on getting to the airport. Her fear of flying had seemed the least of her worries. As soon as the bathroom door closed behind him, she’d been out of the bed like a shot.