Moving Target (25 page)

"So she's not safe now, because they probably don't know how much she does or doesn't know." Ani's heart started racing. "Will they move her?"

Janet nodded. "She's already been moved to New York City to a safe house and she's under tight guard by our people.

We don't think Borenko's men know where she's hidden right now."

Ani plopped down on the edge of the couch in the sitting room of the suite, feeling as if she couldn't stand any longer.

"You do what you have to in order to protect us, but I'm not going another day without seeing Jenn. I heard you all talking. You're planning on moving me anyway. Make it the same place as my sister is staying."

Janet looked like she was going to argue but instead she went back to the phone, picked up the menu, and flipped through it. "Cheese potato soup or chicken noodle?"

"Chicken noodle," Ani said without really thinking about it and her stomach rumbled. Smart woman to pick something Ani could probably keep down.

"Milk will help settle your stomach, too," Janet said as she dialed one of the Deputies on her cell phone and placed an order that was big enough for two people. Obviously she planned for Ani to eat more than soup.

Once the Deputy who brought their order had come and gone, Ani managed to get some food down. She didn't need to be weak or dizzy when she saw Jenn.

The thought of seeing her sister almost made her giddy. After Janet went into the bathroom and changed out of her Kevlar vest and suit, and put on a T-shirt and jeans, the Deputy turned a movie on and kicked back on the couch in the sitting room.

"Do you want to watch this movie with me?" Janet asked as she looked up at Ani. Her lips twisted with wry humor. "
The
Fugitive
is on."

Ani shook her head. "No, thanks." She turned and retreated to her part of the suite and looked at the bed, picturing herself snuggled up on it with Daniel.

Just the thought of him made tears bite at her eyes, but she refused to cry. Instead she went into the bathroom and changed out of her suit and body armor into the T-shirt and shorts sleepwear that had been purchased for her along with the rest of the things. Her duffel had been brought up shortly after Janet took Daniel's place.

When she left the bathroom, she crawled into bed. She laid her head on her pillow, the chattering on the television from the sitting room fading into white noise. She squeezed her eyes shut and attempted not to think of her and Daniel making love.

Wasn't working. She turned to her other side, clenched her eyes tighter, trying so hard to rid herself of the images. Daniel kissing her. Touching her. Making love to her.

Betraying her.

Finally, she managed to stop thinking of him and switched her thoughts to Jenn and remembered the good times they'd had when they were young. Yeah, they'd always had a tight bond even with all the fighting they'd done when they were kids.

Despite everything, Ani smiled. Jenn was alive.

Ani's heart raced as she was loaded onto a stretcher. The paramedics put an air mask over her nose and a blanket up to her chin. Her white wig itched and the air coming in through the mask smelled funny. They taped an IV drip to her hand to make it look like she had one of those needles in her veins.

Daniel and Gary McNeal pushed her to the elevator on the stretcher. They had dressed as paramedics with red jackets over their white shirts and blue pants, their gun belts hidden beneath the jackets.

As soon as the car's doors opened, they hurried her through the hotel on the stretcher and police officers made sure everyone was out of the way.

Outside an ambulance, a firetruck and two police cars blocked off the hotel entrance. Emergency lights flashed in the bright morning sunshine and a crowd gawked as Ani was rushed out to the ambulance. She was surrounded by men and women in uniforms until she was lifted into the back of the vehicle. As soon as Gary and Daniel were inside with her, the doors were shut securely and the ambulance started to move.

Ani's heart still pounded. She'd had no idea this was going to be a huge ordeal when Gary had told her of the plan they'd originally put in place to move her to a safe house. They'd intended to take her to a different one than the one her sister was at, but had decided to let them stay together.

Damn good thing.

Ani had thought they'd just take her out on a stretcher and into an ambulance and they'd be on their way. She didn't think it would involve the FDNY and the NYPD, too.

Daniel lifted the air mask and removed it from Ani's face and she bit her lower lip as his fingers brushed her skin. For one moment her eyes met his and she wanted to cry. She turned her head and looked at Gary instead.

She scratched her forehead where the wig itched her. "I didn't know you were going to have a whole circus involved."

Gary shook his head and grinned. "Parker's idea. I think it worked."

"So far so good." Daniel was up and looking out the small window. "I don't see a—" He snapped his attention to Gary. "I think we've got a tail."

Gary gripped the side of the stretcher. "If we don't go to a hospital, they'll know something's up."

Daniel jerked his head toward the front of the ambulance. "Have them take us to the closest emergency room. We'll deal with these sonsofbitches."

By the tone of Daniel's voice Ani wondered exactly how they planned on doing that. She struggled to think of Daniel as just an Inspector, one of her protectors. She wouldn't let herself look at him.

Gary knocked on the window separating the back of the ambulance from the front. Ani heard him giving instructions to the two Deputies in the front who were also posing as paramedics.

Without meaning to, her gaze met Daniel's and she saw so much in that one look. Caring, concern, hurt. Yeah, like her, he was hurt.

She turned away from him again. It wasn't possible for him to be hurt as much as she was.

Daniel's heart hammered as he moved to the rear of the ambulance and looked out the back windows. He narrowed his gaze at the black Cutlass that had followed them through the city, straight toward the ER. Shit, yeah, those had to be Borenko's men.

McNeal had the Deputies in the front take their ride straight up to the doors where only ambulances were allowed to park. The Cutlass stayed a few feet back.

Daniel looked to the front of the ambulance where he knew the other men had drawn their weapons. They were ready to swing their doors open and aim at the Cutlass as soon as Daniel gave the word. He moved his hand under his jacket and unholstered his Glock while McNeal drew his own weapon. They stood to either side of the back doors.

Daniel held his position, his heart pounding, adrenaline rushing through his system.

All four doors of the Cutlass opened and four men stepped out—all with weapons.

Daniel was certain the Deputies in the front would see the armed men in their side-view mirrors and be prepared when Daniel gave the order.

"Stay down, Ani," he said. She didn't respond, but she didn't move, either.

"Now!" Daniel shouted as he and McNeal swung the back doors of the ambulance open. They opened the doors just enough so they were able to use them as shields. Daniel popped off the first man who aimed a gun at him. Right between the bastard's eyes.

McNeal got off a shot and took down one of the men.

But then McNeal dropped.

He pitched forward onto the asphalt.

He'd gone completely still.

Fury rushed through Daniel. He fired off a couple of rounds and nailed another one of the men. He heard shots from behind him as the other Deputies joined in the action.

The ping of bullets piercing the ambulance and the sound of gunfire was loud in the morning air.

In moments all gunfire ceased.

Four men lay sprawled on the ground surrounding the Cutlass. But McNeal was down, too.

Two cops rushed out of the ER and shouted, "Drop your weapons!"

"On the job! On the job!" Daniel said as he slowly put his gun on the concrete. "U.S. Marshals. We've got an officer down."

"Back away from the guns," one of the officers shouted. "All three of you. Don't make any sudden moves."

One of the cops got in front of Daniel and the other Deputies while the second police officer trained his gun on the four men on the ground around the Cutlass. That officer spoke into his radio, requesting backup and stating there was a possible officer down.

The cop with the gun trained on Daniel and the other two Deputies had them brace their hands against the ambulance—several feet apart.

After checking out McNeal to make sure he was indeed injured, one of the police officers allowed hospital staff to attend to him.

The cop then patted Daniel down.

"My creds are in my back pocket," Daniel said.

The cop searched Daniel for additional weapons and rid him of the knife strapped to his ankle and everything attached to his belt, including the cell phone. Then the officer reached into the rear pants pocket of Daniel's paramedic uniform. He withdrew Daniel's creds and stepped away.

"Hands behind your head and face me," the cop said.

Daniel ground his teeth. They didn't need this crap right now.

He obeyed and the officer kept his gun trained on him while he used his other hand to examine Daniel's credentials.

He glanced at Daniel's badge and his creds. "I want to see everyone else's, too."

After being patted down, the other two Deputies had their creds taken, too. When the first cop examined them all, he lowered his gun. "What's the situation?"

Daniel explained as much as he could. "Mind if I retrieve my weapon?" Daniel said as a NYPD cruiser came up behind the Cutlass, another one in front of the ambulance, their lights flashing.

As soon as the other officers were on the scene and apprised of the situation, Daniel was allowed to retrieve his Glock and his knife, as were the other Deputies.

Two officers approached the Cutlass, weapons drawn.

When they reached one side of the Cutlass, one cop slammed the driver's door shut with his foot so that two of the downed men were visible. He kicked each man's gun, and they skittered across the asphalt, out of reach. One of the men groaned and stirred.

The officer trained his weapon on the man. "Don't move another muscle, asshole."

When everything was straightened out, heart still pounding, Daniel tucked his gun back into its holster beneath the jacket.

Everything had been returned to his belt.

He hurried into where McNeal was being attended to on the ground. To Daniel's relief, McNeal was sitting up and there were no visible signs of bleeding. He had a bullet hole in the center of his shirt and he was breathing heavily. The vest had saved him.

"Scared the shit out of me, McNeal," Daniel said as he crouched by his friend.

McNeal gave a tired smile. "Hurts like hell, but nothing I can't handle."

"I still want you checked out more thoroughly." Daniel shook his head. "You could have a cracked rib or something."

"I'm fine." McNeal held his hand to his chest. "I'll just have a bruise."

"You're staying." Daniel directed the other two Marshals into the front of the ambulance. "We've got to get Ani out of here."

McNeal grumbled a lot more while two emergency room staff helped him to his feet. Daniel gave him the thumbs-up before he closed the ambulance doors.

McNeal flipped him off.

After they'd closed the rear doors, Daniel sat on one of the benches to the side of Ani, who was still lying on the stretcher.

He tilted his head back against the inside of the ambulance. Adrenaline still pumped through his body.

Ani pushed herself to a sitting position and flung the white wig onto the metal floor of the ambulance. Her dark hair tumbled around her shoulders and she had an angry expression. She looked so beautiful when she was mad. Hell, she looked beautiful no matter what—especially when her skin was flushed as she climaxed.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Thoughts like that weren't going to get him anywhere.

Ani tore at the bandage around her wrist to get rid of the fake IV and tossed it all aside. She flung her legs over the side of the stretcher so that she was sitting.

The ambulance jostled her as it started moving and she swayed. Daniel leaned forward and caught her by the shoulders to keep her from falling.

They both froze and he saw Ani's chest rise and fall more rapidly as her eyes fixed on his. He slid his palms from her shoulders, down to her forearms, and to her hands that he took in his own.

For just a moment she let him hold her fingers. Her parted lips and her expanded pupils told him that she wanted him, but her expression told him she was still angry and hurt.

She jerked her hands from his, crossed her arms under her breasts, and turned to face the back of the ambulance.

Daniel braced his forearms on his thighs.

"Where are we going?" she asked, her gaze still averted from his. Ani looked so distraught that Daniel wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her, but he knew she'd refuse him.

To hell with that
.

He got up and sat on the stretcher beside her. He wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and she stiffened at once. He pulled her against him.

Ani struggled and tried to push away, but he kept her tight beside him. Her heavenly scent of some kind of exotic flower and woman overshadowed the medicinal smell of the ambulance. She felt warm against him and right. She felt so right.

Gradually she relaxed and her body shook as sobs tore through her. "I'm so tired of this. I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

Daniel kissed the top of her head and felt her shiver in his arms. He released her so that he could head to the back of the ambulance and check out the cars behind them. As he scanned the traffic, he kept his eyes open for any vehicles that might be tailing them.

Looked good.

They reached a designated location where they transferred Ani into an unmarked vehicle with nondescript lead and tail cars to follow them. An ambulance would stick out in the neighborhood where they were taking her.