Chapter Twenty-Six

Doc

The sixth floor is utterly silent as the elevator doors slide open. Raelynn sweeps her gaze up and down the hall. "Clear. Stay on my six." Tapping her ear, she adds, "Ry, we're comin' in."

"Oh my God." Natasha swallows a sob. A vase of flowers lies shattered on the kitchen floor. One of the end tables is upended, and blood stains the carpet in long streaks.

"Doc, over here." Ryker is on one knee in front of the couch, and it only takes me another two steps to understand why. Bella lies on the pretty floral cushions, a large lump swelling on her forehead and a bloody towel pressed to her shoulder.

"Gladys?" Natasha asks, her voice so shaky, I'd give anything to sweep her into my arms and carry her out of there. But I can't. I have a patient who needs me.

"They…took her." Those three words seem to take everything Bella has left, because her head lolls to the side and all the tension leaves her body.

Fuck. "Out of my way," I snap. Ryker moves with a speed a man his size shouldn't have, and I take his place. "She's breathing. Rapid heart rate. Clammy. Someone get me a blanket."

I'm vaguely aware of Raelynn trying to comfort Natasha. Of Ryker, West, and Graham talking about security cameras. Of someone draping a soft, gray blanket over Bella's legs.

Normal pupil dilation. Normal breathing sounds. I remove the towel and cut her green blouse down the center. The moment I get my first good look at the wound, she opens her eyes and screams.

"Bella! It's Doc!" Taking her arms, I try to hold her down, but she fights like a hellion and catches me just below my bruised ribs.

Ryker catches her, steps from the door. "Stop. We're here to help."

Bella tries to claw at his face, probably too panicked to hear a word. Ryker grabs her wrists and pins them over her head. "Calm the fuck down, Bella!"

"Let me go! I don't know anything! I just want my aunt back, please!" She starts to sob, and Natasha ducks between her and Ryker.

"Bella, look at me, sweetheart. It's Nat. You're safe."

From her tone, Natasha doesn't believe that any more than I do. But the familiar voice seems to do the trick. Bella sags in Ryker's hold. He releases her, and Natasha wraps her arm around Bella's waist to keep her upright.

"No. Get away from me!" The young woman shoves at Natasha. "This is your fault. They took Aunt Gladys because of you."

Tears brim in Natasha's eyes. Her entire body starts to tremble. She's about five seconds away from losing it completely, but she's trying to be strong for Bella.

"Come on now, sugar. Let's get you back to the couch." Raelynn takes Bella's arm. "Doc needs to take a look at your shoulder." She nods at Graham, who wraps his hand around Natasha's arm and leads her into the kitchen.

Fucking hell. I need to comfort her. I told her everything would be fine. That no one would go after Gladys. She'll never trust me again after this. Gladys could already be dead. Or…worse.

Raelynn helps Bella sit back down, and I tear my gaze from the kitchen. Assess the patient. Keep her alive. Everything else…I have to put away.

With half of Hidden Agenda in the room—and armed—we're safe for at least a short time. Graham is one of the most understanding men I've ever met. If anyone can keep Natasha calm until I'm done, it's him.

Lowering myself down onto the coffee table, I meet Bella's red-rimmed eyes. "I need you to take off your shirt. West and Ryker will turn their backs, okay?"

Bella tightens her fingers on the two halves of her blouse and looks around slowly. Shit. I don't think she had any idea how many people were in her apartment until just now. But after a moment, she drops her hand.

I ease the bloody material from her shoulders. The stab wound is deep, but based on its location, the knife didn't hit anything vital. She was lucky. I dig in my bag for the vial of morphine. As I lift my gaze, I suck in a sharp breath.

Her torso is covered in bruises. They beat her up before they stabbed her.

"Doc, please…"

A long-ago memory steals my breath. Then another. This one so much worse. My mother's broken body lying on the living room floor. Not a single inch of her unmarked. My father standing over her with a bottle in his hand.

"Doc?" Raelynn touches my shoulder, jerking me back to the present. "You okay?"

Focus on the patient. You can do this.

I shove my feelings down so deep, they can't possibly escape—for now—and measure out four milligrams of morphine. "This is for the pain. I'll also give you a local anesthetic and a shot of antibiotics before I stitch you up. Okay?"

She nods, tears staining her cheeks. I work quickly. Three injections, saline to irrigate the wound, antiseptic, four stitches, and a thick bandage. Raelynn brings Bella a fresh shirt and helps her put it on.

Natasha doesn't look at me when I move to the kitchen sink to wash the blood from my hands. "I thought Gladys would be safe here," she says quietly. "Bella has a different last name. How did they even find her?"

I pull Natasha against me, rubbing small circles over her lower back. "I don't know, baby. But Gladys is a force of nature. Those bastards don't know what they're in for."

In the living room, West clears his throat. "Bella, can you tell us what happened?"

"Who are you people?" she asks. "And why are you even here? They said if I called the police, they'd kill Aunt Gladys. If she dies?—"

"We're not the police. My name is West. I'm a retired Navy SEAL. That wall of muscle over there is former Special Forces. Graham was in the Coast Guard. Raelynn, Air Force. The men who took your aunt have been selling drugs in the Middle East for more than a decade, and they're after Natasha because she tried to stop them."

I keep my arm around Natasha's waist and urge her into the living room. Bella glares up at us. "Aunt Gladys loves you. She talks about you all the time. How could you do this to her?"

"Natasha didn't do anything." I can't imagine what Bella is feeling right now, but there's no way I'm going to stand by and let her blame Natasha for what Bastian and his piece-of-shit associates did. "You want to blame someone, blame Clancy. He's probably the one who gave those assholes your aunt's name."

"Doc." Ryker shoots me a look that clearly says "shut up."

West lowers himself down next to the young woman. "I know you're scared, Bella. But I need you to tell me everything you can remember."

"Take her to the Five Points," West says. "I sent the remote key to your phone."

"Gotcha." Raelynn slings Bella's bag over her shoulder and takes the young woman's arm. "Come on, darlin'. I've got you."

"She'll be safe at a hotel?" I ask.

West pins me with his icy stare. "The Five Points uses Emerald City Security. That's Cam's firm. She doesn't like it, but we have access to their camera network. Rip and Wren can monitor Bella's door twenty-four-seven."

Natasha hasn't said a word since Bella started telling us what happened.

"We were having coffee," Bella says with a sniffle. "I was supposed to go to work today, and Aunt Gladys was going to watch her murder shows and cook us dinner.

"Someone knocked. I thought it was the grocery delivery. But when I opened the door, three men forced their way in. I broke the first guy's nose." Bella almost smiles, even as she swipes a fresh trail of tears from her cheek. "Aunt Gladys insisted I take some self-defense classes when I went to college. But I couldn't fight all three of them. Aunt Gladys was so brave. She just told me she loved me and she'd see me again soon. I thought…they'd all leave, but one of them stayed. He…"

She wraps her arms around herself with a wince. "He told me if I called anyone, he'd make Aunt Gladys's last few hours…" More tears, and she shakes her head, unable to continue.

West passes me a small, plastic case. "Keep this on you, Doc."

I open the lid to find two small earbuds.

"Multi-channel comms units. They can piggyback off the app Rip installed on your phones. I don't know what Bastian's end game is yet, but I'd lay odds he'll call Natasha in the next three or four hours with his demands. Make sure you put those in the second her phone rings."

"Why does it matter?" Natasha asks. "Whatever he wants, I'll do it. I can't let him hurt Gladys."

"Hell, no." I frame her face with my hands and brush the tears from her cheeks. "You are not giving up."

"He's already won. He took the only home I've had in eight years. My only friend. He almost killed you on the island. I won't give him another chance. I can't." She twists out of my hold, then turns to West. "You have to keep Doc safe. Please."

"We'll keep you both safe. This is what we do, Natasha. Doc's family, which means you are too. We don't give up on family." West taps his ear. "Inara just pulled up. She and Graham will take you to the warehouse. We'll meet back there in two hours. Ry's picking up Wren and Harlow. After what I did this morning, I need to see Cam for a few minutes. Once I do, I'll be clear."

The haunted look in his eyes reminds me just how much West has done for us in the space of four days.

I tuck Natasha tighter against me and meet the former SEAL's gaze over the top of her head. "I can't pay you back for?—"

"We owe you twenty times over, Doc. This? Raelynn would say it ‘ain't nothin' but nothin'.' And she'd be right."

Inara ushers us back into the warehouse, and I tear the floppy hat from my head, crumple it in my hands, and barely stop myself from flinging it as far as I can.

These men and women have sacrificed for me. They've given me three days with Doc. Three wonderful days I'll hold close until Bastian kills me. How much more can I ask of them?

"Graham's stopping for burgers, fries, and shakes," Inara says. "He'll be here soon. Doc, clean off the table, will you? Pretty sure there's still some of Wyatt's blood on it. Bleach is under the kitchen sink."

I start to follow him, but Inara snags my wrist. "We're going to have a little talk, Ranger. Come with me."

My stomach flips, but I follow the only other woman who knows how hard I worked to prove myself.

In the far corner of the lounge area, Inara points to one of the love seats. I sink down, waiting for her to tell me I shouldn't give up. Or that I'm being an idiot. But instead, she takes a seat next to me and leans forward, her elbows on her knees.

"We're a lot alike," she says. "Not only because we're the only two women in history to get our tabs, but because a few years ago, I ran away from the man I was falling in love with."

I don't stifle my flinch quickly enough.

"You should work on your poker face. It's not very good." She chuckles, the sound almost delicate. Everything about Inara is delicate. Refined. Gorgeous. I can't picture her in the middle of the Afghan desert drawing down on an enemy target. Except, there's a calm about her I can imagine a sniper needs.

"Before West joined us, it was me, Ry, Coop, and Landow for a little over a year. Coop was an ass. He didn't like following orders, but he was decent under pressure. But then Landow was killed by a drunk driver. We were down a man, so Ry brought West in. Our first mission, Coop went off book. Got himself killed. At least that's what we thought.

"A couple of months later, shit started going sideways for me. Someone slashed my tires, almost plowed into me while I was on my morning run, and…when I let one of my coworkers borrow my car a few days later, he ran her off the road and almost killed her."

"Oh, my God." Goosebumps race over my arms, the shock making my skin tingle.

Inara doesn't look at me. She's still staring down at her hands. "I couldn't believe those things were related. It made no sense. And we thought Coop was dead. Hell, I'd watched him die. So I didn't think twice about bringing Royce home with me one night. Until we woke up and my bedroom was filled with smoke. The fucker burned my house down."

She fiddles with the pendant at her throat, and a soft smile curves her lips. "Royce saved my life. We were new, but that night, I realized I loved him. I was terrified that whoever was after me—I didn't know it was Coop at the time—would kill him too. That scared the shit out of me. So…I ran."

Why is she telling me all this?

Finally, Inara lifts her head. "A few hours after I left, Coop came to Royce's door, pretending to be Graham. He took Royce to one of the rail yards, tortured him, and wired the train car with explosives. I almost lost him. Because I was so stubborn, I thought I'd be better off alone."

"But…you're married. He survived."

Inara's cheeks take on a dusky red tint. "Royce lived because Ryker and West wouldn't let me handle shit on my own. They came for me. They kept me sane. They risked their lives for me—and for Royce."

"It's not the same thing?—"

"It is." Inara scoots forward and takes my hands, holding on tight. "Do you love Doc?"

The strange sensation strangling my heart gives me the answer. "I…think so. I want to."

She nods. "He loves you. That's obvious to all of us. Hell, Dax—he's in Boston—could probably tell too and he's blind."

"Love isn't going to stop Bastian."

Inara's gray eyes lock onto mine. "No. It won't. But if you trust us, we will."