Chapter 18

JANIE GASPED ANDpushed at the immovable wall of Sawyer’s back. “Sawyer, I have to see him.”

“Janie, it’s not pretty,” Brody warned. “Be prepared.”

Her heart sank. “What happened to him?”

“Someone worked him over. He’s alive but unconscious.”

She shoved at Sawyer again. This time, the man reached back to grasp her hand and walked into the hotel room with her.

On the floor by the wall, her brother lay sprawled on his back. His clothes were ripped and bloody in several places, and his face was bruised, swollen, and mostly covered with blood. His nose was definitely broken, as were several fingers.

Janie tugged free of Sawyer’s hold and dropped to the floor beside her brother. Oh, man. He looked terrible. What happened to him? More importantly, who did this to David? For goodness’ sake, he’d only been in town a few days. How could he have made enemies so quickly? “David, it’s Janie. Can you hear me?”

No response.

“Come on, bro. Wake up for me. I want to hear a few more bad-tempered remarks from you. Don’t let me down.”

Still nothing.

With trembling fingers, she stroked the hair away from his forehead. “Oh, David. Come on. Wake up.”

Max ended the call to the dispatcher. “Ambulance is five minutes out. Cops will be right behind them.”

Tears burned Janie’s eyes. “I don’t understand. Why did they hurt him? Wouldn’t it be simpler to take what they wanted and get out as fast as possible?” She looked at Sawyer. “Burglars don’t waste time beating people. This took a lot of time, didn’t it?”

He knelt beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “They took their time working him over methodically.” Sawyer pointed to David’s swollen and bloody mouth. “If you look closely, you’ll see finger marks. They didn’t want David to attract attention when they broke his fingers. One of them clamped a hand over his mouth so his screams wouldn’t carry.”

“They? You’re saying more than one person did this to my brother?”

He nodded. “At least two men worked him over.”

Bile surged into Janie’s mouth as she contemplated the pain her brother must have endured while she’d eaten lunch and placed an order for the shop. If they’d come sooner, Sawyer and his friends could have prevented the worst of the injuries.

How many internal injuries did he have? He hadn’t roused to consciousness. Did he have a concussion, or a fractured skull? Janie wished Jesse had come with them. He must be exhausted after staying awake all night to watch over her, but his medical expertise would be invaluable right now.

Nearby, sirens cut off abruptly.

“Come on.” Sawyer stood and drew Janie to her feet. “We need to move out of the way so the EMTs can help David.”

“Why doesn’t he wake up?” she whispered.

“I don’t know, baby.” He drew her into the circle of his arms as Brody went to the door to direct the EMTs inside the room. “The county hospital is good, and the facility is only minutes away. He’ll receive the best care.”

“They’ll let me see him, right?”

“They should. You’re his only relative in the area.”

Janie groaned. “Oh, no. I’ll have to call Maria and tell her what happened.”

“Let the police handle the notification. His wife will want details you can’t provide.”

“Right here,” Brody said to someone in the hall. “We have a victim, David Moran, who has been beaten and is unconscious.”

Two EMTs rushed into the room and assessed Janie’s brother, taking his vitals and contacting the hospital.

At one point in the conversation, one of the EMTs asked, “Does anyone know if Mr. Moran has any allergies?”

“None,” Janie said.

As the medics resumed their assessments, two policemen arrived. Immediately, they pulled their weapons and pointed them at Sawyer and his friends. “Drop your weapons,” the taller cop commanded the Fortress operatives.

“Take it easy,” Brody said. “We’re licensed to carry, and we’re on duty.”

“What kind of duty?”

“Bodyguards. The victim’s sister has been threatened several times over the past few days,” Max said. “We also used to be on the job in Texas.”

“We’re going to reach for our identifications and carry permits,” Brody added.

“Slow,” the shorter man snapped. “Keep your hands where we can see them.”

As Sawyer reached for his identification, he placed his body between the twitchy cops and Janie. When he and his teammates handed over their credential wallets, Janie waited to see if they’d end up in handcuffs and stuffed in patrol cars. That would be unfair. They had done nothing wrong.

Finally, the cops handed back the cred wallets and introduced themselves. “What happened here?” Officer Wallace asked.

“The victim, David Moran, is the brother of our principal, Janie Moran. Janie is also Sawyer’s girlfriend,” Brody said.

Although Max glanced at Sawyer, he didn’t question Brody’s statement. Good thing. If he had, the cops would have separated Sawyer from Janie and taken him in for more intensive questioning. Since he was responsible for her safety, he wouldn’t allow that to happen. The idea of Sawyer being stuck in an interrogation room for hours while the cops grilled him caused Janie’s stomach to tighten into a knot.

Wallace and Reese studied Janie for a moment before turning their attention to David. “What have we got, Blue?” Reese asked the older EMT.

“Mr. Moran has a head wound, broken nose, and broken fingers, along with contusions all over his body. He hasn’t regained consciousness. Probably has internal injuries. We need to transport him to the hospital as soon as possible.”

A nod from Reese. “A detective will be at the hospital later to talk to him.”

“If he’s awake,” muttered the other EMT.

Janie shuddered. She would gladly put up with his verbal tirades just to hear his voice again. Her brother had to get better. He was her only living relative.

After a glance at the cops, Sawyer gathered Janie into his arms again and held her while the medics prepared her brother for transport. Within minutes, they left the room.

“I need to go with them. David shouldn’t be alone,” Janie said.

“We have questions before you go,” Officer Wallace said. “We’ll get you out of here as soon as possible, Ms. Moran.”

“Get on with the questions,” Sawyer said. “She’s David’s only relative, aside from his wife.”

Both officers straightened. “Wife’s name and address?”

“Maria Moran,” Janie answered and rattled off David’s address and Maria’s cell number.

“They live in Chile?” Reese asked.

She nodded. “David works for Horizon Engineering. They have an office in Talca, Chile. David has lived in Talca for three years. That’s where he met Maria. They haven’t been married long.”

“All right. We’ll notify Mrs. Moran in a few minutes. What happened here?”

Sawyer told of their arrival at the inn and discovery of David unconscious on the floor. “We called for an ambulance. You arrived within a minute of the EMTs.”

“Any idea who might want to harm Mr. Moran?”

He shook his head.

“You sure?” Reese pressed. “Seems unusual for the vic to suffer such a dramatic beating for no reason.”

“Can’t help you with that.”

“Sawyer,” Brody murmured. “Tell them.”

“No proof,” he countered.

“It might help them look in the right direction.”

“And it might not.”

“Let us be the judge of that.” Reese looked from one person to the next until his gaze returned to Sawyer. “You used to be on the job, Chapman. Talk to us. Help us do our jobs.”

He blew out a breath. “Look, this might have absolutely nothing to do with what happened to Moran. I think it does, but I have no proof.” He explained about the hijacking and the subsequent attacks and threats. “We came to the inn to ask David why he lied about when he arrived in town.”

Wallace frowned. “When did he arrive in Hartman?”

“Three days ago. He came to town before Janie returned to the states.”

Reese whistled. “The detectives are going to have a field day with this one.”

“Wonder if Vatos Locos are involved in this mess.” Wallace shook his head. “Those boys are bad news. They’re dangerous and don’t care if innocents are caught in the crossfire.”

“Trust me, we know,” Max said grimly.

“How?”

Sawyer glanced at Brody, who gave a slight nod. “Our team rescued Janie in Mexico. When Vatos Locos didn’t want to release her, we cleaned house.”

“Does the vic have a connection to the gang?”

“Possibly.” He summarized meeting David at the coffee shop and the confrontation they’d seen in progress as they left.

“You recognized the men as members of the gang?”

“Not at the time. I took pictures of them with my phone and ran their faces through our database systems at Fortress Security.”

Both cops straightened. “You work for Brent Maddox?” Reese asked.

“That’s right.”

“Tough outfit,” Wallace muttered. “How did you get on with them?”

“Maddox asked us to come in for an interview after we were recommended to him as another potential black ops unit.”

Reese’s eyebrows soared. “Black ops, huh?”

“He only interviews by recommendation,” Max added.

Enough already. Janie wanted to get out of here. “Do you need to ask anything else? I really need to go to the hospital. David doesn’t have anyone else here. The doctors may have questions about his medical history no one else can answer.”

“Go,” Reese said. “Don’t leave town without letting us or the detectives know.”

“Yes, sir.” Janie headed for the door with the operatives falling into step with her.

Max passed her in the hall and headed for the stairs. Sawyer nudged her in that direction.

“Why aren’t we taking the elevator?” she asked.

“Stairs are faster and safer.”

She blinked. An unexpected answer.

Max led the way across the lobby to the front doors.

Sawyer drew her to a stop several feet from the door and waited until Max signaled everything was clear. He and Brody escorted her to the SUV.

When they arrived at the hospital, Sawyer gave her name to one clerk who motioned for her to come forward and answer a host of questions. Minutes later, she and Sawyer were taken to the exam room where David lay unconscious.

The medical team worked quickly to assess his injuries and form a plan of action to treat David. The doctor turned to her. “You’re Mr. Moran’s sister?”

“That’s right. How is he?”

“The EMTs gave you the general rundown on his condition. What they didn’t tell you is your brother is in a coma.”