“Yeah. Wendell, get the oxygen,” the General demanded from his son, still pointing his gun at Wes’s head.
Wes applied the oxygen and waited for the full effect of the drug to take over. He thought back to the refresher Tuck taught all the medics about childbirth. Pete instituted a firm continuing medical refresher policy. He switched to sterile gloves and slid one hand into Heather’s body. Forming a vee over the baby’s face, he created an airway.
“Okay, two of you, take a leg and lift them like she’s a frog. Heather, how are you?”
She didn’t answer, partly from hard labor and partly from the versed.
Wes slid his other hand, palm down, and sandwiched the baby’s head. She’d require stitches, but hopefully, the baby and Heather would survive. As the next contraction hit, he withdrew the baby. A limp, blue baby girl was now in the world.
Dinah grabbed a blanket and began rubbing the newborn. “Will she live?”
Wes suctioned and placed his lips over the infant’s nose and mouth, blowing air into the baby girl’s lungs. Two fingers pressed rapidly on her chest. Hands and feet began to move, and two chocolate eyes opened. She gasped and sputtered against Wes’s cheek. A weak cry morphed into a full-throated one.
Wes clamped and cut the umbilical cord. “Heather, you did it. You have a baby girl.” Tears dropped from Heather’s eyes, and she weakly reached for her baby. Wes delivered the placenta and helped clean her up. “Bring one of the girls who isn’t in labor to sit with her and help her nurse.”
He watched a pregnant woman join Heather, her eyes foggy.
“You’re not done, medicine man,” Malachi said. “Move.” He grabbed Wes by the collar.
His next patient was the young lady spotting. At least that was what he was told. When he got to her bed, her face was white with a blue tinge. He pulled back the sheet. Blood soaked the sheets beneath her. A quick check of her pulse confirmed what he already knew: she was dead.
“You people killed her,” he snapped angrily.
“Not my fault she couldn’t do her job,” Malachi said.
“You son of a bitch!” Wes swung.
The shot came from behind. A bullet tore through his side. Adrenaline revved up again, blocking the pain. Wes stayed on his feet, and, grabbing Malachi’s face between two hands, he twisted. The sounds of bones crunching were followed by the man dropping to the floor. “You won’t hurt another soul.”
Black-uniformed personnel swept into the room, guns pointed at Eleanor’s brothers. “Alamo, sit-rep,” Kyle asked.
“Ellie?” Wes cleared his throat.
“Safe,” Kip answered.
Wes nodded. “We’ve got two in labor. One immediately postpartum, six newborns who need immediate evac. Six more kidnap victims.” He scanned the room. “Where’s Dinah Drake?”
“Clear the house,” Kieran roared in his usual growl.
Kyle rolled his eyes and tapped his comm. “Sit-rep on room to room. Cuda and Jockey, please advise.”
The sun was rising. Wes fought off a wave of nausea as he headed to the front porch and watched one after another of the Drake family get dragged from the home in flex cuffs.Ellie, you’re free,he thought.They’ll keep you safe.
Sweat soaked through his shirt, and he could feel his heartbeat in his throat. When he placed his hand on his side, blood trickled between his fingers.
Out from beneath the porch on his right, he heard a scratching sound. Investigating, he looked down to see Dinah Drake, pointing a Glock at his chest, with an oxygen tank hissing beside her.
“Bomb. Evacuate!” Wes yelled, grabbing hold of the rail and locking his knees to stay standing. He had no ability to run. He heard the scramble behind him.
“It’s down to you and me,” Dinah snarled. “I watched what you did to my husband. Your people killed my sons Shaw and Albert. You killed my Lindy and saved Elora. Now I can enjoy watching your death.”
Wes counted on Troy’s attention to detail. That map. Fuel the front and attack from the back and flanks.
“Take the shot. Take the shot!” Wes yelled.
He knew if the sniper missed, he’d die along with Dinah Drake, and judging by the size of the tank, anyone else within a twenty-five-foot radius would also die. He also knew he would likely die on this West Virginia porch anyway. He had accomplished his goal.
Ellie, you can have something for you.
“Take the shot.”
Nothing registered after he saw the flash, except for a thud. Wes opened his eyes to see his hands gripping tight to the porch rail. He looked down and saw the body of Dinah Drake draped across the oxygen tank. Up ahead, the visage of a woman dropped from a tree.
“Thanks, Witch,” he called. She returned a salute.
“I’ll buy a pair of rain pants and sit on the barn floor whenever you’re ready.” Zach’s blue eyes glittered in the porch light. Wes turned and collapsed in his friend’s arms. “Medic. I need a medic!” Zach screamed.
