Ken answered, “We are bringing her to CT scan any minute.”
Wes stepped out of the room. Tobey O’Mara, Zulu Team leader, stood in the corridor waiting. Wes’s eyebrow rose. “Down the hall.”
Wes walked into the office at the end of the corridor. “What happened?” he snapped. His role as boss steamrolled to the surface.
“We were doing a joint team hostage rescue practical. Operators Hopper and Piscay went up the rear onto the roof and stood ready for a window breach on the other side. As they were about to repel and enter, it was like fireflies, multiple green laser dots—both men got disoriented. Hopper managed to stop Piscay from falling off, but he couldn’t stop himself. North grabbed for Hopper and went over with him—two stories. We heard the bone crack and the thud of North’s head. The team is doing a search. The source looked like it was coming from the south.”
The fence line and the damn cabins.“Make sure Piscay is debriefed and examined. Tomorrow, I want him to make an appointment at the counseling center. When they finalize the disposition on Hopper, talk to him. DC will take it from there. We need to wait for North to regain consciousness. Tomorrow at…” He opened his phone. “Let’s try 1400. We will meet. I’ll text you if I need to change the time. If you find anything, you call me,” Wes sighed.
Pete came inside. “He’s asleep. We will airlift him out at dawn. O’Mara, your team managed to stop his femur from displacing. That’s going to save him a lot of grief. His wife will meet him at the hospital in DC.”
“That’s good,” Wes said tightly. “Call Brandon Finch. I want someone to check on Hopper and North from the counseling center.”
“Mr. Crockett, can I relieve Thorn?” Tobey asked.
“Yes, and have him come down here.”
Once Tobey cleared the room, red crept up Wes’s neck. “Pete—what the hell? That was an absolute disaster. A nurse can’t be scared of the patient. And your PA—'the boss has a weak stomach’? If Hopper didn’t need attention, I would have ripped his stomach out through his throat.”
Pete frowned. “Do you want to speak with them?”
“Yes. Damn it. But not tonight. What about North?”
“I managed to catch her films come up. Our radiologist in DC is doing a hard read. I didn’t see a sign of a bleed. But she’s not awake yet. It’s wait and see.”
Chad Thorn knocked and entered. “You wanted to see me, Mr. Crockett?”
“Yeah, you were really good in there,” Wes complimented him. Thorn stared at his feet. “Say what you need to say.”
“Sir, what happened in there…it sucked. If you didn’t intervene…” Thorn said.
“Didn’t inspire confidence. It will be addressed. Never feel the need to sugarcoat something with me. Get out of here and join your team.” Wes sat heavily in a chair. “Convince me not to fire them on the spot.”
“I would like to speak with them and go from there. I can tell you that behavior does not match their resumés nor their preceptorship,” Pete said.
“Fine. I want them relieved of duty until we have some answers. Wake some people up. I want you and the two of them in my office at 0700. Now, tell me about Theo Harding.” Wes glared.
“What about him?” Pete appeared confused.
“The bastard is an FBI agent, sent to go after Eleanor West. I want to know how he applied. Who were his references? How did he handle his internship? And every other detail you can find on him.” Wes pressed to his feet and walked to the nurse’s station.
* * *
Eleanor rested her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes. Josh Stone looked over at her and pressed the microphone in his helmet. “Ellie, are you okay?”
She opened her eyes and said something. Adina reached over and showed her the push-to-talk on her headset. “I’m good. Still rattled. Could I have something more to drink?”
Adina pulled a bottle from a pouch behind her. “Here.” She smiled.
Eleanor drank the entire bottle. “May I have another?”
“Sure.” Adina handed her another.
“They wouldn’t give me any water.”
“I’ll notify Mr. Chase about that when we land.” Josh chewed his lip. “Is that all they did?”
Eleanor thought for a minute. “They refused me my lawyer—and it was certainly no lovefest.”Tell them, Ellie—they made you fear for your life.She shrugged.
