He held on, doing his best to reassure her. A sheriff’s department truck rattled off the road toward him. He was expecting Keith Hartung, but it was Sheriff Roland Jeffries. Rolling down his window, he asked, “How bad?
Wes’s nose crinkled at the smell of alcohol. “Brandon Finch is one hundred yards that way. Gunshot to the chest. Ellie has one shot to the left flank. We need to get them out of here,” he yelled over the engine’s rumble.
Red and blue lights twirled through the fog like apparitions. Chad Thorn, Zulu Team’s acting leader, ran toward him. “Ken Clarke is on my six with the emergency response vehicle.”
“Ellie said there were three. I want them. Coordinate with Mirouette and find these people. Don’t worry about crossing into the adjacent properties,” Wes growled.
The training center’s ERV was driving toward him. Ken Clarke, Tuck Hanlon and two paramedics and EMTs from the training center ran toward him, each carrying backboards. “Just landed. We heard your call, and I held the helo,” Tuck said.
Ken and two medics had Finch on a board and ran toward their ambulance. Tuck helped Wes lift Eleanor onto another board. She shivered hard, reaching for him. “Wes.”
“I’m here, Curly.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“Don’t leave me,” she squeaked.
“I’m with you the entire way.”
His mind drifted. Eleanor’s face morphed to Kiara Gordon’s. The young midwife succumbed to her injuries after the Taliban kidnapped and tortured her in Afghanistan. Wes blinked rapidly, burying the flashback.
“Ready on three,” Tuck yelled.
* * *
Inside their ambulance, Hena Simon, a new member of the training center’s Eagle’s Talon team and a paramedic; Wes; Tuck and Ken got a better look at their patients. “Tuck, I’m intubating,” Ken said.
Brandon Finch whispered, blood dripping from the corner of his lips, “Shots… came… from… west. Called…Ellie,” he struggled.
“Brandon, time to go to sleep.” Ken nodded, and Hena pushed the meds through his IV. Ken slipped the tube between his vocal cords.
Tuck focused on Eleanor. “Well, darlin’, if you wanted to visit with me, you could’ve gotten a ride to DC.” He smiled.
* * *
Dixon and Resa fled the farm with the children. He yelled into his burn phone, “Damn it, Dad. You’re delusional if you think your plan will work. I told you we needed time to deliver the last baby. Sanford, Tripp and Shaw went too early,” Dixon roared. “Yes, we got out safely.” He threw the phone at the dashboard.
“What happened?” Resa asked.
“My dad said our contact inside reported they increased security after the explosion. This was likely our only chance. Why the troops insisted on using the cabins again, I’ll never know. I also said they needed ordnance training. I didn’t say cause an apocalypse. A small charge would have scared the kids and kept them away.”
“What about the two little ones?” Resa asked.
“They belong to us. The rest of the mess is Shaw’s problem. He will have to plan a covert operation to get that storage box and clean up the mess.” Dixon was exasperated. “We will be long gone.”
“Look at the good side of this. We got out of there, and they shot Eleanor good,” Resa said. “If she dies, your dad’s and my dad’s obsession will be over.” She smiled.
Dixon backhanded Resa. “She’s still my sister. Our fathers want to destroy her. This last baby is our ticket out.”
The newborn boy cried out from his car seat. His high-pitched scream made both adults jump in their seats. Resa undid her seatbelt and turned to look at the ten-week-old boy they were
driving to drop off before heading to the west coast. She reached out her hand to soothe the baby.
“We need to get to a pharmacy. He’s burning up,” Resa said.
* * *
The ambulance pulled up in front of the clinic. Sam Baker and Duncan Mulligan, their eyes filled with exhaustion, stood ready to receive the two patients. Hena squeezed the bag, forcing air into Brandon’s lungs.
“Thirty-five-year-old man, intubated eight French endotracheal tube. Sustained a bullet to the right of his sternum at the fourth rib. Right lung not moving air. Applied an occlusive dressing and released one flap. Failed to provide relief. Performed a needle decompression. Lung has begun moving air.”
