The first NOLA EMS crew rolled in. “Male, approximately 30, found unconscious on muddy ground. Deconned on scene due to possible contamination from an old fire scene and Greta’s aftermath. Patient responds to a sternal rub. Vitals, pulse 54. Sinus Brady, BP 104/60. Respirations 10 and regular. IV saline, KVO. Bloods drawn.” The paramedic handed Harper a bag of blood tubes.
“Thank you,” Harper said.
“There are more rigs coming in behind us. Um, did the GSW make it?” she asked.
Tim responded, “He made it to the OR.”
“He’d be dead if the Sommerstones still owned this place.” The medic headed out.
“Seth, they drew a partial set. Do you want a draw alone or a second IV?”
“Start a second line. DC the medic line to a lock after you flush it,” he replied.
The scene was repeated seven more times. Zayne came in and looked around at his unconscious Bravo Squad. “How are they doing?”
“Won’t know until they wake up and we see the bloodwork,” Tim said.
“Any word on Hoist?” He used Josh’s call name.
“Negative,” Seth said in a whisper.
Zayne looked down. “I’ll be on the door if you need me.”
“He’s acting like it’s his fault,” Harper said.
“He’s the team leader; ultimately, the responsibility is his,” Seth explained.
“That means Kip will feel that way for all of them,” she sighed.
One of the monitors showed an increased rate, which meant one of the eight was awakening. “Seth,” the nurse at bed three called out.
The largest of the group sat up and retched. The nurse at his side grabbed a basin as Harper and Tim made it to his bedside.
“You’re in the hospital.” Tim lifted the head of the bed so the operator could sit up.
“Ambushed. The boss?”
“Missing,” Tim said.
Seth came up behind them with Zayne and Chad. “Candy, breathe. Slowly, what happened?”
“Beluga saw it coming. We started a slow back-up until the guy put a gun to the boss’s head. A man got out of the truck. The boss knew him, called him Pierre. He said Kip was…” He scratched his head. “Leverage. He said the boss was leverage. Something about making his weak-willed daughter, Harper, crawl back to him after he blew up the other daughter, Chantal’s restaurant. And the boss was dead.”
He grabbed the bucket and vomited again. This time it was tinged with dark blood.
“Oh God, Harper, the man was talking about you and your sister. I’m sorry… I didn’t make the connection. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He vomited more blood, and his BP began to fall.
“Damn it, Etomidate and succ. We need to secure the airway. Call x-ray, respiratory stat. Size 8 ET tube, let’s go. Run that line wide,” Tim ordered. With Seth and the bedside nurse, they worked on Candy.
Chad wrapped his arms around Harper. “I’ve got you.” He hugged her with one arm and tapped his comm. “Titan to the clinical room forthwith.”
The room filled with other medical staff. Kelly glued herself to Harper, the list of employees found in Adelaide’s book committed to memory.
Harper refused to stay wrapped in the safety of Chad’s arms. Each man and woman in the group awakened and suffered the same set of symptoms Candy did.
Tobey walked into the chaos while Chad stayed with Harper. Zayne moved to a corner to talk with Tobey. “The three who attacked the estate—it was a synthetic sedative in the syringes.”
Tobey dialed the switchboard, who connected him to the lab. “I need to know what were in those syringes.” He listened. “I get it; there are more pieces. I’ve got eight guys with life-threatening GI bleeds.” He grabbed a pen. “Spell it.” He wrotevaldecoxib, alosetron, methaqualone. “Thanks, if you get more, call Elin in Brennan’s office.”
