“Julian, Sierra Delta? That’s San Diego, right. Oh, wow, you’re the head of San Diego, and your wife is Holly Dupree, and you work with Troy Bremen who got hurt,” Harper prattled on.
“Kip didn’t tell me how sharp you are.” Julian laughed.
Harper’s pulse and breathing sped up on the monitors. “Someone is trying to kill me again?”
“Yes,cherie. Try your best to take slow and even breaths. I’m not going to let that happen,” Julian advised. “Tim is going to cushion your seatbelts and your incision. Then he’s checking his belt.”
“Alpha One, this is Alpha Two,” Mia’s voice echoed in the ambulance.
“Get us out of here, Kiwi,” he said.
“Hold position. Bravo and Crescent 1 are on their way,” Mia advised.
“Birdman, they’re passing your position now. Go, go, go,” her voice clapped like thunder.
“Here we go.” Julian took her hand. Tim took her other.
Harper fought back the panic and squeezed both hands tighter.
“We’re coming into the rear lot hot,” Sam said.
“You’re clear; get Mockingbird home safe,” Mia said.
The ambulance pulled to a stop. “Let’s get you upstairs,” Tim said.
The stretcher rolled through the rear doors where Kip stood waiting. “Did you have fun on Julian’s rollercoaster?” He kissed her forehead.
“Ah,faisons do-do.” She waved him closer. “I’m really okay. Julian and Tim took care of me. And Birdman Sam drove really fast.”
Julian’s eyes were tearing. “Harper is terrific. She told you we had a dance party.”
“Tim and Birdman Sam, get her upstairs. We’ll wait for the next one,” Kip maintained his demeanor.
“We lost comms. Any idea what happened?” Julian asked.
“We were screwed.” Julian followed Kip into the elevator.
Harper took a deep breath. She had no idea what losing comms meant, but she did know these people wouldn’t stop trying until she was dead, and it didn’t matter how much collateral damage they created.
Chapter 32
The group sat in Kip’s collaborative room, where food filled the table. “Mia and Crescent 5 are en route to Houston. Ian has a friend—”
“Ian always has a friend!” Rich laughed.
“Ian has a friend who lives in Houston. Mia will relocate our redundancy system to the wine grotto. I told her if she has doubts about anyone, take them into custody. Rich’s staff and Mia’s staff will be monitoring keystrokes.
“Fabiana’s body is in our morgue. The authorities were notified and said they’d get to us after the storm. Thanks to Julian’s parents, we are being granted a lot of leeway. I spoke with the other division heads, and we did a dissection. I don’t know if I could’ve picked up on the betrayal sooner; I’ll throw it out here.” Kip sighed.
“Time,” Bruce said. “You can’t swim when you are already drowning. Stop kicking yourself. Sum up what you and your staff have accomplished. You didn’t only create a new division; you raised three facilities from the dead.”
“Thanks. I thank all of you,” Kip said.
Hunt cleared his throat. “Harper asked a favor, which, after hearing the situation, I agreed to help. I had an ambulance transfer a patient under nursing home auspices. Her name is Jeannie Nairne, but some of you know her as Raven. She was being treated for metastatic ovarian cancer by Lourdes Sommerstone. She was admitted and operated on by Selma Bryant for a perforated bowel. Records review showed she never had the cancer. She originally was operated on for a large cyst on an ovary. They duped and poisoned her. She’s critical but stable now. As an aside, she is an amazing woman. She asked for Josh. She called him the sexy bodyguard. They had an intense conversation in French.”
Blushing, Josh said, “She is appreciative. She asked me to share that the spirits are surrounding our facility. She also asked me to go to her shop to gather some items for us and for her—and asked me to protect certain belongings. Is it okay if I do as she asked?”
“Anyone object?” Kip asked. “Go for it.”
