“Can you bring me a laptop at least?”
“You need to rest.”
Martin forced himself higher in the bed. “I’ll rest if you bring me a laptop.”
“I’ll sneak it past Lil. Can I get you anything else before I go?”
“Yeah, how about a beer?” Martin teased.
“I’ll bring you some lemonade.”
* * *
Cassie awoke in agony after a brief nap. Her entire arm and shoulder were swollen and red, and her fingers were cold.
“Darlin’, I’m going to give you something stronger for the pain. We’ll take care of this.” Tucker filled another syringe.
After a STAT page, Hunter stood with Tucker in the treatment room, looking at the newest X-ray of her shoulder. Ian came in behind them. “I need an MRI.” Hunter pointed to a particular image. “I can’t see.”
“We have a plan. Can she travel in the Navigator?” Ian asked.
“Yeah, if we ride with her,” Hunter said.
“Good. I’ll have a portable MRI brought to the building. We will run a convoy and ambulance out of here. Thirty minutes later, we will run the other three Navigators through the tunnel. They’ll expect us to head east. Instead, we’ll head to Tyson’s Corner.”
gh
“There we go.” Tucker lifted Cassie into the Lincoln.
Ian slid in beside her. “Sweetheart, I know you’re not too happy with me, but are you okay if I come with you to do this?”
Kieran took the wheel, and Hunter rode shotgun. “We ready to roll?”
Cassie reached for Ian’s hand and nodded, teary-eyed. “Good to go.” Ian tapped Kieran’s headrest.
Halfway into the twenty-minute ride, Tucker injected Cassie with a sedative and something for nausea. She fell asleep with Ian’s arm wrapped around her.
* * *
The decoy ambulance pulled into the Chase Group’s garage. Lincoln and Matteo were removing the stretcher when the first shots rang out.
“Shots fired,” Lincoln called out into his com. Matteo returned fire. Lincoln jammed the stretcher back into the ambulance and peeled out, followed by the two SUVs.
Julian and Rich circled around to the shooter’s last known location. Canvassing the area, Julian spotted a small metal box wrapped with duct tape. A piece of wire was visible protruding from the closed lid.
“Bomb! Go, go, go.” He yanked Rich's shoulder.
The sound was deafening. The blast wave threw them forward, careening into the concrete floors. A portion of the garage, as well as the floor above, was reduced to rubble.
* * *
The Navigator’s Bluetooth chimed. “Tate, go,” Kieran answered.
Tate was coughing. “Can Cassie hear me?”
“You okay, man? I told you all those cigarettes were gonna kill you.” Kieran checked the mirror. “She’s out.”
“We have an issue. We came under fire. The convoy got out as planned, but there was a large explosion. It looks like it took a piece of the garage, main lobby, and the cafeteria. I’ll get you a casualty count ASAP. I think we may be lucky. I followed your orders and sent everyone home early, but there’s always pedestrian traffic. And, Boss, Martin was listening to the transmission. He’s en route.”
